China won the first game of the AFC Asian Cup. After the game, Ali Khan praised the performance of the entire team. Qin Xiong said in an interview that the China team was stronger and it was normal for them to win the game. However, the team would have a lot of psychological pressure when playing at home. He also wanted to contribute wonderful games to his countrymen and win glory for the fans. However, if they paid too much attention to these things, they would not be able to play their true strength in the game.
Qin Xiong was becoming more and more like a qualified and excellent captain. On this point, China's football media, including the fan groups, praised Qin Xiong highly.
The victory of the first game laid a good foundation for China's AFC Asian Cup campaign. At the same time, it also laid a psychological foundation.
Four days later, at nine o 'clock in the evening.
It was also at the Beijing Workers' Stadium.
China welcomed their second group game. Their opponent was Indonesia.
With China's strength, it was easy to beat this opponent.
Moreover, their psychological state had significantly improved. China was more united on the field and dominated the game with a strong offensive.
From the beginning to the end, they did not let Indonesia get a few chances to shoot and destroyed Indonesia completely.
8:0！
In the final stage of the game, the China fans in the stands had uniformly shouted the slogan "China is the champion!"
In their eyes, the China team led by Qin Xiong was already the strongest team in Asia. It looked invincible!
The imposing China team became more united in the victory, and Qin Xiong's state of not being overly excited after the game also became a barometer within the team. No teammate dared to celebrate more than the captain because it would cause the captain to be extremely disgusted and even ridiculed.
What was there to be excited about when they had not gotten anything?
Playing against Indonesia was equivalent to a game of abusing noobs. What was there to be proud of for China?
China, which won both games, advanced to the next round because of the draw between Bahrain and Qatar in the second game. The China team advanced early.
In the third game against Qatar, Ali Khan made some rotations.
Qin Xiong was placed on the substitutes' bench. Ali Khan wanted to train the substitutes in case they were needed at critical moments in the future.
Qatar had lost to Indonesia in the first match and tied with Bahrain in the second match. They had hopes of qualifying, but they had to beat China first. At the same time, Bahrain had to win, or even if Bahrain won, they had to have a goal difference behind them.
As a result, Qatar was very aggressive in attacking at the start of the game. The China team got a better chance in the more dangerous game. Xu Yunlong scored to help the team beat Qatar by 1: 0.
Although Qin Xiong didn't show up.
However, the media concluded that Qin Xiong was the key to China's team.
With him, the China team easily won the first two games of the group stage and created an 8: 0 massacre of Indonesia. Qatar, which had lost to Indonesia, almost forced the China team without Qin Xiong into a losing situation. The final score of 1: 0 made the outside world unanimously believe that with and without Qin Xiong, the China team was two different teams.
This was the core role of Qin Xiong as the captain of the China national team.
July 30th.
It was still at the Beijing Workers' Stadium.
China ushered in the finals of the AFC Asian Cup. Their opponent was Iraq.
When it came to the knockout stage, the physical advantage of the China team began to emerge.
They did not need to travel thousands of miles from Sichuan, Nanjing, or other venues to Beijing during the truce. Even the teams with better physical fitness than China would be affected by the difference.
Qin Xiong began to be valued by all the opponents in Asia. Targeting him and restricting him became the most troublesome thing for his opponents.
When the AFC Asian Cup was held in China, the Chinese team would be given preferential treatment by the referees. This was an unspoken rule in the football circle. It could be as small as the home whistle of the league matches between the clubs, or as big as the FIFA Intercontinental Cup or the World Cup.
From an international perspective, Iraq's appearance in the AFC Asian Cup was highly respected.
Because more than a year ago, the Iraq war broke out. Their homeland was in war, and the Iraqi men's football team not only came to the AFC Asian Cup, but also reached the top eight!
They appeared to be more courageous than the China team on the field, as if they were showing the world something beyond football, national dignity!
Unfortunately, football was football after all. When Iraq's foul tactics against Qin Xiong were hit by the referee's very harsh judgment, they lost their minds.
When Qin Xiong charged into the penalty area and was pulled to the ground by the Iraqi defender and awarded a penalty kick, the Iraqi players' emotions were completely out of control.
The China team opened the scoring account with Qin Xiong's penalty kick.
The Iraqi players' continuous fouls also caused them to deviate from the track of football competition. When the China team's third goal was scored by Zhang Pengfei, Iraq seemed to blame the China team for the humiliation of the US military's bombardment on their homeland. The two teams broke out into a conflict, which became a disgraceful scene in the AFC Asian Cup.
Even if Qin Xiong's head was hit by the other side, he still calmly asked the China team's players to restrain themselves. Especially when he was punched in the back by the opponent, he still hugged Li Weifeng and asked Big Head to calm down.
Qin Xiong did not like conflict. He did not care if he could really comfort himself that he was the winner because it was very naive.
Especially when you wore the national team uniform, everything you did was related to the image and dignity of a country in the field of sports!
As the captain, he did not let the situation develop in the direction of completely out of control, which won the favor of the referee team.
Iraq's momentum was gone, and Qin Xiong also stopped. He controlled the situation of the game and let the game come to an end.
"The China team has reached the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup! We are only two games away from the championship! "
At this time of the AFC Asian Cup, the China fans were crazy and did not hide their fanatical support for the China team.
Although other teams questioned the China team after the game, no Chinese media would report the news. Everyone took it as a matter of course.
On August 3rd, the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals, the real test for the China team came!
The opponent was the Iran team, a strong Asian team.
The overall strength of the Iran team was far superior to that of Qatar.
At the same time, there were two key players in the team who were fighting in the German stadium.
The right wing player, Madhawikia, played for FC Hamburg.
The striker, Hashmian, played for FC Bochum.
They were the number one combination of the Iran team to attack a city.
Coupled with the Iran team's strong physical fitness and brave style of play, this was a game that tested the spirit of the China team.
However, from a technical and tactical point of view, the Iran team did not appear to be better than the China team.
In addition, the China team had the home advantage. Most of the tens of thousands of fans in the stands had China's national flag painted on their faces. The home atmosphere had reached the peak!
The Iran team targeted Qin Xiong from the beginning of the game to restrict him. They also used the cutting tactic. However, they were stronger than Iraq, so they did not seem so clumsy in the cutting method. When everyone saw it, they would not think that it was a foul.
Qin Xiong was knocked down three times in less than 20 minutes. He lost his balance when he was surrounded by two opponents.
This made the Iran team pay the price of two yellow cards.
Qin Xiong did not know how many times his legs were kicked. Blood had already seeped out of his socks, but he still ran on the field without changing his expression.
He deeply understood that as long as he did not fall, the Iran team would not stop restricting him.
This was good. He could make more contributions to contain and attract more firepower for his teammates.
In the 31st minute of the first half, he was surrounded by three opponents in the midfield and sent the ball to the front line. Hao Haidong and Li Jinyu were also attacked by the Iran team's cutting tactic. They relied on this seemingly physical confrontation, but in fact, they challenged the standard of fouls to contain the China team's attack.
Hao Haidong provided an assist for Shao Jiayi, who cut into the penalty area, to help the China team score the first goal!
Then the game became rougher. Liu Yi and Hashmian directly knocked each other to the ground during the conversation and were given yellow cards. Sun Xiang's shovel caused a strong protest from Madawegiya. Li Weifeng blocked Madawegiya's cut inside from the side several times. Even after his body's center of gravity was shaken, he still used his body to block the opponent's shooting line. Zheng Zhi decisively filled in to protect the China team's goal.
The China team's attack was also fierce. Qin Xiong wanted to ensure that the front and back of the field were connected, so he often stayed in the middle area. In the 39th minute of the game, he sent a straight ball to Sun Jihai, who was in the bottom line. Sun Jihai's pass was close to the goalkeeper's position. Hao Haidong struggled to fight for the header and fell to the ground. His head was scraped by the opponent's goalkeeper's studs, and immediately blood spilled on the field. After leaving the field, he was sent to the hospital for further treatment.
Countless Chinese fans in the stands were moved. Almost all of the fans were no longer cheering with a smile, but roaring wildly!
They saw a China team that was unswervingly loyal!
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