At the end of May, Qin Xiong brought his simple luggage and reported to the Xianghe National Men's Football Training Base.
The rest of the national team had already gathered there. Only Qin Xiong was the latest to arrive. Players like Sun Jihai, Liu Yi, and Zhang Pengfei, who had studied abroad, had finished their seasons earlier than Qin Xiong and had no celebration activities. They basically reported back to the national team after playing all the games. Only Qin Xiong had more things to do in Europe.
Qin Xiong was very happy to have Qin Xiong back. His teammates would ask him about his experience at Arsenal when they met him in private, including what the life of the other star players on the team was like.
Qin Xiong was able to play in the same team as famous star players like Henry, Vieira, and Campbell. Naturally, his teammates on the national team were full of envy.
During the preparation for the Asian quarter-finals, the intensity of the team's training was not high, but Qin Xiong still felt tired.
It was the feeling of having just finished a difficult season. After the body and mind had relaxed, suddenly having to improve their condition, their physical condition obviously could not keep up.
June 4.
Qin Xiong led the China team to play against Saudi Arabia at Tianjin's home ground.
The entire stands of Tianjin's home ground were rendered into a sea of red. Qin Xiong's portrait was passed around in the stands by the waves of people. It was magnificent and spectacular.
However, the China team did not play well in the game. Qin Xiong also found it difficult to play. He had to be restrained in the national team, so his performance would be greatly reduced. In addition, his physical condition was not ideal, so it was difficult for his teammates to play at the same pace and play well.
Saudi Arabia had one win and one draw in the first two rounds, so they had four points. The third and fourth games were back-to-back with the China team. Although the China team had six points, Saudi Arabia's goal was clear. They would be satisfied as long as they got one point in the away game. Then they would wait until they returned to their home ground to deal with the China team.
The Saudi team's counterattack was still very threatening. In addition, the China team looked chaotic on the field and their offense could not break the situation. In the end, the two teams shook hands and made up.
At the end of the game, Qin Xiong's expression was a little disappointed.
He left the field with his head lowered. If it was a game with a clear conscience, he would leave with his head held high no matter what the result was.
But he knew that he did not play well and did not bring any positive help to the team, so he was in a bad mood.
In an interview after the game, Qin Xiong was asked if he was too tired. After all, he had just finished playing in multiple tournaments in the English Premier League. He calmly replied, "There is a difference between the season schedule in Asia and Europe. The Asian club schedule is now in the middle of the season, while the players who play in Europe have just finished a full season. I am not shirking responsibility. I admit that I did not play well. I just said it because I want to face it rationally, find the reason, and then actively improve.
After the match, Ali Khan also defended the China team. First, he said that Saudi Arabia's overall strength was very strong. Secondly, the China team was still at the top of the rankings. Considering that Uzbekistan had tied with South Korea in the other match, the situation of the China team in the rankings was still optimistic.
China team 7 points.
Saudi Arabia 5 points.
Uzbekistan 2 points.
South Korea 1 point.
.....
After the home game in Tianjin, the China team rested for two days. Then the team took a plane to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Qin Xiong knew the reason for his poor performance, but it was really difficult to improve. People who had trained before understood the state of fitness. After a long period of continuous consumption and relaxation, there was no way to improve the state back to the peak.
And another situation that he did not expect happened.
When the plane landed in Riyadh, Qin Xiong and his teammates walked out of the cabin door. Suddenly, a terrible heat wave swept over!
"F * ck! It's so f * cking hot! "
"It's really hot like a dog!"
"Can you play in this kind of weather?"
Qin Xiong was also complaining! He blurted it out.
In June, the northern part of China did not completely feel the arrival of summer.
But in the Gulf region, the temperature during the day in Saudi Arabia had soared to more than 30 degrees, close to 40 degrees.
The China team faced the difficulty of "not acclimatizing".
If they did not spend the days before the game in a cool air-conditioned room, the China team might be roasted in the hot sun, and the people and horses would be tired from the exposure to the sun.
On the other hand, if they did not adapt to this kind of weather, wouldn't it be even more uncomfortable when the game came?
The game in Riyadh was simply a hell of suffering and torture.
Qin Xiong still did not play as expected, and his teammates were even worse.
Ali Khan had originally hoped to come to the away game and hold on to a draw, and he would be satisfied.
But the Saudi team was full of vitality. They had lived in this kind of environment for many years and had long adapted. Coupled with the home advantage, their performance on the spot was much better than the China team.
It was simply like a game of predation between beasts!
The China team lost by two goals in the 90-minute game!
Against Saudi Arabia, the record was 1 draw and 1 loss.
The advantage established in the first two rounds of the group stage seemed to have taken a sharp turn after the middle two rounds of the game.
After the game, Qin Xiong, who might have only 70% of his usual energy, was drenched in sweat. Facing the reporters, he looked a little stupefied. Probably this kind of cowardly loss reminded him of his first predicament in the fierce rain when he was at Ajax. But at least in the game at Ajax, the team did not lose.
Now he was the captain of the national team, and he did not lead by example to help the team achieve good results. Remorseful and guilty, he bowed his head in front of the interview camera and said in a deep voice, "I'm sorry. Our performance failed to live up to the expectations of the fans all over the country. We have no excuses and lost an important game. At this moment, I can only apologize to the fans all over the country on behalf of the team. "
After that, he left.
He could not make any promises, such as "we will work hard to perform better in the next game" or something like that.
The football game was not so simple. It was not something that could be brushed off with a few beautiful words.
Returning to Asia for the qualifiers was a hundred times more difficult than he had imagined.
In particular, the overall strength of Saudi Arabia was indeed beyond his expectations.
In the game, he realized that the South Korean team was the strongest in the group. But compared with Saudi Arabia, the South Korean team's performance on the spot was at least a level lower than Saudi Arabia's.
After the fourth game of the Asian quarterfinals, the group standings changed. The China team went from a very comfortable position to a dangerous position.
Saudi Arabia 8 points.
China 7 points.
South Korea 4 points.
Uzbekistan 2 points.
When the China team went directly from Riyadh to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, the China National Youth Team had its first performance in the Netherlands World Youth Championship.
The Chinese National Youth Team surprisingly got off to a good start, defeating the Turkish National Youth Team 2: 1!
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