When the final whistle sounded in the Nuremberg World Cup stadium, the Mexican team celebrated their first victory in the group stage. The Mexican fans in the stands cheered loudly.
"At the end of the game, the China team unfortunately lost to their competitor, Mexico, by 1: 3. This game undoubtedly poured cold water on the China team's momentum before the World Cup. China's fourth game in the World Cup stage also ended in failure. We have a disgraceful World Cup record of four consecutive defeats.
But we also wrote our own record in the game.
The China team's captain, Qin Xiong, scored the China team's first goal in the World Cup finals.
This goal will not increase the points of the China team, but we have to admit that it is a reflection of our progress.
There is not much time left for Ali. He needs to sum up the experience of this loss and then make the right decision. In five days, the China team will face a strong opponent, Portugal!
In an hour, the other game in this group, Portugal and Angola, will begin. We will continue to pay attention to the game in this group. "
Qin Xiong stood in place after the game.
His physical condition was still very good because he had no chance to wildly charge and soar on the field in the game.
The Mexican team's strategy in this game was correct. They grasped the weak spot of the China team.
After Qin Xiong was contained, the China team was in a state of disintegration.
The impact of the defense may not be big, but the offense was no threat.
Marcos suddenly walked in front of Qin Xiong. The two captains shook hands after the game, then exchanged jerseys and left separately.
Qin Xiong, with Marcos' jersey on his shoulder, took the initiative to greet his teammates to cheer up and follow him to the sidelines to thank the China fans.
Whether the performance was good or bad, they should thank the fans for their attendance and support.
After the game, Qin Xiong did not accept an interview. He went straight back to the locker room.
Ali praised the Mexican team after the game and admitted that the China team's situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse.
After the game, the China team was greeted by a variety of domestic media criticism.
Qin Xiong didn't look good in this match.
The only thing that stood out was the statistics of the number of successful breakthroughs. Not only was it the number of successful breakthroughs in this match, it was also the player with the most successful breakthroughs in all the matches since the start of the World Cup!
However, this would be used by some media as a weakness to attack: Independent, too independent!
Qin Xiong's other stats were terrible, except for a goal that had no effect on the outcome of the game.
His passing success rate had dropped below 60%. Compared to his average passing success rate of over 85% in the past three years, this contrast was undoubtedly huge.
If one only looked at the data on the surface, everyone could accuse Qin Xiong of declining performance.
However, if the professionals had watched the game, they would definitely scoff at these criticisms.
Qin Xiong was not the only one who could pass the ball.
Run, run, run.
This also depended on the order.
Sending the message first and then running was most likely not going to work.
Running first and then passing was the mainstream. Most of the time, teammates saw the movement of the runner and then passed the ball. This way, the success rate of passing was higher.
However, how many teammates did the China team have who ran around Qin Xiong well?
The Mexican team was strong and occupied the space on the field. The China team had almost no players who could really seize the space to run!
Awareness and ability to run almost determined the strength of an offensive player.
A striker who could run could kill.
A midfielder who could run was impossible to guard against.
Who were the representative midfielders in contemporary football who knew how to seize the opportunity and had an excellent running ability?
Lampard, Gerard, Qin Xiong, Kaka, Ballack, Ronaldinho, and so on.
Not to mention the strikers, almost all of the top strikers had excellent awareness and ability to run. Even the column-style center forwards were no exception.
Unfortunately, except for Qin Xiong, the running ability of the other players in the China team was really not complimentary. It might be okay in Asia, but on the stage of the World Cup, it was difficult to enter the hall of elegance.
As a result, Qin Xiong's passing organization had been suppressing his true strength.
Could the idea of passing to Henry and passing to Li Jinyu be the same?
Could the effect of passing to Pires and passing to Shao Jiayi be the same?
That was the crux of the problem.
Therefore, it was meaningless to look at the game data.
On the contrary, there was a point of view in the media debate that coincided with Qin Xiong's thoughts.
The China team underestimated the World Cup!
This underestimation was not a lack of attention to the World Cup.
It was that there was no firm position.
For example, before the World Cup, whether it was the media or the coaching staff of the China team, the goal for the China team was of course to advance from the group stage. In terms of how to achieve the strategic goal of advancing from the group stage, the strategy of not losing to Mexico, forcing a draw with Portugal, and defeating Angola was formulated.
There should be no problem with the positions of the last two opponents.
They had to win against Angola. If they could not even win against Angola, it was completely impossible to advance.
Portugal, which was full of star players, could neither defeat the opponent nor surrender. Forcing a draw with the opponent might be the biggest benefit for the China team.
But facing Mexico, the position had a slight disagreement.
Being undefeated had two meanings.
A draw or a victory.
That was where the problem lay!
Did the China team want a draw or a victory?
Undefeated?
In other words, did the China team have the capital to be in an invincible position against Mexico?
Absolutely not!
Therefore, the China team should have a firmer position.
If they wanted to win, they had to give everything. It was okay to be radical and strive for victory. It was another matter if they could not win. At least in terms of ideological awareness, they were united.
If they wanted a draw and a point, they had to defend to the death!
Whether they could defend or not was up to fate. Anyway, in a football game, no one dared to say that they could get the result they wanted.
But the China team stepped on the field with an undefeated mentality and goal.
It was easy for everyone to have divergent ideas and not resolute enough in the tactical implementation.
In other words, the tactics formulated before the game were simply wrong.
They faced Mexico with a posture that leaned towards defense but did not absolutely defend, and were defeated by Mexico's overall strength.
Qin Xiong sat in the locker room and pondered. The game was over. He did not take it to heart. He was just reminiscing.
He had played for Ajax and Arsenal, and the strength of the team was at the top level in the domestic league.
But in the Eredivisie and the English Premier League, there were weaklings.
The survival of those weaklings was actually very much in line with the China team.
Being pragmatic and low-key, playing every game with a low profile, with a firm position and persistent pursuit of results, was the survival of the weak.
That night, when he returned to the hotel, Qin Xiong specifically went to find Ali Khan for a detailed discussion. The two men discussed for more than two hours. The China team was facing the most significant change in the team in the "Team Qin era."
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