Qin Xiong returned to the capital of China, Beijing, in a low-key manner. When he showed up at the Xianghe National Men's Football Training Base, the media swarmed to him.
As the leader of the China national team, Qin Xiong himself played for Real Madrid and would occupy the headlines of the football media for a long time.
If the Spanish media would belatedly pay attention to Qin Xiong's contribution and role at the Bernabéu, then after almost every game day, when the China media reported on European football news, Qin Xiong would inevitably occupy the headlines.
The China national team temporarily got rid of the vicious cycle of "reconstruction, destruction, reconstruction, destruction" in the past during this period.
The overall situation was very stable. The players who studied abroad showed their talents in European clubs. Zhao Junzhe and Zheng Zhi were able to play in the English arena. Shao Jiayi also had a good start in Germany. Sun Xiang had not yet established himself in the Netherlands, and Zhou Haibin had not played for a long time.
The situation of the players who studied abroad was mixed, but their attitude was still particularly positive and their momentum was relatively rapid.
Especially in terms of their attitude and philosophy towards professional football, it could be seen from the team's training that the attitude of the players who studied abroad had undergone a great change.
The "human touch" that would appear in the training before had disappeared. They would not miss the opportunity to snatch and fight, and they were not afraid of hurting the harmony or accidentally causing injuries to their teammates.
Training was also risky. Looking at the news of the European clubs, there were players injured in training every week. This was a normal situation, not an accident.
The third group stage of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers was played at the home of the China team. The national team came to the home ground of Tianjin. Qin Xiong wore the captain's armband and led the team to play.
The visiting opponent was the weak Singapore team.
In the game, Qin Xiong took the lead and helped the team finish off the opponent within 70 minutes.
Zhang Pengfei, Han Peng, and Zheng Zhi each scored a goal. Qin Xiong scored twice and sent out an assist. The team locked in a 5: 0 victory in the 70th minute.
Ali Khan did not replace Qin Xiong, probably because he had a political mission. After all, the Chinese fans really wanted to see Qin Xiong on the field. Therefore, Qin Xiong took the initiative to lower the pace to avoid excessive exhaustion. As long as he was on the field, the fans were very happy to see him.
After slaughtering Singapore with five goals, the China team rushed to Singapore without stopping. The third and fourth games of the group stage were back-to-back, but the home and away games were switched.
In the hotel in Singapore, Qin Xiong accepted a personal interview.
It was an interview from his old friend Yan Qiang.
This interview was a routine one. He was interacting with the media as the captain of the national team.
It was just that Qin Xiong's identity and status in the football world were a little special, so it became such a high-level exclusive interview.
Dressed casually, Qin Xiong sat in a booth by the window of the hotel restaurant. His eyes wandered from time to time to the scenery outside the window. Singapore was sunny and beautiful. It was a good place to relax.
When Yan Qiang arrived, Qin Xiong had not come back to his senses. Yan Qiang did not treat him as an outsider. He greeted him and sat down.
There was also a cameraman beside Yan Qiang. It seemed that it was not as simple as a written interview.
Yan Qiang noticed that Qin Xiong's face was a little haggard and asked with concern, "Did you not rest well during the recent journey?"
Qin Xiong cheered up, smiled, and said softly, "Maybe. Let's start the interview."
He was not used to showing his weak side in front of the public.
After all, he was a man. How could he show his weak side? Even if he felt very heavy after getting up this morning and yawned, he still had to take a shower to refresh himself. There was still a game waiting for him.
Yan Qiang sorted out his thoughts and officially began the interview.
"As the champion of the last AFC Asian Cup, the China team was disqualified from directly entering the AFC Asian Cup due to the reform of the AFC. Do you think this is a good thing or will it increase the competition schedule of the China team? Will it bring mental pressure to the China team?"
Qin Xiong said without hesitation, "The reform is definitely not aimed at the China team. We just happened to be in time. I think that as the champion, the first thing we should do is not pressure, but confidence! We can win the AFC Asian Cup, so why should we be afraid of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers? As for whether the competition schedule will increase the tasks, this also needs to be looked at rationally. I think that playing more official games will help the China team to break in and mature. This is the good side. "
"The China team is currently ranked first in the group. There should be no problem for them to qualify, right?"
"The game is played, not calculated. As players, our task is to play every game well. If we perform well and are qualified to qualify, then we will qualify. It doesn't make sense to jump to conclusions too early, especially when this is just the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers."
"In the next AFC Asian Cup, the Australian team will join, including in the future AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. How will this affect the China team?"
Qin Xiong pondered for a moment and replied, "It's a good thing. Australia's comprehensive strength can definitely be ranked at the top in Asia. This will intensify the competition. Only with competition can there be progress. After the World Cup, I think my teammates and I have realized that Asia is just a well. We can't be frogs in the well. We need to climb out of the well to see what the world is like and where we are in the world, and then work towards a higher direction. I think it's a good thing that Australia can improve the competitiveness of Asian football. I personally look forward to playing against the Australian team."
"Haha, why?"
"Because they did well in the World Cup!"
"Hahaha."
Qin Xiong told the truth. Yan Qiang could also feel that Qin Xiong felt a little lonely in the Asian competition.
Just like the game between the China team and Singapore, the victory would have a positive impact on the China team, but from the perspective of improving strength, the value of the game was not great!
The China team needed to see more of the world and understand different styles of football so that they would have a chance to not be in a difficult position when they played against masters in the future.
For the current batch of players in the China team, it was certainly difficult to make significant leaps in terms of technical strength, but there were still many things that could be changed in terms of mentality and experience. Honing a better mentality and accumulating more experience would also have a positive effect on the overall strength of the team.
Yan Qiang brought the topic back to China's football.
"The national team is more stable now, but what about the future?"
Qin Xiong smiled bitterly and shook his head. "It doesn't make sense for us to talk about this topic any more. How many children play football, the scale of the formal football training system, and the development of the football industry chain are all rooted in China's reality, and these will determine the future development of China's football.
Now? Now we can only hope that the few, pitiful number of excellent young players can reasonably plan their careers, not waste their youth, waste their talent, and take fewer detours to provide fresh blood for the national team in the future. "
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