At the press conference after the game, Gao Hongbo, who has always been low-key, was uncharacteristically unkind and was not polite at all.
"...The players played very well. After falling behind in the first half, the players were a little anxious. This is human nature."
"But in my opinion we should have scored more goals or killed the game as quickly as possible."
"Because this is our true strength."
"Of course, Wang Xiaodong's appearance in the second half is a key point."
"Judging from the results of the game, he has integrated into the team very well and played a vital role."
"Now the whole team is united, and we all have full confidence to win the last two games!"
Gao Hongbo used a tough attitude to support Wang Xiaodong and expressed his importance to the national team.
And in front of many media, he said: "If Wang Xiaodong performs normally, we are actually not far from qualifying!"
That night, Oriental Daily, known as Hong Kong's largest newspaper, reported the game with the title "Heroes descended to earth in winter, defeated Qatar with 1 pass and 2 shots."
"When the Chinese team fell behind 0-1 at home, head coach Gao Hongbo sent out the highly anticipated Wang Xiaodong to play in the second half."
"The amazing Wang Xiaodong immediately turned the tide of the game within a few minutes of his appearance. With a volley from a small angle, he equalized the score for the Chinese team."
"Wang Xiaodong then used a direct free kick to help the Chinese team take the lead. With Wang Xiaodong's support, the Chinese team's overall performance has become more and more like a world-class team."
Another major newspaper, "Apple Daily", titled "Surprise Soldiers from Heaven", regarded Wang Xiaodong, who turned the tide, as the biggest contributor to the victory.
For a time, almost all media outlets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao were cheering and celebrating Wang Xiaodong's wonderful performance.
Just one day later, Wang Xiaodong’s national team posters were sold all over the country.
Many fans even bought them home and posted them on their walls, worshiping them like gods.
Subsequently, the rumors that "the World Cup paved the way for the Olympics" disappeared.
According to the evaluation of Football News, the Chinese team that defeated Qatar has a good chance of qualifying for the group.
And have the opportunity to replace Australia and become the first in the group.
Domestic morale is high after the home victory.
Many fans tell everyone they meet that we have already entered the World Cup with one leg.
Due to the congestion of the Olympic Games, Asian Cup and other events, the AFC has temporarily arranged that the third round of the World Qualifications, originally scheduled for August and October, will all end within June.
So seven days later, the Chinese team will face Iraq from afar at the same venue.
In fact, the third round of the World Cup preliminaries is far from over.
According to AFC regulations, five teams in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers in Asia had a bye and directly entered the third round of qualifiers.
The five seeded teams are Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, island countries and Iran.
Among the five groups in the third round of world preliminaries, the top two will advance to the final top ten.
In the end, the top ten teams were divided into two groups. The top two teams in each group directly advanced to the World Cup finals. The third-place teams in the two groups played a home-and-away double-leg match to compete with the top team in Oceania for the last 0.5 qualifying spots.
To sum up, after the Chinese team defeated Qatar, they actually didn't even see the World Cup.
The so-called "one leg into the World Cup" is also an exaggerated joke.
But even so, after watching the replay of the game against Qatar, all fans are full of confidence.
"The second half and the first half are completely different teams!"
"With Wang Xiaodong and without Wang Xiaodong, there are two completely different things!"
"If Gao Hongbo still wants to keep his position as coach, he must send Wang Xiaodong to start in the next game!"
"With Wang Xiaodong, we can win!"
The fans' voices came one after another.
Finally, the day before the match against Iraq, Gao Hongbo directly announced the starting list for the next game at the pre-match press conference.
Wang Xiaodong’s name is on the list!
After seeing Wang Xiaodong's name, fans across the country breathed a sigh of relief.
...
At 20:00 on the evening of June 14, the flames of the 2010 World Cup Asia's top 20 group matches resumed. The Chinese team faced Iraq at home in Tianjin.
"Due to the suspension of left back Sun Xiang and Hao Junmin's injury in the last game, head coach Gao Hongbo was forced to change his formation in this game."
"But it doesn't matter. Wang Xiaodong, whom we are familiar with, appears in the starting lineup."
"Listen, the cheers that suddenly rang out on the scene were for Wang Xiaodong!"
Although this one is injured and that one is suspended, the fans don't care at all.
As long as Wang Xiaodong appears in the starting lineup, the fans' hearts will settle down.
In today's starting lineup, Qu Bo and Gao Jiji partnered as the strikers, and Wang Xiaodong, Zheng Zhi, Xiao Zhanbo and Zhou Haibin partnered as the central defenders.
The four defenders are Xu Yundean, Zhang Yaokun, Feng Xiaoting and Cao Yang, and the goalkeeper is still Song Zhenyu.
It can be said that the lineup sent by Gao Hongbo is simply to deal with injuries and suspensions, and to fit as closely as possible to the lineup in the second half of the last game.
The purpose is clear.
Let Wang Xiaodong copy the rhythm of the previous game as much as possible, so as to gain an advantage after the start.
The opponent Iraq has only scored 1 point so far. After losing to Australia in the last game, Iraq has basically been eliminated.
Facing an opponent who has already been eliminated, Gao Hongbo is very careful, for fear of capsizing in the gutter.
In just two minutes, the Chinese team took the initiative on the court.
Perhaps it was the confidence he had accumulated after scoring in the last game, but Qu Bo almost opened the opponent's door when he touched the ball for the first time.
Next, Gao Jiji also hit the corner kicks taken by Zheng Zhi twice in a row, but they were just short of success.
Looking at the aggressive frontcourt, Gao Hongbo nodded constantly on the sidelines, satisfied with the performance of his players.
But in the 11th minute, after Iraq got a corner kick, the situation on the field suddenly changed.
Iraq seemed to have adapted to the rhythm of the national football team and began to frequently choose to break through from the right, creating many dangerous situations in a row.
In the 12th minute, Xiao Zhanbo and the opponent's forward were competing for the top position and temporarily left the field for treatment.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Iraq feinted to attack the left wing and suddenly crossed the center into the gap.
The two central defenders failed to defend in time, and the opponent's No. 15 and Throat fired furiously at the ball.
The ball hit the opponent Zhang Yaokun's hip and suddenly changed direction. Song Zhenyu, whose center of gravity had moved, could only watch the ball bounce into the goal.
Another goal scored first by the opponent?
Looking at the Iraqi substitutes cheering and celebrating on the other side, Gao Hongbo couldn't help but wipe a cold sweat on his head.
"Iraq is fighting for honor. It's not easy to fight. It's not easy to fight..."
In the coaching staff, someone whispered.
As if in response to these words, while the players were in shock, Iraqi forward Younis once again shot a cold arrow in front of the national football penalty area one minute after kick-off.
The ball passed Song Zhenyu's fingers hard and cunningly, and hit the post.
The next second, all the home fans closed their eyes in horror as they watched the opponent's striker shoot in front of the goal.
