Godfather of national football

Chapter 219 List of 23 National People's Congress
At the beginning of the new year, Li Guo finally announced the 23-man squad for Qatar.

Goalkeepers - Wang Dalei, Yang Zhi, Zeng Cheng.

Defense line - Mu Fei, Zhou Dun, Yin Di, Geng Chong, Feng Xiaoting, Sun Xiang, Zhang Linpeng.

Midfielders - Fang Suo, Shen Rui, Zheng Zhi, Chen Deng, Hao Junmin, Qu Bo, Lin Zhijian, Li Weifeng, Shao Jiayi.

Forward line - Pu Shuang, Ji Ke, Gao Lin, Yu Dabao.

After announcing the roster, it is usual to accept questions from the media. Compared with the 23 players in the World Cup in South Africa, this time the roster has changed a lot, so the outside world has a lot of doubts. The current Chinese team is also highly anticipated.

First of all, everyone is most concerned about Chen Gelin. As the biggest hero of the Chinese team in the past three years, the first brother of the striker, Chen Gelin's absence this time is naturally the biggest focus.

"According to media reports, Chen Gelin should already be able to participate in the competition. Why did Director Li abandon him?"

Li Guo smiled slightly. He knew that this question must be asked, "We know that Van Basten and Ronaldo were eager to come back and caused irreparable losses in the end. It doesn't mean that a football player can play after passing the medical examination."

"Chen Gelin must return to his previous level in the league before I will reconsider recruiting him into the national team."

"In addition, the goal of the national football team is Brazil, not Qatar, so I cherish players like Chen Gelin very much."

The second reporter asked, "Director Li, we know that every time you announce the roster, you will "pick up" some new players. This time we noticed that you did not know where you "picked up" some international players. Can you briefly introduce them?"

After the question was asked, there was a burst of laughter at the scene. Everyone looked at Li Guo, waiting for Li Guo's answer.

Li Guo waved the microphone and said: "It is conservatively estimated that there are hundreds of millions of Chinese overseas Chinese. We know that the Water Cube was built with donations from Chinese people all over the world. Overseas Chinese are a very important asset. There are many talents in them. We didn't pay attention to them before. Starting from me, the National Football Team began to look for overseas football talents."

"In addition, I really like your use of the word "picked up". Indeed, before I discovered them, they were indeed unknown, so I think this is a win-win process. The players are popular, and the national football team is also stronger."

Li Guo pointed to the next reporter, but the press officer reminded Li Guo that he needed to introduce a few new players.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me introduce briefly. Chen Deng works as a defensive midfielder, Pu Shuang works as a striker, and Lin Zhijian works as a right midfielder."

"It would take too much time to introduce all three, so let me focus on Lin Zhijian. His German pronunciation is very similar to that of Ram, and his position on the court is also very similar to that of Ram. Simply put, he can play on the entire right, right back, right midfielder, and attacking midfielder."

After speaking, Li Guo looked at the press officer, "This time I can be next."

The next reporter asked a very serious question, "If it is said that Chen Gelin lost the election because of his health, then did Sun Jihai and Dewey lose it because they were too old?"

China is a country that talks about emotions, so this is a must-ask, but Li Guo's answer is very simple-yes!

Everyone knows the reason behind it, but usually they will be more tactful, such as talking about their contribution first, and then find an excuse, but Li Guo didn't say anything, just answered simply - yes!

The scene was stunned, and Li Guo answered himself, "Football players are sports for more than 10 years. Does Jihai still play for the national team when he is 40 or 50 years old? This is just a normal replacement. I don't think there is anything wrong with it."

This time, without waiting for the press officer to remind him, Li Guo pointed to the next reporter, "You!"

"Director Li, my question is the most vulgar and the most unavoidable, so what is your goal this time?"

"Champions! The current national team is a failure if they don't win the championship in Asia."

Everyone at the scene seemed to have got a satisfactory answer at the same time, and they nodded silently at the same time. These are the questions that everyone is most concerned about. After a few questions, the press conference ended.

*****
The last important thing before going to Qatar is to announce the latest jersey, which was jointly released by Adidas and the National Football Team.

The style of the home jersey has not changed much, but more breathable and environmentally friendly materials are used. It is said that the material of the jersey is the plastic bottle that we usually produce after drinking water.

The away jersey has changed a lot, from the original white to yellow. The biggest change of the other two jerseys is on the player's right chest, and this opinion was specifically requested by Li Guo.

Li Guo asked the right chest of the jersey to create a faint gradient color, and the pattern formed is a dragon.

This is a very high requirement for Adidas, because with the current technology, it is easy to make any pattern, but Li Guo's requirements are looming, so it is difficult. To what extent is it qualified?
For this reason, Adidas set up a special technical team two months ago, and every time a finished product was finished, it was sent to Li Guo for viewing. A total of 10 models were made, which finally met Li Guo's requirements. In the end, Adidas' designers lamented that Li Guo was the most difficult customer to serve in history.

But when the "Dragon Robe" was released, all the hard work was worth it, and the most eye-catching thing was of course the looming real dragon on the jersey.

At the press conference, Li Guo himself also put on a jersey with the number 100 on the back and two "ten", which is what the Chinese call perfect.

"Director Li, I heard that you designed the dragon robe?"

Li Guo patted the staff of Adidas aside, "I provided a little advice, and the biggest credit goes to them."

Text reporters surrounded Li Guo, while on the other side Geng Chong and Mu Fei were being photographed by photographers wearing the latest jerseys.

After the press conference, Adidas's official website put the latest Chinese team jersey on the shelves. Adidas also adopted the media's term, called "Dragon Robe", and this creative jersey was sold out quickly.

The scalpers have the goods in hand, but the price is very high, five times the price on the official website. For this reason, Adidas was scolded by Chinese fans, so that the company asked the supplier to rush to produce a batch of dragon robes.

But all of this had nothing to do with Li Guo and the national team he led. When the jersey became a hot topic, Li Guo and the national team players were already on the chartered flight to Qatar.

(End of this chapter)