Godfather of national football

Chapter 244 Top of Asia ([-])

The day before the game, the AFC officially announced the referee for the Asian Cup final, the Asian Golden Whistle from Uzbekistan, Irmatov.

At the same time, the press conference before the match was also going on. Li Guo of the Chinese team and Zaccheroni of the Japanese team both attended the press conference.

Alberto Zaccheroni, the famous Italian coach has coached the top three in Serie A - Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus.A brilliant career, he took over from the original coach Takeshi Okada after last year's World Cup.

Both teams reached the round of 16 in last year's World Cup in South Africa, so the upcoming Asian Cup final can be described as a contest at the World Cup quarter-final level.

This has naturally become a hot topic in the media, Li Guo's answer to this question is very easy.

"Shouldn't the biggest continent in the world have two strong teams?"

Zaccheroni expressed very modestly that he was honored to be able to coach an Asian team, "20 years ago, when I was still in Serie A, I didn't even know that there was football in Asia, but now I see that Asian football is developing very fast. There are many talented players in Japan and China."

The reporter who asked the next question asked: "A very vulgar, but unavoidable question is about revenge."

Li Guo smiled and said first: "A few days before the game, I was reading the newspaper every day. It was like a Hollywood drama. Everyone was warming up. It seemed like Hamlet. The Prince's Revenge was going to be staged. I understand it very well. This is also the influence of football."

Zaccheroni smiled knowingly and nodded with a smile.

Li Guo continued: "But I'm afraid you may be disappointed. Generally, finals are not too exciting. There may be one goal, or even one goal. There will be a penalty shootout." Then Li Guo looked at Zaccheroni, "I am the same as Alberto. I think we care more about the result, who can touch the gold cup."

Zaccheroni went on to say: "I agree with what Li Guo said, I just want to win the championship, and I don't care about other things."

Question from the next reporter.

"The candidates for the best player of this Asian Cup are Zhou Dun of the Chinese team, Keisuke Honda of the Japanese team, and Cahill of Australia. Public opinion generally believes that the final champion team will produce the best player. What do you think?"

This time it was Zaccheroni's turn to say, "I'm from Italy, so maybe I prefer good defenders, so I vote for Zhou Dun."

The reporters in the audience chuckled, then looked at Li Guo, waiting for Li Guo's answer.

Li Guo said: "I really want to be polite and vote for Keisuke Honda, but I can't. I really like Zhou Dun so much. I think he is a great defense leader like Baresi."

Everyone felt that Li Guo was a bit bragging. Although Zhou Dun was really strong, he was not at the level of Baresi, but Li Guo was outspoken, so everyone got used to it.

The next question is about the game itself.

"Both teams have a 4231 formation. Will it be the same tomorrow? Do you have any specific tactical ideas?"

Zaccheroni first said: "Tomorrow's game may be as difficult as that of the South Korean team. I think a solid defense is the most important thing, and you can't concede the ball first."

Li Guo said: "Actually, 4231 is only reported to the organizing committee. During the actual match, the formation will change, such as two full-backs going up, so we cannot say that our style of play is the same as that of the Japanese team."

"But one thing I agree with is that you can't concede the ball first. In the final, whoever concedes the ball first will be passive and may lose the game."

"Finally, I hope you two can predict the score."

Zaccheroni showed a smirk at the corner of his mouth: "2 to 0." Everyone was also happy. Zaccheron was modest for a long time, and finally revealed it. It seems that in his heart, it may not be difficult to beat the Chinese team.

"1 to 0," Li Guo said.

Because Li Guo remembered that in his previous life, the final of the 2011 Asian Cup was decided by a ball.

*****
On the day of the finals, Doha returned to dryness and heat. This is what Doha should be like. Big names gathered in the stands, and the camera swept over them, blinding everyone’s eyes. The attendance rate of this game was also the highest, even surpassing the opening match in Qatar.

Players from both sides have already stood in the player tunnel, without greeting each other, but they will glance at each other from time to time.

To be honest, the two teams have completed the replacement of the lineup, and now the players of the two teams have basically never played against each other, and they are both unfamiliar and expecting.

Under the leadership of the referee Irmatov, players from both sides slowly walked out of the player channel, and on a transparent table in front of them was the Asian Cup trophy.

Players from both sides couldn't help but look at it when they passed by the Asian Cup. It was the first time for both sides to be so close to the Asian Cup.

Li Weifeng looked greedily at the Asian Cup, Li Guo patted him behind him, "Big head, do you blame me?"

Li Weifeng shook his head, "Chen Deng is indeed more suitable for starting."

It turned out that at the last moment before the game, Li Guo decided that Chen Deng would replace Li Weifeng in the starting lineup. This was a difficult decision, and Li Weifeng also expressed his respect.

Looking at the Asian Cup in the distance from the bench, the big head remembered the final 7 years ago, but he didn't say anything.

The starting lineup of the Chinese team for this game is:
Goalkeeper - Wang Dalei.

Defense line - Mu Fei, Zhou Dun, Yin Di, Geng Chong.

Back waist——Fang Suo, Chen Deng.

Avant-garde line - Lin Zhijian, Zheng Zhi, Shen Rui.

Single striker - Ji Ke.

Compared with the last game, the only change is that Li Weifeng did not start, but the big head is still on the squad.

The starting lineup of the Japanese team is exactly the same as the last game,
Goalkeeper - Eiji Kawashima

Defense line - Atsuto Uchida, Maya Yoshida, Yasuyuki Konno, Yuto Nagatomo

Double midfielders-Endo Yasuhito, Hasebe Makoto

Avant-garde line——Honda Keisuke, Kagawa Shinji, Maeda Ryoichi
Forward line - Shinji Okazaki

After the players from both sides stood still, the ceremony of playing the national anthem began. The first was the Chinese national anthem. Like the previous game, the Chinese players stood shoulder to shoulder and sang the national anthem together.

The national anthem in the stadium was also the loudest today, because the Chinese fans in the stands also came the most, with a total of 1 people.

When the national anthem was sung to the end, the Doha fans at the scene felt the shock.

After the national anthems of the two sides were played, a side was chosen before the game. Zhou Dun represented the Chinese team and the Japanese team to choose a side. In the end, the Chinese team was lucky, and the Chinese team kicked off first in the first half.

Zhou Dun returned to his own half and formed a circle with his teammates. Everyone encouraged each other, "Win the championship and go home for the New Year," Zhou Dun shouted.

Everyone shouted in unison, "Win the championship and go home for the New Year!"

(End of this chapter)