After attending the departing ceremony, the Chinese team flew directly from Guangzhou to Sydney, Australia.

When they arrived at Sydney's Kingsford Smith International Airport, they were also greeted by a fan group composed of local Chinese and overseas Chinese, international students and employees of Chinese companies.

They gathered together, waved the five-star red flag, and sang "Singing the Motherland". This scene attracted foreign media to point the camera at them.

This scene is even more rare for Chinese players.

From the domestic red carpet to the welcome formation at Sydney International Airport, every scene is impacting the hearts of Chinese players.

On the one hand, they realize that the image of Chinese football is being improved, and on the other hand, they also realize that the burden on their shoulders is heavier.

The image of Chinese football is indeed gradually improving, which started after Gao Zheng joined the national team.

Previously, Chinese football was basically of the same level as "crossing the street rat", and belonged to the type of everyone who shouted and beat.

The Internet is also full of jokes about ridicule and attacks on Chinese football.

For example, a man secretly watched the Chinese team game at home alone. Because his family members were afraid of being scored, they lied that they were watching Japan *****.

For example, Messi came to China to participate in the Olympic football match. After returning, he learned a very Chinese cheering slogan and taught his Barcelona teammates. The cheering slogan was: "Xie Yalong was dismissed!"

For example, jokes like "Tan Wangsong and Zheng Zhihua, the successor of Tan Leg", are emerging one after another.

Chinese football seems to have become a toilet where everyone can curse, vent their emotions, then lift up their belts and turn around and leave. No one cares whether Chinese football is good or bad, they don’t care about the root cause behind the reason for cursing, and no one cares about how Chinese football develops. Scolding Chinese football seems to have become a very "political correct" thing in China.

Some people jokingly call the "Chinese Football Association" the only institution you don't have to bear any responsibility or risks after scolding you.

Of course, it is not a problem for ordinary people to be scolded like this, but Chinese football is indeed very bad. The team's performance is not good, player scandals occur frequently, and leaders and officials have many shady stories... Why shouldn't you be scolded?

Previously, the Chinese team's home games were basically placed in second- and third-tier cities. For example, Gao Zheng once returned to China and specifically felt that Ma'anshan came to play.

why is that?

It is because Chinese football has collapsed and its reputation has become bad, and no one wants to watch the Chinese team's game. If it were still in the first-tier cities in the past, I was afraid of losing one game, who would be willing to do such a loss-making business?

Therefore, the Chinese team's home court can only be like a rural grass-roots opera troupe, changing places, and looking for second- and third-tier cities, taking advantage of the freshness of no one watching the Chinese team's competitions there to attract local cities to host national team events.

And you have to leave after a game, and never stay for more. Because after a game, the freshness is over. Even if you want to stay and play another game, local governments may not be willing to stay. They feel that it is a waste of money and energy and it is thankless.

Hefei hosted the match between the Chinese team and the Thai team, but the Chinese team lost 1:5 to Thailand, which also damaged the image of the city of Hefei. At the same time, the anger of the fans after the game also made the Hefei police suffer.

Therefore, the Chinese national team that represents the highest level of Chinese football has no place to gain a foothold in China.

Who can blame this?

Of course, they can only blame themselves for their poor grades and poor image.

This situation gradually improved after Gao Zheng joined the national team.

For example, the last warm-up match was originally planned to be held in Chenzhou, a city below Hunan. This is not a very interesting warm-up match, because the opponent is too weak.

But because he heard that Gao Zheng was sure to participate in this game, Changsha, the president of Hunan Province, snatched the hosting power from Chenzhou. How could this happen to the Chinese national team before? The national team was a plague god, and everyone was afraid to avoid it. Now the national team has gradually become a hot commodity.

It is completely conceivable that if the Chinese team performed well in the Asian Cup, the various warm-up matches of the national team and the 2018 Russian World Cup Asian qualifiers, China's first-tier cities may have to break the head and compete for the hosting rights.

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At Sydney International Airport, Gao Zheng became the focus of media pursuit. He was surrounded by Chinese and foreign journalists and could not move forward in an instant. However, when other teammates of the national team walked past him, no one paid attention to him. Only a few Chinese domestic media went to interview them without getting close to Gao Zheng.

As the number one star of the Chinese team and the most famous and most valuable player in this Asian Cup, it is normal for him to enjoy such treatment, and other internationals do not think there is anything wrong with it.

And it is completely predictable that during the entire Asian Cup, as long as the Chinese team remains in the Asian Cup, Gao Zheng will always enjoy such a treatment that can be held by everyone.

You should know that in the Asian Cup promotional pictures posted by the AFC on its official website, Gao Zheng is in the C position, standing alone in the middle and front.

In addition, in the Asian Cup promotional video produced by the AFC, Gao Zheng is also the player with the longest out-of-country and the most shots.

The second place is the Korean star, currently playing for Leverkusen's forward Son Heung-min.

The competition and competition between the two of them is also a major highlight of this Asian Cup.

Although there are super stars like Gao Zheng, foreign media are not very optimistic about the prospects of the Chinese team in the Asian Cup this season. They both have super stars, but the Chinese team and the South Korean team are completely different. Putting aside the two leading stars, the South Korean team is much stronger than the Chinese team in terms of strength, which is the decisive factor.

The AFC said that the Chinese team's goal is to win the championship, but none of the foreign media took the AFC's words seriously. After all, their article was even wrongly matched with the picture. While they said that the Chinese team won the championship, they also included a photo of the Chinese team losing to Iraq 1:3. There are as many as seven people in this Asian Cup that were not selected for the 23-man roster...

You can tell a little about the odds given by the bookmaker:

Australia, Japan, South Korea and Iran are the four most favored teams.

The Chinese team's odds are only ranked seventh in the championship.

The reporters would not ask Gao Zheng whether the Chinese team could win the championship, because this question is too stupid. What they care more about is the group stage game.

After all, the Chinese team's grouping this time can be regarded as the death group. They are separated from the fourth-ranked team in Asia, Saudi Arabia, and the tenacious North Korean team. No matter which opponent is, they are not easy to chew. Even with Gao Zheng's blessing, with the overall strength of the Chinese team, it is still a bit worrying.

After all, the Chinese team has not qualified in the group since the Asian Cup twice in a row. The last time they qualified in the group was the Asian Cup held at their doorstep in 2004.

Facing the reporters' question, Gao Zheng answered very simply: "Our goal is to return to Brisbane."

The Chinese team played in Brisbane in the first two group matches, and the third group match with North Korea will be moved to Canberra. If the Chinese team can qualify in the group, then they will face the problem of where to play the knockout round.

If the group is second, they don't have to change places and play the quarterfinals directly in Canberra.

Only when the group is the first, we need to return to Brisbane.
Chapter completed!