Just two days after Atletico Madrid was eliminated from the Copa del Rey, the Chinese team ushered in their last match in this Asian Cup.

In the finals of the third and fourth place, the opponent of the UAE.

As a West Asian team, the UAE is one of the few West Asian teams that can have an advantage in the history of confrontation.

After all, Saudi Arabia and Iran, traditional Western Asian teams, are the victims of Chinese football.

However, in the UAE, the Chinese team is still a bit confident.

In history, the Chinese adult national team has fought with the UAE eleven times, with a record of five wins, four draws and two losses, with an advantage in the results.

The last time the Chinese team played against the UAE was in a friendly match in 2011, when the Chinese team defeated the UAE 2:1.

The last time the Chinese team lost to the UAE was dated back to the friendly match in 1993, with the Chinese team losing 1:2.

Putting aside the friendly matches, in the official match, the Chinese team and the UAE have played six times in total, with the Chinese team winning four wins, one draw and one loss, and they have an absolute advantage.

In addition, this is not the first time that the Chinese team has played against the UAE in the Asian Cup.

The last time the two teams met in the Asian Cup was exactly the same as the current occasion, and they were also in the third and fourth place finals.

It was in the 1992 Asian Cup in Japan. The Chinese team met with the UAE in the third and fourth place finals. Finally, after a penalty shootout, the Chinese team defeated the UAE and won the third place in that Asian Cup.

Thirteen years later, the two teams met again.

Today's Chinese team has Gao Zheng, and Cai Hui and Zheng Zhi, who were suspended before, have also returned to the lineup. The main players of the Chinese team have all made their debut and strive to win the third place.

Although the third place is not the best result of the Chinese team in the Asian Cup, since the 2004 Asian Cup, the Chinese team has not even been able to pass the first round of the knockout round, let alone get the third place.

For today's Chinese football, it is already a great achievement to win the third place in the Asian Cup.

Although they have Gao Zheng, no matter how strong Gao Zheng is, he will never turn the Chinese team into a top Asian team.

Just like Portugal has a superstar like Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal has not even won the European Cup, and has to play in the playoffs with Sweden when qualifying for the World Cup.

So a superstar doesn't mean everything.

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There are still many people watching the match between the Chinese team and the UAE, and the attention is very high, but the game itself is not as exciting as the match between the Chinese team and the South Korean team.

The Chinese team took the lead in the 16th minute, and Gao Zheng was still the one who scored the goal for the Chinese team.

This is his eighth goal in this Asian Cup. Although he will definitely win the best scorer in this Asian Cup, no one on the scorer list can threaten him, but he did not stop him.

Although the UAE equalized the score in the 28th minute.

But the second half completely entered Gao Zheng's performance time.

He scored twice in the 51st minute, helping the Chinese team to overtake the score again.

In the 57th minute, the score was rewritten to 3:1.

This score has been maintained until midfield.

When the referee blew the whistle to the end of the game, He Ping shouted: "The game ends! The Chinese team defeated the UAE 3-1 in the third and fourth place finals and won the third place in this Asian Cup. Congratulations to the right young men in China! Anyway, this result is already the only honor that Chinese football can achieve in the darkest era!"

Then the TV broadcast gave Gao Zheng a close-up shot. Looking at Gao Zheng who appeared in the close-up shot, He Ping sighed: "Gao Zheng made great contributions to the reason why the Chinese team can achieve such a result. After playing this third and fourth-place semi-final, he will bid farewell to the national team tomorrow morning and flew back to Spain alone. Atletico Madrid was just eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey, highlighting the importance of Gao Zheng. As an important player that both the club and the national team cannot do without, I hope Gao Zheng can rest well, not have injuries, and be healthy. After all, starting from June, the Chinese team's 2018 Asian qualifiers will begin. At that time, we need a healthy Gao Zheng and take care of our health!"

Xu Yang smiled and said: "In fact, since the Asian Cup, Gao Zheng has been contributing to the World Cup qualifiers. We finally won the third place in the Asian Cup, so that the Chinese team can participate in the draw of the World Cup top 40 as a seed team."

He Ping and Xu Yang looked at each other in the commentary seat, and both knew what the other party meant, but they did not say what they were inside because they were afraid that these words would not work.

That is, with the performance of the Chinese team in the Asian Cup this time, and the rest of the time will be well adjusted, and come up with a more mature tactic, firmly taking Gao Zheng as the core, there may be surprises in the World Cup qualifiers.

Maybe we can really reach the World Cup finals again this time?

They were so eager, but they didn't dare to talk about this topic.

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Although he did not reach the final, he finally won the third place. Coupled with the victory against the South Korean team, the third-place Chinese team was warmly welcomed by thousands of fans at the airport when they returned to Beijing.

In addition to fans, there are countless media and leaders.

This scene is often seen in the news after the Olympic Games are over.

What is the virtue of Chinese football? Have you ever enjoyed such treatment?

So almost every Chinese player was obviously uncomfortable when he saw this scene.

Someone even yelled: "Are they here to welcome Gao Zheng?"

Wu Lei, who was right next to him, didn't see who was saying this, but this sentence made him lose his mind.

In fact, the media has long reported that Gao Zheng would not return to China with the team because he was going to rush back to "savior". Without him, Atletico Madrid was just eliminated in the Copa del Rey and will face a Madrid city derby next.

So their team and Gao Zheng broke up at the airport in Australia. Gao Zheng flew back to Spain alone, and they took the opportunity to return to China collectively.

When they were at the airport, Gao Zheng left first and they left later, so they also sent Gao Zheng a trip.

In the terminal, everyone said goodbye to Gao Zheng collectively. Gao Zheng waved to them, then turned around and pulled his suitcase into the security check passage.

Wu Lei still clearly remembers that scene: beside him, the teammates of the national team were laughing and discussing how to play after returning to China. It was very lively and won the third place, everyone was very happy. But Wu Lei looked at Gao Zheng's back and suddenly felt that the figure was very lonely.

He went to Europe alone, and what he was waiting for was not a holiday, but a fierce and cruel La Liga.

I can't rest at all and I'm very tired.

But Wu Lei was a little envious of Gao Zheng.

Because he went to another new world that was completely different from domestic football, where there were the best players in the world, the most technical competitions in the world, there was huge pressure, but there was also huge room for improvement, and there was also glory.

If possible, who doesn't want to play football in Europe?

Perhaps except for those who are not strong enough, they will feel that they are good at staying in China to play football, after all, they earn more than they earn in Europe.

But as long as you still have a pursuit of football, you should go to Europe.

He thought of what Gao Zheng said to him before leaving, and he once again emphasized that he hoped Wu Lei would play football in Europe because "at least he had a companion."

Not to mention, if he also went to Europe to play football, now the two of them fly to Europe together, and they really have a companion.

When you go to Europe, you will miss the grand welcome ceremony at Capital International Airport today. Look at these enthusiastic fans and reporters, and leaders, and laughing... What a rare scene.

But if you can really play football in Europe, if you miss it, just miss it.

This idea came to Wu Lei's mind.
Chapter completed!