Chapter 751: Four Wins in Five Matches: China's Best-Ever Start to Asian Qualifiers

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Tang Ye scores directly from a free kick and provides two assists; in the 5th round of the Asian qualifiers, the Chinese national team defeats Oman 3-0 at home to secure their fourth victory in the final 12-team stage, with Escrivá's renewed attempt at a 4-4-2 formation proving effective. (378,923 comments)

Oman's poor performance made this match somewhat less entertaining to watch.

But judging solely by the 3-0 result, the Chinese players' performance was impeccable.

Especially the point represented by Wu Lei.

At the start of the final 12-team stage, many fans were saying Wu Lei had not demonstrated the capability expected of a Fan Fan Dejia player.

But after this match, far fewer people are saying that.

Their King Wu was just a hair's breadth away from scoring twice himself!

"Boooo!!!"

"Trash! Trash!"

"Liar coach!"

Ivanković was met with furious booing from the Omani fans.

Oman is currently third in Group B; the fans are brimming with confidence, believing they can hold onto third place, eventually secure a spot in the intercontinental playoffs, and advance to the World Cup through those playoffs.

As a result, in this match, Ivan directly dumped a massive load of crap on them.

Losing is understandable, after all, both China and Japan are strong, and today was China's home ground.

But getting beaten without fighting back is simply too outrageous, isn't it?

"Blanco, do you not know how to attack?"

"Boooo!!"

"..."

Ivanković looked somewhat helpless; he could only pretend to hear nothing, walking toward the tunnel on his own, followed by two Omani players.

"..."

The press conference room.

Perhaps due to his age, Ivanković's expression appeared extremely calm, as if the match score were 0-0 rather than 0-3.

Having been thoroughly crushed, one must admit fault; Ivan was lectured by reporters at the press conference.

Fortunately, Omani fans could not enter the press room, otherwise the Croatian would likely have been scolded even more severely.

Truly pitiable!

"Blanco, we know that between 2009 and 2011 you coached Shandong Shandong Luneng and won the Chinese Super League title in 2010."

?

Ivanković paused for a moment, unable to comprehend why the reporter was investigating his Chinese Super League résumé.

However, the reporter soon provided the answer.

"Between 2009 and 2011, Tang Ye happened to be receiving youth training courses at the Shandong Luneng Football School; as far as we know, Shandong Luneng's youth players frequently visited the first team for tours and training camps. Did you ever meet Tang Ye at that time? Or rather, do you still remember?"

"..."

Ivanković narrowed his eyes and asked in return.

"Hmm... do Shandong Luneng's youth players come to the first team base for visits?"

The reporter was somewhat surprised: "As far as we understand, that is indeed the case."

"..."

Ivanković shook his head gently: "Well, actually, I can't quite remember either."

Ivan couldn't remember?

Very well.

After all, ten years have passed; when Ivan coached Shandong Luneng, Tang Ye was at most a U13 player.

A U13 youth player indeed isn't worth being remembered by a first-team head coach.

"However, I do remember that when I was at Shandong Luneng, there were a few youth players who performed quite well, said to have potential for the top five leagues, able to play against 13-year-olds at just 10 years old. Their name was something like... Zhang?"

Ivanković seemed to be struggling to recall something.

The assistant coach beside him gently patted him and whispered: "It's TY; the youth training staff told you about TY back then, the one playing U13 at age 10."

"..."

"Oh!"

Ivanković realized, shaking his head repeatedly: "I remembered incorrectly, sorry; that was TY."

Very well.

Actually, Ivanković did know about Tang Ye, but this Croatian seemed to have remembered Tang Ye's name incorrectly.

"As expected."

The reporter's heart leaped with joy, and the cameras clicked away furiously once again.

Knowing Tang Ye had been somewhat famous at Shandong Luneng back then, they guessed the head coach should know about him.

Although it was a low-probability event, it appears to have indeed happened.

"Blanco, if you could return to ten years ago, what would you do?"

The reporter smiled.

The thing Chinese people love most has arrived.

Rebirth!

And it must be rebirth with memories intact!

"This..."

Topics concerning rebirth truly put the old man in a difficult spot.

"Based on my impression, TY's performance back then was outstanding; I remember he played as a defensive midfielder."

"Cough, cough!"

The assistant coach beside him reminded, "It's not the same person; ty has always played as an attacking midfielder, he has never played as a defensive midfielder."

"Oh, sorry."

Got it wrong again.

It seems Ivankovic is not a good candidate for rebirth, since he cannot remember events from a few years ago; even if he were reborn, he would likely achieve little!

"Hmm... if you let me go back ten years now, actually I couldn't do much; even knowing ty would win the Ballon d'Or in the future and have a market value of 300 million euros, he was only in his teens back then and couldn't play in the Chinese Super League."

Click, click!

Just as Ivankovic said.

Even reborn with memories, this Croatian was actually very passive.

He must meet Tang Ye, but not too early.

You need to control a perfect timing.

Roughly the stage between 16 and 18 years old.

As long as you meet Tang Ye during this stage, you must take off immediately.

However, to meet Tang Ye during these three golden years, you must possess luck comparable to that of a protagonist!

Therefore, luck has always been something extremely important in human history.

You cannot be born too early, nor too late.

You must be born at just the right time, so that when you need help, you happen to meet the person who can help you.

Right, Sitting Like.

Front-page headline of "Sports Weekly"—4 wins and 1 draw in 5 rounds, totaling 13 points, the Chinese men's football team creates the best start in the team's history for the Asian Preliminaries Round of 12!

2022 Qatar World Cup Asian Qualifiers Round of 12 Group B standings (as of the end of the 5th round of group matches):

1. Japan, 13 points.

2. China, 13 points.

3. Oman, 6 points.

4. Saudi Arabia, 5 points.

5. United Arab Emirates, 3 points.

6. Vietnam, 2 points.

Speaking of which, the Japanese team's performance in this edition of the Asian Preliminaries has been truly excellent; apart from some narrow escapes in the first two matches, the rest were basically performances scoring above 90 points. And this outstanding performance allows them to still lead the former Asian Cup champions, the Chinese team, after the conclusion of the 5th round.

Of course, Japan's lead is not large; the gap with the Chinese team is merely one goal difference, reaching a point where a slight lapse in concentration would result in being nipped at the heels.

Setting aside the battle for first place between China and Japan, let us comprehensively analyze the point gap between the top two and the third place.

13 points versus 6 points, a difference of 7 points.

If this win rate can be maintained, at least maintaining a perfect record before the next encounter with Japan, then the Chinese team will have a very high probability of securing a World Cup ticket in advance!

Tang Ye: Unwilling to reveal his Ballon d'Or voting choice in advance, stating he will vote for the player he deems most suitable.

Sky Sports commentator Jansen: The 2022 Qatar World Cup will be the third time this century the Chinese team participates in the World Cup, and they will achieve the best result in the team's history at the Qatar World Cup.

Ten Hag: Escrivá is a qualified coach, that much is certain; but as for whether he is a qualified human being, I find it difficult to make an evaluation.

Ten Hag's evaluation of Escrivá sparked discussion among fans.

These two coaches are now trapped in a bizarre cycle: when Escrivá prepares to stop mocking Ten Hag, he receives mockery from Ten Hag; and when Ten Hag prepares to stop mocking Escrivá, he similarly receives mockery from the latter.

Both of these guys belong to the type of talent who refuses to submit to anyone.

Since a vicious cycle has formed, terminating this dispute has become a very difficult matter.

"..."

"I don't know what to say."

In the hotel, Escrivá looked at the news content displayed on his phone screen, momentarily at a loss for words.

"What's wrong?"

Marti leaned his head over.

Discovering it was news related to Ten Hag, Marti quickly assumed an expression of obviousness.

"What is with that expression of yours?"