Before the start of the game, a local reporter in the United Arab Emirates came to Lippi and wanted to interview Lippi.

Lippi thought about it and did not refuse the Emirati journalist, but the Emirati reporter's question startled him.

The Emirati journalist asked: "May I ask Coach Lippi, what do you think is the biggest obstacle for the Chinese men's football team to win the championship? ”

Win?

Neither Lippi nor the officials of the Chinese Football Association have considered this issue.

Lippijan did not expect that a journalist from the UAE would ask such a question. Do the Emirati think that the Chinese team can win the championship? Or is this guy sarcastically mocking the Chinese team?

Lippi looked at the UAE reporter carefully, until the reporter in the UAE was embarrassed, and Lippi didn't see any sarcasm on the other party's face, and Lippi was sure that this person really thought so.

Lippi smiled bitterly, he said: "The strength of our Chinese team is not particularly strong now, and it is only a third-rate team in Asia, our goal of this Asian Cup is mainly to train the team and prepare for the future, of course, we also hope to qualify from the group and fight for the top four." ”

The UAE reporter was surprised by Lippi's answer, he didn't expect Lippi to say that the Asian Cup is just a training team? Then the Chinese Football Association is too extravagant!

However, the UAE reporter has learned that the current Chinese team is indeed very young, but he does not think that the current Chinese team is the third rate in Asia, he feels that Lippi is too modest, because the Chinese have always been modest and unscored.

And after reading the news, the head coach of Qatar said with a smile: "This is incredible!" How can the strength of the Chinese team be the third-rate in Asia? Have you ever seen an Asian third-rate who can beat Italy? Have you ever met an East Asian champion who is a third-rate Asian champion? Hehe, this is the smoke bomb deliberately released by the Chinese, and we must pay attention to it. ”

And the head coach of Uzbekistan, Bertiev, who is in the same group as the Chinese team, also said: "Mr. Lippi's remarks are a joke at all, I don't think the Chinese team is third-rate in Asia!" They are very strong and will be our biggest threat, I will not underestimate them because of the words of the Chinese coach, they are a very good team and we have to give it our all! ”

And the AFC officials also think that this is the modesty of the Chinese, and they used this sentence on the board to introduce China: "Lippi helps the Chinese team recast glory!" ”

Obviously, the AFC also believes that the Chinese team is a very strong team, and they are also a strong contender for the championship of this Asian Cup.

Of course, in terms of the odds offered by major bookmakers to win the championship, the Chinese men's football team is behind Japan, South Korea, Australia and Iran.

However, the odds of the Chinese men's football team winning the championship are still in front of the host teams such as the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Qatar, ranking fifth in this tournament.

And many people think that the Chinese men's football team is very strong, especially when they have a super striker who plays in a Serie A powerhouse, such a Chinese team is definitely not to be underestimated.

At this time, the Chinese men's football team is so low-key, it is naturally considered modest by foreign media, and even many people use the sleeping Oriental sleeping lion to describe the current Chinese team.

At this time, the players of the Chinese men's football team did not have the heart to think about these issues, and now they are preparing for the last teaching match before the upcoming Asian Cup.

In this teaching match, the opponent of the Chinese men's football team is also the old rival Iraqi team, the strength of the Iraqi team has been declining in recent years, but it still has warm-up value.

In the Middle East, Iraqi football is a traditional powerhouse with a reputation as a lion.

And in the 2007 Asian Cup, they went out as mourners, but in the end they unexpectedly made it all the way to the final, defeating the Saudi team to win the Asian Cup.

In addition, Iraq also reached the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, but they lost all three games in the group, and they ended up in the penultimate place of the World Cup that year.

For the Chinese men's football team, the Iraqi team is no stranger to it, and there are many grievances between the two sides.

For this game, many Dragon Team fans are paying attention, and they all want to see how the Chinese team is doing now.

On the opponent's side, I also want to find out some news, especially the teams in the same group as the Chinese team and the Iraqi team, and I very much hope to get the news of the two teams.

As the name suggests, they don't want their opponents to collect information, so this game will be played in a closed state, and no reporters and bystanders will be allowed to enter.

For this game, the head coach of the Chinese team, Lippi, and the head coach of the Iraqi team will not take it very seriously, they will definitely not die, they just use this game to find the state of their players, so that the players can adjust their state to the best mode, and prepare for the upcoming Asian Cup.

Therefore, the Chinese men's football team and Iraq are obviously not going to send their absolute main force, and they will definitely confuse their opponents.

After all, the opponent is also a team in the Asian Cup, who knows if they will meet in the knockout round?

At this time, it is necessary to keep each other's hand.

The day before the game, the head coach of the Chinese team, Lippi, told his players that this game should be played as much as possible, let go of the play, and do not have the pressure of results.

Sure enough, in the second day's game, the head coach of the Chinese men's football team, Lippi, did not send his absolute main force at all, the goalkeeper position was the third goalkeeper Wang Dalei, and the four defenders Fu Huan, Ren Hang, Zhao Yuhao and Deng Hanwen.

In the midfield, Wang Yanchao, Zhao Xuri, Yin Hongbo and Hao Junmin were dispatched, and on the front line, a combination of Gao Lin and Xiao Zhi was dispatched.

Jiang Chen did not appear in the starting lineup, and the head coach of the Iraqi team, after seeing the lineup of the men's football team, he naturally knew what Lippi was playing.

They did not send out the Iraqi team, their main lineup, their number one star in the team, Rahim did not start and sat on the bench.

After the start of the game, the players of the Chinese men's football team were very relaxed, playing very freehand, and they suppressed the Iraqi team, which made Lippi very satisfied, but the head coach of the Iraqi team was a little surprised.

(End of chapter)