While the European mainstream media was discussing the draw for the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Iroh had already boarded a flight to Shanghai, where the Chinese team will play the fourth round of the 2010 South Africa World Cup Asian Top 10 Qualifiers with Uzbekistan at the Hongkou Football Stadium in Shanghai at the end of the month.

In the past three rounds of the group stage, the Chinese team won all three games and accumulated nine points, scored ten goals without conceding a goal, that is to say, with 10 goal difference, not only the points lead in the entire Group A, but also far ahead of the other four teams, which means that the Chinese team's prospects for qualification are very good, and the enthusiasm of domestic fans is also rising.

It is said that the original minimum ticket price of 50 yuan for this World Cup qualifier has risen to 2,000 yuan a ticket, and as the date of the game gets closer and closer, the ticket price has room to rise.

In this World Cup qualifier that occupies the right time and place, the Chinese team, as the captain of the national team, made great contributions in the game, scoring a goal and an assist, helping the national team win Uzbekistan 3:1 at home, thus becoming the national team with the best results in the 2010 South Africa World Cup Asian Top 10 Qualifiers - four consecutive wins.

At the same time, in another qualifying match, the Japanese team played the North Korean team away and played a draw, which means that the Chinese team's four wins have been 5 points ahead of the Japanese team that ranks second in four games, 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, making the Chinese team return to the World Cup stage after eight years.

The CCTV morning newspaper the next morning also specifically mentioned the fourth round of the World Cup qualifiers: "At eight o'clock last night in Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium, the 2010 South Africa World Cup Asian Top Ten Group A fourth round group stage, the Chinese team with captain Ailuo's shot and pass, helped the national team defeat the opponent 3:1 at home, thus winning four consecutive wins in the group stage, and at the same time in the other group stage, the Japanese team drew 0:0 with the North Korean team away, so the Chinese team's points advantage reached 5 points......"

The 7 p.m. prime-time news broadcast also gave 29 seconds to report, and it has to be said that with the increase in the positive energy of Chinese football, national television has also slowly paid attention to the national team's performance in the World Cup qualifiers.

However, this has a lot to do with the attention of relevant national leaders to football as a sport.

Under normal circumstances, only Iello's team won the Champions League or he won the European Ballon d'Or and the personal honor of the World Footballer of the Year will be broadcast, but now it is different, national leaders are advocating to pay attention to Chinese football, and national television is naturally in place as soon as possible.

There is no surprise, and the reports on Chinese domestic websites, TV stations, and newspapers all revolve around the Chinese team's trip to the World Cup qualifiers.

Of course, at this time, it was also reported in advance that four days later, the Chinese team would go to the fifth round of Group A of the World Cup Asian Qualifiers in West Asia and challenge Bahrain away.

This game can be said to be very critical for the Chinese team, now the Chinese team has won all four games and has 12 points, the Japanese team has 7 points for 4 games, 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, the North Korean team has 5 points for 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss in 4 games, Bahrain has 4 points, 1 draw and 2 losses, and Uzbekistan is at the bottom with 2 points for 4 games, 1 draw and 3 losses.

In other words, if the Chinese team wins Bahrain in this round of the game, and North Korea, which is third in the group, fails to win Uzbekistan, then the Chinese team will become the first national team to qualify for the World Cup three rounds in advance.

It is worth mentioning that before the game, the head coach of the Bahrain national team, Milan Makara, expressed the team's goal in Manama in a high-profile manner: "Although the Chinese team has the best Ai in the world, we will not rest on our laurels at home, because this game is more important for us, we have only won four points in the past four rounds of the group stage, and every remaining game is extremely important for us, and the next game is the game we must win!" ”

Later, when talking about how to beat the Chinese team, Milan Makara said confidently: "This is West Asia, compared to the weather in East Asia and Central Asia, we are hotter here, most of our players are playing in West Asia, and they have fully adapted to the weather here, and many of the main players of the Chinese team are playing in the European League, and the continuous games are very demanding on their physical fitness, coupled with the hot weather, as long as we are patient enough, then it is not impossible to beat the Chinese team!" ”

Sure enough, as Bahrain's national team head coach Milan Makara said, the Chinese players felt a hot wind blowing in their faces after they came out of the airport in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, which made them very uncomfortable, and Hao Junmin, Feng Xiaoting and Chen Tao even showed signs of adaptation on the second day of their stay in the hotel.

On the second day of adaptation training, the Chinese team suffered another injury, and the main central defender Du Wei suffered a calf muscle strain during the warm-up, and he will definitely not be able to appear in the game two days later.

Gao Hongbo was full of confidence before his departure, but after arriving in Manama and suffering from injuries, he seemed to be preoccupied, and he was more anxious in the face of media interviews.

However, Iroh is very optimistic about the next World Cup qualifiers, and was very kind when interviewed by Asian media reporters: "I have been mentally prepared before coming to Bahrain, and I have also thought that my teammates will not adapt to the situation, most of our players are playing in East Asia or Europe, and it is difficult to adapt to the tropical desert climate, but I hope that domestic fans don't have to worry too much, we will definitely win the game!" Because...... I'm here! ”

Since ancient times, a large area of unadaptability and injuries have been very demoralizing for the team's away games, but Iroh's remarks have pulled the Chinese team whose morale has fallen to the bottom again!

On the day of the game, in order to ensure the health of the main players, Gao Hongbo did not send Hao Junmin, Feng Xiaoting and Chen Tao, who were not adaptable, but boldly used newcomers.

Under the leadership of Aillo, the Chinese team against the West Asian Wolves Bahrain played at their normal level.

Coupled with the fact that the Chinese team with Ailo can almost limit the entire back line of the Bahrain team in the frontcourt, so as to give more space to other teammates in the frontcourt, Yu Hai, who came on as a substitute for Hao Junmin, can be said to be a big discovery for the Chinese team in this game, and the breakthrough on the right side even made the commentator Duan Xuan think that it was Robben who played for Real Madrid who wore the Chinese team jersey.

The Chinese team scored two goals in the game, but the main central defenders Feng Xiaoting and Du Wei were both absent, and the Bahrain team, which has a strong impact ability, also seized the opportunity to score two goals.

In the end, China drew 2:2 with Bahrain away from home.

After the game, in Duan Xuan's words: "The absence of the main central defender partner opened the door of the Chinese team, if it wasn't for Wang Xiaolei to resolve many crises in the game, then the World Cup qualifiers in Manama would not be as simple as a draw!" ”

Soon, the result of the match at another venue also came out, the North Korean team drew 1-1 at home to Uzbekistan, but because the Chinese team also drew with the opponent, they missed the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup in advance.

However, domestic fans are still very optimistic, in the remaining three rounds of the Chinese team still have two home games, there is no problem in winning one of the opponents, when the time comes, on the soil of their own country, the chance to directly qualify for the World Cup is not more beautiful?

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The next day, the focus of mainstream Asian media reports was on the report that the Chinese team failed to seize the opportunity to win the Bahrain team away from home, and unfortunately missed the advance qualification for the World Cup.

By this time, the Chinese players playing in Europe had taken flights from Manama, the capital of Bahrain, to Dubai with Ailo, and then transferred to international flights back to their respective clubs.

Iello arrived in London at 9 o'clock in the morning on the 2nd, and Mourinho did not include him in the squad for the fourth league game against Newcastle out of order to protect him.

There is no objection to Mourinho's arrangement, as Chelsea will take on Liverpool at Anfield in four days for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Even though Chelsea have won all of their last seven games, Liverpool are a resilient team that should not be underestimated!

Coupled with the fact that Liverpool has a long history and is England's best team in Europe, it is enough to attract the attention of any team.

Chelsea, who challenged Newcastle at St James' Park, had little to do against their home side without Elo, and ended up drawing 0-0 away at Newcastle, while United beat Aston Villa 3-2 at home thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's strike to close the gap to nine points.

It is worth mentioning that after Manchester United and Chelsea narrowed their points to nine, no media thought that Manchester United still had a chance to reverse the title.

Of course, it is not because Manchester United have no chance of winning the title, but that the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals is about to begin, and Chelsea and Manchester United have their own strong opponents.

Before this Champions League quarter-final between Chelsea and Liverpool, there is no need for any media to exaggerate at all, and there will be some verbal altercations between the two coaches, and this time is no exception.

"Let's run into the team led by the stingy guy again? Well? Chelsea have qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League, report is over! Mourinho, who was interviewed by reporters outside the Cobham training base, said humorously.

In the 21st century, information travels so fast that in less than ten minutes, reporters on call at Melwood's training base told Mourinho what he had said, and the latter immediately bombarded Mourinho: "This is what the bus driver did? I have nothing to say about this kind of person who does not know how to respect his opponent! Chelsea have had a lot of victories in the past, but the past is not the future, and the next Champions League quarter-final at Anfield will surely show them who is the winner here! ”