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rainy nights were a special occasion in the chinese national football team’s matches in the past. in 2017, the chinese national football team met south korea in the top 12 of the world cup qualifiers and eventually defeated the opponent 1-0. the experience of snatching points in the rainy night gave the team hope of entering the world cup in russia. the “changsha rainy night” has remained in the few good memories of chinese fans.

seven years later, the chinese national football team once again launched an attack on the world cup in the united states, canada and mexico. the team that entered the round of 18 played against saudi arabia at home on september 10. facing the same world cup regulars, it was also a rainy night, but the saudis' final goal made the chinese national football team's efforts fall short.

this game was always one step away from becoming the legendary "rainy night in dalian".

after the game, ivan and the players were disappointed. photo/vcg

【1】the formation controversy has not yet been resolved, and ivan's on-the-spot dispatch is questioned again

in the match against saudi arabia, the chinese national football team scored the first goal in the 14th minute and had an advantage of one more player 5 minutes later. for this team that had just suffered a 0-7 defeat, the opportunity for redemption was right in front of them. coupled with li lei's words before the game, "today everyone will see a brand new chinese team", it seemed that everything was moving in the right direction.

however, the result was not what they wanted. in the 39th minute, saudi arabia also took advantage of the corner kick opportunity to tie the score. later, wu lei's header hit the post, and wang shangyuan's header that penetrated the saudi goal in the second half was ruled invalid due to offside. in the 90th minute, kadesh scored twice to complete the lore. the chinese national team, which was "keeping 1 point and fighting for 3 points", finally returned empty-handed.

at the pre-match press conference, in response to a question from jiupai news about whether this would still be an "ivan-style" match, the croatian indirectly affirmed it, and eventually responded on the field with a 442 formation. similarly, his on-the-spot dispatch was still somewhat inadequate.

in the match against saudi arabia, the chinese national football team once took the lead. photo/dong zineng, jiupai news

the goal lost at the last minute was said to be related to ivan's delay in making personnel adjustments. the old coach, who was previously questioned for his formation not being suitable for the chinese national team's style of play, once again put himself at the forefront of public opinion. looking back at the six chinese national team games, ivan only made one substitution that changed the situation of the game at shenyang in june, which further deepened the outside world's stereotype that ivan is not good at attacking.

it is worth mentioning that since the head coach's debut in the 2-2 draw with singapore, in the previous stage when every game was directly related to the national team's qualification for the round of 18, the national team's starting lineup for each game, even excluding the impact of injuries, has been adjusted no less than twice, with the most reaching 5 people at a time, almost reorganizing half of the starting lineup.

after the 0-7 defeat to japan in the first match of the round of 18, the much-questioned chinese national football team must also win back the fans' recognition in the match against saudi arabia. having lost room for rotation to a certain extent, ivan once again made four adjustments to the starting lineup, struggling to find a good solution for the national football team.

【2】the atmosphere at the post-match press conference was tense, and ivan said the team still had great hope

when reporting on the pre-match press conference of the china-saudi arabia match, saudi media described chinese reporters as "waiting for coach ivan with great anger." in fact, the atmosphere at the meeting and the sharpness of the questions asked by the domestic media to ivan were far from such an exaggerated level, but there were indeed some changes after the game.

as soon as the game ended, many media had already rushed to the press conference room to wait for the press conference. after experiencing the frustration of the chinese national football team being defeated, most reporters looked gloomy. however, soon after everyone sat down, the singing and cheering of saudis came from the inner passage of the stadium separated by a wall, which was even more embarrassing.

after ivan sat down and briefly analyzed the game, the first reporter who was qualified to ask questions asked ivan directly: "will you choose to resign after this game?"

after he finished speaking, applause broke out in the press conference hall that accommodated more than 200 people. the tense atmosphere on the scene reached its peak. ivan, who had not yet understood the situation through the translator, looked at the people below the stage with a slightly confused look in his eyes.

ivan was questioned by domestic media about his dismissal at the post-match press conference. photo/vcg

after commenting on several key players, ivan began to answer questions about being fired. he did not have much emotional ups and downs, but just said lightly that this question should not be directed at himself, and said that japan, australia, and saudi arabia in the group are strong teams in themselves, and the goal of the chinese national football team is to enter the top four of the group. "the performance in this game is better than the previous one, and the team still has great hope."

the press conference, which lasted less than 20 minutes, ended quickly. ivan sighed and walked out of the venue quickly.

it is true that the chinese national football team has a tight schedule for the top 18 matches. with the next away game against australia, the team will face strong opponents in the group for three consecutive games. however, according to ivan, the team's ultimate test will be the match against indonesia at home in qingdao on october 15.

jiupai news reporter dong zineng reports from dalian, liaoning

edited by wang jiaqing and wu di

【revelation】please contact the reporter on wechat: linghaojizhe

[source: jiupai news]