"Excuse me, Zhang Zhuxi, is this possible?"

The reason why this situation occurs is because some small countries and regions such as Thailand, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, etc. are affected by economic factors. The expenses required to cope with the home and away system are not small for the football associations of these countries.

burden.

It is under this circumstance that these small countries are conspiring to propose the adoption of a tournament system, either a one-cycle game on a neutral site, or a two-cycle game.

Zhang Jilong's answer is still clever.

"We are supportive of the issue of the tournament system."

"In fact, since the Thai team put forward this condition, we have actively applied to become the organizer of the tournament system."

"But as it stands now."

"Because Yazhu Lian has adopted a more advanced home and away game system, it is unlikely that the game system will be restored."

As soon as these words came out, some senior fans sneered again.

When it comes to venue, public support, infrastructure, and economic foundation, who in Asia can compare with us?!

If the top ten games are really changed to a tournament system and held at our home court, what is the difference between this and the Chinese team being recommended to directly enter the World Cup?

Not to mention Yin Lang, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, even these countries that proposed changing to a tournament system cannot agree.

In this way, the top ten games still have to follow the home and away system.

Zhang Jilong's move of advancing while retreating is really wonderful!

He not only pretends to be a good person generously, but also establishes his own image among disadvantaged groups.

Duan Quan'er: "Last question, who is the Chinese team most looking forward to being in the same group with?"

Zhang Jilong: “You have to ask Coach Zeng.”

At this moment, all cameras and eyes were focused on Zeng Zheng's face.

Under the table, Zeng Zheng rubbed his two big toes.

"Under normal circumstances, I would actually like to meet Japan and South Korea."

"Isn't there some kind of 'Chinesephobia' that has been reported in the past two years?"

"I think we can definitely qualify if we meet them."

Hahahahaha~~~

Zeng Zheng's humorous speech aroused laughter from the audience.

After the laughter, Zeng Zheng shrugged.

"Currently judging from the group classification, we will definitely avoid Saudi Arabia."

"As for the other eight opponents in the top ten, their level is almost the same."

"The only thing I'm thinking about right now is whether I can adapt to playing away games by flying back and forth."

"If I had to choose, I would most like to meet teams that are relatively close to us."

"Don't worry too much, just finish the top ten games normally and then prepare for the World Cup."

After speaking, Zeng Zheng put the microphone on the table.

Only then did Duan Quan'er realize that Zeng Zheng's answer was over.

So who does Zeng Zheng hope to be in the same group with?

Is it true as he said, it doesn't matter who you are with?

That night, before leaving the studio with all ten of his toes inflamed, Zhang Jilong specifically asked Zeng Zheng for serious inquiries.

"Xiao Zeng, there are no outsiders here. Tell Uncle Zhang, do you want to be in the same group as Emirates?"

From the current point of view, being in the same group with Saudi Arabia is the bottom draw, being in the same group with Yin Lang is the winning draw, and being in the same group as the UAE is the upper draw.

Now the signing has been blocked at the beginning.

Zhang Jilong went to Bangkok this time with the mission of blocking the "winning the lottery".

"If you say you think about it, you definitely do." Zeng Zheng still had an indifferent attitude, "But it doesn't matter if I'm assigned to Yin Lang."

"Aren't there still 0.5 spots anyway? There's no chance of being second in the group!"

Zhang Jilong raised his eyebrows when he heard this.

"That can't happen!"

"You don't know that your Uncle Wang and Uncle Xu are asking me to die this time. They must make every effort to clear the obstacles for the Chinese team and ensure that you can enter the World Cup as much as possible."

"This is no small matter!"

"Although we have completed the basic task of entering the World Cup in 1998, you know better than us how to enter."

"That time it was an accident, completely relying on luck."

"But this time it's different."

"This World Cup is the result of our eight years of hard work!"

“Don’t forget what the original purpose of Jianlibao was when it was established.”

"There is absolutely no room for failure in this World Cup!"

...

When the draw for the top ten games came, a little-known episode happened.

Two days before the draw, International Blatter suddenly proposed a plan to change the ranking of the top ten teams.

This move disrupted the original grouping procedures of the AFC Executive Committee and caused quite a stir in Bangkok on the eve of the draw.

Why does FIFA do this?

It turned out that a joint appeal letter from dozens of Yin Lang reporters was like a Cheng Yaojin who came out halfway, prompting Blatter to make the decision to change the positioning of the Top Ten team.

Dozens of Yinlang football reporters, organized by Nozad, the famous sports reporter of Yintong News Agency, jointly submitted a letter to the AFC and FIFA, demanding that the lottery principles be changed, and strongly demanding that the Yinlang team be changed to be tied with the Chinese team.

seed team.

These strongly worded "letters of appeal" made football politicians such as Blatter and Veerappan change their minds.

Veerappan announced on the afternoon of May 31 that Saudi Arabia and Yin Lang would be swapped, but this move was dissatisfied by many ASEAN member states, including China.

The AFC Executive Committee held emergency consultations overnight and met with Blatter yesterday morning, expressing strong dissatisfaction with FIFA's interference in the AFC Executive Committee's resolution.

Zhang Jilong said that China will boycott the upcoming top ten draw.

After negotiations and hard work, Blatter finally gave in and agreed to continue drawing lots according to the original grouping principles.

June 1, 17:00, Ladson Hotel, Bangkok.

Coaches from many countries, including Zeng Zheng, were sitting in the venue, looking anxiously waiting for the draw ceremony to begin.

"Hey, have you heard? Yin Lang made a big fuss yesterday and insisted on being ranked first in the group with the Chinese team."

"Isn't this nonsense? Why should Team Yin Lang be doing this?!"

"Yes, Saudi Arabia made it to the last World Cup, and Saudi Arabia is the top four in this Asian Cup. How can Yin Lang compare with Saudi Arabia?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I didn't expect that West Asia is not united. In order to avoid the Chinese team, they resorted to such a shameless method as stopping the driver and filing a complaint."

"Fortunately, the Chinese team did not agree. If the Chinese team agreed, this matter might be done!"

The draw for the top ten matches was co-hosted by International Bamboo Curtain Secretary General Lu Fining and AFC Secretary General Veerappan.

Before the draw, Yazhulian will prepare 9 glass jars in advance, 5 of which will hold teams from the first to fifth tiers, and each jar will contain two teams from the same tier.

There are 2 glass jars for group A and group B, and the other 2 glass jars are for group numbers 1 to 5 respectively.

In this draw, for the Chinese team, in addition to which teams their own team will be divided into the same group, the draw after the group stage is also extremely important.

According to the order of "5,4,2,1,3" adopted by Yazhulian, that is, the No. 5 team has a bye in the first round;

In the second round, the team in position 4 gets a bye, and so on, repeating this sequence from the sixth round onwards, except that the order of home and away is reversed.

According to this arrangement, the No. 3 pick is the most disadvantaged and will have byes in the final rounds of the two cycles, namely the fifth and tenth rounds.

In this way, the team in position 3 will end the game earlier than all other teams, and it is extremely possible for other opponents to manipulate the team's destiny based on results.

Just like the Yin Lang team last year.

While everyone was talking about it, Bratt on the stage took out a small yellow ball from the glass bottle.

After opening it, he read loudly: "Aman!"

Since then, the draw ceremony for the top ten Asian matches of the 2002 World Cup has officially begun.

The draw started with the fifth pot of teams. Blatter and AFC president Shah were invited by Veerappan, but they were obviously not the protagonists of today's draw ceremony.

Veerappan, who is extremely talented in acting, began to play freely after symbolically announcing the results of the fifth team grouping.

When the Thai team in the fourth pot was drawn third, Veerappan smiled and asked the Thai kid who got the lottery ball, "Which group do you think Thailand will be placed in?"

The little girl was a little confused.
To be continued...