As Zhou Yi said, no matter how many off-field tactics or verbal sparring there are before a match, they are ultimately useless.

The outcome of a soccer game is primarily determined by the game itself.

Of course, off-field tactics and verbal sparring may affect the players' performance on the field.

For example, if Qatar's adjustment of the hotel where the Chinese team is staying can make the Chinese players more tired, then they will not be able to perform at their best during the match.

However, it seems that Qatar really just didn't want the Chinese team to stay in their lucky hotel. The hotel they have arranged for the Chinese team now is actually better than the previous one in terms of conditions and location…

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The match between China and Singapore kicks off at 10:15 PM Beijing time on November 11th. For domestic fans, this is not too late a kickoff time, and they can watch the game without staying up all night. After watching it, it will be almost midnight, just in time to go to bed.

Of course, how many people will be in the mood to sleep by then is another matter.

10:00 PM Beijing time is 7:00 PM local time in Qatar, with a five-hour time difference between the two places.

For Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries with tropical desert climates, except for the mild winter climate from December to February, the daytime temperature is very high at other times, rising above 40 degrees Celsius, and the air humidity is very high, making it very hot and stuffy in summer. Therefore, soccer games are not scheduled to be held in the afternoon at this time.

Unlike the Premier League, which sometimes has games kicking off at 1:00 PM, that is almost impossible in the Qatar league.

The only good thing about this place is that although the temperature is high during the day, the temperature difference between day and night is large due to the surface being mainly gravel. It is still very cool in the morning and evening, and the sea breeze blows, so the perceived temperature is not high.

This match between China and Iraq was arranged at this time.

In the western sky, near the horizon, there were still some red clouds, but that was the last afterglow of the setting sun.

Seabirds flew over the stadium from time to time.

Many fans wearing traditional Arab white robes sat in the stands. Not many of these people are actually from Iraq; many are actually Qataris.

Zhou Yi was no stranger to this scene. During the Asian Cup, almost every game was like this.

In addition to fans from Qatar and Iraq, there were also many Chinese people holding five-star red flags and wearing red clothes in the south stand. It's hard to say that they are all fans, but they are all Chinese. They are all employees and students of Chinese-funded companies in Qatar. Many of these people may not usually watch soccer at all, but they are not here to watch the game; they are here to support the Chinese team. When abroad, sports can represent the motherland to some extent.

After the game started, Iraq launched a fierce offensive toward China's goal, hoping to score early.

They almost beat the Chinese team in the away game, so returning to the home field, the goal must be victory.

In response to Iraq's mindset, Gao Hongbo formulated a defensive counterattack strategy.

In the first half, Gao Hongbo's tactics were half successful because Iraq did not score.

However, the Chinese team was also unable to threaten Iraq's goal.

The two sides drew 0:0.

During the half-time break, Gong Lei, the commentator in the Chinese domestic studio, analyzed the Chinese team's performance in the first half, believing that they had put too much energy into defense, resulting in a slightly insufficient investment in offense. However, this is not too big of a problem. After all, it would be good for the Chinese team to take a draw away from home in the end.

"...Of course, it would be better if they could win, but I think it is most important for the Chinese team not to think too much now. What they are afraid of is thinking too much. With too many thoughts, they don't know how to play..."

Gong Lei's statement was agreed upon by commentator Liu Hong.

"Yes, we always think too much in the past. In fact, soccer is better when it's simpler..."

"Yes, unified thinking."

Liu Hong thought for a while and then felt something was wrong: "Hey, Teacher Gong. But we also have too many precedents of wanting to draw and fearing to lose, and as a result, we really lost the game. If this game is too conservative, will we end up losing again?"

Gong Lei seemed to be stabilized. After humming a few times, he finally thought of what to say: "It's like this... The Chinese team is not blindly defending, and there will still be counterattacks. But it will definitely be mainly defensive, unless there is a very good counterattack opportunity, otherwise the Chinese team will not easily push up to attack. As for the timing of this counterattack... I think Zhou Yi will definitely grasp it well."

Liu Hong also echoed: "That's right, I believe Zhou Yi will not let us down—when has he ever let us down?"

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In fact, Gong Lei was right. During the half-time break, Gao Hongbo did emphasize to the Chinese team that they should still play defensive counterattack in the second half and not easily push up to attack, otherwise the space behind them could easily be exploited by the opponent.

But when should they go forward to counterattack?

He didn't say it very clearly, but instead said to all the players: "Zhou Yi decides."

He completely trusts Zhou Yi's judgment of the situation and at the same time is delegating authority. In fact, the head coach on the sidelines will definitely not know more about what is happening on the field than the players on the field, but the head coach has an advantage, that is, they are deep on the sidelines and can see the overall situation, observing the game from a macro perspective, so although they are not on the front line, they can direct the game. And the players, although on the front line, cannot understand the overall situation because they are "in the midst of the mountain."

But this kind of problem does not exist at all with Zhou Yi, because he even has an observation angle that exceeds the coach's perspective. He has a "God's perspective"! So he can understand the situation on the front line and feel the changes in the game situation in the first time. At the same time, he also has a more comprehensive vision than the head coach.

So it is actually better for him to make decisions about things on the court than for the head coach to make decisions. The main thing is that the head coach is willing to delegate authority.

Gao Hongbo is willing to delegate authority. In fact, he didn't intend to do this at first, but after observing Zhou Yi's training and games at close range, he found that Zhou Yi knew the situation on the court like the back of his hand, even to a terrifying extent. Everyone knows that the game situation is changing rapidly, and the twenty-two players are constantly changing every minute and every second.

But Zhou Yi can grasp it all.

After discovering Zhou Yi's characteristics, Gao Hongbo felt that Zhou Yi could completely be a mobile command hub center on the court, and he didn't need to shout and direct the game from the sidelines.

In this way, he gradually delegated authority, and the Chinese players slowly got used to listening to Zhou Yi's arrangements for things on the field.

As for Zhou Yi, he actually likes the coach's arrangement. Because this will make things simpler, simplifying complexity is not easy, and doing it well can reap huge results. Although the strength of other players in the national team is not as good as his teammates in Dortmund, Zhou Yi does not feel that playing soccer in the national team is a very painful thing, because he has this special privilege in the national team, which he does not have in Dortmund.

Because Dortmund's coach Klopp would not do what Gao Hongbo does. He wants to have everything under control, and only allows players to play freely within the scope he stipulates, and does not allow complete freedom.

This is also the result of different systems.

Of course, this approach actually has very high requirements for the players' sense of responsibility and self-confidence.

People without a sense of responsibility are unwilling to take on such responsibility, because it is also a huge pressure. In the past, the head coach was responsible for problems, but now the player who makes the decision is responsible.

People who lack confidence cannot do this job either. People who lack confidence will doubt themselves, hesitate, and waste excellent opportunities, and may even bring danger to their team.

And coincidentally, Zhou Yi is a person who has both a sense of responsibility and self-confidence.

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In the second half of the game, the two sides changed sides and fought again. Iraq still launched a fierce offensive towards China's goal, even more fiercely than in the first half. Because they knew that they only had forty-five minutes left.

Faced with the aggressive Iraq, the Chinese team, led by Zhou Yi, played very calmly, not in a hurry at all, as if they really wanted to take a draw back to the away game.

Even when they had possession of the ball, they were not in a hurry to pass it forward, but instead passed it back and forth, slowly advancing, letting the Iraqi players desperately return to defense, as if they couldn't see it at all.

At the beginning, Duan Xin felt sorry for the Chinese team missing one counterattack opportunity after another, but later she stopped talking.

After Iraq sprinted back to defense several times, they found that the Chinese team had no intention of launching a quick counterattack at all. They were passing the ball leisurely, while they were exhausted from desperately returning to defense, which was really unpleasant.

So when the Chinese team got the ball again, they were not in a hurry to run back, but instead stayed in the middle and front field, trying to intercept the ball and launch a counterattack on the spot.

But when the Iraqi team did this, Zhou Yi suddenly passed the soccer ball to Hao Junmin on the wing with a long diagonal pass!

"China's counterattack!!" Liu Hong, who had been holding back for a long time, was finally able to shout this sentence.