Because of the European Cup, this season's European leagues ended fairly early, in mid-May.

But that doesn't mean Zhou Yi can enjoy a longer vacation. In fact, his vacation will probably only be a little over ten days, because on June 3rd, the Asian qualifying round of the Brazil World Cup Top Ten competition will begin in full swing.

The Chinese team, having made it to the Top Ten, was placed in Group B, alongside Japan, Australia, Oman, and Qatar.

When the group results were first announced, some Chinese media exclaimed that the Chinese team had been placed in a group of death. They were then ruthlessly mocked by fans online—for the Chinese team, is there any group that *isn't* a group of death?

The first Top Ten match will kick off on June 3rd, with the Chinese team playing Qatar away.

The second Top Ten match will be on the evening of June 12th, with the Chinese team hosting Oman.

If the Chinese team wants to secure a spot in the World Cup from the Top Ten, they must at the very least finish third in their group, then compete against the third-place team from Group A. The winner of that match will then compete against the fifth-place team from South America for the final qualifying spot.

If they are preparing with the goal of finishing third in the group, then these two matches against Qatar and Oman are crucial. They must win, both home and away.

There are five teams in each group, including China. The other four teams are all China's opponents. Japan and Australia are very tough nuts to crack, and it's hard to win against them. Under these circumstances, if the Chinese team can't get any points against Oman and Qatar, it will be almost impossible to get third place in the group.

China's first opponent in the Top Ten is Qatar, which is also quite interesting.

Especially for those reporters who covered China's Top Twenty matches, they will certainly remember the grudge between a Qatari reporter and Zhou Yi.

So, as soon as the group results were released, some Chinese media exposed the behavior of that big-bearded Qatari reporter, causing a heated discussion among domestic fans.

Many netizens commented that they had never seen such a shameless person.

But that's not the point. The point is that when the Chinese reporter confronted him, he told him to pray that Iraq or Qatar wouldn't meet China in the Top Ten.

At the time, that sounded like a sarcastic remark.

Unexpectedly, that sarcastic remark actually came true!

The Chinese team really was placed in the same group as Qatar in the Top Ten!

Chinese fans who knew the backstory were all angrily clamoring for revenge against Qatar, to teach the bastards a lesson!

Now the opportunity has come.

When Zhou Yi arrived at the national team training camp, he was asked about this issue by reporters.

He asked, puzzled, "This happened?"

As a player, he certainly couldn't have known what was happening in the media section.

But now he knows.

"What a coincidence." After listening to the reporter's account of the whole story, Zhou Yi stroked his chin and pondered.

Then he laughed and said, "How does that saying go again?"

Without waiting for the reporter to think, he said it himself, "Don't say you weren't warned! Haha!"

With that, Zhou Yi laughed and said goodbye to the reporters, leaving behind a group of reporters looking at each other, not quite understanding what Zhou Yi's words and smile meant.

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This match is being held in Qatar's home stadium, with the Chinese team playing away. Since it's an away game, that involves the issue of accommodation.

The Chinese team chose to stay at the same hotel where they stayed when they defeated Iraq in their last away game.

This time, the Qatari side didn't use the excuse of hotel renovations to refuse the Chinese team's stay. Perhaps they themselves felt that it would be too much to use the same excuse again.

After arriving in Qatar, Zhou Yi was surrounded by reporters from both China and Qatar at the airport. Facing these reporters, Zhou Yi said, "I'm very happy that our first Top Ten match is being played in Qatar. As we all know, this is our lucky place. We have very good memories here."

This wasn't the first time Zhou Yi had said this. Since the Asian Cup, he has said this every time he comes to Qatar, and everyone knows what these words mean.

The Chinese reporters interviewing him chuckled.

"I also have a very good impression of Qatar. What I'm most satisfied with is the work they've done in hosting this competition. This time, the hotel we're staying at is finally not being renovated, which is great! Thank you to the Qatar Football Association for the preparations they've made for this competition, thank you!"

With that, Zhou Yi waved his hand and walked away.

Leaving behind a group of Chinese reporters unable to suppress their laughter, and some embarrassed Qatari reporters.

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It is said that on a local Qatari television program that evening, a guest criticized Zhou Yi for being impolite and lacking manners.

But Zhou Yi didn't watch television in the hotel, and even if he did, he wouldn't understand the Arabic spoken by the Qataris. So these criticisms were meaningless to him.

But it was still very meaningful to the Qatari media.

Since the 2011 Asian Cup, Zhou Yi and Qatar have seemed to be at odds. In the Asian Cup, in the World Cup qualifiers, Zhou Yi and Qatar always seem to spark some friction.

And it's always controversial topics.

For example, the last time the Chinese team played Iraq here, Zhou Yi sarcastically mocked Qatar about the hotel issue.

This made the Qatari media very unhappy. This time, Zhou Yi again sarcastically criticized Qatar's pettiness in front of the Qatari reporters, not leaving the host any face at all...

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In fact, looking at the history of clashes between China and Qatar, the Chinese team has the advantage in overall record. From the national team level, before this match, the Chinese national team had played Qatar fourteen times, with a record of six wins, four draws, and four losses, giving them the upper hand.

But in the World Cup qualifiers, China has one win, three draws, and three losses, putting them at an absolute disadvantage. It can be said that China and Qatar have created many wonderful and classic stories in the World Cup qualifiers.

For example, the famous "Black Three Minutes" has Qatar's shadow. In the 1989 World Cup qualifiers, China and five other teams played a single round-robin tournament in Singapore, with the top two teams qualifying for the World Cup. At that time, the World Cup qualifiers still used a "two-point system," meaning that a win was worth two points instead of three. Teams with the same number of points would be compared based on goal difference, goals scored, and then head-to-head record.

After four rounds of matches, South Korea had already qualified with seven points, the United Arab Emirates was second with five points, China was third with four points, North Korea and Qatar were tied with three points, and Saudi Arabia, with only two points, was eliminated early. In the second-to-last round, China encountered the "Black Three Minutes" for the first time against the United Arab Emirates. With China leading 1:0 and five minutes left in the match, coach Gao Fengwen substituted Dong Liqiang. As a result, Dong Liqiang, who was overly excited after coming on, made two consecutive mistakes, lost the ball to the opponent, and conceded two goals in three minutes, losing the match.

If China had been able to beat the United Arab Emirates at that time, they would have surpassed the United Arab Emirates by two points. As long as they drew in the last round, they would have qualified, and the match against Qatar would not have been so important.

But now China had to fight to the death with Qatar, and also had to watch the result of the match between the United Arab Emirates and South Korea.

In the match against Qatar, China still scored first, taking a 1:0 lead. But in the last three minutes of the match, China once again encountered the "Black Three Minutes," conceding two goals to Qatar and suffering a painful reversal. And you should know that in the other match being played at the same time, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates drew 1:1. If China had been able to hold on for the last three minutes, China would have advanced to Italy. It can be said that China was only three minutes away from the World Cup. That may have been the closest China had ever been to the World Cup before the Japan-Korea World Cup...

This was the first time China tasted bitterness at the hands of Qatar.

The second time was in 1997 at the Dalian Jinzhou Stadium. After taking a one-goal lead at home, China conceded three goals to Qatar, losing the match. This match was the turning point for China's failure to qualify for the France World Cup. In the end, China finished third in the group, and the phrase "Jinzhou doesn't believe in tears" spread throughout China, becoming one of the black memories of Chinese football.

In 2002, China finally tasted the joy of victory against Qatar, when they welcomed Qatar at home after qualifying for the World Cup finals with a round to spare. In that match, China defeated Qatar 3:0. That was the first time China had ever defeated Qatar in the World Cup qualifiers, and it was also the only victory.

In the 2010 South Africa World Cup qualifiers, China and Qatar met again in the Top Twenty. They drew 0:0 with Qatar away, but lost 0:1 to Qatar at home. In the end, China finished at the bottom of the group and was eliminated without even making it to the Top Ten.

It can be said that Qatar is always "accompanying" China in the process of冲击the World Cup. At the same time, it can also be said that Qatar is China's "litmus test." In 2001, when China defeated Qatar for the only time, they successfully entered the Japan-Korea World Cup finals. And in those other qualifiers where they didn't win against Qatar, they failed to qualify for the World Cup finals.

From a superstitious point of view, if China can defeat Qatar this time, perhaps they can successfully swipe their card and enter the World Cup finals.