Chapter 181 The So-Called Death Group

As Zhou Yi prepared for the second round of the league at the Brackel training base, reporters flocked in. Everyone wanted to hear the Borussia Dortmund core's opinion on the team being placed in the Group of Death, and some reporters were there to interview him about his feelings on being included in the list of the top ten players in Europe.

Zhou Yi appeared calm, even indifferent, about being named one of the top ten players.

"The strongest ten? I've never paid attention to such claims. Only three people can attend the awards ceremony each year, so isn't 'the strongest ten' just a gimmick you guys came up with? No official organization says that. It doesn't mean anything."

Zhou Yi's words were like a bucket of cold water on the excited reporters, but this was normal for someone with high standards for himself. If he became complacent after being named to some so-called "strongest ten" list, his achievements might end there.

Only some Chinese reporters paid attention to the so-called "strongest ten." More people were concerned about the group stage draw.

Zhou Yi seemed very confident about this, as he asked the reporters rhetorically, "Do you know about Group D in the 1989-1999 Champions League season?"

This answer was meaningful. How could these professional soccer reporters not know about Group D in the 1989-1999 Champions League season? They had a deep impression of that year's Group of Death.

So what did Zhou Yi's answer mean?

Was he saying that Borussia Dortmund could become that year's Bayern Munich or Manchester United? But the problem was that Borussia Dortmund had to first advance from this group...

Advancing from this group would not be easy.

When Klopp was interviewed by reporters, he also seemed as confident as Zhou Yi: "We know our opponents are strong, but Borussia Dortmund, in the eyes of our opponents, is also a strong opponent. We will fight any team that stands in our way."

After being placed in the Group of Death, Borussia Dortmund did not show any negative emotions, which reassured Borussia Dortmund fans somewhat...

And one change made Borussia Dortmund fans very happy.

Borussia Dortmund returned to the Champions League main competition after seven seasons in 2009-2010, and they were placed in a group with defending champion Inter Milan, Valencia, and Twente. That was the Group of Death that season.

How did the media view the results of that draw at the time?

They believed that Borussia Dortmund's chances of advancing were worrying and that it would be difficult to win a spot, which would depend on luck. They believed that the most practical thing for Borussia Dortmund was to have the right attitude, focus on gaining experience, and not expect to advance from the group.

At that time, Borussia Dortmund was openly looked down upon in European competitions.

And this time, they were also placed in the Group of Death. The degree of death was even more extreme than last time, but everyone's evaluation of Borussia Dortmund was no longer negative. Instead, they believed that Borussia Dortmund was an important part of forming the Group of Death, and they thought Borussia Dortmund could compete with any opponent in this group stage. No one was sure that they could beat Borussia Dortmund.

This was the result of Borussia Dortmund reaching the Champions League knockout stage for two consecutive seasons, reaching the quarterfinals one season and the semifinals the next.

In the world of soccer, respect and recognition are earned through strength.

※※※

After the Champions League group stage draw, Borussia Dortmund welcomed the second round of the Bundesliga, in which they challenged Nuremberg on the road.

Zhou Yi only played half of this game. He started and was substituted at halftime. In the end, Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 with Nuremberg on the road.

Zhou Yi was substituted early because he was returning to China to participate in a very important World Cup qualifier.

Previously, the Chinese Football Association had been in constant communication with Borussia Dortmund. Because of similar past events, the two sides had good communication and cooperation, so this time they reached an agreement to let Zhou Yi play only half a league game and save more energy for him to return home to participate in the game.

Fortunately, there was only this one national team game in September. Zhou Yi could return after playing, without delaying too much time, and the club's losses would be relatively small.

However, Zhou Yi had this privilege, while Yang Muge did not have such good treatment. Zhou Yi was, after all, the core of the club, and the coach would also consider the player's feelings. If he was more willing to serve his country, the club would also accommodate him.

Although Yang Muge was a main player for Yang Muge, he did not have core treatment. Schalke 04 would never let Yang Muge play only half a game in order for him to return home to participate.

In this game, Schalke 04 defeated Augsburg 3-1 at home, and Yang Muge played the entire game.

Fortunately, Yang Muge's stamina was much better than Zhou Yi's, so even if he played forty-five minutes more than Zhou Yi, it was not a big deal.

In Spain, Sun Pan was not called into the national team's roster for this game due to injury. He will stay in Spain to continue to recover. However, he has already started training, and it seems that he is not far from returning.

He Ying had no stamina problems, because in the third round of the league, Barcelona defeated Valencia 1-0 at home, and he still failed to enter the match roster. How could he lack stamina without playing games?

Guo Nu, a center-back who played for Cesena in the Italian Second Division, also played the entire game, but unfortunately Cesena lost 1-3 to Vicenza on the road.

In addition to Sun Pan, four of the Five Little Dragons were selected for the national team's roster and will return home to prepare for the game against Japan.

In the entire national Olympic team, they were not the only four selected for the national team. Forward Wu Lei and wing-back Cao Yun also relied on their outstanding performances at the Olympics to be selected for the national team's roster. However, Wu Lei was not selected for the national team for the first time. As early as the 2010 East Asian Cup, he was selected for Gao Hongbo's national team, but he has always been a marginal international player and his position in the national team is not stable.

During the London Olympics, the media reported that national team coach Gao Hongbo was watching the games in London. At that time, some people speculated that Gao Hongbo was here to observe the outstanding players in the national Olympic team, and perhaps they would be successively recruited into the national team after the Olympics.

Who would have thought that after the Olympics, Gao Hongbo almost moved half of the national Olympic team into the national team.

This was a very bold move. After all, so many people coming in meant that the same number of original national team players would be eliminated. This kind of major adjustment was actually very risky, because it would offend people and destroy the original vested interests. After all, it was not easy to enter the national team, and no one wanted to be eliminated.

Although the national Olympic team won the Olympic gold medal, it did not mean that they were necessarily suitable for the national team. After all, the national Olympic team and the national team had different tactical systems.

If the results were good, then it would be fine. Even if someone was dissatisfied, they would not have an excuse to vent their anger. But once the results were not good, the pressure would come overwhelmingly for Gao Hongbo and the national Olympic team's youngsters.

And the first game for the national Olympic team players after joining the team was against Japan, the strongest team in this group...

And it was an away game!

If Gao Hongbo loses this game, will he face pressure from some people in the country? Will the players of the national Olympic team also become victims?

In fact, Gao Hongbo didn't need to recruit so many players from the national Olympic team at once. It was not only a shock to the national team players, but also required the newcomers to re-adapt to the national team's tactics.

But Gao Hongbo has already recruited so many people, so it is useless to say anything. Gao Hongbo is sometimes unbelievably stubborn. It is hard to imagine how this thin and shy man's body can contain such explosive power...

He was so stubborn when he coached the Changchun team that his stubbornness allowed Changchun Yatai, a "civilian team," to historically win the Chinese Super League title. But it was also because of his stubbornness that he had irreconcilable conflicts with the players after winning the championship, and was eventually dismissed by the club. But the Changchun team, after losing Gao Hongbo, was never able to find its lost glory.

Gao Hongbo is also not a coach who is good at handling his relationship with the media. When he first became a coach and coached the Guangzhou Songri club, after losing a game against Sichuan Quanxing led by Tavares, Gao Hongbo directly accused the other party of relying on the referee at the press conference, and then left without giving the reporters a chance to ask questions.

Because of these characteristics, Gao Hongbo has never been very popular among the media. Last year, when the Wanda Group sponsored the Football Association, there were rumors that he would be replaced by a famous foreign coach. At that time, there were also some criticisms of Gao Hongbo in the media, believing that he could not bring long-term progress to Chinese soccer, that his strength was limited, and that he was not the best candidate for the Chinese team.

Before the Asian Cup, his "Asian third-rate theory" and "Asian Cup training theory" also aroused criticism from many fans and the media, and the public opinion environment was very unfavorable to him.

As a result, the runner-up of the Asian Cup and the team's performance in the entire Asian Cup were so amazing that the praise for Gao Hongbo increased, and at this time everyone did not say anything about the good or bad of "Asian third-rate" and "Asian Cup training." The matter about replacing the foreign coach also disappeared.

What was shown in everyone's eyes was that Gao Hongbo was still sitting in the position of coach of the Chinese national team.

At this time, the media commented again: Gao Hongbo still has a big gap with world-class coaches, and compared with all the Chinese and foreign coaches who coach in China, he is not the best one, but he is the one most suitable for Chinese soccer, and that is enough.

For Chinese soccer, which is accustomed to aiming high, it doesn't matter whether it is Camacho or Lippi. World-famous coaches are indeed good and high-level, but letting university professors teach elementary school students is not a waste of resources, it is a fundamental problem.

With the current level of Chinese soccer, it is useless to invite Mourinho and Guardiola. The native Gao Hongbo understands Chinese soccer better and has more motivation to change the current situation of Chinese soccer.

However, soccer is a sport that pays more attention to results. If the Chinese team had not won the runner-up in the Asian Cup, Gao Hongbo would only be able to dismiss his class no matter how well he understood Chinese soccer.

Similarly, now that he has recruited six players from the national Olympic team into the national team in one breath, if this risky move ends up causing the national team to lose too badly in Japan and touches the self-esteem of the Chinese people, I am afraid that his position as coach will become unstable again.

It just so happens that Brazzervic, who led the national Olympic team to win the gold medal at the London Olympics, is now at the height of his prestige. It seems natural for him to replace Gao Hongbo, and it may not be unsuitable...

Gao Hongbo's fate will depend on how this team performs next.