Indeed, many people have asked me why Zheng Zhi played center back. Actually, I made the decision in my first warm-up game after coaching China, when I played Brazil in Guangzhou.
I've played for top teams in the world. A commercial game like Brazil's may not be 100% contributing, but they are technically very good. When they get the ball, they definitely move forward with it, they pass and control. However, Zheng Zhi's anticipation is very good. He can grab the ball and pass it and won't lose it easily. From there, I think there is no one better than Zheng Zhi to play as a center back.
Again, the first training session after I became head coach of the national team was in Sanshui, Guangdong. At that time, I told the assistant coach that I saw a superb player, which I had never seen in my life. That player was Zheng Zhi.
At the time, Zheng Zhi had just been moved to center back, but he was skeptical. I told him, "At center back, you are world class." Later, he went to Hertha Berlin for a trial. In fact, he should have tried Bayern again, but in the end, I don't know why he went to England.
There were a lot of good players at the time, like Chen Tao, who exploded in Tianjin in the second spring. Yu Dabao, Hu Rentian, Zhang Xiaobin and Wang Xinxin all played well. At that time, TEDA was very balanced and the players were capable. So TEDA achieved good results and the foreigners were good. For example, Zoric and Luciano are both team-oriented and blend well. The center back pairing of Zoric and Li Wei Feng is also the best in the Chinese Super League.
I am very happy to have Zheng Zhi, Li Wei Feng, Shao Jiayi and Wang Xiao as coaches. I took many disciples in Europe, such as Klinsmann, Cooper, Van Bronckhorst, and they all achieved good results.
Your national team, a famous game, "11.17", 7-0 at home and out, what happened then?
At that time, the national team was affected by SARS, and the first warm-up match that followed was against Chile in Tianjin (2003.8.20), and I remember very clearly that the turf conditions were very poor. I was very angry. It felt bad to step on the pitch before the match, but the next day when we played, our shoes turned green (laughs).
For me, the first game of the World Qualifiers came too early and there was not much time for bonding, and I played the game after a short period of training in Guangzhou playing Kuwait (2004.2004.18).
In January 2003, we trained in Guangzhou, then went to Wuhan to play a warm-up game, and then we didn't train. I had suggested training in Europe, but it didn't work out. Because we played the first game badly and were very passive, we had to wait for the last game. Indeed, this is something I regret very much in my life and it hurts every time I think about it.
The fact is, we shouldn't have to fight for a 7-0 game. The important thing is that we were not ready for the first game. Also, we only played 1-0 in away games. if we had scored more goals, the result would have been different.
Also, when playing Kuwait away from home, China had many chances while Kuwait only had one chance to score.
During the "11-17" period, two matches were played simultaneously. Kuwait was leading 1-0 at halftime, but the final score was 6-1, with China just one goal behind. We finished the game 5 minutes after them. It was 7-0 for China, and I kept shouting for another goal, but others said 7-0 was enough. I said no. I had to score one more. In addition, we conceded a penalty in that game.
Despite being out of the World Qualifiers, he was runner-up in the Asian Cup before that and had a good run with TEDA, so in China, it's considered a success, right?
In the Asian Cup, at the time, the FA planned to get out of the group stage and into the last eight and play a game in Beijing, a game in Chongqing and a game in Guangzhou, but I didn't think it would work. If we wanted to win the tournament and win the championship, we had to play in Beijing. The FA listened to my opinion. So after we got out of the group stage, we stayed in Beijing and didn't have to travel. We were lucky. It's a different feeling for us to play in the capital. It's a real home game and it's a really good time.
The qualifiers didn't go through and there was an ouster clause in the contract. So, at the end of 2004, I returned to Germany. I contacted the people at the FA privately and they wanted me to stay as well. However, due to various influences, I had to leave. It was really a pity.
