Recently, the Chinese soccer world, as if in a long drought, has been blessed with the glorious assistance of a soccer superstar. He joined hands with Sun Jihai, the former leader and honorary captain of China's men's soccer team, to frame a precious photo that transcends time. The much-anticipated soccer superstar is none other than FIFA President Gianni Infantino. On social media, Infantino and Sun Jihai took a photo together, in which the two stood side by side with smiles on their faces, as if telling the eternal emotions of the soccer world. Infantino's visit to Shanghai was to attend the strategic launch of the global official partner of the 2025 Club World Cup, an initiative that immediately inspired the enthusiasm of many fans and media, who marveled at Sun Jihai's continued elegance and poker prowess.
Infantino took to social media to leave a heartfelt message, "I was overjoyed to see Sun Jihai again in Shanghai. As a legend of Chinese soccer, he has represented his country on the green fields of the World Cup, their only glory tour so far!" Infantino's visit has ignited the fans' desire for victory, and they are looking forward to the FIFA president bringing good news to the Chinese team that will be traveling to Bahrain to help the Chinese men's soccer team return to the long-lost World Cup stage.
FIFA has spared no effort in order to help national soccer teams realize their World Cup dreams. Among them, the resolution of the World Cup expansion to 48 teams, undoubtedly paved the way of hope for our national soccer team. 2026, the World Cup stage will be even more ambitious, FIFA generously allocated to Asia 8.5 valuable places, of which 8 direct promotion, 1 through the play-offs produced. FIFA is well aware of the depth and strength of the Asian national soccer team, long ranked fifth, and therefore has high hopes for the national soccer team, these 8 places are almost a tailor-made ticket for our soccer team.
However, the performance of the national soccer team is saddening. In the midst of FIFA's generous offer of an olive branch, our soccer team has fallen to ninth place in the fierce competition of Asian soccer. Now, with 18 matches remaining, the national soccer team is fighting hard, no longer aiming at the unrealistic goal of advancing to the top two places in the group, but more pragmatically hoping for a chance of survival by finishing fourth in the group and making it to the play-offs.
That hope is growing like a bud in the spring breeze after the national soccer team's victory over Indonesia at home. As long as the national soccer team defeats Bahrain and Indonesia in the coming matches, it will not be far-fetched to enter the play-offs as the fourth place in the group. I hope that under the wise guidance of Coach Ivankovic, the national soccer team will soon realize its great dream of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, living up to the high expectations of FIFA and the sincere friendship of thousands of fans.
