On September 10, nightfall in Beijing, the Chinese soccer world once again hit a low point. A home warm-up match unexpectedly shook hands with Malaysia 1-1. An even more haunting scene occurred at the end of the match, when the crowd suddenly erupted into a chorus of boos and slogans: "R*M, refund!"
The Malaysian team has long been infamous in Asia, and it is unbelievable that the Chinese national soccer team drew with them. When will the anger of the fans die down? From the bowing of the players as they thanked them for the match, to the chiding from the stands, it was a clear sign of their anger.
Nonetheless, fans continued to have faith in the Chinese national soccer team as the game progressed. But there was a time when the fans' anxiety reached its peak. Right at the last 91 minutes and 30 seconds of the game, China's backfield players fell down one after another, occasionally attempting to change the score with a long-distance shot, only to end up with an out-of-bounds goal.
It was a sight to behold for the fans. The referee, who had repeatedly shown us "red cards", tried to win us extra time by giving us 9 minutes of attacking time at a crucial moment. However, the backfield players were left speechless with their continuous falls. Do they really deserve the injured Li Shuai?
Despite the roar of the crowd, the final result was a 1-1 draw against Malaysia. What face do we have in the face of such a scoreline? If you didn't know, you would have thought we were ahead by a big margin. Even though the referee was so helpful, we couldn't capitalize on our chances. Did the offense show our desire to win? Is it just a "face" that we want?
Although the referee tried his best to buy time for us, the national team did nothing in extra time. In other words, the referee's goodwill became an opportunity we could not capitalize on. If the referee thinks he has reached a draw when he is stalling for time, then our chance has really slipped away. Isn't that a shame? In the end, the national soccer team's backpedal was capped off with a forward ball that left the field in embarrassing fashion.
It's no longer about ability, it's about attitude to the game. The referees were always there to help us because they wanted us to win the game at home and avoid disgracing Malaysia. However, we lacked the desire to score and just wanted to stall for time and eventually give up the game. In such a situation, any effort is futile. If we are satisfied with a draw against Malaysia, then the future of Chinese soccer is not promising. There is reason to worry that the national team will lose to more weaker opponents and end up in the fourth tier of Asia.
