Ivan’s Qingdao Delight: Home Coach Hails Perfect Conditions for Chinese National Football Team’s World Cup Quest
Source: Qingdao Morning Post Editor: Wang Yiran 2024-09-25 07:39:15
Original title: Chasing the dream on the green field is exciting enough
In the golden month of September, Qingdao football was full of excitement: the Youth Football Stadium replaced the turf of the stadium in preparation for the China National Football Team’s match against Indonesia in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup on October 15; in the 26th round of the Chinese Super League, Qingdao West Coast FC “came back from 2-0 down” to defeat relegation rival Shenzhen Xinpengcheng; the 35th Qingdao “Mayor’s Cup” Campus Football League, the 4th “Zhongchengxiang Cup” Qingdao Community Football Championship and the Qingdao Division of the 2024 Shandong Province Village Football Tournament were launched one after another. The booming “ball market” of professional football, mass football and campus football in the island city is gratifying.
Became the home stadium of the Chinese national football team for the first time in the World Cup qualifiers
On July 23, the Chinese Football Association issued an announcement confirming that Qingdao will be the host city for the third stage of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers in October. The match will start at 20:00 on October 15, and Qingdao Youth Football Stadium will host the match between the Chinese national football team and Indonesia in the top 18 of the Asian qualifiers. This is the first time in Qingdao’s history that the Chinese national football team has become the home host city in the World Cup qualifiers. In order to prepare for this game, the Youth Football Stadium replaced the stadium turf in accordance with regulations in early September. Guoxin Stadium is also in the process of replacing the turf because it has to undertake the relevant training work of the Chinese national football team in this World Cup qualifier. In view of the fact that it takes a certain period from the planting to the growth of lawn grass seeds, the Qingdao Hainiu team will replace the two Chinese Super League home games on September 15 and 28 from the Youth Football Stadium to the West Coast University Town Stadium.
The 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers for the top 18 officially kicked off in early September. The top 18 are divided into three groups. The top two teams in each group can directly advance to the World Cup finals, and the third and fourth teams in each group will enter the fourth stage of qualifying. This year, the Chinese national football team was drawn to Group C with a fifth-tier score. In the first two rounds, they failed to achieve the expected results, losing to Japan and Saudi Arabia 0:7 and 1:2 respectively, and the group situation is precarious. Therefore, the match against Indonesia at home in Qingdao on October 15th has become a key battle for qualification. If they win, the Chinese national football team will retain the hope of entering the World Cup.
As the first professional football stadium with 50,000 seats in Shandong Province, Qingchun Football Stadium will welcome its first official intercontinental match on the evening of October 15 since its completion in April 2023. In mid-August, the head coach of the Chinese national football team, Ivankovic, came to Qingdao to inspect the home stadium and was very satisfied with the conditions for hosting the game. The first time that it became the home stadium of the Chinese national football team in the World Cup qualifiers is the best explanation for Qingdao being known as the “Football City”.
“Come back from 2-0 down to win 3-0” to win three consecutive victories in the Chinese Super League
In the professional football arena, Qingdao West Coast Football Team lived up to expectations. After experiencing the coaching change, the new head coach Shao Jiayi led the team to face Shenzhen Xinpengcheng in the 26th round of the Chinese Super League at home on the afternoon of September 22. They staged a stunning comeback from 2-0 down to 3-0 and won the key relegation match with a score of 3:2. Previously, in the “two consecutive away games”, the West Coast team defeated Nantong Zhiyun 3:0 and Shandong Taishan 1:0. The “promoted team” won three consecutive victories in the Chinese Super League, allowing the fans of the island city to once again feel the heritage and charm of the “football city”.
In the home game against Shenzhen Xinpengcheng, a direct competitor for relegation, the West Coast team launched a “blitzkrieg” after falling behind by two goals in the 13th minute. In the 21st minute, Chen Haoyu sent a straight pass from the right, Nelson Lus got the ball and cut into the penalty area and made a triangle pass back. Matthäus met the ball and shot low from the penalty area line, and the West Coast team scored a goal. In the 23rd minute, Alan made a pass from the right, Nelson Lus broke into the penalty area from the wing again and knocked it horizontally. Zhang Xiuwei pushed the ball in the small penalty area to equalize the score. At the end of the first half, the two teams were temporarily tied at 2:2. After the change of sides, the West Coast team continued to defend well while looking for opportunities. In the second half, the team successively replaced Chen Bailiang, He Longhai, Jin Yangyang and Duan Liuyu. The formation tended to be more offensive, and the intention to win the game became more obvious. In the final stage of the game, Shenzhen team made a major mistake in defense. Nelson Luss made an extreme save near the baseline and rushed forward with the ball to face the goalkeeper. The Shenzhen defender who was chasing back blocked the ball into his own goal in a panic. In the end, the West Coast team reversed the opponent with 3:2. While defeating Shenzhen team twice this season, they also won three consecutive league games and won the crucial 3 points on the road to relegation.
On the morning of September 23, Qingdao West Coast Football Club welcomed the first jersey sleeve advertising sponsor in history, and joined hands with Qingdao Jintian Xinke Enterprise Service Co., Ltd. The cost of the 2024 business cooperation between the two parties is 10 million yuan. New sleeves, new looks, new atmosphere, inspire new achievements. After achieving 3 wins and 2 draws in the past 5 rounds of the league, and the first three consecutive wins in the Super League in the club’s history, the West Coast team has 28 points and ranked 10th in the standings. The two teams currently in the relegation zone are Meizhou Hakka with 23 points and Nantong Zhiyun with 15 points. There are still 4 rounds left in this season’s Super League, and the West Coast team has basically completed the task of relegation.
Amateur football in the island city “flies on both wings”
Qingdao is equally exciting in terms of mass football and campus football. Whether it is the young boys chasing the wind on the green field, the football masters in the community, or the many contestants in the “Village Super League”, they all show their love for football in a variety of competitions and activities.
On September 20, the 35th Qingdao “Mayor’s Cup” Campus Football League, sponsored by the Qingdao Municipal Education Bureau and Qingdao Sports Bureau and hosted by the Qingdao Campus Football Association, opened at Qingdao No. 67 Middle School. As an important part of the construction of Qingdao’s campus football competition system, the 35th “Mayor’s Cup” campus football league is unprecedented in scale, with a total of 360 teams in 14 groups, more than 7,000 athletes participating, and nearly 900 fierce competitions. . Since the 28th session of this event, the high school men’s competition has implemented a promotion and relegation system. This innovative measure has greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of each team. The first-class teams competed fiercely in the double round-robin competition. The overall level of the competition Significant improvement.
On September 21, the fourth “Zhongchengxiang Cup” Qingdao Community Football Championship opened. This event is one of the first batch of “three major ball” quality events for the masses in Shandong Province, and is also one of the highlights of the 2024 Chinese Football Association’s “National Fitness Day” theme event. The competition was guided by the Qingdao Sports Bureau and hosted by the Qingdao Football Sports Management Center and the Qingdao Football Association. It attracted 24 community football teams and more than 500 athletes from various districts (cities) to participate. The event will last from September 21 to November 16. The 24 participating teams will be divided into 6 groups for a single round-robin competition, and the champion will be finally determined through multiple rounds of elimination matches.
On the same day, the launching ceremony of the Qingdao Division of the 2024 Shandong Provincial Village Football Tournament and the preliminary round of the West Coast New Area were held, hosted by the Qingdao Sports Bureau and the Qingdao Sports Federation, and undertaken by the Qingdao Sports Development Center, the West Coast New Area Education and Sports Bureau, and the West Coast New Area Sports Federation. The Qingdao Division of the 2024 Shandong Provincial Village Football Tournament will form teams based on villages, towns, and streets, attracting more than 1,000 athletes from 48 teams in the city’s agricultural districts (cities). The participating teams will have more than 80 fierce competitions. The competition adopts an 11-man system and is divided into two stages: the district (city) preliminary round and the Qingdao Division competition. The champion team of each district (city) preliminary round will represent the district (city) to participate in the Qingdao Division competition. The competition is expected to end in November.
Guanhai News/Qingdao Morning Post reporter Liu Shijie
[来源：青岛早报 编辑：王熠冉]