On January 29, at 17:00 in the afternoon at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, there was still an hour before the final, but the stadium was already completely full.
Chinese fans' enthusiasm for this Asian Cup is no less than that for the 2004 Asian Cup in China.
Although it is impossible to fill the home stadium completely like in 2004 due to the long distance, countless fans still rushed to Qatar from China, and they were determined to buy a ticket to enter even if they had to pay a high price from scalpers.
Even so, there were still many Chinese fans who were unable to buy tickets and had to stay outside the stadium, watching the game on TV in bars or on large outdoor screens.
Lu Wenbin's appeal is not only to Chinese people. In addition to Chinese and Australian fans, there are also countless Qatari fans and fans from other countries in the stands.
Most of these fans from Qatar and other countries are fans of Lu Wenbin.
This is the personal influence of a superstar.
There are more than 30,000 seats in the Khalifa Stadium, but there are less than 10,000 Australian fans. The rest are all Chinese fans cheering for the Chinese team and Lu Wenbin's personal fans.
Since the opponent is not Qatar, the Chinese team has the advantage of half home court.
This was just the scene, and there were even more Chinese fans watching the live broadcast of the game in the country.
The final started at 18:00, which was exactly 23:00 Beijing time, less than 24:00, and that day was Saturday, the weekend, and the next day was Sunday.
The time for this final was carefully selected to take into account the viewing needs of fans from most parts of Asia, naturally including Chinese fans.
Even after so many years of lows, and hitting rock bottom in 2010, because of Lu Wenbin's appeal and the possibility of winning the first Asian Cup title, the number of domestic viewers watching this Asian Cup final is estimated to be no less than that of the 2004 local Asian Cup final.
Many viewers who had never watched sports or cared about football before, after being informed and encouraged by the fans around them, sat in front of the TV or computer to watch the game.
As long as Lu Wenbin can lead the Chinese team to win the championship, it will definitely cause carnival among fans across the country.
At 17:20, the organizers began the closing ceremony performance. The King of Qatar, the President of the Asian Football Confederation and the President of FIFA attended the closing ceremony. The President of UEFA also sat with the President of FIFA as a special guest to watch the closing ceremony and the final.
After the closing ceremony, the venue was cleaned up and the starting players of both teams walked onto the court holding their caddies, which aroused warm cheers from the fans.
The national anthem was played, hands were shaken, and sides were chosen, and Lu Wenbin won the right to kick off for the Chinese team.
At 18:00, with the whistle of the referee Irmatov, the 2011 15th Qatar Asian Cup final between China and Australia officially began.
At the beginning of the game, Lu Wenbin took advantage of the kick-off right to launch a surprise attack, hoping to score a quick goal.
However, last year's Puskas Goal of the Year Award was won by Lu Wenbin in the opening 9.67 seconds of the Champions League. Lyon was taken advantage of by Lu Wenbin because of their lack of concentration and unpreparedness at the beginning of the game. Naturally, other teams would not give Lu Wenbin such an opportunity.
Therefore, although Lu Wenbin broke through three players in a row with his strong dribbling and ball control skills, he was still double-teamed by three opponents at the front of the penalty area and lost the ball.
Even though many of his skills have been maxed out, Lu Wenbin is not omnipotent and cannot break through several players and score successfully every time.
Because there were only Lu Wenbin and Zheng Zhi in the frontcourt, Zheng Zhi sometimes had to retreat to participate in defense, resulting in Lu Wenbin not even having anyone to move with, and the Australian defense line could concentrate on defending him alone.
Therefore, Lu Wenbin had not scored a goal until half an hour into the game.
In contrast, Australia's back line was tied up by Lu Wenbin alone, with three or four players, and the attacking power in the frontcourt was also slightly insufficient.
Facing the Chinese team's back line of almost eight or nine people and their iron-clad formation, Australia was helpless.
Although the individual strength of the Chinese team players was a little weaker, they were still able to firmly defend the penalty area with the advantage of numbers, giving the Australians almost no chance.
Australia does not have the strength of Spain and Brazil to pass the ball into the opponent's goal by controlling the ball.
As for long shots outside the restricted area, it is a test of luck.
Without Lu Wenbin's perfect physique and shooting skills, even 10 long shots may not score a goal.
Similarly, the efficiency of free kicks was also very low. Australia got two free kicks in the first 30 minutes, but none of them hit the goal frame and all of them hit the air.
The two teams maintained the score of 0-0 for half an hour.
Then, in the 32nd minute, Lu Wenbin finally got a free kick opportunity with an excellent position and distance.
Australia was also attacking at that time. The Chinese team intercepted the ball and counterattacked. Lu Wenbin broke through the first opponent by dribbling at high speed, and then was knocked down by the Australian midfielder, getting a free kick opportunity about 27 meters away from the Australian goal and to the left.
Good opportunity!
The Chinese team had previously been awarded a free kick outside the penalty area, but unfortunately the position was off. Although Lu Wenbin took the penalty and shot directly, he did not dare to waste his special skills, and in the end the ball hit the side net directly, posing no threat to the goal.
Therefore, for the free kick in the 32nd minute, Lu Wenbin decided to use special skills.
Lu Wenbin's current special skill of the free kick system is still at the elementary level, with only a 50% chance of hitting the goal frame, but it does not mean a 50% goal rate.
The goalkeeper is not made of wood. He may be able to save Lu Wenbin's free kick through his own strength and prediction of movement in advance.
However, no matter what, the free kick controlled by the system skills is usually aimed at the blind corner.
As long as the ball hits the goal frame, the goal rate is still quite considerable, at least higher than the free kick rate taken by Lu Wenbin himself.
Therefore, Lu Wenbin would usually choose to let the system take the penalty kick when there was a good opportunity.
That's the ball.
When the referee blew the whistle for a penalty kick, Lu Wenbin's body was controlled by the system to run a few steps, and then he kicked the ball with his right foot.
The ball flew into the air, passed over the heads of the jumping Australian wall, drew an arc, and went into the upper right corner of the far end of the Australian goal.
Although Australian goalkeeper Schwarzer made a prediction, he predicted the top corner at the near end.
As a result, when he started to shift his body weight, he realized that Lu Wenbin was hitting the ball in the far corner. When he turned over and rushed back, it was too late. In the end, he could only watch in despair in the air as the ball flew past his palm and into the net. He didn't even touch the ball. (Seeking monthly tickets)