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part two hundred and sixteen
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wc!au: team bbh → luge - team b player profiles (fake newspaper articles)
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:27 am (UTC)(link)theme: fifa/soccer, team b multiplier. these are fake newspaper articles in which china won the afc asian cup in a last minute win over south korea, modeled after the ones that players give after big tournaments like the world cup.
2400w.
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(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:27 am (UTC)(link)another
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:28 am (UTC)(link)China wins 1-0 over South Korea to obtain the Asian Football Confederation Cup!
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:28 am (UTC)(link)Lu Han, finally a AFC Asian Cup winner after returning to the championship three times in the past twelve years, will decide over the next few days whether or not he would like to retire from international football altogether. At 32, he was one of the oldest players playing for the winning Chinese side in Australia this summer, and rumors have abounded about whether or not he will be stepping down from the starting striker position after winning this tournament.
Twelve years ago, Lu Han was a 20-year-old youngster playing at his first Asian Cup with a Chinese side that seemed dismal at best. But in the past twelve years, China has been able to pick up its youth football programs from the ashes of defeat and turn it into a veritable machine, churning out powerful new football athletes by the year. There's a reason why this year's Chinese side—barring Lu Han himself—was so very young. Tonight, they take home the country's first AFC Asian Cup ever, after defeating South Korea 1-0 in overtime. Lu Han was subbed off in the 80th minute to a standing ovation from his country's supporters in the stands after scoring the match-winning goal just after halftime to secure the win.
"I'm hungry for more medals," Lu Han confessed in an interview with Asian Football Confederation officials after the match. "I don't think I'm quite ready to retire just yet. Miroslav Klose won the World Cup as a 36-year-old striker. I think it's something that I can replicate if I keep my fitness and don't make any stupid mistakes between now and then."
China National Football Team Head Coach Zhou Mi had nothing but praise for Lu Han, who was one of the forerunners of the new Chinese football system implemented when the striker was 18 and playing for the country's U21 side. "He doesn't talk much on camera," Zhou Mi notes, "and he's too humble about his success, but he is, without a doubt, one of the clear leaders in this young squad. The younger players all look up to tremendously for his history in the game, the strides he has made for Chinese football in the mainland and abroad. All of us would hate to see him go, so we're definitely hoping that he'll be staying with us."
In Sydney, where the final AFC Cup match was held, the Chinese team took to raucous celebration after the final whistle blew, and danced their way up the stands to receive their medals as well as the cup itself. There has been some criticism of the team over a lack of unity after former team captain Wu Yifan left, citing irreconcilable differences with the rest of his team, but none of the disunity that was reported in the tabloids could be seen during the tournament. It seems as though the team meshed even better when a discordant member was gone. As such, they can celebrate their victory in the spoils of the AFC Cup without regrets.
Four years ago, the AFC Cup was held in South Korea, and the Chinese team made it to the semifinals before being defeated by a strong Iranian side who later went on to win the cup. Lu Han and his Chinese side won the third place match, defeating Japan, and Lu Han even carved a notch in his goalpost as top scorer of the entire tournament, but he has always expressed open dissatisfaction with his team's performance.
"I still can't believe it," Lu Han told us in a post-match interview. "I can't believe I'm alive to see China win an AFC Cup, let alone be a part of that team. Credit where credit is due—we are one team, and we couldn't have done it without each other. Our team Captain, defender Zhang Yixing, held us together during the rough times and really came through for us when we were still hurting after our former captain left. You all know the stories. The rumors. I won't talk about them now because tonight is a night for celebration, but we really deserved this win after all we've been through.
China's next target after this victory is to continue their winning streak and dominate not only East Asian football for years to come, but also set their sights on more global international trophies. "The world cup is in three years, which means that we'll be beginning the main qualifying phase in a little over a year," Lu Han said, an angelic-looking smile on his face, one that has become known to big stadium screens all over Asia. "We qualified last time around, and now that we've won the AFC we're ready to draw more blood. Now that we've had a taste of victory, we can't let it stop here. I have to stick around to make sure the young ones don't get complacent now that we've gotten one trophy. To really prove to people that the Chinese system has changed for the better, we need to stay on top. I'm confident that with this squad, and with the entire country behind us, supporting us, we can do it."
Huang Zitao: Golden Glove and Golden Cup
When the final whistle rang out in Sydney on Sunday night, it was not the famed South Korean side who had won the AFC Cup, but the scrappy underdogs, the China National Men's Football Team, who came away with the trophy. As the stadium filled with the songs of the fans gathered in the audience as well as the tumultuous cheering from the players and coaching staff alike, audiences around the world could believe without a doubt that this was the beginning of something new and amazing in the history of Chinese football.
One of China's key players during the tournament was none other than goalkeeper Huang Zitao, who, though only 24 years old and less experienced than other keepers in the tournament, became one of the cornerstones of Chinese play. With his adept keeping skills and sometimes acrobatic, almost martial arts-like shenanigans in the box, he became one of the fastest sensations of the tournament. Despite the long celebrations that went on even as the sun was setting in Sydney, a glowing Huang still took the time out of his busy schedule to grant us an exclusive interview.
SINA: You and your team have just become the first AFC Cup Champions in Chinese history, and not only that, the cherry on top of your tournament cake was being named best keeper and best young player at the games. How does that make you feel?
HZT: Of course it's an incredible feeling. I can't lie and say that this is not an outcome we absolutely did not expect, because we came together as 23 strong and even during the preliminaries and set out to achieve something that we thought was possible. So many people doubted us along the way. Our naysayers were many and varied. Some couldn't believe that a Chinese side could ever win a big tournament like this because we never had before, because our youth system was flawed, because we didn't have the physical capacity to be better than the other teams, so many reasons. The odds were against us, but we exceeded expectations as a team and managed to grab the win. I am completely and totally satisfied.
SINA: What do you think made China so strong this year as compared to other years in which the team did not do so well?
HZT: From the beginning, our coaching staff and the veterans on our team like Lu Han and Zhang Yixing—they emphasized the importance of teamwork. We weren't selfish with our play. We weren't trying to go for personal glory, for personal honor, for personal gain. Our main focus was to win the cup fair and square, display our ability to work together rather than falling apart because of our differences. I'm the goalkeeper—it's not my job to score goals, so I'm not even going to try. I'm going to do my best to defend my goal because my teammates are counting on me. That's the point of football, and I think that really showed in both our style of play and the way that we treated each other and our opponents. We totally deserved to win this trophy and I am so happy and proud that we did.
SINA: There's been a lot of interest about your style of play as the tournament has continued through to its final stages.
HZT: Oh, [laughs], the white girl dancing moves? I mean, come on. I dare you to stand in front of a goal waving your arms trying to stop the ball and not look ridiculous. Please. But in all seriousness, does it really matter how I look when I'm tending the goal? Is it not enough to stop the ball? I'm not angry or anything, it's pretty funny to me, too, but it doesn't really matter what I look like as long as no one's scoring on me. That's my job. I don't care about anything else—at least, not on the pitch. [laughs] Off the pitch is a different story.
SINA: You and your teammates have told us over and over again about the value of teamwork and how much you guys count on each other both on and off the pitch. Does this mentality have anything to do with the spectacular headlines that blared over the news about former captain Wu Yifan after suddenly he left the squad three months before the tournament?
HZT: You really don't pull your punches, huh? We're trying to celebrate here! But for the purposes of this momentous occasion I suppose I'll say something about this. Wu Yifan was a bit of a mentor for me when I first joined the team at age 20. I was only second-string keeper then, and it helped to have someone older than me show me the ropes. He was a great defender, but the fact of the matter is—you've heard the saying, right? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. In a way, what happened with Yifan only served to strengthen the bond that the 23 of us had with each other. Some people said, oh, that team is going down the drain, they're all going to think that there's no one you can count on except yourselves. But that's not true. It's not what happened, and I hoped we proved that here once and for all, because not one of us could of done this by ourselves. We couldn't have done this alone, not with just the players, not with just the coaches, not with just one person. I can park myself in front of the goal and try to stop every shot that comes my way but I don't have to do that, because my teammates have my back. Nothing in the world is impossible for us when we stand together. That's what I believe. That's all there is to it.
SINA: And what are your hopes for the future with this squad, then?
HZT: The others probably have already told you this, maybe Yixing, maybe Lu Han—but we're looking forward to the next challenge. Continuously moving upward, continuously moving forward. We can't afford to let ourselves slack off now, not when we've already soared so high. It's time for us to reach for better things, for higher goals, and the most immediate one is of course the World Cup. We're definitely going to be coming for gold in Qatar!
SINA: Thank you so much for granting us this interview, and we wish you the best for all of your future endeavors.
HZT: Thank you!
Kim Jongin, South Korea, inconsolable
This year's best all-around player award at the AFC Cup went to none other than 25-year-old star attacking midfielder Kim Jongin of South Korea, but after a torturous losing match against China, not even a consolation prize as big as this one could chase away the South Korean player's tears.
South Korea has had an amazing campaign all throughout the AFC Cup, and have always been East Asian giants in the realm of football. They were the favorites to win the entire tournament, but a second half goal from Chinese striker Lu Han and a stunning display of defense from goalkeeper Huang Zitao and the rest of the Chinese attempt thwarted Korea's attempts to score an equalizer for the rest of the match. Despite staying strong during the medal ceremony and afterwards in front of the media, it was reported that Kim broke down in the locker room afterwards.
"Of course I'm very happy and proud to be receiving this award today," Kim told reporters immediately post-match and post-ceremony, holding the trophy in his hands as he spoke into the offered microphones. "But of course as a team we are disappointed that we were defeated by the underdogs. We played very well, but we lost many chances. It was my fault for not scoring in the first half, the easy ball that deflected off the keeper's shin, but we will review our mistakes, recuperate, and come back strong in the tournaments to come. This is not the end."
Senior defender Byun Baekhyun stepped in next to him to field more questions from the world's press. "It is extremely disappointing," the 27-year-old center back told the media. "We would've loved to bring the AFC Cup back to our country again after so long, and this squad has a long history of near misses. We missed again this time, but with the same team and the same coach moving forward, I hope we continue to mesh well. China played a brilliant final match. I wish them all the best and I have tremendous respect for them as athletes, but it is natural for us to be sad and angry, especially at ourselves. We don't blame each other; we blame ourselves for what we could have done better and different ways that we could have performed during the match. We'll lick our wounds and come back again stronger than ever. In time, this sadness too shall pass."
Kim and Byun both return to Europe after this tournament, Kim as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea, and Byun as part of Manchester United's defensive line.
Re: China wins 1-0 over South Korea to obtain the Asian Football Confederation Cup!
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:30 am (UTC)(link)Re: China wins 1-0 over South Korea to obtain the Asian Football Confederation Cup!
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:31 am (UTC)(link)Re: China wins 1-0 over South Korea to obtain the Asian Football Confederation Cup!
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:32 am (UTC)(link)Re: China wins 1-0 over South Korea to obtain the Asian Football Confederation Cup!
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:33 am (UTC)(link)Re: China wins 1-0 over South Korea to obtain the Asian Football Confederation Cup!
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:38 am (UTC)(link)Re: collapse
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:35 am (UTC)(link)Re: collapse
(Anonymous) 2014-07-15 01:37 am (UTC)(link)