A Football Manager Career

16: The 2034 World Cup in Japan

I was not in the best place to manage at a World Cup. We had lost in the East Asian Cup and we had also lost some of the friendlies in the build-up including against teams far beneath us in the rankings like Thailand and Costa Rica. I needed to pull my finger out and put all the recent awfulness behind me and get some results in the bag. I didn't expect us to win of course, but I did expect us to reach the Quarter Finals at the very least. My spell with Fiorentina was bad in every way. However, I did get a chance to compare some of the newer Chinese players coming through with the established Italian stars and the comparison was no longer painful with the Chinese youth teams being every bit as exciting as those in Italy. If this wasn't enough to give me confidence, then the competition was being held in Japan! Obviously this was great for the players as it was in their neck of the woods and most of them wouldn't have to travel as far as nearly all the other players in the competition. But it was also great because the world was entering our patch: We were the Kings of Asia.

I was delighted with our group. Yes, Belgium were in there and they were a strong team, but we also had DR Congo who I knew we could beat easily and thus qualify almost by default thanks to them.  

Anything that happens next is a bit of a lottery with it possible to either get an easy draw, or to get an almost impossible one. Fortunately, we drew New Zealand and could thus relax. I was able to rest the skeleton of the team and we saw out a 4-0 win without really breaking into a sweat. Our luck continued into the 3rd Round as we drew South Africa. I again rested the skeleton of the team to keep them fresh for our inevitable tougher next opposition and we beat them 2-0. I was loving my return to Asia and was beginning to think I had been wrong to jump ship for an incredibly average job in Europe. (Especially as I was sacked.)

The Quarter Final had been my target, but when I saw that we had drawn the Netherlands my eyes got huge in my head as I pictured the Semis. Don't get me wrong, The Netherlands were a very good side and were 16th in the world, but they relied on a solid defence and defensive midfield to battle their way through games and offered practically nothing going forward. All we had to do was play them at their own game: we would keep our shape and sit back and watch them get frustrated by not being able to attack us on the counter and then the second they threw a single player forward we would pounce. For once in these sort of games my plan actually worked and we won 1-0 without them having a single shot on target.

China were into the Semi Finals of the World Cup. This meant that whatever happened we were guaranteed another game and a chance at either the title, or the prestige of fighting it out for third. Yes, if you're one of the huge nations who are expected to win the World Cup then the 3rd Place Playoff is a kick in the teeth. However, if you're a country with no World Cup history to speak of and you're out to prove yourselves to the world then this is another chance to shine. 

The reason I was mainly focussed on the 3rd Place Playoff is because we had drawn the holders, Brazil... It doesn't seem to matter what the year is, Brazil are always a threat. They beat us 3-0.

I didn't let our heads drop however and threw us straight into training for that third place trophy match against Mexico who were 10th in the World. As far as the press were concerned they were the heavy favourites and we should just be happy to have stayed in the competition so long. For me, however, I saw Mexico as our equals. They had more global history and they had more players in the top leagues, including Luis Angel Hernandez who had just signed for Manchester United in a sixty-six-million-pound deal, but I knew what my lads were capable of and was excited for the chance.

It wasn't a game for the neutral. The possession was perfectly split and both sides had just three shots on target between us. However dull the game may have been to watch, though, it will go down as one of the favourite matches in my career to date as we won.

China had finished third in the world for the first time ever and I had done what I set out to do. In Planet Football's World Cup Review we were declared the 'Biggest Overachievers' with them saying we 'thrilled everyone' with our performances. We jumped up the rankings and were now 13th in the world. Based on our current trajectory and my skill, in four years' time we would win the trophy.  Easy.