China’s football team lost its last hope of entering the second round of the World Cup finals after the tied game between Turkey and Costa Rica, but most of the players were calm if somewhat regretful at the early return home.
Called by an interviewer while taking a shower, defender Li Weifeng said. "We were doomed to go home after the Turkey-Costa Rica match. Now, I am thinking about how to play well in our last match [against Turkey] and go back to enjoy the company of my mom."
Shao Jiayi said, "Recognizing the great gap between us and the other teams, we have nothing to do but to train harder to prepare for the next opportunity."
Fan Zhiyi said, "Surely it is regret for me that I can only attend this one World Cup and I didn’t play in the game against Brazil. I will do my best to beat Turkey along with my teammates."
Qi Hong said, "It seems that the Turkish team is in an increasingly worse condition. I hope we can play better than before."
Sun Jihai spoke out strongly as usual: "Was it our original plan to have ‘one goal, one tie and one win’? Well, the next round is impossible; but the important thing is to play our own music now."
Yang Chen said with some sorrow: "Frankly. To play in any game of a World Cup is rare and something to remember for the rest of our lives. Now, the moment of return is approaching, I feel really sorry about it."
(中国新闻[China News Network] translated by Li Liangdu for china.org.cn on June 12, 2002)
