Beijing writer Liu Xinwu wrote two pieces of reportage, describing the events of May the 19th, 1985. They are 5-19 Observations and Slanting Field.
Years after the incident, feelings have calmed down.
Qi Wusheng said, "In football, no team is invincible. It's nothing strange for a strong team to lose to a weak one. Victory doesn't belong exclusively to China, or to anyone else."
Lin Lefeng said, "We didn't do well. We didn't make it beyond the group stage. But how far could we have advanced even if we had made it? It's impossible to say. "
Li Huajun said, "Maybe we attached too much importance to the match itself. In most other matches, we didn't count on winning. I think it's the result that matters. In some ways the match itself is less important."
Mr Rong said, "As fresh graduates, we dreamed of strengthening China overnight, of striding across the global stage, but as students newly initiated into society, it wasn't so easy. A struggle was unavoidable. We had to face the reality."
14 years after the so-called May the 19th Incident, a Yugoslav, Bora Milutinovic, was hired as the coach of the China National Football Team. On October the 7th, 2001, the team realized its generation-long dream. At the World Cup itself, the national team failed to score a single goal, and won no matches or any points. And so, in the event, nothing was achieved. However, the team lived in peace after the tournament. The fans still supported them, because something had become clear. Football was, after all, only a game.
(CCTV November 11, 2008)
