"All these years, Old Ma... you know, I've felt terrible about it."
"If it weren't for me, we would have qualified in 2002. We would have made it to the World Cup finals."
"I'm the one who failed Chinese football!"
After he spoke, Gao Huairen tilted his head back, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.
Ma Yongcheng's heart ached as well.
Back then, Gao Huairen had been the national team's head coach and he, Ma Yongcheng, the assistant coach. They were both blamed for the team's failure to qualify for the '02 World Cup in Korea and Japan, but Gao Huairen had taken the brunt of it.
'But was what happened back then really all their fault?'
'Ever since Gao Huairen launched that massive football reform, how many powerful interests did he upset?'
'How many clubs suffered when their players went overseas?'
