The roads leading to Helong Sports Center were already packed with people and vehicles before the match even started, to the point that Changsha police had to implement traffic control at the main intersections around the stadium. Fans who drove were forced to park in designated parking lots far from the stadium and walk the rest of the way. At the same time, everyone was encouraged to take public transportation to the game.

Before the match, the media focused their efforts on filming the fans entering the stadium.

CCTV even set up a camera in a high position to capture a panoramic view.

It has to be said that the footage shot this way did look better.

Looking down from the air, the Helong Sports Center was at the center of a circle of red flowing into the surrounding streets. This match was a home game for the Chinese team, who had chosen red jerseys, and Chinese fans naturally chose to wear red jerseys to the game, creating a fiery atmosphere.

It was only nine years ago that when the Chinese team met the Japanese team in the Asian Cup final, Chinese commentators still had to call on the media to encourage everyone to wear white clothes to the stadium to cheer for the Chinese team and create an atmosphere—at that time, the Chinese team's home jersey was white.

Now, there was no need for the media to call for it. Everyone consciously knew how to cheer for their team.

In those nine years, Chinese fans had become more and more international, but the level of Chinese football had not reached that point, and the situation had only improved in the last two or three years.

Looking at such a spectacular scene, the CCTV reporter at the front was very excited: "...These fans are like red dragons, singing songs and walking towards Helong Sports Center!"

Outside the stadium, there was a special area, which looked like a small blue area from the air. Squeezed by the red, it was like a small boat in a stormy sea, which might capsize at any time—those were the Japanese fans who had come to support their team.

There were not many of them, mainly Japanese students studying in China and some employees of Japanese-funded institutions.

Due to the grievances between China and Japan, the Changsha police also made thorough deployments and arrangements. First of all, Japanese fans must act collectively and not leave the group alone, because that would be inconvenient for the police to manage and protect them. Secondly, they were not allowed to contact Chinese fans, and they were separated by human walls and iron fences. Thirdly, a special channel was set up for them to enter the stadium with tickets and enter a special grandstand area, surrounded by police and security guards. They had to watch the game under such strict protection.

Of course, this was to protect them, but it also limited their numbers and created a tense atmosphere for the Japanese fans, making them afraid to speak out.

But this was an away game. As away fans, they naturally had to be aware of their place.

Fortunately, the Japanese are very disciplined, so they were very quiet even under heavy protection. They just watched the passionate Chinese fans walk past them, singing songs they couldn't understand, with bright smiles on their faces.

They rarely saw such a scene on Chinese fans, so they were a little surprised and curious.

Japanese fans may not quite understand why Chinese fans have such expressions.

A relaxed and excited expression is actually very rare on the faces of Chinese fans. In the past, if Chinese fans looked relaxed, they would most likely be slapped in the face by the results of the city-level competition. Especially when competing with Asian powerhouses such as Japan and South Korea, everyone's reaction was more of worry—worry about losing. The pressure was enormous.

But now, the Chinese team's performance has given them confidence.

Qualifying for the World Cup finals in advance has reassured many Chinese fans. In addition, given the Chinese team's advantage in the group stage rankings, even if the Chinese team draws this game, they will still be the first in the group.

This is the last game of the top ten for the Japanese team, while the Chinese team has one more, so this first place in the group will be relatively easy for the Chinese team to get.

Chinese fans certainly have reason to relax.

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Before the game, in addition to Chinese media reports, many Japanese media also came to Helong Sports Center to broadcast live. The large number of Chinese fans brought a great shock to Japanese reporters and Japanese fans in front of the TV.

In the hearts of the Japanese, China has always been a big country. Where is the bigness of a big country reflected? The most direct reflection is the population.

Looking at the various scenes from the front, the host behind the scenes of the Japanese TV station introduced to the guests and the audience in front of the TV: "It is said that 60,000 fans will go to the scene to watch this game. It is estimated that nearly 100 million people in China will watch the live broadcast!"

The guests all made typical "Japanese exaggerated" expressions and sighed repeatedly: "...Unbelievable! Amazing!"

The total population of Japan is over 120 million, ranking tenth in the world. This one game has almost the entire population of Japan watching, which really shocked them.

"This is almost...national viewing, right?" a guest asked.

"For Japan, that's it, haha!" the host joked.

"It's unbelievable...China really deserves to be a big country!"

"Yes, you know, even if 100 million people watch this game, it's only one-seventh of China's population..."

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The bus carrying the Chinese national team arrived at the stadium an hour and a half before the match. It was already surrounded by fans.

All the way here, all they could see were Chinese fans in red clothes. When the Chinese fans saw the Chinese team's bus, they waved, cheered, and raised the Chinese team's scarves in their hands to express their support for the team.

For the Chinese team players, this was simply the treatment of a head of state.

And such treatment was rarely enjoyed before.

It was exhilarating to watch.

Sun Pan almost pressed his face against the car window, constantly waving to the fans outside. He said excitedly, "Old men should be like this! This scene, tsk tsk!"

"It's motivation, but also pressure..." Someone said with emotion after hearing him say this.

"What's there to be afraid of pressure? It's normal to have pressure!" Sun Pan was very excited—he was a crowd pleaser. The more people there were, the more excited he became, and the better his state would be. So he was not afraid of pressure, nor was he afraid of crowds.

After the bus parked in the designated spot, the door slowly opened, and the cheers outside were amplified ten times and drilled into the car.

Assistant coach Fu Bo jumped out of the car as soon as possible, and then greeted the players to get off the car at the door, and loudly reminded them: "Don't delay, go to the locker room to change clothes and prepare to warm up!"

He had to raise his voice, shouting hoarsely—he was afraid that the players would not hear him if he spoke too softly. The fans outside were too enthusiastic and crazy. Although the armed police were responsible for maintaining order, the armed police could only ensure that people would not rush over, but they could not block the sound.

But having said that, such a mighty momentum made him, the assistant coach of the national team, feel a little excited—such a scene is enough to brag about for a lifetime!

Under the assistant coach's greeting, the national team players got out of the car one by one. Some wore headphones and pretended to be cool, some waved frequently to the fans, and some felt the pressure, and their expressions and movements were a little stiff.

But none of them stayed outside for long. Everyone quickly disappeared from the sight of the fans, and only a few media photographers followed them.

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Not long after the Chinese team arrived, the Japanese team's bus also arrived, but they did not receive the same treatment as the Chinese team. Except for the media, the fans did not care when the Japanese team arrived.

Not long after the two teams arrived at the stadium, the fans also began to enter the stadium with tickets.

The Helong Sports Center, which can accommodate 60,000 people, was quickly filled bit by bit.

Chinese fans also learned from the "advanced experience" of foreign fans, made a huge tifo, brought it into the stadium, and laid it out on the south stand.

When the players from the Chinese and Japanese teams entered the field to warm up, the people from the fan organization were still busy hanging the tifo on the railings.

A burst of cheers rang out at the scene, which made the busy people realize that the players from the two teams had come out to warm up. Many of them just turned their heads and glanced at the field, and then quickly sped up the movements in their hands—this tfio, which had taken countless people's hard work and time, must be completed before the start of the game, and at that time, they would show the enthusiasm and talent of the Changsha fans to the people of the whole country.