Chinese champion

Chapter 439

The opening ceremony of the World Cup in South Africa will be held on June 6 at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. The curtain of this World Cup did not come to an end until one month later, that is, on July 11, when the quadrennial football event came to an end.

Interestingly, the opponent of the German team, the host of the opening game of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, was also Costa Rica, a small and unremarkable country from North America. The reason is that after the team in the opening game was changed from the defending champion to the host, Germany and South Africa chose Costa Rica as their opponents.

Of course, we can't say that there is something tricky about it, but it's not too surprising that the host is taken care of. Although the grouping is determined by a seemingly fair draw, in fact, there are too many methods that can be used .

But all this has nothing to do with the Chinese team. The first thing they have to do is to try to get out of this "death group", and then consider other issues. They have to eat every bite, and the games have to be played game by game. .

The first match of the Chinese team will be held on June 6, two days after the start of the World Cup. Their first opponent is Ecuador, which seems to be the weakest in the group. On the 13th, the Chinese team's second game was against Sweden, and then on the 18nd, it ushered in the last opponent, the England team.

This schedule is quite favorable for the Chinese team. The three opponents are from weak to strong. If the Chinese team can successfully win the first two games, then they will be able to fight with a relaxed mind in the final round. If the two games failed to achieve better results, then the last game against England will be a veritable battle of life and death.

For these three opponents, the coaching staff headed by He Jin has carried out detailed and detailed investigation and research. Needless to say, England has no secrets about such a star-studded team. The head coach was replaced by the former Celtic head coach O'Neill from McLaren, but no matter how old and cunning O'Neill is, he will not replace people like Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard and others Yes, and the game against England is the last game in the group stage. After the first two games, we can see some clues from it, and the Swedish team has a high appearance rate. Their tactics are all around Pei Ecuador is a little more mysterious, but judging from their recent performance, after veterans such as De la Cruz and Delgado quit the national team, there is no strong force. Young people emerged, and the only newcomer who could make a move was Mendes, a 20-year-old who had just signed a contract with Inter Milan.

Their core is the midfielder Valencia who played for Huelva in La Liga. This 25-year-old midfielder with the same name as a La Liga team has already participated in a World Cup veteran. He has excellent skills and abundant physical strength. He is the soul of Ecuador.

However, He Jin has full confidence in winning this game. Although Ecuador broke into the top 5 in the World Cup in Germany, that is already their super-level performance. Their strength has dropped a lot compared to four years ago. It can't be compared with the Chinese team at its peak. Although they performed well in the South American qualifiers, they only performed well. They are a headache team at home on their plateau. Their strength will drop by at least one notch. If it is not for good luck, as the No.4 in the South American division, they may have lost to the No.[-] Trinidad and Tobago in North America in the play-offs.

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After the Chinese team arrived in South Africa, their training was not intensive. He Jin chose a relatively relaxed training method to restore energy to the players who had been exhausted for a season. They practiced every day, mainly focusing on training games, allowing the players to Get acquainted faster, although there is no problem with the cooperation of the main players, but it is still necessary to strengthen the tacit understanding between the other players and them.

During this period, He Jin chose two local teams to play two small warm-up matches. The purpose was just to let the players not forget the atmosphere of the game. In the past two years, he played a lot of friendly matches with various teams. There is no need to hold on to the buddha's feet at the moment, and it will be too late to regret if the wrist is stretched. He Jin doesn't want one of his team members to go home before they officially compete in the World Cup.

At 6:13 local time on June 08, the Chinese team will usher in their first match in the World Cup at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town.

Although in the pre-match predictions, almost everyone believed that the Chinese team with [-] players playing in Europe would defeat Ecuador easily (of course, most of them were Chinese reporters), but Ecuador’s Colombian Head coach Suarez said that anything can happen on the football field. Although the strength of the Chinese team is superior, Ecuador is not weak. The top [-] of the last World Cup has proved their strength.

"On the night of the 13th, Ecuador will let everyone know that we are not going to go home just for fun!" He vowed.

He Jin has no interest in this kind of verbal dispute before the game. Although his eloquence is also very good, it is rare for him to waste his saliva on such things. After all, football games still rely on the contest on the field to determine the outcome , It's not that whoever speaks loudly before the game can have an advantage.

The players of the Chinese team did not seem to be affected in any way. They continued to train vigorously every day, actively, but never reluctantly. It seemed that the upcoming World Cup was not the pinnacle of world football, but an ordinary league.

Time passed quickly, and under the highly anticipated circumstances, the 11th arrived as scheduled, and officially opened the prelude to the 19th World Cup in South Africa.

The opening ceremony full of African flavor was not long, but it left a very deep impact on the world, and the next opening game also made the South African people very happy. Their home team, the host South African team, scored 2:0 Defeated the Costa Rica team and got off to a good start.

Starting from this game, a one-month gluttonous feast, 64 wonderful games will be displayed in front of fans all over the world.

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6 month 13 day.

The Cape Town Stadium, which can accommodate 7 people, is full of seats. Local overseas Chinese in South Africa, die-hard fans who followed the Chinese team to South Africa, and travel groups mixed with fans...Three hours before the start of the game, the Chinese with tickets Fans occupied the entire two stands in the east and south. The five-star red flag flying on the stands seemed to create an illusion that this was not the Cape Town Stadium in South Africa, but the Workers' Stadium in China.

The fans in Ecuador seem to be much smaller. They only occupy one stand, and their momentum is completely suppressed by Chinese fans. The other stand is occupied by local fans and spectators from other countries. Some fans from Italy, Spain, Germany and other places came to support the Chinese players playing in these places.

Although Wu Qi, Dong Yuzhuo, Du Wei and others of the Chinese team are also playing in the Premier League, because they are in a group with England, there are no fans from the UK to cheer for them. After all, they are still from their homeland. Honor is the most important thing...

A more important reason is that in another game in this group that ended an hour ago, England still failed to break the vicious circle of Sweden. Ibrahimovic's penalty kick in the first half helped Sweden lead England 1-0 , although England completely dominated the midfield in the second half, Gerrard and Lampard continued to rely on their excellent long-range shooting ability to attack, almost suppressing Sweden in their own half, but they won't score. The situation was not broken until the end of the game when Joe Cole, who came off the bench, made up for Gerrard's shot in front of the goal. The score of 1:1 was maintained until the end.

Although this score is not disappointing, for the England team, this score is not enough to make them happy. After all, the strength of the Chinese team is there now, and so many superstars who are well-known in Europe are not vegetarians. , If you accidentally end up in a situation where the group is eliminated, then the Englishman will lose face.

In the locker room of the Chinese team, the players are more or less excited. Although some of them have participated in the World Cup once, and more have seen the big world in Europe, they are still in this situation. Feel the tension.

He Jin secretly looked at the expressions of the players, and found that apart from Pei Wei who was as nonchalant as usual, Hu Yong as calm as ever, and Zhuang Feng still with a cold face, even Zhu Jun and Wu Qi also felt nervous Zhu Jun obviously talked less than usual, while Wu Qi seemed to talk a lot - he is not usually such a person.

"We've said too much about this or that." He Jin suddenly said, "For the honor of the country, for the happiness of hundreds of millions of fans, we must play this game well and show our mental outlook... ...Now I tell you, these are all false!"

He stood up and waved his arms vigorously, like a commanding general: "As a football player, your ability to stand on this highest stage already shows your strength! Think about those who have outstanding personal abilities but because of Fans who are dragged down by the national team and unable to appear in the World Cup, how lucky are you!"

"Don't have any worries, you are here to win the game! You don't need to think about anything else, that's what the coach should do! Go out and play! Defeat all the opponents in front of you!"

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Augustin Delgado sat alone among a group of Ecuadorian fans wearing sunglasses. No one recognized him as the Ecuadorian hero of the last World Cup. This is exactly what he wanted to see. Before the game, he turned down multiple Ecuadorian TV stations. Inviting him to be a game commentator's request, a man came to South Africa to watch the game.

This game has a special plot for Delgado. It goes without saying that Ecuador is his home team. Even among the players in the Chinese team, many of them are his old friends and former enemies.

Pei Wei and Wang Xiaomin, these two new idols of Inter Milan have been teammates with him for a year or two respectively, and he has also played against Zhu Jun face to face on the field. Not much confidence.

His career is not brilliant, although he is the most famous player in this generation of Ecuadorian football, the most honorable honor is a La Liga championship, and this honor was obtained when he was teammates with Pei Wei .

Delgado's mood is very complicated now. He hopes that Ecuador can win, and he also hopes to see Pei Wei's wonderful performance. From the first day he saw Pei Wei, he knew that this person is 10 years younger than himself The future achievements of young people are immeasurable.

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Pei Wei didn't know that Delgado, who had been his teammate for two years, was now in the stands. Even if he knew, he didn't have the mood to pay attention to it for the time being. Now Ecuador's offensive is very fierce.

The Chinese team did not form the four-three-three or four-two-three-one that has been practicing during this period, but the four-four-two formation that has been used for a long time. Goalkeeper Wu Qi, four defenders Deng Yunfeng, Li Min, and Du Wei , Wang Xiaomin, midfielders Hu Yong, Zhu Jun, Zhang Qi, Pei Wei, forwards are Zhuang Feng and Dong Yuzhuo's partners.

This is an even and stable formation, basically using all the best players in the Chinese team. The luxury lineup of the all-European combination makes Chinese fans speechless, but many "spies" who are closely watching the Chinese team are in their hearts He breathed a sigh of relief: "Just like in the Olympic Games, He has formed a theoretically strongest lineup. We can relax a little bit. Although their players are still very capable, they are still under the leadership of a mediocre head coach. It's not so scary anymore, a pack of lions led by a sheep is nothing to worry about."

The first game against a weaker opponent has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that victory can improve the confidence of the next game. The disadvantage is that the World Cup has just begun, and all the teams are in a peak state with the most physical fitness. Players The energy is the most abundant, so in the World Cup, the first round is often the easiest to get upset.

The team that aims to win the championship naturally needs to adjust the excitement of the players, and can't show all the best at once. The last champion Italy is a good example. They did not play well in the group stage. Okay, but this "slow heat" characteristic made them play better and better after entering the knockout stage, and finally won the championship.

Teams that don't have so many goals don't have this concern, because maybe they will go home after three games, and they will use all their abilities to rush and fight at the beginning. Need to think about tomorrow.

The current situation on the field is like this. Ecuador, led by Valencia, launched a fierce attack without any worries, which made the Chinese team's defense a little flustered for a while.

But fortunately there is Wu Qi, he is a competitive player, the more fierce the opponent's attack, the better he will play, but if the opponent does not attack for a long time, he will occasionally appear mistake.

Shooting from outside the restricted area, Wu Qi embraced with both hands, grabbed the point inside the restricted area, Wu Qi single-boxed and flew, the corner kick hit the restricted area, Wu Qi attacked and jumped high, and took the ball off everyone's heads...

However, his outstanding performance alone cannot conceal the confusion of the Chinese team's defense. It is unforgivable for the opponent to get three threatening shots in the first 10 minutes of the game, not to mention that the opponent is not a strong team.

This kind of scene made the Chinese fans on the scene and in front of the TV a little worried. They couldn't help but think of the World Cup in Germany four years ago. The Chinese team was dealing with Tunisia and Ukraine, which were relatively weak in the group. They had to do their best in the end to defeat Spain and qualify, which eventually led to them being eliminated by Italy in the quarterfinals without a good rest.

Facing this situation, He Jin didn't look anxious, instead he leaned leisurely on the coach's bench, his mouth still wriggling slightly.

Feng Yu next to him thought he was talking about how to guide the players on the field, but when he put his ear close to him, his nose almost turned out of anger—this guy is actually humming!
Feng Yu looked at He Jin with a very displeased look. You are not serious at ordinary times, and you always think of ways to get money from your assistant coaches. Lose the face of the Chinese!You are shameless and we want more!
Maybe because he sensed the unkindness in Feng Yu's gaze, He Jin straightened his body and suddenly smiled: "Old Feng, why are you looking at me like this? It's like wanting to eat me! There's no need for that, is there?"

Feng Yu snorted heavily, and said angrily: "You can still sing! Look at the field! You were beaten like this by Ecuador! Don't you want to do something as a coach?"

"Calm down! Old Feng." He Jin suddenly became serious: "In the first game, the players should be a little nervous, and the opponent is definitely not weak! There are no underdogs who can enter the World Cup, let alone those who came from the South American division. The current situation is normal, we have to believe in the strength and self-regulation ability of these guys! Hold your breath, it’s not time to worry, if we start to worry, what will happen to the players on the field? You know, we are the locomotive , whoever messes up, we can't mess up!"

Feng Yu blinked, and suddenly felt that He Jin was really unpredictable sometimes...

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Valencia received a pass from his teammate and penetrated directly into the middle of the penalty area. During this period of time, he performed well. He instigated two of Ecuador's three shots just now, and he also dedicated a long-range shot himself. Wu Qi just stopped.

The worry about Hu Yong before the game has slowly disappeared, replaced by disdain - what is the main midfielder who plays for AC Milan, it's nothing more than that!It seems that the level of Serie A is really far behind La Liga. Even my own midfielder who plays for a second-tier team in La Liga can play with the midfielders of the Serie A giants...

But he seems to have forgotten one thing. If the level of Serie A is far inferior to that of La Liga, why did two Serie A teams appear on the final of last year's Champions League?
Looking at Hu Yong's expressionless face in front of him, Valencia lightly fiddled with the ball under his feet, and at the same time made a feint with his upper body to lure Hu Yong to move to the left, then flicked the ball to the right, and then passed Hu Yong side.

"How is it? It's easy, right?" Valencia smiled secretly in his heart. When he was about to move forward with the ball, he found that the ball under his feet was gone!
Valencia was depressed for a while, but others could see clearly. Just now Hu Yong pretended to be fooled and turned to the left, but his feet stayed in place, and he hooked the ball lightly, but Valencia didn't notice it.

"This silly B, you're still having fun after losing the ball, no wonder you can only play for the relegation team in La Liga..." Li Min, who was not far away, said with a wry mouth.

Valencia didn't hear Li Min's words, and even if he did, he couldn't understand Li Min's Chinese. His reaction was still very fast, and he turned around and ran back immediately, trying to break the ball back from Hu Yong's feet.

But Hu Yong didn't give him this chance. After slightly raising his head to look at the situation ahead, he immediately raised his foot and sent a long pass to the frontcourt!

The Chinese fans in the stands immediately let out deafening cheers. Now that the game has progressed, they finally found a chance to cheer!

Feng Yu off the court immediately saw that the three players of the Chinese team in the front court who had not returned to defense immediately started running. The running route was exactly the counterattack routine they had practiced countless times!

At this time, what He Jin said just now suddenly popped up in Feng Yu's mind: "Calm down!"

(End of this chapter)