Godfather of national football

Chapter 131

With the memory of the traveler, Li Guo knew that in his previous life, this New Zealand team finally entered the World Cup in South Africa.

And in the second round of the group stage, the defending champion Italy was tied, because that game finally caused Italy to be eliminated after the group stage.

Li Guo still clearly remembered that it was a mistake by Cannavaro, and it was their No. 9 who scored for New Zealand.

After the game, many people regarded New Zealand's draw with Italy as good luck, but Li Guo didn't think so. He felt that New Zealand's slightly violent football style was very targeted in front of the aging Italian defense.

In front of us, New Zealand had already penetrated Fiji's goal 10 times in the opening 3 minutes.

In the FIFA A-level competition, all the score records were created by Oceania. By 15 minutes, New Zealand scored another goal.

"My brother, I can't bear to watch when Tahiti plays," Celine said.

Li Guo chuckled, and Celine also saw the advantages of New Zealand's ruling level. It is estimated that Tahiti, led by Atani, would really only be abused when it met New Zealand.

However, the purpose of Li Guo's trip was not to watch New Zealand players score their statistics, but to investigate New Zealand. In other words, he came to find a way to deal with New Zealand.

But this kind of game that is easier than the team training game is actually nothing to see. Fans like to watch this kind of game, but football coaches don't like to watch it.

Professional coaches like to watch 0-0 games instead, because a football senior said that a perfect game should be 0-0, and the goal is caused by the opponent's mistakes.

When New Zealand entered the fifth place, the audience at the scene were not interested, and the players on the field were just celebrating casually.

New Zealand's lowest FIFA ranking is 156th, but that's because there are relatively few international A-level competitions in Oceania. Li Guo feels that New Zealand's strength in Asia is equivalent to that of Uzbekistan.

At the end of the first half, the score was fixed at 5-0. The players from both sides ran back to the locker room, and Li Guo was going to find a place to eat.

Celine and Li went to the canteen of the stadium, where there are beer, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and so on.

Li Guo asked for a glass of orange juice. In order to keep his mind clear while watching the game, Li Guo did not drink alcoholic beverages.

"Li Guo, is it necessary to watch the second half of this game?"

"certainly,"

Celine looked at her phone, it was a text message from her friend, "Good news, Tahiti led Papua New Guinea 3-0 in the first half."

"Good news indeed,"

Seeing Li Guo's absent-minded appearance, Celine comforted: "Li Guo, as long as you try your best, Atani will thank you, and the people of Tahitian will thank you. There is a big gap between us and New Zealand. I know that, so you don't have to put so much pressure on yourself."

Li Guo laughed. Indeed, in the first half, he couldn't see where New Zealand's weakness was. If Tahiti met New Zealand, there was no need to watch the match. Li Guo could probably guess what the result would be.

"Don't worry, I'm a football coach and I like to challenge myself."

*****
After the start of the second half, the willingness of the New Zealand players to collect statistics seems to have weakened a lot. The players are more passing the ball and running less.

Fiji and Tonga are actually similar, and there is no professional football. If there is any characteristic of Fiji players, it is fast.

New Zealand midfielder Smith took the ball in front of the penalty area. He glanced at the back corner of the goal and was about to kick a banana ball.

The Fiji goalkeeper put the ball in the goal area, and then kicked it out with a big kick. The ball flew past the midfield, bounced on the ground, and then flew into the New Zealand penalty area.

The trajectory of the ball was quite strange. Just when the New Zealand central defender was in a daze, the Fiji forward rushed forward at high speed, and the tall white New Zealand defender turned around a bit slowly. Seeing that the Fiji striker was about to form a one-handed goal, New Zealand goalkeeper Mark Paston rushed out. Paston, who is 1 meters tall, pounced on the Fijian striker.

At this time, the bloodiness of the football players was seen. The Fijian striker risked injury, poked the ball towards the goal, and then collided with Paston.

The ball rolled towards the goal slowly, Li Guo had already stood up, GOAL!

When Li Guo yelled, the New Zealand fans beside him didn't understand why this guy didn't look like a Fijian, so why did he cheer for Fiji?

*****
The reason why Li Guo was so excited was because this ball made Li Guo see New Zealand's biggest weakness, that is, their goalkeeper, Mark Paston.

In fact, although the ball was sudden, it did not pose much threat. Normally, the goalkeeper stays near the penalty area line, but Mark Paston was still in his own small penalty area when the opponent opened the goal kick. In today's football, there are not many goalkeepers with such a small range of activities.

Second, Mark Paston’s attack speed is too slow. Although this guy’s height is a bit too tall, this is not a reason. Neuer is also over 1 meters tall, but he runs very fast. The trend of modern football is that the goalkeeper actually plays two positions.

Li Guo recorded this in detail in a small notebook, which may become New Zealand's Achilles' heel.

At the end of the game, New Zealand beat Fiji 7-1, but the Fijians were happier than the New Zealanders, because they scored one, which is worth boasting about.

There was also news from the other side. Tahiti won the first match 4-0. After the match, Li Guo and Celine left the stadium.

"Li Guo, I want to see the night scene,"

"But we booked a red-eye flight for the evening,"

Celine lowered her head, and Li Guo couldn't bear to let the little girl down, "Well, I'll take you to dinner, and then we'll watch the night scene, but you have to make sure to follow me 2 hours before the flight takes off."

Celine laughed, "Of course, I'm not a child."

"Also, if someone sees you, don't say it's my girlfriend."

Celine said mischievously: "I can't guarantee this."

Damn it, it's still dependent on me, being too handsome is really an annoyance.

(End of this chapter)