Godfather of national football

Chapter 160 List of 23 National People's Congress
In Madrid, the press room of the hotel where the national football team stayed was crowded with journalists from all walks of life. At the upcoming press conference, Li Guo will officially announce the 23-man roster of the national football team for the World Cup. Then the national football team will fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, where they will face Argentina, the first opponent of the national football team in the group stage.

"Li Guo, wait a minute," Chen An shouted from behind.

"how?"

Chen An handed over a piece of paper, "You forgot this."

On paper is the 23-man roster of the national football team.

"No need, I can recite them, they are just like my children, can't your own children remember?"

Chen An smiled slightly, "Let's take it."

At the beginning of the press conference, Li Guo first announced the list of 23 people.

Goalkeepers - Wang Dalei, Yang Zhi, Zeng Cheng.

Defense line - Mu Fei, Zhou Dun, Yin Di, Geng Chong, Feng Xiaoting, Sun Xiang, Zhang Linpeng, Dewey.

Midfielders - Fang Suo, Shen Rui, Zheng Zhi, Sun Jihai, Hao Junmin, Qu Bo, Yu Hai, Li Weifeng.

Forward line - Chen Gelin, Ji Ke, Gao Lin, Yu Dabao.

Then Li Guo read the names of the 7 people who were eliminated, "I also thank them, please join me in giving them applause."

After a burst of applause, the questioning session began.

"Director Li, why wasn't Dong Fangzhuo selected?"

Li Guo waved the microphone in front of him and said, "Dong Fangzhuo once stayed at Manchester United, he is a very talented player, but I don't think he worked hard enough, so I didn't call him into the national team."

"Director Li, will Gao Lin have a chance to play against Argentina?"

"No one in my team can definitely play, and no one can definitely not play. It depends entirely on the state before the game. This requires professional advice from Robin and the physical coach."

"Are you satisfied with the game against Spain?"

"I am very satisfied. The Spanish players are very professional and they are very devoted to the game. I think we can see the gap between the national football team and the world's top teams. This is very helpful for the World Cup."

"Director Li, there is a big time difference between South Africa and China, and the seasons are opposite. Do you have any preparations for adaptation?"

"No preparations, it's the first time the World Cup is coming to the African continent, so it's the same for any team, I don't think we have anything special."

"Director Li, your contract will be terminated after the World Cup. Do you plan to renew it?"

Li Guo smiled, "It depends on the results of the World Cup. If the results are not good, I don't think there is a possibility of renewing the contract."

After the press conference, the national football team boarded the plane to South Africa to start the World Cup journey.

******
On the plane, the players were a little excited. Starting from the qualifying match against the Philippines, the national football team went all the way to get the qualification to come to South Africa. It can be said that it is not easy. Even so, they still have to work hard to squeeze into the 23-man squad.

Everyone on the plane was talking in a low voice, about the topic of the first battle against Argentina, and about the chaos of security in South Africa.

Mu Fei said: "Don't worry, everyone. I was in Brazil when I was a child. The place is not much better than South Africa. If you meet a bad guy, just run away. Don't hesitate."

"No wonder you run so fast, it turns out that's how you practiced it," everyone teased.

While everyone was joking, Li Guo was writing and drawing in his notebook, and Chen An leaned over and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Have you heard the story of Tian Ji's horse racing?"

"Come on, no one in China has heard of it before,"

Li Guo chuckled, "I'm thinking about this story right now. In fact, this story can be applied to football matches."

Chen An nodded, indicating that you should continue talking.

"If Argentina is the top horse, France is the middle horse, and Côte d'Ivoire is the bottom horse, then we should give up the game against Argentina and focus on fighting off France."

Chen An disagreed, "The key is that France is not much worse than Argentina,"

"That's what it looks like on the surface," Li Guo said.

Li Guo knew that in his previous life, in the World Cup in South Africa, France had a famous infighting.

Li Guo doesn't know if there will be internal strife in France this time. I hope it will. If so, it will not be difficult for the Chinese team to qualify for the group stage.

Chen An said: "I think we should try to get a point in the game against Argentina, even if we put a bus, we can use the ugliest football."

"It would be great if it could be realized."

After speaking, Li Guo looked out the window, this journey is destined to be uneven.

*****
When I came to Johannesburg, the hotel where the national football team stayed was greeted with the strictest security, not only because of the arrival of the Chinese team, but also because the opening game of the World Cup in South Africa was played at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

The host South Africa will face the Caribbean Tiger Mexico. This is a great event for South Africa. Imagine the scene of the 2008 Olympic Games, and it is almost the same situation now.

But for Li Guo, it feels great, because those annoying reporters can't get in, and the national football players have a rare rest time.

Because the first match is within a week, Li Guo handed over the training of the players to the physical coach, so that under scientific training, the players must not suffer from injuries. This is the most important thing for the current national football team.

What tactics and coordination are secondary now. Those things cannot be practiced in a short time. The only important thing is the health of the players.

In order to ease the tension before the big battle, Li Guo opened a small gamble in the team, guessing the result of the opening game.

Of the 23 players, 18 supported Mexico to win, and the rest guessed a draw. Only one person supported South Africa to win. It is very simple. Mexican football is a strong team in the world.

Li Guo also guessed the tie, and guessed the score, 1 to 1.

This is just ingenious entertainment, and everyone doesn't care, but the team will watch the opening game together, and I believe the game will be very exciting then.

On the day of the opening game, the city of Johannesburg was congested. It is said that even the spectating delegation of the Chinese Football Association was blocked on the road. Fortunately, the national football players can watch the game comfortably in the lobby of the hotel.

The law enforcement referee of this game is Asia's No. [-] Golden Whistle, Irmatov from Uzbekistan. This can be regarded as the first Asian pride in this World Cup.

When Irmatov blew the opening whistle, the audience burst into cheers, and then there was a loud noise, and Mu Fei asked, "Damn, what's that sound?"

(End of this chapter)