Champion’s Heart

Yan Min's active performance is only a microcosm of the Chinese team's performance. In addition to Yan Min, other Chinese team players are also very hard-working and active.

The Chinese team's counterattack made the Brazilian team want to attack with all their strength, but they had to use a defensive weapon.

So even though the Brazilian fans in the stands were very angry at Yan Min's fancy moves, they regarded them as a provocation to them and continued to encourage the team to attack with shouts.

But in fact, the Brazilian team's performance was not as brave as Brazilian fans expected.

They did not rush forward in a swarm and overwhelm the Chinese team with unparalleled momentum.

Because they are worried about the Chinese team's counterattack.

Both Yan Min and He Ying have excellent individual combat capabilities.

This has been well reflected both in previous European leagues and in the recent games.

The Brazilian team did not dare to take the risk.

As Lippi said before the game, this is their home court. The enthusiasm of the home team fans gives them almost endless motivation, but it also brings them huge pressure.

Each of them probably dare not imagine what the consequences would be if they lost the game at their home court...

The lessons learned from losing the World Cup final at the Maracana Stadium are still fresh in our minds. Although sixty-four years have passed, the impact is still there today. For the players of the Brazilian national team that lost the final, this was The shadow of failure has always shrouded them, and the names of losers and shameful ones have always been with them.

Barbosa, the Brazilian goalkeeper who conceded the goal at the time, passed away in 2000, but he was able to escape the shadow of that final defeat for the rest of his life. A woman once pointed at him and told her son: Look, this is what makes him Weeping people all over Brazil.”

The tragedy of the black goalkeeper even caused the resurgence of racial discrimination against black people in Brazil at that time. The Brazilian national team did not use a black goalkeeper for decades after resigning, until Dida appeared...

When Barbosa died in 2000, not a penny was found on him. The former Brazil international died in poverty.

The defeat in the 1950 World Cup final is still a topic studied by many Brazilian experts and scholars. It covers a wide range of topics and has a great influence.

Some people even commented on the defeat in that final: Every country has a history that is unbearable to look back on.

For example, the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Our disaster, our Hiroshima, was the defeat against Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final.

In 1970, the Brazilian team won the World Cup for the third time. They were unstoppable and their perfect performance convinced other losing opponents. The final, if not the history of world football, should at least be regarded as the most glorious moment in the history of Brazilian football. The Brazilian team in that World Cup was recognized around the world as the strongest and most perfect national team in the history of the World Cup. But in 2000, no one would think of commemorating and celebrating the 30th anniversary of this golden moment.

Instead, the failure of 1950 is always remembered. The first page of the Brazilian Journal published on July 16, 2000, read this headline: Half-century nightmare: Zizinho believes that in the 1950 final, Uruguay chose Santa Gonzaloca The tactics used by the Rioca team...

The newspaper spent three pages reminiscing about the game fifty years ago. People who participated in the game still can't let it go. Zizinho was the star of that Brazilian team and was in disbelief at the tactics used by Uruguay because it was the same style of play used by Carioca, a small suburban team he had played in when he was young.

The Maracana tragedy has so troubled Brazilians that it has its own word: Maracanazo. In Brazil, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Maracana tragedy, numerous books were published describing, analyzing and commenting on that match.

In sharp contrast, the only book about Brazil's 1970 World Cup was published in the United Kingdom, and it was only available in English and was not available in Brazil...

The famous Brazilian anthropologist Roberto da Matta considered the defeat in the 1950 final perhaps the greatest tragedy in the history of Brazil, because it happened in front of hundreds of thousands of unprepared spectators, and because it happened at a time when Brazil had begun to think of itself as a nation. A period of great power. The result of the game has plunged us into an abyss, into endless excuses and self-blame for this humiliating defeat.

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It is impossible for the members of the current Brazilian national team not to know and understand the impact of the failure of that game on this country, its people, and the entire society.

No one wants to live in the shadow and shame of a loser all their life.

No one wants to be like Barbossa, who can only be relieved by death, or even death.

I'm afraid they all had such a dream when they were young - one day, they can score for Brazil in the World Cup finals in Maracana and help Brazil win the World Cup. While creating new history, they also erase the old history. The trauma of the entire country.

That means they have to keep winning, get to the final, get back to the Maracanã and then win there and lift the Gold Cup.

Before that, they couldn't lose, and they couldn't relax for a moment.

They have not yet been enveloped by the cloud of losers, but they are already under tremendous pressure.

In fact, after the opening game of the World Cup, in response to the poor performance of the Brazilian team, the psychologist of the Brazilian national team made a report of more than 100 pages on the players' anxiety, and then submitted it to the head coach Scolari. After reading the report, Scolari also asked a psychologist to provide psychological counseling for the players regarding the Maracana Massacre, hoping that they would not be affected by history. But in fact, Scolari himself feels the same way. He once admitted to the Brazilian media that he still has trouble sleeping at night sometimes when he thinks about Maracana's failure.

There is such huge pressure from coaches to players, which makes them often hesitate and hesitate when facing difficulties. They must bear heavy and huge pressure when thinking about every problem and everything.

And these pressures, in turn, affect every judgment they make.

With a few minutes left in the first half, the Brazilian team chose to be conservative because they were afraid of conceding the ball.

So the Brazilian team, which has always been world-famous for its offensive football, played a bit ugly at its home court...

The Brazilian fans in the stands were very dissatisfied when they saw their team's lackluster performance.

For a while, boos against the Brazilian team also appeared sporadically - these were definitely not coming from Chinese fans. Considering the number of Chinese fans and Brazilian fans, Chinese fans would make almost any sound. The voices of Brazilian fans can only be heard when they are silent, but the problem is to silence Brazilian fans, only by scoring their goals...

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The Brazilian team chose a conservative strategy and successfully defended until the end of the first half.

When referee Weber blew the whistle at the end of the first half, the score was 1:1 and the two sides were tied.

Commentators from all over the world commented on this first half.

He Ping was very satisfied with the performance of the national team: ...After we unexpectedly conceded the goal, we quickly regained our composure and equalized the score after thirteen minutes. Then we even had the upper hand on the field and won. The Brazilian team did not dare to attack and could only shrink its defense. This is not easy for the Brazilian team playing at home...

The commentator on Brazilian TV was dissatisfied with the team's performance in the first half, or to be precise, dissatisfied with the performance after conceding the goal: After we took the lead, our players seemed to underestimate the opponent. And when we were equalized After that, he acted so cowardly! If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I couldn’t believe that this was the Brazilian national team!”

As a neutral commentator, Marcel Leif said it fairly objectively: The Brazilian team and the Chinese team each played well for a period of time. After the game started, the Brazilian team's offense was obviously more threatening. The goal conceded seemed It was Yan Min's own goal, but in fact, even without Yan Min's leg, David Ruiz could have scored. But after the Brazilian team scored, they seemed to not know how to play. The Chinese team seized They got the opportunity and played their rhythm. Zhou Yi's goal was an opportunity snatched by Yan Min in the frontcourt... After equalizing the score, the Chinese team's counterattack was more skillful, while the Brazilian team did not know how to play. We You can even hear boos directed at the Brazilian team on the court... In this game, to be honest, the Brazilian team's performance was acceptable before scoring, but not after that...

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When the last Chinese player entered the locker room, Lippi walked in and closed the door.

With a faint smile on his face: How was it? After playing against them for forty-five minutes, how do you feel? Is the five-star Brazil very strong?

The players of the Chinese team looked at each other, and Yan Min raised his hand: It's about the same as us...

Lippi smiled: You are still better than us, but your strength is limited. What satisfied me most about you in the first half was your change after losing the ball, both in terms of tactical execution and mental outlook. It is impossible for a team to never encounter problems, so the key is not not to encounter setbacks, but what to do after encountering setbacks. Starting from the first game of the World Cup, there was only the third group match, and we scored first. Including today's game, we have conceded the goal first in three games, but so far, we have not lost. What does this mean? It means that we have the ability to get out of the predicament. I am very happy, this is a A sign of a team’s maturity…”

Lippi was praising his players, while Scolari was angrily criticizing his team.

What were you doing in the first half? After scoring a goal, you didn't know how to play? Ah? Look at your performance! Did you hear the boos in the stands? That's not for the Chinese team, but for the Chinese team It’s for you! You must change this situation in the second half, and you must never let them do whatever they want on our territory again!”

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