Chinese champion

Chapter 281 Road to Glory Top Eight Opponents: Italy!

Even after entering the locker room, the celebrations of the Chinese team continued, and Menotti did not show any sign of wanting to stop them, but sat with Maradona and looked at them with a smile on their faces. He took a sip of the Cuban cigar brought by the ball king.

Even the Football Association officials who came to Germany to watch the game came to join in the fun. The group headed by Fang Yatao did not have the airs that a leader should have at all, and attacked each other with champagne with the players.

The carnival lasted for an hour before all the members of the Chinese team calmed down. With the assistance of the staff, they carried their luggage onto the bus. Their goal was Hamburg. According to the schedule, the Chinese team participated in four The quarter-finals will be the second match, taking place at the AOL-Arena Hamburg, the venue for their second-round match in the group stage.

"It's another rush..." Looking at the tired players who had mostly fallen asleep in the car, He Jin sighed and said that it was a full five-hour drive from Cologne to Hamburg. It will be held in four days, otherwise the result can be known without playing the game.

"It doesn't matter, we have an advantage this time." Feng Yu said: "Whether it is Italy or Australia, their game starts three hours later than ours, and their game location is in Kaiserslautern. A full seven-hour journey!"

"That's true." He Jin nodded: "By the way, hasn't that match started yet?"

"There is still more than an hour, but it is estimated that Italy is more likely to win, and Australia should not be able to compare with Italy in terms of strength." Feng Yu said.

"That's not true!" He Jin shook his head and said, "Australian coach Guus Hiddink is not an easy guy to mess with. Don't forget that he led the South Korean team to keep Italy out of the top eight in the last World Cup! Although there are referees The factors are in it, but Hiddink's training will definitely play a big role! This time Australia is stronger than South Korea in strength, otherwise the Japanese team will not be sieved in 8 minutes, just wait. Maybe there will be a good show in this game!"

He Jin really got it right. Italy played extremely hard in this game. Both sides focused on defense so that there were very few chances to shoot. The heroic performance of the goalkeeper also made the occasional few shots all miss. Entering the second half at 0:0 Finally, Materacci, who replaced Nesta, received a red card for a flying tackle, and Italy was forced to fight with ten men.

Lippi replaced striker Tony to strengthen the defense. The striker who scored 31 goals this season has not broken his fast in the World Cup. Italy uses a strong defense to make Australia, which has one more man, not dominant in offense. When I thought the game would enter overtime, a classic in this World Cup appeared.

In the third minute of stoppage time, a breakthrough by Grosso led to a penalty. Totti calmly scored the ball. Italy won at the last moment. They will also be the opponents of the Chinese team in the quarter-finals.

The tired players of the Chinese team didn't get the news at the first time, and when they got up the next day...

"Do you know who our opponent is? Italy!" Li Min waved the newspaper in his hand and shouted in the corridor, and other players also walked out of their rooms.

"Wow! It's them! How is this schedule arranged? Suddenly, a former World Cup champion appeared in front of us!" Zhu Jun sighed.

Pei Wei stretched out his hand and gave him a chestnut: "You didn't read the match schedule, you should have known it a long time ago, our opponent is the winner between Italy and Australia, you don't even know that?"

"I don't know either..." Wu Qi said: "What's the point of observing that thing? It's normal to meet any strong team after entering the quarterfinals. What's so strange, you guys will make a fuss."

"That's right, what Wu Qi said is right." Du Wei ran out of the room. He had just watched the video of the match: "It's just that Italy played like a bird yesterday. Chance."

"What kind of bird?" Zhang Qi asked. He only knew that Italy had won, but he didn't watch the process.

"We only won with a penalty kick in stoppage time, and their Materac was sent off with a red card, and Nesta couldn't play because of an injury. Their central defenders are gone!"

"Okay, okay, don't discuss this. How to play the game is the coach's business. We just need to work hard on the field!" Captain Sun Chenghai said: "It's hard to have a day off today, so I don't want to do it. What do you want to do? Remember, bring your phone with you so you don’t get lost! Got it?”

"Oh!" After cheering for a while, the players dispersed immediately. The captain was right, in such a dense game, a day off is rare.

Looking at the confident teammates, Pei Wei and Hu Yong looked at each other and smiled wryly.

They are very clear about the strength of the Italian players, but how can they say something that hurts the morale of their teammates under such circumstances?

In the following day, the Chinese team members had a peaceful day, and on this day, the last two quarter-finals also met. The defending champion Brazil played at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund 3: 0 over Ghana, Ronaldo scored a goal. This is also his No. 15 goal in the World Cup finals. With this, he surpassed the legendary German striker "Bomber" Muller and became the top scorer in the World Cup.

At the Lower Saxony Stadium in Hannover, France and Spain came to a fierce battle. Under the leadership of Zidane, the French team, which performed mediocrely in the group stage, came from behind, succeeded in a 3:1 comeback, and reached the quarterfinals. Spanish coach Aragones He resigned immediately after the game, but it was not approved by the Spanish Football Association. After all, the changes brought to the Spanish team by the old coach after taking office are obvious.

So far, the top eight teams of the 2006 World Cup have all been produced, and they are:

Three-time World Cup champion, five-time World Cup runner-up German chariot!
The Pampas Lions, two World Cup champions and two World Cup runners-ups!
The originator of modern football, the Three Lions, a World Cup champion!
The golden generation who was third in the World Cup once and fourth in the World Cup once!
Three-time World Cup champion, three-time World Cup runner-up Blue Army!

Five-time World Cup champion, two-time World Cup runner-up Brazil!
A World Cup champion, twice the World Cup third Gallic rooster!
And the Chinese team that reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time!

Compared with the brilliant record of the other top seven, the Chinese team is really nothing!

Compared with the so-called United States, South Korea, Senegal, Turkey and other teams that were filled in the quarterfinals of the last World Cup, the gold content of the quarterfinals of this World Cup is obviously much greater!
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"Have we really made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup?" On a university campus, a player blindly asked a fan.

"Really!" The fans said proudly.

"Wow, that's amazing, who is our next opponent?" Ball Blind continued to ask.

The mood of the fans immediately fell down: "Italy..."

"Ah, isn't that the end?" Ball Blind also knew this.

"..." The fans had nothing to answer.

Another fan next to him immediately retorted: "Who said, what's wrong with Italy, our Chinese team is not bad! You must know that we swept Switzerland 3-0 and entered the quarter-finals, but what about Italy? In the last minute, we only relied on a strong team The controversial penalty kick won the game! Besides, didn’t Italy also lose to South Korea in the last World Cup? Why can’t they lose to China?”

"Don't be kidding! Last time the South Korean team relied entirely on their home court advantage! This time they are playing in Europe, the referee must take care of the European teams! Besides, the Italian team is notoriously slow, and the performance in the previous games is not good. Not bad, the Czech Republic lost their temper in front of them! Although the Chinese team is very good now, it is still very difficult to win against the Italian team!"

"So what? It's not completely hopeless. You get discouraged before the game starts. Are you still a Chinese fan?"

"But the strength is there, how can you say that I am discouraged?"

The above-mentioned debates are happening all over China, and various media are also showing their talents. We invite veterans from various football circles to analyze this game. "A hundred flowers bloom, a hundred schools of thought contend", but this time the grand occasion is focused on football...

Chinese analysts are generally optimistic. In recent years, the Italian national team has been in a downward trend. They were runners-up in the World Cup in 94 and only entered the quarter-finals in 98. Although they won the European Championship in 2000 Runner-up, but immediately blocked out of the quarter-finals in the 2002 World Cup. In the 2004 European Championships, he did not even qualify for the group stage. The most threatening striker in the past, Vieri, did not come. The European Golden Boot of the season, but he has not scored a goal in the four World Cup games that have been carried out. There is no cooperation between Gilardino and Toni. Totti has just returned from injury. Although he scored in the last game They took a penalty kick, but they did not perform well. More importantly, their originally impenetrable defense also had problems. The absolute main force Nesta was injured, and the first substitute Materac was suspended. Fortunately, they Fortunately, relying on the outstanding performance of the midfielders and the occasional flashes of the striker, the Chinese team is different. It has been on an upward trend since the establishment of the Football Association. In the four World Cup games that have ended A total of ten goals were scored, which is the same as Germany, Argentina, and Brazil. It is not difficult to break through Italy's defense, not to mention that the Italian team suffered from the "Phonegate" scandal in the domestic league before the expedition. Influenced, the victory of this game is at least [-]-[-], and the Chinese team will not be at a disadvantage.

For this argument, Menotti is quite disapproving.

Although he can't read Chinese characters, it doesn't mean he doesn't know about domestic media comments. He Jin often discusses some news with him. In his opinion, what these critics say is reasonable, but they ignore one point.

Not to mention, the last two World Cup champions have a characteristic, that is, the first game after qualifying in the group stage is always very difficult, just like France in 98, they met in the quarter-finals When it came to Paraguay, which defended tenaciously, it turned out to rely on Blanco's volley in front of the goal to win the victory at the end of overtime. In 02, Brazil also relied on a controversial goal to eliminate the Belgian team. It's not because their strength is not strong, but because the coach has consciously adjusted the player's state, suppressing first and then raising is the demeanor of a world-class coach. This time, Italy's head coach "Silver Fox" Lippi is a master of it.

Moreover, although the "Phonegate" scandal has seriously affected Italy's preparations, it is not without its positive side. Most of the main players of the Italian national team come from the four clubs involved in the case: Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio , when the future is uncertain, they will explode stronger for their future jobs, and the underdogs are the most terrifying.

Italy's defense is not as bad as people think. You must know that they have only conceded one goal in the four games that have been played, and it was Zacardo's own goal, which means that no player from other teams has ever scored against Italy. Although the scene always looks thrilling, Italy can always save the day. This is the most terrifying place in Italy.

And among the six goals scored by Italy, there are a lot of scoring points, from forwards Gilardino, Inzaghi and Iaquinta, midfielders Totti, Pirlo and defender Materac, such a team It is very difficult to defend. In Menotti's view, he would rather meet the Italian team with Vieri at its peak than this Italian team.

When Menotti was struggling with this game, Italian coach Lippi was also struggling.

The absence of the two central defenders really makes Lippi a little confused. Although Italy is famous for producing high-level goalkeepers and defenders, there have been no rookies that make people shine in recent years. The current main players are all He is over 30 or close to [-] years old, and now he has only two backup central defenders, Zacardo and Barzagli, and it is still unknown whether these two can fill the vacancy left by Nesta.

Can such a broken back line withstand the Chinese team's attack?The Chinese team scored ten goals in four games, and they were distributed among eight players in three lines. The striker scored four goals, the midfielder scored five goals, and the defender scored one goal. This kind of attack ability can already rank among the top in the world And the dispersal of scoring points also gave Lippi a headache.

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After a day's rest, the Chinese team started closed training again, and all interviews were rejected.But this time, no reporter complained. In any case, the Chinese team has created a miracle this time, and the next opponent is also very strong. In an extraordinary period, some extraordinary measures are understandable.

After finishing the training in the morning, the players of the Chinese team came to the lobby to have a meal together. However, what they ate was not a big meal, but a nutritious meal prepared by the assistant coach of the Chinese team, Luo Lei, for quick recovery.

Zhu Jun stared at a plate of yellow or blue "food" (let's call it food) in a daze in front of him. Since the start of the World Cup, the most troublesome thing for him is eating at noon every day. These nutritious meals make everyone They are all frowning, it's not that these things are unpalatable, but that you can't taste them at all!
The most terrifying thing is that when you swallow these things into your stomach, it's like a caterpillar is drilling deep into your throat, which is creepy.

The expressions of the others were not much better. If it was enough to just eat it, it was barely acceptable. However, Coach Luo Lei strictly stipulated that every bite must be chewed thoroughly before swallowing, otherwise it would not be able to reach the goal. The effect of restoring physical strength, putting a bunch of soft things in the mouth, chewing desperately, and then stretching the neck to swallow them, really few people have the courage to do this.

Luo Lei sat beside them and looked at them with a smile, and kept urging: "Eat quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold..."

"It's delicious for your size! It doesn't taste good when it's hot!" Zhu Jun cursed in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it. Once he secretly swallowed a nutritious meal without chewing However, he was punished by Luo Lei to eat another game, and Menotti He Jin and others also firmly stood by Luo Lei's side, and even threatened to expel him from the national team immediately if he didn't eat, Zhu Jun had no choice but to cry. The tearful suffers again.

Of course Luo Lei knew how the players slandered him in their hearts, but he didn't care at all.

To say that this Luo Lei is also a strange person, although he is on the coaching staff, but he knows nothing about football, his only task is to cook nutritious meals every day, and then monitor the players to eat the food, nothing else. But even Zhu Jun, who has the biggest opinion, has to admit that Luo Lei's nutritious meal is unpalatable, but it is really effective. At least, in such an intensive competition, none of the Chinese players suffered from cramps or collapsed due to lack of energy. resulting in injury.

There was a sound of "wheezing and wheezing" from the side, and Zhu Jun turned his head to look, just in time to see Wu Qi swallowing up the nutritious meal on the plate. It's nothing to go down.

And Pei Wei, who was sitting next to him, also quietly ate the nutritious meal. Although it was not as fast as Wu Qi, the contents of the plate were slowly decreasing.

As soon as Zhu Jun closed his eyes, he put a spoonful of the nutritious meal into his mouth, chewed it hard a few times, and swallowed it.

(End of this chapter)