Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 632 The Battle of Life and Death is About to Begin

6 month 24 day.

The final round of the World Cup group stage kicked off as scheduled.

In the first match, Cameroon, who were eliminated early and whose morale was low due to bonus issues, suffered a humiliating 1-4 defeat to Brazil. This match became Eto'o's swan song in the World Cup.

In another match, Croatia lost 1-3 to Mexico.

In Group A, Brazil topped the group and advanced, while Mexico finished second due to goal difference.

Group B's matches were the least exciting, a battle for the group's top spot. The Netherlands easily defeated Chile 2-0 to take the top spot in Group B and will face Mexico in the round of 16. Chile, on the other hand, will have to fight tooth and nail against the host nation, Brazil.

In the final battle for honor, Spain managed to defeat Iran 3-0, salvaging some pride for the defending champions.

Next up is the Group C matches.

In this round, the two matches were played simultaneously.

In Cuiabá, a small city with a population of just over 500,000, the Chinese national football team and the Colombian national team faced off.

The match took place at 4 a.m. Beijing time, which is not a good time for Chinese football fans.

However, as a do-or-die match for the Chinese national football team, this game still attracted a lot of attention, and its domestic viewership was predicted to set a new record for sports event viewership. Some organizations even predicted that it would surpass the viewership of the previous World Cup final.

Two hours before the start of the match, the entire Chinese team boarded a bus at the hotel entrance, ready to depart for the battlefield, the Pantanal Stadium.

Chinese journalists gathered at the hotel entrance to photograph the Chinese team boarding the bus and departing.

The moment the national football team appeared, the fans who hadn't been able to buy tickets and could only wait outside the hotel erupted in enthusiastic cheers. One fan shouted at Shan Yongzhuo, "Shan Yongzhuo! You must qualify! Go for it!"

Dan Yongzhuo smiled and waved at them, then gave an awkward laugh.

He couldn't really guarantee he'd win this match, and after much hesitation, he still didn't choose to use his points to acquire the Sacrifice skill.

After all, the chances of qualifying are still quite high.

As long as China doesn't lose to Colombia by a large margin, and Greece doesn't win against Ivory Coast by a large margin, the Chinese national team will basically be able to qualify.

Ivory Coast is no pushover; in Shan Yongzhuo's view, this is a battle for honor, and they won't lose so easily.

Greece isn't exactly a top-tier team, and while they might win against Ivory Coast in a do-or-die match, the chances of them winning by a large margin are slim.

Therefore, Shan Yongzhuo believes that his current skills are sufficient, and he has a great chance of leading the team to a draw against Colombia, or even a victory.

Colombia's strength should not be underestimated.

South America's World Cup qualifiers have always been considered the second most difficult zone after Europe, and can be described as a hellish zone.

However, in the South American qualifiers for this World Cup, Colombia outperformed Chile and Ecuador, squeezing out teams like Uruguay and Paraguay, and closely followed Argentina to qualify in second place, demonstrating their strong strength.

Despite their star striker Falcao missing the squad due to a knee injury before the World Cup.

However, under J. Rodriguez's leadership, they still demonstrated extraordinary strength, defeating Greece and Ivory Coast in two consecutive matches and dominating the games, which impressed everyone with their performance.

J. Rodriguez joined newly promoted Monaco in the summer of 2013 for €45 million. In his first season, he scored 10 goals and provided 14 assists, leading Monaco to a second-place finish in Ligue 1.

He has shone brightly in this World Cup, scoring two goals in two matches, making him the undisputed midfield linchpin for Colombia. However, the good news is that Colombia seems to have intentionally thrown the game.

Rodriguez was placed on the bench, and even the main striker Gutierrez did not start. Among the star players, Colombia only fielded Inter Milan's defensive midfielder Guarin and Fiorentina's winger Cuadrado.

Colombia fielded a traditional 4-4-2 formation.

In defense, Arias, Valdes, Balanta, and Armero, although all relatively unknown players, are the two center-backs, both of whom are typically strong and physically imposing.

Both full-backs, Arias and Armero, play for PSV Eindhoven and Napoli respectively, and are both highly capable players.

The four midfielders are Guarín, Messia, Cuadrado, and Quintero. Except for the young Messia, the other three players all play in Europe. Although James Rodriguez did not play, this midfield line can be considered one of the strongest midfield lines among the 32 teams in this World Cup.

The two forwards are Porto striker Martinez, who has scored more than 20 goals in the Portuguese league this season, and Hertha Berlin striker Ramos, who has scored 16 goals in the Bundesliga this season and will join Borussia Dortmund next season.

These two players displaced the original starting striker, Gutierrez.

This lineup, while strong, is still somewhat inferior to the main lineup.

After all, James Rodriguez did not play, as did several other notable players such as Zuniga, Payes, Zapata, Gutierrez, and Bacca.

This is good news for the Chinese team.

Gao Hongbo still fielded his strongest lineup. Although the chances of qualifying were very high, the matter was of utmost importance, and he dared not make the slightest mistake.

Despite persistent voices suggesting that finishing second in the group was the best option.

However, within the team, everyone shared the same message: first place or second place in the group. There was no need to deliberately chase after the ball; going all out to win was the most important thing to do.

In the past, the Chinese team often stumbled in the qualifiers, especially in the 90s, often when they were striving for the best possible outcome.

This is the World Cup finals, and absolutely no mistakes can be tolerated.

On the defensive line, veteran Li Weifeng sat on the bench, while Wu Xi, Du Wei, Feng Xiaoting, and Sun Xiang lined up in a row.

The double defensive midfield pairing remains Zheng Zhi and Huang Bowen.

Three forwards.

Hao Junmin, who scored the crucial equalizer in the last match, started the game and anchored the center. In this match, he still plays a very important role.

Yu Hai and Gao Lin, positioned on the left and right respectively, are two wingers who also have important attacking duties.

Shan Yongzhuo remains the leading figure at the forefront.

At the Pantanal Stadium in Cuiabá, there is one hour left before the match.

But by this time, the stands were already full of fans. The first thing every fan did upon entering the stadium was not to find their seat, but to take out their phones and cameras to take pictures of the players who were entering the stadium to warm up.

The combined presence of Chinese fans and a large number of Brazilian fans who came to support Shan Yongzhuo completely overwhelmed the Colombian fans.

The war is about to start.

(End of this chapter)