Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

The Group H matches began on June 21.

In the crucial group stage match, Switzerland, who upset Spain in the first round, lost to Chile in the second round, while tournament favorites Spain easily defeated Honduras 2-0.

As a result, the situation in Group H has changed again.

Honduras, having lost both of their matches, has only a theoretical chance of advancing – they must defeat Switzerland decisively and hope that Chile beats Spain to qualify.

On the other hand, Chile, with two wins, has essentially secured a spot in the knockout stage, but they could still be eliminated. If they suffer a crushing defeat to Spain in the final round, while Switzerland beats Honduras by a large margin, then with all three teams tied on 6 points, Chile will be eliminated.

Similarly, Spain and Switzerland, who are currently tied with 3 points, also have a chance to advance, but they could also be eliminated.

Comparatively speaking, the Spanish national team, which has an advantage in both goals scored and goal difference, has a better chance of advancing, while the Swiss team faces more stringent requirements for qualification.

If Switzerland wants to advance, they need to go all out to defeat Honduras in the final round and score as many goals as possible, while also hoping for a draw or a high-scoring game against Spain.

In this way, they can eliminate either Spain or Chile based on points or goal difference.

For Spain, they must fight for victory against Chile in the final round. Otherwise, if Switzerland defeats Honduras and Spain loses to or is held to a draw by Chile, Switzerland will advance!

Frankly speaking, among the eight groups, Group H has the most chaotic situation in terms of advancement.

All four teams have a chance to advance, and apart from Honduras, the other three teams all have a chance to compete for first place in the group.

Before the final results were announced, no one knew who would advance from Group H!

The situation is so chaotic that it's impossible to determine who will be the group leader in Group H.

Lin Feng vaguely remembered that historically, the Spanish team advanced to the knockout stage as the group winner. He wondered if this outcome would change in this timeline!
As we entered late June, the World Cup group stage schedule began to become more compact.

The second round of matches in Group H has just finished, and the final matches of Group A have already begun.

In a do-or-die match that determined their qualification for the next round, the French team, the runners-up of the previous World Cup, failed to rise to the level that French fans had hoped for.

Instead, they suffered a 1-2 defeat to the host nation, South Africa, causing another upset and ending their World Cup run.

In this World Cup, the French team lost both their reputation and their game.

During the World Cup, the French team experienced the infamous "training strike" and locker room riots.

During halftime of the match against Mexico, striker Nicolas Anelka publicly insulted head coach Domenech in the locker room, reportedly using extremely offensive language.

Although the French Football Federation quickly expelled him from the national team, the players seemed to disagree, collectively refusing to train in protest, which caused head coach Domenech to lose support in the locker room and completely lose his authority.

With the locker room in such a state and the conflict between the players and the head coach so intense, it's not surprising that the French team performed so poorly.

However, while players from other countries regard the World Cup as the highest honor and take pride in serving their country, giving their all on the World Cup field...

The French, however, were preoccupied with their own power struggles and didn't seem to care about the World Cup at all, as if the players had no concept of 'honor' in their minds.

While the French became an international laughingstock, the host country celebrated its victory over the formidable French team.

According to pre-match assessments, South Africa was ranked last in Group A.

But in the end, they achieved a record of 1 win and 1 draw, and even defeated a long-established powerhouse like the French team!

Unfortunately, despite securing 4 points, they lost their chance to advance from the group stage to Mexico due to a disadvantage in goals scored and goal difference.

But compared to the humiliating exit of the French, the host country at least died standing up, which is not shameful!

Ultimately, Uruguay and Mexico successfully fought their way out of Group A and advanced to the round of 16.

After the teams that qualified from Group A were determined, the winners and losers in Group B were also quickly decided.

Argentina, a strong favorite to win the championship, came in with great momentum, easily defeating Greece 2-0 in the third round of the group stage. After securing three consecutive victories, they advanced to the next round as the top team in Group B.

In another highly anticipated match, Nigeria and South Korea were locked in a very close battle.

In the 12th minute of the first half, Nigeria took the lead and seemed to have a glimmer of hope for advancing.

But the South Koreans, trailing in the score, launched a furious counterattack and equalized the score before the end of the first half by taking advantage of a set piece opportunity.

Shortly after the start of the second half, South Korea once again capitalized on a set-piece opportunity to score – Park Chu-young's free kick found the target directly, giving South Korea the lead.

However, the lead did not last long. In the 70th minute, Nigeria fought back to tie the score at 2-2.

For the next 20 minutes or so, neither side was able to change the score, and the South Korean team held on to the draw until the final whistle.

As a result, South Korea, with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in the group stage, surpassed Greece, which had 1 win and 2 losses, to advance to the knockout stage as the second-place team in the group.

This marks the first time South Korean football has qualified for the knockout stage of the World Cup, excluding the 02 World Cup held on home soil.

Compared to the World Cup eight years ago, South Korea's performance in this World Cup is clearly more impressive.

With South Korea advancing, two teams from East Asia have now qualified, instantly putting pressure on Japan.

In Group C, both the UK and the US rallied in the final round, each defeating their opponents 1-0, finishing with 5 points each and advancing to the next round.

However, the United States team, thanks to its superior number of goals, edged out Great Britain to take first place in the group.

This result was somewhat unexpected, as everyone predicted before the tournament that the star-studded England team should easily secure first place in the group.

But in the game against the United States, goalkeeper Green's butterfingers cost them the chance to win the title.

In Group D, Germany, who suffered a shock defeat to Serbia in the previous round, rallied in the final round to beat Ghana 1-0, securing first place in the group with 6 points and advancing to the knockout stage.

Although Ghana lost to Germany, they secured second place in the group and advanced due to a better goal difference than Australia (3 goals).

On the other side, both the Australian and Serbian teams suffered heavy losses.

Serbia was eliminated after losing to their opponent, even though they only needed a draw to advance.

Although Australia defeated Serbia, they were also eliminated due to a poor goal difference.

The Socceroos became the second team in the Asian region to be eliminated, following North Korea.

Of the five Asian teams participating, only Japan's result is still pending.

The Group E matches kicked off on June 25th.

Like the Argentinians, the Oranje continued their winning streak, defeating Cameroon 2-1 to advance as group winners.

In another match, Japan and their direct rivals Denmark engaged in a fierce battle. Japan's penalty takers were in top form, with Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo both scoring directly from free kicks, establishing a two-goal lead by the 30th minute of the first half.

Denmark fought back desperately in the second half and finally pulled one back in the 81st minute.

However, before they could press their advantage, Keisuke Honda assisted Shinji Okazaki to extend the lead to 3-1, effectively ending any suspense in the match.

Ultimately, the final score was 3-1, with Japan securing the second qualifying spot in Group E after defeating Denmark.

Keisuke Honda performed exceptionally well in this match and was named the best player of the game afterward.

After the match, Keisuke Honda was full of pride, and it seemed that the confidence he had lost had returned.

After learning that Japan's opponent in the knockout stage would likely be China, Keisuke Honda was even more eager to compete.

Five years ago, when the Japanese team was defeated by the Chinese team led by Lin Feng in the East Asian Four Nations Tournament.

He once set an ambition to surpass Lin Feng, an ambition that seemed unattainable at one time, but today, Keisuke Honda sees hope in catching up.

Japan has advanced, and Chinese fans are even more excited than Japanese fans!
Great! If we beat Paraguay in the final round, our next opponent in the knockout stage will be Japan!

We're a little unsure about playing against other teams, but against Japan, it'll be a piece of cake!

[Fun fact: The last time the Japanese team defeated the Chinese team in a major tournament was in the 2004 Asian Cup final!]

Chinese fans are so confident because of the head-to-head record between the two teams over the past few years.

Since the East Asian Four Nations Tournament in 2005, the Chinese national football team has won every match against Japan in the past few years, and all of them were big wins by three goals or more!

They even achieved incredibly exaggerated scores like 6-0 or 7-0 in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers!
Judging from the performance of the Japanese team in this World Cup, their strength is actually not weak, and they can even compete with some strong European teams.

But it's unclear whether it's due to incompatible playing styles or some other reason.

In recent years, whenever they encounter the Chinese team, they are always exposed as their true colors.

Moreover, after losing so many times, these Japanese players have almost lost all their confidence, and some have even started to develop a fear of China.

Under these circumstances, Chinese fans naturally favor the Chinese team to advance.

But it's too early to celebrate, because China's position as the group leader is not yet secure.

To secure this position, they need to at least draw with Paraguay in the final round.

"Remember, we don't want a draw in this match; we want a victory!"

During the pre-match pep talk, Lao Zhu was unusually firm in his attitude.

Having already defeated the Italian team, what reason is there not to give it one last shot?
Besides, has the conservative playing style of so many national teams in the past been effective?
absolutely not!

Every time it comes to a crucial stage where qualifying depends on hard work, the Chinese national football team consistently falters.

Since that's the case, let's just go all out and launch a bold attack!

If higher goals are not set, players will prioritize a draw, playing timidly and unable to unleash their full potential.

However, if the goal is changed to strive for victory, then the final result may be more desirable.

Moreover, the team is in high spirits right now, so there's no reason not to attack!

The team that should be worried and fearful is not the Chinese team, but their opponents!
……

Perhaps it was because the Chinese national football team advanced to the next round early that it brought great excitement and encouragement to the fans.

After the second round of group matches, a large number of fans traveled to South Africa to support the Chinese national football team.

On June 24, the stands at the Peter Mokaba Stadium were packed.

Besides the more than 10000 neutral fans, over 3 of the 46000 tickets offered by the organizers were snapped up by Chinese fans who had traveled from afar.

The huge stadium was completely transformed into a sea of ​​red.

In 2010, not many fans could afford such expensive long-haul flights and cover their food and lodging expenses during their stay in South Africa.

But in order to be able to support the national football team in person and witness their qualification, many fans reluctantly took out their savings that they had accumulated over the years and indulged themselves!
This kind of passion for football was something I had only seen in fans in South America before.

I never imagined that one day this would happen to Chinese football fans.

However, one slight drawback was that the Chinese national team was playing away, so they wore white jerseys, while the opposing team's red and white striped jerseys had more red.

"Wow, so many people!"

During the pre-match warm-up, Wu Lei shrank back nervously when he saw so many compatriots in the stands.

He wasn't nervous at first, but after missing a one-on-one chance in the last round, he was heavily criticized by the fans, and the psychological burden resurfaced.

Lin Feng walked over and patted him on the shoulder, comforting him:

"What's this? Your Camp Nou stadium can hold 100,000 people at its maximum capacity, and the Bernabéu can hold 70,000 to 80,000 people. The scene there is much more intense than this. Would you be nervous playing at Camp Nou?"

Wu Lei shook his head.

Lin Feng laughed and said, "Isn't that settled? If you weren't nervous at Camp Nou, why should you be nervous here?"

"Uh, Brother Lin, what I actually meant was that I've never played football at Camp Nou!"

Wu Lei scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. Although he was a Barcelona player, he had never played for the Barcelona first team.

Barcelona's youth team has its own home stadium, which is a small stadium that can only accommodate 6000 spectators.

Moreover, because it is a youth team competition, the number of viewers is usually not large, and even with 6,000 people, the venue cannot be completely full.

Wu Lei has never played a match in front of such a large audience before.

Lin Feng was speechless for a moment: "Alright then, go and talk to the coach and let you play after we have a big lead."

It's just a missed one-on-one chance, what's the big deal? Why are you so mentally unstable?
Who hasn't missed a one-on-one chance?
Back then... eh?

I don't think I've ever lost a single-target attack!

That's all right now! (End of Chapter)