Chapter Two Hundred and Fifteen: Embark on a Journey
As time enters June, the domestic World Cup atmosphere becomes more and more intense.
From octogenarians to six-year-olds, almost everyone in the country knows that the Chinese team is about to go to the World Cup in Russia.
Well! Bring glory to the country?
Under the influence of this strong atmosphere, major domestic TV stations have launched programs related to the World Cup.
Today we discuss which of the thirty-two teams in the World Cup is the weakest, and tomorrow we discuss which seed team is most likely to win the World Cup. But the most discussed topic is how far China can go.
On the other hand, major cities, ranging from shopping malls to bars and Internet cafes, have all caught up with this craze and have continuously held World Cup-themed activities to cheer for Chinese athletes and gain popularity.
Even the accompaniment of the huge square dance army during this period was mostly changed to the theme songs of previous World Cups.
This shows how influential this atmosphere is!
To say it was a nationwide carnival is an understatement!
On June 6, CCTV Channel 5 launched an interview program called "Into the World Cup."
The host is Sa Bei Ning!
In addition to the famous Chinese football legends Fan Zhiyi and Yang Chen, as well as the two well-known commentators Zhang Lu and Xu Yang, the invited guests in the first issue also included Lu Han, a well-known domestic football fanatical amateur player.
"Everyone should also know which team we are going to play in the first game, right?" After everyone sat down, Sa Beining asked with a smile.
"Kill the French team!" Lu Han was very open and shouted the slogan directly.
"Hahaha……"
As soon as these words came out, Fan Zhiyi, Sun Xihai, Zhang Lu, and Xu Yang looked at each other, and then laughed in unison.
After a while, Fan Zhiyi gave a thumbs up to Lu Han, who was sitting across from him, and said, "Xiao Lu, I remember that our dinner just now didn't have the heart and courage of a leopard? Did you order a takeout just now?"
"Ha ha……"
Fan Zhiyi's humorous words made Zhang Lu and the others burst into laughter again.
Lu Han was also amused by Fan Zhiyi's words and slapped his legs and laughed.
"But our luck is indeed not very good. We bumped into the powerful France in the first game!" Sa Beining brought the topic back at the right time.
Sun Jihai nodded, crossed his legs and said: "France can be said to be the favorite to win this World Cup. Regardless of other factors, just based on the strength on paper, France's all-star lineup is definitely the strongest in this World Cup.
Big team.”
"There is no one!" Fan Zhiyi added, "Even Argentina and Portugal, with Messi and Ronaldo, are a bit inferior."
"Zhang Zhi, Xu Zhi, what kind of response tactics do you two think Lippi will adopt?" Sabei Ning turned the topic to Zhang Lu and Xu Yang.
Xu Yang and Zhang Lu looked at each other with a smile and said, "Let's defend and counterattack! The only way to defeat the strong is with the weak."
Zhang Lu nodded. He also recognized Xu Yang's guess and said with a smile: "The key lies in how Lippi uses Mo Yang. We all know that after Mo Yang comes back, the team's midfielder will immediately stand up?"
"Now we can play defensively and counterattack, and we can control the ball. With Mo Yang on offense, we can also attack."
"So if you take into account the French team's tradition of robbing the rich and giving to the poor, as long as we can seize the opportunity, regardless of whether we win or not, I believe that scoring a goal is not a big problem!"
Zhang Lu's long speech shocked Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai.
Good guy, you really dare to say it!
But don’t say it, if you think about it carefully, there’s really nothing wrong with it.
They now have Wu Lei and Bai Lele on the front line.
Bai Lele, in particular, has performed extremely well in the Premier League this season. It would be no exaggeration to say that his eyes were blown away.
What is the concept of 21 league goals and 36 total season goals?
That is the level of the top forwards in the five major leagues! He was still playing in the Premier League, and his statistics are not inferior to the scoring statistics of the top forwards in world football at this age.
Especially Bai Lele’s exaggerated speed!
Once he and Mo Yang were connected online, the scene would be too beautiful.
Even France's luxurious defense with Varane and Umtiti has to weigh whether it will be penetrated.
Thinking about it this way, although the defense is still far from being comparable to other teams, the gap between the forward and midfield is actually not that big!
Especially in the midfield, with Mo Yang, the champion midfielder, even if they encounter Croatia with Modric and Kroos' Germany, they will not be embarrassed at all in the midfield alone.
As for France's Pogba, this guy has a natural psychological suppression against Mo Yang.
Now everyone in England knows that Liverpool's Yang Kuai kicked Manchester United's Pogba into self-isolation.
Every time this guy from the Double Red Club ends up being kicked out of existence.
Moreover, the World Cup is different from the league. It is too short and does not give players time to adjust. Therefore, even strong teams have coordination problems, and some tacit understanding cannot be achieved at all.
Therefore, in previous World Cups, traditional football powers often used some very simple but very effective tactics.
In the next ten minutes or so, the five people chatted enthusiastically about the first match between the Chinese team and the French team.
Not long after, Sabine brought the topic to Denmark and Peru, who were in Group C.
"The Danish midfielder has Eriksen, and two veterans, Delaney and Schone, are also main players in top European league clubs. The midfield combination of these three is still very strong!"
"Yes, there is a statistic: Denmark has entered the World Cup four times since its rise in the 1980s, and they were only eliminated in the group once. In the knockout stage, they can only be defeated if they encounter a super strong team."
"That's why Denmark is our great enemy!"
"Yes, our hope of qualifying lies with Denmark and Peru!"
Just when Zhang Lu and the four others were expressing their opinions, Lu Han, who had always been a little transparent, interjected: "Besides us, Peru is the weakest in Group C!"
When he heard this, Zhang Lu didn't know what he thought of. He covered his mouth and laughed inexplicably. After a while, he said: "You don't mean to say that Peru also needs body but not body, and it needs technique but not technique!"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
When Fan Zhiyi, Sun Jihai and Xu Yang heard Zhang Lu's words, they staggered with laughter and seemed to understand.
Only Sabei Ning and Lu Han looked at each other.
So, what is this?
Under questioning from Lu Han and Sabei Ning, Zhang Lu smiled and said it.
"I actually suddenly remembered our investigation of our group opponents in 2002!"
"At that time, when the Chinese Football Association investigated Costa Rica, they came to the conclusion that this is a team that has no physical strength and no technical skills. We will definitely be able to deal with it!"
When this was brought up, Fan Zhiyi couldn't help it, and complained: "I want to emphasize that people need to have good health and good skills!"
At this point, Zhang Lu suppressed his laughter and said: "I found out later..."
"The investigators sent out... looked at the wrong team!"
"Hahaha……"
As soon as these words came out, not only Lu Han and Sabei Ning burst into tears with laughter, but even the countless viewers in front of the TV couldn't help but burst into tears.
"So, on the stage of the World Cup, he actually has a strange phenomenon, that is, the strong team is not strong, and the weak team is not weak! Everything depends on who gets into the state faster and who has better adaptability!"
"Yes! For us, any team deserves our attention!"
"Okay! That's it for this episode of our program!"
"Once again, I would like to remind everyone watching in front of the TV that the first game of the Chinese team is the fifth game of this World Cup. We will compete with France at 18:00 BJ time on June 16th at the Kazan Arena in Russia!
Thank you for watching!”
Four days later, the national football team held a grand departure ceremony at the Bird's Nest Stadium.
Under the leadership of Lippi, the Chinese team officially embarked on the journey to...