Chapter 1953 The favorite to win the championship

"Peter-Williams! This is his first World Cup goal! He is in a very good state today! From one penalty area to another, flying all over the field, almost every corner of the pitch has him! "

With loud cheers from the commentator, England midfielder Pete Williams is shown running excitedly towards the corner flag with arms outstretched.

Beside him are equally excited England players.

"4:2! There is no suspense in the game! England will win this game! They have become the first team in this World Cup to win all three games in the group stage! They are indeed the favorites to win the World Cup!"

Looking at the England players smiling happily on the screen, Sheilan sighed: "Isn't England deliberately taking the first place in the group? Just to meet us!"

Hearing what she said, Hu Lixin smiled: "Look at what you said, could it be that they want to deliberately take the second place in the group, and then fight Italy?"

"Why is Italy more difficult to deal with than us?" Xie Lan muttered, "With only one goalkeeper, Caesar is also injured. Who else is in this team? Although they are the first in the group, I think we are the ones. The strongest qualifying team in the group!"

Hu Lixin shook his head and was speechless, because from a certain point of view, he felt that his wife was right.

Even if the identity of the Chinese fans is put aside, let the media and fans all over the world see that the two teams in Group H are obviously the Chinese team that is more worth looking forward to.

After all, this team is younger, more vigorous and dynamic.

Li Qingqing couldn't help laughing when she heard the conversation between the two, and then she said to Xie Lan: "Mom, England did choose the Chinese team on purpose, but the reason may have nothing to do with the strength of the opponent. In this England team , there is Hu Lai's old acquaintance."

"That Pete Williams?" Xie Lan's mind turned quickly, and she immediately realized it.

The son and the opponent play together in Leeds City, and the relationship seems to be good.

But Li Qingqing shook his head:

"It's not just that, Mom. Hu Lai used to play in the Premier League. Almost everyone in the England national team has played against him. I'm afraid they are all trying to beat Hu Lai in the World Cup..."

Xie Lan frowned: "Our son... is he so unpopular?"

Li Qingqing smiled without saying a word.

Hu Lixin explained: "What does it have to do with popularity? My son defeated them, of course they want to win back, normal competitive spirit."

After the Chinese men's football team entered the World Cup knockout rounds historicly, fans all over China fell into a carnival mood.

But after waking up overnight, many people were like Xie Lan, and they recalled:

Although it is gratifying to reach the World Cup knockout rounds, but... England's opponent seems a bit too strong, right?

The only team in this World Cup that won all the group matches, and basically all of them scored big.

They beat South Korea 5:1, the United States 2:0, and Sweden 4:2.

Winning all three games, first in the group, and the odds of winning the championship are among the best - before the start of the World Cup, the odds of winning the championship were ranked fourth. Now that all the group matches are over, Spain has been eliminated, and the winning odds of all teams have been adjusted, and England has risen to the first place, ahead of Argentina, France, Brazil and other strong teams.

Compared with four years ago, this England team has a more reasonable age structure.

At the same time, after Harry Burgard retired, the England midfielder ran more smoothly.

Pete Williams has become the core of the England national team. The midfield combination of him and Jay Adams brought their tacit understanding in Leeds City to the national team.

Although the reputation of the two may not be as great as the previous "captain midfielder", from a practical point of view, they are more useful.

It is really not a good arrangement for the Chinese team to meet such a strong team after finally qualifying for the group stage.

In addition, Hu Lai, Luo Kai and Zhou Zijing of the Chinese team have all played or are playing in the Premier League, so the England team is very familiar with them from players to coaches...

It is absolutely impossible for the Chinese team to "surprise" the delusion.

This game is destined to be a head-to-head "tough battle".

Some people even think that the Chinese team's World Cup journey will stop at the top 16.

In fact, reaching the top sixteen is already a remarkable achievement.

After all, in this World Cup, only one Asian team, the Chinese team, has reached the knockout round:

Among the sixteen teams, there are eleven European teams, three American teams, one African team, and one Asian team.

In the World Cup held in Europe, European teams have half of the home field, and their performance is often better.

As a representative of the Asian teams, the Chinese team can occupy a place in the top sixteen. This achievement is enough to make the whole of Asia feel happy and gratified.

Some Chinese media have already begun to cool down the Chinese fans. When they reported that the Chinese team reached the top 16, they used "mission accomplished", "let go of the burden", "enjoy football, enjoy the game, enjoy the World Cup"...similar Such a tone.

And there are many Chinese fans who agree.

Of course, some people think that with the performance of the Chinese team, no matter what, they should reach the semi-finals... Otherwise, it will be considered an unforgivable failure.

However, such people are still in the minority. Most Chinese fans are more rational and unwilling to put too much pressure on their national team.

Qualifying from the group is really the "greatest common divisor" for all Chinese fans.

As long as the Chinese team can reach the knockout round, then everything is easy to say.

And even if they get past England, the road for the Chinese team in the second half will be very bumpy-their opponents in the quarter-finals will be the winners of the Netherlands and Belgium. Not easy to deal with.

One FIFA ranked seventh and one eighth.

In addition, there are Argentina and Italy standing in the way-not to mention Argentina, but Italy's defensive counterattack tactics are particularly suitable for the World Cup tournament system. When it comes to the knockout stage, it is easier for teams with good defense to go further...

In such a situation, it is true that we cannot have too many demands on the performance of the Chinese team.

Everyone feels that as long as the Chinese team can show their style and level in the next game, even if they lose, many people can completely accept it.

※※※

"Although the domestic media and fans are very tolerant of us, I don't think we can really think that way ourselves."

Taking advantage of the opportunity of eating, captain Wang Guangwei stood up and said to all his teammates.

"We can't have the idea of ​​reaching the knockout round as if we have completed the task. We must not relax. Once we let go of the tone, it will be difficult to bring it up again. Four years ago we were complacent in the last round to draw with Brazil. , but that's not right. We can't repeat the same mistakes we made four years ago, and we can't just make it to the knockout round and feel that everything will be fine...

When Wang Guangwei mentioned the World Cup four years ago, many Chinese players who had participated in that World Cup showed serious expressions.

They especially empathize with what Wang Guangwei said.

It was really complacent from the draw with Brazil, to the regret of not being able to work hard to get out of the group in the future-they could have made history four years in advance, instead of waiting until now.

And those players who did not participate in the last World Cup also listened very seriously.

Because they have heard the "veteran players" tell them the story of the last World Cup more than once, and almost everyone mentioned the World Cup four years ago with the word "regret".

So they can also understand the emotion that Team Wang said.

Reflection on the last World Cup seems to have become a consensus within the Chinese national team.

Not being able to beat Brazil with all their strength in the last moments, but content to draw with their opponents, should not be a bad thing in anyone's ears.

But the players of the Chinese team ~lightnovelpub.net~ all regard this result as their shame.

It's really incredible...

But no one questioned it.

Master Fan Fushun, who heard Wang Guangwei's words behind the console, whispered to the apprentices around him:

"See, that's why we can qualify for the group stage this time. High standards and strict requirements. You must do the same in the future to be successful!"

When the disciples were thinking about it, Wang Guangwei continued to say:

"The outside world said that England is very strong, they are the favorites to win the championship, they won all three games... so what? It is not luck that we can get out of the death group! Don't care what others say, don't care about the opponent Whoever it is, we will play every game in the knockout round as a final. I think as long as we do our best, the final result will definitely not be bad!

"I think before the game against England, we should have a unified mind. That's why I said this to everyone. I hope that we can all think together and work together. Only in this way can we really make history-fighting Entering the knockout round is definitely not making history, we can do better!"

(end of this chapter)