Fox in the Penalty Area

Remember [new] in one second! "Group of death! The Chinese team's prospects for the World Cup are bleak!"

"The draw was tragic! The unluckiest thirty-two were born!"

"A slap in the face! China's football ambitions have been thwarted!"

…

As soon as the World Cup group draw results came out, the Internet in China exploded.

After the Chinese team reached the World Cup finals, what Chinese fans and media were most concerned about was the group results.

Everyone hopes that the Chinese team can be assigned to a relatively easy group, so the hope of qualifying from the group is great.

Because the rules of the group draw have been announced long ago, Chinese fans and media have been making various permutations and combinations some time ago to see which group the Chinese team is divided into will have the most favorable result.

But they only focus on calculating the most favorable outcome, but do not consider the possibility of the worst outcome at all...

So now that the lottery results came out, everyone was dumbfounded.

Spain, the host nation and defending World Cup champion and ranked second by FIFA, Italy, the previous World Cup winner and ranked tenth by FIFA, and Nigeria, the highest-ranked team in Africa.

In front of these three teams, the Chinese team is simply helpless, weak and pitiful.

Taking a closer look at the grouping results of all eight groups, Group H, where the Chinese team is located, is the closest in strength and naturally the deadliest.

None of these three teams is easy to beat.

Not to mention the defending champion, who has the advantage of home court. If anyone doesn't believe it... the Chinese team just played against them in the warm-up match and lost 1:4.

Italy, the last World Cup champion, also has many powerful players. Although Caesar is old, they still have top goalkeepers like Albertazzi, as well as top center backs Petro Nazari and Insubre's midfield core Marl. Rossini, and of course Hu Lai's teammate Daniele Di Quinzuo in Madrid Pirates... FIFA's ranking of tenth can somewhat illustrate their current strength.

The Nigerian national team ranks highest among all African teams, and their actual performance also proves this ranking, because they did not encounter many difficulties in the African qualifiers and successfully got the right to qualify.

So as soon as the lottery results came out, there was a cry on the domestic Internet.

Many people have already said that the Chinese team will be in the "three rounds of the group stage" this time. If you want to make a breakthrough, you should wait for the 2034 World Cup in China. At least the group draw results should not be hacked.

Because the host country naturally occupies one of the seeded teams.

At the same time, considering factors such as attendance and ratings, the Chinese team will not be assigned too strong opponents and will ensure that the Chinese team can qualify from the group.

"...Actually, being able to reach the World Cup finals consecutively is already a great victory. Everyone should relax and face the matter of qualifying in the group with a more peaceful attitude...Look at Japan and South Korea next door, then they are How many World Cups did it take to reach the knockout rounds? What? Japan’s second time? But Japan is the host for the second time. Isn’t it normal for the host country to reach the knockout rounds? This also proves from the side that the Chinese team will definitely be able to compete in the next World Cup. Enter the knockout rounds!”

"But next year will be the peak time for this team! Wait four more years... Hu Lai will be thirty-one years old, not to mention the others, Brother Huan is thirty-four... He has rich experience, but his physical fitness is not as good. Avoid the decline. Even if we can qualify from the group, what good results can we achieve?"

This is indeed something that Chinese fans are particularly troubled about.

At next year's World Cup, the golden generation of Chinese football is indeed in their golden years.

Zhang Qinghuan is 30 years old, Wang Guangwei is 28 years old, Hu Lai is 27 years old, Chen Xingyi is 27 years old, Luo Kai is 26 years old, Xia Xiaoyu is 25 years old, Zhou Zijing is 25 years old, and Lin Zhiyuan is 24 years old. age.

Physical fitness and experience awareness are at their peak.

This is indeed the best time to produce results.

As a result, they encountered the "Group of Death".

Many Chinese fans have a sense of "God is going to kill me", and the resentment in their hearts is difficult to dispel for a while.

Contrary to the dissatisfaction of domestic fans, the head coach of the Chinese team, Jorge Dillon, expressed his joy to Jin Tao on the phone:

"This is really the lottery result I have been dreaming of, Yu! Do you know? When the result came out, I almost fell to my knees in the living room at home!"

Even through the phone, Yu Jintao could completely feel the excitement of the old man Dillon. He smiled bitterly and said: "You'd better not show your excitement in front of the media, Jorge, otherwise you will end up in China again. It’s a hot search on the internet.”

Dillon understands well: "Of course, I'm not that stupid, Yu. But this is really the result of my dream. Didn't Hong ask me how to make the whole world look at Chinese football with admiration? That's it, what's better than dying What can be more surprising to the whole world when this group breaks out?"

"In the 'Group of Death', are you still thinking about qualifying in the group, Jorge?"

"Of course, why not? That's why we need to qualify!" Dillon said firmly.

Yu Jintao was speechless because he found that many people in China had less confidence in this team than a foreigner...

"...Chinese national team head coach Jorge Dillon said in an interview that although being placed in the 'Group of Death' is not a good result, no matter what the group result is, the team only needs to do its best to Just go. So he thinks this result is not too bad for the Chinese team...'We have an excellent stage to show ourselves,' Dillon said at the end of the interview..."

※※※

When Hu Lai arrived in the locker room of the training base, he saw many teammates looking directly at him.

Then captain Ramirez walked up to him and said to him: "I really don't know what to say, Hu..."

Hu Lai: "It's okay, captain, let's just keep it all secret."

Ramirez shook his head and said: "Honestly, Hu, I may have different ideas from some people outside. I don't know if this is a top sign or a bottom sign..."

"What's there to hesitate about?" Hu Lai shrugged, "For me, it's definitely a lottery!"

"I just think it's probably not a good pick for us..." Ramirez said.

Yin Weng Martinez nodded.

Chinese fans are here to mourn for the "Group of Death", but in fact, this is not a good result for all the teams in the "Group of Death".

What is the "Group of Death"?

It is a normal situation for the four teams to be close in strength and whoever wins and who loses.

In the eyes of Chinese fans, the other three teams are all strong teams, but in the eyes of the other three teams, their opponents are not good either.

Even if the Chinese team is the weakest in this group and there are three teams competing for two qualifying spots, no one can guarantee that their probability of qualifying is greater than the other two teams.

It seems that the Chinese team is the target of the remaining three teams vying for points.

But look at Hu Lai standing in front of them.

Who dares to say that their team can win steadily against the Chinese team with Hu Lai?

When Hu Lai saw the way everyone looked at him, he knew what they were thinking, and he quickly handed over his hands: "Oh, oh, oh, don't look at me like that. I know very well the level of the Chinese team. We are the last one, so I really treat you." No threat...really. The Chinese team's 31st ranking is still obtained by the top 12 competition, but the top 12 competition is to put it bluntly, it is an Asian level competition, which is completely incomparable with Europe and South America. .”

When he spoke, no one interrupted him, everyone just looked at him quietly.

After he finished speaking, Ramirez and his teammates in the Spanish national team looked at each other and smiled: "Hu, do you think we will believe what you said?"

Hu Lai was stunned for a moment, then frowned: "Tsk."

Everyone here knows his ins and outs, so it’s hard to lie to him...

Seeing him like this, the locker room burst into laughter.

Ramirez smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "When the World Cup comes, we will go all out, Hu."

This time Hu Lai said seriously: "I will do my best, captain."

"Very good, regardless of winning or losing, the most important thing is to go all out." Ramirez finally patted Hu Lai on the shoulder, "Go change clothes and get ready for training!"

"Okay!" Hu Lai's serious expression disappeared instantly from his face, replaced by a playful smile, "Captain, I was actually joking when I said I would go all out, you don't need to take it too seriously... what, Let's discuss it and qualify together..."

Di Kunzuo shouted: "I'm still here, Hu!"

Hu Lai immediately pointed at Di Kunzuo and said seriously: "Captain, please go all out!"

Some people covered their faces and some laughed.

The atmosphere in the locker room has returned to the joyful and peaceful atmosphere of the past...

※※※

"Peng!"

This is the sound made by a fist hitting a football.

With this muffled sound, the football flew out of the penalty area.

There, someone raised his right leg and shot directly without stopping the ball!

The goalkeeper who had just landed from the ground immediately flew sideways, and at the same time, he put his fists together and hit... the football!

The flying football was knocked out by him again!

"Wow! Mauro is in great shape!"

Someone on the sidelines exclaimed.

After Mauro Albertazzi got up from the ground, the football was far away from his penalty area.

He shook his fist vigorously, as if to cheer himself up.

Seven months to go!

There is no better stage than the World Cup!

Just wait for me, Hu! Come!

※※※

ps, I’m sorry, but due to the recent epidemic in Chengdu, I was already feeling restless while being quarantined at home—because my children were also staying at home—but then there was another earthquake.

It made people panic.

During this period, the time for typing is getting later and later - I have been going to bed at 5 or 6 in the morning for a week in a row, and my wife has a lot of objections to this.

Let me adjust my schedule and synchronize with her.

I am indeed a little anxious, because there are only three chapters in the manuscript, and I have reached the "deadline".

So I decided to shamelessly update for a while. On the one hand, I adjusted my work and rest, on the other hand, I adjusted my mentality. On the other hand, I also saved the manuscript to make myself less anxious.

After all, this book has taken me the second longest time to write in my career - the first was "We Are the Champions", but it took me three years to write more than three million words for that book, and two years for this book. Half wrote six million words, a completely different workload. As I write this, I will inevitably feel mentally exhausted.

Sorry, sorry for the troubled times, I hope everyone can understand...

Originally, I wanted to persevere and see if I could try to write three chapters a day and make up for the saved manuscripts.

But yesterday's earthquake still made me give up this idea - if something unexpected happens, a bad physical condition will cause big problems, so I'd better adjust my body first, and at least get a good sleep.