Fox in the Penalty Area

Door 1

"Pete Williams!! This is his first World Cup goal! He was in really good condition today! From one penalty area to another, he was flying all over the field. He was in almost every corner of the field. Figure!"

As the commentator cheers loudly, England midfielder Pete Williams is shown excitedly running towards the corner flag with his arms outstretched.

Beside him were England players who were equally excited.

"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 group matches! They are indeed the favorites to win this World Cup!"

Looking at the England players smiling happily on the screen, Sheeran sighed: "England deliberately took first place in the group, right? Just to meet us!"

Hearing what she said, Hu Lixin smiled: "Look what you said, is it possible that they are deliberately going to take second place in the group and then fight Italy?"

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

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

Even if we put aside the identity of Chinese fans and let the media and fans around the world look at it, of the two qualifying teams in Group H, it is obvious that the Chinese team is more worth looking forward to.

After all, this team is younger, more energetic and energetic.

Li Qingqing couldn't help laughing when she heard the conversation between the two people. 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 an old acquaintance of Hu Lai."

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

The son and the other party play football 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, and 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 popular?"

Li Qingqing smiled and said nothing.

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

After the Chinese men's football team made a historic run into the knockout rounds of the World Cup, fans across China fell into a carnival mood.

But when I wake up one night,

Many people are like Xie Lan, looking back:

Although it is gratifying to reach the knockout round of the World Cup, but... England seems to be a bit too strong as an opponent, right?

The only team in this World Cup that has won all the group matches, and the scores are basically big.

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

Won all three games, ranked first in the group, and ranked among the best in winning odds - before the start of the World Cup, the winning odds were ranked fourth. Now after all the group matches have been played, Spain has been eliminated. The winning odds of all teams have been adjusted. England has risen to first place, ahead of strong teams such as Argentina, France and Brazil.

This England team has a more reasonable age structure than it did four years ago.

At the same time, after Harry Bogard retired, the England midfielder has become more fluid.

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

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

After finally qualifying from the group, they have to meet such a strong team. It is really not a good arrangement for the Chinese team.

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, from players to coaches, are very familiar with them...

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

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

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

In fact, reaching the top 16 is already an amazing achievement.

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

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 a home advantage and they tend to perform better.

The Chinese team can occupy a place in the top 16 as a representative of Asian teams. Such results are enough to make the entire Asia feel happy and gratified.

Some Chinese media have begun to cool down the Chinese fans. When they reported that the Chinese team reached the top 16, they used the words "mission accomplished", "put down the burden", "enjoy football, enjoy the game, enjoy the World Cup"... Something like this.

And many Chinese fans agree.

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

However, such people are still in the minority. Most Chinese fans are relatively sensible and are not willing to put too much pressure on their national team.

Qualifying in the group is really the "biggest common denominator" for all Chinese fans.

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

And even if they get through England, the Chinese team will still have a bumpy road in the second half - their opponents in the quarter-finals will be the winners of the Netherlands and Belgium. No matter which of these two teams they are, None of them are easy to deal with.

One is ranked seventh by FIFA and one is ranked eighth.

In addition, there are Argentina and Italy standing in the way - let’s not talk about Argentina. Italy’s defensive counterattack tactics are particularly suitable for tournament-based competitions such as the World Cup. In the knockout stage, teams with good defense are more likely to go further...

In such a situation, we really cannot place too many demands on the performance of the Chinese team.

Everyone feels that as long as the Chinese team can show its style and level in the next games, many people will be able to accept even a loss.

※※※

"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 to eat, captain Wang Guangwei stood up and said to all his teammates.

"We cannot have the idea that reaching the knockout rounds means we have accomplished the task, and we must not relax. Once we relax, 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 wrong. We can’t repeat the same mistakes we made four years ago. We can’t think that everything is fine just because we made it to the knockout rounds...

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

They particularly sympathized with what Wang Guangwei said.

I really went from being complacent about drawing with Brazil to regretting not being able to work harder to qualify for the group in the future - they could have made history four years in advance instead of waiting until now.

And those players who had not participated in the last World Cup also listened very carefully.

Because they have heard the "veteran players" tell them stories about the last World Cup more than once. Almost everyone mentioned the World Cup four years ago with the word "regret".

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

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

Instead of going all out to beat Brazil in the final seconds, settling for a draw shouldn't sound like a bad thing to anyone.

However, the Chinese team players all regarded this result as their own shame.

This is really incredible...

But it didn't arouse anyone's doubts.

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

"See, this is why we were able to qualify in the group this time. High standards and strict requirements. You must do the same in the future to achieve success!"

While the disciples were all thoughtful, Wang Guangwei continued:

"The outside world says that England is very strong. They are the favorites to win the championship. They have won all three games... so what? We can get out of the group of death, and it is not luck! Don't care what others say, don't care. No matter who the opponent is, we will play every game in the knockout round as a final. I think as long as we try our best, the final result will definitely not be bad!

"I think we should unify our thoughts before the game against England. That's why I say this to everyone. I hope we all think in one place and work hard in one place. Only in this way can we truly create history—— Reaching the knockout rounds is definitely not making history, we can do better!"