Midfielder Ruler

Chapter 20 Isn’t it a little early to think about the 1st/8th finals?

The saying that a tie can qualify is too familiar to Chinese fans, especially the older generation of fans, and they have a lot of feelings.

Fortunately, the opponents in the final round of the group were Colombia, which qualified early, and the other matches were Greece, which had only gained one point in the first two rounds of the group stage, and Cote d'Ivoire, which had not gained any points.

The Chinese team has four points from two games, one draw and one draw, and has a goal difference. The only team that has a chance to reverse the Chinese team and qualify for the group stage is Greece, which has gained one point, but the Greek team has a goal difference of -3. That is to say, the Chinese team is four goals ahead of the Greek team.

Unless the Chinese team loses to Colombia by a big score, Greece can win against Cote d'Ivoire by a big score.

This possibility is not very high, but it does not mean that it is not possible, and the best way for the Chinese team to appear is to firmly grasp its right to qualify.

For example: a draw.

When it comes to qualifying with a draw, Chinese fans are somewhat confused.

China's domestic media did not deliberately create pressure on the Chinese team that was preparing for the game. They listed the possibility of the Chinese team qualifying.

Fans often have no sense of autonomy and like to see various topics that are beneficial to their support of the team, especially the possibility of qualifying.

Cote d'Ivoire lost to the Chinese team and Cote d'Ivoire in the first two rounds of the group, resulting in early elimination from the group.

In order to save face, the African Elephants will definitely try their best to fight for glory and defeat Greece in the final round.

If the match between Côte d'Ivoire and the Greek team is ultimately won by the Greek team, the Chinese team can still qualify from the group even if it loses to Colombia by a large score.

Another way to say it is that the match between Cote d'Ivoire and Greece was tied, and the Chinese team can also qualify if it loses to Colombia.

What most satisfies Chinese fans is that the Greek team did not score in the first two rounds of the group and conceded a net of three goals. Cote d'Ivoire lost two consecutive games in the group but scored three goals in two games.

Apart from the defensive deficit, there is no problem with the offense.

The preparations of the Chinese team's players are very standardized. Under the leadership of Lippi's coaching team, the players are fully prepared for the final round, striving to firmly hold the initiative in their own hands.

Rather than expecting the Greek team, the only threat to the team's qualification, to draw or lose, it is better to go to the final round of the group with a mentality of desperation.

While the Chinese team and Colombia are preparing for the final round of the group stage,

The fans from both sides naturally started a heated exchange of words, which was the prelude to the upcoming focus battle.

It is worth mentioning that the day before the game, the Chinese team and Colombia actually chose to come to the Pantanal Stadium at the same time to adapt to the venue.

Since everyone's time is very tight, it is impossible for anyone to let anyone adapt to the venue first.

The organizers had no choice but to let both teams adapt to the venue at the same time, each occupying one half.

Before the World Cup in Brazil, there were already media reports that the arrangements of the Brazil World Cup Organizing Committee were chaotic. When Tang Zheng entered the stadium, he truly felt what chaos was.

Logically speaking, top-level events like the World Cup should be meticulous.

The time for the two teams to adapt to the venue actually happened at the same time, which means that the organizing committee did not pay attention to it.

In other words, inaction!

Of course, the Chinese team's preparations have not been affected by the inaction of the organizing committee. Their attention is still on the final round of Group C at this stadium tomorrow night.

In the process of adapting to the court, players from both sides will inevitably make eye contact during the warm-up, especially between players on both sides who have a good relationship.

James Rodrigo and Tang Zheng have a very good relationship. They consciously looked at each other during the warm-up.

As before, Tang Zheng did not lose to James Rodriguez in terms of momentum.

Zhang Linpeng, who plays for Porto, also has acquaintances in the Colombian national team, namely the 21-year-old Quintero and Jackson Martinez.

The former gradually became Porto's core player after James Rodriguez left the Portuguese Super League to join Ligue 1 Monaco. The latter has locked in the main forward position since joining Porto.

Whether it's Quintero or Jackson Martinez, they have a good relationship with Zhang Linpeng. Sometimes when the team has holidays, Zhang Linpeng will invite these food-loving teammates to eat delicious Chinese food.

Over time, the relationship naturally became extraordinary.

But in a game that concerns the honor of the national team, no one will take into account 'old feelings'.

The Chinese and foreign reporters who came to the Pantanal Stadium were extremely professionally sensitive. They kept pressing the shooting button in their hands to record precious materials in their cameras.

Although the football match itself attracts attention, the news outside the stadium can also attract the attention of fans.

Zhang Linpeng knows Quintero and Jackson Martinez very well, and Quintero and Jackson Martinez also know Zhang Linpeng well. When the time comes, the offense and defense of the two sides will meet, which is very worthy of attention.

The story of Tang Zheng and James Rodriguez is even more worthy of the attention of Chinese and foreign media. From the time when the two met during the Boca Juniors training, to the AFC representatives River Plate and Banfield, to Dortmund and Porto, the number of times the two have played against each other. There were many, but the victory ultimately belonged to Tang Zheng's team.

With Falcao missing the World Cup in Brazil due to injury, James Rodriguez became Colombia's well-deserved number one star, while Tang Zheng was China's number one star.

This battle has attracted much attention, just as the two men had a heated fight on Twitter.

Most of the attention of the Chinese and foreign reporters who came to the Pantanal Stadium was on Tang Zheng and James Rodriguez, so they saw the two looking at each other and briefly making eye contact.

The Colombian media is a little regretful that James Rodriguez cannot keep looking at each other due to his personal personality, so the Chinese media reporters have more confidence in tomorrow night's game.

Even though they were both No. 10, Tang Zheng was already one step ahead.

※※※

James Rodriguez is as reserved as ever, and Tang Zheng begins to prepare for the final round of the group stage that will be held in this stadium at 8 o'clock tomorrow evening!

That evening, the final group matches of Group A and Group B started at 4 pm and 8 pm respectively, local time in Brazil.

The Brazilian team defeated Cameroon 4:1 at the National Stadium in Brasilia and became first in the group with a goal difference advantage.

Croatia did not win in the face of adversity. They lost to Mexico 1:3 and were eliminated. Therefore, the two qualifying places in Group A are Brazil and Mexico, which won.

The two games played at 8 o'clock in the evening can be said to have little meaning. Spain and Australia lost two consecutive games and were eliminated early. However, the last game is related to the glory of the two teams in the World Cup. For both teams, they cannot lose again.

The confrontation between the Chilean team and the Dutch team is more about who is first in the group and who is second in the group.

Since the qualifying spots for Group A have been announced, the first person in Group B will face Mexico, while the second person in Group B will face the host Brazil.

For both teams, ranking first in Group B is beneficial to the next knockout rounds.

In the final round of Group B, Spain defeated Australia 2:0 and won the only game of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The Netherlands defeated Chile 2:0 and became first in the group. This means that the next 1/8 finals will be Brazil VS Chile and Netherlands VS Mexico.

At the same time, the entire Chinese team held their last collective meeting before the game at the hotel in Kubaia.

The schedule is extremely beneficial to the Chinese team, but the right to qualify must ultimately be in their own hands.

Moreover, if there is an upset like in Group D, it is possible to defeat Colombia and win the first place in the group.

Lippi has rich coaching experience and has many years to instill in his players.

Especially in the second round, they failed to defeat the Greek team despite having an absolute advantage. It was a pity and at the same time, we had to find the reason ourselves.

Why can't we score a goal even if we play one more player and have an absolute advantage in key data such as ball possession rate and number of shots?

In this regard, striker Gao Lin has no role to play.

As the starting center of the Chinese team in this World Cup, there were too many missed opportunities in the last game against the Greek team.

Especially in the second half, Tang Zheng sent him at least two exquisite passes, and his shots facing goalkeeper Kanezis either missed or went high.

Of course, Lippi did not name him in person, but everyone knew who he was referring to.

Summarizing the draw with Greece in the last round, Lippi also gave a tactical explanation of the final round of Group C at the Pantanal Stadium tomorrow night and the technical characteristics of the opponent's Colombian players.

In Lippi's tactical system, Tang Zheng's national team position is still a defensive midfielder, partnering with captain Zheng Zhi.

Because of Colombia's strong strength, Tang Zheng's defensive responsibilities are more severe than in the past two games. He must ensure that the team's defense is absolutely safe before he can press forward on the offensive end and participate in direct attacks.

However, if this happens, the Chinese team's offense will be greatly affected.

Tang Zheng's arrangements for head coach Lippi have no meaning. Colombia's overall strength is there, and the Chinese team, which is at a huge disadvantage, must position itself, otherwise it is very likely that there will be a big score loss that no one wants to see. ball.

Players such as James Rodriguez, Jackson Martinez, Guarin, and Cuadrado are all very distinctive players, and their physical conditions are very good, especially James Rodriguez. With Tang Zheng's understanding, he has the ability to become a world-class superstar.

A world-class superstar has the ability to change the game!

Tang Zheng has always believed in a saying: There is no shame in defending, only in losing.

※※※

On June 24, local time in Brazil, the weather was sunny in Cuiaba, Mato Grosso state, in the central and western part of Brazil. The daytime temperature was as high as 27 degrees Celsius and as low as 18 degrees Celsius. The match between the Chinese team and Colombia was It's eight o'clock in the evening.

During this time, the temperature is moderate, the humidity is moderate, and there is a breeze, which is very suitable for a high-quality football match.

Prior to this, Group D took the lead in two group matches.

Italy VS Uruguay, England VS Costa Rica.

Except for Costa Rica, which won two games and advanced ahead of schedule, Italy and Uruguay both scored three points in two games.

The winning side will advance, but Italy has one more goal difference than Uruguay, and a draw can also advance to the top 16.

According to Italy's good defensive counterattack, it is very possible to hold on to the 0:0 score until the end of the game, and the odds offered by the world's top ten bookmakers are also quite optimistic about Italy's draw with Uruguay.

Unfortunately, the game changed dramatically at the 59th minute. After losing the ball, Marchisio made an obvious step with his feet while counterattacking. The sole of his shoe firmly hit the calf of Uruguayan player Rios. He was on duty. The referee directly showed a red card.

With one less player to fight, Italy had no choice but to stick to the defense and even gave up counterattack for a time.

After all, a 0:0 score could guarantee Italy's qualification from Group D. However, Uruguayan central defender Godin, who was good at scoring key goals in the past 2013-2014 season, once again stood up at a critical moment. He took advantage of the Italian central defender's lack of marking. Point used the back of his head to smash the ball into the lower right corner of the goal, beyond the reach of goalkeeper Buffon.

Italy, which had no way out, could only choose to fight with all its strength. Uruguay, which had the numerical and score lead, chose to retreat to half-court defense.

However, the score did not change until the end of the game. Uruguay finally defeated Italy 1:0 with Godin's goal, thus reversing the situation and advancing to the top 16 of this World Cup.

Due to time constraints, Tang Zheng did not watch the live broadcast, but learned the result from assistant coach Madaloni.

Tang Zheng lamented Italy's elimination.

The 2006 World Cup champion in Germany, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was stopped in the group stage, and it was unexpected that the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was stopped in the group stage again.

In fact, Tang Zheng knew the reason, but this reason was not only reflected in Italy, but also in England, Spain and other teams.

Tang Zheng stood on the sidelines with thoughts abounding. The Chinese fans in the Pantanal Stadium did not lose their focus. They made deafening cheers: "Ooooooooo-"

It was this huge roar that brought Tang Zheng back to reality. He returned to the court and kept up with his teammates' warm-up rhythm.

The next game is crucial!

Before the game started, based on the long-range shots given by the on-site director, it was not difficult to see that the Pantanal Stadium, which can accommodate 45,000 fans, was significantly different from the previous two group matches of the Chinese team.

As a neighbor of Brazil, Colombia naturally has a large influx of Colombian fans, so the Colombian fans and Chinese fans at the scene formed a rivalry.

Preliminary estimates indicate that the Chinese fans area surrounded by red and the Colombian fans area surrounded by yellow occupy about 80% of the positions, and the remaining 20% ​​belongs to local Brazilian fans and other neutral fans.

As the live broadcast camera switches, fans sitting in front of the TV can already see the players from both sides leaving their respective locker rooms and coming to the player tunnel. This means that the focus of the third round of Group C of the 2014 Brazil World Cup is about to begin.

Colombia has six points from two games, and the Chinese team has four points from two games. As long as there is a draw, the two teams will qualify together. However, the specific ranking of Group D has been released. Costa Rica was upset and became the first place in the group, which means that the second place in Group C will face Costa Rica is relatively weak.

Being able to choose easy mode, no one would choose hard mode.

Originally, head coach Pekerman was planning to change his mind and use a large number of substitutes, but the core players in the team were eager to compete.

After thinking about it, I decided to send out a large number of main players and only let some of the main players take turns.

At this time, Lippi hopes the team can draw with Colombia and confirm second place in the group.

Facing Costa Rica in the 1/8 finals is a very good choice!

It's just... isn't it a bit early to think about the 1/8 finals at this time?

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like