World Cup of Great Powers

Even before the match against Vietnam, Zeng Zheng received a call from the women’s football head coach Ma Yuanan, inviting him to go to the Women’s World Cup together.

Zeng Zheng originally didn’t want to go.

But Ma Yuanan directly mentioned the matter about Sun Wen and others that he had promised at the Asian Games.

A word from a gentleman is like a whip to the horse.

After playing against North Korea on the 18th, Zeng Zheng did not attend the celebration banquet that night. Zeng Zheng took a plane directly to San Francisco.

Fortunately, Beijing time is 16 hours ahead of San Francisco.

Zeng Zheng hurriedly hurried and finally met the team on the afternoon of the 19th.

At this time, there is less than an hour left before the first match against Sweden in the group stage.

"Xiao Zeng is here?"

"Quick, quick, please come in!"

"Um, then someone, give Coach Zeng a glass of water."

"Xiao Zeng, it's really hard for you to come all the way from China!"

"Come on, let's take a rest first."

Taking the work badge from Ma Yuanan, Zeng Zheng hung it directly around his neck.

"Uncle Ma, I dare not say I am tired in front of you!" Zeng Zheng rolled his eyes at Ma Yuanan, who was 25 years older than him. "I am a brick of the revolution. I can move it wherever it is needed."

"These are the revolutionary cadres who persevere in struggle and have the courage to contribute!" Ma Yuanan did not seem to hear the irony in Zeng Zheng's words. Instead, he patted Zeng Zheng on the shoulder vigorously, "Xiao Zeng, a young man like you

Talent is not common in today’s society!”

"Gududu..."

Zeng Zheng really fell in love with these "revolutionary marshals".

After drinking half the bottle of mineral water in one gulp, he asked: "Uncle Ma, how did you arrange the list? Has Sister Wen lifted the ban?"

The sister Wen Zeng Zheng refers to is Wen Lilong. She was born in 1969, one year older than Zeng Zheng.

Wen Lilong started playing football at the age of 13 and was selected for the national team for the first time in 1986.

In 1994, he went to Japan to play for the Prima team. Two years later, he was awarded the first-level sports medal by the National Sports Commission.

From 1986 to 1998, Wen Lilong represented the national team in countless competitions and was the most solid barrier in the women's football defense.

However, he was suspended for two games by FIFA due to a serious foul in the semifinals of the last Olympic Games against Brazil.

The Olympic final counts as one, and according to convention, she will not be able to play in the first game of this World Cup.

In the past six months, Zeng Zheng has been in contact with the women's football team and has been paying attention to the women's football team.

So regarding Wen Lilong’s matter, Zeng Zheng had long suggested that the Bamboo Shoes Women’s Football Club apply to FIFA as soon as possible.

"The approval has been approved, and the ban has been lifted." Ma Yuanan laughed, "The approval document was issued two days ago. As for the reason for the lifting of the ban, it didn't say anything. Anyway, according to your suggestion, Xiaorong was on the list today."

After hearing this, Zeng Zheng nodded, "Yeah, that's good."

There are 16 teams in this Women's World Cup, divided into 4 groups, with the top two teams entering the knockout rounds.

These eight teams can not only compete for the championship of this Women's World Cup, but also directly qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games.

It can be predicted that this competition will be very fierce from the beginning of the group stage.

Due to FIFA's prior arrangements, the top 16 have actually been divided into upper and lower halves, with separate forces for fighting.

Teams located in different regions will not meet before the championship and runner-up finals.

The Chinese team is a seeded team and is placed in Group D, in the bottom half.

Grouped with Sweden, Ghana and Australia.

According to Zeng Zheng’s analysis, the biggest opponent in this group is Sweden.

But since the top two in the group qualify, for Zeng Zheng and Ma Yuanan, the pressure to qualify is not that great.

In the pre-match media analysis, the most promising players in this World Cup are the host country, the United States, and our Chinese women’s football team.

Although the old Sweden and Chinese teams were similar in strength, Sweden now has a large number of new players.

Whether the strength is still comparable to that of the Chinese team, Zeng Zheng cannot say.

To be conservative, Zeng Zheng could only remind Zhu Xie to work harder and quickly let Wen Lilong lift the suspension.

Now it seems that this step has been successful.

"After all, it's the first game. No matter what we do, we can't make a mistake."

Zeng Zheng thought for a moment and then said, "If I remember correctly, the San Jose Partan Stadium is a small stadium, only about 63 meters wide."

"As a result, it will be difficult for us to launch an offensive on the wing."

"So in the first game, it's better for us to play it safe."

Ma Yuanan nodded and followed Zeng Zheng's reminders and suggestions to lay out the tactics.

Sure enough, within 2 minutes of the opening, the Swedish team, which focused on physical confrontation and attacking from the middle, successfully intercepted the ball in the frontcourt and scored with a volley.

Faced with a dark start, the Chinese team was not in a hurry to equalize the score.

Playing steadily and using high-altitude ball and set-piece tactics, they finally equalized the score in the 17th minute.

At that time, Liu Ying took a corner kick, and forward Jin Yan headed the ball in.

In the second half, the team changed sides and fought again.

In the 70th minute, Liu Ailing's direct attack from the top of the penalty area once again penetrated the Swedes' goal.

2 to 1, the Chinese team overtook the score.

At Zeng Zheng's suggestion, Ma Yuanan immediately set up his defense after taking the lead.

After more than 20 minutes of hard work, the Chinese team finally won its first victory of this World Cup without any bloodshed!

"Ah! Isn't this Coach Zeng? When did he come?"

After the game, when the women's football girls saw Zeng Zheng taking off his mask in the locker room, they immediately gathered around him with shining eyes.

"Coach Zeng, aren't you leading the National Olympics in China? When did you come to San Francisco?" Goalkeeper Gao Hong's face was full of excitement.

"Coach Zeng, you must have rushed here as soon as you got off the plane, right? Thank you so much for your hard work!" Central defender Fan Yunjie still remembers Zeng Zheng's kindness.

"Hey, Brother Zeng, I remember hearing you say on the phone that you didn't want to come! Why are you here now?" Forward Sun Wen raised his chin and put his arm on Zeng Zheng's shoulder.

"That's great. With Coach Xiao Zeng here, we will definitely win the championship this time!" Left back Bai Jie stood behind the crowd, holding her hands on her chest and applauding quietly.

The arrival of Zeng Zheng made the eyes of all women's football girls shine.

When they learned that Zeng Zheng was assisting in the tactical play after conceding the ball in this game, the soldiers' trust in Zeng Zheng increased even more.

Overtaking the opponent 2-1 to win, what could be more morale-boosting than such a good start?

"Okay, okay."

Ma Yuanan stretched out his hands and pressed down.

"Everyone, be quiet and listen to Coach Zeng say a few words."

Ma Yuanan opened her mouth, and several of the women's football girls who had a good relationship and stepped forward to "touch" Zeng Zheng immediately took a step back to make room for Zeng Zheng.

Even so, everyone still gathered around Zeng Zheng, their eyes full of expectation.

World Cup knockout, Toulon Cup champion, Asian Games champion, World Youth Championship champion...

Coupled with the miscellaneous champions such as Dunhill and the Hong Kong Four Nations, Zeng Zheng has become a figure like the "godfather of national football".

The results of the men's football team have improved, and the pressure on the women's football team is naturally not small.

It's just in time for the Women's World Cup, and the girls are focusing all their energy on it.

Before the expedition, Wang Junsheng asked the women's football girls if they had any requests or wishes.

Girls in the women's football team looked at me and I looked at you, and they all said in unison: "Why can the men's football team have a handsome young man as the coach, but our women's football team has to be led by an old scholar?"

At the invitation of the women's football team, Bamboo Shoes and Ma Yuan'an, Zeng Zheng thought again and again.

Not only for the championship honor, but also for "the rain and dew are equally shared".

In short, this support for the women's football team is not an official dispatch, but a "special secret operation"!

Not to mention that the outside world didn't know, even the people inside Bamboo Shoes didn't know that Zeng Zheng went to San Francisco.

You know, this time the women's football team is led by Ma Yuanan and others.

Even if he does win the championship in the end, Zeng Zheng's name will not be on the honor list.

This time I went to the United States, Zeng Zheng was completely a personal help!

Facing the eager eyes from around him, Zeng Zheng smiled slightly.

"This go-ahead victory is entirely due to everyone's contribution."

"So you guys don't need to underestimate yourself. Just like what the media said, only the United States is our real opponent in this World Cup!"

"Before playing against Big Lao Mei, all opponents are just little Karami!"

"I am here this time to help you how to win the World Cup championship trophy at someone else's home stadium in front of the host country!"

"I just don't know if you guys can cooperate!"

As soon as Zeng Zheng finished speaking, a soprano immediately sounded in the dressing room.

"Cooperate! Cooperate! Cooperate!!!"

Zeng Zheng waved his hand, "There's nothing else to say, everyone, please pay attention to safety and don't get hurt on the court!"

"Okay! Listen to Coach Zeng!!!"

...

The women's football team got off to a good start and did not cause much disturbance in the country.

The most intense discussion in the country at the moment is whether the National Olympics can defeat South Korea in a frontal battlefield.

The news of the women's football team's first victory only occupied a corner of the page.

However, under the leadership of Zeng Zheng, the football section of Jiulang.com is full of posts about the women’s football team’s first victory.

That night, the women's football girls crowded into Zeng Zheng's room and listened to him read the blessing posts from netizens one by one.

It wasn't until 10 o'clock in the evening that everyone reluctantly dispersed.

In the past, when Ma Yuanan led the team, he would only ask them to write some game summary reports. Not only was their spare time boring, but the team members were also under a lot of pressure.

Now that Zeng Zheng is in the team, everything has become completely different.

The team members chattered about the blessings from their hometown fans and translated to each other what these blessings meant in their local dialects.

The power of a coach: A laptop allows the girls to laugh and laugh every night after training.

The days passed quickly.

Four days later, the women's football girls faced Ghana at Portland Municipal Stadium.

The Ghanaian team is very weak and cannot pose any threat to the Chinese team.

In just 9 minutes of the first half, Sun Wen received a long pass from Wang Liping and successfully countered offside, giving the Chinese team the lead.

In the 16th and 21st minutes, Jin Yan scored twice through supplementary shots and countering offside.

In the second half, the game changed place again. In the 59th minute, Sun Wenli also scored two goals with a supplementary shot.

In the 81st and 89th minutes, Zhang Ouying became the third player of the Chinese team to score twice.

Until the 91st minute of the game, Zhao Lihong added the icing on the cake, locking the final score at 7-0.

A hearty victory made the Chinese team cheer and excited.

With two consecutive wins in the group stage, qualifying for the group is already doomed.

That night, Zeng Zheng acted as a translator and took the girls to visit famous local attractions.

This was something that was unthinkable in the past.

But with Zeng Zheng's intervention, Ma Yuanan had no choice but to hold her nose and recognize it.

There is no other way. Who asked Zeng Zheng to lead the Chinese youth team and lead the National Olympics like this, and also brought results?

This time, someone came all the way to help me for free. What does this small request mean?

Being able to win is the last word!

After playing in Portland, the team moved to New York.

Along the way, Zeng Zheng looked at the scenery outside the window and kept complaining in his heart.

The French team is off to a really good start!

Since the 1998 World Cup, in all international competitions, the host country likes to have multiple stadiums in multiple cities, and let each team "play around" as many times as possible on its own territory according to the schedule.

This kind of "one shot and another place" schedule has promoted the economy of the host country, but it has made the team members who came from afar miserable.

Every time he thought about having to return to the hotel to pack his luggage and rush to the next city after playing the game, Zeng Zheng couldn't help but feel anxious.

snort!

Walking a fool, right?

OK!

You have the guts to continue this "tradition"!

Wait until China holds the World Series.

Let you see what it means to have a vast land and abundant resources!

After complaining about the trip, Zeng Zheng began to recall the Women's World Cup in his previous life.

He vaguely remembered that there was a very important reason why this World Cup ended in failure.

That is because the coaching staff led by Ma Yuanan has no plans for this World Cup!

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! According to the strength of this women's football team, they are fully capable of defeating the United States.

In fact, in the first half of this year, there were wins and losses in several cup matches and friendly matches between the two sides.

In other words, if the Chinese team plans well, it will have no problem winning their opponents.

But in fact, the Chinese team has come a long way and is tired of traveling and traveling. Coupled with the fact that they are not accustomed to the acclimatization and eating habits, the combat effectiveness itself has been reduced.

And Ma Yuanan had no strategic plan for this cup, which resulted in the girls trying their best to win every game.

In fact, this is the same as Ma Yuanan's idea - kick hard, work hard to win, and no matter where you kick, you will be rewarded!

Under such circumstances, the Chinese team went through several hard-fought games in the group stage and knockout rounds, and by the finals was almost at the end of its tether, relying entirely on one breath to hold on.

Even so, the beautiful lady, who was waiting for work, still failed to break through the women's football team.

After 120 minutes, the two sides exchanged penalty kicks, and the Chinese team fell in front of the penalty spot.

Ma Yuanan, on the other hand, did not feel annoyed that he had never practiced penalty kicks. Instead, he felt fortunate and proud of this runner-up finish.

In his eyes, if the women's football team can finish second, it has already exceeded the task for him.

When I go back this time, the reward will definitely be indispensable.

As for whether the girls in this women's football team have any regrets, that's not at all on his mind.

Therefore, the first important task at the moment is to plan how the team will win the championship under such a tiring journey.

Since I came here this time, I came here to win the championship.

The championship he talks about is not just for words to boost morale.

After scanning the schedule and the results of the first two games of the other two teams in the group, Zeng Zheng made a decision in his mind.

That night, after dinner and all the luggage was put away, Zeng Zheng knocked on Ma Yuanan's door.

After getting the other party's permission to enter the room, Zeng Zheng's first words were: "Coach Ma, I think it is best for us to lose as much as possible in this third group match."

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