World Cup of Great Powers

As the World Cup approaches, the national football team has only one last warm-up match left before the World Cup.

It is also the most important and heaviest warm-up match.

The opponent is Portugal.

Not only the national football team, but other participating teams in the World Cup also successively found target teams to play warm-up matches with each other in the month before the World Cup.

Some are to test the strength, some are to increase the confidence of the team, and some are simply to make money.

After announcing the World Cup roster, the coaching staff dispersed to visit warm-up matches of the other three teams in Group A.

The medical team has also borrowed an advanced instrument from the Shanghai Sports College that can detect multiple physical indicators through blood to facilitate and more effectively control the physical condition of the team members.

At the same time, the national football team is also equipped with two dedicated chefs who are responsible for the meals of the players.

The days are proceeding in an orderly manner.

After identifying these 23 team members, Zeng Zheng led the team members to train in addition to training every day.

On May 24, Zeng Zheng led the team to Macau for the last warm-up match before the World Cup against Portugal.

The purpose of the Chinese team to warm up with Portugal is to see the real gap between their own team and the top European teams;

As for Portugal's appointment of the Chinese team as a sparring partner, in addition to testing the level of the Asian champions, they also plan to take the opportunity to make some extra money.

That evening, at the press conference, Zeng Zheng saw a French reporter.

"I thought I would only see South Koreans, Portuguese and Danes here today, but I didn't expect to see the French here."

The French reporter told Zeng Zheng: "Coach Zeng, this is the third time we have met."

"Yes, I didn't lose the first two times I met the French." Zeng Zheng nodded, "I hope I won't lose this time either."

The French team reporter smiled.

In the eyes of many European journalists, Zeng Zheng's idea is a bit like "a toad wants to eat swan meat".

Can a victory over France in the Confederations Cup mean a victory over France in the World Cup?

This is simply not equal!

But Macau is the territory of the Chinese team after all.

Faced with Zeng Zheng's aggressive stance and strong self-confidence, both French and Portuguese reporters seemed a little lacking in confidence.

Portuguese star Pinto said: "The Chinese team's playing style and characteristics are different from all the teams we have encountered before. I believe this is a difficult team to deal with."

Zeng Zheng also explained, "I definitely don't mean to underestimate the French team."

"But the victory in the Confederations Cup really built up strong confidence for us."

...

On May 25, the national football team played the last warm-up match before the World Cup against the Portuguese national team in Macau.

In order to promote the next East Asian Games hosted by Macau, the Macau Presiding Committee organized a football warm-up match to be as grand as the Games.

There are song and dance performances during the opening and intermission periods.

At the beginning of the competition, Chief Executive Ho Hau Wah personally presided over the dragon dance ceremony of a 100-meter-long dragon.

"...I was conquered by you and cut off all escape routes..."

After the eagle's song, the Chinese and Portuguese players officially entered the stadium.

For the Chinese team, the list is:

Goalkeeper: Ou Chuliang;

Defenders: Sun Jihai, Li Weifeng, Xu Yunlong, Wu Chengying;

Midfielder: Li Tie, Li Xiaopeng, Zhang Xiaorui, Li Jinyu;

Forwards: Yang Chen, Xie Hui.

Portugal’s lineup is:

Goalkeeper: Baia;

Defenders: Xavier, Beto, Canela, Andrade;

Midfielder: Rosa, Paulo Bento, Paulo Sosa, Barbosa;

Forwards: Rui Costa and Gomez.

Due to a foot injury, Portugal's number one star Figo did not appear.

For both China and Portugal, except for General Fan, the Chinese team can be said to be the main force;

Without Figo, Portugal fielded a semi-main lineup.

It is not difficult to see that Zeng Zheng still wants to have a good showdown with Portugal's golden generation.

In this game, in the Macau Stadium, which accommodates 17,000 people, the fans supporting the Portuguese team and the Chinese team are clearly divided.

Because there are a large number of Portuguese descendants and expats in Macau, there is a purple square team wearing Portuguese jerseys in the stands opposite the rostrum. There are also many Portuguese fans scattered throughout the stands, accounting for less than one-third of the audience.

Most of the Chinese team fans held red flags, and many of them were wearing Chinese team jerseys.

It is rare to have fans of two national teams in one city, so the Sino-Portuguese rivalry in Macau has become a bit like a derby, with fans from both sides competing for momentum throughout the game.

At the beginning, the Portuguese fans in the phalanx chanted "Portugal! Portugal!" in rhythm, while the Chinese fans immediately responded with "Come on, Team China."

Every wonderful performance of the Chinese team on the court will bring excitement.

Yang Chen is fearless in front of Portuguese stars. As long as there is someone who can pass through Portugal's defense, it must be Yang Chen;

His dribbling and Li Jinyu's free kick were the first noise in the game.

"Did you see that the referee was a bit bossy today?"

It seems that he is addicted to playing in the top ten games. Zeng Zheng still wore casual clothes today.

"What are you talking about?" Han Tao looked confused.

"The chief referee is Kwan Jung-cheol, the two linesmen are Kim Hee-wook and Kim Hwa-soo, and the fourth official is Lee Ki-yong..."

Zeng Zheng muttered the names of the referee team, "These are all sticks!"

"Bangzi...What happened to Bangzi?" Han Tao still didn't understand.

"You are so stupid!"

Zeng Zheng tapped Han Tao's forehead, "Then let me ask you, who will you be assigned to in the Bangzi World Cup?"

"Portugal...oh! I understand, these four referees are here to inquire about information!"

"You're not stupid enough, kid."

Zeng Zheng chuckled lightly.

Then he folded his arms and said, "Xiao Tao, just wait and see how these sticks deal with the Portuguese."

However, what happened on the court was beyond Zeng Zheng's expectation.

This South Korean referee, who is used to doing his hair meticulously on the court, can actually be regarded as an "old friend" of the Chinese team.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In last year’s World Cup preliminaries, this man showed five yellow cards to the Chinese team.

In the China-South Korea match at the beginning of the year, Kuan Zhengzhe also served as the fourth referee.

In today's game, his severity was shown right from the start.

At that time, the Chinese team finally attacked the Portuguese half, but the ball hit the Portuguese defender's heel and rolled out of the baseline.

When the Chinese players were about to take a corner kick, Kuan Zhengzhe directly awarded Portugal a goal kick.

Yang Chen wanted to step forward to complain, but the other party directly took out a yellow card without saying anything.

A few minutes later, Xu Yunlong committed an obscure foul in the penalty area, but was punished by Kuan Zhengzhe.

Facing Gomez's penalty kick, Ou Chuliang was unable to catch up.

Portugal leads 1-0.

Subsequently, Canela of the Portuguese team was dissatisfied with the penalty and rushed forward to touch Kuan Zhengzhe's face with his head. This move should have been a red card, but in the end Kuan Zhengzhe only received a yellow card.

"Ah this..."

"Isn't this referee too timid?"

“Don’t have any cultural confidence at all?”

"Do you know how to bully our Chinese team?"

"Portugal has bullied him so much that he doesn't even dare to give him a card?"

Han Tao was so angry that he jumped on his feet.

Zeng Zheng was also dumbfounded.

its not right!

There's something wrong with this script!

It stands to reason that shouldn't Kuan Zhengzhe team up with the other three referees to kill Portugal?

Then force them to use all their main strength in order to observe the opponent's highest combat power.

Why is it that almost half of the game has been played, and everyone is playing "death blows" against the Chinese team?

The China-South Korea competition has passed!

If the two are to fight again, it will have to be in the second half of the year after the World Cup.

Are you trying to suppress our Chinese team at this time?

Could it be that you are taking revenge for your "Chinesephobia"?

Revenge wouldn’t be such a petty thing at this juncture, would it?

If we beat Portugal without playing, what good will it do to you?

Then secretly, don’t you want to see how strong Portugal’s strength will be after Figo comes on the field?

If this continues, Figo can treat this warm-up match as a trip!

However, no matter how surprised Zeng Zheng was, how the Chinese coaching staff expressed their dissatisfaction.

Kuan Zhengzhe's penalty scale has never changed.

Just like that, the unscrupulous Portugal began to press hard.

Whether it is Costa, Conceicao or Pinto, these world-class attacking players can freely come and go in the hinterland of the Chinese team.

During the intermission, the eagle walked onto the stage again.

This time, I sang "Smile and Pass" for everyone.

"You've hurt me without any remorse..."

"You love greed and I love cowardice."

"The tears flowed, and the goal was unnecessary..."

"I will never forget the fact that you laughed it off..."

As soon as the second half started, Zeng Zheng asked Li Tie and Zheng Zhi to play as a double midfielder, allowing Zhang Xiaorui to fully free up his hands to organize the attack.

But as soon as the actual combat started, the European Latin faction's specimen penetration immediately suppressed the deep protection envisioned by the Chinese team into a simple plane.

A little breakthrough, a complete breakthrough.

“As expected of Portugal!”

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, this warm-up match was really not in vain!"

Zeng Zheng was recording in his head while drinking juice.

After finding the team's problem, he immediately took command and tried to break the situation.

"Zhang Xiaorui, please upload more to Yang Chen and Xie Hui's heads."

"Which of our four forwards missed the header?"

"If you don't use the advantage of heading the ball, how can you defeat them?"

In the World Youth Championship, Zhang Xiaorui had already played against the Portuguese team.

In the opponent's lineup, there are still several opponents that they had played against before.

These Portuguese players also know Zhang Xiaorui's skills well.

The continuous blocking and siege really made Zhang Xiaorui very uncomfortable.

Under Zeng Zheng's order, Zhang Xiaorui began to pass high balls non-stop.

Soon, Yang Chen's header came into play.

In the 58th minute, Wu Chengying took a corner kick and Baia hit the ball out.

Subsequently, Wu Chengying got the ball again and followed up with a shot from the arc on the left, but was saved again.

Zhang Xiaorui, who was following up, took the opportunity and used the instep of his foot without stopping the ball.

The ball flew high to the back post, Yang Chen jumped high and hit the header.

The Chinese team chased the score to 1-2.

In the 61st minute, Sun Jihai made a pass from the right.

In the chaos, Li Jinyu charged forward and feinted Baia who was attacking. Zhang Xiaorui, who also outflanked the back post, followed up with a kick and easily scored, rewriting the score to 2-2.

The Chinese team scored two goals in a row, which made the South Korean referee's eyes brighten.

Then there were two more attacks from the Chinese team, both of which resulted in offensive fouls and the ball was awarded to the opponent.

After both sides played for the 65th minute, the coaches began to make constant substitutions.

The Chinese team replaced two forwards and then replaced a defender;

On the Portuguese side, even goalkeeper Baia was replaced, and it seemed that he had accepted the 2-2 draw.

Next, it’s “performance time” for the two teams.

When the game reached the 75th minute, Li Weifeng fouled in the penalty area and Portugal received another penalty kick.

At this time, the Portuguese fans on the field stood and cheered, while the Chinese fans sat motionless.

When the newly replaced Angel's saving skills shocked everyone, the sound of applause and the beating of plastic promotional materials on the field was like a flock of birds flapping their wings.

The fans of the two teams at the scene were at peace with each other and their positions were clear.

Every time a player takes a shot, cheers and screams can be heard.

In the 78th minute, when Zhao Junzhe made a long-range shot, Figo, who was wearing No. 7 in the stands, couldn't help but let out a scream, but was later overshadowed by the applause of the audience.

The score of 2 to 2 was maintained until the end.

The passionate confrontation between the two sides at the end of the game also showed their team style.

Facing the golden generation of Portugal, the Chinese team was able to draw 2-2?

This result obviously exceeded the expectations of the spies who came to watch the two teams.

After the game, according to a report by Portugal's La Repubblica, even if Figo played in this warm-up match, it may not be possible to achieve better progress.

Even if Figo scores a goal, with the resilience of the Chinese team, the score can be recovered.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Even Rui Costa said in the post-match interview that if the Chinese team is of this strength, qualifying from the group will not be a problem at all.

After the game, Gomez, Pauletta, Yang Chen and Xue Xue were awarded the prize of 10,000 US dollars as the "top scorers" of the game.

Through the voting of 300 journalists at home and abroad, Portugal's No. 10 Rui Costa was unanimously recognized as the best player of the game.

In the player tunnel after the game, Zeng Zheng met Portuguese head coach Oliveira.

After the two shook hands, they started talking briefly.

"Coach Zeng, the Chinese team deserves to be the Asian champions. This game gave me a new understanding of Asian teams."

“Thank you so much for the Chinese team.”

"After playing against the Chinese team and meeting the host in the World Cup, I don't think I will take it lightly anymore."

Faced with the compliment, Zeng Zheng smiled.

"It's my honor to play against a world-leading team like Portugal and find our shortcomings."

After finishing his polite remarks, Zeng Zheng said casually:

"But, Mr. Antonio, I need to remind you."

"Competing with the Chinese team does not mean that you can fully understand other teams in Asia."

"The routines of some Asian teams are completely different from those of the Chinese team."

When Oliveira heard this, he disapproved and said:

"Is there anyone else in Asia who is the opponent of the Chinese team?"

"In my opinion, the Chinese team is the best in Asia."

"Don't you tell me that other teams are better than the Chinese team?"

Of course Zeng Zheng knew what the opponent meant by the other teams, but in this case, obviously he couldn't say it clearly.

"No, no, no, I'm not just talking about that."

Zeng Zheng emphasized again, "What I mean is that other teams may be more excessive in other aspects."

other aspects?

As a football coach, Oliveira immediately understood what Zeng Zheng said as soon as he thought about it.

"Coach Zeng, I understand what you mean."

"But I think you are a bit alarmist?"

"Judging from today's game, the referees' decisions were very fair!"

The implication is that South Korea is still very friendly to us!

Seeing Oliveira say this, Zeng Zheng was speechless.

Suddenly I felt like I was shooting myself in the foot.

have to!

It turns out that South Korea is waiting here!

Well, now I am no longer human inside and out!

It seems like I’d better pay less attention to this matter in the future!