Chapter 683
The World Cup kicks off, and the Chinese national football team takes the field!
On June 11, the opening match of the South Africa World Cup took place between the host South Africa and the strong North American team Mexico.
Group A is a true group of death, as it includes strong teams such as Mexico, Uruguay, and France, in addition to the host country.
This made the qualification situation in Group A unpredictable, and no one could predict which teams would emerge victorious until the final match.
Although South Africa is the host country, the outside world does not have a high opinion of them as the host.
Many experts even predicted that the South African team would end the World Cup with a record of three defeats, becoming the most unfortunate host country in World Cup history.
However, the result of this match proved these experts wrong.
The score was tied 1-1 at the end of the match.
Mexico dominated the first half but failed to score, and the score remained 0-0 at halftime.
Just 10 minutes into the second half, South Africa seized a counter-attack opportunity, with Chabalala receiving a long pass from his teammate in the backfield to open the scoring and score the first goal of this World Cup.
The roof of Soccer City Stadium was almost blown off by the cheers of the fans when the South African player scored.
Of the more than 84,000 fans present, at least 70,000 were South Africans.
They excitedly blew their vuvuzelas, and the entire stadium seemed to be filled with the buzzing sound.
It's hard to say that the Mexican players' performance wasn't affected by this distracting noise. After the opponent scored, the Mexican team struggled to find their rhythm, and their offense and defense became increasingly chaotic.
On the contrary, the South African team almost changed the score again with several counterattacks.
However, Mexico's strength and experience were superior, and they finally adjusted their form before the final whistle, utilizing a corner kick opportunity to execute a delicate combination play, culminating in veteran Marquez scoring the equalizer.
In the end, the two sides shook hands and drew, each earning 1 point.
This result is not the optimal solution for either side, because the opponents ahead will only be stronger. If they want to gain an advantage in the advancement, 3 points is the optimal solution.
Although the Chinese national football team did not attend the match in person, they watched the live broadcast of the game from their hotel.
What are your thoughts on this match?
After the match, the team leader suddenly posed a question.
"The competition seems pretty intense!"
"Both sides were very physically intense, and their defense was extremely aggressive!"
"I think we can't underestimate any opponent. Take this match for example, although the South African team is ranked low, their performance on the field was surprisingly good; on the other hand, the Mexican team did not perform in accordance with their value and ranking!"
In May, FIFA released its latest international rankings.
In this latest ranking, the Mexican team ranks 14th with 895 points, one place higher than the Chinese team.
Their opponents, South Africa, only had 392 points, ranking 83rd.
This is the lowest-ranked host country in FIFA history.
It's no wonder that the outside world is not optimistic about South Africa's ability to advance from the group stage; their strength is simply too much weaker than that of their group stage opponents!
In Group A, France is ranked 9th in the world, Uruguay is 13th, and Mexico is 14th. All three teams are ranked in the top 15 in the world.
One of the three teams ranked in the top 15 in the world is destined to fail to advance, so you can imagine how tough Group A is!
"You're absolutely right. International rankings are unreliable. There are no weak teams among the teams that qualify for the World Cup. We must give 120% to every single match!"
Like his teammates, Lao Zhu was also a rookie. This was his first time participating in the World Cup, both as a player and as a coach.
Therefore, he kept a very humble attitude, dared not underestimate any opponent, and devoted a lot of time to collecting information on his opponents and studying their strengths and weaknesses.
At the same time, they are also paying close attention to the matches in other groups and learning from the experience of other established powerhouse teams.
……
Four and a half hours later, the second group stage match of Group A kicked off.
The two teams facing off in this match are France and Uruguay.
As the runner-up in the last World Cup, people are curious about the strength of the French team in the post-Zidane era.
However, this highly anticipated match turned out to be completely different from the fierce battle everyone had envisioned.
Both teams performed terribly, delivering a truly hypnotic game on the field.
The two teams eventually shook hands and drew 0-0.
This scoreline makes the qualification situation in Group A even more complicated.
After the first round, all four teams in Group A have the same points and the same goal difference.
South Africa and Mexico are currently in first and second place respectively, thanks to their superior goal tally.
Compared to the opening match, the second match in Group A did not receive much attention domestically due to the timing.
After all, the Chinese team wasn't in this match, and it started at 2:30 a.m. Everyone has to go to work or school during the day, so naturally they don't have time to stay up late to watch the game.
After Group A's matches concluded, it was Groups B and C's turn.
On June 12, the South Korean team, representing the five Asian teams, was the first to play and defeated Greece 2-0, achieving a winning start.
This match has garnered significant attention in China. Chinese fans are well aware of the strength of the South Korean team, and they can use the South Korean team's score to predict the outcome of the Chinese national team's match.
[The South Korean team performed well; they won this match very easily!]
[666, although the South Korean team has been a pushover for the Chinese national team in recent years, always faltering and unable to beat them, I didn't expect them to actually have some skill in international competitions!]
[Absolutely! They, ranked 49th, defeated Greece, ranked 10th. That's an upset!]
[I'm starting to doubt whether the rankings of European teams are inflated. Looking at Greece's performance, they don't seem like a top-ten team at all!]
[Who can argue with that? The base score is higher in Europe, making it much easier to climb the ranks than here!]
So, does this mean we're guaranteed a win against Slovakia?
[Stop jinxing us! The competition hasn't even started yet, why are you already jinxing us!]
……
South Korea's victory certainly provided a significant boost to the Chinese national team players, especially the younger ones. However, veteran players like Lin Feng remained relatively calm, recognizing that football is not a game of chess.
Just because Team A beat Team B but lost to Team C doesn't mean that Team C can definitely beat Team B!
There is another possibility: that Team C completely counters Team B, forming a cycle of mutual restraint.
Slovakia is ranked 15 places lower than Greece, but that doesn't mean Slovakia is weaker than Greece.
South Korea could easily defeat Greece, but if it were Slovakia instead, the result might be different.
The result of the other match in Group B was as expected: Argentina, with its clearly superior strength, narrowly defeated Nigeria by one goal, securing a winning start.
On June 14, Australia became the second 'Asian team' to take the field.
Unlike the easy victory of the South Korean team, the Australians were mercilessly crushed by the German machine, suffering a crushing 0-4 defeat to their opponents.
This was the most lopsided score in the match so far this World Cup.
The overly serious Germans showed no mercy to the Australians. Even after the victory was secured and the Australians had surrendered, they still ruthlessly attacked them, stabbing them twice in the back.
However, Germans have always been like this; doesn't Bayern Munich often cause humiliation in the Champions League?
Following Australia, the Japanese team, as the third Asian team to compete, also delivered their performance.
Facing Cameroon, who were ranked 16 places higher, the Japanese team played steadily and ultimately won 1-0, securing a winning start to their campaign.
How can Cameroon be so weak? They can't even beat a little Japan!
No wonder Barcelona didn't want Eto'o; his performance in this match was absolutely awful!
[Hopefully the Netherlands will teach Japan a lesson in the next match!]
[Does Denmark really have the ability to beat Japan? I really don't want to see them advance!]
It's hard to say, but I feel the Japanese team has a pretty good chance of winning!
Unlike the previous victory of the South Korean team, after the Japanese team won, the Chinese internet was filled with sighs and lamentations.
Although the Chinese team has won back all the losses they had incurred against the Japanese team in recent years, the general public still has a very poor impression of the Japanese. They all hope that the Japanese will lose and be kicked out, and they don't want to hear any news of their victories.
But the Japanese team is quite tenacious, which is somewhat frustrating!
[I suddenly realized something! We're in Group F, and Japan is in Group E. If we advance as the top team in our group, our next opponent in the knockout stage will be the runner-up from Group E. Judging from the current situation, that runner-up is very likely to be Japan!]
[What a stroke of luck! Please, Japan team, you absolutely must advance as the second-place team in your group!]
One second Chinese fans were hoping the Japanese team would be eliminated as soon as possible, but now they are praying for the Japanese team to advance so that the Chinese team can have another chance to humiliate them.
It's hard to predict the outcome of the Chinese national football team's matches against other teams, but fans are very confident against the Japanese team!
After a long wait through five groups, it was finally time for Group F, where the Chinese national football team was located.
Defending champions Italy will play first against South American powerhouse Paraguay.
This match has attracted unprecedented attention in China. As the direct opponents of the national team in the next two matches, fans are eager to use a magnifying glass to carefully study the strengths and weaknesses of these two teams in order to offer advice to the national team.
The match was played in the rain, and the Italians seemed to be in just as bad a condition as the weather.
Paraguay took the lead in the 39th minute of the first half.
Cannavaro was completely dominated by the opponent when he contested for a header in the penalty area, and he failed to make enough interference, which led to Italy conceding the first goal.
This scene made Lin Feng, who was watching the game, feel a little sad. He wondered if the Italian team really had no one left, or if Lippi was just too stubborn.
Despite Fabio Cannavaro's obvious decline in form as a former Ballon d'Or winner, the team still chose to call him up and make him a starter.
But Cannavaro, who is already 37 years old, is past his prime and his abilities in all aspects have declined significantly. He is no longer capable of being the anchor of the Italian team's defense.
As if things weren't bad enough, shortly after Italy conceded the first goal, Buffon suffered an unexpected injury, forcing Italy to use up one of their substitutions.
If defensive errors could still be cleaned up by a superb goalkeeper like Buffon, now that he's off the field, Italy's defense has become even more vulnerable.
Despite Italy equalizing in the second half and drawing with Paraguay.
But the result of this match revealed to the outside world the weakness beneath the Italian team's strong exterior.
This also stirred up other teams in Group F, giving rise to different thoughts.
……
After much anticipation, five days after the start of the World Cup, Chinese football fans finally witnessed the Chinese team's first match back in the World Cup!
To accommodate the vast number of Chinese fans watching the game, FIFA specially scheduled this match during prime time in China!
At 7:30 PM Beijing time on June 15th, the instant the evening news ended, almost all fans picked up their remote controls and switched to CCTV5 sports channel at lightning speed.
I started watching the second match of the first round of Group F in the World Cup – China vs. Slovakia!
The match was scheduled to be held at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 42000 spectators.
Because of its remote location, and because neither of the two teams are star teams, Slovakia is a small country with a population of 500 million.
Although China has a large population, the distance between mainland China and South Africa is too great, so the organizers expected that not many fans would attend the game.
But the reality exceeded their expectations. The match drew 38000 fans, the vast majority of whom were Chinese.
The entire stands were almost filled with Chinese fans wearing red jerseys, and the scene was a sea of red.
The local fans and a small number of Slovakian fans who came to watch the game were stunned by what they saw and wondered if they had come to the wrong place!
They couldn't understand how so many Chinese people could suddenly appear overnight in a remote town far from big cities.
With their numerical advantage, Chinese fans completely turned this place into their home ground.
The cheers, shouted in Chinese, resounded throughout the stadium, injecting boundless energy into the 11 Chinese national football team players on the field.
This is the first time the two teams have met in an official competition. In 1992, the Chinese team played against the Slovakian team in the Marlboro Cup.
However, the Slovakian team that time did not send its main squad, but only a selection team.
So strictly speaking, this match was the first ever between the two teams!
Compared to the Chinese team's eagerness to compete, the Slovakians were equally prepared for battle. Both sides wanted to score points against each other and break through this group of death! (End of Chapter)