World Cup of Great Powers

Chapter 367 Semifinals

"Xiba, Xiba old horse!!!"

"Ah yo yo~~"

When leaving the venue, the funny scene of Zheng Menghuai's calf hitting the foot of a stool happened to be recorded by photographers from other countries at the scene.

In front of fans all over the world, Zheng Menghuai pushed away Smecta who came to help him and angrily left the VIP Central P Stand.

He really couldn't accept it.

A carefully planned football drama that spanned ten years ended in this way on home soil.

"Xiba Laoma, what a bunch of rubbish! Trash!"

"It's really been a waste of time to train them. How much kimchi has been wasted in our Republic of Korea?!"

"Tell the whole team, everybody, everybody is going to serve in the military!"

"Don't tell me what the rules are!"

"They didn't even make it to the semi-finals, how can they still have the nerve?"

"If you want to blame, just blame that guy named Pu, Pu Si Xing!"

"Don't take any penalty kicks you get."

"It really pisses me off!"

As the South Korean officials left one by one, only the sad cries of the fans were left in the stands.

"Damn it, so many compatriots are crying Smecta. Xiao Li, please play some music that suits the occasion!"

"Come and pay tribute to our football!"

Just as the staff at the Gwangju Stadium was looking for suitable music videos, a melodious singing sound suddenly came from outside the Gwangju Stadium.

"Vigorous and high-spirited, crossing YLJ"

Listening to the music that frightened them deep in their genes, the staff shook their hands and a video tape titled "Korean National Children's Songs" fell to the ground.

No more speakers to play songs.

Outside the stadium, 80,000 Chinese fans who were unable to enter the stadium gathered around the stadium and roared loudly.

The singing was deafening and soared into the sky.

The whole Guangzhou was shocked.

"Coach Zeng!"

"Coach Zeng!"

"Coach Zeng, please say a few words!"

Zeng Zheng, escorted by more than a dozen security guards, passed through the crowd and finally arrived at the press conference.

As soon as he entered the door, all the flashlights focused on Zeng Zheng's face.

This Northeastern man, who is less than 1.8 meters tall and weighs less than 130 meters, is so majestic in the eyes of everyone.

Arriving at the speaking table, General Fan, who was drenched in champagne, quickly stepped forward and pulled out Zeng Zheng's chair.

Even if he scored the final golden goal.

But here, no one thinks that his contribution is greater than Zeng Zheng!

When Zeng Zheng took his seat, even Hiddink couldn't help but pay attention.

In the history of the World Cup, there has never been such a high achievement for a young local coach who has never coached another country.

The emergence of Zeng Zheng perfectly overturned the idiom of "working behind closed doors".

"This was a very exciting game. Both the enemy and ourselves showed their strength and played to the level they deserve."

"I don't want to say which player made any mistakes in this game. In a game of this level, it is already a very remarkable achievement for them to get to this point."

".Being able to play such a hearty game with the Chinese team, the number one team in Asia, I have no regrets about coaching in South Korea."

"Hereby, I officially announce my resignation as the head coach of the South Korean national team."

Hiddink's speech was quite satisfactory, even a bit like a manuscript written by a Chinese copywriter.

But no one was surprised.

For a loser, it is reasonable to say a few words and take responsibility.

Not to mention everyone knows it.

The moment South Korea bids farewell to the World Cup is when Hiddink is dismissed.

It is better to say that Hiddink's remarks were deliberate than that he made them on purpose.

After all, the protagonist of today's press conference is Zeng Zheng on the other side!

When countless flashes of light focused on this young Chinese coach.

Zeng Zheng smiled slightly.

He raised the microphone and shouted at all the reporters present: "Long live Chinese football!"

The exaggerated expression without any pretense shocked everyone.

The Chinese reporters did not expect Zeng Zhenghui to be so unrestrained, and many even forgot to press the shutter to record this classic moment.

But then, General Fan also stood up, raised his arms and shouted.

"Long live Chinese football!"

"Long live!!!"

Only then did the Chinese reporters in the audience react and started shouting along with General Fan.

Amidst the impassioned voice, Zeng Zheng once again put the microphone in front of his mouth.

"There's nothing more to say."

"Our goal is to win the World Cup!"

After speaking, Zeng Zheng knocked the microphone on the table.

Hiddink, who was at the same side, shook hands and walked out of the press conference.

Wow~~~

Everyone present was in an uproar.

The reporters who had prepared questions long ago were stunned.

Are you leaving now?

So who will answer the questions we have prepared?

But then I thought about it.

What are the problems with what you have prepared?

What do you think of the performance of XX player?

How do you evaluate this game?

How did you evaluate your opponent's performance in this game?

Do you think the Chinese national team will stop here?

These problems have become overshadowed by Zeng Zheng's words, "The goal is to become a world champion."

Everyone is rushing to win the World Cup.

You also asked others to evaluate the performance of team member XX during a certain period of time.

Isn't it too petty?

As for the media who want to dig out news from Zeng Zheng, "the Chinese team wants to win the World Cup", isn't this the most explosive news?

All reporters who reacted immediately reported the first-hand news to the press.

For a time, there was overwhelming news about the Chinese team's ambition to win Asia's first World Cup, completely occupying the headlines of global sports newspapers.

Shortly after the battle between China and South Korea, the results of the last quarter-finals were also announced.

After 120 minutes of fierce battle, this "double-tooth battle" was finally decided by a penalty shootout.

5 to 3, Portugal, led by Figo, reached the semi-finals.

At this point, all the top four teams have been produced.

According to the situation in the half-zone, the semi-finals three days later will be Brazil vs. Portugal and Germany vs. China!

In the past three days, all fans have been obsessed with Zeng Zheng’s impassioned slogan at the press conference.

The blood is surging.

It seems that it has become a certainty for the Chinese team to win the World Cup.

In the past three days, although the Chinese team has not shown up, it has adopted a closed training camp.

But the media's mouths are not idle.

According to statistics from "Football News", the three most discussed topics among fans around the world are:

1: Is the German team weak?

Judging from the trend of the German team in this World Cup, except for the game against Saudi Arabia where they played like a big country, all other games were bumpy and bumpy. In the end, they barely won the game with the flash of inspiration from the team's stars.

At other times, it was Kahn, the captain of the German team, who performed the most and stood out the most.

Such an old German tank might really be overturned by the Chinese team.

However, don’t forget it.

No matter how weak the German team is, it is still the German team.

The Chinese team, like Saudi Arabia, is an Asian team.

2: Is the Chinese team strong?

Whether the Chinese team is strong or not depends on its record in this World Cup.

Although they defeated the French team, fans generally believe that the French team is playing with fire and burning itself. They always feel that since they are the champions of the last World Cup, they can do whatever they want this time.

It was this kind of carelessness that was finally counterattacked by the Chinese team.

In the other two group matches, the Chinese team seems to have only proved that its own strength is at best second-rate in Europe.

Don’t forget that the Chinese team and Senegal were tied.

The most important thing is that the reason why the Chinese team was able to advance to the semi-finals was entirely due to the "showy manipulation" of the AFC and the Korean Football Confederation.

In this first World Cup hosted by an Asian country, anyone with a discerning eye can tell at a glance that FIFA wants to send an Asian team to the semi-finals.

As for who this Asian team is, it can be easily seen from the competition experience of each team.

But now judging from the results, it is obvious that FIFA and AFC did not operate their activities well.

The Chinese team became the lucky one.

Three: Can the Chinese team beat the German team?

The answers to this discussion are very interesting.

European fans all believe that the German team will win. In other continents, except for South Korean fans, everyone supports the Chinese team overwhelmingly.

This polarizing scene makes this upcoming semi-finals full of controversial topics.

Unknowingly, three days passed quickly, and the flames of the semi-finals were about to be ignited.

There are two semi-finals, one in Sao Paulo, one in Seoul and one in Saitama Prefecture.

For Zeng Zheng, it doesn’t matter where these two cities go to play;

But for the players, after having the experience of playing in the game, they really don’t want to continue playing in South Korea.

But there is no way, who allowed this World Cup to be held by others?

This time, even after being eliminated, there were still not half of the Chinese fans in the Seoul World Cup Stadium.

Most of the South Korean local fans bought tickets to enter the stadium. They were neither cheering for the Chinese team nor the German team.

Just plain disgusting Chinese fans.

Zeng Zheng said nothing about the organizer's behavior.

say what?

As a head coach, I’d better leave this kind of thing to Zhu Xie!

"Worrell will never give up such a good opportunity. Compared with the Chinese team, the German team simply has every advantage!"

In the stands, several foreigners whispered.

They were sent by Scolari.

In the eyes of the Brazilian coach, the German team is still qualified to be his decisive opponent.

"But don't underestimate the Chinese team. Although this Chinese team is not strong in overall strength, it is recognized as a unified general."

"Among these 32 teams, I am afraid that only the head coach of the Chinese team knows every player well."

Faced with his colleagues' high praise for the Chinese team, the scout curled his lips.

"I agree with you."

"But don't forget what I said."

"The Chinese team has paid a huge price to be able to get here."

"On the other hand, the German team had almost no losses."

Regarding the situation of the Chinese team, even if no insiders disclose it, everyone can calculate it on paper.

For the Chinese team, Li Tie, General Fan, Zhao Junzhe, Sun Jihai, Li Weifeng, and Yang Chen were suspended due to red and yellow cards.

With Li Xiaopeng and Xu Yunlong injured, at least eight players from the Chinese team will definitely be unable to play.

After deducting two substitute goalkeepers, there are only 23 available in the 13-man roster.

If nothing goes wrong today, even An Qi and Fu Bin will have to take off their gloves and play.

So today’s starting lineup for the Chinese team is about to be announced.

Goalkeeper Ou Chuliang.

Defenders Wu Chengying, Du Wei, Zheng Zhi and Yang Pu.

The midfielders are Li Jinyu, Qi Hong, Zhang Xiaorui and Shao Jiayi.

The forwards are Xie Hui and Su Maozhen.

Even so, Xie Hui played injured because Zhang Yuheng was more seriously injured than him.

In the locker room, Zeng Zheng only made simple arrangements regarding tactical adjustments and arrangements.

Then he glanced at the players in the locker room.

"Team members, I know it's not easy for you to get here."    "But this is the World Cup!"

"Now you are only two games away from the Hercules Cup."

"But I think this game is the toughest one!"

"As long as we survive this one, we will be able to resurrect with full health in the next final! We will face the enemy with all our strength."

"So, I hope everyone bites the bullet and works harder to persevere!"

"The trophy is not far away from us!"

"Go ahead and kill the German team!!"

"Let's reach the finals together and win the World Cup in one fell swoop!!!"

"Oh ho ho, World Cup champion, champion!!!"

the starting players shouted in unison.

"The German team launched another round of attack."

"Schneider brought the ball forward and quickly advanced along the left wing."

"Pass the ball to Ballack!"

"Barak shook his head and squeezed Shao Jiayi away with his body."

"Neuville outflanked the front point."

"Ou Chuliang!"

"Pretty!"

"Ou Chuliang's attack stabilized the enemy and picked the ball out of mid-air, once again defusing the German team's attack!"

With Huang Jianxiang's exclamation, all the Chinese fans watching the game in front of the TV breathed a sigh of relief.

"A good goalkeeper can hold up half the team!"

"It has to be Ou Chuliang!"

"If Ou Chuliang hadn't come out in time, the ball would probably have been lost!"

As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, while insiders watch the door.

Worrell, who was on the sidelines of the court, looked furious.

"Cum, cum!"

"Why don't you cum?"

"How could the ball pass?"

Don't blame Worrell for being furious.

The Chinese team's 442 today was not aggressive at all.

Before the game, some people speculated that the Chinese team had already overfulfilled its task by reaching the semi-finals in history.

Zeng Zheng's words about winning the championship were basically shouted to the fans.

With Zeng Zheng's character, he might be able to put up a good fight with the German team.

It not only allows the players to understand the gap between themselves and the world's top teams, but also accumulates competition experience to pave the way for and contribute to the next World Cup.

But twenty minutes have passed since the start of the game, and the Chinese team has not even made a single shot.

The only two defensive counterattacks were all due to the personal strength of Xie Hui and Su Maozhen.

The two of them did not have the ability to dribble the ball forward like Yang Chen. Both of them were forced to stop the ball by the German defender not long after halftime, and then lost the ball.

Most of the time, Xie Hui and Su Mao stood within 30 meters of their own side, participating in the defense together with their teammates behind them.

It was this kind of low defense that made Worrell furious.

The German team has no striker! ! !

Compared with the previous ones, the German team this time is indeed extremely weak.

To use a common saying that everyone knows, there is no general in Sichuan, so Liao Hua is the vanguard.

What kind of strength is Neuville? What level is it?

He can become the leading forward of the German team. One can imagine the offensive level of the German team.

This is why Worrell yelled for Ballack to shoot the ball himself.

"The Chinese team played very patiently and was continuously suppressed by the German team."

"That's to be expected."

"A slogan is a slogan, and confidence is confidence, but in the face of the gap in strength, the Chinese team must respect objective facts."

"In this game, Coach Zeng almost arranged his players to defend at the front of his own penalty area."

"Judging from the scene, it is only a matter of time before the German team scores a goal."

"But the German team's performance was as good as ever."

"The Chinese team's forwards have retreated so deep, but they still can't seize the opportunity."

"Isn't it really just a show-off for the Chinese team's goalkeeper to pass an overhead pass like that just now?"

Zeng Zheng's low-post defense was a direct hit for the German team.

It seems like a helpless move.

But in fact, Zeng Zheng's low-post defense is not simply a bus.

Zeng Zheng’s requirements for the players today were very simple.

It's the word "defense".

And this defense is not limited to the thirty-meter area of ​​one's own home.

In fact, from the beginning of the game, Zeng Zheng's Chinese team also adopted a high-position pressing tactic of pressing up front.

However, after the German team forced a breakthrough and passed the ball, the entire Chinese team immediately shrank its defense line until it retreated to the vicinity of the team's penalty area line, completing the establishment of a low-area defense system.

Coupled with Zeng Zheng's on-the-spot command, as soon as the German players in the middle got the ball, what they saw was a red wall.

In the first 20 minutes, Ballack and others had no choice but to move the ball to the wing and initiate a cross from the wing.

However, this kind of forced cross attack from the wing has a very low success rate of crosses.

On the one hand, the penalty area was almost full of Chinese players, and on the other hand, Ou Chuliang attacked too frequently.

With a little run-up, you can easily pick off the ball.

It is precisely because of this that Ballack had to try a pass just now.

The result was still ineffective.

Neuville and the young Kroos were blocked by four defenders, and O'Chulian took the ball into his arms with ease.

"China once wanted to force us to shoot from a long distance!" Woller sighed.

There is no doubt that Ballack is an outstanding slugger.

But the slugger can take things by surprise.

Never heard of a team dominating a game with a slugger.

You know, when the Chinese team's low defense took shape, almost all ten players stood in front of and behind the edge of the penalty area.

Counting sideways, there are at least five people in a row.

Yes, such a position will block the goalkeeper's view.

But before blocking the line of sight, it also blocked all shooting angles!

Because of this, Ballack wanted to take long shots several times.

Looking at the dense red wall of people, I finally chose to give up.

He likes to score goals from long range.

But I don’t like kicking my opponent “on purpose”!

"It seems that China once said it would win the championship, but he actually means it." Worler's assistant coach also said with a wry smile.

Isn’t this utilitarian way of playing obvious?

In such a World Series, using this kind of "stinking badass" defensive tactics.

What else could he ask for but victory?

"Neuville was watched to death, and Klose looked too young. It is difficult to get rid of the close guard of the Chinese."

"Barack's long-range shots have been timid again."

"We are not good at attacking from the wing."

"China has really given us a difficult problem!"

Not only Woller, but tacticians all over the world are paying attention to this game and discussing ways to break the game.

As the person being discussed, Zeng Zheng naturally ranks among the “masters”.

"As long as our two lines hold our positions firmly, we can remain invincible even if we are unable to advance a counterattack." Zeng Zheng said softly.

Chi Shangbin on the side also applauded after watching the 20-minute performance of this tactic.

"Xiao Zeng, others say you don't give up for the sake of victory, but I don't think so."

"To be shameless is to be shameless, to be shameless is to be shameless!"

At this time, Jin Zhiyang also came over and asked casually:

"Xiao Zeng, what do you think is our chance of defending the German team with this tactic?"

Hearing this, Zeng Zheng, who looked confident just now, suddenly laughed bitterly.

"Coach Jin, you've already done this, why are you talking about this?"

"Man proposes, God disposes."

“I think it’s reasonable for this game to be how it goes.”

…………

Worrell's adjustments were reflected on the court, trying to make this offensive and defensive battle a little better.

However, when Ballack reluctantly tried a few outrageous long-range shots, even the German fans in the stands started to curse.

What kind of long shot is this?

This is obviously a random act!

"Didn't you see that there were three people in front of you stretching their legs to defend? Do you have to shoot at this time?"

"Hey, hey, look where your shot went? The Chinese team's goal is not in the sky!"

"Please, before you shoot, wouldn't you like to check the position of your teammates? The wing is already open!"

Under the noise of the fans, Ballack was also extremely impatient at the moment.

After several consecutive mistakes, the German team went further and further down the road of missing opportunities.

"Judging from the scene, the Chinese team obviously doesn't want to take any risks."

The narrator shook his head.

Although he is not ashamed of the Chinese team's actions.

But it is not easy for the defeated remnants of the Chinese team to persist to this point.

Look at Xie Hui in the counterattack.

The guy only ran a few steps and then limped the ball toward the wing.

Then, while protecting the ball with all his strength without raising his head, he fell to the ground and lost the ball.

In such a situation, what else can be said?

The Chinese team can play like this, they have already tried their best!

If you still can't open up the situation after playing until now, then it's your German team's problem!

With the referee's whistle, the first half of the game ended in this dull atmosphere.

"The first half of the game is over. Under the full defense of the Chinese team, the German team did not find a better way to score."

"The first half of the game between the two sides was not exciting. The Chinese team launched very targeted tactics against the opponent. The players spent most of the time guarding the front of their own penalty area."

"And Germany has not found a better way to attack, making meaningless crosses and often passing the ball directly to the Chinese team's goalkeeper."

"The first half of this semi-final was probably the most boring first half of the World Cup."

"Although it is lackluster, it can also be seen as an attempt by the head coaches of both sides to use their own tactics."

"Next, let's look forward to whether the coaches on both sides can make eye-catching adjustments in the second half."

"Let's see whether China took the lead in changing the formation, or whether Woller found a way to break the game in advance."

While the commentator was trying to justify the game, Zeng Zheng and Worrell had already returned to the locker room with their respective starting players.

In the stands, fans from both sides showed completely different performances.

The German team fans called the players weak, while the Chinese team fans thought the game was boring, but at least they didn't concede a goal.

For the Chinese team, it is already a great thing to draw with a team like Germany for 45 minutes in a major competition like the World Cup.

Others are just a group of South Korean fans whose feelings are difficult to express in words.

These fans initially booed the Chinese team's persistence in an attempt to disturb the mentality of the Chinese players.

However, when they discovered that the Chinese team was still playing according to the original tactics, but the German team had not scored a goal, some South Korean fans became furious and began to boo the German team.

Facing the inexplicable boos, some German players took the lead in breaking through the defense.

There was even a substitute who came under the stands of South Korean fans and cursed in German.

However, this aroused the rebellious psychology of these fans.

For a time, countless cameras turned here, broadcasting this beautiful scenery at the Seoul World Cup Stadium to the whole world.

(End of this chapter)