The 55,000-seat stadium was renovated from the construction of the original football stadium like most World Cup stadiums, meeting FIFA minimum requirements and increasing fan capacity.

There are still two full hours before the start of the game, and the Xinshuiyuan Stadium has basically been filled with fans from both sides, with red Chinese fans and orange Dutch fans clearly dividing the river, occupying about 4/5 of the stands of the entire stadium.

The remaining 1/5 of the fans are made up of local fans and other fans, who are called neutral fans.

They came to feel the frenzied atmosphere of the World Cup, and some came to see the demeanor of world-class superstars such as Tang Zheng, Robben, Van Persie, and Sneijder.

No matter what their purpose is in coming to Xinshuiyuan Stadium, in short, it is to contribute to the frenzied atmosphere of the World Cup and cheer for both sides of the struggle.

Meanwhile, the third quarter-final at the National Stadium in Brasilia has come to an end, with Argentina becoming the third national team to advance to the semi-finals thanks to Gonzalo Higuain's lightning strike in the eighth minute of the first half, defeating Belgium 1-0.

At the end of the match, Argentina coach Savilla and the players were more concerned about the quarter-finals between China and the Netherlands, because the winner between the two teams will be Argentina's opponent in the semi-finals.

In fact, as early as before the start of the 1/4 finals, many people knew the results of the match between the Chinese team and the Dutch team, and the overall strength of the Dutch team was significantly stronger than the Chinese team, and the Chinese team advanced to the quarterfinals because of the great luck.

If nothing else, Argentina's opponent in the semi-finals is likely to be the uncrowned king Netherlands.

Despite this, the object of attention of Argentina's star and captain Messi is Tang Zheng.

In today's world football, it is no longer Cristiano Ronaldo who is really regarded as an opponent by him, but Tang Zheng.

Cristiano Ronaldo can score a lot of goals in a season, but only Tang Zheng can be both a finisher and a creator.

Such an opponent deserves attention.

Even if the Chinese team loses to the Netherlands in the end, Messi thinks he can see Tang Zheng's technical flaws.

The Chinese team missed the quarterfinals due to captain Zheng Zhi receiving the second yellow card of the World Cup in the 1/8 finals, and Tang Zheng will wear the captain's armband to participate in the first 1/4 finals in the history of the Chinese men's football team.

With less than 10 minutes to go before the start of the game, the staff of the New Water Source Stadium of the World Cup in Brazil knocked on the door of the dressing rooms of both sides to remind them that the game was about to start.

The Chinese players in the visiting dressing room slowly stood up from their seats and prepared to walk out of the dressing room.

"Papapa~"

At this moment, Tang Zheng suddenly clapped his palms, and everyone looked at him, including head coach Lippi and assistant coach Madaloni.

When everyone's eyes looked over, Tang Zheng's serious expression changed, he stretched out his right hand, palm down, and said with a smile: "Brothers, cheer yourself." ”

Zhang Linpeng, Wu Xi, Yan Junling, Lu Liang and other teammates stretched out their right hands one by one, stacking them on the back of the previous teammate's hand, and even head coach Lippi and his coaching team also folded them.

Tang Zheng said to himself: "This game is very likely to be our last game in the World Cup! So we don't need to think too much, play our best, I know that many people want to play in a better environment and get a better salary, the World Cup is your best stage! Play well, believe in yourself!"

As soon as the words fell, his voice suddenly rose an octave: "Come on!!"

"Come on!"

The other team members were in high spirits and shouted passionately.

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In the players' tunnel, except for the substitute players and coaches who walked straight to the stadium, the starting eleven of the two teams stayed in the players' tunnel, waiting for the referee team leader to enter the field.

There is still a period of relative freedom for both players before the starters of both sides come in.

The on-site director is very professional and gives the players the first time in the tunnel.

China's Hao Junmin and Dutch team Huntelaar were teammates at Schalke 04, and not many Huntelaar did not start, and their encouragement was simple, hugging each other and chatting casually.

Tang Zheng has been teammates with Dutch players, but there are many opponents.

Robben, Huntelaar, Van Persie, and Blind have all been opponents of Tang Zheng, but Van Persie and Blind have played less and interacted with each other less.

Huntelaar and Arjen Robben have played the most games against Tang Zheng, especially Robben, who has played most of the German national derby as a Bayern Munich player, but these games are a bit difficult for him to remember.

In fact, Huntelaar is not much better, Schalke 04 as Dortmund's derby opponents in the Ruhr area, the record between each other is also miserable.

However, Robben and Tang Zheng have a very good private relationship, and the two are also very familiar before the game, Tang Zheng patted Robben's shoulder, Robben patted Tang Zheng's waist, with a smile on his face, as if there was an endless topic to talk about.

Lippi and Van Gaal, who met in the players' tunnel, also shook hands with each other, but they were obviously not as relaxed as the players, their expressions were very serious, and after a simple handshake, they parted from the players' tunnel and walked to their respective coaches' seats from left to right.

The broadcast footage kept giving Tang Zheng and Robben, and as the substitutes on both sides walked to the court, the conversation between the two also stopped abruptly and returned to their respective queues.

Tang Zheng stood at the front of the team, holding his head high, feeling the frenzied aura coming to his face, he took a deep breath and muttered, "Come on!"

A short time later, Mexican referee Marco Rodríguez and members of the referee team signaled that players from both sides could enter the stadium.

"Whoa—"

When the players from both sides of the game appeared at the Xinshui Stadium, a deafening huge cheer rang out over the court.

The sea of red and the sea of orange are-for-tat, but the fans sitting in front of the TV feel the frenetic atmosphere that is unique to the World Cup.

The match between the Chinese team and the Dutch team is 4 o'clock in the morning Beijing time, but there are many fans waiting in front of the TV or computer, hundreds of millions.

In particular, the 1/8 finals eliminated Costa Rica and entered the quarterfinals historically, and CCTV's publicity efforts were unprecedented, so this 1/4 finals received huge attention.

The Chinese fans at Xinshuiyuan Stadium are extremely proud of the Chinese players on the field, with the general progress of football over time, Asian teams have not entered the quarterfinals for a long time, and the Chinese team has reached the quarterfinals in this context, and the superiority of the Chinese people has been unprecedentedly replenished, and the attention has naturally increased.

From children of a few years old to white-haired old people, they all pay attention to the quarterfinals between the Chinese team and the Dutch team.

Players from both sides entered the pitch with the American referee team in a row, and then played the Chinese national anthem "March of the Volunteers" and then the Dutch national anthem "Ode Wilhelm......

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The players of both sides took a group photo before the game, and the commentators on the scene made reports on the lineups of the two sides of the game.

Of course, whether it is really a four-three-three formation or not, we have to wait until the game starts to make a decision.

In terms of starting lineup, the Chinese team has three position adjustments compared with the 1/8 finals.

The goalkeeper has not changed, it is still Yan Junling, left back Li Xuepeng replaces Jiang Zhipeng, Liu Jian partners Feng Xiaoting who has returned from banning, Zhang Linpeng serves as right back, the three midfielders are Tang Zheng, Cai Huikang and Hao Junmin, and the three forwards are Lu Liang, Gao Lin and Wu Sanshi.

The official formation given by the Dutch team is a five-two-three formation, but according to the usual style of play of the Dutch team in this World Cup, it is a variant of the three-four-three formation.

Goalkeeper Cillessen, five defenders are Blind, De Vrij, Vlaar, Indy and Kuyt, the two midfielders are Sneijder and Wijnaldum, and the three forwards are Depay, Van Persie and Robben.

Tang Zheng, who played the game as the captain of the Chinese team for the first time, won the right to pick the edge in the coin guessing session, and naturally lost the right to kick off.

It doesn't really matter when it comes to choosing a half, because the game kicks off at 5pm local time in Brazil will not have the so-called yin-yang situation, which means that the players will not be affected by the sun's rays.

However, Tang Zheng is still very cautious in choosing the half, he chooses the direction of attack to face the north stand where his fans are, which is equivalent to making the Dutch team's attack at the beginning of the first half facing the south stand where his fans are.

If the average captain will definitely start the game according to the half of the current players on both sides, a few captains will consider that the game should be held first at the beginning of the game, and there are their own fans cheering behind them, it will definitely get twice the result with half the effort.

Moreover, in the second half, the re-fight in the offensive direction of Yibian will also be of great help to the attack.

But Tang Zheng did the opposite, first letting the Dutch team attack in the first half to face his own fans!

Of course, Tang Zheng's idea is very simple, the game is a 90-minute battle, and the task assigned by head coach Lippi before the game is more for defense.

Although the overall strength of the Dutch team is very strong, Lippi and his coaching team believe that the Dutch team coached by Louis van Gaal will definitely not attack aggressively, if they can hold on to the score of 0:0 in the first half, it is not impossible to continue to hold on to the draw in the second half amid the shouts of Chinese fans, and it is even possible to drag the game into a brutal penalty shootout.

In the last two practice sessions before the 1/8 finals and 1/4 finals, Lippi consciously asked the players to practice penalty kicks, apparently to prepare for a possible penalty shootout.

"Beep~"

With the whistle of the referee on duty, Marco Rodriguez, the last quarter-final of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil kicked off at the Xinshuiyuan Stadium.

"Whoa—"

Van Persie had just kicked the ball at his feet to Arjen Robben when a huge chant from the Dutch fans rang out over the New Water Stade Stadium.

"Woo-woo-"

The Chinese fans in the stands were not far behind, and almost subconsciously blurted out, creating a deafening boo for the Dutch players who kicked off.

Most of the Dutch players are accustomed to the big world, they are completely unaffected by off-field factors, and they still follow the rigorous tactics laid out by the manager before the game to pass and cut and create chances.

As was the case with most media speculation before the game, the Dutch team, which had the overall strength, did not take a strong attack, but adopted a tentative attack.

The Chinese team's game tactics are very simple, first defend steadily, and then seek counterattack opportunities.

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"The game has started five minutes, the Dutch team has adopted a change of formation for the Chinese team to choose a safe offensive method, of course, this is directly related to our players' defense is very in place, Cai Huikang's offense is criticized, but the role of the defensive end is still very obvious, his body and interception role is vividly embodied, Tang Zheng, who served as the captain of the team in this game, has a strong ability to read the game, timely defense, and there are no loopholes in the middle defense......"

As soon as the game reached the fifth minute, Yang 5 commentator He Wei's slightly hoarse voice patiently explained the game.

Dutch national sports TV commentator Van Vincent was obviously very dissatisfied with the Dutch team's attack, and he blamed in a tone: "The Chinese team fully retreated to the half, we should attack with all our strength instead of worrying about the counterattack of the Chinese team, don't forget that the high pressure is the reason why we are soaring, don't be afraid to lose the ball, grab it back, although the tentative attack will be easy to get football from attack to defense, but the offensive threat is completely unable to compare with the rapid counterattack after the success of the high pressing, Luis · Van Gaal should be a little bolder!"

In fact, it cannot be said that Van Gaal is not bold enough, it can only be said that he admires the boat of ten thousand years with caution.

When the game reaches the quarterfinals, the team has no way out, because losing is elimination, even if the Dutch team is stronger, but there is no shortage of cases in world football where the weak beat the strong.

To put it in an old-fashioned way – football is round, anything is possible!

The Chinese team has had a game from leading to backward, and then from backward to reversing in the group stage, and in the final game against the powerful Colombia, it can also score two goals in a row after conceding two goals in a row, and the head coach of the Chinese team is the silver fox Lippi, Van Gaal has to be careful!

In addition, Tang Zheng, who ran at the beginning of the game, gave Van Gaal a very dangerous feeling, and he was more worried that the two gaps behind the three, four, and three formations would be used, and the speed of Lu Liang and Wu Sanshi was very fast.

The Dutch team, who used a three-four-three formation in this World Cup, has shone and achieved unprecedented success, and if there is a flaw in the formation, it is that the two wing-backs are definitely not fast.

Kuyt may have been very fast when he was young, but now Chinese New Year's Eve four years old, his physical qualities have declined to varying degrees.

Blind is young, reads the game well, and has accurate long passes, but the speed of the chase is an issue.

To sum up, Van Gaal finally decided to focus on stability at the beginning of the game, and then look for the defensive gaps of the Chinese team through the feeling of the players on the field and the tactics arranged before the game.

In the first five minutes of the game, Robben, one of the three breakthrough kings of this World Cup, has not tried it once.

Because of Tang Zheng's extremely high arrival rate, he often appeared in Robben's field of vision when Robben was about to accelerate his breakthrough, so that Robben was disturbed, so he gave up the breakthrough and cooperated instead.

Robben's breakthrough on the left and right was originally one of the most important tactics in Van Gaal's tactical system, and now Robben 'does not dare' to break through, which is equivalent to saying that the Dutch team's attack has weakened a lot.