The Luzhniki Stadium was completely reduced to a sea of joy for the English people, and the Chinese players who had finished the game obviously did not have the face and heart to stay on the pitch any longer, and they went straight to the players' tunnel and returned to the dressing room.

Zhao Lina, who was sitting in the VIP seat, was like a knife, not because the Chinese team missed the finals, but because her husband Tang Zheng was trying his best to hide his true feelings.

Seven goals in six games have shown Tang Zheng's contribution to the Chinese team, but football is still a team sport after all, and no matter how good Tang Zheng is, there is no way to make up for the overall shortcomings.

This feeling of powerlessness is the most sad.

As the captain, Tang Zheng can't release his feelings like other players, he must shoulder the responsibility of captain and comfort his teammates.

So Tang Zheng must hide his true emotions, as his wife Zhao Lina knows best.

Tang Zheng, who returned to the locker room, first nodded his head with his teammates, patted his shoulder, and then went to the bathroom alone, turned on the showerhead, sat on the ground, closed his eyes, and let the water droplets slide down his cheeks from the top of his head.

More than twenty minutes ago, it was only half a step away from the World Cup final.

Unwilling!

Although he had thought before the game that he might lose to England, he was once so close to qualifying, and the huge gap in his heart was a little difficult to let go.

In past careers, this has often ended in victory, only to ...... The World Cup is no better than the clubs.

From River Plate at the beginning of their careers to Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, team-mates are strong enough to beat stronger opponents, and unlike the World Cup, it's a reflection of a country's overall level of football.

It is a pity that Chinese football is still on the rise and has not yet reached the world-class level.

It was only then that Tang Zheng realized that one person's efforts could not make up for the shortcomings of the entire team.

He will be twenty-nine years old in four months, and he will be thirty-three years old in four years, and his competitive state at that time will have to put a big question mark, that is to say, the World Cup in Russia is Tang Zheng's highest moment in the World Cup.

However, Tang Zheng did not last too long in the sad mood, he cleaned up his mood.

For the Chinese team, although they lost the opportunity to go further, the World Cup journey is not over, because there is still a third and fourth place final against Belgium at the St. Petersburg Arena.

It doesn't matter if you don't qualify for the final, there is still a third place to fight for, and it can also set an insurmountable record for Asian teams.

Perhaps Belgium's overall strength is much stronger than that of the Chinese team, but the mood of the Belgian players who lost the chance to the final must have changed, after all, the third and fourth finals have always been a bit chicken.

It's tasteless for Belgium, but it's meaningful for the Chinese team.

Sixteen years ago, the South Korean team finished fourth in the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, creating the best result for an Asian team in the World Cup.

Sixteen years later, the Chinese team reached the semi-finals with its excellent overall strength, and unfortunately missed the final.

Even if the Qatar World Cup in four years does not reach a higher level, it can become a topic of conversation for Chinese fans after dinner.

In the summer of 2018, in the World Cup in Russia, the Chinese team won the third place in the World Cup.

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"Five-star red flag fluttering in the wind"

"How loud is the song of victory"

"Singing of our dear motherland"

"From now on, we will be prosperous and strong"

"Singing of our dear motherland"

……

When the Chinese team walked from the passage to the team bus, tens of thousands of Chinese fans sang tacitly and shouted for the losing Chinese team.

The Chinese players, who were in a bad mood, were instantly moved when they heard the chant of unity, like the young Ye Erfan, Zhang Linpeng, and Hao Junmin, who led to the Chinese team's exit, all shed tears of excitement.

Captain Tang Zheng had already cleaned up his mood, and he took the lead in raising his arms and clapping his hands to thank the fans for their support.

Other Chinese players have followed suit and thanked the fans for their support.

"Chinese team, I love you!"

"Chinese team, I love you!"

"Team China, I love you!!"

After the singing, it was the heartfelt chanting of the fans.

Although they missed the World Cup final, the Chinese players present have made up their minds to beat Belgium in the third and fourth place finals and win the third place!

Create the best result of an Asian team in the World Cup!

At the same time, there is still a lot of criticism on the Chinese Internet, but it is much less than the support, because the overall strength of the Chinese team is not as good as England, but the penalty loss to England is somewhat disappointing, after all, it is only half a step away from the final.

Many fans are self-aware, and they have long thought about losing, as long as they have the right mentality, it is easy to be satisfied.

The strength of the Chinese team did not reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, and advancing to the semi-finals has exceeded everyone's expectations.

At seven o'clock in the morning of the next day Beijing time, CCTV focused on the news of the Chinese team's loss to England in the semifinals of the World Cup in Russia.

The same as the public opinion is that the Chinese team can reach the semi-finals of the World Cup is the farthest that the Chinese team can go at present, and the failure to qualify for the World Cup final is not bad luck, but the strength has not yet been reached.

Even if it advances to the World Cup final, it is not in line with the real strength of Chinese football now.

It is worth mentioning that at the same time, the content of the report is that the national high-level has begun to pay attention to the cultivation of youth football, and is studying the ten-year youth training plan to prepare for the second take-off of Chinese football.

At noon the next day local time in Russia, the Chinese team took a flight to St. Petersburg to prepare for the penultimate match of this World Cup.

Many media are optimistic about Belgium, which is stronger overall, but the Chinese media are full of confidence in the national team, in addition to Tang Zheng's hot form as always, there are also head coach Lippi and starting goalkeeper Yan Junling will come back from the ban in the third and fourth finals.

In fact, when the 2018 World Cup came to an end, the world's media attention was more focused on the Anglo-French battle between England and France.

Of course, there are also many media that pay attention to the third and fourth place finals between the Chinese team and Belgium.

Judging from the original semi-finals, Belgium and China are both likely to advance to the final of the World Cup in Russia, but many times fate plays a little joke.

It is equivalent to saying that the third and fourth place finals between the Chinese team and Belgium are pseudo-finals of the World Cup in Russia, and the game is bound to be full of highlights.

And since the 1978 Argentina World Cup, the third and fourth finals have not scored less than three goals, which means that the Chinese team and Belgium will not be unable to score goals in half a day, and there may even be multiple goals, so the third and fourth finals between the Chinese team and Belgium are destined not to be boring.

As time passed, the Chinese and Belgian fans ended the team's failure to participate in the final and began to prepare for the third and fourth place finals.

China's best finish at the World Cup was sixth place in Brazil, while Belgium finished fourth in Mexico in 1986.

Although China has created the best results of the team in the World Cup, but everyone has pursuits and dreams, and the South Korean team created the best results of Asian teams in the World Cup in the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup, and the Chinese players led by Tang Zheng are naturally unwilling to share this glory with the South Korean team, so they are full of energy to beat Belgium in the next three or four finals.

What if the overall strength is stronger?

It's not like the Chinese team hasn't beaten a stronger team!

Belgium created the best result in the World Cup in team history 32 years ago, and in the third and fourth place finals, facing the Chinese team, which is obviously weaker than itself, naturally wants to win the game and create the best result.

As a result, the preparation of the two teams before the game was full of fighting spirit, and it also gave some confidence to the neutral fans who were concerned about the third and fourth place finals.

Compared to the potentially dull finals, the third- and fourth-place finals are significantly more enjoyable to watch.

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It stands to reason that the focus of media attention around the world during this period was the third and fourth place finals of China vs Belgium and the World Cup finals between France and England, but there was a chaotic situation before the third and fourth place finals between China and Belgium.

The official website of Juventus suddenly announced the introduction of Cristiano Ronaldo for 100 million euros, to be paid in two years.

In addition, according to FIFA regulations, Juventus will pay an additional surcharge of 12 million euros.

No one expected that at this time, Cristiano Ronaldo would steal the headlines and become the focus of everyone's attention.

However, this is the focus of fans, and the attention of Tang Zheng and his teammates in preparation is completely focused on the third and fourth place finals, so the news of Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Juventus has only paid a little attention.

The day before the game, the Belgian and Chinese teams staggered the time for pre-match training, and it is worth mentioning that the pre-match regular press conference was very low-key for both sides of the game, constantly putting high hats on each other.

Before the game, the atmosphere between the two sides was good, and the same was true in the outer square of the St. Petersburg Arena on the day of the game, and the Chinese and Belgian fans took a group photo enthusiastically.

The St. Petersburg Arena, which can accommodate 68,000 fans, was packed just an hour before the start of the game, and the enthusiastic fans added to the frenzied atmosphere of the game, erupting in waves of loud shouts: "Whoa, whoa—"

In the frenzied atmosphere, the Chinese players and the Belgian players are in particularly good shape.

Sky commentator Andy Grey couldn't help but say: "The third and fourth finals without the pressure to qualify are really different, the relaxed atmosphere allows players to play at their personal bests, and if nothing else, this game is likely to be a goal shootout......

The picture was given to Tang Zheng, the captain of the Chinese team, and the commentator Martin Taylor smiled: "It seems that Tang's top scorer in the World Cup is a certainty, if he can score another goal in this game, it can basically mean winning the Golden Boot Award of the World Cup in Russia." ”

Andy Gray did not refute, because Tang Zheng, who had already scored seven goals, was one goal ahead of Harry Kane, and England and France, who participated in the final, would definitely prioritize defense for the title before looking for opportunities to score.

There was no pressure in the third- and fourth-place finals, so no goal has been scored less than four since 1978.

Even if the overall strength of the Chinese team is not as good as Belgium, Tang Zheng still has a chance to score a goal.

Even if Tang Zheng can't get a goal, Harry Kane will have a hard time scoring in the World Cup final.

In other words, Tang Zheng won the Golden Boot Award in the Russian World Cup.

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"CCTV! CCTV is now broadcasting the penultimate match of the 21st FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018, the third and fourth decisive battle between the Chinese team and Belgium, wearing red jerseys and red pants are Belgian players, they attack from the right side of the broadcast screen to the left, and the Chinese team wears yellow jerseys and yellow pants, attacking from the left side of the broadcast screen to the right side......"

He Wei, the commentator of CCTV 5, habitually gave CCTV's opening remarks.

But before He Wei could finish speaking, he had to change his voice and exclaimed, "Be careful!!"

Eden Hazard, who won the ball, received a pass from Kevin De Bruyne and cut inside to break through Li Kui's defence, and then completed a powerful long-range shot before Tang Zheng fell to the ground to block.

"-Beautiful!!"

Accompanied by the exclamation of Yang 5 commentator He Wei, Yan Junling, who flew sideways to lift the ball off the crossbar with one palm, vented to his teammates very dissatisfied after landing, and pointed his index fingers at his temples with both hands: "Give me attention, don't give Hazard a chance to get up easily!!"

With Hazard's threat at the start of the game, the Chinese team paid great attention to Hazard's defense in the following defense.

Coupled with Tang Zheng's special attention to De Bruyne, Belgium's attack did not pose a threat to the Chinese team's defence.

Lippi's pre-match targeted deployment was perfect in the early stages of the game, and he also made a difference in his own attack while suppressing the Belgian attack.

The trident of Lu Liang, Sun Jingbo and Ye Erfan posed a great threat to the Belgian backline, and had it not been for Courtois's crucial save, China could have opened the scoring in less than ten minutes.

In the face of the more threatening attack of the Chinese team, Belgian coach Martinez chose to defend first and then attack, leaving Hazard at the front as a counterattack point.

I have to say that Martinez's change was very timely, and the counterattack after the positional attack suppressed the Chinese team's attack was also impressive, forcing Zhang Linpeng to receive a yellow card in the 14th minute of the opening game.

Just when the Belgians thought they would be the first to break the deadlock on a quick counter-attack, the Chinese team scored first.

Tang Zheng, who had been organizing attacks in the midfield, suddenly took the ball forward and used his superb foot skills to break through Witsel and De Bruyne, everyone thought he was going to continue to break through, and as a result, he sent a very accurate and penetrating through ball.

Kompany and Alderweireld didn't touch the ball with their knee-jerk legs, Courtois was too late to drop the ball, and the running Yerfan fired a low shot that rolled into the far corner from the turf under the left armpit of Courtois......

"The ball is in, the ball is in!" He Wei, the commentator of the Central 5 Tournament, shouted: "Captain Tang Zheng's exquisite through ball assists the nineteen-year-old Ye Erfan to score and open the scoring! Keep coming on! My Chinese team!"