Chapter 039: The Quarterfinals Are the End?
"Beep~Beep~Beep~~"
With the referee on duty Eriksen blowing the whistle for the end of the game, the Pernambuco Arena fell into endless madness, and every Chinese fan roared and shouted hysterically, venting the Chinese team's historic entry into the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
Especially the older generation of fans, their tears flowed unnaturally while shouting and shouting.
This scene has only been seen in dreams.
Now, it's real.
The fans at the scene were very crazy, although the Chinese fans thousands of miles away could not come to the scene in person, but their madness was no less than the fans on the spot, and the residential areas of each city, night food stalls, fan bars, Internet cafes, and the open-air squares specially built for the Chinese team World Cup were filled with the happy shouts of Chinese fans.
It's 6 o'clock in the morning, Beijing time, and many ordinary people who don't pay attention to football or sports get up early to look at those crazy shouting fans and don't understand, so they are labeled as 'neurotic', but these passionate fans don't care at all.
If the Chinese team can follow this forward, they would rather continue to be criticized.
At the Pernambuco State Arena, the Chinese players moved almost identically, raising their arms excitedly, crying with joy and letting tears run down their cheeks.
The broadcast screen first gave a long shot, and the broadcaster played the score of the whole game, and the Chinese team 2:1 Costa Rica became the fourth national team to advance to the quarterfinals of this World Cup.
Immediately, a close-up shot of the passionate Chinese fans was given.
The uniform red jersey, with the very Chinese drumming, coupled with the selfless waving of arms of every Chinese fan, the Chinese fans who occupy half of the stadium give the fans in front of the TV a very strong sense of déjà vu, like a flash flood, continuous and surging.
After about five seconds, the live director gave the best player on the spot officially assessed by the game - Tang Zheng.
Feeling the frenzied atmosphere rushing to his face, Tang Zheng could not suppress the excitement in his heart, which was even wilder than the excitement when he scored the goal.
He clenched his fists, his right fist kept smashing down from the right up, and after five consecutive times, he half-knelt on the grass, and then painted his arms on the wall, and raised his head to the sky and roared.
The handsome face even looked a little hideous because it was too excited, but the Chinese fans in front of the TV did not feel any disgust, but loved it more and more the more they watched it.
They all know that without Tang Zheng, it would be impossible for the Chinese team to make history and advance to the quarterfinals, and it would be difficult to even appear in the group.
He Wei, the commentator of Yang 5, insisted on commenting with a hoarse voice, he was full of passion, and his mouth was like a river: "The Chinese team scored seven goals in four games, Tang Zheng personally contributed four goals and one assist, and the other two goals were also planned by him, which can be said to be the biggest contributor to the Chinese team's promotion to the quarterfinals of the World Cup! I believe that in the 1/4 finals at Xinshuiyuan Stadium six days later, the uncrowned king can be beaten!"
As soon as the words fell, the commentator Gong Lei added: "Congratulations again to our national team for entering the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time, this team appeared in the group without being favored, and then eliminated Costa Rica, it is not easy!
"Congratulations to the Chinese team! Congratulations to Tang! He tied Germany's Thomas Müller with his goal in this game and became the second top scorer in the World Cup, only two goals behind Colombia's James Rodriguez!"
British Sky commentator Andy Gray gives the final commentary on the game.
The Chinese team finally scored two goals in three minutes of injury time to defeat Costa Rica 2:1 and successfully advance to the quarterfinals of this World Cup!"
"An incredible game! Tang used his actual efforts to lead the Chinese team to a miraculous reversal of Costa Rica, one of the best defensive teams in this World Cup, and the victory or defeat of the all-time World Cup quarterfinals, the quarterfinals and the uncrowned king of the Netherlands?
"The match between the dark horse and the dark horse ended with the Chinese team winning, congratulations to the Chinese team! They have made new history again and advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup! I hope they can make persistent efforts and go further in the quarterfinals. ”
……
TV commentators from all over the world cheered for the Chinese team that had advanced.
Only the commentator of the Japanese and Korean TV stations said very sourly, obviously depressed about the promotion of the Chinese team.
In fact, it is normal to think about it, South Korea lost to Uruguay in the intercontinental play-offs of the World Cup in Brazil, Japan failed to qualify from the group, and the Chinese team, which missed the finals of the World Cup for two consecutive years, advanced to the quarterfinals under the leadership of Tang Zheng, which is somewhat unacceptable.
Japan's best men's football record is the round of 16, the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup and the 2010 South Africa World Cup, the South Korean men's football team has a better result, and the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup entered the semi-finals, but the South Korean team's World Cup semi-finals were not recognized by everyone, because that World Cup was dark......
For the older generation of fans, the World Cup semi-finals of the South Korean team are a shame!
In addition, the best result of the Asian team in the World Cup is the quarterfinals, in the 1966 British World Cup, the North Korean team reached the quarterfinals, but the British World Cup participating teams are limited, and the group qualification is the quarterfinals, which is equivalent to the current 1/8 finals.
That is to say, the Chinese team that entered the quarterfinals created the best result of an Asian team, of course, the South Korean commentators will not admit this, they feel that even if the Chinese team enters the quarterfinals, there is nothing remarkable, and their Republic of Korea is the best team of Asian teams in the World Cup!
Getting back to the point, the Chinese team is making great progress to create a new history, and the broadcast picture continues to give the best player Tang Zheng.
Tang Zheng first walked to the captain Zheng Zhi, Zheng Zhi was not obvious in the four games, but the effect on the Chinese team was very obvious, especially at the end of injury time in this game, if Zheng Zhi was not focused, Costa Rica was likely to take advantage of the collective distraction of Chinese players to equalize.
In order for the team to advance to the quarterfinals, Zheng Zhi sacrificed himself.
This kind of behavior is the work of a real man.
Many people say that Zheng Zhi is a ball bully, but in fact, those people don't know Zheng Zhi.
Tang Zheng stretched out his right arm, grabbed Zheng Zhi's outstretched right hand, pulled it hard, patted Zheng Zhi's back, and said excitedly: "Thank you for your dedication!"
Zheng Zhi was stunned when he heard this, he naturally knew what Tang Zheng was going to express, smiled slightly, clenched his left hand into a fist and punched Tang Zheng in the left chest, and said with a smile: "You are the biggest contributor to our promotion, don't make fun of me." ”
There are some words, needless to say, Tang Zheng gave Zheng Zhi another hug and said in a deep voice: "Thank you, captain." ”
After that, Tang Zheng didn't give Zheng Zhi a chance to speak again, and quickly let go and walked to the other teammates.
Zheng Zhi stood in place and watched the energetic Tang Zheng's brain sprout uncontrollably with envy, he only turned twenty-five years old in November this year, and he has already won two European championships and a FIFA Golden Ball......
Of course, this envy is praiseworthy.
Being able to complete the World Cup dream at the end of his career can be said to have no regrets in his career.
If your body can't keep up with the pace of the top professional leagues, you may want to consider retiring.
※※※
At the regular press conference after the game, head coach Lipi and Tang Zheng appeared in the press conference hall of the Pernambuco State Arena to be interviewed by global media.
It is said that it is a global media, but in fact, there is only 15 minutes of interview time, and the specific quota allocation is obtained by the official efforts of each media.
The Chinese team advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup in a record time, and those media outlets with great influence in China are not within the scope of official efforts, because the Chinese team's victory is equivalent to the home of the Chinese domestic media.
Most of the questions in the Chinese domestic media revolved around the mood swings brought about by qualifying, the outlook for the future, and whether they were confident of beating the mighty Dutch side in the quarter-finals and taking it a step further.
The foreign media are divided into two factions, friendly and unfriendly.
The friendly media first congratulated the Chinese team on advancing to the quarterfinals, hoping that the Chinese team could go one step further.
The unfriendly media is more direct, and the questions are very impulsive, lest the world be chaotic.
The reporter of "Süddeutsche Zeitung", who has never dealt with Tang Zheng, asked meaningfully: "If you meet the Dutch team in the quarterfinals, does it mean that the Chinese team is ready to go out?"
The language of the question was German, and the Italian Lippi needed to pass an interpreter, and Tang Zheng played in Germany for four years, and he was quite proficient in German, and even spoke fluently in the North Rhine-Westphalia dialect, so the questions of the Süddeutsche Zeitung reporter were clear.
Tang Zheng didn't get angry, but smiled meaningfully: "Sorry, we're already thinking about preparing to enter the semifinals." ”
"Wow-"
Suddenly, the press conference hall was in an uproar.
Obviously, I was very surprised by Tang Zheng's answer, and everyone didn't know the overall strength of the Chinese team, and they were ready for the semifinals?
Don't you take the Dutch team too seriously, right?
Therefore, the Dutch media were very dissatisfied, but Tang Zheng looked at the reporter of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" who was smiling victoriously, and pointed his index finger at his temple and said: "Admit defeat before the game starts? Don't you come out with your brains? The Dutch team is a top team that can compete for the World Cup title, and it is disrespectful to the Dutch team to be prepared to go out! At the same time, I am also ashamed of the fans all over the world, please use your brain next time you ask questions, okay?"
With the increase of age and experience, Tang Zheng's temper has converged a lot, so much so that many reporters have forgotten how violent Tang Zheng used to be.
At the club level, Tang Zheng allows any media to play tricks and tricks, but the national team level is resolutely not allowed!
Although Tang Zheng's answer was too direct and even insulting, not many reporters sympathized with the reporters of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, because Tang Zheng's counterattack was his own fault.
The Dutch media felt a lot more comfortable when they heard Tang Zheng's explanation, and they chose to give up the-for-tat question they had just prepared.
Reporters from China have a feeling of raising their eyebrows again, Tang Zheng's words are a little rude, even barbaric, but his words are not rough and reasonable, and they are into the wood.
At the same time, Beijing time came to seven o'clock in the morning, and the news program "Morning News World" entered the field of vision of paying attention to domestic and foreign facts on time, and what was surprising was that the first report was not major events at home and abroad, but the fourth 1/8 final that had just ended in Brazil, and the two sides of the game were the Chinese team and Costa Rica.
"In the fourth 1/8 final of the Brazilian World Cup that ended in the early hours of this morning at the Arena de Nambuco in Recife, Brazil, the Chinese team faced Costa Rica, the leader of Group D, and the Chinese men's football team, led by Real Madrid superstar, had a great advantage from the beginning of the game, but the long-term lack of points led to the conceded goal at the beginning of the second half......"
The backward Chinese team fought to catch up and increase their offensive until stoppage time came, and Real Madrid's star Tang Zheng intercepted the ball at the feet of Costa Rica captain Ruiz with a textbook tackle...... Last-minute stoppage time...... Tang Zheng embodied his strong psychological quality as a world-class superstar and excellent goal-scoring skills, deceived the world with two consecutive fake shots, scored a priceless over-score goal, and finally helped the Chinese team reverse Costa Rica 2:1 and advance to the quarterfinals of this World Cup......"
At this time, most of the people sitting in front of the TV or computer are fans, followed by die-hard fans of "Morning News".
Fans were too excited to sleep, so they simply waited for all the news that reported that the Chinese team had advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
Many die-hard fans of "Morning News of the World" don't like football or sports, but they can see the Chinese men's football team creating new history on the stage of the World Cup.
Anyone who is patriotic will be extremely proud!
The Chinese players who returned to the hotel still couldn't suppress the excitement in their hearts, and this time Tang Zheng didn't say anything to his teammates to spoil the fun.
Being able to enter the quarterfinals is the limit of the Chinese team in Tang Zheng's opinion.
Maybe the Dutch team is not as strong as four years ago, but as the saying goes, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and it is very difficult to wrestle with the Dutch team with the current overall strength of the Chinese team, especially when the captain Zheng Zhi is suspended for accumulating yellow cards, and it is even more difficult to try to beat the Dutch team.
It's not that the Chinese team doesn't have a chance, it can only be said that this chance is so small that it can be ignored.
A dark horse, after all, is a dark horse.
But it is precisely because the quarterfinals are the end of the Chinese team that you can give it a go!
What if?
With six days to rest before the quarter-finals between China and the Netherlands, head coach Lippi did not unkindly ask the players to rest on time and let the players revel.
With the current overall strength of the Chinese team, it is considered to be the end of the World Cup.
And the victory of the game came from the reversal, and there was no reason to prevent the players from celebrating the promotion.
In the afternoon of the next day, the whole Chinese team arrived at the airport and flew to El Salvador under the escort of Chinese fans from all over the city of Recife.
Like Recife, the Chinese team was welcomed by a large number of Chinese and ethnic Chinese who worked and studied in El Salvador at the airport in El Salvador.
Because of Tang Zheng's relationship, there are not a few foreign fans who come to El Salvador to welcome the Chinese team......