"Whoa—"

When 23 Chinese players appeared at the Kazan Stadium, more than 20,000 Chinese fans in the stands erupted in deafening loud chants.

For players such as Tang Zheng, Lu Liang, Zhang Linpeng, Yan Junling, Hao Junmin, and Wu Sanshi, this is not their first World Cup, but now they feel that they are in excellent shape, maybe ...... This World Cup can break the record of the quarterfinals set in the previous World Cup.

Final four?

Why not?

Tang Zheng, Hao Junmin, Zhang Linpeng, Jiang Zhipeng, Yan Junling, and Wu Sanshi are all at the peak of their careers, whether it is physical or condition, plus Lu Liang, Sun Jingbo, Gao Zhunyi, these players who are in the rising stage of their careers, there is a great chance of creating the best results that Asian teams are creating in the World Cup.

In addition, young players such as Liu Ruofan and Ye Erfan, who have the potential to become top players in Europe, can help the national team as long as they play well.

"Whoa—"

With the huge cheers sweeping the stadium, the French players also walked into the stadium through the players' tunnel one after another, and the French fans of the expedition team also cheered.

At this moment, the Kazan Stadium was reduced to a sea of joy for fans on both sides, with overwhelming cheers one after another.

Tang Zheng was about to start jogging with his teammates to warm up, when he noticed Griezmann's gaze, put down his right foot when he stepped out, raised his right arm, and took the initiative to meet Griezmann with a smile.

Griezmann subconsciously raised his right arm, held Tang Zheng's outstretched right hand, and preemptively said: "Hey~ Tang, at the national team level, I will definitely beat you!"

"Really?" Tang Zheng said playfully, holding Griezmann's right hand hard.

"Of course!" Griezmann smiled: "We are favourites!"

"Yes, yes, I hope you and your teammates will show mercy later, and don't let us lose ugly. Tang Zheng carried out the show of weakness to the end and gave a pleading look.

However, Griezmann was not fooled, withdrew his right hand, and patted Tang Zheng on the shoulder: "It's useless to show weakness, wait for you to lose!"

"Hey~" Tang Zheng saw that the plan was discovered, and there was no emotional fluctuation, but shrugged his shoulders: "Then let's score the game!"

Pogba, who had a not very happy season in the past 2017-2018, looked at Tang Zheng, who had a good conversation with Griezmann, with complicated eyes, but soon he clenched his arms and secretly cheered himself up.

Everyone says that Tang Zheng is the world's No. 1 star, but Pogba doesn't think so, he thinks that Tang Zheng is only temporary, and the future is ...... It's your own!

Tang Zheng will turn 29 years old this year, and he is only 25 years old.

It's just that...... Pogba didn't notice that Tang Zheng had already won two Champions League titles at the age of 25, a FIFA Ballon d'Or for the best player in world football.

In his career, Pogba has also won a European Golden Boy Award.

Compared with Tang Zheng, it is still far behind!

Also looking at Tang Zheng is Real Madrid player Raphael Varane, who has great doubts about whether he can defend and insert Tang Zheng to participate in the attack.

In his heart, Tang Zheng is almost invincible!

In addition to Tang Zheng and Griezmann 'catching up' on the sidelines, Dembele, Lu Liang and Yan Junling, three former Dortmund teammates, also chatted a few words under the attention of the fans before returning to their respective teams for pre-match warm-ups.

Shortly after, the 40-minute warm-up time ended, and players from both sides returned to their dressing rooms one after another to make final preparations for the first group game of Group C.

As the start time of the game gets closer and closer, the bookmaker's odds are more and more optimistic about the Chinese team to draw, and even some peripherals are inclined to the Chinese team to win.

Because...... So far in this World Cup, there have been two upsets.

Who can be sure that the Chinese team will not beat the French team in an upset?

At the same time, the commentators of the national TV stations with the right to broadcast the World Cup have already obtained the starting lists of both sides of the game, and the official formation given by the Chinese team is still the usual 4231, and the starting list is a bit unexpected.

The surprise is that there are big changes from the back line, the left back is Jiang Zhipeng, who has been in excellent form recently, the central defender is not Feng Xiaoting, it is Gao Zhunyi's partner Zhang Linpeng, who can be qualified for the right back position, and Deng Hanwen, a young player from Guangzhou Evergrande, made his debut in the case of Zhang Linpeng playing central defender.

The goalkeeper is still Asia's No. 1 goalkeeper Yan Junling, and he deserves to be the main goalkeeper of Dortmund.

The double back Tang Zheng partnered with Li Kui, the three forwards Lu Liang, Hao Junmin and Wu Sanshi, and Sun Jingbo was at the front of the front line.

But Sun Jingbo is not the kind of post-oriented center-forward, his activity area is large, and he is coquettish, and he can often play an unexpected role in the frontcourt.

However, there are also many media who are worried that Sun Jingbo's progress has slowed down in the past two years and has not reached the height predicted by those experts, but Sun Jingbo's own ability is not bad, what he is missing is the opportunity to turn into a dragon!

France have a four-three-three line-up, goalkeepers Lloris, Lucas Hernandez, Raphael Varane, Umtiti and Pavard, three midfielders Tolisso, Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante, and three strikers Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Dembele.

There were still 10 minutes left before the start of the game, and the players from both sides of the game walked from their dressing rooms to the players' tunnel one after another, the difference was that the starters stayed in the players' tunnel, and the substitutes went straight forward, and then sat on their own team's bench to the left and right respectively.

At the same time, close-ups of the live broadcast are given to the players' tunnels, and then to the world-renowned players.

The broadcast screen was cut on the faces of players such as Tang Zheng, Griezmann, Mbappe, Pogba, Kante, Varane, Lu Liang, Zhang Linpeng and other players one after another, and unlike the pre-game warm-up, there was less direct contact between the players on both sides.

Except for the handshake between club teammates and national team teammates, there was basically no communication between other players.

Soon, the Uruguayan referee Andrés Cunha led the players into the stadium, and the fans in the stands who had been waiting for a long time were very tacit, and they let out a deafening loud shout: "Whoa, whoa, whoa—"

Those Chinese fans and French fans sitting in front of the TV realized that the first group game of the World Cup in which they supported the national team was coming!

※※※

"CCTV!CCTV!The match that is now being broadcast for you is the live broadcast of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group C Chinese team and the French team, the first to kick off is the French team, they are wearing blue jerseys and white pants, attacking from the right side of the broadcast screen to the left, wearing the traditional red jersey and red pants are the Chinese team, they attack from the left side of the broadcast screen to the right side......"

Yang 5 commentator He Wei said at the moment when referee Andrés Cunha blew the whistle.

Antoine Griezmann kicked the ball directly to Pogba from outside the centre circle, who played it back to centre-back Raphael Varane when Sun Jingbo pressed him forward.

Sun Jingbo stopped and changed direction, and cooperated with Lu Liang to pounce on Varane, who received the ball.

Sun Jingbo and Lu Liang were very fast, and Varane did not dare to slack off, and passed directly back to the captain goalkeeper Lloris.

In the face of the menacing Sun Jingbo and Lu Liang, Lloris did not dare to relax in the slightest, and as a goalkeeper, he chose to kick the ball forward.

The football flew to the Chinese team's defensive half, Pogba measured his steps in the process of retreating, and was about to jump to rub the ball to Griezmann, when he saw a red figure jump first and push the ball away.

"Tang Zheng!" Yang 5 commentator He Wei's voice changed and shouted: "Jump high! The football is given to Hao Junmin, and the Chinese team has switched from defense to offense!"

Pogba was very upset, but he had no choice but to retreat.

The Chinese team's transition from defense to offense ultimately failed to threaten Lloris to guard the goal, because captain Tang Zheng did not dare to mention too far forward at the beginning of the game, and Li Kui is a traditional defensive midfielder, honest and honest, and the role played by the offensive end is completely negligible.

Therefore, it is difficult to bring a substantial threat to the French team's defense by relying only on Lu Liang, Sun Jingbo, Wu Sanshi and Hao Junmin on the offensive side.

However, France coach Didier Deschamps was clearly wary of the Chinese team's quick counter-attack, and the French team's direct force to attack in the first five minutes of the game was very limited, and they relied more on strong midfield control to control the tempo of the game.

In the first ten minutes of the game, the French team had an absolute advantage, in addition to the obvious advantage of possession, the number of shots on goal, the number of shots on goal and the number of corners.

However, the Chinese team is not purely defensive, they also have two quick counter-attack opportunities.

It's a pity that Lu Liang faced Varane's ball too much, causing him to lose control of the football.

Another time was when Wu Sanshi's long-range shot in front of the big penalty area directly put anti-aircraft guns, which was equivalent to helping the French team clear the siege.

With the Chinese playing two quick counter-attacks, the French attacked more cautiously, focusing on success rather than threat.

Jiang is still old and spicy, and 'Silver Fox' Lippi saw through the change in mentality of Deschamps' team at a glance, and took advantage of a dead ball opportunity to make a tactical gesture to Tang Zheng.

It wasn't until Tang Zheng tapped his head that Lippi returned to the coach's seat.

Soon, the fans at the scene noticed the tactical change of the Chinese team, and the premise of their formation was very obvious, from retreating to the half-court area defense to increasing the pressing amplitude in the midfield, forcing the French players who got the ball to speed up the passing speed.

While the rate increases, so do the mistakes.

The Chinese team's intensified pressing was not just short-term, but continuous, forcing the French team to increase the rate of passing errors sharply.

Deschamps, who was standing in the coaching area of the away team, frowned, he really didn't expect that the Chinese team coached by Lippi would use such a very physically exhausting tactic in the World Cup......

That being said, high pressing did put a lot of pressure on France's attacking organization, which led to an increase in passing errors.

The Chinese fans in the stands also showed their presence during the period when the Chinese team intensified their oppression, and they created wave after wave of chanting under the leadership of the fans of the 'Dragon Team' fan club, cheering for the Chinese team: "Whoa, whoa—"

France's attack had to move from the back of the midfield to the back, and in the 17th minute, Tolisso made another mistake in the 2017-2018 Champions League semi-final, with his cross ball directly at the feet of Sun Jingbo.

Fortunately, Sun Jingbo, who won the ball, thought too much, and by the time he realized that he should break through, it was too late, and the central defender combination of Kante, Varane and Umtiti had already stood up, so the Chinese team's rare high press broke the ball and had to enter the positional battle.

Tolisso, who made a mistake and almost made a big mistake, was very careful with the ball in the next steps, including Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante.

It is worth mentioning that Griezmann, who appeared in the center forward position, played very awkward and did not go well in this game.

In addition, Mbappe and Dembele, who are affected by the decline in the overall pass success rate, do not have many opportunities to get the ball, and there are naturally fewer one-on-one breakthrough opportunities.

Taking advantage of a dead-ball opportunity, the live director gave France coach Didier Deschamps a close-up shot that was pushed to his face.

This picture is meaningful, as the French team with the highest total value in this World Cup, it was helpless in the face of the Chinese team's defense, and even conceded a goal because of its own mistakes.

In other words, Didier Deschamps' line-up is controversial, especially with Antoine Griezmann as a central striker.

Gao Zhunyi didn't have much to do with Griezmann, but Zhang Linpeng did, and he often used some small actions to interfere with Griezmann, so that Griezmann played very badly.

When the game came to the half-hour, the Chinese team no longer implemented high-pressure tactics and retreated to the half.

Yang 5 commentator He Wei's excitement has decreased: "High pressure brings a great threat to the French team's attack, but the hidden dangers are also obvious, and in the second half, it is very likely that there will be physical ......."

The same sentiment was shared by British Sky commentator Andy Grey, who admitted: "Marcelo Lippi's tactics in the first 30 minutes of the first half were very reasonable, forcing the overall strength and strength of the French team to be unable to organise an effective attack and ensure the safety of the goal, but ...... In the second half, the Chinese players will definitely have a decline in physical fitness, and the Chinese team will definitely be very troublesome at that time......"

The Chinese team gave up high pressing, and the pass success rate of the French team's midfield and midfield increased significantly, but it is a pity that the three strikers are difficult to adjust back after the first 30 minutes of sluggish form.

After nearly 20 minutes of pressing, the Chinese team consumed too much physical energy, and most of the time was put on half-court defense, so until the end of the first half, the score of 0:0 did not change.

0:0 is difficult for France to accept, but it is perfectly acceptable for China.

Before the game, the Chinese team's plan was to win the draw, and it was not the seeded team France that affected the Chinese team's prospects of qualifying, but Peru and Denmark.

The draw with France is to give the Chinese team a better prospect of qualifying, even if they lose to the French team in the end, they can beat Peru and Denmark in the next two rounds of the group stage and qualify from the group, but Peru and Denmark are not as easy to deal with as imagined, so the first round draw with the French team is of great significance.

"The first half is over! The French team and the Chinese team were evenly divided, both of them did nothing, and the two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 0:0!" He Wei, the commentator of the central 5, was full of passion, and it was obviously very good news for the Chinese team to enter the locker room at 0:0.

If the score of 0:0 can be maintained until the end of the game, the Chinese team's emergence from Group C basically means that it is a certainty!