The managers of both teams held a press conference in advance, at which An Rong said: "This is the last match of the round of 16, and this game will determine who will advance to the quarterfinals. I know a lot of people are watching us and want to see if we can be caught between South American and European teams, and if you were to ask me that question, I wouldn't answer you because after the game you will know the answer. ”

Chen Hui asked, "May I ask Director An, will your tactical arrangements still be the same as the previous three games?"

An Rong nodded: "I think the whole world probably knows our style of play, it doesn't matter, I won't be bothered by this, on the contrary, I feel honored." Usually only the stronger the team, the easier it is to be understood, do you know what tactics the South Korean team often uses? Do you know what the most common tactics of the Iranian team are? It's not very clear, right? Because in your opinion, these teams are not the top giants in the world, and they have not yet reached the level that everyone understands, and the Chinese team is different, we are strong enough, and we are qualified enough for the world to study us. So I care how the opponent studies my attacking ideas and my formation, there is no tactic or formation that will improve the quality of the players, and a lot of times, the stars will play a decisive role. ”

An Rong said so much in one breath, and anyone present could hear that An Rong wanted to win this game and get a place in the quarterfinals.

An Rong wants to win, and Southgate doesn't want to lose, he said: "The Chinese team is very strong, I don't know if it was our luck or misfortune to play against them, but since we did, we wouldn't be afraid. They have Zhang Shujie and Li Mu, we have Kane and Ali, and I don't think England are inferior to China. But it's all on paper now, and when the game starts, everything will slowly become clear. ”

I thought that the English reporter asked him: "How will you defend the attack line of Zhang Shujie and Li Mu?"

"I can't say this right now, these two are the top goalscorer in this World Cup, and I don't need to elaborate on how strong they are. Of course I hope they don't score in this game, but I don't count it, it depends on whether my backline agrees. ”

The press conference was short, half an hour shorter than expected, and it looked like neither manager was willing to reveal too much. These two people are fluent in front of reporters, but they are inevitably a little nervous in their hearts, no one dares to make mistakes at will in this knockout round, and a mistake can make the team be beaten back to their hometown.

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At 7 p.m. local time on July 3, the Chinese team went to the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow after a brief rest after dinner. The players boarded the bus to the cheers of fans and reporters, and every time the Chinese players came out, they were greeted by the enthusiastic fans, and this time was no exception.

After 20 minutes of play, the bus arrived at the Luzhniki Stadium, where the players went to the dressing room to change their clothes and go to warm up on the pitch. The England players arrived a few minutes earlier and were already moving on the other side of the pitch.

In the CCTV studio, because the game has not yet started, He Wei and Xu Yang are also doing some simple pre-game analysis, Xu Yang said: "In this game, there should be a very familiar feeling for people like Li Mu, Liang Xiran, Ma Junqiang, including Xu Ziyi, because almost all of England's players play in their home leagues, except for goalkeeper Joe Hart, and many of them are teammates, no matter how bad they are, they have been opponents." ”

He Wei said: "That's right, for example, Cahill plays for Chelsea with Li Mutong, John Stones, Raheem Sterling, Ma Junqiang and Liang Xiran all play at Manchester City, and the rest of the team is also a rival with each other, and they have to meet at least twice a year. Only Joe Hart is an outlier, playing for Torino in Serie A. ”

"This person Zhang Shujie should be very familiar. Xu Yang said this, and laughed with He Wei.

After laughing, He Wei said again: "Before this, some media said that Li Mu, Liang Xiran and Ma Junqiang can play this as the Premier League, so they will be more accustomed to playing." Although this is a joke, it can also be seen from this aspect that several players in the Chinese team are really, very well aware of England, which is a good thing. On the other hand, England know a lot of our players as well. ”

"That's right. Football matches are like this, you know me and I know you, so we don't have to go around the corner, just go straight to the war. ”

"Yes. Then I believe that this game should also be very exciting. Now that the warm-up of the players on both sides is over, wait about 20 minutes to half an hour, and the game will begin. ”

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In the locker room of the Chinese team, An Rong doesn't have much to explain, what to say, what to say, what to say, and how much to say in training. In short, An Rong's preferred tactic is to defend and counterattack, arrange two lines of defense, combine the side and the center when attacking, and crush England with the fastest speed.

An Rong has only one requirement: less sticky balls, more passes! Unless the surrounding teammates do not have time to catch up, and the situation on the field allows, you can use your personal skills to create opportunities, but this method is definitely the last choice, any coach is like this. No matter who is in charge of the team, it is impossible for players to create scoring opportunities by passing through with the ball, and no matter how many technical players there are, they will not do so.

An Rong left a lot of time for the players. On the other side of the England dressing room, Southgate focused on the task of the defensive line, he decided to use man-to-man tactics to mark Zhang Shujie and Li Mu, he asked Smalling and Cahill to follow Zhang Shujie throughout the whole process, where these two go, the two central defenders have to follow.

"Chris (Smalling), I'll hand over Zhang Shujie to you, you keep an eye on him all over the field, you have to watch him to death, and the distance between him can't be more than one meter! Even if he runs to the toilet halfway, you have to follow, understand?"

Smalling nodded, "Understood!"

Southgate looked at Cahill again: "Gary, you and Li Mu are teammates at the club, I believe you know him very well, so you defend him, remember, you also have to keep an eye on him all over the field, and keep the distance within one metre." ”

"Yes sir!" Cahill said, his expression very serious.

"Good. Now when it comes to attacking, we still choose the wing, I watched the video of the Chinese team's game, they will arrange two well-layered lines of defense in the defense, such a defense line is difficult to pass and control, and sometimes the indirect and effective side attack may get some opportunities. But that's just my guess, whether you can really create a chance or not depends on your performance on the field, and I hope you don't let me down. ”

The team members nodded. Southgate added: "There are already seven teams in the quarter-finals, five in Europe, and we hope we are the sixth, can we do that?"

"Yes!"

"Okay! Now it's time to start, let's get out! Remember, we have to win to get a place in the quarterfinals!"

(End of chapter)