Jeju Island, South Korea, 23 May 2002. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

After flying for less than three hours, the Chinese team arrived at their base camp for the World Cup, the Hyatt Regency Jeju Island in South Korea.

Since this World Cup is jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan, the group stage matches A, B, C, and D are played in South Korea, while the last four group matches are played in Japan.

Considering that the second game of the group stage of the Chinese team was played in Seogwipo on Jeju Island, and the conditions on Jeju Island were better than the rest of South Korea, the Chinese team set up their base camp here, after all, Jeju Island is a world-famous tourist destination.

Coming to Jeju Island, the Chinese team successfully settled in the hotel, and the players are in good shape, after all, it is very close to the country, and it can be regarded as at the doorstep.

The Chinese team will spend a week of acclimatization here before heading to Gwangju, where their first match will be held, where they will take on Costa Rica.

In the joint training on Jeju Island, the Chinese team basically practiced defensive counterattack tactics, and the tactics of the Chinese team in this World Cup are very clear, defense is the first priority, and how to attack will be considered on the basis of defense.

Liu Han's words and some foreign players told about their experience in Europe that the players of the Chinese team gradually corrected their mentality, and now this national team may be regarded as a top team in Asia, but in Europe, at most it is a second-rate team, so if you want to play in the World Cup, you must put yourself in the right position and do a good job of defense, any unrealistic or bold ideas may lead to the collapse of the national team.

Like the Chinese team, the Brazilian team has set up their base camp in Jeju Island, and they also set up their base camp here, but the reason for setting it up is because it is closer to Japan, and it is clear that the Brazilian team is not only aiming for the group stage, they are the favorites to win the World Cup, and the "3R" combination in the team is the most popular combination in this World Cup.

Because they are all on Jeju Island and the training base is not far away, the Chinese players often meet the players of the Brazilian team, and the Chinese players who originally thought that the arrogant Brazilian players may not pay attention to them at all When they see Liu Han communicating with each other in fluent Portuguese, the players of the national team are inevitably a little envious.

"Haha, man, it's a pleasure to meet you, but you have to be careful, my teammates are looking forward to fighting you."

As soon as he saw Liu Han, Carlos said with some trepidation, for Liu Han, many players in the Brazilian team are very curious, for this Chinese who is close to two meters tall, but has extremely superb foot skills, the Brazilian players are also magical.

"Hey, Robert, you've been saying that since the Champions League final."

"Hi, hello, Liu, I'm Ronaldo, you speak Portuguese really well, I didn't expect you to be so fluent in Portuguese."

"Hello, thank you for the compliment, and seriously, I'm looking forward to playing against you in the game."

Under Carlos's introduction, Liu Han got to know many Brazilian players, and they were all surprised that Liu Han was so proficient in Portuguese, and many people were curious about Liu Han's experience in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil the year before last.

Although they are opponents in the same group, it is clear that the Brazilian team does not take the Chinese team seriously, they are more curious about Liu Han, after all, Liu Han can be regarded as a top star in Europe.

On May 31, 2002, when the opening match of the World Cup was held in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, the Chinese team set off for Gwangju, South Korea, where their first match was played.

After the opening game, no one would have imagined that this match was just one of the many "upsets" in this World Cup.

France's 1-0 defeat to Senegal was something no one expected, and even the Senegalese themselves would never have imagined that they would be able to beat France, the double champions of the World Cup and the European Championship.

After the upset of the opening game, the World Cup schedule is in full swing, with Group A and Group E matches starting in South Korea and Japan respectively on June 1.

Perhaps it was the previous day's upset that made the strong teams wary, so the match on June 1 was not shocking, but the German team's 8-0 victory over Saudi Arabia made everyone start to surprise the German team's offensive strength.

On 2 June, Group B and Group F matches were played one after another, with Argentina beating Nigeria 1-0, South Africa drawing with Paraguay, England being held to a draw by Sweden and Spain beating Slovenia 3-1.

On June 3, Croatia, the third place in the last World Cup, was defeated by Mexico 1-0, which was a small upset, and Brazil's 2-1 difficult victory over Turkey surprised everyone with the outstanding strength of the Turkish team, and also made the Chinese team wary of this little-known team, Italy beat Ecuador 2-0 There is no suspense.

On June 4, China will play their first match against Costa Rica at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium.

Costa Rica are not newcomers to the World Cup, having reached the round of 16 at the World Cup in Italy in '90, and then coach Milutinovic made a name for himself by leading an underdog team of amateur players to the round of 16.

Compared with the other side, the Chinese team can be regarded as a pure World Cup newcomer, they have not scored a single goal in the history of the World Cup, no victory, and this game will be the first performance of the Chinese team in the World Cup.

In the player tunnel, compared to the giggling of the Costa Rican players, the Chinese team's players are much more dignified, although Saiqiang Horton and Liu Han are trying their best to relieve pressure on the players, but after all, this is the World Cup field, and the significance of this field to Chinese players is self-evident.

In the face of the weakest opponent in the group stage, the Chinese team did not have any carelessness, Horton's tactics were still based on defense, Liu Han sat in the middle, and the lineup of 541 showed the intention of the Chinese team undoubtedly, only the veteran Hao Haixi broke forward alone, and the two full-backs were Li Xiaopeng and Zhao Junzhe.

"Brothers, can you give a smile, we are going to the game instead of going to the execution ground, you guys are also weak."

As the captain, although Liu Han has always spoken little, his prestige is very heavy, but his playful words at this time still made the players of the national team relax a little.

Finally, the referee signaled the players to follow them, and the game was about to start, and the Chinese team would play against Su Weipingsheng's opponent in the next 90 minutes.

Liu Han shook his shoulders, he had been looking forward to this stage for a long time. (To be continued.) )