Chapter Seventy-Six: The World Cup (Part I)
Sending Bai Chanhao away, Kim Tae-yeon muttered and returned to the dormitory, in fact, when Baek Chan-ho asked for a hug in the end, Kim Tae-yeon wanted to ignore it, when he thought that Baek Chan-ho did not come to visit him immediately after returning to China, but went on a blind date first and became angry, even if it was not Baek Chan-ho's blind date, it was different from before, Baek Chan-ho didn't come to see him for the first time, which was very disappointing.
A few days later, when Baek Chan-ho reappeared in the eyes of the world, it was already the scene of the press conference before the World Cup of the South Korean team.
For the first time, Baek Chan-ho participated in the national team's press conference for the first time, along with captain Park Ji-sung and head coach Adwokart, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel near Namsan.
Walking into the venue with the head coach and Park Ji-sung, countless flashing lights instantly surrounded Bai Chanhao, and after nodding his head one by one, he followed the two to the podium.
The head coach spoke first, and the translators around him have been translating for the reporters, and the reporters' questions are mainly focused on the expected results of this World Cup, although the reporters did not compare the head coach, but they brought Park Ji-sung and Bai Chan-ho out, especially Bai Chan-ho, South Korea is only 19 years old, he has proven his value in the Premier League, and he deserves to be the first person in Asia, and he is in the lineup of the South Korean team in this World Cup.
Coupled with Park Ji-sung, Ji Seong-yong, Lee Qing-ryong, Ahn Jung-hwan, Lee Young-pyo, and other players are all gathered together, if not to reach the semi-finals, at least the quarter-finals should be.
The head coach naturally heard what the reporters meant, and Bai Chanhao and Park Ji-sung also heard it, not that they have no confidence in this World Cup, and their group stage draw this time is better than expected, in addition to France, the other two teams are not even as rich as the South Korean team in the World Cup.
Qualification from the group is the goal that should be fought for, and what Baek Chan-ho and Park Ji-sung are thinking about is also qualifying from the group, appearing in the form of second place in the group, and the team they will face will definitely be more difficult than the group, and what they can do when the time comes, even if they lose, it will be glorious to lose.
After interviewing the head coach, followed by Park Ji-sung and Baek Chan-ho, as the captain of the team and the new star of the world's attention, the two were asked the most about the outlook for this World Cup, and their answers were also very decent, saying that they would do their best in every game, and they didn't think about the result, all they had to do was have a clear conscience.
These words were taught to Baek Chan-ho by Park Ji-sung before the interview, no matter how confident you are, or what you have expected, you must keep a low profile in front of the media, don't give a clear calculation, just answer that you will play every game.
Knowing that public figures must be cautious in their words and deeds, Baek Chan-ho also listened to Park Ji-sung's opinion, and after the press conference, Baek Chan-ho refused all requests for interviews and followed Park Ji-sung and Coach Advocaat back to the hotel where the team was temporarily staying.
The next day, the Korean team officially departed from Incheon International Airport.
At around 8 p.m. local time, South Korea arrived at Eintracht Frankfurt for their first match, where they will face the Togolese national team three days later.
After arriving at the hotel, the coach told everyone to have a good rest, adjust to the jet lag first, and go to the competition venue tomorrow for a private adaptation training.
From the second day to the day before the game, the team will have 2 hours of adaptation training every day, and after the training is over, everyone goes back to the hotel, and they don't go to that place, all in order to prepare for the upcoming game.
South Korea's three major broadcasters also sent reporters two days before the game, and the live commentary anchor and broadcast signal team arrived in Frankfurt, and at the same time, fans also set off from South Korea to the beautiful city of Frankfurt.
Finally, June 13th arrived, the first game is about to start, an hour before the start of the game, the players took the bus to the stadium, Bai Canhao, who listened to the song with music headphones, walked at the back of the team, and glanced at the situation of the stadium after getting off the bus.
Although Bai Canhao didn't know those anchors, but when those anchors and reporters greeted him, he also nodded and greeted, and the picture was transmitted back to South Korea, and the fans who were guarding in front of the TV were excited, and after entering the stadium lounge, the anchor just now also excitedly said to the camera that he said hello to Bai Canhao.
After changing the equipment and entering the stadium, the huge Frankfurt Stadium was empty, even so, all the players were nervous expressions under the leadership of the assistant coach to do warm-up training, this year's assistant coach is still Bai Canhao's father, did not communicate too much with Bai Canhao, and has been seriously instructing everyone to warm up.
Everyone is actually a little nervous in their hearts, after all, the first game is coming, and the most nervous of them is Bai Canhao, he is the first time to participate in the world's top competition like the World Cup, without any experience, nervousness is inevitable, nervous at the same time also faint expectations in my heart, looking forward to being able to qualify from the group, and I can play every game well.
Soon, the camera captured Bai Canhao wearing the No. 39 shirt, and the beautiful reporter from the Sports Department of the S Broadcasting Bureau also came to the edge of the court, and when Bai Canhao approached with the ball, he immediately waved and said hello, Bai Canhao just showed a smile and turned around to continue training.
Half an hour ago, all the players returned to the lounge, and the fans began to slowly enter, today's game is important for the South Korean team, the coach began to arrange the starting lineup, Baek Chan-ho was naturally among them, taking the position of right striker, then Park Ji-sung, Lee Yun-jae, Kim Yong-chul, Song Jong-guk, Lee Young-pyo, Kim Jin-gyu, Kim Nam-il, Lee E-yong, Ahn Jung-hwan and Xue Qi-hyun.
After the starting eleven were determined, the coach began to arrange tactics, a typical 442 formation, the two forwards are Ahn Jung-hwan and Xue Qi-hyun, the captain Park Ji-sung on the left, Baek Chan-ho on the right, the double backs are Kim Nam-il and Lee E-yong, the four defenders are Kim Yong-chul, Song Jong-kook, Lee Young-pyo and Kim Jin-gyu, and the goalkeeper Lee Yun-jae.
After arranging the full offense and defense, take out the opponent's expected starting lineup and start arranging man-marking tactics, including Bai Canhao, to shrink the defense back to their own penalty area, to say that the advantage of the Korean team, in addition to the experience of the competition, is physical fitness, all the players' physical fitness can last the whole game, and the distance of this run is very long.
At 8:50 p.m., ten minutes before the start of the game, players from both sides entered the field, and as soon as they entered the city, the players were surrounded by crazy shouts, and a large sea of red in the west stand, echoing the formula cheering of "Republic of Korea, knock".
At the end of the national anthem ceremony, the captains of both sides chose the venue and the ball ended, and the players hugged each other and began to cheer, and at 9 o'clock, the game officially began.
This is the first game of the South Korean team, not only the fans are full of expectations, but also Baek Chan-ho, who appeared alone in the camera several times in the normal game played beyond imagination, and he was responsible for attacking on the right side and almost became the main attacker of the whole game.
Although the Togo team scored a goal in the first half, after entering the halftime break, Bai Canhao and the players got together to discuss for a while, and the rhythm of the game was accelerated by the South Korean team at the beginning of the second half, and in the 62nd minute, Bai Canhao received Park Ji-sung's long pass against offside and successfully dribbled the ball from the right side to the penalty area, and the opposing defender chased back and fell to the ground to block Bai Canhao's shot but shoveled Bai Canhao at the top of the arc of the penalty area, and the second yellow card turned into a red card plus a good free kick opportunity.