The semi-finals, for the Chinese team, are indeed not failures, but supreme glory, after all, the strength of the Chinese team has not yet reached the level of winning the championship.

So the players still collected their moods, came together, and then lined up to express their gratitude and salute to the fans at the scene. The Chinese fans also swept away the previous decadence and gave the warmest applause. No one blames the players today because they have done their best, even if the end result is a loss.

In the mixed zone, Chinese players have also been interviewed.

Li Weifeng wiped the sweat on his face: "Of course we are sad now. Originally, we were going to make it to the final, but now it's not possible. I would like to express my gratitude to the Chinese fans, I am sure they will be proud of us. ”

Sun Jihai: "Brazil is already scared of us, they saw how we fought in the second half, I think they will be afraid of the Chinese team. I didn't know until after the game that Zheng Zhi's ball hit the lintel should have scored, so we had a chance to take the lead, but luck was on Brazil's side. Now, we will fight for third place, whether it is against Germany or South Korea, we will end up being third place! ”

Zheng Zhi was interviewed by Milan Sports Newspaper.

Reporter: "Can you talk about this game?" ”

Zheng Zhi: "Both sides played very well at the beginning and the game went smoothly, but we couldn't win the game in the end, Ronaldo scored a goal in the second half, and the Chinese team couldn't tie the score in the end, which is very regrettable. We will continue to work hard in the future. ”

Reporter: "But in the first half you had a shot that hit the lintel and the slow motion showed the ball had flown into the goal, what do you think about that?" ”

Zheng Zhi: "This is football, seriously, I can accept this penalty, because none of us can see whether the ball is scored or not, the referee is also a person, of course he is the same as us, but unfortunately the game can't be repeated, so there is no need to be so sorry, the Brazilian team attacked very fiercely today, we didn't concede more goals and we were lucky, if we didn't have an Ou Chuliang, maybe we would have lost more points, the same way, Ronaldo's goal was also very unexpected, we didn't expect him to shoot the ball in, It's all a very fortuitous thing, and football games look at the result, not the process, so I can accept the result. ”

Reporter: "Can you give us a brief comment?" ”

Ilkhan: "Hakan Suker is a very good player, we played a lot of good balls for him, but football is a very accidental thing and it is inevitable to miss chances, we did miss some chances. ”

Reporter: "Could you please talk about your view on the fight for third place?" ”

Zheng Zhi: "Yes, we still have a chance to fight for third place, we will play well, we will not think too much about the impact of this game, the Chinese team has been very successful." ”

……

Head coach Horton also talked a lot after the game:

"Our participation in the World Cup is like attending a big festival, we have made a deep impression on people, we have shown Chinese football to the world, we have achieved our goal, and I am very happy about that."

Speaking about the game, Houghton said: "I'm very proud of my players, they played really well in the game. The only regret today is that we have not been able to continue to bring joy to the Chinese people. ”

'We didn't take our chances to equalise. Still, this match was different from the first match against Brazil. Originally, our goal was to win the championship, but now we have to fight for third place. ”

'It's a great experience to play in the semi-finals of the World Cup and if we have the next chance, I'm sure we'll be in the final.'

'I think in the final Brazil will win easily, but if we get to the final, I also think we will win the title.'

……

Although the Brazilian team was also ecstatic, they expressed their respect for the Chinese team.

Head coach Scolari gave the Chinese team a very high evaluation.

He said: "We think the Chinese team is a very good opponent. They played very dedicatedly and their style of play was very characteristic. Just looking at their midfield and attack, it's definitely a world-class team! In the game, they created many chances. They were a very dangerous team, but we figured out their routine. ”

Speaking about Brazil's victory, Scolari said: "From the very beginning of the game I felt an uplifting power from the fans, the players and the players and I am sure the Brazilian fans will be very happy tonight we are very, very happy because we wanted to score more goals in the game but we couldn't do it. ”

Scolari continued: "We are very hungry for victory, but I would rather congratulate the Chinese team. It's a great achievement that they made it to the last four! ”

On Ronaldo, who was substituted on 68 minutes: "When I saw his new hairstyle at the training ground, I thought it was a positive sign. We know him too well that he doesn't have a problem with fatigue. He was replaced midway through the game for the sake of the final. ”

Ronaldo, the leading scorer, also said: "I have been very cautious about this game because the Chinese team has my best friend. We have to admit that he originally scored a beautiful world wave in the first half, but everyone didn't see clearly whether the ball went in, and the Chinese team should have taken the lead. He organized the Chinese team very well, they were a good team and deserved to reach the semi-finals. But we've always been strong in attack and always trying to score goals and if it wasn't for the world-class performance of their goalkeepers, I could have scored more. Anyway, we made it to the finals, and all we have to say sorry to my friends. ”

"My team-mates and I gave it 100 per cent and in the end we finally made it to the final and I'm very happy."

"We knew in '98 what it meant to be in a final, so now we have to stay focused but don't have to think too much about the game and make ourselves nervous."

Talking about his toe stabbing goal, Ronaldo also said happily, "It was a typical 'Romario-style' goal, although the way it was scored may seem casual, but it worked well, it was a very important goal. ”

'Romario and I are friends, so I remember him and the way he scored goals.

……

The semi-final was also quickly covered by the world's media.

Germany's "Der Spiegel Online": Zheng Zhi created a goal-line suspense, and Ronaldo's goal brought Brazil to the final for the seventh time and pushed the World Cup final to a climax. Although defeated, the Chinese wrote history, and they still have the third place to fight for!

Reuters: Ronaldo "stabbed" Brazil into the final with one kick. China's goalkeeper Ou Chuliang couldn't save the ball and allowed Brazil to win the fierce confrontation. It's a match they deserve to win and they'll be in the final for the seventh time. The Chinese team played smartly in the opening stages, and Zheng Zhi even created a goal-line suspense, but in the end they were dragged down by the Brazilian team's attack, and they were able to walk out of the stadium with their heads held high.

dpa: It was a battle between the genius of the Brazilians and the tight midfield organization of the Chinese, but the latter clearly lacked the Brazilian talent in attack and they wasted many chances to equalize. After a number of uneventful knockout games, the two teams finally delivered a good game for us, creating plenty of goalscoring opportunities and an impressive display in midfield. Luck was also on the side of the Brazilian team, Zheng Zhi's goal hitting the lintel did not count, and Ronaldo's dexterous blow finally brought the Brazilian team to the final!

The Italian newspaper Sport Milano today positioned the match as "a rather tense and exciting game", "a performance of two football geniuses". Admittedly, Ronaldo did well today, in addition to that brilliant goal, he also had many successful combinations with the rest of the team, and there were also a few beautiful assists up front, but he should be grateful to Zheng Zhi for the goal that hit the lintel, it was a perfect world wave......

"This World Cup seems to be a strange circle, the strong teams did not show their quality as they thought, but at the beginning of what people thought of as the "weak teams" played at the level, but today Ronaldo's performance broke the spell and his talent finally sent the strong Brazilian team to the final." But I have to say that Zheng Zhi originally hoped to give the Chinese team the lead, but unfortunately his goal that hit the lintel was recognized as not scoring, but this time the referee's decision was wrong, but the goal was really not clear......"

China Sina Sports: Although defeated, it is still glorious! We lost 1-0 to Brazil, but we actually led Brazil 1-0!

Sohu: The referee owes us a World Cup final!

Sports Weekly: We led Brazil 1-0 in the first half and 1-0 in the second half. Although we still lost the game in the end, we have reason to continue to look forward to the 2006 World Cup in Germany!

……

……

Two hours later, the other World Cup semi-final blew the whistle at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, and the game was rather boring, with South Korea taking advantage of home advantage to hold on until the 75th minute.

In the 75th minute, the German midfielder passed directly, Neuville successfully countered offside on the right, quickly crossed the bottom, Ballack and Bierhoff outflanked in place, Ballack pushed the inside of his right foot 12 meters in front of the goal, Li Yun blocked the ball with his legs when he fell to the ground, and Ballack did not pause with a volley on the inside of his left foot, hitting the lower right corner of the goal.

Unfortunately, Ballack, who scored the goal, will miss the final against Brazil.

In the end, Germany defeated South Korea 1-0 to reach the World Cup final for the seventh time, and will face Brazil for the title in Yokohama on June 30.

The Koreans could no longer rely on the help of the home team and the referee to move on, and their opponents in the battle for third and fourth place naturally became the Chinese team!

The media around the world cheered as Brazil and Germany met in the final.

French newspaper "Team Newspaper": The darlings of the final met for the first time in the final! Germany VS Brazil, both teams are super strong teams in the World Cup, they have both reached the final of the World Cup seven times, and now the German team has the opportunity to tie Brazil's record of four World Cup wins, lest Brazil win five World Cups and leave other teams in the dust.

England's Times: Brazil vs Germany, the world of football has finally come to its senses. However, it is different, the final is still the World Cup, and the third and fourth place finals have become an "Asian Cup".

ESPN: Brazil will beat Germany 2-0 in the final!

Marca, Spain's largest sports media, commented: Germany's young midfielder Ballack advanced his team to the final with his own goal in the 75th minute. However, he did not fully enjoy the team's reach for the final, as a yellow card he received in the game cost him the opportunity to play in the final. Can a German team without Ballack withstand the Brazilians' attack?

On the contrary, the German media did not believe that they made it to the final.

The basic reaction of the German media after Germany's victory over South Korea to reach the World Cup final was to be very happy, but the online editions of some newspapers still hinted at the surprise and skepticism that the German team reached the final.

The Cologne Express noted: "The German team will at least finish second in the World Cup, and honestly, who would dare to make such a bet beforehand? In an article titled "Yes, we made it to the final", the newspaper argued that although the critics were not optimistic about the German team, the German team did get a chance to tie Brazil and win the World Cup for the fourth time.

The article also states: "Worrall will certainly earn a place in the temple of football, and after Beckenbauer, he is expected to become only the second man to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach." ”

The newspaper also noted that Ballack, who scored the winning goal for Germany in the 75th minute, was a "tragic hero" and received another yellow card in the semi-final, which will see him miss the World Cup final on Sunday due to two yellow cards. Previously, Ballack also scored the winning goal for Germany against the United States.

The online edition of Der Spiegel also pointed out that it was thanks to Worrall's leadership that the German team was able to reach the final: "The world used to laugh at our football, now it's our turn to laugh, but we laugh because we are happy." ”

"The unthinkable happened, Germany reached the final of the 17th World Cup," Die Welt. According to Die Welt, the German players continued the tradition of the German team at the World Cup, and although the last minutes of the game were nerve-wracking, today's semi-final was the best game of the World Cup for the German team.

Kicker: Germany improved significantly today compared to the previous two games against Paraguay and the United States, with Worrall's players being more agile and active against a very tired South Korean side, unaffected by the atmosphere at home of the opposition.

……

……

In Asia, the Chinese team and the South Korean team had to fight again. Both teams represent Asia, and whoever wins the tournament will make new history for Asia, and the losing side will suffer more humiliation.

And the South Korean team definitely doesn't want to meet the Chinese team, they suffer from Sinophobia.

However, after reaching the semi-finals, the mentality of Koreans has indeed changed dramatically compared to the past.

After the defeat to Germany, the mood of the South Korean players seemed surprisingly calm. Korean fans also expressed their understanding and acceptance of this achievement. For South Korea, who reached the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time, the only goal now is to play a good battle with China and finish third. The battle for third and fourth place may not be as emotional and exciting as the championship and runner-up match, but South Korea's head coach Guus Hiddink still said that he wants to prove himself again with third place.

For the South Korean team, which has always supported itself with patriotism, the only reason for the battle with the Chinese team is that the South Korean team has not won against the Chinese team for four consecutive years, and hopes to avenge their revenge in this World Cup. Perhaps only with such a slogan can the fans have more passion.

Although it was normal to lose to Germany, the defeat still made the South Korean players who were eager to pack up for Japan, so they hoped to repay all the Korean fans who followed them and draw a successful end to South Korea's World Cup journey by achieving good results in the third and fourth place finals.

At present, all 68,000 tickets for the third and fourth finals have been sold out, which is definitely quite bad news for Chinese fans, because most of the tickets have gone into the hands of Korean fans, and the Chinese team has only got more than 1,000 tickets, which means that Daegu Stadium will definitely become the most terrifying home stadium for the Korean team!

Even if they played at the home stadium of the South Korean team before, the Chinese team could at least get five or six thousand tickets, but this time the Koreans really used the means, and they couldn't buy them anyway. In order to help the South Korean team defeat the Chinese team and win the third place, perhaps the whole of South Korea has been mobilized.

Although many Chinese fans cruised outside the Daegu stadium in advance, trying to buy tickets at high prices through scalpers and other channels, they still found nothing......

The Chinese team arrived in Daegu, South Korea, where the third and fourth places were played on the night of the semi-finals, but everyone looked exhausted and they walked listlessly out of the airport and headed straight for the hotel.

That evening, head coach Horton refused to be interviewed by all media reporters, and the team closed its doors after dinner in the hotel.

According to the hotel's service staff, the floor where the Chinese team is located is quiet, and most of the people are sleeping in the room.

The officials of the delegation have instructed the hotel to avoid any possible interference with the rest of the team, and for this reason, the cleaning of the floors where the Chinese team is stationed has been changed to manual operation, and all vacuum cleaners and other modern tools that may make noise have been banned.

Most of the fans around the hotel were also invited to a distance of dozens of meters, and the security guards were even ordered not to let the fans make loud noises. Police cars are not allowed to use sirens and loudspeakers.

In the afternoon of the next day, the Chinese team resumed training, but the content of the training was relatively simple.

Horton re-interviewed the media: "The task of the Chinese team is to win the third place in this World Cup, and the team is feeling good after the break. ”

"South Korea have a very strong team and they have a very clear home advantage. The Korean fans are very passionate and crazy, and I have never seen fans like this. Hiddink is a very smart coach, and it is not unrelated to the fact that the Korean team has achieved the results they have today. ”

'They beat some of the traditional European powerhouses and lost by just one goal to Germany and played really well in the game. The Chinese team also lost to the Brazilian team by one goal, and the game was equally beautiful. We are evenly matched and I think it will be a very intense game. ”

But then he changed his tune.

"But I don't want this game to be swayed by the referee......"

Horton is still worried about the referee.

"If the referee doesn't play the main role, I think we will play against South Korea!"

In the 3rd and 4th finals between the South Korean team and the Chinese team, none of the 4 referees were from Europe. The referee was Mani from Kuwait, the linesmen were Saudi Arabia's Teraf and Canada's Vogara, and Mexico's Ramos was the fourth official.

In the previous games in which the South Korean team participated, the referee issue has always been the focus of attention, and in the battle for the 3rd and 4th places, FIFA actually sent a Kuwaiti referee who is also in Asia, and it is unknown whether there is a suspicion of black box operation. Only when the final result of the game is out can we make a conclusion......

Horton's voice was fairly gentle.

The players' voices are just harsher.

Zheng Zhi said in an interview with Japan's Asahi Shimbun: "Both China and Japan have performed very well in this World Cup, and both teams have played through their own strength. ”

"Japan will be China's strongest opponent in Asia, and the two teams represent the highest level of Asia."

Then he looked ahead to the third- and fourth-place finals.

"I thought the opponent would be a strong team from South America or Europe,"

"I'm so disappointed."

"What does the Korean team have? Boasting about their physical fitness? We have what the Korean team has, and what we have, they don't. ”

"So, even though we made it to the last four, what if we can't beat South Korea?"

"That is simply the greatest humiliation in the history of Chinese football, and it is also the biggest insult to world football!"

……

The content of such an interview must have spread quickly to Koreans.

Even the bigwigs of the Korean Football Association were furious.

"Zheng Zhi, as a world-class star, doesn't know what respect is at all!"

"I'm disappointed!"

"South Korea's reach to the semi-finals was achieved through the hard work of the players, not as rumored to be!"

South Korean fans climbed over the wall and frantically scolded Zheng Zhi on the Chinese portals Sina and Whoosh Arc, and before the game had even started, the fans took the lead in launching a big war between the two countries......

……

Before the arrival of the 3rd and 4th places, the media around the world also predicted the game and ridiculed the South Korean team.

Reuters: Who will have the last laugh in the battle for Asia? One is China, which can almost beat Brazil, and the other is playing at home, perhaps, it should be the referee who will change the balance of the game?

AFP: If you look at the odds offered by Spinach, the victory should belong to China, but if you look at the past plot, maybe South Korea is closer to third place.

AP: Thankfully, the finals belong to South America and Europe, and the third and fourth places go to Asia, so the results don't matter anymore.

Despite South Korea's home advantage and the potential factor of refereeing, Spinach is overwhelmingly optimistic that China will win third place.

Maybe it's because of past records?

Anyway, the major spinach companies in Europe are one-sided optimistic about the Chinese team, and they opened a handicap for the Chinese team to let one goal, which means that the South Korean team will definitely lose the game?

……