Chapter 825: The Battle of the Final Four!
After the game, Horton picked up two soccer balls from the sidelines, gave two flying kisses to all the spectators, and kicked the balls to the spectators. When he walked out of the passage of the stadium, he was stopped by a reporter from CCTV and was interviewed.
Horton's emotions looked a little agitated, his eyes glistening with tears, and his voice trembled as he spoke. "I can't put into words how I feel right now, I'm proud of the lads, they're all good boys to me!"
Horton was even more uncontrollable than he was after the last victory over Japan, "I didn't sit down for 90 minutes, and now I want to go back and rest, open the bottle and celebrate with the children, you should interview them, they are the heroes of the day!" β
"This is the most important day of our lives, Chinese football has reached the highest peak in history, and everyone who cares about and loves Chinese football has contributed to this moment. Our performance was great! We've been doing well before that. Today is a continuation of success. We have shown Chinese football to the world. Anyway, now it's time to focus on the next game. β
"Don't ask me about my tactics now, it's not like it's a mess in my head, I think I and the players need to rest and see how we play in the future. Celebration is tomorrow's thing, leave it to those lovely fans to plan! β
Speaking of this, Horton almost burst into tears, he looked back fondly at the fans in the stands who still refused to leave, and said to the camera: "I also want to thank the fans who always cheer us on, they are so cute, I love them!" At this point, the camera panned to the stands, where many Chinese fans waved flags with Horton's name and T-shirts with his face on them.
Tonight China will be sleepless again, and Chinese will sing all the way until dawn......
Fan Zhiyi, the captain of the Chinese team who watched the game from the bench, also said excitedly: "Our national team played so well. Now we have to face Brazil again. We were tied in the last game and now we have a chance to prove ourselves again. β
"It was the best game we've played since this World Cup. Our team members work closely together. We said we would go further if we could qualify from the group. Now it is a pleasure to fulfill that promise. Next we are going to face Brazil. We're going to give it our all to get to the finals. Our victory has earned us the respect of all. There are those who support us and those who don't. We will use our strength on the pitch to speak to those who have not supported us. β
Li Weifeng, who was sweating, had a little roll on his tongue: "We are so excited." But we are well aware that this next game against Brazil will be different from the last time we played them. They'll give it their all, too, but they're not invulnerable either. So the chances of winning are equal. β
Li Yin also floated: "We played a wonderful game. We're going to beat them well against Brazil. β
Zheng Zhi, who scored the only goal, also couldn't contain his excitement: "We played the best game since the start of the game. β
'We're happy to be able to do that and we're aiming for the final now.'
When asked if the Chinese team would be able to prevent Brazil from reaching the final, Zheng Zhi said: "Why not? We drew them in the group stage, and although it was a tough process, this time we will do better, 11 against 11, and I think the chances are equal for both sides. β
'The game against Brazil will be different from the previous games, we know each other very well and they will definitely cause us problems in the game, but we have experience in the group stage.
"We're not afraid of Brazil, they've won four World Cups, but we're not afraid of them, we're not afraid of any opponent. Maybe this time they will be afraid of us. β
'We're only 180 minutes away from winning the World Cup and if we continue to be confident, anything can happen.'
Zheng Zhidu floated ......
Of course, at this time, he must boost morale, he can't pour cold water, although the dream is very ethereal, but they have all reached the top four, what else can not be said?
"Sports Weekly" reported for the first time - "China has entered the semi-finals!" βγ The Chinese team, which broke into the World Cup for the first time, staged a wonderful show today between Senegal, the biggest dark horse of the World Cup. From the start of the game, both teams showed good possession of the ball, and soon Senegal had a shot on goal, but the efforts of the Chinese defenders did not form a goal. China's threatening attack began in the 25th minute after the opening kick-off. Until the 43rd minute, Zheng Zhi, the core of the Chinese team, took advantage of a set-piece opportunity to complete the goal, and he copied Ronaldinho's wonderful hanging shot the day before, and the goalkeeper couldn't reach it!
Sina Sports reported on the victory just achieved by the Chinese team with the title of "We have entered the semi-finals". The whole country of China cheered for it, and Chinese football reached unprecedented heights. Chinese all over the world are fighting for this historic victory, and all Turks at this moment forget about the economic downturn and pour into the streets to celebrate.
Soarc.com reported that the Chinese team defeated Senegal 1-0 to advance to the semifinals. Will face Brazil again in the semi-finals. Senegal went on the offensive for 90 minutes but did not find the back of the net. Zheng Zhi, the commander of the Chinese team, eliminated Senegal with a free kick to send the Chinese team to the semi-finals, thus achieving a historic victory.
"People's Daily" - "China plays Brazil again", reported that the Chinese national team played quite hard in today's game, but the team united and united, and finally sent the Chinese team to the semi-finals with a free kick by Zheng Zhi, the football hero of the Chinese team. The following Chinese team will face the old enemy Brazil team on the 26th of this month.
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There has also been a crazy report on the Chinese team internationally.
Although the Japanese team was eliminated by the Chinese team, the Japanese media still reported the game more objectively.
Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" said that as a new team in the World Cup, the Chinese team and Senegal, as new faces in the World Cup finals, entered the top eight, which should be said to be very rare, and they entered the quarterfinals completely by their own strength, unlike some teams that rely on referees to help. What's even more exciting is that one of the two new faces of the World Cup will inevitably make it to the last four of the World Cup, which will be a strong stroke in the history of their own national football, and the quarter-finals between the two teams who also advocate attack will inevitably collide with fierce sparks.
The Yomiuri Shimbun believes that in the first half, the Senegal team relied on superb individual skills to attack the Chinese team's defense with quick attacks, while the Chinese team relied on the overall organization and the advantage of the control zone in the midfield. Senegal have more chances, but they lack a decisive goalscorer! The Chinese team has Zheng Zhi, the world footballer, and Zheng Zhi's free kick decided everything.
The headline of the British Guardian review article was "Zheng Zhi lights the road to Brazil". Zheng Zhi's 43rd-minute free-kick sent China to the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time, where they will face their group stage rivals Brazil on Wednesday, according to the article.
Italy's "Milan Sports Newspaper" said in a review article that Zheng Zhi's free kick made the Chinese team play the semifinals, and they will meet Brazil again in the semifinals! With Italy already eliminated from the competition, the Chinese team has now become the object of support from the Italians.
Spain's "Marca" newspaper said that China defeated Senegal 1:0, showing the strength to win the championship, but their opponent is Brazil in the group stage, Brazil is now the biggest favorite to win the championship, in terms of the performance of the group stage, it is difficult for the Chinese team to break through the Brazilian team.
Reuters: "Zheng Zhi's goal cleared the Chinese team". According to the article, the match between China and Senegal went on quickly, but it was clear that the Chinese team, which had superstar Zheng Zhi, was superior, and with Zheng Zhi's goal, they successfully reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in history.
Argentina's "Ole" - "Zheng Zhi led the Chinese team to the semifinals". The two World Cup newcomers battled for 90 minutes to decide the winner, with the goal coming from Zheng Zhi, the World Footballer of the Year, whose free-kick knocked on Senegal's door. China now face Brazil in Wednesday's semi-finals, which will be a repeat of the fierce group stage clash between the two teams, in which the two teams were tied.
French newspaper "Team Newspaper" - Senegal's wonderful World Cup journey was brought to an end by Zheng Zhi's free-kick. Senegal failed to surpass Cameroon's success at the World Cup 12 years ago and stopped in the quarter-finals. It is indeed amazing that the powerful Chinese are in the final four.
dpa: Although the match was not spectacular, the victory of the Chinese team was undoubted. Fierce midfield battles and rough shooting techniques made it possible for just 90 minutes of the game to score just one goal. The Chinese are more possessive and Diouf of the African Footballer only occasionally shows his talent, but the World Footballer solves everything with one kick and his free-kick makes history.
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Brazil is the most sensational.
Global Sports β China Again?!
- In the Confederations Cup and the World Cup, we and the Chinese team have both tied each other, and now it is the third meeting, and we can't let go of the Chinese team anymore! Stepping past the Chinese team, we will reach the World Cup finals for the third time in a row!
- The luck of the Chinese team will not be so good, our striker will not miss the opportunity to score, this time we must kill the Chinese team!
The Brazilian media is extremely helpless against the Chinese team, the first two times when the Brazilian team has the advantage, the Chinese team has forced the Chinese team to draw by swinging the bus, and this time they are even more sharpened.
"Brazil 2002" sports network commented: Although the Brazilian team has a certain psychological advantage, the comeback of the Chinese team should not be underestimated, and their strength and style of play pose a greater threat to the Brazilian team than the England team. The Chinese team has a strong style and fierce scrambles, which is what the Brazilian big names who are known for their skills are worried about. The biggest advantage of the Chinese team is that they have no pressure, breaking into the semi-finals is already a big gain for the Chinese team, as the so-called barefoot is not afraid of wearing shoes, the Brazilian team must not overturn in the gutter!
However, "Brazil 2002" still found a reason for Brazil's qualification, which had faced England in the past in three World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1970, and eventually won the championship. England is Brazil's "lucky boy", and Brazil once again kicked away this "happy enemy" in the quarterfinals, laying the foundation for the Samba Corps to ascend to the throne for the fifth time. In addition, Brazil has been crowned king four times in the past, and there have been earthquakes in each of the host countries, such as the earthquake that killed nearly 10,000 people in Mexico after Brazil won the trophy in 1970, and the tragedy of the earthquake in Los Angeles in 1994 before Brazil became the dominant force of the United States. A slight earthquake struck Tokyo, Japan, last week, which could be a harbinger of Brazil's victory......
However, the current Brazilian team is not as optimistic as the media thinks, as suspensions and injuries are affecting them.
Ronal Nidio is sure to miss the semi-finals, while ace scorer Ronaldo could also miss out due to injury. After Brazil's 2-1 win over England, Ronaldo felt pain in his right thigh muscle, and the Brazilian team doctor asked him to get a good rest.
Brazilian team doctor Rasmar said it was too early to draw conclusions about his injury, and the first thing he had to do now was to take a break, and they would be watching his injury.
But the stubborn Ronaldo himself said that he would definitely play in the semi-finals, that he had plenty of time to recover and that there was nothing to worry about.
Ronaldo was also interviewed by Global Sports when he learned that the opponent was China, and I actually knew for a long time that we would meet again, and after the draw with China in the group stage, I met Zheng Zhi again in the semi-finals. It's a good deal, but this time Brazil will definitely have the last laugh, and I can only regret Zheng in advance, because Brazil have to reach the final and win the World Cup!
When Ronaldo said this, his eyes were full of murderous energy. No one is more hungry for the final than him, and he's been waiting for four years! No, if it was from 1994, he had been waiting for two feet for eight years! In eight years, he wanted to win a fifth Hercules Cup for Brazil.
But manager Scolari is not as sharp as Ronaldo, he does not dare to be arrogant. In an interview with reporters, he has been emphasizing that the Chinese team is impactful and has dangerous killers.
"Who do you think is the most dangerous player in the Chinese team?" The reporter asked.
"There is no doubt about it, Zheng!" The old man with a serious face did not hesitate, and immediately spit out Zheng Zhi's name, "He is too dangerous!" Without him, the Chinese team would not have reached the semi-finals. He and Ronaldo are of the same rank! He's one of the greatest midfielders and I'm going to focus on him. β
Scolari not only commented on Zheng Zhi, he also mentioned Qu Peng.
'The number seven is a fairly fast player and he can also cause huge problems for our backline.
'I don't need to say anything, there is no doubt about this player's ability.
"There's also the number nine, he's a striker who plays in the Bundesliga, and he's pretty good at scoring goals."
"Number 11,"
'But I'm glad that their number five and number eight are injured, which is a huge blow to their defense and the best news for us.
"Of course, what impressed me the most was their number one, the Arsenal goalkeeper's save was so exaggerated and I don't want him to play well again this time! I even have to think about it, should I ask the wizard to curse him? β
This is good, that is good, Scolari frantically touted his opponent, and the more Chinese reporters listened, the more energetic they became......
Scolari also spoke about the referee.
"I don't think there's anything to complain about." Scolari said with a tone of defence for the referee, "Penalty problems are common in games, and in international competitions such as the World Cup, it is even more difficult for the referee to level the bowl. I don't think they've been as over-the-top as the outside world has commented on. β
In the end, he still showed his ambition:
'We're not an upset, we didn't do well in qualifying, but we're back in full shape at the World Cup and we've got to where we are today. This World Cup has indeed left a lot of regrets for many people, but luckily we are not one of them. β
"The next race was tough, but I swear we'll make it to the end. We are not afraid of any difficulties. β
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Although facing the strongest Brazil, the Chinese team's preparation atmosphere is still quite relaxed.
At Omiya Stadium, after more than 50 minutes of confrontation training for the Chinese team, it was already drizzling in the stadium. But everyone refused to finish training and began to practice frantically on penalty shoots. Obviously, they had envisaged the game as very difficult and were even ready for penalty shoot-outs.
Zheng Zhi was the first to walk to the penalty spot, and then he tapped it with his right foot, and the ball hung into the left corner, and goalkeeper Ou Chuliang gave him a thumbs up. The second penalty kick was Shao Jiayi, who was very his feet, this guy ran for a while, but he pushed the ball into the goal very gently, Ou Chuliang, who was in the wrong direction, couldn't cry and laughed, and Shao Jiayi, who made a prank, laughed proudly.
The funniest thing is Qu Peng, this guy who loves to dribble in front of the penalty kick, seems to be fantasizing that he has successfully broken through the defense of the opponent's 10 players before knocking the ball into the corner.
Surprisingly, many international players, including Li Weifeng, Qi Hong, Zhao Junzhe, etc., did not score penalties. At this time, many reporters asked why they didn't score a penalty and if they wanted to keep a hand. Unexpectedly, these guys had the cheekiness to complain about the potholes in the turf of the Omiya Park Stadium, which led to their missed penalty.
However, Horton would not allow the players to slip under his nose, his eyes widened, his mustache cocked and he said angrily, "Everybody give me 100 push-ups and then 10 laps around the field!" β
The players who wanted to play around were dumbfounded, and hurriedly begged to give themselves another chance to take a penalty, and if they didn't score again, they were willing to do 200 push-ups and run 20 laps around the field. As a result, the gang all escaped punishment.
Just as Horton turned to leave, Li Weifeng and Zhao Junzhe winked at goalkeeper Ou Chuliang. It turned out that although Ou Chuliang deliberately pretended to use the strength of milk to save the penalty, he actually released the water......
After the training, Zheng Zhi was interviewed and talked about the semi-finals against the Brazilian team, first laughing mischievously and saying: "We don't ask for much, let's win three goals!" β
Seeing the Brazilian reporter's eyes that were bigger than eggs, Zheng Zhile was happy, and then said: "It's going to be a pretty tough game, but we will try to disrupt the rhythm of the Brazilian team." β
"Ronaldinho is suspended and Ronaldo could also be out injured, so that's good news for you, right?"
Zheng Zhi said with a wicked smile: "Ronaldo is not injured, the reporters are writing nonsense...... This is a smoke bomb set off by Scolari, and our Fan Zhiyi and Li Yin were also injured, which hit us harder, so it was Brazil that took advantage. β
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Outside the Chinese team camp in Saitama, many Chinese team fans are always waiting here. Most of these people followed the team and traveled from Osaka for four or five hours to Saitama.
They chatted about Zheng Zhi, and a middle-aged man immediately shouted at the top of his voice: "Zheng Zhi is the greatest football star?" Know the stars? The star is the person who creates miracles in key games, and I can bet you that it is Zheng Zhi who will send the Chinese team to the final on the 26th! β
He has a reason to be infatuated with Zheng Zhi, he said: "He has this ability, he has never let us down, whether it is in China, or in Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen or Inter Milan, he has always been at the top, he looks down on the world. β
He said: "The Chinese team should use a stable formation to deal with Brazil, in the first few games, our team has been very flexible, sometimes there is only Yang Chen in the striker, sometimes Yang Chen and Su Maozhen go hand in hand, and sometimes Qu Peng also moves forward. There is nothing wrong with being flexible, but against a team as experienced and capable as Brazil, only by stabilizing the formation can it be equal to stabilizing the midfield. You know, Zheng Zhi in the midfield decides the team! β
Of course, there are also Chinese fans who have a more pessimistic attitude towards the semi-finals, and two girls who came to watch the game from China said: "If those two Rs can't play, this is the most beneficial news for the Chinese team, at this time, Zheng Zhi will play the role of a star and give the Brazilians a fatal blow." β
The two R's, of course, are Ronaldinho and Ronaldo......
In the eyes of Spinach, there is not much suspense in this semi-final.
The latest odds from the UK's William Hill bookmaker are unanimously favoured by Brazil. The specific odds are:
Brazil won 1.44, drew 3.75 after 90 minutes, and China won 6.00
First goal for Brazil: Ronaldo 3.50, Rivaldo 4.00, Denilson 10.00, Carlos 15.00, Juninho 17.00;
Scored the first goal for the Chinese team: Zheng Zhi 5.00, Qu Peng 11.00, Yang Chen 12.00, Su Maozhen 17.00, Shao Jiayi 21.00......
This look is quite unoptimistic about the Chinese team? And it was 90 minutes to settle the battle......
Although Zheng Zhi is a midfielder, he is the most likely choice for the Chinese team to score, he has scored five goals as a midfielder, maybe he still has the possibility of winning the top scorer?
And the battle for the Golden Boot award in this tournament is likely to show its first signs after this game.
Judging from the current scorer list, there are four people who are most likely to win the title of top scorer. China's Zheng Zhi, Germany's goalscorer Klose and Brazil's Rivaldo all scored five goals, with Ronaldo leading the way with six.
Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly the favourite to score six goals in the tournament and has crossed the six-goal threshold since the '78 World Cup.
Of course, Zheng Zhi, Klose and Rivaldo also have a chance. As a midfielder, Zheng Zhi's data is already quite awesome.
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On the 26th, the day finally arrived.
Brazil starting line-up: goalkeeper Marcos; defenders Lucio, Edmilson, Roque JΓΊnior; midfielders Cafu, Gilberto, Kleberson, Carlos, Rivaldo; Forwards: Kaka, Ronaldo.
China's starting lineup: goalkeeper Ou Chuliang; defenders Xu Yunlong, Sun Jihai, Li Weifeng, Sun Xiang; midfielders Zheng Zhi, Shao Jiayi, Zhao Junzhe, Qu Peng, Qi Hong; Yang Chen.
The temperature of the stadium was 17 degrees Celsius, the wind speed was 0.2 meters per second, the weather was cloudy, and the humidity was 87%. The referee was Danish Nelson......
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