As the date of the World Cup opener draws closer, Russian cities are becoming more and more lively.

Tens of thousands of fans from all over the world have gathered in Russia to celebrate the festival for all fans.

In the world of football, the meaning of the World Cup is different.

In the beginning, the tournament represented the highest level of world football.

However, later, with the development of professional football and the entry of capital, a large number of star players gathered in high-level European leagues. Among them, as a representative, it is widely known as the English, French, German, Italian and Spanish leagues.

With the influx of high-level players from all over the world, the level of European football leagues is getting higher and higher.

In particular, the big clubs that have achieved brilliant results in their respective leagues have their own luxurious squads, which can rival the strength of any world-class national team. The matches between these giant clubs, such as the Spanish derby, the Italian derby, etc., were once considered to be the highest level of competition in the world, leading the culture and tradition of world football.

The UEFA Champions League, because it gathers the top teams in Europe and the most outstanding teams in current form, has naturally become the highest level of competition in European football and even world football.

Many people believe that the knockout stage of the Champions League is close to, or even surpasses, many World Cup games.

And the final of the Champions League, the intensity of the competition is no less than the final of the World Cup.

In terms of the influence of the football world, the World Cup undoubtedly occupies the first-mover advantage, which is the origin of countless fans' fascination with football. However, the Champions League, as a rising star, is also rising rapidly, and its influence and competitiveness are approaching, or even partially surpassing the World Cup.

But even so, even if one day the Champions League surpasses the World Cup in all competitions, this event will not completely replace the World Cup.

The reason is simple.

The World Cup is a tournament at the national team level.

It's like the Olympics.

The Olympics may not be a competition that represents the highest level of competition, but his position is still unique.

The national team competition, the national sentiment it can contain, and the deep meaning it can contain, are completely incomparable to the competition with individuals and clubs as the participating units.

This is like saying that when Liu Xiang won the championship at the World Athletics Championships and won personal honors; It is completely different from the feeling he brought to the Chinese when he was racing and winning medals in the Olympics.

When the five-star red flag in the Olympic Games was raised in the rousing national anthem, every honor Liu Xiang won was no longer just the glory of him alone, and all the 1.4 billion Chinese could also feel that kind of emotion, that kind of excitement, that kind of pride, and that kind of pride.

This is the sense of collective honor that the national team can carry.

That's why big events like the Olympics and the Football World Cup are so appealing.

He gave every ordinary person a sense of participation and substitution.

Or even a sense of mission.

Everyone can feel proud of the results of their national team, and they can also feel frustrated by the fact that the national team is not going well.

This strong sense of participation cannot be brought about in the Champions League.

Even though the Champions League may have a higher level of players and teams, and more exciting and higher-level competitions, the World Cup is still a World Cup. The World Cup not only belongs to the fans, but also belongs to the countries to which the 32 participating teams belong, and even to ordinary fans and ordinary people all over the world.

Say so much.

Actually, in a word.

For Chu Ge, the World Cup can bring points of appreciation that are incomparable to all other competitions.

It was a carnival for the whole people.

……

On June 14, the opening match of this World Cup officially kicked off in Moscow, the capital of Russia.

The match was played between the host country, Russia, and the Saudi Arabian team from Asia.

At the opening ceremony, the legendary Spanish goalkeeper and Real Madrid legend Casillas brought the Hercules Cup to the venue. The upbeat opening song and dance immersed the audience and swayed to the rhythm.

After that, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the stage to deliver a speech.

This is also the first time in the history of the World Cup that a head of state delivered a speech at the opening ceremony!

I have to say that the Russians attach great importance to this World Cup.

You can get a glimpse of the opponents they picked in their opener.

Saudi Arabia has always been at the top of the food chain in Asia, and its strength is still high. However, the team's results in the World Cup are a bit difficult to describe.

They are the only team to have suffered a four-goal or more rout in three consecutive World Cups.

In 1998, they lost 4-0 to France.

Zinedine Zidane was playing for France at the time.

Subsequently, in 02, Saudi Arabia was slaughtered by Germany 0:8. In 06, they lost 0:4 to Ukraine. In the subsequent World Cup in South Africa and the World Cup in Brazil, Saudi Arabia failed to qualify. This year's World Cup in Russia is the second time they have entered the World Cup finals after missing two World Cups.

Thereupon.

They lost by a big margin again.

0：5。

Cheryshev and Golovin became heroes to the Russians, and perhaps the only bright spot for Saudi Arabia was the pair of hands that were inadvertently revealed by the disappointed sheikhs in the stands.

Everyone else wears rings by hand.

They are rings worn by hand.

……

Russia got off to a good start.

so

What about Huaxia?

Seeing the Russian national team sweep Saudi Arabia with a score of 5:0, Chinese fans couldn't help but look forward to the match between China and Sweden three days later.

In this group of Huaxia, the division of power among the four teams, and the weakest team is basically not disputed.

There is no dispute about the strongest team.

The only disagreement may be between Sweden and Mexico.

Considering the line-ups of the two teams, as well as their respective results in international competitions, it is generally possible that Mexico's style of football will be restrained by Sweden, but they should be better than Sweden in terms of content and strength on the field.

Then the question arises.

In this World Cup, many Chinese fans expect the national football team to surpass the results of the last World Cup.

That is, at least one goal.

If you can get a point, it will be even better.

So, with the knowledge that Sweden is likely to be third in the power rankings, there is a natural expectation among many.

Can Sweden score a goal?

Even, is there any chance of trying to draw with Sweden?

There was a lot of discussion about this in the media and fans in China.

When Sweden saw Huaxia as the target of this group's points, they probably did not expect that this weak opponent was also eyeing them and trying something.

When you gaze into the abyss,

The abyss was grinning, too.

……

Su Qingqing came to the airport in Jiangcheng in the night sky.

The day after tomorrow will be the match between China and Sweden.

After successfully completing the meeting with the relevant leaders, she immediately stepped on the plane to Russia, ready to watch Chu Ge's World Cup debut.

Along the way, she saw many Chinese fans, all of whom went in the same direction as her.

Almost at the same time.

Chu Ge and Zidane walked out of the hotel room at the same time.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

In the room they walked out of, the staff of CCTV's "World Football" program team were still busy.

This is the filming of a documentary specially prepared by the World Football Column Group for this World Cup and Chu Ge.

Before communicating with Chu Ge, they had worried about whether they would encounter rejection.

At the head of the World Cup, all work is focused on the task of the World Cup. If Chu Ge is worried about being influenced by the outside world and refuses the interview and recording request of the program team, this is also completely reasonable.

However, Chu Ge did not.

In fact, a certain degree of cooperation with the filming work during the competition is also one of the athletes' own jobs.

For players and coaches who have experience and mental qualities, this is not a problem for them.

For example, in that season of Real Madrid, in order to cooperate with the filming of the Real Madrid club's championship documentary, a number of Real Madrid big-name players, including Ronaldo and Ramos, including Chu Ge, participated in the filming of the club's documentary. Even on the day of the Champions League final, the club's staff will still film the players departing from the hotel and arriving at the stadium, and even the pre-match preparation, halftime, post-game celebration and other links of the game, there will also be a certain degree of participation.

With that experience, Chu Ge did not reject the recording request of the world's football program group.

For his national team teammates, it may be a little difficult to participate in the World Cup and cooperate with the media to record the program. But Chu Ge would not have such concerns.

To be honest, he himself is very interested in Tianzu's copywriting level.

He was very curious about what kind of copywriting Tianzu would use when playing this part of the World Cup about himself.

Today's recording is the beginning of the whole documentary.

Chu Ge was very relaxed.

In the face of the interview with Satin, he briefly reviewed his career in football.

In this interview, Satinxuan asked Chu Ge an interesting question.

"Do you think you are a hero of Chinese football?"

"I ask this because a lot of people have discussed it. Many people think that your appearance has brought the dawn of light to Chinese football, you have brought unprecedented opportunities to Chinese football, and you have also helped the national team to break into this World Cup, and you are undoubtedly an outstanding hero. I'm curious, what do you think about this topic, do you think you are a hero of Chinese football? ”

Satin Xuan looked at Chu Ge with some curiosity.

Until this year, Chu Ge had just turned twenty years old. However, the youngster is already widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, and many even consider him to be the best performer in the world this year and the strongest contender for the European Ballon d'Or.

However, the domestic media still does not know him well enough.

Satin Xuan was looking forward to how Chu Ge would answer this question.

"Heroes?"

Chu Ge paused for a moment.

He is called a genius, he is called Boss Chu, and some people call him Chu Dog, but he is still a little unfamiliar with the title of hero.

"I don't know exactly how to define the word hero."

"I didn't want to be a hero in the past, I just did my job seriously and did my best, that's all."

"However, if Chinese football needs a person to be a hero, and if becoming a hero is the expectation of fans, then I will be."

……

After the opening match, the World Cup group matches began with this.

Three matches were played on June 15.

Egypt lost to Uruguay by one goal.

Iran beat Morocco by a single goal to get their first win for an Asian team.

The highlight of the day will undoubtedly be Portugal's battle against Spain.

Before this game, Real Madrid made big news.

They backstabbed the Spanish Football Federation by announcing in advance that the head coach of the Spanish national team, Julen Lopetegui, will be the head coach of Real Madrid for the new season after the World Cup.

may be worried that this news will affect the morale of the Spanish international, and it is more likely that he was unhappy because he was stabbed in the back, and the Spanish Football Federation did not stop doing nothing and directly fired Lopetegui.

Real Madrid legend Hierro quickly took office as a firefighting coach.

The direct result of the temporary change of coach was a 3:3 draw between Spain and Portugal.

In this game, Ronaldo became the focus of attention of all fans.

Especially when he took the direct free-kick, when he lifted his pants to show his thick leg hair, the first classic moment of this World Cup was born.

Chu Ge is in Group F, and the first match was played on June 17.

The match is played by two favourites in this group.

Germany and Mexico.

In the first game of the group stage, there was a big upset.

Defending champions Germany overturned.

They lost 0-1 to Mexico and caused a big upset.

Despite the widespread perception that Mexico are the second strongest team in the group, even second-placed Mexico will be unlikely to be favored when they meet Germany.

In the last World Cup, the scene of Germany bloodbathing Brazil in Brazil is still vivid in people's minds.

They are widely regarded as one of the favourites to win this World Cup.

No one could have imagined that the favourite's first defeat would come so quickly.

It's like a tornado.

As soon as this game ended, countless gambling dogs lined up on the rooftop.

……

"Did the German team lose?"

When he learned this result, Chu Ge was a little surprised.

He glanced at the contacts on his phone, remembered Cross's previous rhetoric, and couldn't help but feel a little magical.

The media in Huaxia was also in an uproar.

They have analyzed the beneficial or negative impact of Germany's unexpected loss on the national football team.

After some heated discussions, they came to the conclusion that:

It has nothing to do with me.

As the most consistent team in this group, our biggest advantage over Germany is decades of consistency.

Never let the fans worry about it.

It's like the German team.

Their sudden loss, remembering the sad appearance of the German fans, the Chinese fans did not fluctuate in their hearts, and even wanted to laugh a little.

……

Chu Ge did not contact Cross, nor did he contact Little Pea.

He soon stopped paying attention to the match between Germany and Mexico, and he didn't have time to follow them.

Because.

His World Cup debut is about to start soon.

This is also the World Cup debut of this national football team.

The World Cup in '02 is too far away from now, and none of the players who participated in that World Cup have been selected for this World Cup.

This is a new team for the ship.

If there is any connection, the only one is the old national team Qu Chuliang, who participated in the 02 World Cup, and now as the goalkeeper coach of the national football team, he has also come to Russia.

……

June 18th.

The Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, which has a capacity of 45,000 people, is full.

In the stands, flying all over the sky is the familiar five-star red flag.

The entire stadium is dyed bright red by the red flags that are not there, and it is as if you are in a sea of red.

About two-thirds of the audience are yellow-skinned and black-eyed.

Before the game even began, they distributed national flags and cheering slogans in the audience. Lots of people have painted the red flag on their faces.

No matter how many times the national football team has brought them harm, they are still committed and still support this team without regrets.

Scold him and resent him.

But he also loved him deeply.

For no other reason,

It's just because he's our own team.

Five fingers are connected to the heart, the blood is of the same origin, we all have a common name, Huaxia, China!

In this life, I have no regrets in China,

In the next life, he is still planting flowers.