As long as the Chinese team defeats Costa Rica, the Chinese team will reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Brazil.

However, Costa Rham's goalkeeper Keylor Navas doesn't think so, and he feels that Costa Rica's chances of advancing to the quarterfinals are not small.

Because he is Dong Fangzhuo's teammate, he is familiar with Dong Fangzhuo, so he said with a smile in an interview with "Sports Weekly": "I think I can keep a clean sheet against Dong, I am too familiar with him." When I was at Real Madrid, I would practice with him for more than an hour every day. Of course I basically lose badly every time and he can score from any angle and any position, but I feel like I'm much happier than the other goalkeepers because I can train with him every day and I can master a lot of things. ”

"Then why are you so confident you can save his shot?"

"Because it's different in the game and in training, the training is stationary, and the game doesn't have time to think, so I'm confident in myself."

"What if it's a set-piece?"

"This ...... We try not to give him a chance to shoot from a set-piece, haha! ”

"We are not only Dong Fangzhuo, we also have Feng Renliang, Zhao Xuri and so on."

"Costa Rica isn't just Navas, haha."

Navas, who has a meaty face, is actually a very talkative and funny guy.

Then he talked about the World Cup 12 years ago.

"In 2002, we also played against your Chinese team, when we won 2-0 against you, and I had to read the newspaper at that time, saying that you want to win us, draw with Turkey, and then advance to the knockout round."

！！！ Many of the reporters present were veteran reporters, and of course they remembered the events of those days.

At that time, the news media said that they won Costa Rica, drew with Turkey, lost to Brazil, and got 4 points to qualify from the group stage, but the Chinese team lost all three games......

"It's not the same as it used to be, now that Costa Rica is in a weak position, are you still so confident?"

"We are not weak, we eliminated Italy and England, and naturally we can also eliminate the Chinese team."

Navas's eyes lit up, and it looked like he was joking, but now he really wasn't joking.

Yes, if they were able to knock out Italy and England, why should they be afraid of the Chinese team?

It's not scientific.

As the biggest dark horse in the 2014 World Cup, they can wrestle with any team.

Although not many people know about Costa Rica, it is actually a rich and beautiful country, the name of which means "rich coast" in Spanish, and "Central American Switzerland". It's just that because of the small size of the country and the distance from China, it is rarely in people's sight, and it is only in the 2002 World Cup that it is recognized by the public when it was in a group with the Chinese team that participated for the first time.

Costa Rica were grouped with the top three of Italy, England and Uruguay during this year's World Cup and are considered the weakest team in the group. However, in the group stage, they defeated Uruguay 3:1, Italy 1:0, and drew 0:0 with England.

Costa Rica's dark horse career began in the summer of 1990 in Italy, when they reached the round of 16 under the coach of the country's better known Milou. The dark horse led by the magical coach only lost to the then Czechoslovakia team in the quarterfinals, and players such as the "lucky rabbit" goalkeeper Konejo are still fresh in the memory of many people. Costa Rica were an all-amateur team at the time, and when they reached the round of 16, the team was busy changing their tickets and the players were busy calling their bosses to take a few more days off for the next game.

More than 20 years later, the return of the dark horse is not so accidental, now the team is led by professional players such as Campbell and Ruiz who play in top leagues such as the Premier League, and the old coach Pinto has developed pragmatic tactics, although the result in the group stage was not guessed by anyone in advance, but from the process of the game, Costa Rica does speak with strength, and no one thinks that they are just luck.

The dark horse is galloping!

And can the Chinese team tame this dark horse?

The reporter of the "Sports Weekly" went to interview the coach of the Costa Rican team, Jorge Pinto.

Pinto was cautious about the quarter-finals in five days' time, saying: "The road ahead will only get harder. Qualifying from the group is already difficult, and the knockout rounds are even more likely. We are ready to give our all for the next battle. ”

"In my opinion, the Chinese team is more difficult to play than Italy and England, these two teams are in the stage of alternating between the old and the new, and the Chinese team is at the peak, compared to four years ago, I think the Chinese team is stronger, there are more players to help Dong Fangzhuo. But we don't worry about anything, we've been doing well and we want to go further. ”

'It's going to be a knockout round soon, and it's a peaceful mentality for our lads. I know a lot of people don't think we're going to be able to get to the round of 16 and I'm going to let them know that it's wrong. ”

"It's going to be a game that will mean a lot and it's our chance to make history. We will concentrate on making this game enjoyable for ourselves and the people of our country. We are on the road to making history. ”

'We're not favourites, we've never thought too much about it, there's no specific goal at the moment to get to a certain stage, but we're going to try to go as far as we can. I know we have what it takes to go far. ”

Although Pinto is still relatively low-key, he is actually full of confidence.

And on the Chinese side, everyone is also discussing, but no one is talking about the quarterfinals, but about the quarterfinals.

"Mexico can't beat the Netherlands, our opponent is definitely the Netherlands, and the opportunity for revenge is here."

"Even if it is against Mexico, the Chinese team has no problem, didn't it play with Mexico in 2010, 3:2, we won."

"If it wasn't for the Netherlands four years ago who got the benefit of a miscalculation, it wouldn't have been possible to reach the final, this time they will definitely have to pay off their debts, Sneijder, Van Persie, they are old, they will definitely not be able to do us."

"Brothers, don't we seem to be discussing in the wrong direction? The match with Costa Rica hasn't been played yet, so why are the Netherlands and Mexico discussed? ”

Some fans questioned, "You're too optimistic, aren't you?" ”

"Yes, if we don't go to the semi-finals, it will be a defeat for the Chinese team. I believe that the guys in the national football team must also be thinking about the Netherlands and thinking about how to take revenge. I never thought I would lose to Costa Rica. ”

Fans can be objective, but players certainly don't.

Dong Fangzhuo made it clear in an interview with Brazil's "Global Daily": "The team that can enter the knockout round must not have a weak team, I think the World Cup knockout round and the Champions League knockout round are very similar, if you are careless, you will pay the price." Costa Rica have the ability to beat either team. We have to be prepared to fight hard, and the knockout rounds are about defense, not offense. ”

Head coach Crawford also said: "Just look at their defence in the group stage, they conceded very few goals. It's definitely not easy for us to score. We have to be cautiously optimistic that a team that can knock out Italy and England and still play against Uruguay has to be a strong team. We need to be fit enough to play this game and luckily I rested most of the players in the third round of the group. ”

At this, a strange smile appeared on Crouchen's face.

The Chinese team played Costa Rica with a bit of a feeling of waiting for work.

※※※※

On Friday night, the first knockout match kicked off.

Hosts Brazil played Chile 1-1 in regulation time, followed by extra time and a penalty shoot-out, and finally advanced to the quarterfinals with a score of 4:3. Closely, the host was about to capsize in the gutter.

So the knockout rounds of the World Cup are not easy to play at all.

Then, the Netherlands won a thrilling 2:1 victory over Mexico.

The next night, Colombia won Uruguay 2-0.

The fourth quarterfinals are China VS Costa Rica.

Former coach of both national teams, Milou, looked ahead to the game before the match, and he was optimistic about the Chinese team: "In my opinion, Costa Rica's dark horse road has come to an end, and they can't prevent the Chinese team from advancing to the quarterfinals. The Chinese team is no longer a dark horse, they are one of the favourites, and after Italy, England and Spain are gone, they are now in sixth place to win the championship. ”

"And there are three reasons why I am so sure that the Chinese team has advanced, one is that Crowchen and the Chinese team have been together for ten years, the second reason is that the Chinese team's playing style is quite mature and tacit, and the third reason is that Dong Fangzhuo is in the team."

In his pre-match press conference, Krauchen finally showed his fangs: "I want the team to settle the battle in 90 minutes and not drag the game into extra time, in an event like the World Cup, the rest is too short, and the longer the game is played, the more tired the players become." ”

"The Chinese team wants to attack?"

"Yes, we're not going to go to extra time with Costa Rica."

"What about Dong Fangzhuo's location?"

"Striker."

'He'll be in the centre-forward position.

"Didn't you say you had to play conservatively? Could it be that the formation has changed again? ”

"Hehe......"

Crawford didn't change the formation, but he took Sun Jihai's suggestion to play central defender.

The starting line-up he gave was:

Goalkeeper: Zeng Cheng.

Defenders: Zhang Linpeng, Sun Jihai, Feng Xiaoting, Zhu Ting

Midfielders: Huang Bowen, Zheng Zhi, Zhao Xuri

Forwards: Hao Junmin, Dong Fangzhuo, Feng Renliang

This lineup was predicted by fans in the second round of the group stage, but I didn't expect Crawford to use it as well......

After watching the press conference of the Chinese team, Costa Rica coach Pinto gasped.

Is the Chinese team really going to attack?

This is really a headache, he wants Dong Fangzhuo to play in the midfield, he originally wanted to play a protracted defensive battle with the Chinese team, if the Chinese team wants to attack, it is really difficult to defend.

But he still stuck to his style of play, which was still 541. Goalkeeper: Keylor Navas

Defenders: Gamboa, Duarte, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Umania, Dias

Midfielders: Ruiz, Borges, Tejeda, Bolaños

Forward: Campbell

They are the only team to play in a 541 formation in the World Cup, and of course, their two full-backs will also change to a 361 formation once they come forward to assist, but they are more defensive and ......

After the starting lineup came out, Peng Weiguo, who was a guest commentator at CCAV5, said bluntly: "This time it is really going to break the turtle formation, in fact, Costa Rica is one person at the front, and ten people in the backfield defend, unless there is a particularly good opportunity, they will definitely not attack easily." ”

"It's not easy for the Chinese team to break the turtle shell formation."

The host Duan Xuan asked: "Then how to break the turtle shell array?" ”

"Isn't that easy?"

"Who is the team that is best at breaking the tortoise shell? Real Madrid, who is there in Real Madrid? Dong Fangzhuo. In fact, I think the more they shrink and play, the more they give the Chinese team a chance. ”

'We have to add dribbling up front and cause fouls up front, so maybe we can solve the problem with a free kick.'

"Well, well, with Dong Fangzhuo, a guy with a free kick goal rate of 33.74%, he can really take advantage of this, but I think Costa Rica should also guard against it, right? The 10 of them defended at the back, so they didn't necessarily foul easily, and the 10 people blocked the door and stuffed the door. ”

Duan Xuan nodded, and shook his head again: "If the turtle shell is so easy to break, then England and Italy will not go home so early." ”

"It's very simple, because they don't have Dong Fangzhuo. If there is Dong Fangzhuo, can they not go home? I don't believe it. I think the Germans are the most terrible in this tournament, maybe they can really pose a threat to the Chinese team, fortunately, the two teams will not be able to meet unless they both reach the final. ”

"What if I get attacked by Costa Rica?"

"It's up to the players on the pitch to be conscious, and as Krauchen said, he wants to settle the fight in 90 minutes, he doesn't want to fight a war of attrition. It's the safest way to save your stamina until you fight the Netherlands, because we played extra time in the last World Cup, so we were at a physical disadvantage, and then we lost a lot against the Netherlands, and this time we can't repeat the same mistakes. ”

Peng Weiguo analyzed it and said: "Don't forget, we still have Hao Junmin and Feng Renliang, in this game, I think not only Dong Fangzhuo will play, but others will also do their best." ”

The handicap offered by Spinach Company before the game is that the Chinese team will give half a half, and it is optimistic that the Chinese team will win in regular time.

But the devil knows if this handicap is right, Brazil played Chile, and the Brazilian team also conceded a goal, but Brazil and Chile were tied, and the Colombia vs Uruguay game was actually a draw......

。 m.