"Why not?" , Beckenbauer answered a reporter's question with his hands in his pockets, "I once said that England would have lost 0:3 in the first game without Mark, and a team with defenders who can only open big feet has no future"

"Then why do you think England have a chance of winning the title now?" , the journalist asked.

'Football is full of change, Capello has been able to get England to perform like this after a series of events on and off the pitch, obviously he found the answer, and I was impressed with England's performance last time, the MR pair have found their right place, they will reach the last 16 and play better and better!'

And England's "Daily Mirror" also published an interview with Alex Ferguson today, he said: "I called Wayne Rooney before the game, and it is clear that his previous behaviour (insulting the fans) was due to too much pressure, and I told him to relax, not to expect too much and affect the performance, and to learn to enjoy the game. Obviously he did it last game and I'm happy for him.

Of course, England found their rhythm and when that guy (Mark) started to be in some kind of harmony with the whole team, that's when someone else was going to be out of luck, I was an enemy with him in the Premier League for 3 years and I know him better than anyone else, England will reach the last 16, there's no doubt about it.

As for how far they can go, it depends on what kind of play MR has in the knockout round, and their defensive problems must be solved, which is too deadly.

The Times: Top 10 life-and-death battles in England's 50-year history, 6 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses! Although we are currently top of the group, we still can't afford to lose, but fortunately England have a high win rate in the do-or-die moment, and all England fans are convinced that reaching the last 16 is not a problem!

"Marca": The odds of the World Cup Golden Boot, Mark is the first, and the top 10 forwards are closely following! At present, all the groups have completed the second round of matches, and the competition for the scorer list is also beginning to appear.

1. Mark, 5 to 1, reason: Haven't you watched the game in the past three years?

2. Torres, Villa, 1 to 10.

3, Ronaldo, Rooney, 1 to 13.

4, Fabiano, Nilma, 1 to 17.

5. Messi, Aguero, 21 to 1.

6, Klose, Higuain, 26 to 1.

By the time England arrived in Port Elizabeth, there was already a lot of media furnishing that all 16 matches in the final round of all eight groups would be played in less than four days, and the first group stage of the World Cup would be over.

The three-English game that the media was looking forward to, due to Messi Ronaldo's sluggish state, was not staged for a long time, Ronaldo only scored a consolation goal in the big win against North Korea, Messi scored 0 goals and 0 assists, and there was no solution at all in the club.

Now at the top of the scorer list is Higuain, who scored a hat-trick in his first World Cup, and there are at least seven or eight others like Mackin and Rooney who have scored two goals.

In terms of assists, Mackin leads the way with 3 assists, and not only that, but he has the highest number of passes and success rate, and only Spain's midfield trio can compete with him.

France were knocked out by hosts South Africa and as soon as they arrived at the hotel, they were informed of the game that had just ended, and while they were on the plane, the two matches in Group A had already begun.

This is the biggest upset of this World Cup so far, but as early as the second round of their dressing room strife, there are not many media who are optimistic about them, and now it is just a complete implementation of everyone's speculation.

"Do you want to be the second French team? , of course not, so tomorrow's noon game, we have to go all out, have a good rest, and don't go out privately at night", when the lobby was disbanded, Capello now picked it up and used it as a negative teaching material.

Macqin and Rooney watched the other two games of Group B in the room at night, Messi continued to score 0 goals and 0 assists, which disappointed the media collectively, but fortunately Argentina qualified,

"Messi can't go to the national team", Rooney pouted and said, hey, this thing, said as if you are very good, and then he tuned to another channel, "South Korea is out, I hate the Korean team"

"I don't like it either", Mark Qin came out of the bathroom after brushing his teeth, "Hurry up and wash up, rest, you will be a cheerleader in the stands tomorrow, I still have to play"

"Whew", Rooney lowered his head and looked helpless, devastated "I swear never to take off my jersey again"

……

Port Elizabeth is a city in South Africa bordering the Indian Ocean, one of the most important ports in South Africa, and it goes without saying that it is also a European city, because it was a military fortress in the beginning.

The city has a small population, hundreds of thousands, and although it is called Port Elizabeth, it has nothing to do with the Queen of England, and it is named after the wife of a British governor.

It is home to the most famous beaches in South Africa, a mecca for surfing, sailing and other marine sports enthusiasts, and a good place for seaside tourism, but you still have to pay attention to the security issues.

England is a bit of a toss-up this time, because it is not far from Cape Town, but they have to go back and forth to Rustenburg once, which is equivalent to 4 flights back and forth in 5 days.

Early the next morning, the England staff first went to confirm the stadium with the head of the organizing committee, including the route, locker room, turf, etc., and the schedule of the England players was to start eating dinner at 9:30, then move a little in the hotel, and leave for the stadium on time at 12 o'clock.

Since the game was scheduled for 2 p.m., they saved the lunch meal, and the stadium called the Mandela Bay Stadium, which can accommodate less than 50,000 people, is also a new stadium built for the World Cup.

The course is named after the famous President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, because Port Elizabeth is Mandela's hometown, and the course is also very creative in design, it is located on the bank of the Prince Alfred Park in North Lake, surrounded by water on three sides, and each ceiling at the top is like a petal, enclosing the course into a lotus flower blooming at the water's edge.

When the whole England team arrived here at noon, Mackin deliberately took a few photos, and it is also very interesting for football players to go to different stadium games and save these various stadium photos, at least Mackin likes to do this.

Although the stadium is not large, England fans are especially large because Slovenia has a small number of fans, and their entire population is only about 2 million, so England can get more tickets.

Fans with English flags painted all over their faces saw the team's bus coming, and immediately fell into a boil, and all kinds of cheers continued, "Go, England, round of 16, we are here!" "Three Lions will win!" "Mark, Mark, defeat Slovenia!" ”

Mack Qin smiled and waved to the fanatical fans outside, and the bus drove directly into the stadium, and the focus of this Group C battle officially kicked off.

Slovenia is a small country, but the economy is quite developed, and some small countries in the European territory, the level of football is not directly related to the land area and population, and Iceland will prove this in the future, with a population of just over 300,000.

Once these figures are compared, many national football associations should blush a little.

Slovenia were not at all afraid to face the media before the game, although their biggest stars were goalkeeper Handanovic, high school striker Novakovic, and striker Koren who plays for West Brom in the Premier League.

'We're going to beat England and get to the round of 16, they won't take advantage of us and the lads are ready to play against them,' said Slovenia head coach Mattjaz Koke in an interview.

"Their striker Wayne Rooney can't play this game, it's a good thing for us, it will make our back line a lot less pressure, about Mark, I won't arrange someone to follow him, Algeria arranged 2 people in the last game, it has been proven wrong, I believe in our defensive system"

At the same time, the other Group C match, USA vs Algeria, will also be played at the Loftos Stadium in Pretoria, and the final result will be known in four hours.

Mackin changed into a red shirt in the locker room, followed his teammates out of the aisle, and started to warm up, today they were away from home, and Slovenia was also white, so they wore red.

As soon as you enter the stadium, the atmosphere of the Premier League is rushing, this stadium is one of the few professional football stadiums during the World Cup, it was only built last year, and the spectator seats are very close, but with added security measures.

England and Slovenian fans had been seated in their respective areas for a long time, and the stadium was so noisy that with most of the team's fans standing, Mackin finally heard the cheers of the fans drown out the pesky buzzing zula.

"Boom", "England", "Mark", "Gerrard", the fans in the stands immediately became restless when they saw the England players in red training jackets come out to warm up.

"Good afternoon, everyone, the players have started to warm up, it was Mark and Joe Cole who came out just now", Lineker said to the camera, "There is about an hour before the game starts"

"Wilson," Lineker asked, turning his head, "Capello announced his starting list yesterday, what do you think of that list?" ”

Wilson nodded and said: "This game is quite crucial, for several changes in the lineup, Capello can also be said to be helpless, he played so well in the last game, in fact, he should want to use all the starting lineup from the previous game"

"The goalkeeper is arguably Capello's biggest headache, but he has no choice at all now, only one Joe Hart can use, Joe Hart has been the main player in Manchester City this season, and his performance is not bad, but his biggest problem is that he is too young and can withstand the pressure of the World Cup."

'John Terry's return is expected, if it weren't for off-field factors, John Terry would certainly be the most trusted option at the backline, and hopefully after the suspension and public apology, John Terry will be able to put everything on the pitch to help the team'

'Then there was Wayne Rooney's position, I was expecting Capello to move Gerrard to the left and then choose a right midfielder, but obviously today Capello was a surprise to me'

'He didn't make any changes in midfield, just put Darren Bent in the place of Wayne Rooney, and it seems he didn't want to upset the chemistry that he had built up so hard in the last game.

"Darren Bent's performance at Manchester City this season has been experienced", Lineker picked up, "but he is more of a second striker next to Ibrahimovic at the club, and I don't know if Rooney can play this position"

"He can play on two wings", Neville said, "Before he moved to Manchester City, he was a counter-attacking striker who was no stranger to the wings, and he should indeed be a better alternative to Rooney than Defoe"

With their commentary analysis, the England team has finished warming up and walked back to the dressing room, and in the stands of the VIP seats, Prince William arrived as promised, as well as LeBron James, who likes Liverpool and has become a fan of Mackin and is thinking about coming here when the summer will go to the Heat to start the era of giants, obviously to avoid the American media.

The battle for life and death in the Gulf will begin immediately......