Chapter 15: Bailey's Blessing

The results of the first match day of the World Cup were quickly spread throughout the world through modern media means.

For the first game and the opening match, it was a draw again, which caused many world media to exclaim.

Global Sports: "1:1! With two goals and only one draw, is it really impossible to unravel the 'opening curse' of the World Cup? ”

"World Football News": "As the host, the South African team lived up to expectations and took the lead in completing the first goal of this World Cup, but they did not stick to the end, 1:1, which is a result that Mexico can accept, but South African fans regret slightly!" ”

World of Football: "The opening match was the first time of the World Cup, the first touch, the first tackle, the first yellow card, the first goal...... Although the result was a handshake between the two sides, the birth of the goal also means that the fierce competition has officially begun! ”

For this game, most football reporters and professionals, except for sighing and exclaiming, did not pay much attention, whether it is the South African team or the Mexican team, it is not a traditional powerhouse in the world, neither has a huge influence, nor is it the favorite to win the championship, if it is not for these two teams are the protagonists of the opening game, I am afraid that the attention will decline.

Obviously, what surprised and surprised these media workers even more was the other match on the first day.

After the opening game, the other two teams from Group A also kicked off on time two hours later.

The final result was that the traditional European giants France and the South American powerhouse Uruguay fought 0:0, which was also a draw.

This score has made many people exclaim incredible, although France has begun to decline in recent years, especially after Zidane's retirement, the French team is quite a bit of a heroic twilight, but in any case, the Gallic Roosters are still recognized as a strong team in the world, and even the odds of winning the World Cup are among the top five.

And the Uruguayan team, although the strength is good, after all, the team that can reach the knockout stage of the World Cup round of 32 does not have a real weak team, but obviously they cannot compete with the French team in terms of influence and strength.

But the final score was 0:0, this is the second game of this World Cup, but it is a draw again, which is not a small upset.

"The French team, led by Thierry Henry and Ribery, was full of ambition before the trip, but on South African soil, their performance was extremely disappointing!"

'They don't seem to be able to shoot anymore, statistically speaking, France have a far better number of shots on goal than Uruguay, but their probability of hitting the woodwork is too low. It's no wonder they kept shooting the whole game and got nothing! ”

"The French team doesn't look like a single team, they play their own games on the pitch, IMHO, maybe it's a mess!"

broke out the first upset in this World Cup, the French team can be said to have been pushed to the cusp, whether it is the game process or the result of the game, it is difficult to be satisfied, and they are naturally greeted by repeated condemnation and criticism from the media and fans.

The unscrupulous French team sat on the cusp of the torment for a day before being "saved" by others.

They were saved by England and Italy, and in the first leg of Group C, the Three Lions, who were hailed as the strongest in the last two decades, were disadvantaged by the United States of America in North America, who drew 1-1 with Paraguay, who were also from South America.

England and Italy, both traditional powerhouses in world football and among the favourites to win this World Cup, have both fallen apart.

The attention of the media and fans has been diverted, and the two teams have begun to be criticized.

And many heroes are difficult to win, but also many people exclaimed, this World Cup is really a hell, not only many strong teams did not perform well in the first leg, but there are still so many draws, has the "opening game curse" evolved into the "first leg draw curse"?

Amid the exclamations and doubts, Brazil's Pele reappeared in front of the camera, first criticising the performances of certain teams and then talking about what he considered to be the biggest favourite.

"A really strong team is one that doesn't shy away from any challenge, and at any moment and on any field, they are able to bring out their best and win the game."

"I think Brazil is such a team. Of course, it's not because I'm a Brazilian that I look at them differently, in fact, Brazil is the team that has won the most World Cups at the moment, they know how to adjust their form, how to deal with such a game, they are undoubtedly very strong, their experience and quality, will help them go further! ”

"Of course, there's another team that I'm very optimistic about, and that's Spain from Europe. Perhaps the Matadors have not had convincing results in international competitions over the past century, but that all changed after they won Euro '20 and the Confederations Cup since.

They have some of the best players in the world, amazing superplayers in every position, and most of them have played in previous European Championships, so they are a real champions. They're very competitive and their football is so fantastic. So, I think they're going to be one of the biggest favourites to win this World Cup, and even their chances of winning the tournament are even better than Brazil's! ”

If their voices can be heard by the king of Beiqiu, maybe the fans will run to him, pull his ears and shout: "There are already many upsets in this World Cup, please let go of Brazil and Spain, we don't want to see more upsets, so don't harm these two strong teams!" ”

I have to say that as a player, Pele is extremely good, and can even be said to be the best player of that era, and the title of "King of the Ball" is the best affirmation of him.

But as a commentator and "forecaster", it is clear that Bailey is not qualified. He seems to have a strong aura of "tireless destruction" on his body, and under normal circumstances, he praises who is unlucky, and is optimistic about which team and which team is eliminated, which also wins him a second reputation in addition to the "king of the ball" - crow's mouth.

Originally, many media and fans were still complaining about the poor performance of the team they liked and supported, but as soon as Pele's remarks came out, they immediately drew attention to the football king and the two teams praised by him.

Dunga, the former legendary captain and current head coach of Brazil, was frightened by the sudden "optimism" of the football king, and if it was praised and praised by others, he accepted it calmly, but it was the famous "crow's mouth" Pele who said this, which made him unable to calm down.

Whoever is black will score, and whoever will be unlucky, the words that come out of this man's mouth are comparable to the law of conservation of energy, which is terrifying to think about.

Dunga really wanted to shut up the "unhelpful" Pele, but first of all, Pele's label as the king of the ball, just the fact that Pele is Brazil's national hero, he can only respond with a "humble" attitude.

"Thank you very much for the praise of Mr. Football, we are a very strong team, but any team that can enter the World Cup is worthy of respect, we want to go further, we must seriously prepare for every game, and then go all out!"

Dunga's response was a bit of a go-to-the-beaten, and when the first leg of Group G began, Dunga looked even more terrified. Especially after the Brazilian team conceded the first goal in the first half, the Brazilian coach, who had a good record of leading the team in both the player and the coaching era, almost fainted without a direct look in front of him.

Brazil's first opponent in the group stage is North Korea from Asia, and it stands to reason that Brazil, the five-star winner of the World Cup, has a crushing tendency against the North Korean team, which entered the World Cup for the first time in history.

Throughout the first half, the Brazilian team was pressing North Korea to beat up, but the final result was that the Samba Army was inexplicably pierced by the opponent's counterattack.

This inevitably reminds people of the "blessing" of the crow's beak, such a magical power, it really makes people feel chilled to think about it.

Fortunately, the Brazilian team is indeed much stronger than the North Korean team in terms of strength, and occupied the absolute advantage of the game in the second half with the whole team attacking, and then the right fullback McCone can be called a super world wave from zero angle and the low shot of the forward Elano helped the Brazilian team score two goals in a row, and finally won with a score of 2:1.

It was a hard-fought comeback victory, North Korea was considered the weakest team in Group G, and Brazil had no suspense to beat them, but after the game, Dunga was so excited that he almost cried when he was interviewed.

It is also unknown if he broke the "blessing" (curse) of the crow-beaked Bailey for this hard-won comeback, or for him and his team.

'We are a team with a lot of quality and a proud tradition, yes, we won the last win, we got the three precious points and although it was a tough process, there was nothing more enjoyable than winning. I'm so proud of my players and I'm sure we'll go further! ”

Dunga's emotional remarks in the post-match interview were quickly picked up by the media in their own newspaper headlines, but unexpectedly, when the Brazilian fans were celebrating the victory, the football king Pele jumped out again, quite a bit of a gesture of not giving up on his home country.

"I expected this victory for a long time, yes, Brazil are one of the favourites to win the World Cup, no matter what the process is, the victory will always be theirs."

"Of course, I would also like to thank Dunga and his lads, some of whom like to come up with all sorts of reasons and excuses for their poor performance, and there are even those who feel that my mouth 'poisoned' them. However, it turned out that their point of view was wrong, and the Brazilian team has already helped me fight back with practical actions, and I am not a crow's mouth! Whoever I praise will win, and whoever is the best! ”

"So, I will continue to bless the Brazilian team! I believe they won't let me, the fans around the world, down! ”

At the end of his speech, Pele also threw an expectant look at his other team that he was optimistic about: "Brazil has got three points, now it's up to Spain." Ha, who are their opponents? Oh, it's the Swiss team! It's not two teams in an equal weight class, and there's no reason why Spain shouldn't win. So, I wish them a win in advance and a good start to the World Cup! ”