After beating Sweden 2-1, China finished second in Group F after the first round – defending champions Germany beat Mexico 3-1 in the other match in the same group. After the first round, he led the Chinese team by a goal difference to the top of the table.

The current standings situation in Group F is that Germany and China have three points, Germany has a goal difference of +2, China has +1, and Sweden and Mexico have lost their first games, and the points are still zero.

According to the schedule, in the second round of the group stage, the Chinese team will move to Kazan to face the North American powerhouse Mexico, and the whole country is highly concerned. If the Chinese team can play at a high level in the face of Mexico and not lose, it can even seize the absolute initiative to qualify from the group!

Ideals are just the media talking on paper, and sometimes there is a thin line between ideals and reality, and sometimes they are like a chasm. Mexican players are not only super individual ability, but also completely different styles with Sweden, known for their flexible running and small-area passing, this style of play itself is a bit of a restraint for the defenders of the Chinese team who are not strong in defensive awareness, and after Mexico's defeat in the first round, in order to fight for the group qualification, they will definitely attack the Chinese team without reservation, after all, the Chinese team is the team with less experience and strength among the four teams in Group F.

Early the next morning, the Chinese team departed from Sochi to Kazan. On the afternoon of his arrival, Lippi arranged a training session with a large capacity, and the coaching staff could only do targeted training in the interval between competitions. Lippi focused on the dense defense in the midfield and the quick passing counterattack between two or three people in the frontcourt. He Chao, who did not get a chance to play in the first game, wore a yellow vest that symbolized the starter, and Lippi hoped to exchange for some initiative through formation and personnel changes.

The atmosphere in the team is far from being as relaxed as the media portrays, both the coaching staff and the players are aware of the pressure on the next game against Mexico, on the surface the current situation is very favorable to the Chinese team, but the Chinese team cannot afford to lose the next game, otherwise they will force themselves to the point of stumbling to the Germans in the final round. really got to that point, for the Chinese team, it was not the end of nine deaths and one life, but absolute death and no life.

However, the mentality of the whole team is still very relaxed, the players can timely understand the reaction of domestic public opinion after the first victory, even if the next two games are all defeated home, they are all perfect crossovers, there is no pressure from the outside world, and every player is holding a mentality of enjoyment to face the next two opponents. According to what everyone jokes in private, we don't lose if we lose, and we can earn a point.

While preparing for the game, the players were also very concerned about the situation of other groups of games, and watched the live broadcast in their hotel rooms in the evening.

In the first round, the Chinese team unexpectedly became the only Asian team to win, although the Japanese team was very determined to perform better than the Chinese team, but they lost 0:2 to Colombia in the first round of Group H, and they suffered a blow to the first side, and the other two opponents Poland and Senegal were only strong, and the Japanese team's qualification situation also cast a heavy shadow.

The first round of the eight groups is over, and the second round begins, and there are no recognised focus battles in the eight groups, and the results of the first three matches of the second round are not too much of a surprise. The least competitive Group A has already been determined to advance to the round of 16 after two rounds of matches. South American powerhouse Uruguay and host Russia have both won two consecutive victories to qualify, and the two teams will face each other in the final round to compete for the top spot in the group. Egypt, the "Pharaoh" of Africa, and Saudi Arabia, the Asian fish belly, who returned to the World Cup after 22 years, will return home after the group stage.

And on the second match day of the second round, there was an upset that no one expected, and it was created by an Asian team!

Iran drew 0:0 with Spain!

Wen Zhihao also watched the game, he personally prefers a technical team like Spain, and he is also very concerned about the performance of Atletico Madrid's team-mate Saul.

But as the game deepened, Wen Zhihao kept shaking his head.

Just looking at Spain's 65% possession rate in this game, it is indeed a bit surprising that it failed to win the Iranian team, the core of the midfield Iniesta's passing organization is very good in all aspects, but the overall strength of Spain's current midfield is not comparable to the peak with Xavi as the core. What's more, the hardness and discipline of Iran's defence is truly astonishing. In the last World Cup, they almost drew with Argentina, and now it really makes Spain deflated. The Asian boss's defense does have two brushes.

However, for the Chinese media and fans, they were just surprised when they saw the results, and they did not have the enthusiasm to follow up and pay attention in detail, after all, it has nothing to do with the Chinese team for the time being.

……

The second round of Group F kicked off on June 23, with the Chinese team kicking off the group stage against Mexico first, and the Chinese fans created a huge momentum outside the Kazan Central Stadium early in the morning, just like the first game.

This match is under pressure for both sides to grasp the initiative to qualify, and Mexico coach Osorio is full of confidence: "Although there are a large number of Chinese fans, we are facing no less momentum than the hosts, but only the players who decide the game, our players are stronger than the Chinese team, this is our greatest confidence!" ”

Osorio's voice was very loud, and it was clear that he was confident of winning the Chinese team, and Lippi also conveyed a further belief to reporters: "No one thought that we could beat Sweden before, but the players did. In the dictionary of my coaching career, against any opponent, only the attack can win, whether it is against Mexico or Germany, they are stronger than us, but we will show everyone a strong and aggressive national team, and we hope to leave some memorable moments for the fans all over China. ”

Chinese reporters and fans are full of expectations for Lippi's statement, everyone actually does not really care about winning or losing, but wants to see the national team dare to attack in the face of strong opponents, the national team has not had this kind of courage for a long time, and the lead by one goal began to defend to the death, and the beautiful name is to defend the counterattack, but the defense line is unstable, and the counterattack is chaotic, and finally it is overturned. And now the biggest change in this national team is that they have the confidence to attack, and the players know that the biggest task on the field is not to keep the fruits of victory, but to strive for more goals.

The formation of the Chinese team in this game is close to 4-3-1-2, except for the goalkeeper Zeng Cheng and the four defenders have not changed, the three backs in front of the defenders have only made a change, U23 captain He Chao's starting partners Liang Xin and Zheng Zhi, Wen Zhihao's position is in front of the three, and the double forwards are Gao Lin and Wuqiu Wang. However, Lippi's requirement for the three midfielders is to press all of them as soon as they turn from defense to attack, and collectively put in the counterattack.

All the players looked at each other, and although Lippi didn't say much, they all knew that Lippi was not satisfied with a draw that seemed acceptable to everyone.