Jeju Island, South Korea, 15 June 2002.

Maybe this World Cup, Jack and South Korea have a fate. In the first match between Brazil and Turkey, Jack was in the stadium in South Korea. Unexpectedly, in the second game of law enforcement, Jack was still in South Korea's sports game.

Jeju World Cup Stadium.

The stadium was built specifically for this World Cup.

The course is still good, it should be said to be very modern. Anyway, it was built for the World Cup, and of course it can't be too shabby. After accepting the competition assignment, Jack left Osaka and came to Jeju Island in South Korea early. In the South Korea travel guide, after Seoul, Jeju Island is the largest tourist destination in South Korea.

It's a pity that Jack doesn't have time to visit Jeju Island.

Jack flew to Jeju Island on the night of the 13th, and spent the whole day doing his homework on the 14th. The main thing is to look at the profiles of Germany and Paraguay and see the style of these two teams.

And of course see what thorns they have.

The referee has to do this before the game. For some of the thorns to focus on, give him some warnings from time to time during the game. It's not just for the game, it's for the sake of the thorn.

So that the don't make too many movements.

But after reading it, Jack was still a little relieved. Needless to say, the German players have a lot of discipline despite their. It's rare for a player to be too impulsive in a game.

The same is true for Paraguay.

The players are not too prickly. And the head coach of Paraguay is not an ordinary person, it is Maldini Sr., that is, the father of Milan Maldini. Maldini the Elder made Paraguay another Italy.

"The players are already on the pitch. This is the World Cup stadium on Jeju Island, South Korea. The upcoming match is the first match of the World Cup quarter-knockout round, the match between the German national team and the Paraguayan national team. ”

The game is about to begin.

This is the first match of the knockout stage of the World Cup. Television stations in various countries are broadcasting.

"However, judging from the game footage, there were not many spectators at the scene. This is not often seen in the World Cup. ”

The narrator was puzzled. Because there really aren't many German fans and Paraguayan fans in this game. Jack was also puzzled at the scene. There weren't many fans in that match between Brazil and Turkey. That's understandable.

After all, the economies of Brazil and Turkey are not good, and both countries have been in economic crisis for several years. The incomes of the people of the two countries have plummeted in the past two years, and it is a heavy burden to want to cross the ocean to come to South Korea and Japan.

But Germany is not.

The German economy is still thriving and is currently the engine of the EU economy. The EU has just been pushing the euro for a few years, and it is simply unreliable without the support of Germany's economy.

After all, the EU's economy is dominated by Germany and France, and the economies of these two countries are the reason why the euro can be promoted. But I didn't expect to enter the knockout round, but there were very few German fans.

Less pitiful.

Jack was skeptical. Is it because German fans are not optimistic about the German national team, so there are so few fans here?

"Jack. Referee Li, the youngest referee in this World Cup, is only 26 years old. He had already officiated the group stage matches between Brazil and Turkey, and now he had to officiate the knockout rounds against Germany and Paraguay. ”

Compared to other TV commentators, the commentators of England TV focus on Jack.

How to say that Jack is the referee of England, and he is the youngest referee of this World Cup. It was also an honourable thing for the English commentators.

"Doodoo-"

World Cup knockout round.

Jack is still under a lot of pressure. After all, before this World Cup, Jack had not even officiated the main match of the League Cup. Not to mention the Champions Cup. The knockout rounds that Jack has ruled are basically concentrated in the English League Cup.

Even in the knockout rounds of the English FA Cup, Jack did not officiate a few games.

The knockout round of the World Cup is the first knockout match of this World Cup. It's impossible for Jack to be without pressure.

But not long after the game started, Jack's pressure was gone. Not because of how strong Jack's mental qualities are, but because the game is just too boring.

Jack also thought that the knockout rounds of the World Cup would be fierce. But as soon as the game started, Jack knew that the game was simply too ugly. Jack feels that way as a referee. Needless to say, the fans.

The old Maldini really deserves to be a coach from Italy. The player won four Serie A titles as a player. Once in the Champions League, and even in the World Cup when Italy played chain defense for the first time, the elder Maldini was in the role of a scavenger. This is the first time this position has appeared in world football.

After becoming a coach, he not only helped Italy win the World Cup as an assistant coach, but also became the head coach of the Italian national team.

It was because of the influence of Italian football that Maldini the Elder turned Paraguay into a small Italy.

Defend.

Maldini Sr. played defensively, with five defenders lined up, and then the three players in the midfield also helped defend from behind. Of course, Paraguay also have their legendary footballer, who is also the top goalkeeper in world football, Chilavert.

At the beginning of the game, Jack had already judged the old Maldini's thoughts.

In terms of strength, Paraguay is no match for Germany. In this case, Maldini Sr. will have to use defense to drag the game down until the end of the game, and then decide the winner in the penalty shootout.

So from the first minute of the game, Paraguay plays defense with you.

The ball kept rolling in Paraguay's half. Paraguay retreated, and Germany attacked. It's a pity that the German team's attack is very poor, especially the German team's midfield core Ballack is injured, and this game is played with an injury.

As a result, Ballack's performance in the game was not very good. There is no more bravery in the past, and there is no accurate passing in the past.

In this way, the game is deadlocked.

It was very uneventful, Germany kept passing the ball into the Paraguayan penalty area from the wing. But Paraguay's defense is very good. The Germans' attack was thunderous and rainy, with no threatening shots on goal.

Of course, there wasn't much physical confrontation between the two sides. The game was very boring.

A lot of spectators watched the game and watched it drowsy. Just look at the reaction of the fans at the scene. Originally, there were very few German fans and Paraguayan fans in this game, and the game was so ugly. Fans on both sides were in no mood to cheer. So much so that the game site was very quiet.

But it was a good game for Jack.

Without too much physical confrontation, there are not too many fouls. There weren't many shots on goal, so there wasn't much of a controversial picture. Such a game is very simple for the referee.

Jack started out because it was a World Cup knockout game, and the pressure he had at the beginning was gone.

Simple.

There was no passion in the game, so Jack felt like he was going to be invisible. The game is like this, the more heavyweight the confrontation, there will be a lot of controversy, and the referee must appear in front of everyone.

And this is a game that is not controversial. Even if the referee wants to be the protagonist, he doesn't have a chance.

"It's almost over. We didn't see any dangerous shots on goal in the whole game, it was too ugly for both sides. Paraguay's idea was going to succeed and the game was about to go to extra time. If you survive extra time, it will be a penalty shootout. ”

'Actually, we're looking forward to the penalty shoot-out as well. It's also interesting to see the duel between Chilavert and Kahn and see the performances of two of the world's top goalkeepers. ”

Seeing that the game was about to enter the end, many commentators praised the old Maldini.

After all, Paraguay has really dragged Germany to the present, and Germany has not created too many good opportunities. If it goes to a penalty shootout. Although the German national team has always been very good at playing penalty kicks, it is impossible to say who will die or live when it really enters the penalty shootout.

Kyle, pass the ball back to Karn. Kahn. Bigfoot Long Pass! ”

"Frings, header ferry...... Schneider, Schneider got the ball. Schneider was fast. Schneider crosses! ”

Schneider is one of the few players in Germany who has good skills, playing on the right side. Just Frings header crossed. The ball was right in front of Schneider. Schneider suddenly exerted force, and the speed was very fast. But he didn't move on. Rather, it was a sudden cross.

"Neuville, Neuville. Neuville plugs in at high speed, Neuville shoots! ”

"The ball was too close for Chilavert to save."

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！”

"Eighty-nine minutes, eighty-nine minutes. Germany scored a goal in the eighty-ninth minute, and Neuville, who became the hero. Towards the end of the regular season, he scored a goal to give Germany the lead over Paraguay. ”

This ball came at a good time.

It can even be said that this ball directly sentenced Paraguay to death. Because it was 89 minutes of the game, and it was only three or four minutes of stoppage time.

Where Paraguay has time, and where Paraguay has strength.

"Toot-"

Jack is also lamenting the good fortune of the German team. Ninety minutes didn't create many chances, but he scored a late goal. Jack blows the whistle for the goal to be valid.

While all the media were commenting on the ball, all the World Cup referees were lamenting Jack's good luck.

Originally, the first game of the knockout round should have been cautious. But this game in which Jack officiated, there was nothing controversial about the whole game. Plain and indifferent to the end of a World Cup knockout game. In the current World Cup, which is full of controversy, there is no controversy in Jack's game. After enforcing this World Cup knockout round, Jack's value has increased a lot.

Good luck indeed.

Late goal, no problems. What's more important is that there is no need for overtime, and the game is settled in 90 minutes. Good luck. (To be continued......)