World Cup group stage, Group A.

Germany and Ecuador are tied on six points, and the two teams who qualified for the round of 16 will meet in the final round to determine the top two spots in the group, a match that has attracted a lot of media attention, even more so than the match between England and Sweden in Group B over whether Sweden will qualify.

Sweden is not guaranteed to qualify.

Now they only have four points, while Trinidad and Tobago also have one point, if they lose to England by a big score, and Trinidad and Tobago win against Paraguay, then they are likely to be squeezed out of second place in the group by Trinidad and Tobago, so this game is actually the most interesting, while Germany and Ecuador are only the first and second in the group, regardless of the outcome, both teams will join hands to qualify.

Matches related to 'life and death' are often more attractive, and the key is that Group A is directly related to whether there will be a big battle between England and Germany in the round of 16, while Group A Germany and Ecuador are played in advance, so this game has attracted a lot of attention.

The big game is imminent, and the head coach of the Eritrean team, Suarez, has already released words before the game, "We will hide a few main players and replace some substitutes in the lineup." ”

Completely contrary to the attitude of the Errea team, German coach Jurgen Klinsmann said, "We will definitely send the main team to play, and we will finish first in the group." ”

Perhaps for Ecuador, there is not much difference between England and Sweden, and now they are able to qualify, and this mentality is naturally what the opponent Germany wants to see, and if they finish top of the group, they are likely to stagger England.

It's better to run into Sweden than against England.

According to the schedule, the first place in Group A and the second place in Group B will compete for a place in the quarterfinals. As it stands, Germany, who are second in Group A, are likely to play England, who are the top of Group B.

To avoid favourites England, Germany will need to beat Ecuador in the final round. Qualified as group winners.

In front of his parents and fellow villagers, it is obvious that only qualifying from the group will not satisfy the head coach of the German team, Jurgen Klinsmann.

Germany's best goalscorer in the '90s has made it clear that they must beat Ecuador to make it three straight wins in the group and reach the knockout rounds with a brilliant top-spot finish, he said. 'I'm going to play my best in the last game because we're going to beat Ecuador and finish top of the group.'

In order to ensure the victory, Klinsmann even resolutely sent on Ballack, the soul of the German midfield, who already had a yellow card, to maintain the rhythm of the whole team's attack and defence.

"They are the second team in South America after Brazil and Argentina. Everybody says they can only win on the plateau, but they're here to prove to us that that's not the case. 'It's clear that Klinsmann was impressed with Ecuador scoring five goals in two games without conceding one.

Ecuador's table is also good, they will play better than Germany in two games, which will be played in Berlin. If the German team wins, they will take first place. They will play the 1/8 finals in Munich or go to Stuttgart.

The hosts naturally hope they can return to Berlin on the day of the final on 10 July.

In contrast to Klinsmann's intense preparations, Ecuador coach Suarez's attitude is the complete opposite. The boss has already told the outside world: "I should give the players a little rest, we are already preparing for the round of 16. ”

However, such an attitude was considered a 'smoke bomb' by the outside world, but he still gave an acceptable reason, "Some of the players are tired, some are injured, and I have to pay attention to this problem." ”

The reality is. Striker Carlos Tenorio and midfielder Valencia are both suffering from ankle injuries, while Delgado has been unable to train fully with the squad due to old back and knee injuries. Defender Espinosa also picked up an injury in the previous game and could not start the next game.

However, even in the face of such a situation, the "Plateau Tigers" Ecuador will not be willing to give up the top spot, as they are also reluctant to face England, who are likely to finish first in Group B, in the first game of the knockout round.

Suarez is confident in his team, he said. 'We will beat Germany in our last game and finish top of the group.'

But many people talk about the two games, and they all hope to see the classic battle between England and Germany, to which Brazilian king Pele said, "If the next match between England and Germany is the next game, it will be very good." ”

Ecuador has an advantage. That's goal difference, and if they want to top the group, they just need to draw against Germany, who have to beat Ecuador.

In Group B, although England have already qualified for the round of 16, they will have to face their nemesis, Sweden, in the final group stage.

With the winner of Group A taking on the second place in Group B and the second place in Group A against the winner of Group B, the odds of Germany and England meeting in the quarter-finals are very good.

Now the good news for the two teams is that the final round of Group A matches will be played 5 hours earlier than Group B, and this time difference is conducive to the German team and England team to choose a 'strategy', and there are not a few people who give advice to both teams before the game, except for the kind of 'watching the fun' media and fans, whether it is England supporters or German supporters, in fact, they do not want the two teams to meet.

The 'conspiracy theorist' media, when talking about the two games, uses this statement -

Once Germany win, England will have more options against Sweden, with both a draw and a win enough to secure a top spot in the group, and Sweden are likely to draw with England in order to secure their qualification. ”

However, if Germany are unfortunate enough to finish second in the group, England will need to finish second in the group in order to avoid Germany, so they could be "watered" to Sweden. But Sweden may not be willing to accept such a victory either, as they would also meet Germany in the quarter-finals if they win. ”

Finally, the match between Germany and Ecuador in Group A began, and the two teams played a lively game, and the England players were still resting in the hotel at the beginning of the game. Many of them also gathered around the TV to watch the game.

Zhang Tiehan is also there.

Tonight is the game against Sweden, he is still in the starting line-up, no matter what the outside world says, in fact, there is no 'conspiracy' within the England team, the game against Sweden. England also want to break the 'Swedish barrier' and officially beat Sweden to take off the hat, especially since Eriksen is still a Swede, and he is unlikely to say anything like playing tacit ball in order to avoid suspicion.

So the whole England team is excited to play.

This game is still a bit special because England have been guaranteed to be present, and when Eriksen announced the squad internally, several players who did not have a chance to play were also in the starting line-up, such as Carragher, who has not played since the World Cup. But now he's got his chance.

But this is by no means a 'substitute' for England.

You must know that the England team is almost all big-name stars, and the second-level stars include Carragher, Jenas, Lennon, Carrick, they may not be as famous as Gerrard, Rooney and others, but they are also the main players in the league, and their value is also very high.

Zhang Tiehan even felt that Eriksen's lineup was stronger, and he really had a headache for the midfield composed of Gerrard, Lampard and Beckham.

This time against Sweden. With other players on the field, Zhang Tiehan felt that the team would perform better.

Of course he couldn't say that

At the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The game between Germany and Ecuador was intense, but the game seemed to be in suspense from the start, Germany took the lead after ten minutes, and then Klose scored twice to extend the lead to two goals, and Germany scored another goal in the second half to make it 3-0.

The last goal was scored by Podolski. It was also his first goal at the World Cup.

Finally the game is over.

Germany's lead is a happy situation, maybe Ecuador doesn't think so, but after all, they belong to the 'minority', and the whole England team is relieved, after all, they are always suspicious of something by the outside media. It doesn't feel very good.

The focus of this game was naturally Klose, who scored two goals.

Klose is not a big name in world football, but there is no denying that the German player has been very efficient in scoring goals at the World Cup, and he has now scored four goals in three games in the group stage, equalling Zhang Tiehan's goal tally, and the two are joint top scorers.

It is worth mentioning that Klose was actually a Pole.

He was born in Opole, which is the largest German ethnic group in Poland, on June 9, 1978, Klose was born in Poland in an ordinary sports family, his father played for Auxerre in France as a professional player, his mother was a member of the Polish national team handball team, the family environment is worry-free, Klose also inherited his parents' good athletic talent.

Klose's immigration to Germany was a "legacy of history".

Klose's ancestors were Germanic (Klose is one of the oldest Germanic surnames) and lived in what was then the Opole region of eastern Germany, which belonged to Germany before World War II. After the war, the Soviet Union transferred 114,000 square kilometers of former German territory east of the Oder and Neisse rivers to Poland, and 170,000 square kilometers of Poland's territory of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine to the Soviet Union.

Since the Opole region was once German territory, the Polish government in the 80s considered that their predecessors had been "inhabitants of the German Reich", liquidated it and drove back the German descendants who had remained in their homeland.

In the early 90s, the reunited Germany changed its nationality laws to allow these residents and their descendants to return to Germany, who were partly Germanic people such as the Klose family and partly Slavs who had German citizenship such as the Podolsky family.

The Germans define them not as immigrants, but as returnees.

In the 2002 World Cup, Klose had an excellent record, he scored five goals, and all of them were headers, the wonderful thing is that now the four goals are all from the feet, and they are shots from around the small penalty area, I am afraid that Klinsmann called him into the national team, I hope Klose can establish air superiority for the German team, but in fact, Klose is kicking the ball with his feet, not overhead-

Presumably, even Jurgen Klinsmann was expecting him to score a header.

After the game, almost all the media talked about Klose. Klose has scored nine goals in nine appearances in the two World Cups so far, an average of one goal per game, and he has played 706 minutes in terms of playing time, with an average of 78 minutes to score a goal. This temporarily surpassed Schillaci (1 goal in 89 minutes) and Vieri (1 goal in 91 minutes) to become the most efficient striker in the Hercules Cup era.

Of course, Zhang Tiehan is not included, after all, he has only participated in two World Cups.

Now when the media discusses the World Cup scorer king, Zhang Tiehan and Klose will be mentioned, and many media believe that whether Zhang Tiehan or Klose wins the World Cup scorer king, it depends on which team can go further, England or Germany.

Obviously, going further means playing more and naturally there will be more opportunities.

However, the above is what the German media say.

The English media is noncommittal. Klose's four goals are three games, and Zhang Tiehan has only played in two games, and after the match with Sweden, the English media believes that Zhang Tiehan will definitely exceed Klose's goals, as for how many times it can be imagined.

As for what goes farther and closer, the goal of the England team is to aim for the World Cup champion, so they think Zhang Tiehan will definitely be the top scorer.

About that. Perhaps the bookmaker's odds speak for themselves.

In the European bookmaker's odds about the shooter king, Zhang Tiehan's odds are only 1.46 to 1. This poor odds cut off taxes and there is almost no profit, Klose used to be only 7.31 to 1, and now it has dropped to 3.92 to 1, despite this, the odds gap between him and Zhang Tiehan is still quite large.

Obviously, most fans are still more optimistic about Zhang Tiehan

With Germany and Ecuador separating the winners, the match between England and Sweden is also approaching.

At this time, the mental state of the two teams has been adjusted. The Swedes know that England will never be 'merciful', so they are committed to meeting the game with a stubborn mentality, and the England team wants to break the 'Swedish curse', and the constant defeat against Sweden has made England a laughing stock in the world, and the whole team hopes to win against Sweden.

A message before the game. It also boosted the morale of the whole England team, British Prime Minister Tony Blair temporarily put down his work and appeared as a fan on the BBC Channel 5 live broadcast, he advised the England team to try to relax their nerves and hope that the England team can "enjoy football".

Blair is known to be a fan of Newcastle United in the English Premier League.

His views and commentary on football are level, and when asked what he thought of England's first two group stage victories, Blair said: "If you don't play well, you can lose and you will face strong opponents in the later games. ”

England are about to play their final group game against Sweden and Blair wants the whole of Britain to back their side, warning that the match against Sweden will be the first real test for England. Tony Blair is also confident that England will eventually win the World Cup, believing that England will be at their best under pressure.

In the show, many fans called Blair by his nickname Tony, showing his closeness to the fan base, and Blair praised England fans for not being involved in violence during this World Cup, which is what the organizers and the British police are most worried about in advance.

Some fans asked if England would take a holiday to celebrate if England had won the World Cup again since 1966. Blair replied: "I can't be sure, because there's a master plan, but let's take one first." ”

Compared to England's morale boost, Sweden has little good news.

The only thing they have is bad news, as the team's only striker who plays for a big team before the game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a brilliant striker who played for Juventus and was once on a par with Zhang Tiehan in Serie A, will be out for at least five days due to a groin strain during training.

Head coach Radbeck intends to replace Ibrahimovic with substitute striker Arbuckle, the 33-year-old who plays for Denmark's FC Copenhagen and has been on the bench for the first two group games.

It's unclear how much of a role Albuckle will play, but it's certain that without Ibrahimovic, Sweden's forward quality will certainly drop a lot

Rheinenergy Stadium in Cologne.

The final round of Group B of the World Cup is underway, with England and Sweden on both sides.

The opening minute. The audience was solemn.

All the fans at the Rheinenergy Stadium stared blankly at the football rolling in the Swedish goal, and it was unbelievable.

Looking up at the game time, it was only fifty seconds.

But England had taken the lead, with all the cameras pointing to the Swedish goal, including the cameras that broadcast the game live, and finally talking to the prime minister on a satellite phone. The BBC Radio 5 commentator, who suddenly stopped talking, reacted, and he exclaimed in surprise, "The ball is in!" That's right! The ball is in! ”

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was a little dazed on the screen, and he was stunned for a moment before he looked down, probably the live broadcast footage below, and then he reacted and said happily, "The ball is in!" Sorry, I didn't even see it."

Then the two watched the slow-motion replay together.

It was a very quick goal. It was the Swedish team that kicked off, their attack hit the England penalty area before being directly tackled by Jenasson, and then the England team launched a counterattack, the wing Joe Cole handed the ball to Zhang Tiehan, Zhang Tiehan ran wildly with the ball, shook a Swedish defender, and shot directly in front of the penalty area, just rushed out of the goal to face the Swedish goalkeeper Isaksson, who was ready to face the single knife, did not expect Zhang Tiehan to suddenly raise his foot to shoot. Obviously, it was the first time he faced Zhang Tiehan's shot, so he only had time to subconsciously reach out and grab the ball. But the ball had already flown into the goal behind him.

“Gooooooooooooooooal！！”

"The ball is in!!"

"Zhang-!!" ‘

England's commentators and fans were already boiling, even if they were confident in the game, they didn't expect the goal to come so quickly, just the first attack, and the game was only a minute into it, Zhang Tiehan took advantage of the opportunity to score a goal.

Before the game, they even talked about whether Klose would steal Zhang Tiehan's World Cup top scorer. As a result, in the first minute of the game, they completely felt that it was a joke Zhang Tiehan, who was brave, in full condition, and could score goals for the first time, how could the German compare with it?

There is no way to compare the opening minute, Zhang Tiehan's name has changed from tying for the first place in the scorer list with Klose to becoming the first scorer list by himself.

It's so fast!

England fans are already cheering!

The Rheinland Energy Arena in Cologne has also been transformed into a sea of cheers. There are more than 20,000 English fans who came to watch the game today, more than three times more than Sweden fans, and it is about to become England's home stadium, which may be related to the strength of the England team and the large number of English fans coming to Germany.

Now that Zhang Tiehan has scored the ball in a minute, they are cheering desperately to suppress the Swedish fans.

They have reason to cheer.

It's only been a minute since the game, and although I don't know how the World Cup will play after that, this goal is definitely the fastest goal in the group stage of this World Cup.

At this time, England fans are even more confident of victory, winning Sweden is different from winning against Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden is England's 'magic barrier', before the game the whole world was talking about 'England is not winning in Sweden', now they must break the magic barrier, beat Sweden and re-establish the image of the England team.

BBC Radio 5.

The commentator is also talking to British Prime Minister Tony Blair about scoring goals.

Blair did not hesitate to praise Zhang Tiehan, "As a fan, I want to say that the FA and Eriksen made the right choice, they brought Zhang into the England team, so far he has scored five goals, he is the best striker in the team, although I like Newcastle United a lot, but now I like him a little bit because he always scores goals, he is a very trustworthy young man." ”

The commentator laughed, "I think all the England fans are in love with him now. ”

"Yes, he's outstanding." "I've heard his name before, I've always seen him in all kinds of sports coverage, I know he's good, but it's always vague to see him on the spot, and I think now I can be sure that I'm a fan of him." ”

"If Zhang hears you, he will be very happy."

Blair smiled.

Next, there were fans who called and connected, and finally received one, and the commentator answered the call on the spot.

I only heard the fan on the other end of the phone shouting, "I called in, I originally wanted to praise the next Zhang for his goal, but after listening to what you just said, now I want to remind Mr. Blair that the old man in front of you is currying favor with you."

"Doodoo"

The on-site narrator turned a little dark, and Blair became very embarrassed.

It is conceivable that there must be many fans who watch the TV show who laugh directly after hearing that fan's statement, and it is estimated that many people will give a thumbs up.

If Zhang Tiehan watched this live game show on the spot, he would definitely sigh that the British system is really open, and an ordinary fan would dare to say this in person when he called.

But now he's enjoying the joy of scoring goals on the pitch.

Actually, there was nothing too much joy for him, just a goal, and it was a very easy goal, it was really not a challenge for him, and after a little celebration, he and his team-mates were back on the field and ready to get back into the game.

Although a goal had just been scored, the game had only just begun.

There's still a lot of time to be ......