Finally, it was July 15th, the day when the World Cup final began.
A large number of fans appeared on the streets of Moscow, wearing jerseys of their respective teams, and walked along the Moscow River, winding all the way to the final venue - Lukinizh Stadium.
This venue, which once hosted the opening ceremony of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, once again welcomed a grand event that attracted worldwide attention after a lapse of 38 years.
Fans set out early and gathered from all directions.
The stadium opened dozens of passages, but it was still not enough, and a large number of fans were stranded outside. Fortunately, there were a large number of security personnel on the scene to maintain order, allowing fans to enter the stadium in an orderly manner.
Although the Luzhniki Stadium has more than 87,000 seats, only a few people can get tickets to watch the game in person.
There are still a large number of fans who have not been able to get tickets. Some scalpers are waving the tickets for the finals, taking advantage of the opportunity before the game starts to sell their stockpiled goods at high prices.
Scalpers are a problem that can be seen all over the world despite repeated bans.
They are also the most hated by fans because they snatch away many tickets that belong to fans.
But for some fans who really want to watch the game, the existence of scalpers gives them the opportunity to buy tickets and get on the bus.
But the price they will have to pay for this is bound to be high.
“How much is a ticket?”
A man in a suit and tie hurried to the scene, glanced around the stadium, found a scalper selling tickets, and asked him the price.
“2,000 euros!”
The scalper was good at observing people's expressions. He glanced at the other person, roughly assessed the person's financial resources, and casually named a price.
"Why don't you go and rob?"
The other party was obviously frightened by the price, his eyes were wide open, and his anger level was rapidly soaring.
The official selling price of World Cup final tickets is between 440 and 1,100 US dollars, which is approximately 400 to 1,000 euros when converted into euros.
The tickets in the scalper's hand were just ordinary tickets, priced at around 500 yuan, but he asked for a huge sum of 2,000 euros, which was four times the price.
As expected, all scalpers will have a miserable death!
How greedy! "Look, where are the tickets now? You think they are too expensive, but I think they are too expensive too!"
The scalper remained indifferent and insisted on the price of 2,000 Euros.
It was still early for the final to start, so he was not in a hurry at this time.
He would make the most of every opportunity. At worst, he could just lower the price when the final is about to start. With so many people waiting to go in and watch the game, he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to sell the tickets.
“1,000 euros!”
Seeing that the other party was so confident, the man in the suit had no choice but to give in and choose to bargain with him.
"1900!"
"1200!"
"1800!"
…
After some bargaining, the ticket was finally sold for 1,500 euros.
Although he spent three times the price, he successfully bought the ticket and the man in the suit breathed a sigh of relief.
"I finally made it. Fortunately, I finished the inspection in time and returned from South America. Otherwise, I would have missed this game!"
Thinking of this, he quickly checked his backpack to see if his camera and other equipment were there.
Fortunately, these things were not lost, and he felt completely relieved.
He took out the camera and checked it, and after confirming that it had sufficient power and was functioning normally, he carefully put it away.
As he was taking the camera, something similar to a work ID card fell out of his backpack. On it was printed a blue lion holding a scepter, and below the lion's head was the name of the man in the suit - George Evans.
…
At 3 pm on July 15, the dark blue bus printed with the Spanish team logo slowly drove into the stadium, welcomed by tens of thousands of fans.
At the same time as they entered the stadium, the French team's bus also arrived.
Players from both teams got off the bus one after another. Reporters waiting at the scene came forward one after another. Some of them pressed the shutter button to record the players from both teams getting off the bus, preparing to rush out a manuscript before the game.
Some people struggled to squeeze to the front and tried to pass the interview microphone to the players so that the players could accept their impromptu interviews.
As for the fans waiting here, when they saw the players get off the bus, they gave a deafening cheer.
“Come on!”
“Try to bring back the championship trophy!”
"We must defeat the Spanish and French teams!"
…
The players avoided the microphones handed over by the reporters, ignored the reporters' cameras, and walked firmly towards the direction of the stadium.
The game is about to begin. At this moment, even the most active people on weekdays have no intention of being in the spotlight and accepting interviews from reporters or cheers from fans.
They have to put all their attention into the upcoming game.
After entering the stadium and arriving at their respective locker rooms, the players began to change their jerseys, put on socks, shin guards, sneakers and other equipment, preparing to go to the stadium for warm-up.
There is good news for the Spanish team, the Luzhniki Stadium is no stranger to them.
They have completed two games here before and they will be more familiar with the venue than the French team.
The Luzhniki Stadium is a stadium with artificial turf, which is different from the turf that European teams are used to.
It’s my first time competing in this kind of venue, so I feel a little uncomfortable.
So during the pre-match warm-up, the French players were particularly serious. They spent a lot of time adapting to the field and finding the feeling of playing on the artificial turf.
Seeing the players from both teams coming out to warm up, the fans in the stands began to cheer out of respect.
Although it is still early for the game to start, the fans can no longer contain their enthusiasm.
“There are so many people here today!”
Looking at the densely packed crowd in the stands, Isco was a little surprised.
When we played here before, the attendance was high, but it didn’t seem to be this high.
Looking around, there was almost no empty seat in the entire stadium. He wondered if the organizers had allowed 100,000 people in to watch the game?
“Yeah, there are so many people!”
Lin Quan also glanced at the stands. Playing football under the gaze of so many people would make those big-game players feel even more excited.
As for the French team, Mbappe is a typical big-game player.
Not only is he very able to withstand pressure, but the bigger and more important the game is, the more excited he becomes. He has no idea what timidity is!
When Lin Quan looked at Mbappe, the latter was also looking at him.
The two looked at each other from a distance, but there were no sparks flying.
Mbappe smiled at Lin Quan and raised his right hand to make a fist to cheer him on.
Lin Quan also smiled and nodded in response.
The two are good friends in the club, and Lin Quan has also given Mbappe some advice and help.
Mbappe is very grateful for this, but when it comes to international competitions, both sides play for their own teams, and he will never let up.
Coincidentally, Lin Quan thought so too.
He will not show mercy to Mbappe just because he is younger than him and is his junior.
Time flew by, and soon, three hours had passed.
The competition time is getting closer!
Before the final began, Casillas, the captain of the 2014 Spanish team, appeared on the scene holding the World Cup trophy. He first held up the trophy to signal to the audience that it was the authentic one.
Then the trophy was carefully placed on a pedestal beside the court, which is at the end of the player's tunnel. When the players from both teams came out on the field, they would pass by here, and everyone would then pay their respects to the trophy.
After doing all this, Casillas smiled and walked towards his teammates who were waiting to play in the player tunnel.
"Come on, kick well!"
He hugged every player of the Spanish team one by one. Although he could not fight with everyone on the court, his heart was always with the team.
Read the error-free version on 6Ⅹ9Ⅹ bookⅩ bar! 6Ⅹ9 book bar first publishes a novel.
Casillas' appearance holding the World Cup trophy made the atmosphere even more heated.
The fans' cheers and shouts became louder.
The game is about to begin, and the showdown they have been waiting for for a long time is finally going to take place!
At this moment, under the leadership of the head coach, 22 players from both sides, holding their caddies, began to enter the court.
When the first player left the player tunnel and appeared on the court, there was an explosion of cheers and shouts! "Come on, Lin Huang!"
"Mbappe, go!"
"Spain will win!"
"Long live the French team!"
…
Fans speaking various languages shouted at the top of their lungs, and countless voices came together to form the main theme of the World Cup final.
During the captain's handshake and coin-guessing session before the game, Spanish fans were shocked to find that the person wearing the captain's armband today was not the familiar Ramos, but Lin Quan.
"Huh? Why did the captain's armband appear on Lin Huang's arm?"
Lin Quan is the vice-captain of the Spanish team. The captain's armband will be given to him when Ramos is not present.
But when Ramos, the captain, is on the field, the captain's armband should be given to Ramos to wear.
"Could it be that Bosque made Lin Huang a regular employee?"
"It's possible, but Ramos hasn't retired from the national team yet. It seems a bit too rude to directly deprive him of his captaincy, right?"
"Lin Huang is fully capable of being the captain of the Spanish team. If I were Ramos, I would definitely have no complaints about Lin Huang being the captain!"
"That being said, this matter is a bit hasty. The position of captain belongs to Lin Huang after all, and he can't run away. There is no need to be so anxious."
"Maybe it's not that Lin Quan was promoted to the regular position, but he was just temporarily allowed to wear the captain's armband for the final."
"Well, the possibility you mentioned cannot be ruled out. After all, Lin Huang is the soul of this Spanish team. Letting him wear the captain's armband is not only a great encouragement to himself, but also to other Spanish players."
It is not known whether Lin Quan's captaincy had any motivational effect on the Spanish team, but it did have a deterrent effect on the French captain.
When the French goalkeeper Lori saw that it was Lin Quan who shook hands with him and exchanged the team flag, his heart skipped a beat and he felt something was not right.
How did this guy suddenly become the captain?
Could it be that the Spanish team's coach wants to give him a boost?
This kid is so strong even without the help of chicken blood. If he does, who can stop him?
As early as 2013, Lowry had played against Lin Quan.
However, the result of the match between the two sides was not very good. Not only was Lori defeated, he was also fooled. The opponent even passed him and shot into the empty goal.
This is absolutely a blatant humiliation for the goalkeeper.
"Calm down, keep your composure. Even though this guy is very strong, my teammates are even stronger. I can't be affected by him!"
Realizing that his mentality was fluctuating, Lori immediately comforted himself in his heart and forced himself to calm down.
Football is a team sport. Individual ability has a limited impact on the game. Only when the entire team is strong can the final victory be achieved.
The French team, with its strong men and horses, is undoubtedly the more advantageous side.
What he needs to do is to keep a steady mind, do his job well, and not hold his teammates back.
The rest of the work can be left to your teammates.
I took a look at my teammates: Mbappe, Griezmann, Pogba, Kante, Giroud...
Just seeing these people was enough to make him feel at ease.
Lori thought he had kept his composure, but in the end, he lost to Lin Quan when tossing a coin.
Lin Quan chose the ball and gave the right to choose the venue to the French team.
Spain is a possession-based team and ball possession is very important to them.
Only by getting the ball can we control the game as quickly as possible, launch an attack, and score a goal early in the first half.
Moreover, Bosque had reminded before the game that although the French team was slow to warm up, it could not be ruled out that they would seize the opening opportunity after getting the ball at the beginning, take advantage of the Spanish team's inertia of thinking and catch them off guard.
When everyone thought that the French team would start slowly and would not attack, they suddenly launched an attack, which might have a miraculous effect.
Therefore, choosing the ball is the safest and most profitable option for Spain.
The French team unceremoniously chose the left side of the field, while the right side was left to the Spanish team.
After the venue was determined, the captains of both teams returned to their own venues.
The players gathered together, stretched out their hands and joined hands.
Lin Quan started:
"Spain!"
“Go, go, go!”
On the other side, the voices of the players from the French team were also heard.
Although I couldn't understand what they were saying, I thought it was similar to the slogans shouted by Spain.
After all the pre-match ceremonies, at 18:00, with the referee's whistle, the 2018 Russia World Cup final, Spain vs. France, officially kicked off! Diego Costa gently kicked the ball to Lin Quan, who did not pass the ball forward immediately, but passed it back to Busquets behind him.
When Lin Quan passed the ball, the French players naturally crossed the half court and pressed towards the Spanish player who had the ball.
Busquets continued to pass the ball back and put it at Pique's feet.
France's forward Giroud chased closely, bypassed Busquets and continued to rush towards Pique.
Pique was not surprised but happy to see that the opponent was pressing so close.
The French team really looks more aggressive than the English team. At least they didn't park the bus in their own half! If that were the case, this game would be difficult to win! (End of this chapter)