Chapter 539: Opening Battle Prologue
For each national team, the preparation and publicity work for the World Cup in Germany has nothing to do with them. As one of the 32 teams in the World Cup finals, what they need to prepare is to adjust the team's state, face the opponent in the best state, strive to achieve good results, win glory for the country, and win honor for the team.
Three months ago, FIFA announced the World Cup groupings.
The media had already known about the grouping of the 32 teams for the World Cup. However, at that time, the strength of each group was not very different, so the football powers did not report much about it, and it was just a passing thing. But now that the World Cup is about to open, everyone has begun to study the grouping of the 32 teams to guess which team might appear, which team will be eliminated directly, which team might become a dark horse, etc.
Before the game, the German newspaper "Kicker" analyzed the strength of each team. Although it is a German newspaper, their views are very neutral and can provide fans with a great reference value for understanding the strength of each World Cup team.
Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
As the host, the German team had a good draw, avoiding the Netherlands, which the team was most worried about, as well as Serbia and Montenegro and the Czech Republic. This made the entire German team breathe a sigh of relief.
In this group, Germany is obviously the most likely to qualify. The other team that will qualify will be one of Costa Rica and Poland.
As for Ecuador, this team is not very strong in South America and the media are not optimistic about it.
Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden
This grouping made the English breathe a sigh of relief.
The main reason is that England's former head coach Eriksson is a Swede. If the Swede Eriksson continues to coach the England team, then now that they have met the Swedish team, it will be a dramatic scene.
However, this did not happen. The current head coach of the England team is McClaren, an orthodox Englishman.
In England's group, Paraguay is a strong team in recent World Cups and their chances of qualifying are very high. Sweden is also no pushover either.
According to media comments, the competition between Paraguay and Sweden in Group B will be very fierce.
Group C: Argentina, Cote d'Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro, Netherlands
The encounter between the Netherlands and Argentina is obviously a group of death. If we add the powerful Serbia and Montenegro and the African upstart Côte d'Ivoire, there is no doubt that the most watched group in the entire World Cup is Group C.
Each of the four teams in this group has a chance of making it, and even if Arsenal is eliminated, it would really be nothing surprising.
In addition to the three groups a, b, and c that have attracted much attention, the other groups are:
Group D: Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Group E: Italy, Ghana, United States, Czech Republic
Group F: Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Group G: France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo
Group H: Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia
The new team in this European Cup is undoubtedly the Ukrainian team. Led by Ukrainian nuclear warhead Shevchenko, the team directly broke into the World Cup finals, which is the first time in the history of the Ukrainian team.
However, the media are not optimistic about the Ukrainian team, which has the world's top striker Shevchenko, because if they want to advance to the top 16 of the World Cup, they must eliminate Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, which is not an easy task. After all, Ukraine can really be called Shevchenko's one-man team.
In the Ukrainian team, he is even more important than Wang Li in the England team.
However, football is a team sport. The gap in strength between Shevchenko and Wang Li is obvious. It is very difficult for Ukraine to qualify.
Of course, these have little to do with the England team. For the England team, the most important thing now is that they are about to face an opening battle - England vs. Paraguay.
This is the first match of Group B and is also recognized by FIFA as the first match of all matches. That is to say, England's 'all-star team' will play an opening match for the World Cup, and the venue is the Allianz Arena where the opening ceremony of the World Cup is held.
After the opening ceremony of the World Cup, the two teams will directly stage the drama of European football and South American football at the Allianz Arena to mark the beginning of the World Cup.
Therefore, this match will attract much attention.
Time is tight for the England team and they must be prepared for everything.
In recent decades, Paraguay is undoubtedly a strong rising star in South American football. In the public opinion, Paraguay has become a real threat to Brazil and Argentina after Uruguay!
This is the third time in a row that Paraguay has reached the World Cup finals.
Now, in South American football, apart from Brazil and Argentina, it is difficult for Colombia, the upstart Ecuador or the former aristocrat Uruguay to compete with the tenacious Paraguay.
As a South American team, Paraguay's greatest asset is defense.
In the Paraguayan team, there are three most important players---Captain Gamara, Santa Cruz and Baredes.
Gamara, who is 35 years old this year, can be said to be an evergreen in Paraguayan football. Since his debut in the national team in March 1993, Gamara has played nearly 80 games in total, breaking the record of the most appearances for the national team in Paraguayan history held by Juan Bautista Torrales. Even the flagship figure of Paraguayan football, Zilavert, is far inferior to him. It can be said that he is the soul of the Paraguayan national team.
Gamara plays as a central defender and is currently the captain of the Paraguayan national team. He is also the only candidate for sweeper and central defender in the team. He is the most important piece in Paraguay's defensive counterattack system.
Gamara is strong and good at heading, and is the mainstay of Paraguay's defense. In the 1998 World Cup, Gamara was selected into the World Cup's best team.
Judging from these honors and experiences, although Gamara is old, his strength should not be underestimated. As long as Gamara is there, Paraguay's defense line is very solid.
Paraguay's second superstar is the 25-year-old Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz, who is a typical talented player.
At the age of 9, Santa Cruz had already joined the famous Olimpia Club in Paraguay, and represented the team in competitions at the age of 15. With his excellent physical condition, good shooting awareness and handsome looks, Roque Santa Cruz quickly stood out and became an idol-level star in Paraguayan football.
Roque Santa Cruz started to show his talent at the 1997 World Youth Championship. At the 1999 America's Cup, he scored three goals in a row and performed a hat trick when he was not yet 18 years old, which finally attracted the attention of European giants. Finally, the Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich took the lead and called him to their camp.
However, Roque Santa Cruz's name is not well-known in Europe, and few fans pay much attention to this Bayern shooter. But this is not because Santa Cruz is not strong, but because he has a fatal weakness, which is that he is very easy to get injured!
This weakness is the natural enemy of any football player.
At Bayern Munich, Santa Cruz was injured almost every season, but in the dozen or so league games he played each season, he always shined and helped the team score goals.
His goal scoring efficiency is very high!
Although he has never been the absolute main force of Bayern and has not gained much fame in Europe, no one can deny the strength of Santa Cruz. Now Santa Cruz is in very good physical condition and all his injuries have been fully recovered. In this World Cup, he will definitely be the top scorer of Paraguay.
In addition to these two, Carlos Baredes is also the pillar of Paraguay. He is a pillar of the midfield.
As the star player of the Italian Reggina team, Baredes' strength should not be underestimated. In the past season, as a player who is good at both offense and defense, he scored 9 goals for Reggina in the 27 games he participated in. For a small club team, such efficiency is already amazing.
Baredes is already 30 years old this year, but before the World Cup started, he still transferred to the Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon for 6.5 million euros.
This shows that his value cannot be underestimated.
Paraguay has three such generals in the forward, midfielder and defender categories, which shows the strength of the team.
Many media are also optimistic that Paraguay can qualify from Group B. Just like the last two World Cups, this team will still be able to qualify from the group. Some media even commented that Paraguay is likely to threaten England's results.
The market for such views is small, but many South American football fans enjoy talking about it.
Of course, it's just a threat.
After all, Paraguay's lineup is not comparable to that of the England team. Their so-called star players may not even be able to play as substitutes in the England team.
Although this does not prove that Paraguay has no chance of winning, it does illustrate the gap between the two teams.
The England team came in a hurry. They came to Munich only when the team was fully prepared, but England's game will start after the opening ceremony tomorrow.
Such a tight schedule made the media reporters confused, and they felt that it would affect the performance of the England team.
"We are ready and once we get here, all we need to do is play hard."
In an interview, McLaren said: "They all thought they should arrive two days earlier, but I think the environment here will make the players relax and their game state will be affected, so I came one day later."
McLaren's words sounded very relaxed, and it seemed that everything was indeed arranged by him.
Munich is now completely flooded with lights, blessings, and passion. This important city hosting the World Cup has become brilliant, and all media and fans have arrived here.
If England had arrived a day earlier, they would have certainly been subjected to all kinds of harassment, which would have been detrimental to the opening battle they were about to wage.
Of course the players didn't care about these, so the England team arrived late.
As a member of the team, Wang Li will of course always follow the team. This is not his first time in Munich. In fact, he just came here two months ago and led Real Madrid to defeat Bayern Munich.
And now, he's here again.
Therefore, after arriving in Munich, Wang Li became a 'tour guide' to introduce his teammates. Actually, he was also a road blind. How could he know everyone in such a big city?
He was just speaking casually, and if he really didn't understand something, he would just make it up. His teammates wouldn't know anyway, right?
Of course, what he didn't know was that while he was explaining the symbolic meaning of a golden tower to Harrison and Thomas, Hargreaves behind him couldn't help laughing.
Don't ever forget that he is a member of Bayern Munich.
In short, after arriving in Munich, the atmosphere within the England team was very relaxed, and there was no sign at all that there would be a formal match tomorrow.
In fact, every player attaches great importance to tomorrow's game.
During the training at Wembley Stadium, McLaren had carefully explained their biggest rival in the group stage - Paraguay. This team is a strong team in South America. Although it seems that the team's strength is far behind that of the England team, since it can threaten Brazil and Argentina, then it must have the strength to threaten the England team.
In the World Cup, a team's performance cannot be described simply by value.
In such an atmosphere, the next day came quickly.
For each team participating in the World Cup, the first thing to do, of course, is to attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup. There are no strict requirements for the players to participate in this opening ceremony. Most of the time they are just watching the performances of the opening ceremony. What is important is the next game, which is especially true for the England team that will play the opening game.
The World Cup is back in Europe, which is definitely something worth celebrating for European football fans. UEFA and the German Football Association attach great importance to this World Cup. As early as three months ago, the German Football Association announced to the outside world that the opening ceremony of the World Cup was fully prepared.
The opening ceremony of this World Cup was held at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
The Allianz Arena cost 660 million euros to build and can accommodate more than 66,000 spectators.
This stadium is the home ground of Bayern Munich and Munich 1860. Its excellent hardware facilities were highly favored by the organizing committee, so the German Football Association chose it as the venue for the opening ceremony.
It was the first time for Wang Li to watch the opening ceremony of the World Cup live. Of course, it was also his first World Cup since he came into this world.
Wang Li felt that the opening ceremony held at the Allianz Arena was still worth appreciating, especially the first event of the opening ceremony, which attracted much attention from fans, the media and various players. That was the collective appearance of 170 former World Cup champions at the opening ceremony!
This scene was really shocking. Among these 170 former World Cup champions, many were completely unknown or had long been forgotten by fans, but now they all appeared at the venue.
Among them, of course, Maradona and Pele are the ones that everyone is most concerned about.
The appearance of these two football kings even caused a momentary sensation in the entire Allianz Arena. Wang Li stared at the two of them without blinking. Before him, these two players could be said to have the highest achievements in world football.
With Wang Li's current fame, although he is not inferior to the two, if he wants to surpass them, he must win a championship trophy of sufficient weight, that is, the Hercules Cup.
"The Hercules Cup!!!" Now Wang Li is only one championship trophy away from being crowned the best football player.
At this moment, he is even more looking forward to the World Cup.
After the appearance of 170 World Cup champions, there were some German-style programs or folk art activities. These activities looked pretty good and worth appreciating. Wang Li watched them with great interest. He felt that this was at least much better than the musicals in London that made people drowsy.
However, as a player of the England team, he cannot always enjoy the opening ceremony of the World Cup, because after all the programs are over, the England team will all appear on the stage and become the focus of everyone's attention. Their battle with Paraguay will be the finale of tonight!
Halfway through the show, all the England players returned to the left wing locker room.
At this time, the Allianz Arena was filled with a hot atmosphere, and the locker room was obviously not quiet. After coming back, many players looked outside the empty windows, and they all seemed a little absent-minded.
"We're about to have a competition!"
Seeing this situation, McLaren said solemnly. The reason why he asked the English players to come to Munich so late was because he was afraid of this situation. The atmosphere of the World Cup was too hot, and many players would be intoxicated by it, but they forgot that they were the protagonists of the World Cup, and thus could not perform at their normal level.
"Guys, you have to cheer up and get back to the game state. There is nothing out there, nothing!! We are about to have a world-class competition. Do you want to make a fool of yourself in the game?"
Although the activities outside are very lively, the game is the most important. In a while, the England team will replace those performers as the theme of the entire stadium. Then what is the point of appreciating the performances of those 'peers'?
These thoughts themselves don't make much sense, but McClaren's words still had some effect, at least no players looked out the window.
Even though the noises made them feel like cats clawing at them, they just endured it and sat in their seats without moving.
"Alright, alright! Everyone, don't pay attention to what's happening outside. The most important thing now is to put on your jerseys and do some pre-match warm-up exercises. You'll be on the field in half an hour."
Despite his concerns, McLaren kept reminding the players what they should do.
Although the current England team has not undergone a major change, at least one-third of the main players are World Cup rookies. Such a team is really worrying.
Wang Li is also a rookie, but he performed better than those veterans.
After returning to the locker room, he never looked outside again, but sat directly in the resting position, silently using his internal energy to adjust his physical condition. Now, he was already excited and looking forward to playing in the game.
The World Cup horn is about to sound!