Chapter 540 All-Star Opening

Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany.

After the World Cup opening ceremony, many staff members came in to clean up some props and supplies. After the venue was cleared, the main event that fans were most looking forward to that night was about to begin - England vs. Paraguay!!

This game is the finale of today. All the spectators present are looking forward to the game. Some real fans want to watch the top game, while the general spectators around want to see the stars of the two teams.

Of course, the England team is still the main focus. More than half of the players in the England team are well-known stars.

Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye it was already 8:20 in the evening, and the two teams were already eager to try in the player tunnel. Each of them held a child's hand, ready to participate in the entrance ceremony.

At this time, the audience seats were very lively, but the player tunnel was very quiet. No player was whispering to each other. They were all enjoying the atmosphere of the World Cup.

In this focused arena, the players are undoubtedly more excited. You know, the attention to this game is no less than that of the Champions League final. Although this is just one of the group matches, the pre-match publicity is not as good as that of the Champions League final, but the title of "World Cup" attracts an unimaginable number of viewers. And this is the first game after the opening ceremony of the World Cup, so you can imagine the attention it has received.

Wang Li was also standing in the player tunnel, listening to the cheers coming from his ears. He couldn't wait to get on the court to participate. Such a game was really tempting.

"Brother Allen, can you give me an autograph and take a photo with me after the game?"

At this time, a little girl's voice suddenly came from the quiet player's tunnel, completely destroying the quiet atmosphere in the entire tunnel, and everyone's eyes were focused on Wang Li. Wang Li was holding a 5 or 6-year-old German girl in his hand. The little girl looked well-behaved and blinked her big eyes at Wang Li.

Wang Li smiled at her, couldn't help but pinch the little girl's face with his hand, and said, "Okay, no problem."

From the atmosphere in the stadium back to the player tunnel, looking at the casual black-haired boy, the Paraguayan players felt a little nervous and expectant.

In the Paraguayan team, most of the players play in various professional leagues in South America. Although they have heard of the name "Alan Wang" and watched Wang Li's game videos, Europe and South America are too far apart after all. For many of them who want to come to Europe to play football, it is not easy to become an ordinary player.

The gap between them and Wang Li cannot be explained by reason.

As a result, few people would consider what it would be like to compete with Wang Li.

Although Paraguayan head coach Anibal Ruiz emphasized the defensive method against England before the game, but before the actual game, it was hard for them to imagine that this seemingly friendly black-haired boy in front of them would have such strong strength.

The current England team's entire lineup can really be described as an all-star team. Not only Wang Li, but also Beckham, Terry, Lampard, Gerrard and other players are all well-known.

Looking at the star players of the England team, the Paraguayan players even felt a little ashamed.

However, this made them even more motivated.

If you defeat an identical opponent, you will just feel a little excited, but if you defeat an opponent who is considered impossible to defeat in the eyes of the public, then you will definitely feel very comfortable.

Compared to Paraguay, England is an almost impossible opponent to beat.

Not to mention other players, just the value of Wang Li alone can buy several Paraguayan teams. Such a gap is really frustrating.

While the Paraguayan players were changing their minds, a while later it was time for them to play. Every player in the player tunnel also calmed down, each holding a caddy, and walked out of the tunnel to the court in order.

Instantly, cheers resounded throughout the Allianz Arena!!

Sky TV - "Let's go to the live show, the two teams finally appear!"

"Today, England players wore white jerseys. It is said that this jersey designed by Enbo is intended to help England achieve better results in the World Cup. Paraguay wore all-blue jerseys. They still maintained the style of the last World Cup and there was not much change."

"This is the first game of this World Cup. In Group B, England is undoubtedly the strongest team. They are also the team with the highest value of the World Cup lineup because they have the world's number one player, Alan Wang. They are worth nearly 200 million euros more than the second-placed Italy team."

"The strength of a team of this value is beyond doubt. Although England's performance in previous World Cups was not very good and they were eliminated in the round of 16 several times, this year's England team is still favored by the general public. This may be because of Alan Wang. After all, this black-haired kid's goal efficiency is really amazing. With him, at least in the next 10 years, no team will have a stronger forward line than England."

"It is worth mentioning that the England team has called up two other young players. They are not only new recruits for the World Cup, but also new recruits for the England team. They are goalkeeper No. 1 Thomas and striker Harrison."

"The former currently plays for Chelsea and is Chelsea's well-deserved number one goalkeeper, while the latter was in the top three scorers in the Premier League last season and performed very well. This young player is also one of the hottest figures in the current transfer market."

"From this we can see that there are many talented players emerging in England. These two young players, together with Allen and Rooney, make the England team look very young."

"And Paraguay's star player Santa Cruz should not be underestimated. This player currently plays for the Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich. He is very familiar with the Allianz Arena. Perhaps today in this stadium, he can..."

As the Sky TV commentator continued to introduce, the players of the two teams on the field had lined up in a row, ready to take turns singing the national anthem, which is a ritual before the World Cup.

First, the England team sang the national anthem.

Listening to the rhythm of the English national anthem, Wang Li was at a loss. Perhaps the previous Alan Wang knew this national anthem, but after Wang Li came to this world, although he had heard the national anthem several times, he could not sing it at all. He had no intention of learning this kind of song.

So, when Beckham and others were immersed in the singing, Wang Li was looking at the audience blankly, his mouth opening and closing, and no one knew what he was mumbling.

Of course, that doesn't matter.

After the national anthem ceremony, the starting players of both teams began to take pictures, which is also an important part before the World Cup. After the photo shoot, the captains of both teams went to guess coins, and then the players of both teams dispersed on the court to find their positions.

At this time, the situation and lineup on the field became clear.

England's starting formation was the standard 442, with Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen at the front.

Wang Li did not play as a striker. McLaren was considering letting Wang Li play a greater role as the core of England's offense, so Wang Li was a midfielder, and his precise positioning was attacking midfielder. Other midfielders included Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and the team captain David Beckham.

England's starting midfielder did surprise Paraguayan head coach Aníbal Ruiz, as well as most fans and media, because when Eriksson coached the England team, the 'double D' Lampard and Gerrard were the main players in the midfield, but now Gerrard is sitting on the bench and Lampard appears in the starting lineup.

But think about it, McLaren's approach is understandable, the main reason is that there are too many star players in the England team, which makes England's front court appear very crowded.

In this World Cup, McLaren called up five forwards: Wang Li, Owen, Rooney, Crouch and Harrison. Originally, he wanted to call four people into the team, but these five forwards each have their own characteristics, which made it difficult for McLaren to win.

However, only two players are needed at the forward position, so at least two players will sit on the bench or even not be able to make the roster at all.

In this game, the unlucky guy who didn't make the roster was Harrison. As a newcomer, even though his performance was quite good, he was directly excluded by McLaren.

Wang Li was arranged in the midfield, so that Rooney and Owen could appear on the field at the same time. The combination of Manchester United's top scorer and England's golden boy has an unquestionable offensive capability. With the support of Wang Li who is not weaker than the two combined, England's forward offensive capability can be imagined.

But in this case, Wang Li will occupy a starting position in midfield, so Lampard and Gerrard can only have one starter, because these two players are of the same type, and their ability to play as wingers is not very strong, at least not as good as Chelsea's excellent professional winger Joe Cole.

Considering that Lampard was Wang Li's teammate before, his cooperation with Wang Li must be much more skillful than Gerrard, so Lampard got the chance.

Perhaps, he has to thank Wang Li for his performance.

Owen, Rooney, Wang Li, Lampard, Beckham, Joe Cole, this frontcourt starting lineup made all the spectators in the stadium excited as soon as they appeared! !

Among these six players, except for Joe Cole who is slightly less famous, the other five players are definitely world-class stars. If a survey is conducted, out of the 1 billion football fans in the world, probably 950 million have heard of these names.

This is a true all-star lineup!!

Compared to the star-studded frontcourt of the England team, the back four seems a little inferior. They are Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Gary Neville. The reason why they are inferior is not that there is a gap between their strength and the frontcourt, but that the defenders themselves belong to a group that is not valued by fans. Although these people are all very strong, their fame is much worse.

For example, when commentators from various TV stations introduce players, they focus on England's frontcourt and only mention the backcourt in passing.

Although this makes the person involved very depressed, it is the fact.

However, they may not be the most depressed, because television stations in various countries (except Paraguay) only briefly mentioned Paraguay's lineup: goalkeeper Villar, defenders Nunez, Menzur, Gamara, Cáceres, midfielders Barreto, dos Santos, Acuna, Gavilan, and forwards Santa Cruz and Valdes.

Perhaps the only familiar name in this lineup is Santa Cruz. Even the team captain Gamara is a little-known player. I'm afraid that ordinary fans have not heard of this name, after all, he is not a player playing in the top five European leagues.

During this lively introduction, time passed quietly, and then with the referee's whistle, the game finally began.

Both teams used a 442 formation, but in fact their tactics were completely different.

Under the guidance of McClaren, the England team completely relied on powerful offense. They were good at offense. McClaren's idea of ​​leading the team was to play artistic football, so this kind of offense was fully utilized under his tactical guidance. The winger was not Phil Neville, but Joe Cole who was good at offense. This was the reason. Compared with the slightly conservative Neville, McClaren preferred to use the flexible Joe Cole.

Paraguay is just the opposite. Their tactical idea is to play defensive counterattack.

Among South American countries, there are not many teams that truly play defensive counterattacks, and Paraguay is one of the best. Back then, relying on the bravery of legendary goalkeeper Chilavert, defensive counterattacks became the heirloom of the Paraguayan team.

Now, even though Chilavert is gone, the Paraguayan team still inherits this style of play. Although in the World Cup qualifiers, many media questioned Paraguay's style of play. Without Chilavert, can Paraguay still defend so firmly?

However, Paraguay has effectively responded to these doubts with facts.

In the South American qualifiers, Paraguay scored a total of 21 goals in 18 games, and its offensive ability is relatively weak. However, with tenacious defense and sharp counterattacks from Santa Cruz and others, Paraguay was still able to qualify smoothly. In the South American games, their defense also made Brazil and Argentina, which had strong offensive firepower, suffer a lot.

In this World Cup, if Paraguay wants to qualify from strong teams such as England and Sweden, defensive counterattack will definitely become their magic weapon to win.

And now, England faces this solid defense.

Is England's all-out forward line more powerful, or is Paraguay's solid defense more stable?

All fans have this question in their minds, and now on the court, the two teams are using real competition to explain it all.

England's attack.

Wang Li replaced Gerrard in the starting lineup, but his task was different from Gerrard's. He was the team's offensive core. McClaren did not give him any defensive tasks. His only task was to lead the forward line to score goals.

Now in the England midfield, Joe Cole and Lampard are his teammates at Chelsea, and on the right side David Beckham is his teammate at Real Madrid. After a few days of training, there is no problem at all in their coordination.

Therefore, in offense, Wang Li would choose to pass the ball more often.

The performances of other players were also very good. At the beginning of the game, the English players made relatively few mistakes, and Paraguay's offensive power was not strong, which kept the ball under the control of the England team.

Wang Li got the ball again.

After the game started, Wang Li felt that he was in surprisingly good shape today. Although the head coach emphasized the strength of Paraguay's defense before the game, Wang Li didn't feel anything. The defensive ability of these South American players is really quite different from that of England's top players. At least Wang Li hasn't felt anything yet.

So, this time he wanted to try it himself.

After getting the ball near the center line, Wang Li headed towards the front court alone.

At this time, the tacit understanding between the players in the middle and Wang Li was revealed. Beckham and Joe Cole flew forward from both wings, while Lampard stayed back and was ready to provide support at any time. This kind of movement made Wang Li feel very relieved because he had many options.

"Alan rushed forward with the ball!"

Seeing this scene, commentators from TV stations in various countries said excitedly that now, Wang Li's dribbling has been promoted as a scene worth appreciating, and fans feel that it is worth the ticket price to be able to see the performance of this black-haired boy live.

These are all things off the court, but Wang Li is still running forward with the ball step by step.

At this time, he saw a young player coming forward to grab the ball. This was Paraguayan 22-year-old Edgar Barreto. The young player currently plays for the Dutch Eredivisie club Nijmegen and his performance is quite good. This World Cup is also an important platform for the growth of such players.

As a young player with little fame, Barreto is very confident in his defensive ability. In the Eredivisie, he can often accurately predict the next move of the opponent's offensive players, which also makes him famous in the Netherlands.

Therefore, when he was approaching, he kept staring at Wang Li's feet, trying to predict in advance which direction Wang Li would dribble the ball in, so as to find an opportunity to steal the ball.

Wang Li did not change his dribbling speed because Barreto came forward. He just dribbled the ball step by step, as if he was completely unaware that Barreto was running towards him. This situation made the fans in the audience a little worried.

The English fans were full of confidence. They were all looking forward to the next scene because they knew that it was almost impossible to snatch the ball from Wang Li with just one defender from the opposing team.

This was indeed the case. When Barreto felt that he had found the right direction, he kicked directly to steal the ball while retreating, and he took a step to the right.

But the next moment, Wang Li made a light change of direction to the left, without even changing his speed with the ball, and directly dodged the interception. This scene made Barreto, who was pulled away, feel incredible.

However, Wang Li had already continued to charge forward with the ball!

After passing Barreto, Wang Li had already dribbled the ball to five meters in front of the penalty area. At this time, two Paraguayans were running towards him trying to steal the ball, and Barreto was following behind. The three players' siege would threaten Wang Li's dribbling.

It's just a threat.

Before being surrounded, Wang Li made a light pass and the ball flew directly to Owen's spot in the penalty area.

In this way, the wall of the Paraguayan players became useless, and the defense in the penalty area seemed a bit sparse - there was only one defensive player next to Owen. After he jumped up slightly, he touched the ball with his head and the football was passed to the left side of the penalty area.

There, Joe Cole comes in!

There is no doubt about Joe Cole's speed and awareness. When he got the chance, he touched the ball with the instep of his foot and then chose to volley directly in the rhythm!

“Shoot!”

Unfortunately, the ball was a little too far into the far corner. Although goalkeeper Villar failed to touch the ball, it still flew out of the baseline.

However, the fans were excited.

At the beginning of the game, the England team showed tacit cooperation and strong offensive firepower.

(To be continued)