Volume 3 Chelsea Dynasty Chapter 553 Stadium Display Screen*!? ?5 (23 48)
The group stage of the World Cup has finally ended. After England and Sweden in Group B qualified, the top two teams in each group were announced, while the other teams that did not qualify went straight home. Their World Cup journey has ended.
Of the four teams in Group A, Germany and Ecuador advanced.
As the host country, they will definitely receive special care when the group draw takes place. The German team has almost no opponents in Group A, and their situation is better than that of the English team.
In recent years, Germany's football performance has not been very good. They have not defeated the world's strong teams for many years in a row. Many people think that Germany has become a second-rate team. However, in such an uncompetitive group, qualification is still guaranteed.
In Group A, Poland, which is good at playing power football, is also favored by the media. Compared with the other two teams, Poland has more experience in major competitions. In addition, Poland borders Germany, so it can be said that they have the best time and location.
However, it was Germany and Ecuador who finally qualified.
Before the game, many media commented that Ecuador would definitely be at the bottom of Group A because "they will only take advantage of their home field in the plateau and against their South American brothers who have equally weak autumn winds." This was the original words of Kicker. But now Ecuador has squeezed out Poland and emerged successfully, which surprised the media.
In Group C of the death group of Argentina, Cote d'Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro, and the Netherlands, there was no dark horse. The Netherlands and Argentina appeared together, and this result was favored by the public. After all, even in the death group, there was still some gap between them and the other two teams.
The teams that qualified from Group D were Mexico and Portugal. Iran, an Asian team favored by many media, had to return home disappointed after two losses and one draw in three games. They failed to create any miracles as many fans expected.
Many people think that Iran is the Turkey of Asia. Many media think that Iran has a tough style and they are likely to become a dark horse. Unfortunately, when Iran, with a tough style, meets Portugal and Mexico, which have delicate footwork and good tactical awareness, they become a reckless man. They are powerless and only get one group point against Angola, which cannot make any waves in the group.
Some people say that the real group of death is Group E, which consists of Italy, the United States, the Czech Republic and Ghana.
Under the leadership of the famous coach Lippi, Italy has shown the potential to win the championship. Their football is different from Italy's previous conservatism, because Lippi understands that relying solely on defense will not work in modern football, no matter how solid your defense is.
In this World Cup, the combination of Toni and Gilardino in the Italian front line is very practical. Coupled with Totti's fieryness and Cassano's aura, they can even compete with Brazil's technical team.
Italy qualified without any pressure. They had two wins and one draw in three games, accumulating 7 points, and easily stood out from the group.
In this group, the US team also attracted much attention. Americans do not like football, but with the strong sports background and physique of the United States, a powerful US team was born. According to media comments, the US players have excellent physical fitness and attach great importance to tactical coordination. Whether at the individual level or the overall level, the strength of the US team is good.
Unfortunately, such an American team was a tragedy in this World Cup. They returned to North America in humiliation after three losses and continued their basketball career.
Ghana qualified. The team won two games and lost one in the group, earning six points and easily qualifying as the second place.
As for the Czech team? This "old" team was not favored by anyone before the game. They only defeated the United States team, but lost the other two games.
The situation in Group F is suspenseful, because in this group, Brazil can be said to be the only team that stands out, while the other three teams, Croatia, Australia and Japan, are of similar strength, and any team may get second place.
In the end, Australia won the qualification.
France and Switzerland from Group G advanced together, which is a perfect result, because the other two teams, South Korea and Togo, are really not as strong as the European teams.
As for the final teams that qualified from Group H, it is a bit regrettable---Spain and Ukraine!
It is normal for Spain to qualify. Although this team has never won the World Cup, it is undeniable that Spain is the best in the world. Although the value of the team members cannot catch up with Italy, Brazil, and England, the Spanish team has a feature that other teams cannot match, that is, most of the players are from the same club---Barcelona!!
Such a Spanish team can almost be said to be the Barcelona team. The cooperation between the players and the team's tactics are almost the same as those of the Barcelona team. However, the Spanish team has several more world-class stars. It would be unfair for such a team not to qualify.
The most surprising team is the Ukrainian team, because this team is completely a one-man team of "nuclear warhead" Shevchenko. The reason for this is that except for Sheva, almost all other players of the Ukrainian team are unknown.
This is also the first time that the Ukrainian team has reached the World Cup finals.
Being able to qualify from the group stage in the first World Cup really makes people look up to them, and fans are more willing to attribute the credit to the stars, so Shevchenko's reputation has become even greater.
According to rumors, after the group stage, Chelsea club owner Abramovich gave AC Milan a blank transfer application form. In order to get this fellow countryman, he no longer cared about how much the transfer fee was.
The group stage has come to an end, and the World Cup has finally entered the most intense battlefield, with the round of 16 knockout stage about to begin.
According to the World Cup knockout match rules, the first and second place teams of two adjacent groups will play against each other, so the comprehensive group confrontation situation of the top 16 knockout matches is---
Germany vs Sweden; Argentina vs Mexico; England vs Ecuador; Portugal vs Netherlands; Italy vs Australia; Switzerland vs Ukraine; Brazil vs Ghana; Spain vs France.
England's opponent is Ecuador, the second place in Group A. McLaren is very satisfied with this result, and all England supporters are also very satisfied because they missed the powerful Germany in Group A.
England is definitely strong, and facing such a "weak team" made England's supporters keep waving flags and cheering. They hope that England can play a beautiful game and eliminate Ecuador with absolute advantage.
“We will march toward victory!”
The Sun used such an exciting headline to attract the attention of English fans. In the article, they pointed out that England's road is bright, at least there is no pressure to advance to the quarterfinals. Perhaps now England should prepare for the big battle with the Netherlands or Portugal.
If England can successfully qualify, the team will play against another saint in the match of 'Netherlands vs Portugal', and many fans are already looking forward to this game.
L'Equipe is also very optimistic about England. They feel that there is no reason for England to fail in the battle against Ecuador. The main reason is that England performed extremely strongly in the group stage. Even though they drew with Sweden in the last game, it is still undeniable that England has strength.
"Beckham will be the key to victory!"
Kicker thinks so, they feel that England captain David Beckham may become the key figure in dominating the outcome of the game.
Since 2002, Beckham's performance in the England team has not been very good, especially in the World Cup qualifiers. Many media and fans have questioned Beckham's ability, saying that he is a drag on the entire team.
However, in this World Cup group stage, everyone saw Beckham's outstanding performance in the first two games, which made them very confident in Beckham. At least this proved that Beckham's condition was still good. Although he was 30 years old, his Beckham curve ball still posed a great threat to his opponents.
However, most people still believe that Wang Li can truly become the leader of the England team. They hope to see this royal son-in-law, who is about to receive the British noble title, lead the England team to achieve better results.
At present, it means leading the England team into the quarterfinals of the World Cup!
The situation seems to be very good, but in fact there are still many media questioning the England team, just because they met a South American team.
Before this World Cup, England had played against South American teams 14 times in the World Cup, with a record of 6 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses. This data is not too bad, but since 1986, there has been a strange pattern that has been bothering the English. That is, every time they meet a South American team in a major competition, they have to meet two in a row, and the final result is always one win and one loss.
In the 1986 World Cup, England defeated Paraguay 3-0 in the knockout round, but lost to Argentina 1-2 in the quarterfinals.
After beating Colombia 2-0 in the 1998 group stage, they lost to Argentina on penalties in the knockout stage;
In 2002, they took revenge on Argentina 1-0 in the group stage, but were eliminated by Brazil 2-1 in the quarterfinals... This pattern was obviously what the Ecuadorian team was happy to see before the game, because England had already defeated Paraguay 6-0 in the group stage.
Regarding this rule, many media reporters came to interview English players, wanting to know their views on the "rule". This will certainly attract the attention of many fans before the big competition.
"I never felt there was any pattern, these were just coincidences."
In an interview, Beckham said: "Now the team is united, we will do everything we can to win. As for the previous rules, it is not important at all and it is difficult to affect everyone's mentality."
Compared to Beckham, Wang Li was much more direct. When he heard the news, he laughed out loud and said, "Regularity? That's just because I hadn't joined the England team at that time!"
"From this moment on, all rules and history will become a thing of the past. We will do our best, and these rules will only serve as our driving force to move forward!"
A female reporter from Gazzetta dello Sport asked: "Alan, can you tell me what you think of this game? We all want to know what you think of this pattern and the upcoming Ecuadorian team?"
Wang Li smiled and said, "You know, I'm getting married after the World Cup."
Hearing this, the reporters were stunned, and then they heard Wang Li continue: "I once said that the best wedding gift is the World Cup championship, which will make my marriage perfect! Now, the World Cup has just entered the round of 16, and we only encountered a weak team. Yes, a weak team, you have to admit this, so do you think I will let the team fall at this moment?"
Wang Li waved his hands and said firmly: "This is impossible!"
"We will definitely win! There is no doubt about that. As for the rules, that is only in the past. Just for the sake of my marriage, I will not let England lose here. We will easily beat them and run into the ranks of competing for the championship."
Wang Li’s speech inspired the England supporters!
Perhaps all England fans have evolved into Wang Li's supporters, because when many media questioned the England team, this black-haired boy always stood up and "pointed out their mistakes." After that, the media immediately supported Wang Li's statement.
The ability to influence "media thinking" in this way is really incredible.
In fact, the media all over Europe and even the world have become somewhat numb to Wang Li... Why?
Because in the past, every time Wang Li said "we will win", he would be criticized by a large group of media. They ridiculed Wang Li more than once, and finally reaped all the bitter fruits. When Wang Li's team finally won, readers would question whether the media reporters deliberately reported "distorted facts" to attract public attention.
So, they became clowns.
So now, when Wang Li says something definite, many media outlets all unanimously change their opinions to support Wang Li's words. Such reports can firstly use Wang Li's name to attract the fans' attention, and secondly, if the statement is proved to be wrong after the game, they can also put the blame on Wang Li.
This really kills two birds with one stone, without any worries.
Of course, these have nothing to do with England's training. In fact, England has been training in Munich since the end of the group stage. On the 23rd, they took a bus to Stuttgart. The next game against Ecuador will be held at the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium in Stuttgart.
The World Cup schedule is also tight. After the group stage, the England team only had five days of rest. After arriving in Stuttgart, the round of 16 knockout match was approaching.
No. 25!
This match was held on the 25th and was the third match of the round of 16.
On the second day, after the training, the England team returned to the hotel to rest. The players also had some entertainment because the first World Cup knockout match had already started that night. The two teams were the host Germany, the first in Group A, and the second in Group B, Sweden, which "relying on luck" had three draws in three games.
The final result was 2:0. Perhaps Sweden's luck had run out and they lost cleanly to Germany.
After watching the entire game, the English players prepared to take a rest because they would be the ones to take the field the next day and they would become the protagonists of the whole world.
After breakfast the next morning, McLaren did not rush the players to training, but directly held a tactical class to make specific arrangements and instructions before the evening game.
These tasks have already been arranged. The purpose of holding tactical classes at this time is to be prepared for any unexpected situations during the game. If some unexpected situations occur, this arrangement may play a big role.
Of course, it is important to remind each player what they need to pay attention to on the court and what tasks they need to complete.
McLaren did not tell Wang Li anything. As a striker and England's top scorer, Wang Li's job was to score goals, nothing more.
If he could score a goal, he had accomplished his mission, and leading England to victory was his main goal.
As for how Wang Li was going to play on the field, McLaren simply ignored it. This might be a kind of absolute trust. In fact, McLaren felt that he could not give Wang Li any tactical requirements at all, because he felt that any tactics might limit the performance of this black-haired boy on the field.
With Mourinho and Carlo's experience in arranging Wang Li, McLaren felt that the best option was to let everything go smoothly.
"You are free to play on the field, and your task is to score goals! Help the team score more goals!" McLaren instructed after the tactical training class.
Wang Li nodded to show his understanding.
In the afternoon, the England bus drove into the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium.
Gottlieb Daimler Stadium is the home stadium of the Bundesliga team Stuttgart. Its predecessor was the Nacka Stadium, which was built in 1933 and has been expanded and renovated five times since then. It was named after the automotive industry pioneer Daimler.
In 1999, in order to meet the various standards of the World Cup stipulated by the National Football Federation, the Stuttgart city government invested a total of 51.5 million euros to renovate the stadium again, and it was completed in 2005. The renovated Gottlieb Daimler Stadium can accommodate 53,200 people (including 47,757 seats).
This new stadium, which meets World Cup standards, is technologically advanced. The entire stadium has been equipped with new Philips lighting equipment, which makes the lighting in the stadium more sufficient and reasonable, and can better mobilize the enthusiasm of the fans. In addition, a large TV screen, a sound amplification system, and safety technology have been newly added, which not only improves the quality of on-site viewing but also increases the safety factor of the stadium.
The most eye-catching thing in the entire stadium is the two newly added display screens, each of which is 115 square meters, which is currently the largest display screen in Europe.
When the England team entered the stadium to warm up, almost everyone looked at the two screens. Joe Cole joked: "It would be great if I could score a goal and see the replay of my attack on these two screens. It must feel great."
"Shh..."
The other players booed in unison, but in fact each of them had some ideas. After all, the display screen was too prominent, and the images of the players played on it would definitely stand out.
Even Wang Li felt that it would be a great experience to play the replay of his own goal here.