Chapter 218 Xia Qi's World Cup Begins
In China, many football fans wait in front of the TV early with a glass of beer and a plate of snacks, ready to watch CCTV-5's World Football.
Tonight, the Tianzu column will launch the "World Cup Album", followed by Xia Qi's first game. It is very exciting for Chinese fans to finally see Chinese elements in the stadium.
The ratings for this World Cup are second only to 2002.
At two o'clock in the morning, after the background music of the Tianzu column,
After the word "album" appeared in the upper right corner of the screen, a large Boeing plane slowly landed at the airport with the background music of "Kikujiro's Summer".
The scene changed, and many crazy fans, each wearing their favorite star's jerseys, waving the national flag, were eagerly waiting at the airport.
Many stars appeared on the screen one by one, including the popular Messi, Ronaldo... and South American players that fans are not familiar with...
Appearing in the camera: Chinese fans waving the five-star red flag. Dense reporters and English fans. Players coming out. One by one. Xia Qi appears in the picture pushing a luggage cart.
At this time, the picture was shaking, and it felt like the photographer was running. It can be imagined that it was the moment Xia Qi appeared.
Everyone in the reception hall rushed towards him.
[Oh my goodness, this place is even more crowded than the entrance to the college entrance examination school…]
[That’s because Xia Qi is a top star today.]
[This shows that Chinese football is not good, and it has nothing to do with race...]
【Chinese football has never lacked talent, but it lacks a pair of eyes to discover it and the original intention of "not making money". 】
【Only by keeping your original aspiration in mind can you achieve your goal...】
At this time, Xia Qi's basic information and the football honors he had won were displayed on the screen.
And pointed out that about 15 Chinese fans came here.
For the three group stage matches of Xia Qi, approximately 28,000 tickets were sold to Chinese fans. On average, nearly 10,000 Chinese fans will come to support Xia Qi at each match.
It is estimated that during the more than 20-day World Cup, Chinese fans will bring billions of yuan in economic income to Brazil.
In the crowd, Duan Xuan was holding a microphone with the CCTV-5 logo, squeezing among many reporters but couldn't get in front of Xia Qi.
[Xia Qi's popularity is too scary. ]
【Chinese journalists only account for a small part, this is the real international style. 】
At this time, the screen changed.
It was already early morning the next day, Xia Qi, Walcott, Luke Shaw... and others were going for a morning run.
Narrator: Morning exercises were not arranged by the England coaching staff, but a habit that Xia Qi developed since childhood.
When you see Xia Qi running tirelessly on the field, do you know that he has been doing morning exercises every day for ten years?
Extra practice is the norm for many stars.
Only by watering with sweat can the flowers of success grow.
[Yes! No one can succeed easily. ]
I wonder if Xia Qi will blush after watching the replay? He did work hard, but his current success seems to have nothing to do with sweat.
The screen turns again,
Xia Qi took a camera to visit the England team's breakfast and interviewed the head chef.
[Is this chef also a top sports nutritionist? ]
[Is our national football team so professional? ]
[The national football team is simple, sea cucumber will do. 】
[Oh my god! What did I see on the foreigner’s table? Beef ramen? Xiaolongbao? ]
After breakfast, there were interviews in the locker room. Luke Shaw, Walcott, Joe Hart, Gerrard... all had interview clips.
Then it was a day of training for England.
[This is called training. Our national football team’s training is called dancing…]
Finally, here is an exclusive interview with Xia Qi.
He and Xia Qi communicated in Chinese.
"Among the eight groups, your group is unfortunately the real group of death. What do you think about this?"
"England's goal is not to qualify, but to win the championship. For a championship-contending team, it doesn't matter who the opponent is, they just have to crush them. To borrow a line from an anti-Japanese war movie: We fight the elite!"
"hehe!"
"After changing to midfield, do you still have aspirations for the World Cup Golden Boot?"
"Of course, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier. It would be even better if the Golden Boot and Assist King were both included."
"..."
"Can you predict the World Cup champion? I can give two answers."
"England, England!"
"Finally, let me ask you a question. Have you ever thought about going to China?"
"Of course, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River have always been in my dreams."
After Xia Qi's interview was over, it was almost time for the competition.
The TV camera was focused on the outside of the Amazon Stadium.
It was four o'clock in the afternoon, Brazilian time, and the sun was high in the sky.
There were crowds of people outside the stadium, almost only blue and white. Duan Xuan randomly interviewed passers-by A and B... Many people said they were fans of Xia Qi, and many of them were Italians.
...
...
At 2:30 p.m. local time, Xia Qi's team took a bus from the training base to the Amazon Stadium.
Along the way, English fans escorted him on both sides. They called Xia Qi's name from time to time, reminding him not to forget the promise he made.
At the entrance, a group of fans dressed in blue Italian jerseys held aloft a white board that read:
The Chinese character for Xiaqi is an arrow, and on the other side of the arrow is a heart-shaped pattern that means "I love you".
Below the pattern is written in English:
Juventus fans love you for 365 days, and today is the 366th day of loving you, so today we support your opponents!
Juventus was not satisfied with being the dominant team in Serie A and formally made an offer to Arsenal in the summer transfer market, which led to this scene.
The World Cup is a national war, and Juventus fans are very clear-headed!
Xia Qi smiled and made a heart shape to them through the glass window.
Xia Qi didn't know that this heart shape gesture was interpreted as "wanting to leave". Two other teams that had been waiting and watching in the summer transfer window also joined the bidding sequence, and the transfer war was thus launched ahead of schedule.
pre-match press conference
England manager Hodgson said: "Italy is an absolutely strong team and no one wants to play them so early.
When we knew we were in the same group with him, we prepared for this game very early.
I can’t say we are ready, you can never say you are ready, but we are confident at this point…”
Italy coach Prandelli: "England is ranked higher than us, their team is worth more than us, and they have a Ballon d'Or winner.
The pressure is definitely on us, but we are not without a chance to win. Restricting Xia Qi has become the most critical and important thing..."
After Xia Qi and others came back from warming up, Hodgson made the final pre-match mobilization.
...
...
In the player tunnel, the two No. 9 players bumped fists and each made their own victory declaration.
The referee's whistle ended the bragging contest between the two No. 9s.
Under the leadership of the referee team,
Enter in line.
Xia Qi's World Cup has begun.
(I thought I could write 8,000 words like yesterday, but it turns out I can’t…Tomorrow is Dragon Boat Festival, I wish you all a happy Dragon Boat Festival and may your dragon boat race win the championship!)