Chapter 225 World Cup Storm (Transitional text, can be skipped)
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After a fierce battle, the game finally ended.
The final score was fixed at 2:5!
The Italians ultimately failed to replicate the Miracle of Istanbul.
England won its first World Cup victory without any major problems!
Xia Qi scored a hat trick and had two assists, winning the best player of the match.
Rooney scored twice and tied with Balotelli on the scorer list, just behind Xia Qi.
With such firepower, the slogan "Let football go home" was resounded once again. In terms of winning odds, England squeezed out Germany and Brazil and was second only to Argentina.
The whistle for the end of the game sounded and the atmosphere gradually calmed down.
On the sidelines of the court, reporters began to get busy. They rushed to the interview corner frantically and focused their attention on Xia Qi among the many players.
Reporters crowded around Xia Qi, with all kinds of cameras set up in front of him, asking questions in a flurry.
"Xia Qi, your performance today was outstanding. You scored a hat trick in your first World Cup game. How do you feel now?" a reporter asked first.
Xia Qi's face was filled with a proud smile, and he calmly replied: "I am very excited. I feel extremely honored to be able to contribute to the team in this important game."
Another reporter then asked: "How do you stay in such good shape during the game?"
Xia Qi thought for a moment and replied: "The support of the team is my motivation to move forward. The cooperation of my teammates gives me more room to play."
"Xia, a five-goal win over Italy, does that mean we have a chance of winning the championship?"
a British journalist asked.
Xia Qi pointed at him and answered firmly: "Eliminate the possibility, go buy a lottery ticket for England to win the championship right now, and use all your money..."
On the other side, Balotelli also accepted an interview with reporters. A reporter asked: "Mario, what do you think of the result of today's game?"
Balotelli took a long breath and analyzed calmly: "Although the result is a bit regrettable, we have tried our best. The opponent's performance was also very good. We will learn lessons from it."
Then, another reporter asked: "How do you evaluate Xia Qi's performance?"
Balotelli praised him generously: "He is a very good player and today's hat trick is very impressive.
We were almost able to replicate the Istanbul miracle, but unfortunately, Xia Qi and Rooney swapped positions, which put an end to our pursuit..."
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In the post-match press conference,
Italy's head coach Prandelli looked serious as he answered reporters' questions: Why did they suffer the defeat?
He said slowly: "In today's game, our team's overall performance was remarkable.
The players showed strong fighting spirit and tenacity on the court. They gave their all and everyone fought for the honor of the team. "
“Even though the end result wasn’t what I wanted, I’m proud of them.
Our defense was very well organized and we resisted many threatening attacks from the opponent. Offensively, we also created some opportunities, but unfortunately we failed to seize them. ”
"This game has shown us the potential of the team. We will continue to work hard to strengthen team collaboration and cooperation. Every player is the pride of the Italian team, and their efforts and contributions cannot be ignored."
"We will learn lessons from this game and keep improving ourselves. I believe our team will achieve better results in future games."
Such an answer certainly cannot satisfy the journalists who want to restore the glory of the "Little World Cup".
They continued to ask unsatisfiedly: "Our strength is about the same as England's, why did we lose by 5 goals?"
Prandelli was also forced into a corner, and he shouted without regard for etiquette:
"What's wrong with our players? When Mario scored two goals in a row, didn't you notice that the English were trembling with fear?"
"I know what you mean. You just want to put the blame for the failure on my tactics. Ladies and gentlemen, what tactics did my opponent use?
Give the ball to Xia Qi, striker Xia Qi, midfielder Xia Qi, defender Xia Qi, what kind of tactics is this? Why did we lose miserably?
It’s because we don’t have a Xia Qi!”
Prandelli's answer filled the imagination of the reporters, and they began to type away on their keyboards...
"Italy's disastrous defeat, caused by the prince of Arsenal."
"Give me a Xiaqi, and we will win! - The Blues feel that they lost unfairly!"
"England has no tactics, Italy lost the summer game!"
"Three goals and two assists, the creator of the tragedy..."
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Thanks to Toplandley, Xia Qi was praised to the sky by the media.
After the game, Xia Qi had a small gathering with his parents.
Dad Xia told Xia Qi to be less arrogant and keep working hard. Mom Xia told Xia Qi to maintain good relationships with his teammates and find a girlfriend as soon as possible.
Then they left Xia Qi and went to El Salvador to watch the key match between Germany and Portugal.
"Hey, can you help me get a signed jersey of Ronaldo?"
Depend on!
This dad is indeed his own!
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Another match in the same group was a bit of an upset.
Costa Rica, which was regarded as a gift-giver, defeated Uruguay 3:1.
It made the water in the group of death even more muddy.
Such a result of the game instantly made Italy, which was in a gloomy mood, become in a good mood.
They regard Uruguay as their main competitor for qualifying from the group, and this result is what the Italians would like to see most.
The next games are Italy vs Costa Rica and England vs Uruguay.
The Italians believe that as long as they defeat their opponents in the next round, they will regain the initiative to qualify.
After Balotelli got the analysis of the qualification, he called excitedly: "Xia, I draw a circle to curse you, and you lose to Uruguay in the next round. Then in the last game, I will defeat Uruguay with a colorful cloud to save you."
Okay, as long as you are happy!
Xia Qi curled his lips. Wouldn't it be nice to win two games in a row and advance to the next round? Do you want to save them?
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After Xia Qi's Group D match ended, Group E's match also started as scheduled.
This was a "refusal to upset" Group E match, with both Switzerland and France defeating their respective opponents.
If nothing unexpected happens, the two teams will advance together.
Group F: The match between Argentina, the favorite to win the championship, and Bosnia and Herzegovina set a new record for viewership of this World Cup.
I have to say that Yosi’s character is a bit bad, but he has a lot of fans.
In this game, Messi scored a goal and Higuain assisted, and Argentina got off to a good start with a 2:1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the early morning of Tuesday, June 6, the much-anticipated Germany vs. Portugal match kicked off.
The Portuguese team, where C Ronaldo was, was beaten badly by the German tanks.
The monk Pepe was sent off, Ronaldo disappeared, and finally Portugal lost to Germany 0:4.
The second player Muller completed his second hat trick in this World Cup and tied Xia Qi in the scorer list.
When Russia in Group H drew 1:1 with South Korea, all 32 teams of the World Cup were unveiled!
Argentina, Britain, Brazil, Germany, Belgium...are the favorites to win the championship.
In the early morning of June 6, the second round of the World Cup group stage kicked off.
Group A: Brazil 0:0 Mexico,
Croatia 4:0 Cameroon.
Group B: Spain unexpectedly lost to Chile 0:2, while the Netherlands narrowly defeated Australia 3:2 and became the first team to qualify.
Group C continued with the weak teams fighting each other, Colombia 2:1 Côte d'Ivoire, Japan 0:0 Greece.
At three o'clock in the morning on June 6th, at the Sao Paulo Atlético Stadium in Sao Paulo, England faced Uruguay led by Suarez.
This is also a blue army!
Before the game, Xia Qi joked that he had a lot of experience playing against blue teams, and suggested that Uruguay should not wear the traditional light blue jerseys...
Suarez angrily said: "The World Cup is not the Premier League, screw the red and blue dispute..."
England had not won in their previous two World Cup matches against Uruguay, the most recent being in 2.
England's last friendly win over Uruguay was at Anfield in 2006.
England have scored in each of their last eight World Cup matches against South American teams.
Uruguay's last friendly win against England was at Wembley in 1990. In 15 matches against European teams in the world, they have 6 draws and 9 losses without a single win.
England head coach Hodgson told the media that he would continue to field the same starting lineup as in the first round against Italy.