Chapter 231: The Prelude to the Knockout Round (Transitional Text)
6月30日,巴西时间下午五点,世界杯1/8决赛第4场在累西腓市伯南布哥球场打响。
The Greek team made it to the World Cup knockout stage for the first time. They had the fewest goals among the qualified teams, with a goal difference of -2. They were also the only team among the top 16 with a negative goal difference in the group stage.
In the history of the World Cup, there have been teams with a goal difference of minus 2 but still advanced to the knockout stage, but those teams eventually stopped in the quarterfinals, such as North Korea in 8 and Cameroon in 1966.
Greek head coach Santos is well aware that his team lacks firepower, but he vowed to play a counterattack in the pre-match press conference:
"I also wanted to drag England into a penalty shootout, but facing England, who had already scored 12 goals in the group stage, I really didn't have the confidence to stick with it for 120 minutes.
Rather than passively taking a beating and failing at the last hurdle, it is better to play at your own pace.
Either we win on offense or we die on offense, but at least we played our style.”
Many media outlets praised his arrogance, but also pessimistically believed that if this was not a smokescreen by Santos, then June 6 might become a national tragedy for Greek football.
The Pernambuco stadium was packed, and FIFA was worried that there would be many empty seats in this game where the outcome seemed to be decided.
However, within two hours after England defeated Costa Rica, the D1 vs C2 tickets that had been difficult to sell were suddenly snapped up by many Chinese buyers and became hard to come by.
According to incomplete statistics, at least 35,000 Chinese fans bought tickets for this game. If there were no Chinese fans, how many seats would be empty in the stadium?
Almost all of these fans came to support Xia Qi.
During the warm-up, Xia Qi felt their enthusiasm. When he walked out of the player tunnel, tens of thousands of fans stood up and applauded, shouting: "Xia Qi!" "Xia Qi!"
This is the treatment only Mei and Luo can enjoy!
The Greek players and Xia Qi's teammates all looked at Xia Qi, who was not yet 20 years old, with envy.
The stadium was filled with five-star red flags and Arsenal No. 9 jerseys, and Xia Qi was instantly moved. Although he is of Chinese descent, his feelings for his country are just as deep as theirs.
Xia Qi blew them a kiss. It was the only thing he could do at that moment.
...
...
In the England wives' stand, Xia's mother suddenly said to her husband, "Honey, we should go to the stand over there."
She pointed to the stands next to her where the five-star red flag was flying and the sound of Chinese drums was loud.
Mother Xia felt that she should be one of them.
"There are no empty seats over there. We can only fill the entire venue with standing people. Is that okay?" asked Xia's father.
"Okay, today..." Mother Xia replied, her voice revealing anticipation and excitement.
Seeing that her husband was still as obedient to her as he was when they were young, Mother Xia's heart was filled with sweetness.
The two men walked through the enthusiastic crowd and stood at the aisle of the red stands, looking at their son who was warming up, their eyes full of pride.
At this time, a student-looking boy in his early twenties asked softly, "Where are you from, big brother and big sister?"
"Shanxi." Mother Xia replied.
"My fellow countryman!" the boy responded pleasantly, but then added awkwardly, "I... I'm actually from Shaanxi."
Hearing this, Mother Xia smiled and realized that the little boy was just trying to get close to her.
The boy continued, "I'm sorry, big brother and big sister. What I want to say is that we can chase stars, but don't forget that we are Chinese. Look, can I exchange these two Arsenal jerseys for the England jersey you are wearing?"
He pointed to the number nine jerseys of the England team worn by Xia Qi's parents.
After the little boy finished speaking, he seemed to be worried that Mr. Xia would be angry, so he quickly distanced himself from them.
But when they saw the boy, who was about the same age as little Xia Qi, looking scared yet determined, both Xia's father and mother laughed. They thought the boy had positive values and was very adorable.
Father Xia smiled and asked, "How much are these two jerseys? I'll give them to you."
"No, you two can give it to me after watching the game. I still have to help my classmates find Xia Qi's autograph." The little boy replied.
"Wow, so many!" said Mother Xia in surprise.
"It's a bit too much, there are 10 items. I don't know if Xia Qi is willing to sign so many." The little boy was a little worried.
"Don't worry, I will definitely sign it for you!" Mother Xia promised him confidently.
The little boy thought it was just a consolation and waved his hand without caring. But he didn't know that Xia Qi's parents had decided to help him fulfill this little wish.
...
...
Ding Dong
"Please host select 'training' or 'competition' mode."
"Contest"
"Host, please choose your position on the field: A forward, B midfielder, C...
"B"
"Detecting that the host's team is in trouble at this time, matching the host's [Fighting More Bravely] attribute."
"The greater the pressure, the stronger the host! The one who steps forward at the critical moment is you."
"Please host choose 'autonomous mode' or 'one-click hang-up mode'"
"Warm reminder: During the hang-up period, the host will automatically complete various indicator actions by the system."
"Hang up with one click!"
"..."
"CCTV5, CCTV5!"
The voice of host Huang Jianxiang came from the TV, his words full of excitement and anticipation.
His partner He Wei then said: "Good evening, viewers. Now we are broadcasting the fourth match of the 2014 Brazil World Cup quarter-finals, with Greece facing England."
Huang Jianxiang continued with great emotion:
"The match was held at the Pernambuco Stadium in Recife, Brazil. Although the stadium is relatively small and can only accommodate more than 53,000 people, it was already packed.
Most of them were Chinese fans from our country. They enthusiastically brought Chinese drums, trumpets, five-star red flags, etc. into the stadium, adding a strong atmosphere to the game. "
When the England team appeared on the field wearing red jerseys, He Wei added: "Tonight, England was drawn to play away. They wore red jerseys, which happened to match our Chinese red."
As the World Cup theme song sounded, the referee led the two teams into the field one by one.
Huang Jianxiang said excitedly: "Dear audience friends, let me introduce you to the starting lineups of the two teams."
"The Greek team wore their home white jerseys and coach Santos deployed a 433 attacking formation.
The goalkeeper is Karnezis.
The back line includes Torosidis, Manolas, Papastathopoulos and Holebas.
The central midfielder is Karagounis, who serves as captain, and the two wing midfielders are Maniatis and Samarias.
The forward line is Salpingidis, Christodoulopoulos and Samaras. "
Huang Jianxiang commented: "Santos is very stubborn. He actually deployed an offensive formation to fight against England."
Then he also pointed out that Santos had no choice because Xia Qi had the ability to deal with the bus defense and it would be difficult for Greece to defend for 120 minutes.
"Now let me introduce you to England's starting lineup..."
(Tonight, I will make a transition first, and tomorrow I will write 5,000 words.)