Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Chapter 695 Three wins out of three, first place in the group, advancing to the next round!

When the final whistle blew, the score of the match between China and Paraguay was 3-0.

Despite Paraguay's frantic comeback in the final stages, they were unable to break through China's defense.

When the final whistle blew, only the cheers of Chinese fans celebrating their victory remained on the field.

Before the World Cup began, although there was a lot of hype surrounding this national football team, fans who had learned a painful lesson from the 02 World Cup dared not have too high expectations.

The goal was simply to score one goal, get one point, and win one game!

However, after three matches, the Chinese national football team won three consecutive victories, not only exceeding its goal but also advancing as the top team in its group.

This greatly surprised all the fans, making them feel that their support and attention over the past two weeks had not been in vain.

When the whistle blew, Lin Feng stepped onto the field and gave each of his teammates a high-five.

Wu Lei, who didn't get any playing time, seemed a bit sullen. Before the match, he was worried that too many people would affect his performance, but it turned out that he had worried too much.

Old Zhu didn't give him a single minute; he worried for nothing.

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"

Lin Feng noticed Wu Lei's disappointment, walked over, put his arm around his shoulder, and asked with a smile.

"No, no... okay, I'm a little disappointed!"

"The competition in the national team is quite fierce, and there are limited positions on the field. With our current tactics, we can only field a maximum of two players in the forward line."

If you're not on the coach's first-choice list, you have to impress him with your actions so he'll give you playing time.

But don't worry too much, you're still young, you can wait. Once we old guys retire, the starting positions will naturally be yours!

Although Lin Feng is more experienced and stronger, Wu Lei didn't quite agree with what he said:

"Brother Lin, you're only three years older than me. If you're retiring, then I guess it'll be about the same for me!"

"You idiot, I was talking about Han Peng and Gao Lin!"

Lin Feng gave Wu Lei a flick on the forehead in annoyance. Wu Lei was born in 91, while Han Peng was born in 83, making him eight years older than Wu Lei.

After this World Cup, Han Peng will definitely fade out of the national team. It's hard to say whether he will be called up for the next World Cup. Even if he is, he will most likely not be a starter.

Wu Lei is only 19 years old this year, but by the next World Cup, he will be 23 years old and will be entering the golden age of his career.

Given this shift in fortunes, as long as he doesn't suffer any major injuries and his own abilities don't plummet, it's highly likely that he will replace Han Peng as the starting striker for the national team.

As for Gao Lin, born in 86, he can definitely play in at least one more World Cup. If no one can step up, he could play in the World Cup after that.

The Chinese national football team has a relatively small pool of talent in the forward position. Among the new generation, apart from Wu Lei, only Yu Dabao and Yang Xu have performed somewhat well, but their abilities are still far behind those of the current national team players.

In the near future, the Chinese national football team may face a predicament of lacking attacking firepower.

The only way to solve this problem is to hope that some hidden gems can be discovered among the current group of youth training players.

If they have really high potential, there's no need to wait until they're in their 20s and entering the prime of their careers before calling them up.

Like Wu Lei, who joined the national team at the young age of eighteen or nineteen and trained with the veteran players, the growth rate is much faster.

Just as the Chinese national football team players were high-fiving in celebration and circling the field to thank the fans who came to support them.

The Paraguayan players, dejected after losing the match, huddled together, anxiously awaiting their fate.

The extra time for the Italian team and the Slovakian team is quite long, and the game is not over yet.

But everyone knows that Paraguay, having suffered a crushing defeat against China, is now on the brink of elimination.

If Italy defeats Slovakia, and both teams have the same points, Italy will surpass Paraguay on goal difference and become the second team to advance from Group F.

Paraguayans' only hope now is to pray that the Italians either draw or lose.

The wait was always long; a few minutes felt like years to the Paraguayan players!

A few minutes later, the result of another match came in: the final score between Italy and Slovakia was 2-3.

The home team is in front, and the away team is behind.

The Italians failed to capitalize on the opportunities created for them by the Chinese team, squandering their only hope of advancing when a victory would have secured their qualification!

"We've advanced!"

"Well done, Slovakia!"

Upon learning the score, the Paraguayans finally escaped their inner torment and cheered as if they had been reborn.

The sudden cheers from the Paraguayans drew curious glances from the Chinese fans in the stadium.

What are they so happy about?

Italy lost, while Paraguay narrowly advanced to the round of 16!

No wonder they're so happy. But seriously, is the Italian team really that bad? They're the defending champions, after all!

Who knows? But getting only 1 point in three matches and being eliminated must be the worst result ever for a defending champion in the World Cup, right?

At another stadium, watching the Slovakian players celebrate their victory, the Italian players could not hide their disappointment, and some even shed tears on the field, crying in front of everyone.

Head coach Lippi sat blankly on the bench, his eyes vacant and unfocused.

This result was unexpected by everyone before the match. Although the Italian team's strength has declined somewhat compared to four years ago, no one thought they would have any problem qualifying before the match!

Apart from Paraguay being a slightly tougher opponent, Slovakia and China are easy prey.

In the Italians' minds, the worst-case scenario was that they wouldn't beat Paraguay and would only advance as the second-place team in their group.

However, the Italian team thrives against strong opponents. In the knockout stage, when they faced even stronger opponents, they were not afraid. Therefore, finishing second in the group did not have a significant impact on them.

But who could have imagined that the Italian team's final result would be neither first nor second, nor even third, but last place!

With two losses in three matches and a winless record, Italy's worst performance in the World Cup finals came with a mere 1 point.

This is also the first time in World Cup history that a defending champion has been eliminated in the group stage.

The Italians broke two records at once, but it's definitely not something to be proud of; they would rather not have those records if they could.

At the post-match press conference, facing a large throng of reporters, Italy's head coach Marcello Lippi publicly announced his resignation. Although he is a championship-winning coach, his resignation was justified given the team's poor performance.

Lippi's player selection and personnel choices at this World Cup have been criticized by many fans.

Although Italian football has lost some of its star power, it is not without options.

Lippi's stubbornness in preferring to trust a group of over-aged players rather than giving young players a chance is the main culprit for Italy's loss, at least that's what Italian fans think.

So even after he announced his resignation, the fans didn't let him off the hook, making it impossible for Lippi to find work in Italy, forcing him to go abroad to earn his pension.

Human joys and sorrows are not shared. The Chinese fans, who are currently basking in happiness, cannot empathize with the disappointed and angry Italian fans.

The Chinese national football team actually topped their group!

[Three wins out of three, I ask you, who else can challenge me?]

[That's incredible! As far as I know, no Asian team has ever won all three matches or even advanced as the group winner!]

[The Chinese national football team topped their group, so their opponent in the round of 16 is confirmed to be Japan, right?]

Yes, that's right. The knockout stage matchups are Group A vs. Group B, Group C vs. Group D, Group E vs. Group F, and so on. China's opponent is the runner-up in Group E, which is our "good neighbor" Japan!

[Then the national football team is guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals. We're not confident against other teams, but against Japan, it's like a grandfather beating his grandson—they'll all be silent.]

We can't get too cocky. Japan has performed quite well in this World Cup, so I think scoring three or four goals should be about right. It's unlikely they'll achieve a 7-0 score like last time.

[Damn, I thought you were a conservative, but it turns out you conservatives are even more radical than us radicals!]

In contrast to the optimism and even euphoria of Chinese fans, Japanese fans felt as if the sky had fallen and were extremely frustrated after learning that their next opponent would be the Chinese team.

[Sigh, why did it have to be the Chinese team? If it were any other opponent, we might still have a chance!]

Is it really that difficult to see the Japanese team reach the quarterfinals even once?

Don't be discouraged, everyone! Have faith in the Japanese team, have faith in our players!

Yes, we will definitely defeat the giant that is the Chinese team, just as David defeated Goliath!

For Japanese fans, the Chinese team is like a mountain hanging over their heads, making it hard for them to breathe.

In fact, the Chinese team only started to suppress the Japanese team after 05, and that was only for a few years.

However, in recent years, the Japanese team has suffered too many humiliations when facing the Chinese team, causing Japanese fans to develop PTSD!

Imagine what a Japanese fan who has been watching the game since 07 would see.

Japan suffered a crushing 0-5 defeat to China in the Asian Cup final, setting a new record for the largest margin of defeat in an Asian Cup final!

In the World Cup qualifiers, the Japanese team first suffered a humiliating 0-7 defeat to the Chinese team away from home, and then was thrashed 6-0 by the Chinese team at home!

They lost all three crucial matches for the Japanese team, averaging a six-goal defeat per game.

Seeing such a huge score and such a one-sided result, even the most optimistic person would probably find it hard to be optimistic!

But the Japanese don't need to be so pessimistic. After all, these days, there aren't many Asian teams that haven't been thrashed by the Chinese team.

Didn't the South Korean and Australian teams also suffer humiliating defeats of 4-0 and 5-0 at the hands of the Chinese team?

Once you accept losing a game, you'll gradually get used to it!

……

On June 26, with the conclusion of the final group stage match in Group H, all 48 group stage matches of this World Cup have now ended.

In the final matches of Group G and Group H, Brazil drew with Portugal, with the two teams finishing first and second in their respective groups and advancing to the next round.

Although Ivory Coast defeated North Korea, they were eliminated because they had one less point than Portugal.

With three losses and only one goal scored, the North Korean team was naturally eliminated from the knockout stage and could only pack up and prepare for the next World Cup.

Although the team has a star player like Jong Tae-se, North Korea's overall performance in this World Cup has been rather average.

Apart from the first match, a 1-2 loss to Brazil, which was relatively well-played, the other two matches were played like sleepwalking, especially the 0-7 defeat to Portugal. It was purely a self-inflicted blunder; they insisted on pressing forward recklessly, only to be torn apart.

If it weren't for that crushing defeat, the North Korean team's mentality might not have collapsed. Even if they didn't win in the final round, they would still have had a chance to at least secure a draw.

On Group H's side, the situation deviated slightly from Lin Feng's memory.

Due to Torres' injury, the Spanish team has been severely hampered by a lack of attacking firepower in this World Cup.

In the final group stage match, facing a Chilean team that had been reduced to ten men by a red card, the Spanish team besieged their opponents for more than half an hour but still failed to defeat them.

The two teams eventually drew 1-1, a score that dashed Spain's hopes of advancing as group winners.

The final standings in Group H are as follows: Chile finished first with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 7 points, advancing to the next round.

西班牙队1胜1平1负积4分，瑞士队跟他们的积分一样，也是1胜1平1负积4分。

However, they only scored one goal in the group stage, while Spain scored two.

Spain ultimately prevailed over Switzerland by a single goal, securing their place in the knockout stage.

This completely changes the matchups between Group H and Group G.

What was previously speculated to be a Latin American and Iberian civil war between Brazil and Chile, and Spain and Portugal, has become a clash of titans between Brazil and Spain, and Portugal and Chile.

Normally, you won't see direct confrontations between top teams in the round of 16 of the World Cup.

Matches between strong teams usually take place in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

However, Spain's unexpected upset changed the situation.

Brazil worked so hard to secure first place in their group, only to wake up one morning to find everything had collapsed:

I'm playing against Spain?

real or fake?

They would have had a 60-70% chance of advancing to the quarterfinals if they had faced a Chilean team they knew well, but now they have encountered Spain, a strong favorite to win the championship.

Brazil's chances of advancing have plummeted by half, leaving them with only about a 30% chance.

If Spain hadn't performed so poorly in the group stage, the probability would probably have been even lower.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the early encounter between these two strong teams is bound to result in one of them getting hurt.

However, for Chinese fans, this was a godsend.

Chile's top ranking in the group means that China's opponent in the quarterfinals will be the winner between Chile and Portugal.

Hopes of advancing to the semi-finals seem to have reappeared! (End of Chapter)