Chapter 934 The World Cup is in full swing
Rafael Fonseca turned over and vaguely seemed to see someone sitting on the bed next to him...
His sleepiness suddenly disappeared, and he opened his eyes suddenly and saw his roommate Kendall Kabangka sitting on the bed, saying nothing.
"God!" Fonseca whispered, "Kendor, are you okay?"
Kabangka turned to look at him: "I'm okay, Rafael."
"Is this okay? What time is it now..."
"Let's go past five in the morning."
"How do you feel about sitting alone on the bed after five o'clock in the morning instead of sleeping?" The main left back of the Brazilian national team covered his face.
"I can't sleep," Kabonka said. "I can't sleep thinking that we didn't defeat Russia."
Fonseca curled his lips: "It is certainly not a happy thing not to win against Russia. But Kendall, no matter what, that is the second strongest team in this group. And their characteristics are indeed very good against us... I I think a draw is not bad, at least we didn’t lose. Besides, as long as we beat Algeria and China next, we will still qualify..."
"That's the problem, Rafael. Have you watched the Chinese team's game?" Kabangka turned around and asked.
"What is the need to watch it now? I will watch it before we play against them. But I know that Hu scored two goals, one of which was a beautiful world wave. But that goal was just a result of his good luck... …You have played against him in the Premier League, don’t you still know what level he is?”
"The whole world is talking about his super world wave, but I actually don't care about it. I don't care about his two goals either. What I care more about is the performance of the Chinese team, Rafael. I watched them The game, the full video. That is absolutely different from what we thought the Chinese team was," Kabangka said in a serious tone.
"So you're worried that we won't be able to qualify because of this? Don't worry, Kendall. Even if the Chinese team is better than we thought. They have nowhere to hide. I believe the old man will not fail to notice this... …As long as we go all out, can we really capsize the Chinese team?”
Kabangka fell silent, because he really felt in his heart that if the Brazilian team did not underestimate the enemy and went all out... it would be unlikely that any accident would happen.
"Go to sleep, Kendall. If you don't sleep well, be careful of the media photographing you dozing off during training..." Rafael Fonseca yawned, turned over, and turned his back to Kabangka. Go to sleep.
Kabangka continued to sit on the bed for a while before lying down again.
In any case, it was the last round of the group stage. It was really unnecessary to think about it now considering that I couldn't sleep.
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Pete Williams and Jay Adams were sitting on the England bench, watching the action.
Although Harry Bogard came back in time to catch the last train of the World Cup, Jay Adams also relied on his outstanding performance in the league to be successfully selected for the England team to participate in the World Cup.
He was also selected alongside club teammate Pete Williams.
But being selected for the England team does not mean that you will get a chance to play in the World Cup.
At least in England's "captain midfielder" combination, these two juniors have not had a chance to play.
So now they can only serve as the atmosphere team on the bench - when England gets a chance, they look closely on the bench; when England misses a chance, they hold their heads and sigh; while the opponent threatens When they reached the England goal, they breathed a sigh of relief.
In this way, every time the camera pans to the England team's bench, England fans can see that the bench players and the players on the field share the same fate.
But in fact, Williams is unwilling to do this...
He looked at the court, but his mind was wandering.
Both are the main players of the club, but he and Jay Adams can only be spectators on the bench.
And his teammate Hu Lai not only got a chance to play in the World Cup, but also scored two goals.
This is a goal in the World Cup!
Although Hulay has won the Golden Boot in the league, it does not mean that he will be able to score in the World Cup. You must know that there are top scorers in the five major leagues in world football, and they are still struggling to pursue their first goal in the World Cup.
After all, the club team and the national team are two completely different systems. Just because a player performs well in the club does not mean that he can adapt seamlessly to the national team. The staffing is different, the tactics are different, the mentality is different... there are too many factors that can affect a player's performance.
Williams also watched that game. Hu Lai also experienced a painful struggle during the game. He occasionally flashed his light, but most of the time he couldn't see anyone. It wasn't until he scored with a long shot that the situation opened up.
Speaking of which, that long shot was really exciting!
It has attracted attention and heated discussions around the world...
Hulay now leads the World Cup scorer list with two goals and has not repeated the mistakes of his Golden Boot predecessors.
Williams was filled with envy when he thought of this.
Hulay has broken the "dimension wall" between the club and the national team, but he, the main midfielder of the Premier League champion, can only be the closest spectator to the World Cup on the bench of the national team...
England wasted another chance on the pitch and Jay Adams put his head in his hands and leaned back in his chair.
Then he found that Williams beside him was motionless, so he touched him and said, "What's wrong?"
"I thought about Hu, Jay."
Adams understood why Williams was suddenly in a daze: "Are you envious of him?"
"Well..."
"There is no way around this. The England team is not short of players. It would be great if we could come in like this. Wanting to play... with the current midfield configuration of the national team... is difficult!" Jay Adams covered his mouth with his hands. , said in a low voice.
As professional players, we have developed the habit of covering our mouths when talking during games. It is to prevent what you say on and off the court from being interpreted by others and causing trouble for yourself.
"On the contrary, Hu's Chinese team is not strong, so it is easy to get opportunities to play..."
Williams interrupted him: "Jay, you are wrong. I think with Hu's ability, he can also play the main role in the England team..."
Adams glanced at him: "Who is talking nonsense to you? I mean the two of us! If we were Chinese players, we would have been able to play the main force."
"Oh..."
"But there are pros and cons to this, Peter. Although we are in China and can easily play games. But if you want to win the World Cup, England's chances are obviously greater than that of the Chinese team."
"Then we have to win against the Czech Republic first." Covered by his hand, Pete Williams curled his lips.
The game lasted for almost seventy minutes, and the score was still 0:0.
"Honestly, Jay, I think there is something wrong with our thinking. Who said the national team should gather the best players in the country? It should obviously be the players who best suit the coach's tactical ideas. Our 'captain midfielder' just sounds like The names are just bluffing. In fact, the three of them are not compatible at all. How else to explain that they all played well in their respective clubs, but their performance was greatly reduced when they came to the national team?”
Although Williams' voice was very quiet, it still startled Adams. He quickly looked around and found that his teammates were focused on the game and did not notice Williams' complaint. He quickly continued to lower his voice and said: "This is That’s not what we should be talking about, Pete.”
Williams also knew that he said a little too much, so he curled his lips, stopped talking, and just stared at the court.
Perhaps because of winning the league championship, Williams is now full of confidence. He doesn't have the consciousness that I came to the national team to be my younger brother. He is very ambitious and always wants to replace me.
Especially after seeing Hulay's performance in the World Cup.
Jay Adams could more or less guess what he was thinking, but he didn't warn Williams about it. On the contrary, he thinks it is normal for Williams to have such thoughts. He is so young and extremely talented. If he maintains his ambition, his future achievements will definitely be high.
On the other hand, he... has passed the age of dreaming about winning the world. Now he just wants to get the chance to play in the World Cup. As for future achievements... he can't think of it that far, and he doesn't want to think that far.
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When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, there was a burst of boos from the stands.
Amidst the boos, Williams, Adams, and other teammates on the bench stood up one after another. Some looked at the court in a daze, and some had turned and walked towards the tunnel.
Williams first looked at the court, then shook his head slightly, then turned and walked towards the tunnel.
Behind him, Adams glanced at head coach Jason Riley, sighed inwardly, and walked away.
After ninety minutes of fierce battle, the England team, which was considered one of the favorites before the game, failed to defeat the Czech Republic.
Didn't even score a goal.
"Jason Riley should think carefully about his tactics and personnel arrangements. In this game, we fielded what is said to be the strongest lineup, but we failed to win the opponent. Especially on the offensive line, we didn't even get a ball. Didn't score. Stones, who is second in the Premier League scorer list this season, worked hard, but was obviously out of shape and looked a little tired... We need to strengthen our creativity in offense and cannot always rely on forwards to complete dribbling, passing and shooting. These three jobs..."
Under the merciless criticism of commentator Matthew Cox, the 0:0 on the live scoreboard seemed a bit glaring.
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"Ah! Director Motegi Hiroto is going to make a substitution!"
The Japanese TV commentator said this when he saw the assistant coach running to the bench.
In front of the Japanese team's bench, the assistant coach was throwing a hook at Junpei Morikawa: "Morikawa! Morikawa! Get ready to play!!"
Junpei Morikawa quickly stood up from his seat, took off his vest, and walked towards head coach Hiroto Motegi.
"Director Motegi made his last substitution of the game. He will replace Tatsuya Sugiyama with midfielder Junpei Morikawa... This is a substitution to strengthen defense. It seems that Director Motegi is preparing to play in the remaining ten minutes. In five minutes, the current one-goal lead was held! The Japanese team worked hard to win the first victory of an Asian team in this World Cup! ”
"Junpei Morikawa plays for the Chinese Super League club Anton Shining Stars. He has won the Chinese Super League championship and is a very good defensive midfielder. Motegi put him on the field probably so that he can limit the Norwegian team's midfield Set, the core of the organization..."
Motegi Hiroto looked at the midfielder who was not tall in front of him and said in a very serious tone: "Your task is very simple, Morikawa. That is to freeze John Seth for me! Do you have this ability?"
Morikawa Junpei puffed up his chest and replied loudly: "I promise that I will not disappoint you, the supervisor!"
"Very good! Morikawa! I just like how energetic you are! Go ahead, Asian football's first victory in the World Cup depends on you!" Motegi Hiroto patted Morikawa Junpei's shoulder hard.
The latter walked towards the fourth official with his head held high.
After the assistant coach glanced at him, he turned his attention to Motegi Hiroto: "What you said is really useful. I feel that his whole aura is different..."
Motegi Hiroto smiled slightly: "Morikawa is a very simple person. It is better to say too much to him directly. He will not let us down."
"I hope...Sette is a talented midfielder in the Bundesliga..."
"Morikawa is also a talented midfielder."
Junpei Morikawa couldn't hear the whispers of the two coaches behind him. At this time, Hu Lai's figure suddenly appeared in his mind.
If it were not for the jersey that Hu Lai gave him after the East Asian Cup game. How can he stand in the World Cup?
He remembered that Hu Lai and Xiaoyu had said in the group that the head coach of the Chinese team would arrange for them to watch World Cup games.
I don’t know if Hulesan you have watched our game. If so... I will definitely not embarrass you!
When Sugiyama Tatsuya came off the field and high-fived Morikawa Junpei, he suddenly felt something was wrong. He couldn't help but look at the other person one more time, and saw the middle boy suddenly yelled:
"Junpei Morikawa, come on!!"
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"The Japanese team actually defeated Norway and won the first victory of an Asian team in this World Cup..."
"Yes, the overall performance of the Japanese team is indeed better..."
The Chinese team players in the restaurant were discussing the game that just ended.
"That boy Morikawa really made Seth lose his temper after he came on the field. It's like brown candy. He can't get rid of it... Hey, Hu Lai, what are you doing?"
As Chen Xingyi said this, he saw Hu Lai lowering his head and handing out something to the group.
"Let Morikawa give out red envelopes! Shouldn't we give out red envelopes to celebrate when we win?" After Hu Lai finished typing and sent it out, he looked up with a strange expression on his face, as if he was wondering why Chen Xingyi asked such a simple question.
"As expected of you, Hu Lai..." Wang Guangwei covered his face.
"Hey, Lao Wang, if you can, Morikawa will give you a red envelope later, so don't grab it!" Hu Lai snorted.
"Why can't I grab it? Can't I be happy?" Wang Guangwei was not polite.
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that Morikawa Junpei had indeed sent a red envelope in the group.
For a while, several people at the table were silent. They lowered their heads and concentrated on grabbing red envelopes and competing for hand speed.
"Ha! Twenty-three yuan!" Wang Guangwei shouted happily.
"I grabbed 17 yuan and 53 cents...Oh, I can only get this little joy..." Chen Xingyi shook his head and sighed.
"I'm okay. It's better than the best, but better than the worst. Hey, Hu Lai, how much did you steal?" Zhang Qinghuan turned to look at Hu Lai.
"Do it!" Hu Lai looked at the eight cents he had grabbed and vomited something sweet.
Everyone burst into laughter after seeing his amount.
Xia Xiaoyu, who was the best in the game and had the best luck, could only cover his face and chuckle, not daring to be too proud.
As you can see, the World Cup is in full swing. Some people are happy and some are worried.
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PS, in yesterday’s update, some readers raised questions about the number of crosses made by the Russian team. When I originally wrote this number, what came to mind was actually Manchester United's record-breaking 81 crosses during the Moyes era, so I discounted it and wrote it as 50 crosses.
However, it did not take into account the strength gap between Russia and Brazil, whether they can control the situation and make fifty crosses.
It has now been changed.
In addition, there will be a single update tomorrow, but three updates the day after tomorrow. (End of chapter)