Chapter 411 The Talented Young Man Showing His Talent

Watching football with the whole team is a collective activity carried out by Southgate to aim at team cohesion. Although the verbal bet of 1,000 pounds between Li Qing and Alexander-Arnold is not conducive to the establishment of the image of the England national team, it is a very good way from the perspective of the atmosphere within the team. The way.

For these players, 1,000 pounds is not enough for one day's salary. Take Arnold after the contract extension as an example, which is less than two hours of salary income. It's a small gamble.

Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal open the scoring, and the beautiful Diego Costa helped Spain equalize the score in the 23rd minute. Before the end of the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo hit the ground at the top of the penalty area and hit De Gea's hand. The football rolled. After entering the goal, the scoreboard showed 2:1.

In the second half, the side changed again. Diego Costa received Busquets' header seven minutes into the second half and scored, helping Spain equalize the score again.

The scoreboard showed a score of 2:2, and almost all the England players in the multi-purpose room looked at Li Qing.

The corner of Arnold's mouth twitched slightly, and he said with some uneasiness: "Am I destined to lose the 1,000 pounds?"

"certainly."

Li Qing winked and said, "You will lose half the battle if you surrender. Are you coming?"

"I don't believe it's really 3:3!"

Arnold held his head high, clearly not convinced that the game was going to be a high-scoring draw.

Two minutes later, Nacho, who gave Cristiano Ronaldo a penalty kick at the beginning of the first half, completed a non-stop volley against the football released by the Portuguese player. The football passed through the gap and hit the far goal post before bouncing into the net. Well, Spain took the lead.

"Hehe~"

Li Qing bumped into Arnold with his left shoulder: "Alexander, Spain is leading now. As long as the Portuguese players can equalize the score until the end of the game, I will win..."

"Portugal is obviously not as strong as Spain. What if Spain expands the score?"

"This possibility is not impossible." Li Qing shrugged his shoulders and said, "Don't lie about it then."

The attention of the English players returned to the huge LCD screen again. Portugal, which was lagging behind, consciously strengthened its offensive when the game restarted and replaced Quaresma to strengthen the offense. Unfortunately, the effect was not obvious.

Spain, who were leading the score, naturally wanted to expand their advantage, but their offensive performance was not good enough. The score did not change until the 85th minute of the game. Arnold took the opportunity to say proudly: "Let me just say... How can the two teams fight? It was a big draw.”

After that, he changed the topic again and returned the teasing words Li Qing originally said: "Li, how about... surrendering and losing half?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a harsh whistle came from the loudspeaker. Arnold turned his head and saw referee Rocchi pointing in the direction of De Gea's goal. This meant that Portugal got a direct free kick in the frontcourt and Ronaldo fell to the ground. Just about half a meter in front of the top of the penalty area.

"Holy shit, Cristiano Ronaldo can't really score a hat-trick, can he?"

Arnold was a little in disbelief.

Li Qing shrugged and said, "Why not?"

With the referee Rocky's whistle, Cristiano Ronaldo kicked the ball in one go. The football he kicked was different from the usual Minxian. This time he used the inside of the instep, and the kick was obviously from the outside to the inside. The ball flew over the jumping wall and fell to the right side of the goal. Goalkeeper De Gea had no reaction.

Ronaldo, who scored the goal, opened his arms and ran wildly, expressing the ecstasy brought by the hat trick.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a hat trick, set multiple records. At 33 years and 130 days old, he became the oldest player to score a hat trick in the World Cup. For this reason, he also became the first player in La Liga to score a hat trick against Spain and the third Portuguese player to score a hat trick in the World Cup. Trick player.

This hat trick is Ronaldo's 51st in his career and the Portuguese national team's 6th.

The final score was fixed at 3:3. At the moment the full-time whistle sounded, Li Qing stretched out his right hand towards Arnold, palm up.

"What's the meaning?"

Arnold looked careless, and Li Qing said: "For 1,000 pounds, everyone can make the decision, so don't cheat."

Faced with the playful looks from his teammates, Arnold had no choice but to transfer 1,000 pounds to Li Qing through online banking, and Li Qing borrowed flowers to offer prayers: "After the group match against Argentina is over tomorrow, I will treat you to top-notch cuisine in the hotel."

"Mighty as you!"

Henderson gave a thumbs up.

After playing in the multimedia room for a while, the England players returned to their respective rooms to prepare for tomorrow afternoon's highlight battle with Argentina at the Spartak Arena.

As the players walked towards the elevator one after another, Southgate suddenly stopped Li Qing: "Li."

"Um?"

Li Qing and other teammates looked back at head coach Southgate curiously.

Southgate didn't care that the players were looking back. He asked in a joking tone: "Cristiano Ronaldo has set the record for the oldest hat-trick in the World Cup. You will set the record for the youngest goal scorer in the World Cup in tomorrow's game." ?"

Harry Kane, Alexander-Arnold, Sterling, Vardy and other players all looked at Li Qing. Li Qing lowered his head in thought and did not answer immediately.

Southgate nodded slightly in his mind. In fact, he asked this just to see if Li Qing was too proud. Now it seems that he is overthinking.

After about ten seconds, Li Qing raised his head and looked at Southgate solemnly, then raised the corners of his mouth and said with a smile: "Boss, do you want to see a half-time hat trick or a full-time hat trick?"

“…”

Southgate told himself that Li Qing was still the talented young man with a sharp edge.

But then again, this kind of Li Qing is the real Li Qing.

If he was as humble as other players, could he score so many goals?

So Southgate already had a rough idea about tomorrow's game. The first round against Argentina?

Must win!

The next morning, the whole England team had a nutritious breakfast and supplemented the essential carbohydrates for the game at 8 o'clock in the hotel to prepare for the first round of the group match of Group D with Argentina at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

About an hour later, the whole team went to the hotel gym to adjust the players' body muscle state.

Maybe every muscle must be used in a football match, but the core muscles at critical moments can ensure that players can perform above their level in high-level competitions.

At 1 o'clock in the afternoon local time in Russia, Group C played the first game. France, the most valuable and favorite to win the World Cup, faced Australia at the Kazan Stadium. After 90 minutes of fierce battle, the French team, which was not in a very good state, won the game 2:1 with Griezmann and the opponent's own goal.

Just after the match, England and Argentina, two teams with a long history of feuding, arrived at the Spartak Arena on their respective buses.

Many TV stations with the rights to broadcast the World Cup received the signal in advance and saw the players from both teams entering the stadium to warm up.

He Wei, the commentator of Tianchao Channel 5, was ecstatic during the live commentary: "The England-Argentina battle will start soon. Are you ready in front of the TV?"