Chapter 446: World Champion Made in China
The entire England team split into two groups on the second day. Coach Alan Russell took the players on a special plane to Moscow to prepare for the winner of the match between Belgium and Sweden at the Luzhniki Stadium four days later, while head coach Southgate took a flight to Samara to watch the quarter-finals between Belgium and Sweden.
Judging from the strength of both teams, Belgium is obviously stronger than Sweden, which means that England's opponent in the semi-finals is likely to be the European Red Devils Belgium. In order to have a more intuitive understanding of Belgium's tactical play, Southgate went to the scene in person.
According to the plan, after arriving in Moscow, they will first conduct recovery training, and then conduct closed tactical drills when their physical strength is almost restored, so the first day of training will be the same with or without Southgate.
Arriving at Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport, the entire England team was very well received, with cheers resounding through the sky and a huge momentum sweeping the entire airport.
At the international arrival gate, in addition to a large number of fans from England, there are also many from the far east. As China's economy is on the road of rapid development, people's living standards are constantly improving, from being full to spiritual enjoyment. Therefore, many Chinese fans come to Moscow for the European Chinese team and Li Qing's name, cheering for Li Qing and England.
Of course, there are also Russian local fans and fans from all over the world, but they are not English fans, but fans of many Premier League players, such as Harry Kane, Sterling, Henderson and other players...
If there is anyone who has the greatest appeal to fans from all countries, it is naturally Li Qing.
Except for his young age, Li Qing is almost perfect in other aspects.
According to the current young and handsome score, his appearance can score at least 95 points out of 100. His height and weight are the golden ratio of men. In addition to his young and rich characteristics, his fan base is the highest among all teammates.
At five o'clock in the evening of that day, the quarter-finals between Sweden and Belgium kicked off at the Samara Stadium.
England coach Southgate was watching the game on site, while the players were watching the live broadcast in the multimedia room of the hotel where they were staying, led by assistant coach Alan Russell.
From the first second of the game, Belgium, which had an absolute advantage in strength, took control of the game and constantly threatened Sweden's defense through its technical advantages.
Sweden, which was not strong enough, was also very conscious. From the beginning of the game, it chose to defend and counterattack, allowing Belgium to attack. Anyway, they were strong from Northern Europe, and Lukaku could not get any benefits in the penalty area.
There is a saying in world football that the best way to break dense defense is set pieces and long shots.
Belgium's set pieces did not have any good effect, but there were many long-range shooting masters.
In the 28th minute of the game, midfielder De Bruyne suddenly shot a cold arrow in the attack, and Swedish goalkeeper Olsen was out of reach.
As the deadlock was broken, the Swedish players who were behind in the score couldn't help but want to strengthen the attack, so as to equalize the score as soon as possible, otherwise it might be like the quarter-final game that ended last night when Brazil lost to England.
However, the strong attack is not Sweden's advantage. There was no goal, but the ball was lost first. In the 43rd minute, captain Hazard received a surgically accurate through ball from De Bruyne during the counterattack, and used his superb footwork to dribble past Lindelof and Granqvist's defense and shot low into the far corner.
Belgium, which was leading by two goals, played healthier, and used the tacit passing and cutting to consume the physical strength and game time of Swedish players. The score of 2:0 continued until the end of the game without any change.
Before the game, Belgium's victory over Sweden was the result that almost all football fans in the world thought of. After all, the competition has reached the quarter-finals, and no strong team can make the mistakes that may occur in the group stage. Everyone is concentrating on the game, and naturally there will be no upsets.
Another quarter-final was held later at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi. The host Russia and Croatia entered a penalty shootout. The two sides were tied 1:1 in the first 90 minutes. They each scored one goal in the extra time. Russia missed two penalties in the penalty shootout, while Croatia only missed one, which means that Croatia became the last team in the semi-finals.
The venue for the England vs. Belgium semi-final is the Luzhniki Stadium, and the game time is 9 pm on July 10, local time in Russia, while the venue for the France vs. Croatia semi-final is the Zenit Arena in St. Petersburg, and the time is 9 pm on July 11.
The losing side of the two semi-finals will play at the Zenit Arena at 5 pm on July 14, and the final will be held at 6 pm the next day at the Russian National Stadium, that is, the Luzhniki Stadium.
The four teams that entered the World Cup semi-finals certainly don't want to play the third and fourth place finals, but competitive sports are so cruel that the winner will definitely be decided within the specified time, and the losing side will have to accept the third and fourth place finals that are a pity to give up.
After four quarter-finals, the 2018 Russia World Cup has entered another intermission period, which is three days compared to the previous one or two days.
Fans who are used to following the World Cup every day are not used to it, and always feel that something is missing. It is held once every four years and lasts for one month. This is also the fundamental reason why the World Cup feast can make fans all over the world crazy.
Before you have had enough, the World Cup... is about to end.
Without World Cup games to watch, fans can only follow the latest news from major media about the four teams preparing for the World Cup semi-finals every day.
The English media, the French media and the Croatian media are the busiest media during this period. In addition to reporting the latest preparations for their own teams, they also need to summarize the training status of the opposing teams and help the head coaches of their respective national teams.
The Chinese media can be said to be the busiest media besides the media of these four countries. Compared with the national media of the four teams participating in the World Cup semi-finals, the Chinese media is obviously more diverse.
However, diversity also has its advantages. The famous Chinese football media newspaper "Football Weekly" has a special column for the World Cup semi-finals - the four No. 10s.
No. 10 is the standard number for the core of the football field. From Pele, Maradona, Gullit, Platini, to Roberto Baggio, Zidane, Ronaldinho, and Messi, every player is the absolute core of the team.
The same is true for the number 10 of the top four teams in this World Cup. Belgium's number 10 is Hazard, England's number 10 is Li Qing, France's number 10 is Mbappe, and Croatia's number 10 is Modric.
Except for Modric who is a traditional number 10 player, Hazard, Li Qing and Mbappe are all forwards. Of course, the most concerned thing for Chinese fans is the comparison between Li Qing and Hazard. Through the comparison of various data, Li Qing crushes Hazard with absolute advantage.
Goals, assists, breakthrough success rate, threatening passes, etc. are all obviously behind, which means that Li Qing is in an absolute advantage in the number 10 competition. In addition, he has scored 13 goals in 5 World Cup matches, which also gives many Chinese fans confidence that Li Qing will lead England to go further and return to the World Cup finals after 52 years!
At that time, they can proudly say-England's World Cup champion is made in China!