Football: I am only 16 years old, and you want me to retire and make a comeback?

Chapter 395: France with 1 point, the China-Germany match is coming.

Time flew by and it was June 14th!
This is the opening ceremony of this World Cup, on the day of the Russia vs. Saudi Arabia match!
In the television footage, Russian cosmonauts dropped a soccer ball from space, which then landed in Moscow's Red Square.

A child stopped the ball, ran with it, and entered the field after overcoming many obstacles.

The television broadcast the stadium's name to viewers in both Russian and English.

"Luzhniki..."

Tang Ye whispered, "This stadium is huge. I think it must have over 7, or even 8 people. It's about the same size as Wembley."

Luzhniki Stadium is one of the main stadiums of this World Cup. Tang Ye was able to accurately determine its Chinese name mainly because the Chinese national team is also associated with this stadium.

On June 17th, China and Germany will face off in this stadium!
"The venue is packed today. Will it be packed another day?"

Tang Ye looked at Wu Lei standing to the side.

Wu Lei remained silent, but Zhang Yuning answered Tang Ye's question: "I feel there's a high probability the stadium will be packed. I've been checking the news, and Moscow is full of Chinese people, plus there are just too many German fans."

After sharing his guess, Zhang Yuning added, "To be honest, I don't really want the whole place to be deserted."

"Hmm? Why? Oh, right."

Tang Yegang posed the question, and then immediately came up with the answer himself.

In the match between China and Germany, there will definitely be more fans supporting Germany at the stadium.

Although it's a neutral stadium, the Chinese team is essentially playing away.

If that's the case, then it's better to have fewer people come to the event.

Of course, this is impossible. Both Germany and China are high-profile teams. The matches may not be very exciting, but the number of spectators will definitely be high!

The female guest rode a firebird slowly to the center of the field, and soon the Russian national anthem began to play.

Who do you think will win today?

Zhang Yuning looked at Tang Ye, who shrugged and said, "Definitely Russia. I have a friend in Russia. Do you know Cheryshev? He can score goals."

Tang Ye's former teammate, Villarreal striker Cheryshev, is one of the stars of the Russian national team.

Tang Ye played a season with Cheryshev and also played a friendly against Saudi Arabia, so he was very clear about the gap between Saudi players and Cheryshev.

If Cheryshev plays, Saudi Arabia will be in a very bad situation.

"Saudi Arabia isn't that easy to beat..."

Zhang Yuning said, recalling the warm-up match against Saudi Arabia last month.

They did win, but the Chinese national football team's victory was actually quite hard-fought.

"No, it's a pretty good game. If we play seriously, we should be able to take a 2-3 lead."

"We've already been very serious, haven't we?"

Zhang Yuning was puzzled, but Tang Ye turned his head and chuckled, "But I haven't gotten serious yet."

! ! ?

"Hey, the match has started!"

"Holy crap, I didn't check the starting lineup, why is Cheryshev a substitute?"

Tang Ye and his teammates started talking about the match, while Zhang Yuning's mind was no longer on the game.

I haven't gotten serious yet...

What did Tang Ye mean by that?
Are you referring to the match against Saudi Arabia?
Or... all 5 warm-up matches?

hiss--

Zhang Yuning took a deep breath.

He wanted to ask Tang Ye for an answer, but seeing Tang Ye engrossed in the competition, Zhang Yuning remained silent.

"Saudi Arabia is going to get into trouble playing like this. If they keep going like this, they'll get crushed by Russia. Their midfielders must be starving!"

……

Top post on Dongqiudi: In their opening match of the World Cup, host nation Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0, securing their first victory. Cheryshev scored twice. (52315 comments)

The host country has stepped up its efforts.

[Home advantage is awesome! Just one Katyusha and Russia's fighting power doubled!]

Russia has indeed reached the level of a top-tier team; Cheryshev is as strong as a war god.

[I think Cheryshev played as an attacking midfielder for a while when he was with Villarreal, and I remember Tang Ye was his substitute.]

[It can only be said that this is indeed how the king of football's substitutes are.]

The next day, the first match of Group F was played, and Senegal defeated Sweden 1-0 to temporarily take the lead in Group F.

The current situation in Group F is as follows:
1. Senegal, 3 points.

2. Germany, 0 points.

3. China, 0 points.

4. Sweden, 0 points (goal difference -1).

Of course, Chinese people are paying attention to the Chinese team. The night before the match, CCTV5+ aired a special program.

Renowned football commentator Zhang Lu provided a detailed analysis of the upcoming China-Germany match.

"Look, this is a friendly match for the German national team. Before the match, Germany arranged a 4-4-2 formation, but we can see that after the match started, Germany immediately committed a large number of players to the attacking third."

"To what extent has this investment reached? We can see that it's only one or two..."

Zhang Lu drew circles on the screen with a pen.

"Seven players – Germany used seven players in their very first attack, which illustrates a characteristic of the German team."

"As long as they attack, the German team will attack to the very end."

"When attacking players push forward in large numbers, what problem does that cause? The attacking intensity increases, well, that's obvious. Now, let's look here."

Switching to the next slide, Zhang Lu presented his predictions for the starting lineups of both sides in the China-Germany match.

"China's defense is positioned quite deep, while Germany prefers to play a deep attacking style. Therefore, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Germany will likely dominate possession against China in tomorrow's match."

Chinese fans watching the live stream frowned.

Zhang Lu's words were not very pleasant for fans who like the Chinese national football team.

But that's the truth.

"But I think the Chinese team still has some solutions. In the warm-up matches against Brazil and France at the beginning of the month, we saw Lippi try a five-defender defense, which I think is a very good tactic that can help us narrow the score gap with Germany."

The camera panned to the host, who then asked Zhang Lu, "So, Coach Zhang, do you mean that against Germany, the Chinese team should focus on defense? Is that right?"

"You can say that"

Zhang Lu nodded slightly.

"Sweden lost to Senegal by one goal in yesterday's match. If the score difference between China and Germany could also be one goal, then I think this match would be quite perfect."

"Of course, this is an ideal situation. Although the German team does have some problems and is not as good as they were in the 14 Brazil World Cup, the gap in fighting spirit between China and Germany in the warm-up matches is still quite large. We need to take this gap into our tactical considerations."

The host agreed with Zhang Lu's point of view and then asked a question that fans were eager to know.

In the match between China and Germany, what should Tang Ye, as a key player, do to help the team the most?
"I think... the Chinese team should play a defensive counter-attacking style, because we all know that Tang Ye's ability to distribute the ball in the midfield, defense, and attack is world-class. What the Chinese team needs to do is to defend well and then use Tang Ye's long passing ability to launch counter-attacks."

Defense + counter-attack.

The tactics Zhang Lu recommended to the Chinese national team were very similar to those of Manchester United, both being tailored to Tang Ye and the team's characteristics.

Simply put, whether the Chinese team can score a goal depends on Tang Ye, and whether this rising star can produce a few brilliant shots.

Whether the Chinese national team can finish the match with a respectable score depends on how well their defense performs.

China Sports Lottery.

Germany wins outright, odds 1.14.

China wins, odds 22.50.

A draw, odds 8.50.

China Sports Lottery has released the odds for the China-Germany match. If it weren't for the large total amount involved, the lottery probably wouldn't have even offered odds for this game.

A payout of 1 to 20 is honestly a bit too outrageous!
In addition to the highly anticipated China-Germany match, FIFA has also taken action regarding the French team's spying incident.

The French team was initially penalized 3 points for trespassing on the Chinese team's training base, but FIFA later reduced the penalty to 1 point because China and France were not in the same group, and with an explanation from the Chinese Football Association.

With this, the French team, which has yet to make its World Cup debut, has reached an unprecedented -1 point, ranking last in the group.

However, compared to the exaggerated penalty of 3-6 points, 1 point is still acceptable for the strong French team.

In response, the French president expressed his support for the French national team at a press conference, while also reiterating the deep friendship between the French and Chinese teams.

"The friendship between the French and Chinese teams is like that between Dembele and Dom – I believe it can continue. I wish the Chinese team the best of luck in reaching the knockout stage. Of course, if they meet in the knockout stage, I don't think the French team will hold back."

……

The day of the competition!

Chinese football players boarded the team bus one after another at the entrance of the training base, where Chinese fans were waiting in droves.

"Oh my god, I'm so nervous!"

Tang Ye tossed his backpack onto the shelf above and then quickly sat down in his seat.

She secretly pulled back the curtains.

Just like I saw earlier, there are at least several hundred people outside now.

Go China!

"Losing less is winning, don't put pressure on yourself, losing less is winning!"

"China is awesome!"

"..."

The fans were very enthusiastic, and the players on the bus were under a lot of pressure.

Tang Ye shared his chewing gum with his teammates, but under immense pressure, his chewing gum didn't work very well this time.

The bus had already started moving, but the atmosphere on board was very heavy.

Tang Ye craned his neck, looking around.

Yeah, it feels like everyone on the bus has died!
clap clap!

Suddenly someone clapped, startling Tang Ye, who quickly shrank back.

The one clapping was team leader Feng Xiaoting, who felt he needed to do something at this moment.

"Um, I'd like to say a few words."

"I know everyone is under a lot of pressure participating in the World Cup for the first time, and I am under a lot of pressure too. To be honest, I even have a feeling that I am not on the same level as the players from other national teams..."

Feng Xiaoting's voice grew softer and softer, then suddenly rang out again: "But we've already participated in the World Cup, we've arrived in Russia, we're right here in Moscow, and we're about to step onto the pitch—that's a fact."

Feng Xiaoting attracted the attention of everyone on the train. Lippi and Madaloni, who were at the front, even asked the translator to translate what Feng Xiaoting said to them.

"We trained together three times, and played five warm-up matches in late May and early June alone. We identified many problems, and we've improved on them. Given the significant gap in skill level, we did our best, and I think we've done quite well."

Feng Xiaoting shrugged: "So, brothers, there's no need to care too much about what the reporters and fans think. Let's play the game well, and use the same tactics we used against France against Germany."

"Of course, we optimized our tactics after the match against France, so I think we can do better in today's match against Germany."

"..."

Feng Xiaoting seemed to have finished speaking, and the bus became very quiet.

Suddenly Zhang Yuning shouted, followed by Gao Lin.

Finally, everyone did it together.

Wow!!!

Tang Ye and his teammates shouted it out together.

It was only then that he realized that sometimes, when you're under a lot of pressure, it's not enough to just adjust on your own.

Why not shout it out with your teammates!
Shout out your spirit!

……

Live from Moscow: 5 hours, 24 minutes and 55 seconds until the China-Germany match, the Chinese team bus leaves the training base, and fans follow the national team bus.

Dongqiudi (a Chinese sports betting platform) pinned post: The Chinese national football team has released its roster for the first round of the group stage against Germany; all 23 players are healthy and none are injured. (87231 comments)

The Chinese national football team released its roster and a promotional poster for the match against Germany, which included all 23 players on the roster.

In the very center is a huge head of Tang Ye, and GGBond, wearing a Chinese national football team jersey, is looking up at something.

This poster not only appeared on Dongqiudi, but also in Wanda Plazas and subway stations in various regions.

"Wuhan Rail Transit reminds you, next stop... Baotong Temple."

As the subway gradually slowed down, the advertising screens inside the carriage suddenly turned red, and the people standing in the carriage quickly noticed the content on the screens.

[FIFA World Cup Group Stage Round 1: Germany vs. China]

[June 17, 23:00]

[—Wuhan Rail Transit]

In addition to the text description, the Wuhan Metro also included a celebratory photo of Tang Yeya from the World Cup qualifiers on the Chinese national football team's World Cup qualifier poster.

"It's football again. Does anyone still watch the Chinese national football team?"

Two middle-aged women at the table started chatting: "It's shameful, especially since these football players get paid so much, millions a year, and they contribute nothing while embarrassing themselves in public."

"I also heard that Germany was last year's champion!"

Another older woman immediately chimed in, "I also heard that the national football team recently produced some kind of star, Tang something, from Guangdong. They say he's really good, but everyone knows that in China, you can't get into the national team without offering a few drinks. None of the truly talented young men can make it up."

The two middle-aged women were chatting when they suddenly looked up and realized that everyone in the carriage was staring at them.

The two young men standing at the front looked like they wanted to punch someone.

"Hey, we're logging off. Is this Baotong Temple? We're logging off, we're logging off."

"Baotong Temple is a thing of the past."

The young man reminded him.

"oh oh……"

The two middle-aged women's spots were quickly taken away, but they didn't dare to say anything. They were gradually forced into a corner by several people, and they looked extremely panicked.

"Wuhan Rail Transit reminds you that the first round of the FIFA World Cup group stage match between China and Germany will kick off at 23:00 Beijing time."

"Hangzhou Rail Transit reminds you that at 23 PM Beijing time, the FIFA World Cup in Russia will begin..."

"Shanghai Metro..."

……

Dongqiudi (a Chinese sports betting platform) pinned post: The Chinese national football team has released its roster for the first round of the group stage against Germany. Tang Ye and Wu Lei lead the team, with Zhang Yuning and Zheng Zhi starting. (112315 comments)

(End of this chapter)