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

Chapter 900 I'm sorry I couldn't take you to the finals
The No.1 trending topic: China's national football team loses to France.

No. 2: China 2:4 France.

No. 3: The Chinese national football team will play either Argentina or Portugal in the third-place match.

No. 4: Argentina vs. Portugal.

No. 5: China's first defeat at the Qatar World Cup.

Before the semi-finals began, France and China were the only "undefeated" teams in this World Cup, meaning they had not lost a single match from the first round of the group stage to the game before the semi-finals.

When two undefeated teams meet in the knockout stage, one team's undefeated streak will inevitably come to an end.

Unfortunately, the team that was eliminated was China.

As the biggest dark horse of this World Cup, the Chinese team is considered to be able to create miracles "infinitely" because they have repeatedly proven their critics wrong.

But the dark horse couldn't stay dark forever.

The French team is not only stronger than China in overall strength, but their players' characteristics also have a clear restraining effect on the Chinese national team.

Do you know what the Chinese team is most afraid of?

After the match, Li Laoba's assistant immediately posted the video on Bilibili.

"What the Chinese team fears most are players who rely on speed and brute force, like Mbappe, Dembele, and Bale. Why was the Chinese team able to beat Wales in the group stage? Wasn't it because Bale was in poor form? Otherwise, Bale alone would have been enough to give us a run for our money!"

"Then in the semi-finals against France, one winger is fine, but the French team has three, plus that Theo Hernández, that guy is also a sports car."

"What can we do then? Some fans are still asking on Lao Ba's WeChat public account about Escriva. What can we do about Escriva? Even if you replace Ten Hag or Klopp, it won't make a difference. The other side has a lot of sports cars, how can we compete?"

After saying a few words, Li Laoba let out another burp, though it was unclear what he had eaten.

"Don't blame Esheng, he can't do anything about it. The Chinese team has Tang Ye, but there's only one Tang Ye. I've said this many times."

[Though late, it's here. What does Li Laoba think of the third-place match?]

Will they play Portugal in the third-place match?

Comments floated across the top of the video.

As if Li Laoba knew what kind of comments the fans would post, he actually mentioned the third-place match at the end of the video.

Feng Xuejuan walked over: "So, in the third-place match, we played Portugal, and Tang Ye played against Ronaldo?"

"Play Portugal? There's no way we'd play Portugal in the third-place match. You clearly don't understand football," Li Laoba scolded.

"Given the form of Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandez, how do Argentina possibly beat Portugal?"

"Let me tell you, I've already written the script for you. Portugal will shut out Argentina by two goals in regulation time and then compete for the championship with Mbappe's France."

"Then Tang Ye defeated Leo Messi twice and was crowned the King of Football."

At this moment, Feng Xuejuan had something to say.

"What if they can't get a double kill? Everyone said Argentina would lose in the group stage, but that was just carelessness."

"Who said that?"

"That's what they say online."

You believe what you read online?

"To be honest, Argentina is just so-so, they have no chance. They would lose to China again. Actually, I've never been very optimistic about China, you know? But I just think China can beat Argentina, even if the Chinese players are exhausted in the semi-finals, I still believe in them."

He said he wouldn't watch the Chinese Super League or the national football team, but now Li Laoba is practically playing the national anthem in his live stream.

Part of this stems from Li Laoba's hatred for Argentina, or rather, for Messi, but more so from his recognition of the Chinese team.

小组赛3轮7分排名第一，1/8决赛和1/4决赛，拼尽全力晋级成功。

To achieve this success, the Chinese team has expended almost all their energy.

"That Jiang Guangtai is really something else. He played so well in the first few games, but then he completely messed up against France."

"Little assistant, could you show the post-match ratings in the video? Look at my brother Guangtai. He should have been rated 7.0+ in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, and I remember he was rated 7.5 in one game. But after playing against France, he dropped to 4.5. What can you do about that?"

“Let me tell you, S. Creva shouldn’t have substituted Jiang Guangtai in the second half. He should have just let him rest and skipped the semi-final. Then we could have gone all out against Argentina! I don’t know why Escriva thought that scoring a penalty would give them a chance to turn the game around.”

[Old Eight's predictions were all wrong; fans who believed him have made a fortune.]

[To be honest, I also feel we can turn it around. We just need to find free kicks. If the other side doesn't give us free kicks, what can we do? Wei Shihao and Wu Lei's deception tactic isn't working. Can't they find more free kicks?]

[Griezmann's red card completely shattered Tang Ye's mentality. I was shattered too.]

……

Match Preview: Messi vs. Ronaldo in the lower bracket semifinals – who will advance to the final – Argentina or Portugal?
From the Chinese team's perspective, everyone definitely hopes Portugal will advance.

The reason is simple: the Chinese team has more experience playing against Argentina than Portugal.

They won once during the group stage!

Whether they can win a second time is another matter, but considering the tactical characteristics of the Chinese national team, dealing with Messi is definitely easier than dealing with Ronaldo – Leo's presence will cause a lot of trouble for the Chinese team's defense.

Manchester Evening News editor: Argentina defeated Portugal 2-1 to advance to the final.

Mundo Deportivo predicts Argentina will draw 1-1 and defeat Portugal in a penalty shootout.

The Daily Mail predicts Portugal will eliminate Argentina.

Experts are roughly evenly split between those who favor Argentina and those who favor Portugal, but if you had to pick one, there are more experts who favor Argentina.

Experts, of course, also gave their reasons, namely that they believed Argentina's group stage loss should not be used as a basis for judging the team's strength.

Argentina lost to China in the first round of the group stage; maybe they were just unprepared?
……

The time came to the day of the Argentina vs. Portugal match, which was the day after the China vs. France match.

Today, Escriva did not assign any tasks to the players, so everyone basically rested at the hotel.

Rather than conducting a post-match review, it would be better to let the players calm down and relax.

Where's Tom?

Escriva encountered Matti in the corridor.

"I... I don't know? I didn't see what you said about disbanding."

"..."

Eskeriva shook his head: "I need to talk to him about something."

"Then you can give him a call."

"Ugh... I think it's a bit too awkward to talk about this on the phone. And it's not really appropriate to discuss these things over the phone." "..."

Matti was somewhat speechless at Eskreva: "Then why don't you go find him during the game tonight? Aren't you going to watch the game tonight? You can find him after the game, and you'll also know who your opponent is next."

Escriva nodded slightly, agreeing with what Matti said.

……

"Bruno Fernandez!"

"Just kick him!"

"The ball is in!"

"1-2! Portugal pulls back a goal!"

Bruno Fernandes did not celebrate after scoring; instead, he and Cristiano Ronaldo went to retrieve the ball from Argentina's goal.

Portugal is still the underdog.

Bruno Fernandes' performance in today's match was simply unstoppable; he carried the Portuguese team on his shoulders, which is fantastic news.

Bad news: Only Bruno Fernandes and Dalot are in form for Portugal; starting left winger Felix was practically sleepwalking on the pitch.

Santos' reaction time was also quite slow; they didn't substitute Felix until more than ten minutes into the second half.

"After Leao came on, Portugal's left flank was obviously much more comfortable, and Argentina's defenders must have had a tough time."

"..."

"Beep, beep beep—!!!"

The whole game is over.

The promised Messi-Ronaldo showdown turned out to be a disaster, with both Messi and Ronaldo suffering from diarrhea today, relying entirely on their teammates to carry the team.

Apart from Bruno Fernandes, no other Portuguese player scored, and the final score of the match was 1-2.

Cristiano Ronaldo's disappointment on the pitch was no different from Tang Ye's yesterday.

Hmm...maybe Ronaldo has experienced this kind of situation many more times?
However, they are all pretty much the same.

After being eliminated by Argentina, Portugal will enter the third-place match, where they will face China, the loser of the semifinals in the upper half of the bracket.

"This result may not be good for the Chinese team."

"Although Portugal lost to Argentina, we saw that Leao and Bruno Fernandes were in good form. If Leao starts in the third-place match, he will definitely cause a lot of trouble for the Chinese team."

In the post-match third-place game special program, several commentators shared their views on the game during the live broadcast.

Portugal, like France, has a certain advantage over the Chinese team.

However, the Chinese team is not necessarily at a complete disadvantage.

The Chinese national football team's advantage is that their match is completed a day earlier than Portugal's, giving them an extra day of rest.

However, the most important thing is actually emotional adjustment.

"Between China and Portugal, whichever team can recover from the loss faster will, in my opinion, have the upper hand in the third-place match."

……

赛事预告：12月17日晚23时，卡塔尔世界杯3、4名决赛国足VS葡萄牙，中国队有望冲击队史首个世界杯奖牌？

Statistical data shows that there are quite a few fans who are optimistic about the Chinese team, both in other countries and in China.

However, many European fans chose to favor the Chinese team because they support Tang Ye. If we exclude this group, Portugal is actually the more favored team.

With Leão in top form and Bruno Fernandes in perfect form, arguably the world's second-best attacking midfielder, Portugal's advantage is truly immense.

"gentlemen."

Only Tang Ye and Eskeriva remained in the hotel conference room.

Tang Ye didn't know why the coach wanted him to stay behind alone; perhaps there were some tactical arrangements to be made for him.

"Although... well, I can get myself into good shape for the next game, I assure you, sir, so if you're worried, there's really no need to worry so much."

"Oh no, that's not what I meant."

Eskeriva interrupted Tang Ye, who was speaking: "I kept you here just to apologize. I shouldn't have argued with you right after the game. Losing the game was indeed my fault."

"Oh, no, sir."

Tang Ye took a step forward: "I was too impulsive back then. I know you're right. Looking back now..."

He shrugged. "Indeed, we should have conserved our energy when playing against France."

You could tell how helpless Tang Ye was just by listening to his tone.

After all, it's a once-in-four-years opportunity. To try and create another miracle but fail is certainly not an easy thing to accept.

"Good luck to the 3rd and 4th place finalists, we will win a medal."

Escriva and Tang Ye bumped fists: "Portugal is pretty strong, you should have seen that, right?"

"Of course, um, but I don't think it's a problem."

Tang Ye patted Eskeriva on the shoulder: "Although third place is a bit unnecessary, I still don't want to lose two games in a row."

"Haha, okay, me too. Then we need to keep up the good work. Portugal won't be easy."

"come on!"

Tang Ye and Eskeriva embraced, then turned and left.

"that."

Eskeriva suddenly appeared and stopped Tang Ye.

"Well, what?"

I'm sorry I couldn't take you to the finals.

"..."

Tang Ye inhaled and then exhaled: "This is not your problem, Ferran."

"...After thinking about it carefully, we still can't be too greedy, otherwise we'll make the wrong decisions, you know, like in the semi-finals. We need to be more rational."

……

(End of this chapter)