Team Spirit

Chapter 245 World Cup Knockout Stage, Brazil and England Not Guest

The World Cup kicked off on June 10th.

Host nation Germany defeated Costa Rica 4-2.

Lahm scored the team's first goal, Klose scored twice, and Frings scored a stunning long-range strike from 30 meters out.

It was truly spectacular.

The fans who watched this match didn't go to sleep because the next match was between England and Paraguay.

England's starting lineup is as follows:
Joe Cole, Crouch, Beckham

Lu Kai, Carrick, Hargreaves
Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Young
Robinson

-

The camera repeatedly focused on Shuangde, seemingly expressing some doubt about this arrangement.

After all, it's hard for everyone to accept that both Gerrard and Rooney are on the bench.

However, Stanley had already noticed during the training camp that DeRozan, Aldridge, and Rooney were not in very good form.

However, these doubts were resolved in the fifth minute of the match.

Joe Cole, who had been playing brilliantly for his club, cut inside and fired a long-range shot into the net, breaking England's first-ever record.

In the second half, Beckham assisted Ashley Young to score a long-range goal.

Before the end of the match, substitute Vardy scored another one-on-one goal.

England secured a 3-0 victory in their opening match.

On June 15th, England will play their second group stage match against Trinidad and Tobago.

The team's striker is Yorke, one of the legendary "Black Wind Duo" from Manchester United.

England made slight changes to their starting lineup for this match, with Crouch replaced by Vardy and Hargreaves replaced by Barton.

Ultimately, Beckham and Lu Kai scored for Barton and substitute Crouch, respectively.

One long-range shot, one header.

They easily defeated their opponent 2-0.

Six points secured a spot in the next round.

Sweden has four points, Trinidad and Tobago has one point, and Paraguay has zero points.

On June 20th, England will play their final group stage match against Sweden for first place in the group.

In this match, Ibrahimovic's short hair became a highlight.

Lu Kai was smiling from the moment the team lined up.

This angered Ibrahimovic, causing him to act impulsively and miss many opportunities.

England's starting lineup this time is significantly different from the previous two matches.

After all, they've already qualified, so it wouldn't be right not to let other big-name stars play.

Lennon, Irving, Rooney

Lu Kai, Lampard, Gerrard
Carragher, Campbell, Terry, Neville
Joe Hart

-

As a result, England received bad news in the first minute and forty seconds.

Former Ballon d'Or winner Kyrie Irving fell to the ground and twisted his right leg after passing the ball without any contact.

Since he still had the ball, Irving wanted his team to complete the attack, so he immediately crawled towards the sidelines.

But his right leg was in too much pain, so after crawling a couple of times, he rolled off the field.

boom!
Lu Kai immediately took a long-range shot.

The football score was wildly biased.

But he had only one goal: to get the referee to blow the whistle and for the team doctor to enter the field.

Everyone on the scene looked at Irving, but the team doctor shook his head repeatedly after examining him.

Lu Kai sighed.

It seems there's no way to avoid this serious injury.

This is Kyrie Irving's fate.

He was originally going to get seriously injured in the first game, so Lu Kai deliberately arranged for Owen to be a substitute player in the first game, and he played for more than ten minutes.

The second match was the same, lasting more than twenty minutes.

Apply in small amounts frequently to avoid strain.

But last night, Owen specifically sought out Lu Kai, hoping to start and play a good game.

During training camp and friendly matches, Irving consistently performed as the best forward on the team, so benching him was not an fair arrangement.

Moreover, Irving had not complained before, and this time he came in a requesting manner.

Lu Kai softened his heart and agreed.

result……

Stanley stood on the sidelines, bewildered: "Irving's training and game volume during the pre-season was very low, how could he suddenly suffer such a serious injury?"

The key issue is that there has been no confrontation yet.

As a fellow striker, Vardy expressed his regret for Owen: "Hopefully it's a minor injury."

However, injuries sustained without physical contact are often quite severe.

Lu Kai immediately recognized Irving's true condition: a torn ACL in his right knee.

Extremely serious injury!

This means that Owen's World Cup journey has come to an early end.

Furthermore, the subsequent treatment will likely take nearly a year.

Given Irving's age and current condition, his career is likely to experience a precipitous decline as a result.

Crouch then replaced Irving.

In this match, Lu Kai scored his first goal of the World Cup.

Gerrard, making his first start, also played brilliantly, scoring with a long-range shot.

They ultimately drew 2-2 with Sweden, advancing to the knockout stage.

On June 25, the round of 16 match between England and Ecuador kicked off.

The starting lineup is:
Joe Cole, Crouch, Beckham

Lu Kai, Carrick, Hargreaves
Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Young
Joe Hart

-

The entire match was very close.

The intensity is on a completely different level from the group stage.

Everyone was having a hard time playing.

In the 60th minute, Lu Kai and Joe Cole made consecutive breakthroughs on the left flank, creating a free kick.

He provided cover for Beckham's free kick that found the back of the net.

One to zero!

England have advanced to the quarterfinals.

After the match, Ecuador's head coach and goalkeeper both stated that when two top free-kick specialists are behind the ball, a free kick is not much different from a penalty for the England team.

The media praised Lu Kai and Beckham for their unity.

After all, the free-kick specialists in other teams often compete with each other for the opportunity to take the kick.

British media believe the situation is very promising.

The other teams that advanced to the quarterfinals are Germany, Argentina, Italy, Ukraine, Portugal, France, and Brazil.

Apart from Ukraine, they are all super strong teams.

The group stage result is Germany vs. Argentina.

Italy vs. Ukraine.

France vs. Portugal.

England vs. Brazil.

The opponents for France and England were different from what Lu Kai remembered, so they were switched.

The original "France-Spain" rule has disappeared. But this is very much in line with FIFA's usual practices.

After all, isn't this a rematch of the classic semi-final between France and Portugal in the 2000 European Championship?
It's important to understand that recreating this combination is no easy feat.

Because in the previous match, France defeated the more favored Spain.

This was also the match that made Ribery famous.

Despite falling behind, France rallied through a series of skillful maneuvers led by Ribery, who eventually beat Casillas to equalize.

The unassuming Green Gunblade has become one of the key players for the French team in this tournament.

Portugal also eliminated the Dutch national team, a team boasting a dazzling combination of Van Nistelrooy and the four Dutch talents.

England and Brazil are the two teams with the highest and second-highest chances of winning this tournament, making it arguably the strongest match ever!
……

"We're doomed! How did we run into Brazil so early? This time we're really doomed!" Stanley was panicking in the conference room.

The team's coaching staff then entered and began reviewing tactics and making predictions.

Guardiola retired completely after the end of this season, and Green Gunners held a grand farewell ceremony for him at Penguin Stadium.

In return, Guardiola temporarily joined the England coaching staff, forming a golden partnership with Southgate once again to assist the clueless Stanley.

After all, a coaching staff can't all be ignorant of tactics.

Stanley: Indeed.

Southgate: ? ? ?
"These are the statistics from our four games so far, you can take a look." Guardiola spoke earnestly, and also cherished this coaching experience. "The two forwards with the best efficiency and attacking coordination are Joe Cole and Owen."

"Crouch's strengths and weaknesses are too distinct, making him easy to target. He is better suited as a surprise weapon than a permanent fixture."

"Rooney is in terrible form."

"Vardy has a clear speed advantage, and if he can make full use of it, he is no worse than Irving. However, this player developed late. Although he has completed the transformation from 1.65 meters to 1.83 meters in height, he has not yet completed his strength training."

"His performance is very inconsistent under high-intensity competition, and he is more suitable as a super substitute."

Not to mention Lennon, a complete greenhorn; he was purely an eye-opener, and his performance in the last round of the group stage was frighteningly immature.

Ashley Young, who was temporarily assigned to help wipe the table, frowned.

Vardy is 1.83 meters tall now?

Horse riding!
Wasn't it agreed that I could only grow to 1.79 meters tall?

Lu Kai and Ashley Young exchanged a glance, knowing what this guy cared about.

In this respect, Vardy should thank the Green Guns canteen for its scientific Eastern cuisine and the team's excellent spirit and culture.

Otherwise, if he were to follow Ashley Young, he might not even grow to 1.7 meters tall.

Guardiola then addressed the second issue: "After extensive data comparison, we have confirmed that Team Star, the official ball of this World Cup, exhibits slight fluctuations when shooting from long range."

"Similar to the effect of a leaf ball, but very slight, of course."

"This football has been consistently criticized by goalkeepers, but it is advantageous for long-range shots."

"This was one of the obstacles we encountered when we put De Bruyne and Gerrard on the bench, as both of them are excellent long-range shooters."

"But it seems that the long-range goal rate in this tournament is not higher than in the past, but has actually decreased. Especially for long-range shots from the front."

"Because football has become more elusive."

"On the contrary, the curling shot from the left or right is incredibly powerful."

"And there are also incredible shots that fly into the sky, with a higher probability of scoring than before."

In short, players with accurate long-range shots not only do not benefit from the Team Star Football bonus, but their accuracy is also greatly reduced due to the leaf-like effect of the ball.

Teams that relied heavily on long-range shots and tried to gain an advantage in this tournament generally failed to achieve good results.

Guardiola bluntly stated: "Therefore, we must strengthen our attack on the flanks, and for the flanks to shine, we need good center forwards."

"The match against Ecuador already demonstrated our lack of attacking power."

"Lu, you need to move forward."

Everyone looked at Lu Kai.

Lu Kai quickly nodded in agreement.

He returned to midfield, which was originally intended to suppress Gerrard and Lampard.

Now that both De Bruyne and Götze have submitted, there's no problem for him to play center forward.

At the same time, he is extremely versatile, whether he switches positions to the flanks or helps the wingers attack from the flanks, he is very adept at it.

These are things that traditional English strikers cannot do.

On July 1st, the World Cup quarter-final match between England and Brazil kicked off.

Forty-eight thousand people eagerly awaited the arrival of the Frankfurt Forest Stadium.

The ultimate battle of the year is about to begin.

"Great! I'm Huang, let me introduce the starting lineups for both sides!" Huang Jianxiang was very excited in the broadcast studio because CTV was using a new script today.

Just like when players appear at the NBA All-Star Game, each player has a special poster and introduction.

After all, the rosters of both teams are worthy of this investment.

"The Brazilian team adopted a 4-4-2 formation with a small diamond midfield."

"Ronaldinho and Ronaldo as the two strikers!"

"The former has a flamboyant playing style and is known as the football genius. He burst onto the scene with his sights set on becoming the world's number one, but unfortunately, he was repeatedly defeated in his battles with Lu Kai, earning him the nickname—'Forever Number Two in the World'!"

"Ronaldo is the former world number one, and we expect him to dominate like he did four years ago."

"Attacking midfielder Kaká, the Son of God, this year's Champions League winner and Champions League Player of the Year! He has now surpassed Ronaldinho in the Ballon d'Or live rankings and is the number one player in this Brazilian team."

"The three midfielders are Ze Roberto, Gilbert Silva, and Juninho."

"The four defenders are Roberto Carlos, Lucio, Juan, and Cafu."

"Goalkeeper Dida."

On the bench are other well-known players or familiar faces such as Adriano, Robinho, Maicon, Cicinho, Emerson, and Cesar.

The domestic player voting system quickly saw fans showing their support for these players.

The players are far superior to those on other teams.

However, with the introduction of the England players' lineup, the top vote-getter was undoubtedly determined.

"There have been significant changes to the England team today."

"Joe Cole, Lu Kai, Ashley Young"

"Barton, Carrick, Beckham"

Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, Neville

"Joe Hart"

-

"Center Lu has finally appeared after much anticipation." Huang Jianxiang's voice cracked. "But I never thought we'd see Ashley Young on the front line again in our lifetime!"

"This is a risky move."

"But this way, England will have players who are good at breaking through on both wings, which will greatly enrich their tactics."

Although Vardy is extremely fast, his breakthrough here mainly refers to his ability to dribble past opponents.

Everyone plays aggressively in the World Cup, especially the teams from the Americas.

Pure speed players simply can't perform; they get overpowered as soon as they receive the ball.

In order to shoulder the heavy responsibility of an attacking player, one must have the ability to dribble, swing, and fight with the ball.

England has very few people like this.

Only Lu Kai, Joe Cole, and Ashley Young in the team can be considered this type.

This is also one of the reasons why Rooney performed poorly in this tournament.

Conversely, Cristiano Ronaldo, whose club performance was not as good as Rooney's, stood out in this tournament due to his excellent dribbling and breakthrough abilities, and was selected as the tournament's best young player.

In terms of star power, the England team paled in comparison.

Perhaps only domestically can they rival the Brazilian team in popularity.

However, they have two world number ones, Lu Kai and Beckham, the former currently number one in athletic ability and the latter currently number one in economic and business ability.

For a time, the two teams advanced side by side.

The white and yellow liquids are boiling.

With the sound of a whistle, the strongest team in European football and the strongest team outside of European football intertwined and merged.

The battle for the championship has officially begun!
Since Brazil was the away team in this match, Brazilian fans expressed their intention to freeze Lu Kai's celebration, preventing him from performing his Lu celebration. Therefore, this match was also known as "Brazil vs. England: No Lu Kai!"
(End of this chapter)