Max-level burst damage at the start, the British Empire arrives!

6 month 1 day.

England announces 23-man squad for World Cup.

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (No. 1), Ben Foster (No. 13), Fraser Foster (No. 22).

后卫：2号凯尔.沃克、3号阿什利.科尔、5号加里.卡希尔、6号约翰.特里、12号贾吉尔卡、16号菲尔.琼斯、22号斯莫林、23号卢克.肖。

中场：4号史蒂文.杰拉德、7号杰克.威尔希尔、8号弗兰克.兰帕德、14号西奥.沃尔科特、15号阿莱克斯.张伯伦、17号詹姆斯.米尔纳、19号拉希姆.斯特林、20号乔丹.亨德森、21号罗斯.巴克利。

Forwards: No. 9 Sun Ke, No. 10 Wayne Rooney, No. 11 Danny Welbeck, No. 18 Ricky Lambert.

The release of this list immediately caused an uproar in the English media.

After a careful count, the media discovered that England's squad was not the previously announced 28 players, but rather 30.

On the second day of training camp, Everton's Barkley and Tottenham's Walker joined the team.

According to many media sources, the two players flew back to London from their vacation spot early on the second day of training camp.

Is this an emergency recall?

What exactly happened in between?

The squad excludes Liverpool right-back Glen Jensen, Baines (considered the best right-back in England), Southampton left winger Lallana, Manchester City's tall center-back Lescott, and Manchester United midfielder Carrick.

It's worth noting that Glenn Jensen and Baines are the most consistent England players this season, Lallana's performance in the league is enough to warrant at least a left winger spot, and Lescott's physical strength and aerial ability have been indispensable to the England team in recent years.

What's most baffling is that Carrick, a key midfielder for Manchester United, was left out of the 23-man squad.

Many of the players on this list have caused controversy in the English media. Center-back Jagielka is only 1.8 meters tall and has been an absolute substitute for England in the World Cup qualifiers.

Making a 1.8-meter-tall center-back the first rotation player for England's center-backs? Won't they get blown up by the opponent in the World Cup?

Judging from his jersey number, Smalling is England's fourth center-back. This season, Ferguson has often placed him at right-back, so his playing time is not consistent. Moreover, he did not get a single appearance in the three major matches against Arsenal. Is such a player up to the task?

The most criticized player is Luke Shaw, who is not yet 19 years old. He has only played one full season so far. Why would you rather bring this player who is unlikely to play than Baines?

As a result, the left-back position has become a weakness for the England team. Ashley Cole will turn 34 at the end of the year, while Luke Shaw will only turn 19 on the day of the World Cup final. This position is simply a case of the old being too old and the young being too young.

In midfield, after dropping Carrick, England's midfielders are Gerrard, Lampard, Milner, Barkley, Henderson, and Wilshere.

With this lineup, people are a bit confused.

If England wants to play a technical style of football, what's the point of bringing in Barrick and Henderson? Why not Carrick?

If England wants to field a fighting lineup, why are both Gerrard and Lampard called up to the team? Is it just to get beaten up?

This lineup left everyone baffled. The most incomprehensible thing was that England only brought one left winger. Hodgson removed Lallana and didn't even call up Ashley Young.

As for the forward position, it goes without saying that Welbeck was selected, but what's the point of bringing in 32-year-old center forward Lambert?

The 32-year-old Lambert has been a professional player for 14 seasons, including only 2 seasons in the Premier League, 1 season in the Championship, and the remaining 11 seasons in the third and fourth tiers.

By bringing in this old guy, are you expecting him to grow up happily with Luke Shaw?

After the England squad was finalized, English media outlets kept asking why.

An hour after the squad list was announced, the England team held a press conference.

During the press conference, reporters kept asking questions.

A reporter asked Hodgson whether he would use the same tactics as in the World Cup qualifiers.

Hodgson said with a smile, "Our players can guarantee that we'll win using different tactics."

The second reporter then asked why he was bringing so many young players who had no experience in major competitions.

Hodgson said calmly, "We already have enough experienced veterans among the current players, so this is not a problem at all."

The third reporter asked who would be England's second choice if Sterling couldn't play.

Hodgson remained calm and composed, saying, "We will choose the right players from Chamberlain, Welbeck, Milner, or even other players, depending on the opponent's situation."

The fourth reporter asked where Sun Ke would be placed.

This time, Hodgson answered confidently: "Center."

One reporter couldn't hold back any longer and asked directly, "We don't know exactly what happened to the England team this week, but there must have been some changes. Do you think this England team is ready?"

Hodgson scoffed: "This is a united England team. Every player is trustworthy. The players trust each other, and the coaching staff chose these players for one purpose only: to win."

Another reporter asked earnestly, "Are you aware of the impact of this England team's defeat in the World Cup?"

Upon hearing this, Hodgson's expression darkened, and he gave a sinister smile: "You're asking me the same question as if I have dementia."

"Thank you for your concern, but please watch your wording. How could I not know something that even people outside of football can understand?"

"But it doesn't matter, we all have our own missions. You want to be a different kind of journalist, and I want to be a different kind of head coach."

"You try to embarrass me from every angle, while I try to explain things in the football field in a way that you can understand. Neither of us has it easy."

As soon as Hodgson finished speaking, gasps of amazement erupted in the newsroom.

Before major tournaments, all head coaches try their best to appear approachable in front of the media.

They all know very well that every England team has received expectations from the entire England fan base that far exceed the team's actual capabilities.

Before each major tournament, England fans consider their team the biggest favorite to win.

Reality often repeats tragedies in various ways, and the pressure of failure can be suffocating.

Therefore, every England manager seems to be applying for a get-out-of-jail-free card, trying their best to present themselves as a kind and hardworking person in the eyes of the media.

Regardless of their personal views on the media, they will do this.

However, today Hodgson suddenly gave everyone the feeling of "I'm not pretending anymore, I know more about football than you guys, I'm more knowledgeable than you guys, you're just a joke."

It wasn't that Hodgson had given up on treatment; rather, he knew better than anyone else what was going on.

If this England team fails to reach the semi-finals, he could very well become a stain on the history of English football.

Even if England loses in the semi-final, he will likely face a difficult situation.

There's no way around it; this is the first time in English football history that a player of Sun Ke's caliber has emerged.

Sun Ke has now become a truly unique player in the world of football.

Sun Ke's emergence transformed Arsenal, who hadn't tasted victory in six years, into the Premier League champions and the kings of Europe.

Football is an eleven-player sport, but talented players can often single-handedly propel history forward.

With players like Sun Ke and a host of local players from the world's top league, everyone is a sinner if they don't win the championship.

Since all failures lead to the same outcome, what's the point of begging for mercy?

If you're unhappy, just fight!

In any case, the outcome is the same after failure.

In subsequent interviews, if reporters tried to cause trouble, Hodgson would simply shut them down with his words.

The reporter noticed that Hodgson had accumulated enough dirt on them, so he started asking questions of Sun Ke and Rooney, who were sitting next to him.

No matter what questions reporters asked, Sun Ke's answer was always the same: "I believe the England team is fully capable of lifting the World Cup."

Rooney's response was even simpler, repeating the phrases "Just do it" and "We're not afraid of anything."

Neither Sun Ke nor Rooney were in the mood to discuss tactics in detail when facing reporters; they genuinely didn't understand them.

Many journalists become sports journalists not out of passion, but to make a living.

Since it's purely a job, it's difficult to explain the differences between each tactic to them.

Their interest didn't seem to lie in figuring out the differences between each tactic; they wanted to know things like, "Is Hodgson getting senile?" and "Are Sun Ke and Rooney just pretending to be on good terms?"

Two or three days after the press conference, all of England was discussing the England team's lineup, and all the media were speculating about England's formation and lineup for the World Cup. At this time, everyone was using the past to satirize the present.

No matter how bad the England team was in the past, there were always things that were better than the current team, which can solve several days' worth of news from different angles.

In the following days, the 32 participating teams of the World Cup successively announced their 23-man rosters.

After the lists of participating countries were released, European betting giant William Hill announced its odds for winning the World Cup.

They've been offering odds, but since the World Cup is still a long way off, they don't offer much real reference value.

However, after each national team announced its 23-man roster, the odds they offered became somewhat valuable as a reference.

Among the 32 teams competing in the World Cup, host nation Brazil has the odds of winning with a score of 4, making them the top favorite.

From the perspective of a time traveler, Sun Ke felt that considering this Brazilian team as the top favorite to win the championship was a bit of a stretch, but this was only from the perspective of someone in the know.

Ten years later, many keyboard warriors, when recalling this World Cup, would say that the Brazilian team was completely worthless.

If you're interested in looking through the records of these eccentric people and comparing them before and after, you'll find that most of them share a common characteristic—they're wise after the event but clueless beforehand.

These people often spread conspiracy theories beforehand, talking about behind-the-scenes manipulations instead of actual ability, while saying nothing about the football itself.

When the Brazilian team suffers a crushing defeat, they will shamelessly claim in various forums and answers that they said long ago that the Brazilian team was a fake strong team.

They specialize in making statements like, "Without the referee, their strength is nowhere near that of the German team," etc.

Ten years later, when they talked about this World Cup, they always referred to the Brazilian team as a terrible team.

These kinds of people are best at stirring up trouble in past events and making things a mess.

In Sun Ke's view, there is a good reason why Brazil is considered the top favorite.

First of all, as the host country, Brazil is the only team that has the advantage of both home ground and popular support.

Nobody knows where the opportune moment lies.

But everyone knows that the host country can arrange a relatively easy schedule for itself in the competition and can choose a relatively easy path to advance to the semi-finals in the group stage.

This is the benefit of being the host country, and no one can complain.

However, judging from the group draw, Brazil and Mexico were placed in the same group, while Spain and the Netherlands were placed in Group B, which shows that the host country really doesn't bother with rigging the group draw.

In the 1998 World Cup, the host team France included Denmark, South Africa and Saudi Arabia in their group, practically shouting "I'm going to crush the weak!"

Of course, this is not impossible.

The South Koreans are another team that has taken the host nation's sovereignty to the extreme. A team that has never made it out of the group stage was able to advance to the semi-finals as the host nation. The room for manipulation is simply too great.

Brazil certainly didn't manipulate the game. If they really wanted to, they could have simply disallowed Germany's first two goals in the semi-finals, as Germany would have had a hard time scoring a third goal in that situation.

As for the referee giving a favorable ruling to the home team due to the influence of the home fans, that can only be considered a home advantage.

The main reason Brazil is considered the second favorite is not Neymar, but head coach Scolari.

This charismatic coach led Brazil to its fifth World Cup title and enjoys immense prestige in Brazil.

As a coach with a track record of success, he said the Brazilian team should focus on defense, a sentiment supported by all Brazilians.

The third reason probably comes from the Brazilian team's lineup. The Brazilian team has a common feature in its last two World Cup victories: a pragmatic playing style and a single core player.

In 1994, everyone was feeding Romario the ball; in 2002, Ronaldo's brilliance overshadowed everything, and Rivaldo and Ronaldinho could only be considered his wingmen.

As long as Brazil has a star-studded lineup and plays beautifully, they will definitely not win the World Cup.

Based on the above points, there is absolutely no problem with Brazil being the biggest favorite to win the championship.

Germany is favored to win the World Cup with odds of 4.5.

The German team's players mainly come from Arsenal, Manchester United and Bayern Munich, and they are considered to be the most possession-based team in this World Cup.

They lack a top-class center forward, but they are in a class of their own in midfield, and their two center-backs are also top-class players.

Without a doubt, the German team will demonstrate their superior control in this World Cup.

Argentina is third in odds at 5.5, boasting the most luxurious attacking lineup in this World Cup.

Messi has adopted a more relaxed approach towards the end of the season in preparation for the World Cup; it would be excessive if he didn't achieve something similar.

Argentina has never lacked good strikers, but good defenders are extremely rare.

In this World Cup, they have basically the strongest defense since 1990.

French football has entered a period of massive squad expansion, and they are ranked fourth in the odds.

The Netherlands team remains strong; their odds even rank ahead of Spain and tied for fourth with France.

The defending champions, Spain, are ranked sixth in the odds, which should be seen as a sign of respect for them.

England are ranked seventh in the odds of winning the title, with bookmakers citing the Netherlands as the reason.