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

At the post-match press conference, Hodgson once again became the target of criticism from the English media.

English journalists maintained their style of not giving their manager any face, immediately questioning Hodgson's decision to make a large number of substitutions.

He then questioned the starting lineups of Sturridge and Henderson, and finally questioned the decision to field Gerrard.

Hodgson sat up straight and said expressionlessly, "The World Cup and club competitions are different. I first need to consider the players' physical condition, and then I need to observe their performance during the match."

"We all hope England can win the championship, but you also know that it's difficult to finish all the matches with only eleven players."

"If we field the same players for every game, we won't need a 23-man roster."

"In this team, most players need to compete for opportunities. We need to select the best players in the group stage, while the other players also need to be ready at any time."

"I believe that even if I don't make any personnel changes in this game, you will still have similar problems, so I don't care about your opinions."

"As for players who don't perform well in a game, I don't think it's an unforgivable mistake. You can't guarantee you'll never make a mistake in your job."

"Hearing your question, I was starting to doubt whether the team had lost the game, but that's clearly not the case."

When faced with other questions from the English media, Hodgson adopted a dismissive attitude and a confrontational style.

Compared to the English media, media outlets in other countries actually show Hodgson a great deal of respect.

In the end, Old Man Ho directly asked the English media if they were trying to grab attention and deliberately creating news.

Of course, not all English media outlets are abnormal.

Every industry is the same: professional organizations take things one step at a time, while attention-seeking organizations run wild and chaotic.

Through these two matches, the English media have come to a conclusion.

If England wants to compete with traditional powerhouses like Germany, Argentina, Brazil, and the Netherlands for the World Cup, the other England players need to stick close to Sun Ke and not relax their grip even slightly; otherwise, serious problems could arise.

In both group stage matches, as long as the England players played freely and didn't target Sun Ke, they wouldn't have a good outcome. This was especially evident after Sun Ke was substituted.

After Sun Ke left the field, England were at a disadvantage in all stalemates.

Without a doubt, England's success rests entirely on Sun Ke's shoulders.

These two matches made the English media realize a fact: the World Cup is the dividing line between top players and ordinary players.

Sun Ke has been dominating at the club level, and in the two World Cup matches he has contributed 5 goals and 3 assists, still in a class of his own.

Players like Sturridge, who only shine for a single season at their club, are brought back to reality at the World Cup.

Compared to Sturridge's goal, the chances he wasted in the game were simply speechless.

After two matches, one thing became clear: Gerrard was no longer fit to be the starting defensive midfielder.

This season, Liverpool's star player has started making more mistakes at the club level, and his performance in the first two World Cup matches was a complete mess.

Especially in the second group stage match, Gerrard made a huge mistake shortly after coming on, giving Suarez a fatal assist.

In this position, England only has Wilshere as a reliable player.

On the wing, Walcott is Sun Ke's most reliable helper.

With the presence of attacking talents such as Sun Ke, Suarez, and Reus, Arsenal's three wingers have transformed into top-class wing supporters, whose characteristics are perfectly suited to the current England team.

In addition, Chamberlain's performance after coming off the bench was impressive, proving he could definitely serve as a surprise substitute.

On the left flank, England struggles to find a reliable player.

Sterling is too young and too happy.

Sturridge is a good player as long as he doesn't shoot or pass the ball.

So it doesn't seem to be much better.

If neither of them proves reliable, Hodgson will have to try Welbeck, who lost his place at Manchester United last season.

Welbeck hadn't made much progress since he was 19, and his mind was particularly dull.

In contrast, England's defensive midfield position boasts a group of muscular players, each of whom has delivered commendable performances after taking the field.

England's defense, on the other hand, was relatively reliable, with veteran Terry's performance receiving unanimous praise.

Hodgson didn't let him play in the second game, in order to prepare him for the knockout stage.

England's defense relies on this one pillar of strength; if he gets injured, it will be disastrous.

Cahill is a well-rounded player with no weaknesses, and he is effective at supporting strong centers.

Jagielka is a short but powerful center-back who can be used as long as he doesn't encounter a powerful tall striker.

On both flanks, Phil Jones, Walker, and Ashley Cole all performed well.

As long as there are no major injuries, the three players can rotate and finish the tournament.

Joe Hart's performance was unanimously praised. Compared to Seaman, who was lobbed out, and Green, who had a butterfingers problem, the Manchester City goalkeeper can be considered the best goalkeeper in the England team in recent years.

Although England conceded four goals in the first two games, the blame for those goals cannot be placed solely on the defense.

After all, a game is a team effort. If you lose possession in midfield and get caught on the counter-attack, and then get a brilliant header from the backfield, even the best defense can't withstand it.

Compared to Germany's star-studded midfield and defense, England's squad is clearly lackluster, but that's the reality of English football.

The English Premier League is in full swing, but most of the top players in the league are foreign players.

England players either have to play supporting roles to star players or can only start for mid-to-lower-tier teams.

Before the reforms to England's youth training system took effect, the squad list basically included England's best players.

After the match between England and Uruguay, Costa Rica and Italy also engaged in a dull, physical battle.

This Costa Rican team has many players playing in Europe and plays a European style of football, making it arguably the strongest team in Costa Rican football history.

In the previous life, the Costa Rican team topped Group D and, in the knockout stage, relied on their strong defense to play two penalty shootouts, almost upsetting the Netherlands team to advance to the semi-finals.

But in this tournament, Suarez continued his performance from Arsenal, scoring 3 goals in two games and rewriting the course of history.

Both Costa Rica and Italy are defensively oriented teams. The Costa Rican players seemed a bit intimidated by the Italian team, and the Italian team couldn't muster any real strength either.

The two sides ultimately contributed to the third goalless draw of this World Cup.

After two rounds of matches, England leads the standings with 6 points from two wins, while Costa Rica is second with 2 points.

Uruguay and Italy both have 1 point, with Uruguay ranking third due to having conceded one less goal.

Apart from England, the other three teams failed to secure a victory.

England thus became the first team in this World Cup to secure first place in their group.

In the final round of matches, England can field a completely rotated squad, while the other three teams must fight tooth and nail for the last qualifying spot.

In Group E, the match between France and Switzerland is considered the key battle for the group's top spot.

The Swiss team finished first in their group in the European qualifiers, demonstrating strong defense and a decent attack.

Even the Swiss believe this match will be a closely contested contest.

Once the match began, the Swiss realized they had overstepped their bounds. Their "overwhelming force" strategy, relying on the midfield trio of Matuidi, Sissoko, and Pogba, threw the Swiss team's formation into disarray.

France scored five goals in the first 75 minutes, leaving the Swiss team in disarray.

Although Switzerland managed to pull back two goals in the final moments, they could only salvage a semblance of dignity.

Ecuador defeated Honduras 2-1, seemingly keeping their hopes alive, but in reality, the situation in this group is already quite clear, and Switzerland's loss has essentially secured their qualification.

In Group F, Argentina won 1-0 against Iran with a last-minute goal from Messi in the 90th minute.

In this match, Higuain wasted at least two scoring opportunities, Di Maria was also ineffective, while Messi constantly demonstrated his ability to scrape the side netting.

Seeing this, Sun Ke was incredibly grateful that Real Madrid hadn't wanted to sell Higuain to Arsenal; it was a lifesaver!

On the contrary, the Iranian striker had three one-on-one opportunities with the goalkeeper during the match, which Romero made three spectacular saves, prompting the commentator to exclaim "incredible saves" three times.

In the end, Argentina even used their center-backs to pounce on set pieces and harass their opponents.

Messi's winning goal was good, but he didn't have to score it.

Argentina's front four players basically did not defend, leaving the pressure to the midfielders and defenders.

If it weren't for Argentina's top-class defense, it wouldn't be surprising if they lost to Iran and Nigeria in the group stage.

Bochum lost 0-1 to Nigeria, becoming the first team to be eliminated from the group.

In Group G, Germany defeated Ghana 3-2. African teams are unpredictable, sometimes playing exceptionally well and sometimes even overwhelming Germany.

Portugal narrowly defeated the United States 3-2, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the winning goal.

The situation and historical trajectory of this group are somewhat different; neither Germany nor Portugal won this match in the previous era.

However, this German team's Reus and Gündoğan came from European powerhouse Arsenal, and Ronaldo was not injured, which led to a new situation in this group.

In Group H, Belgium defeated Russia 1-0, securing their place as group winners in the next round.

Algeria thrashed South Korea 4-2.

Since the 2014 World Cup, the Belgian team has almost always fielded a star-studded lineup, but on the field they always give the impression of being a complete mess, unable to defeat weaker teams even when they are easy prey.

Even though they finished third in the 2018 World Cup, they still managed an embarrassing comeback in the round of 16, coming back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 and then scoring a last-minute winner, which gave them a chance to reflect on their performance.

Many people feel that these Belgian players are unable to gel as a cohesive unit, which is why they can't perform well.

On the contrary!

Their ineffective performance in the game is a microcosm of the nation's history.

In the Belgian team, the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish huddled together, forming two distinct groups.

The Belgian team's locker room is a microcosm of the country, which was originally a buffer zone artificially created by European powers and pieced together by two nations with little connection.

Whether you divide a country into pieces or piece together several regions, contradictions and conflicts will always be the main theme of these countries.

There are four main paths for Belgian players' development: first, using the domestic league as a springboard; second, using Ligue 1 as a springboard; third, using the Eredivisie as a springboard; and fourth, using the Bundesliga as a springboard for the minority German population.

De Bruyne, Vertonghen, and Vermaelen are typical examples of Flemish players who started their careers in the Dutch Eredivisie, while Hazard is a Walloon icon in the Belgian national team, having come from Ligue 1 to the Premier League.

Since both of these ethnic groups only speak their own languages, English is spoken in many situations in Belgium.

That's really bizarre.

In Belgium, both nations must adopt an absolutely fair policy in everything they do.

If you look at the starting lineup of the Belgian team, most of the time there will be half Walloon, half Vladivostok, and one player from another ethnic group.

This continued until the 2018 World Cup, when Belgium's two stars, De Bruyne and Hazard, shook hands.

Hazard publicly stated that De Bruyne is the best player in Belgium, while De Bruyne praised Hazard as the spiritual leader of the Belgian team.

If the two sides don't hold hands, there's probably no need to reflect on their daily lives.

This Belgian team will definitely lose miserably to any strong team they face; the quarterfinals are their limit.

Soon, the group stage entered its final round.

To make behind-the-scenes manipulation more difficult, the two group matches were played simultaneously.

In Group A, Brazil defeated Cameroon 4-1, and Mexico beat Croatia 3-1.

Brazil topped their group on goal difference over Mexico.

In Group B, the Netherlands defeated Chile 2-0, thus avoiding defeat against the host nation.

Spain secured a consolation victory by defeating Australia 3-0, despite already being eliminated from the competition.

Spain's golden generation has come to an end.

In Group C, Colombia thrashed Evergrande 4-1, with Evergrande legend Martínez scoring twice and James Rodriguez continuing his prime.

Meanwhile, Ivory Coast suffered a last-minute defeat against Greece in their crucial match, thus losing their chance to advance.

The Greek team went on another crazy run, just like they did in 2004.

In Group D, Uruguay and Italy battled fiercely throughout the match, with Suarez and Chiellini practically becoming conjoined twins.

However, Suarez in this world was in good form and didn't bite anyone, which was a real shame.

Uruguay defeated Italy thanks to Godín's goal in the 81st minute.

England, who had already secured first place in the group, made a major rotation, with all the players who started in the first match sitting on the bench. Even players like Luke Shaw, Welbeck, Barkley, and Smalling, who were considered "leftovers," were given starting opportunities.

After the match started, Costa Rica launched a fierce attack, which resulted in England launching a counter-attack, with center forward Lambert scoring in the middle.

Center forward Lambert thus became the only English center forward to dominate from the fifth tier of the national league to the Premier League, and even in the World Cup.

At the start of the second half, Costa Rica equalized the score, and after England wasted a lot of attacking opportunities, the game entered a quiet period.

If the scores of the two matches remain unchanged, Costa Rica will have 3 points, while Uruguay and Italy will both have 2 points, and they will advance.

In the 80th minute, news suddenly came that Uruguay had scored a goal, and the Costa Rican players pressed forward in a desperate attempt to win.

In the 88th minute, Lampard made a run into the penalty area and received a header pass from Lambert, scoring the winning goal for England.

The final round of this group stage was dramatic, with England capitalizing on their momentum to win all three of their matches and advance as group winners.

However, England played somewhat poorly in their third match, relying entirely on counter-attacks against Costa Rica.

After the match, Chinese fans made a joke.

With Sun Ke on the team, England can't beat anyone.

Without Sun Ke, England can't beat anyone.