Vol 6 Chapter 54: Top 8

A 　　 Chinese team beat Brazil bravely, creating the biggest upset so far in this World Cup, and also changed the atmosphere of the World Cup.
The World Cup without hosts always feels weird.
Fans' enthusiasm for football has also decreased.
In the next few quarter-finals of the World Cup, the number of fans who watched the game decreased significantly.
However, FIFA should not be dissatisfied with this. Although there is less support from the host Brazilian fans, they have received a lot of attention and support from Chinese fans. China’s population is about seven times the Brazilian population. … For the attention of China, FIFA is able to make up for the reduced losses of Brazilian fans.
The Chinese team reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup, and indeed it has set off a climax of attention to the World Cup in China.
In fact, it is already very high, but now it is higher.
There are more and more news about the Chinese team in the World Cup on TV, newspapers, radio stations and the Internet. At the same time, there are already travel agencies in China that have launched tour groups to Brazil to watch the ball. Added another wave. Come to Brazil to watch the ball and take a trip, which is also a stimulant for the Brazilian economy.
FIFA's official website has reported in a prominent position that the Chinese team eliminated Brazil and reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup. It also reported various news about the World Cup in China.
Since the enthusiasm of Chinese fans has been overdue, it has been ignored by FIFA officials. After all, every World Cup has nothing to do with the Chinese team.
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After the game between China and Brazil, Colombia defeated Uruguay 2-0 and also advanced to the quarterfinals. They will meet the Chinese team in the quarter-finals. I believe that after seeing the performance of the Chinese team in eliminating the Brazilian team, Colombia will definitely not take the Chinese team lightly. This will be a close match.
The Chinese team played two quarter-finals on the second day of the game. The Netherlands trailed Mexico by a goal for a long period of time. It was not until the eighty-eighth minute that Sneijder equalized the score. Just when everyone thought that the game was going to overtime, in the 90th minute, Robben won a penalty for the Dutch team, Huntelaar made a hit for the Dutch team to kill Mexico and advance to the quarterfinals. .
In a match later on the same day, Costa Rica led Greece in the 52nd minute, but in the subsequent match, Costa Rica's Duarte overcame Greece's Holabas and was shown the second The yellow card was sent off. At the end of the game, Costa Rica was evenly scored by the Greek team. The goal for the Greek team is to play for Dortmund's center defender Papasta Sopros. The two teams scored 1:1 in regular time and could only take a penalty shootout. This is the second penalty shootout of the World Cup. In the end, Costa Rica, with the excellent performance of goalkeeper Navas, eliminated Greece 5:3 and reached the quarterfinals.
This is the first quarter-finals in Costa Rica's history to reach the World Cup. The 1990 World Cup was the first time they participated in the World Cup finals. At that time, the head coach was still the magical coach Bola Milutinovic, sponsored by the consecutive jerseys. The team that Shangdu did not succeed in breaking out of the group stage and entered the quarterfinals, but lost to Czechoslovakia in the 16 into 8 games, missed the quarterfinals.
Later, this team reached the finals again in the 2002 World Cup, and it was divided into a group with the Chinese team. At that time, Chinese domestic media and fans also fantasized that the Chinese team could defeat Costa Rica in the first game of the World Cup and get the first World Cup victory in the history of Chinese men's football... The result was of course faced by reality.
After twenty-four years now, Costa Rica has finally broken through the limits of the top 16 and created the history of their national football.
The two teams that were in a group that year, now have created a new history, which is really impressive.
In the match between France and Nigeria, the French team broke the deadlock by Pogba in the 79th minute. In the 92nd minute, the French team expanded the score again when the game reached the stoppage time, and finally defeated Nigeria 2:0 , Breaking into the quarterfinals.
In another game on the same day, the game between Germany and Algeria, everyone thought that Germany would easily win. After all, Algeria was able to reach the top 16 of the World Cup. It is already surprising that the strength of the two teams is huge. But who can think of the German team's inability to break through the gates of the Algeria team, the two sides reached a 0:0 tie in the ninety minutes of the game time, and can only play in overtime.
As soon as extra time started, Schüller took the lead for the German team, and by the end of extra time, Ozil's goal extended the German team's lead. But just one minute after Ozil scored, Algeria actually pulled back a goal, which suddenly made German fans nervous again. Fortunately, there was really little time left for Algeria. They scored this goal and they were no longer able to tie the game.
In the end, the German team defeated Algeria 2-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals.
On the final quarter-final day, Argentina and Switzerland played against each other. The difference in strength between the two teams is also great. Argentina, which has a group of world-class stars such as Messi, Di Maria, Higuain, Aguero, and so on, is the most popular champion in this World Cup. After all, it is the World Cup held in South America. Argentina still has a home advantage. After Brazil was accidentally eliminated by the Chinese team, Argentina became the only way to defend the dignity of South American football.
However, the game was very difficult. In ninety minutes, Argentina worked hard and could not break the goal of the Swiss team. Overtime also failed to score goals, until the 117th minute, Messi took the ball in the five-man bag to break through, and then passed the football to Di Maria, Di Maria Following a kick, the football flew into the far corner of the Swiss goal...
With this goal, Argentina defeated the Swiss team with difficulty and reached the quarterfinals.
The final eighth final was between Belgium and the United States. This game also reached overtime. In the first ninety minutes, neither side could score a goal, 0-0 handshake. Just three minutes after the start of overtime, Debraunet broke the deadlock and took the lead in Belgium. In the 105th minute, Belgium went to the next city and pushed the US team to the edge of the cliff at 2:0. However, it didn't take long for the second half of overtime to begin and the US team pulled back a goal. But then the United States never scored again. After a fierce battle of 120 minutes, Belgium defeated the United States 2-1 and became the last quarterfinal team.
In the quarter-finals of this World Cup, in addition to the three games of Colombia and Uruguay, the Netherlands and Mexico, France and Nigeria, all the other five games have been played for 120 minutes, and the score difference is very small This fully illustrates the difficulty of this World Cup.
After the quarter-finals are all over, the World Cup has entered a one-day truce period. There is no competition on this day. Both players and fans can take a good rest and relax. For Chinese fans, after so many days in a row, they are indeed very tired. This truce period is very valuable and necessary for them.
After the rest of the day, the first quarter-finals will begin on the afternoon of July 4.
This game is a direct dialogue between the European duo, the French team and the German team. In this World Cup, France and Germany have performed very well, especially the French team. To lose to South Africa only four years ago, the French team didn't even qualify for the group stage and returned home very badly. Four years later, they performed very well and reached the quarterfinals all the way.
After the game between the French team and the German team is over, it is followed by the game between the Chinese team and Colombia.
Needless to say, this game is the one that Chinese fans are most concerned about.
If the Chinese team can overcome the Colombian level, it will historically reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, which has never reached the peak in the history of Chinese men's football.
Chinese fans also need to stay up late to watch the game. The kick-off is at four o'clock in the morning on July 5, Beijing time. But I believe that no matter what time it is, it will not stop Chinese fans from watching this game. There will even be many fans who are so excited and nervous that they can't sleep, waiting directly in front of the TV and computer until the game starts.
There are two games on this day. After these two games are over~EbookFREE.me~ The next day is another two quarter-finals, with Argentina playing against Belgium and the Netherlands against Costa Rica.
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Although the World Cup gave everyone a day off, but the Chinese team did not take a holiday, because tomorrow is the game, they must seize the time to train.
The training content on the last day is mainly based on positioning ball tactics, and of course penalty kicks can not be ignored.
On the day when training is not open to the public, no reporters or fans can get close to the training ground of the Chinese team. They can only wait outside and wait for permission to enter before they can enter the interview.
No Chinese media complained about this arrangement, and everyone supported and understood Lippi’s approach.
At this time, the interests of the national team are paramount. Anyone must make way for the national team in everything.
The Chinese team has never enjoyed such treatment. In this World Cup, with their excellent efforts and achievements, they have changed the inherent impression of many people on Chinese football. No matter how Chinese football used to be, at least this time, they deserved the support of 1.4 billion people.