World Cup of Great Powers

Chapter 347 The Last Warm-up Match
As the World Cup approaches, the national football team has only one last warm-up match before the World Cup.

It is also the most important and heavyweight warm-up match.

The opponent is Portugal.

Not only the national football team, but also other teams participating in the World Cup have also been paired with target teams to play warm-up matches one month before the World Cup.

Some are to verify strength, some are to increase the confidence of a team, and some are simply to make money.

After announcing the World Cup roster, the coaching staff dispersed and went to various places to visit the warm-up matches of the other three teams in Group A.

The medical team also borrowed an advanced instrument that can detect multiple physical indicators through blood from the Shanghai Sports Academy, so as to facilitate more effective control of the physical condition of the players.

At the same time, the national football team is also equipped with two dedicated chefs who are responsible for the meals of the players.

The days are going on in an orderly manner.

After confirming the 23 players, Zeng Zheng led the players to practice in addition to training every day.

On May 5, Zeng Zheng led the team to Macau for the last warm-up match against Portugal before the World Cup.

The purpose of the Chinese team looking for Portugal to warm up is to see the real gap between their own team and the top European teams;
As for Portugal looking for the Chinese team as a training partner, in addition to examining the level of the Asian champions, they also intend to take the opportunity to make some extra money.

That evening, at the press conference, Zeng Zheng saw a French reporter.

"I thought I would only see South Korean, Portuguese and Danish people here today, but I didn't expect to see French people here."

The French reporter told Zeng Zheng: "Coach Zeng, this is the third time we have met."

"That's right, I didn't lose when I met the French the last two times." Zeng Zheng nodded, "I hope I won't lose this time either."

The French team reporter smiled.

In the eyes of many European journalists, Zeng Zheng's ideas have the flavor of "a toad wants to eat swan meat".

Can beating France in the Confederations Cup win the World Cup?

This is not equal at all!

But Macau is the territory of the Chinese team after all.

Faced with Zeng Zheng's aggressive posture and strong self-confidence, the French and Portuguese journalists seemed a little lacking in confidence.

Portuguese star Pinto said: "The Chinese team's style of play and characteristics are different from all the teams we have encountered before. I believe this is a difficult team to deal with."

Zeng Zheng also explained, "I definitely don't mean to underestimate the French team."

"But the victory in the Confederations Cup did give us a lot of confidence."

On May 5, the national football team played the last warm-up match before the World Cup in Macau and the Portuguese national team.

In order to promote the next East Asian Games to be held in Macau, the Macau Main Committee organized a football warm-up match as grand as the games.

There are song and dance performances at the beginning and during the intermission.

At the beginning of the competition, Chief Executive Ho Hau Wah personally presided over a dragon dance ceremony of a [-]-meter-long dragon.

"... I was conquered by you like this, cutting off all escape routes."

After the singing of the eagle, Chinese and Portuguese players officially entered the field.

For the Chinese team, the starting lineup is:
Goalkeeper: Ou Chuliang;

Defenders: Sun Jihai, Li Weifeng, Xu Yunlong, Wu Chengying;

Midfielders: Li Tie, Li Xiaopeng, Zhang Xiaorui, Li Jinyu;

Forwards: Yang Chen, Xie Hui.

Portugal's starting lineup is:

Goalkeeper: Baia;
Defenders: Xavier, Beto, Canela, Andrade;
Midfielders: Rosa, Paulo Bento, Paulo Souza, Barbosa;

Forwards: Rui Costa and Gomez.

Due to a foot injury, Portugal's top star Figo did not start.

For both China and Portugal, the Chinese team can be said to be the main force except General Fan;
In the absence of Figo, Portugal sent a semi-main lineup.

It is not difficult to see that Zeng Zheng still wants to have a good showdown with the Portuguese golden generation.

In this game, in the Macau Stadium that accommodates 1 people, the fans who support the Portuguese team and the Chinese team are clearly divided.

Because there are a large number of Portuguese descendants and expatriates in Macau, there is a purple square team wearing Portuguese jerseys on the stand opposite the rostrum, and there are many Portuguese fans scattered around the stand, accounting for less than one-third of the audience.

Most of the Chinese fans held red flags, many of whom were still wearing Chinese jerseys.

Screaming or cheering has never been rare. There are fans of two national teams distributed in a city. Therefore, the confrontation between China and Portugal has become a bit like a derby in Macau.

At the beginning of the game, the fans in the Portuguese fan phalanx shouted "Portugal! Portugal!" rhythmically, while the Chinese fans immediately responded with "Come on, Chinese team".

Every wonderful performance of the Chinese team on the field will bring excitement.

Yang Chen is fearless in front of Portuguese stars, as long as he is able to pass through the Portuguese defense, it must be Yang Chen;

And his dribble and Li Jinyu's free kick were the first noises in the game.

"See, today's referee is a bit of a boss!"

It seems that he has become addicted to playing in the top ten games, and Zeng Zheng is still wearing casual clothes today.

"What do you mean?" Han Tao was confused.

"The referee is Kwan Jung-chul, the two linesmen are Kim Hee-wook and Kim Hwa-soo, and the fourth official is Lee Ki-yong."

Zeng Zheng muttered the names of the referee team, "This fucking is a stick!"

"Bangzi. What's wrong with Bangzi?" Han Tao still didn't understand.

"You kid is really stupid!"

Zeng Zheng nodded Han Tao's forehead, "Then let me ask you, who will the Bangzi World Cup be grouped with?"

"Portugal! I see, these four referees are here to inquire about the news!"

"You boy is not stupid enough."

Zeng Zheng laughed lightly.

Then folded his arms with both hands, "Xiao Tao, just wait and see how these gangsters deal with the Portuguese."

However, what happened on the court was far beyond Zeng Zheng's expectations.

The South Korean referee, who is used to meticulously grooming his hair on the court, can actually be regarded as an "old friend" of the Chinese team.

In the world preliminaries last year, this man showed five yellow cards to the Chinese team.

In the China-Korea match at the beginning of the year, Kuan Zhengzhe also served as the fourth referee.

In today's game, he showed his sternness from the very beginning.

At that time, the Chinese team managed to attack the Portuguese half, but the ball hit the Portuguese defender's heel and rolled out of the baseline.

Just when the Chinese players were about to take a corner kick, Kuan Zhengzhe directly awarded Portugal a goal kick.

Yang Chen wanted to go forward to appeal, but the other party directly took out a yellow card without saying a word.

A few minutes later, Xu Yunlong made an unobvious foul in the penalty area, but Kuan Zhengzhe gave him the death penalty.

Facing Gomez's penalty kick, Ou Chuliang was far behind.

Portugal leads 1-0.

Subsequently, Canela of the Portuguese team rushed forward and touched Kuan Zhengzhe's face with his head because he was dissatisfied with the penalty.This move that should have been a red card ended up with a yellow card for Kuan Zhengzhe.

"Ah this."

"Is this referee too timid?"

"No cultural confidence at all?"

"You know how to bully our Chinese team?"

"Portugal has bullied him to the face, and he dare not give the card?"

Han Tao was so angry that he jumped on his feet.

Zeng Zheng was also dumbfounded.

its not right!
This script is wrong!

Logically speaking, shouldn't Kuan Zhengzhe, together with the other three referees, kill Portugal?
Then force them to do their best to observe the opponent's highest combat power.

How come it's been almost half of the game, and all of them are "dead hands" against the Chinese team?
The China-Korea confrontation has passed!
If the two want to play again, it will have to be in the second half of the year after the World Cup.

Are you suppressing our Chinese team at this time?

Could it be revenge for your "neophobia"?
Revenge wouldn't be such a petty thing at this juncture, would it?

What good does it do you to win against Portugal if we play or not?
Do you secretly think that you don't want to see how strong Portugal is after Figo plays?

If this continues, Figo can completely treat this warm-up match as a tour!

However, no matter how surprised Zeng Zheng was, how the Chinese coaching staff expressed their dissatisfaction.

Kuan Zhengzhe's penalty scale has not changed.

In this way, the unscrupulous Portugal began to press hard.

Whether it is Costa, Conceicao or Pinto, these world-class attacking players can freely come and go in the hinterland of the Chinese team.

At halftime, the eagle took to the stage again.

This time, the song "Smile and Go" is sung for everyone.

"You've hurt me without any remorse"

"You love the greedy I love the cowardly."

"Tears flow, goals are superfluous"

"Unforgettable by you like this, just laugh it off"

As soon as the second half started, Zeng Zheng let Li Tie and Zheng Zhi play double midfielders, allowing Zhang Xiaorui to fully free his hands to organize the attack.

But as soon as the actual combat started, the specimen penetration of the European Latin faction immediately suppressed the deep protection envisioned by the Chinese team into a simple plane.

A little breakthrough, a comprehensive breakthrough.

"As expected of Portugal!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, this warm-up match is really not in vain!"

Zeng Zheng recorded in his head while drinking the juice.

After finding the team's problem, he immediately took command and tried to break the game.

"Zhang Xiaorui, upload more to Yang Chen and Xie Hui's heads."

"Which of our four forwards missed the header?"

"If you don't use the header advantage, what are you going to do with them?"

In the World Youth Championship, Zhang Xiaorui had played against the Portuguese team.

In the opponent's lineup, there are still a few opponents who have fought against each other.

These Portuguese players also know Zhang Xiaorui's skills well.

The continuous blocking and siege really made Zhang Xiaorui very uncomfortable.

Under Zeng Zheng's order, Zhang Xiaorui began to pass high balls non-stop.

Soon, Yang Chen's header played a role.

In the 58th minute, Wu Chengying took a corner kick and Baia hit the ball out.

Subsequently, Wu Chengying got the ball again and followed up with a shot from the arc on the left, and was saved again.

Zhang Xiaorui, who followed up, seized the opportunity and flicked the ball with the back of his foot without stopping the ball.

The ball flew high towards the back post, Yang Chen leaped high and hit the header.

The Chinese team chased the score to 1-2.

In the 61st minute, Sun Jihai made a cross from the right.

In the chaos, Baia, who rushed to the top and made a feint attack, and Zhang Xiaorui, who also outflanked the back post, followed up and easily scored the goal, rewriting the score to a 2-2 tie.

The Chinese team scored two goals in a row, which made the eyes of the South Korean referee shine.

Then there were two more attacks from the Chinese team, all due to offensive fouls, and the ball was awarded to the opponent.

After both sides played to the 65th minute, the coaches began to change players continuously.

The Chinese team replaced two forwards and then a defender;
In Portugal, even the goalkeeper Baia was replaced, and it seemed that they had accepted a 2-2 draw.

Next, it is the "performance time" of the two teams.

When the game went on to 75 minutes, Li Weifeng fouled in the penalty area and Portugal won another penalty.

At this time, the Portuguese fans stood and cheered, while the Chinese fans sat still.

When the newly replaced Angel's saving skills shocked everyone, the sound of the applause and plastic promotional materials on the field was like a flock of birds flapping their wings and flying.

The fans of the two teams at the scene lived in peace and had clear positions.

Every time a player takes a shot, there are cheers and screams.

In the 78th minute, when Zhao Jun made a long-range shot, Figo, who was wearing No. 7, couldn't help screaming, but was overwhelmed by the applause of the audience.

The score of 2 to 2 was finally maintained until the end.

The passionate confrontation between the two sides at the end of the game also showed their team style.

Facing Portugal's golden generation, can the Chinese team even draw 2-2?
Such a result obviously greatly exceeded the expectations of the spies who came to watch the two teams.

After the game, according to a report from Portugal's La Repubblica, even if Figo played in this warm-up match, it may not be able to make better progress.

Even if Figo scores a goal, with the resilience of the Chinese team, they can recover the score.

Even Rui Costa said in an interview after the game that if the Chinese team is of this strength, then qualifying for the group stage will not be a problem at all.

After the game, Gomez, Pauletta, Yang Chen, and Xue Xue were the "best scorers" of the game, scoring a prize of [-] US dollars.

And through the votes of 300 domestic and foreign journalists at the scene, it was unanimously believed that Portugal's No. 10 Rui Costa was the best player in this game.

In the player channel after the game, Zeng Zheng met Portugal coach Oliveira.

After the two shook hands, they started talking briefly.

"Coach Zeng, the Chinese team is indeed the Asian champion. This game gave me a new understanding of Asian teams."

"Thank you so much for your Chinese team."

"After playing against the Chinese team and meeting the hosts in the World Cup, I don't think I will take it lightly again."

Faced with the other party's compliment, Zeng Zheng smiled.

"Wherever it is, it is my honor to be able to play against a world-class team like Portugal and find our shortcomings."

After finishing the greetings, Zeng Zheng casually said:
"However, Mr. Antonio, I need to remind you."

"Playing against the Chinese team does not mean that you can thoroughly understand other teams in Asia."

"The routines of some Asian teams are completely different from those of the Chinese team."

When Oliveira heard it, he disapproved and said:

"In Asia, who else is the opponent of the Chinese team?"

"In my opinion, the Chinese team is number one in Asia."

"Don't you tell me that other teams are better than the Chinese team?"

Of course Zeng Zheng knew what the opponent meant about the other teams, but on this occasion, he obviously couldn't say it clearly.

"No, no, that's not all I said."

Zeng Zheng emphasized again, "I mean, other teams may go too far in other aspects."

other aspects?

As a football coach, Oliveira immediately understood what Zeng Zheng said as soon as he thought about it.

"Coach Zeng, I understand what you mean."

"But I think you're a bit alarmist, don't you?"

"Judging from today's game, the referees' penalties are still very fair!"

The implication is that South Korea is still very friendly to us!
Seeing what Oliveira said, Zeng Zheng was dumbfounded.

Suddenly, I felt like I was shooting myself in the foot with a stone.

Got it!
It turns out that South Korea is waiting here!
Well, now I am not human inside and out!
It seems that this matter should be ignored in the future!
(End of this chapter)