World Cup of Great Powers

Chapter 360 No one loses the stick
Revenge for Italy?
Zeng Zheng had this idea, but he didn't have the confidence.

After the last round of [-], the list of quarter-final matches is about to be revealed.

South Korea Division: China VS South Korea, Germany VS Sweden;

Small day division: Portugal VS Spain, Brazil VS England.

This matchup list is somewhat intriguing.

Although it was booked long ago, judging from the "early" meeting between the two Asian teams from China and South Korea, this World Cup seems to be intended to send an Asian team to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

But to whom?
Is it the majestic Chinese dragon?
Or send the arrogant and domineering Tai Chi Tiger?
This can be seen from the reaction of the media in various countries after the top [-] games.

After China reached the quarter-finals, the German Press Agency immediately published a news article with the title "Unprecedented Top Eight World Cup".

Historically, the only non-traditional European and South American teams that have reached the quarterfinals are the United States, Cuba, North Korea, and Mexico.

In 1930, in a World Cup with only 13 teams, the United States reached the semifinals;

In 1938, Cuba reached the quarterfinals, but they won only one game, an 8-0 victory over Sweden;

In 1966, the North Korean team became the only Asian team to enter the quarterfinals. They eliminated Italy in that World Cup;

Mexico, on the other hand, entered the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1970 and 1986. Both times, they were the host!

Of course, Cameroon, which defeated Maradona to lead Argentina with one goal in 1990, was also very strong. In that World Cup, the African Lions staged the biggest upset in World Cup history.

Looking at it now, the Chinese team eliminated France and Paraguay and entered the quarterfinals. Its achievements are no worse than Cameroon's back then!
Less than three days after the Chinese team created a moderate upset in this World Cup, the coverage of media around the world was attracted by another game.

"The whole country of Italy cursed the "black whistle", and Carraro became the scapegoat"

"Football legend Bulgarelli denounces "black whistle" - a terrible referee"

"Italian fans across the country denounce "black whistle": Football is losing trust"

"Berlusconi shouted "sin, sin" when faced with the result"

"Old Maldini fainted in the service area after the game!Not far from him there were two referees with playful smiles》

"Italian defender Panucci: Their disgrace cost us the game"

"Moreno: I am proud to officiate such a game"

No matter how exciting the eight games in the top [-] were, they couldn't be compared to the big commotion caused by South Korea VS Italy in the last game.

Italian fans were crying, "Four goals, four penalties, why is it always Italy who gets hurt?"

It is very common for some strong teams to receive unfair penalties in the World Cup.

But this time in Italy, even a blind person can see that they are being targeted!
However, in the face of this disgraceful match result, fans from all over the world did not stand together to condemn it.

The first is the British who are gloating about their misfortune. "Sky Sports" directly titled "Italians paid the price for 1-0ism."

The United States is also half-hearted. The New York Times believes that this is a failure for Italian football diplomacy.

The French team, which was eliminated early and went home, also watched indifferently. "L'Equipe" said, "It was Ahn Jung-hwan who personally sent the Italians home."

Reuters simply said: "South Korea finally realized its dream after an earth-shattering war."

Overnight, except for Portugal, which had the same experience as Italy, no other country seemed to stand with the Italians.

Even they all saw that there were many problems in this game, but with the mentality of "it doesn't hurt if it doesn't hurt you", they kept watching the excitement.

This is true even for Europeans and Americans, not to mention the South Koreans who are already extremely proud of themselves.

There is an explosion in South Korea right now.

The media have said that Ahn Jung-hwan's golden ball has helped South Korea's football level reach the world level.

Even "Seoul Sports" said that Italy is the villain on the court who keeps fouling.

Especially after posting four photos of Totti tackling people, the text said, "The Italians' tactics failed. Using Totti, a forward, as a defender to tackle, is as ridiculous as asking a blaster to be a cook."

Since ancient times, South Korea has had the ability to turn black into white.

This small country, whose national strength is not very strong but whose diplomacy always relies on hugging others to gain an advantage, is often complacent about petty gains.

In the words of South Korea's "Rikan Sports": "Who made Italy a defeated country?"

Italy, South Korea, referee Moreno, black whistle for match-fixing.
In the past few days, these pieces of news have been making a lot of noise.

Domestically, after South Korea advanced, an article titled "Referees are also "Fearful of South Korea," Beware of Hosts" was published after South Korea advanced.

Be careful of what?
The results speak for themselves!
"Xiao Zeng, just show it to me. Are you confident that you can win?"

Facing the questioning from Xu and Wang, Zeng Zheng spread his hands.

"I'm the same as Trapattoni! I have as much confidence as he has!"

Xu and Wang looked at each other and saw helplessness in each other's eyes.

"Xiao Zeng, don't do this with me!"

"Uncle Zhang has already gone to the International Pearl Curtain to work hard."

“We have done everything our bamboo shoes can do.”

"I'm asking you now, are you confident in winning?"

As early as the day when the Chinese team defeated Paraguay to qualify, Zeng Zheng called Xu and Wang and asked them to prepare various application materials.

At first, they didn’t quite understand;

But when Italy was really eliminated and the Chinese team really wanted to compete with South Korea for a spot in the semi-finals, Zhang Jilong handed in the materials overnight!

Damn it!
I knew it was dark, but I didn’t expect it to be so dark!

The materials submitted by Zhang Jilong are divided into two parts.

The first part is to denounce Ecuadorian referee Moreno's unfair law enforcement and ask the International Bead Curtain to revoke his referee license and other penalties.

In Zhang Jilong's words, "The majority of Chinese fans firmly stand with the suffering Italians."

If the first part is to express the Chinese team’s position, then the second part of the application materials is critical.

These include reselecting the venue, time and referee configuration for the quarter-finals of China and South Korea, and even requiring the International Bead Curtain Company to change the number of law enforcement officers sent to monitor.

It can be said that this proposal will almost overturn the upcoming quarter-finals!

Of course International Pearl Curtain would not agree to such a "ridiculous" proposal.

However, China had no intention of allowing this proposal to be passed unanimously.

For the Chinese team represented behind Zhang Jilong, it would be fine as long as the referee team for this quarter-final is not originally established!
But can this goal be achieved?
In the days leading up to the quarter-finals, China was under full martial law and refused all outside interviews.

After learning the news, the Chinese and Korean media started a war of words at the same time.

Chinese media: South Korea will only use referees and black whistles to win!It’s a shame for Asian football!

Korean media: The Chinese are jealous that we also made it to the quarterfinals!They are even more afraid that we will step on their corpses to enter the semi-finals!
Because it is about whether he can enter the semi-finals, although Zhang Jilong is not as big as Zheng Menghuai's official in the international bead curtain, he showed uncharacteristic toughness this time!

They even shouted, "If the referee team is not changed, the entire team will go on strike." As soon as this slogan came out, and the domestic media exaggerated it, the atmosphere was suddenly heightened.

When it comes to foreign affairs, the Chinese people are surprisingly unified.

Especially when it comes to the stick next door.

As soon as this slogan came out, it quickly gained support from fans from all over the country.

We have entered the World Cup and advanced out of the group stage, which in itself proves our strength!

Now we just want a fair and just chance.

If you don't give it.

it is good!
If you quit, quit!
Isn't it just a cup competition for football?
Is there too few cup competitions for our Chinese team to participate in?
Asian Cup, East Asian Cup, Southeast Asian Cup.
Don’t forget that after we withdrew from the Olympic Games, weren’t you the ones who invited us back?
In those decades, didn’t our domestic athletes have any competitions to participate in?
joke!

If it were the world preliminaries, the Chinese team might give in;
But now that it has reached the top eight, the top eight's right to speak is already quite strong!
Not to mention this World Cup in Japan and South Korea, most of the fans are Chinese fans!
If the Chinese team really doesn’t play in the quarter-finals!

What are the consequences?
Just like the sanctions against India, how many years will the Chinese team be banned from participating in the World Cup?
and then?
Will South Korea directly advance to the semi-finals of this World Cup?

So what will fans around the world think of this?

When the World Cup comes to Asia for the first time, will it “directly send” the host country to the semi-finals?
This is too unreasonable!
Thousands of fans are watching!
Not to mention Moreno's game, there was really a problem with the law enforcement.

After weighing the pros and cons, International Pearl Curtain quickly penalized Moreno.

Soon, an article was published on the official website of International Bead Curtain, "Referee Moreno has many problems in the match between Korea and Italy: his movements are not timely and his penalties vary."

As soon as this article came out, it showed that the International Bead Curtain had finalized this game, this law enforcement, and this referee.

As for the final penalty, it remains to be discussed.

After the article was published, officials from International Pearl Curtain immediately found Zhang Jilong and said that Moreno had been sentenced in accordance with your Chinese requirements.

As for your request to exchange this for that, can we just forget about it?

However, Zhang Jilong waved his hand: "Moreno is recognized by the world. We in China just followed the trend of the times and made the right choice."

"Now, China's request is always the only one!"

"That is to request the International Bead Curtain to conduct comprehensive discussions on the quarter-finals of China and South Korea, including the time and venue."

Unable to withstand Zhang Jilong's demands and the increasingly irritable Chinese fans in South Korea.

International Pearl Curtain finally decided to hold a temporary meeting on June 6 to conduct a comprehensive review of the final between China and South Korea.

In the end, without changing the game time, venue, etc., the International Bead Curtain finally agreed to the Chinese team’s proposal to change the referee.

The referee Jamal Ghandour, who was supposed to officiate the game, was replaced by German Meike.

The assistant referee and fourth official are still the same team.

On June 6, the first match of the World Cup quarter-finals, which attracted worldwide attention, was blown at Shizuoka Stadium.

England VS Brazil!

In this game, the only change in Scolari's starting lineup was in the midfield, with Kleberson replacing Juninho.

Eriksson's lineup remained unchanged. Owen and Scholes recovered from their injuries in time. Hargreaves, who was injured in the game against Argentina, has also recovered and sat on the bench.

In the 24th minute, England launched a counterattack.

Scholes made a direct pass to Heskey, and Heskey passed the ball diagonally to the left side of the penalty area. Lucio held up the ball on the edge of the penalty area. When he stopped the ball with the outside of his right thigh, Irving successfully intercepted it, forming a one-on-one goal.

Facing the attacking Marcos, Owen calmly took a shot just before the penalty spot and kicked the ball into the center of the Brazilian goal.

This is Owen's 18th goal for the national team and his second goal in this cup.

In the stoppage time of the first half, Beckham jumped high when facing the opponent's tackle, and the Brazilian team was able to steal the ball and launch a quick counterattack.

Ronaldinho started dribbling the ball from his own half. After breaking through in the middle and attracting several players from the opponent, he feinted away from Ashley Cole and distributed the ball to the right wing of the penalty area.

Rivaldo followed up and hit the far corner with his left foot from 15 meters in front of the goal, helping the Brazilian team equalize the score.

This is Rivaldo's fifth goal in this World Cup and the only player to score in every game.

He is currently tied for the top scorer list with Ronaldo and Kroos.

In the second half, neither side made substitutions.

In the 50th minute, Scholes kicked Kleberson down on the left side of the backcourt, and Ronaldinho took a free kick from 35 meters away.

No one expected that from such a long distance, Ronaldinho unexpectedly chose a lob.

England goalkeeper Seaman was unprepared for this. The ball entered the net from the upper left corner of the goal, and Brazil took a 2-1 lead.

In the 58th minute, Ronaldinho kicked Miles's right ankle in the frontcourt. The Mexican referee Ramos Rizzo took out a red card and sent him off directly.

Even the fans felt that this penalty seemed too harsh, and Ronaldinho looked in disbelief.

After arguing with the referee for a long time, he resigned with a smile.

Then, even with one more player, England was ultimately unable to recover against the powerful Brazilian team and lost to their opponents 1-2.

This is the fourth time that Brazil has remained unbeaten against England in the World Cup. After defeating England in the first three times, Brazil finally won the World Cup championship.

At the same time, this is also the 13th time that Brazil has come back from behind by one goal in the World Cup, which is more times than any other team!
After the Great Britain-Pakistan war, Germany VS Sweden followed immediately.

At 19:30, the second game of the World Cup quarter-finals was blown at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium.

The two sides fought fiercely for 90 minutes, and finally relied on Ballack's header in the 38th minute. The aging German tank once again defeated its opponent.

It was another difficult 1-0, and the aging of German football once again worried the German nation.

Especially after entering the knockout rounds, the forwards who dominated the group stage seemed to have lost their shooting boots.

Klose, who scored a hat-trick of headers against Saudi Arabia, also failed. This makes people wonder, how long can the German tank advance?

The German fans were in mourning, but the Chinese and Korean fans were thinking wildly.

Germany is weak, doesn't that mean we have a chance?
Once we defeat our opponents and face the aging German team, will we become the favorite to join the Brazilian team in the finals?

For a time, disputes and hot spots about the war between China and South Korea boiled over Gwangju again.

June 6, 22:14 pm, Gwangju World Cup Stadium.

Looking at the Chinese players who were dressed in white robes and leading their caddy in formation, Wang Junsheng, who had specially hung up a staff sign, approached Zeng Zheng’s ear and said earnestly: "Xiao Zeng, your Uncle Zhang and our bamboo shoes are not the same. I did my best according to your suggestions!”

"The next step is up to you!"

Zeng Zheng shrugged, "Okay, although the replacement is not Collina, he is a European referee after all, so let's just make do with it!"

"Don't! Don't give in! Fans across the country are watching! No matter who we lose, we can't lose to South Korea!"

Zeng Zhengchang breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at the linesman who was exchanging winks with the South Korean officials, he slowly narrowed his eyes and said, "Yes, no matter who you lose to, you can't lose with a stick!"

(End of this chapter)