Chapter 12: No Weak Team in the World Cup

After arriving in Russia, the Chinese team abandoned all activities other than training. Their daily movements were very regular, either resting in the hotel or training at the training base.

Since there was still some time before the first game, they had enough time to try out tactical training.

The team's running-in was also gradually showing results.

The first was Chen Xiang's retreat to make the ball. Since the standard rhythm had not been reached, Chen Man and Le Kai took the initiative to slow down the rhythm to cooperate with the opponent.

Although the rhythm was lowered a bit, it was not possible to rely on sudden rhythm changes to make a surprise attack, but it was stable.

After completing this transformation, Chen Xiang's performance became stable, and he was no longer so flustered in handling the ball.

So it was still a problem of rhythm. After all, for young players like Chen Xiang who were used to playing at a slow pace, suddenly asking them to increase the rhythm would only make them at a loss.

Ouyang Fei's recent performance was very good. I don't know if it was because the World Cup was approaching, but his desire to perform was extremely strong.

In the midfield, he was no longer satisfied with the transfer, but would appropriately add some technical actions, and sometimes even choose to dribble independently.

On one occasion, Ouyang Fei even passed Lekai with a wonderful slam dunk.

Although it was only once, it was enough to make the audience howl.

Ouyang Fei was also very satisfied with his condition, and his confidence was gradually increasing in the continuous training.

Especially after the tacit understanding with Lekai and Chen Man improved, Ouyang Fei was able to join the offensive system of the two and play a good role in advancing.

This gain has to be said to be a surprise.

In addition, Di Lei's fight in the midfield has also become more active. Perhaps he knows that his fight and awareness cannot keep up with those top players. For this reason, Di Lei chose a stupid way, that is, to increase running.

Although after a game, his legs trembled and his mouth turned blue, at least he was able to play a role.

Di Lei's performance was also recognized by Lippi. Although it was not the kind of midfielder partner that Lippi wanted, Di Lei still completed the task, which was enough.

The World Cup is getting closer and closer, and the football atmosphere in Russia is becoming more intense.

In Moscow, the capital of Russia.

Thousands of fans from all over the world poured into the city.

A giant black and white football balloon floated in the sky.

The streets and various shops were also filled with football elements.

Even the major stadiums in Russia were crowded with fans from all over the world, forming temporary teams to play.

The official game has not yet started, but the small games spontaneously organized by the fans have started first.

Needless to say, the overall atmosphere of the World Cup is very lively.

A large number of fans have poured into major cities in Russia, especially those cities used as World Cup venues.

For example, Nizhny Novgorod has been filled with Chinese and Swedish fans.

However, in terms of numbers, the number of Chinese fans is much larger.

Due to the proximity, the number of fans traveling for this World Cup far exceeds that of the previous ones.

According to statistics, nearly 300,000 Chinese fans poured into Nizhny Novgorod.

This is the number of fans after counting the tickets, and there are countless fans who did not buy tickets.

The entire Nizhny Novgorod is marked in Chinese on various transportation hubs and bus stops to facilitate the movement of Chinese fans.

However, due to the large number of people, Nizhny Novgorod can no longer accommodate Chinese and Swedish fans. For this reason, they can only place some fans in the neighboring city and pick them up on the match day.

But even so, the huge number of people still makes the city seem a little difficult to support.

After all, the population of Nizhny Novgorod is about 220,000, and there are more than 300,000 Chinese fans pouring into this World Cup, and there are also Swedish fans on the expedition.

In this case, the city is already in a saturated and even bursting state.

The streets that used to be quiet are now crowded with people, and the streets of the whole city seem to be crowded with people.

Wherever you go, it is a lively scene.

China's "lion dance" once again amazed the world.

This performance that appeared in the world at the 2014 Brazil World Cup and set off a frenzy in Rio de Janeiro once again appeared on the streets of Russia.

Accompanied by the strong sound of drums and drum beats, three lions tumbled forward in the street, flanked by a large number of Chinese fans. This unique street-blasting behavior once again made China the focus of Russian news.

Not only China, but also the hula dance from North America, the Ghanaian dance from Africa, the Viking war cry from Northern Europe, the samba dance from South America, etc. have become a beautiful scenery on the streets of Russia.

All of this together constitutes one of the gorgeous elements of the World Cup.

"This is Novgorod, a city in the northwest of Russia. At 3 pm Moscow time, a large number of Chinese fans have gathered in the central square area of ​​the city. They come from all over the world, and the purpose of their trip is to cheer for the Chinese players!"

"There are only two days left before the World Cup starts. The Chinese team will compete with Sweden from Northern Europe in the first round of the 2018 Russia World Cup group stage at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on June 18!"

"Group F, where the Chinese team is located, consists of four teams, including the World Cup defending champion Germany, Sweden from Northern Europe, Mexico from North America, and China. After three rounds of group matches, the two teams with the highest points will enter the World Cup knockout stage! It can be said that any game is extremely critical for the Chinese team!"

"We also believe that with the enthusiastic cheers of the fans, the Chinese players will show even better performance!"

"This is CCTV reporting for you!"

In the hotel, Chen Man was holding his mobile phone, using the domestic network and watching domestic TV stations.

Although there was a TV in the hotel, he could not understand a word of these Russian TV stations.

Looking at the scene of the entire city through the CCTV screen, Chen Man sighed: "It's so lively!"

"There are many people coming to this World Cup!"

Wang Yi also came over to take a look and said.

"Russia is very close to our country, which has ignited the enthusiasm of more fans. Moreover, our performance in the last World Cup was also good, so the expectations for us in this World Cup are even greater!" Le Kai grinned; "Do you feel the pressure?"

"What a bullshit pressure, just do it!" Liu Kairui laughed: "I'm already excited."

Wang Yi laughed; "Don't get excited too early, if you can't sleep and adjust your state, you will have to be a substitute!"

"It doesn't matter, I can adjust!" Liu Kairui waved his hand.

Athletes need to pay attention to sleep, and he has a lot of experience in how to adjust sleep on the eve of the game, so he won't be too excited and unable to sleep.

"By the way, the day after tomorrow is the opening game, Russia vs. Saudi Arabia, who do you think will win?"

"Russia!" X3.

Le Kai and the other three said in unison.

Chen Man was surprised and said, "Damn? You are so pessimistic about our Asian team?"

Wang Yi laughed and said, "Although they are both Asian teams, Saudi Arabia does have a gap in strength compared to Russia."

Lekai: "Many of their players are from local Moscow giants, and some of them are overseas players. These people are all playing in the Champions League, and their abilities are much stronger."

Liu Kairui said bluntly, "Saudi Arabia was singled out to win its first victory against the host. If we didn't have Lekai, we would probably be positioned as a rookie by the organizer."

Chen Man muttered, "I don't think we are weak!"

"Where are the weak teams in the World Cup!" Lekai said unhappily, "They are all selected from various continents, and even if they are weak, it is relative. Our strength is not bad in Asia, but we are much more passive when facing European and South American teams. Don't forget how tired we were in the two warm-up matches before!"

Recalling the two warm-up matches against Spain and Croatia before, Chen Man couldn't help but grin.

Those two games were very tiring.

This kind of tiredness is not only physical, but also mental.

So, the gap is still very large.