World Cup of Great Powers

Chapter 175 Women's World Cup

Long before the match against Vietnam, Zeng Zheng received a call from women's football coach Ma Yuan'an, inviting him to go to the Women's World Cup together.

Zeng Zheng didn't want to go at first.

But Ma Yuanan directly mentioned the matter of Sun Wen and others that he had promised at the Asian Games.

When a gentleman says a word, he whips the horse quickly.

After playing against North Korea on the 18th, Zeng Zheng did not even attend the celebration banquet that night. Zeng Zheng flew directly to San Francisco by plane.

Fortunately, Beijing time is 16 hours ahead of San Francisco.

Zeng Zheng hurried to the team and finally joined the team on the afternoon of the 19th.

At this time, there is less than an hour left before the first game against Sweden in the group stage.

"Xiao Zeng is here?"

"Quick, quick, please come in!"

"That, then who, pour a glass of water for Coach Zeng."

"Xiao Zeng, it's really difficult for you to come all the way from China!"

"Come on, let's take a rest first."

After receiving the work badge from Ma Yuan'an, Zeng Zheng hung it around his neck.

"Uncle Ma, I dare not say I'm tired in front of you!" Zeng Zheng rolled his eyes at Ma Yuan'an, who was 25 years older than him, "I am a brick of the revolution, so I can move it wherever I need it."

"This is the revolutionary cadre who persists in struggle and dedication!" Ma Yuan'an didn't seem to understand the irony in Zeng Zheng's words, but instead patted Zeng Zheng on the shoulder vigorously, "Xiao Zeng, a young man like you Caijun, it’s not common in society now!”

"Google"

Zeng Zheng really gave in to the face of these "revolutionary old men".

After drinking half a bottle of mineral water in one gulp, he asked, "Uncle Ma, how did you arrange the starting list? Has Miss Wen lifted the ban?"

The sister Wen that Zeng Zheng said was Wen Lirong, born in 69, one year older than Zeng Zheng.

Wen Lirong started playing football at the age of 13 and was selected for the national team for the first time in 1986.

In 1994, he went to Japan to play for the Prima team. Two years later, he was awarded the first-class sports medal by the National Sports Commission.

From 86 to 98, Wen Lirong represented the national team in countless competitions, and she was the most solid barrier in the defense of the women's football team.

However, he was suspended by FIFA for two games due to a serious foul in the semi-final match against Brazil in the last Olympic Games.

The Olympic final is counted as one game, and by convention, she also cannot play in the first match of this World Cup.

In the past six months, Zeng Zheng has been in contact with the women's football team and has been paying attention to the women's football team.

So regarding Wen Lirong's matter, Zeng Zheng suggested that the Zhuxie Women's Football Department should apply to FIFA as soon as possible.

"It's been approved, and the ban has been lifted." Ma Yuanan laughed, "I didn't say why the ban was lifted in the approval document issued two days ago. Anyway, according to your suggestion, Xiao Rong was included in the starting list today."

Zeng Zheng nodded after listening, "Yeah, that's good."

There are a total of 16 teams in this Women's World Cup, which are divided into 4 groups in total, and the top two teams in the group enter the knockout round.

These eight teams can not only compete for the championship of this Women's World Cup, but also directly qualify for the 00 Olympic Games.

It is foreseeable that this competition will be very intense from the beginning of the group stage.

Due to FIFA's prior arrangement, the top 16 has actually been separated into the upper and lower halves, and the troops are divided into battles.

Teams located in different regions will not meet before the championship and runner-up finals.

The Chinese team is the seeded team and is divided into Group D, which is in the bottom half.

Grouped with Sweden, Ghana and Australia.

According to Zeng Zheng's analysis, the biggest opponent of this group is Sweden.

But because the top two in the group can qualify, for Zeng Zheng and Ma Yuanan, the pressure to qualify for the group is actually not great.

In the media analysis before the game, the most promising of this World Cup is the host Talame and our Chinese women's football team.

Although the old Sweden and the Chinese team are similar in strength, the current Sweden has replaced a large number of new players.

Whether the strength is still comparable to that of the Chinese team is hard to say for Zeng Zheng.

To be conservative, Zeng Zheng could only remind Zhu Xie to work harder and quickly let Wen Lirong lift the suspension.

It now appears that this step is a success.

"After all, it's the first game, so we can't miss it no matter what."

Zeng Zheng pondered for a while and said, "If I remember correctly, the Patan Stadium in San Jose is a small stadium with a width of only about 63 meters."

"In this way, it will be difficult for us to launch an offensive on the side."

"So for the first game, we should focus on being safe."

Ma Yuan'an nodded, and arranged the tactics according to Zeng Zheng's reminder and suggestion.

Sure enough, the Swedish team, which mainly focused on physical confrontation and central attack, volleyed and scored after successfully stealing the ball in the frontcourt within 2 minutes of the opening.

Faced with a dark situation, the Chinese team was not in a hurry to equalize the score.

Playing steadily, using high-altitude balls and set-piece tactics, they finally equalized the score in the 17th minute.

At that time, Liu Ying took a corner kick and the ball was headed in by forward Jin Yan.

In the second half, they changed sides and fought again.

In the 70th minute, Liu Ailing's direct attack from the top of the penalty area once again penetrated the Swede's goal.

2 to 1, the Chinese team overtook the score.

Under Zeng Zheng's suggestion, Ma Yuan'an immediately deployed defenses after overtaking the score.

After more than 20 minutes of defending, the Chinese team finally won the first victory of this World Cup without bloodshed!
"Ah! Isn't this Coach Zeng? When did you come here?"

After the game, when the women's football girls saw Zeng Zheng taking off his mask in the locker room, they immediately surrounded him with bright eyes.

"Coach Zeng, aren't you leading the Olympic Games in China? When did you come to San Francisco?" Goalkeeper Gao Hong's face was full of excitement.

"Coach Zeng, you must have rushed here right after getting off the plane, right? Thank you for your hard work!" Central defender Fan Yunjie still remembers how good Zeng Zheng was.

"Hey, Brother Zeng, I remember hearing you say on the phone that you don't want to come! Why are you still here now?" Forward Sun Wen raised his chin and put his arm on Zeng Zheng's shoulder.

"Great, with Coach Xiao Zeng here, we will definitely win the championship this time!" Left back Bai Jie stood behind the crowd, clasped his hands on his chest, and clapped softly.

The arrival of Zeng Zheng made all the women's football girls shine.

When they learned that the tactical play after the goal was lost in this game was supported by Zeng Zheng, the trust of the soldiers in Zeng Zheng was even higher.

2 to 1 overtake the opponent to win, what could be more morale-boosting than such a good start?

"Okay, okay."

Ma Yuanan stretched out his hands and pressed down.

"Everyone be quiet and listen to what Coach Zeng has to say."

Ma Yuanan opened his mouth, and the women's football girls who had a good relationship with Zeng Zheng immediately took a step back to make room for Zeng Zheng.

Even so, everyone still gathered around Zeng Zheng, their eyes full of anticipation.

World Cup knockout, Toulon Cup champion, Asian Games champion, World Youth Championship champion
Coupled with Dunhill, the Hong Kong Four Nations Tournament and other miscellaneous champions, Zeng Zheng has become a figure like the "Godfather of the National Football Team".

The results of the men's football team have improved, and the pressure on the women's football side is naturally not small.

Just in time for the Women's World Cup, the girls are putting all their energy into it right now.

Before the expedition, Wang Junsheng asked the women's football girls if they had any requests or wishes.

The women's football girls looked at me and I looked at you, and said in unison: "Why can the men's football team have a young handsome guy as a coach, and our women's football team must be led by an old pedant?"

At the invitation of the women's football team, Zhu Xie and Ma Yuan'an, Zeng Zheng thought twice.

It is not only for the honor of the championship, but also for "even rain and dew".

In short, this support for the women's football team is not an official dispatch, but a "special secret operation"!
Not to mention that the outside world doesn't know, even the people inside Zhuxie don't know that Zeng Zheng went to San Francisco.

You know, this time the women's football team is led by Ma Yuan'an and others.

Even if he did come back with the championship, Zeng Zheng's name would not be on the honor list.

This trip to the United States, Zeng Zheng is completely a personal help!

Facing the earnest gazes around him, Zeng Zheng smiled slightly.

"This overtake victory is entirely due to everyone."

"So you guys don't need to belittle yourself. Just like the media said, only Da Laomei is our real opponent in this World Cup!"

"Before the big old beauty, all the opponents are just little Karami!"

"I am here this time to help everyone, how to win the World Cup championship trophy in front of the host at other people's home court!"

"I just don't know if the big guys are worthy of cooperation!"

As soon as Zeng Zheng finished speaking, soprano voices rang out in the locker room.

"Cooperate! Cooperate! Cooperate!!!"

Zeng Zheng waved his hand, "There is nothing else to say, everyone, pay attention to safety, and don't get hurt on the court!"

"Okay! Listen to Coach Zeng!!!"

The women's football got off to a good start, but it didn't make much waves in the country.

At the moment, the most intense domestic discussion is whether the Olympic Games can defeat South Korea in a frontal battlefield.

The news of the women's football's first victory only occupied a corner of the page.

However, under Zeng Zheng's leadership, the football section of Jiulang.com is full of posts about women's football's first victory.

That night, the women's football girls crowded into Zeng Zheng's room and listened to him read the blessing posts from netizens one by one.

It wasn't until 10 o'clock in the evening that the big guys reluctantly left.

Before Ma Yuanan led the team, they were only asked to write some game summary reports. The spare time life was not only boring, but also the team members were under a lot of pressure.

Now that Zeng Zheng is in the team, everything is completely different.

The team members chattered about the blessings of fans in their hometown, and translated to each other what these blessings meant in their local dialect.

The power of the coach + a laptop, let the girls laugh every night after training.

The days go by quickly.

Four days later, the women's soccer girls face Ghana at Portland Municipal Stadium.

The strength of the Ghanaian team is very weak, and it does not pose any threat to the Chinese team.

In just 9 minutes of the first half, Sun Wen successfully turned offside after receiving a long pass from Wang Liping, giving the Chinese team the lead.

In the 16th and 21st minutes, Jin Yan scored twice through complementary shots and anti-offside.

In the second half, they changed places to fight again. In the 59th minute, Sun Wen also scored two goals with a supplementary shot.

In the 81st and 89th minutes, Zhang Ouying became the third player of the Chinese team to score twice.

Until the 91st minute of the game, Zhao Lihong made the icing on the cake and locked the final score at 7-0.

A hearty victory made the Chinese team cheer and excited.

Winning two games in a row in the group stage, the group qualifying is already doomed.

That night, Zeng Zheng acted as an interpreter and took the girls to visit famous local attractions.

This was something that was unimaginable in the past.

But under Zeng Zheng's presence, Ma Yuan'an had no choice but to admit it while pinching his nose.

There is no way, who asked Zeng Zheng to lead the middle school youth and the National Olympics, and bring out the results?

This time, people have come all the way to help in vain. What is this small request?
Winning is the last word!

After the Portland game, the team moved to New York.

Along the way, Zeng Zheng looked at the scenery outside the window and kept complaining in his heart.

The French team is off to a great start!

Since the 98 World Cup, in all international competitions, the hosts like to organize multiple stadiums in multiple cities, and try to let each team "wander" around their own territory as much as possible according to the schedule.

Although this kind of "one shot for another place" schedule has boosted the economy of the host country, it has made the players who came from afar miserable.

Every time he thought of going back to the hotel to pack his luggage and rush to the next city after the game, Zeng Zheng couldn't help feeling anxious.

snort!
Walking a fool, right?
Row!
It is kind of you to continue this "tradition"!
Wait until we hold the World Series in China.

Let you see what is called a vast land and abundant resources!

After complaining about the itinerary, Zeng Zheng began to recall the Women's World Cup in his previous life.

He vaguely remembered that there was a very important reason why this World Cup failed in the end.

That is, the coaching staff headed by Ma Yuan'an has no plans for this World Cup!

According to the strength of this year's women's football team, they are fully capable of defeating Da Laomei.

In fact, in the first half of this year's cup matches and friendly matches between the two sides, there were wins and losses for each other.

In other words, if the Chinese team plans well, there is no problem in winning the opponent.

But in fact, the Chinese team came from a long distance, and the boats and vehicles were exhausted. Coupled with the acclimatization of the environment and the unaccustomed diet, the combat effectiveness itself dropped by a quarter.

And Ma Yuan'an didn't have any strategic plans for this cup, which led to the girls winning every game with all their strength.

In fact, this is the same as Ma Yuanan's idea - kick hard, work hard to win, kick wherever you go!
Under such circumstances, the Chinese team, after several hard work in the group stage and the knockout stage, was almost at the end of its strength in the final, and it was all supported by one breath.

Even so, Da Laomei, who was waiting for work, still did not break through the women's football position.

After 120 minutes, the two sides shot each other penalty kicks, and the Chinese team fell before the penalty spot.

Ma Yuanan, on the other hand, did not feel annoyed that he had never practiced penalty kicks, but felt lucky and proud of this runner-up.

In his eyes, for the women's football team to win the runner-up, it is already an overfulfillment of the task for him.

Going back this time, rewards are definitely indispensable.

As for whether the women's football girls have regrets this time, it is not in his consideration at all.

So the most important task at the moment is to plan how the team will win the championship under such a tiring schedule.

Since we are here this time, we are here for the championship.

The champion in his mouth is not just for boosting morale, just talking.

After scanning the schedule and the results of the first two games of the other two teams in the group, Zeng Zheng made up his mind.

That night, after dinner and luggage were settled, Zeng Zheng knocked on the door of Ma Yuanan's room.

After getting the other party's permission to enter the room, Zeng Zheng's first words were: "Coach Ma, I think we should lose as much as possible in this third group match."

(End of this chapter)