Grass roots glory

Chapter 944 Not even giving the fourth
The two warm-up opponents that the Chinese team will face are Paraguay and Haiti, teams from North and South America.

No matter in terms of FIFA ranking or strength, the current Chinese team is not considered strong.

Since reaching the top four in the World Cup, the FIFA ranking of the Chinese team has soared to the highest in history in an instant. It is currently ranked No. 11, which is much higher than the previous highest ranking of 35 in the history of the national team.

This ranking still cannot reflect the true strength of the current Chinese team. If it is not because of too many historical debts, with the World Cup No.4 results, it will be firmly in the top ten of FIFA.

Paraguay and Haiti are not considered outstanding teams in South America and Central and North America. Of course, Lippi also explained the reasons for choosing these two opponents in an interview.

"From now on, all of us will start to fight for the World Cup in Russia. Although the Chinese team has become stronger now, we will not only focus on the few top teams in the world. The work of preparing for the World Cup needs to be done step by step. , the same goes for choosing an opponent.”

As soon as Lippi said these words, voices of doubt were immediately suppressed by voices of approval and support.

Just before this national team training session, the Chinese Football Association just renewed the contract with the Lippi team for four years. Obviously, everything stems from the success of the World Cup in Brazil. Lippi will continue to stay and lead the Chinese team to fight for another World Cup cycle.

In the past, if the national team chose an opponent like Haiti to warm up, there would immediately be mocking voices—"Look at the national football team to learn geography", "Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia are eager to try."

There are trolls at any time, but this time they were immediately suppressed by the voices of approval and support. Most people still have basic judgment-is Lippi worthy of making fun of the future of the national team?what is the benefit?Four years later, the old man will already be in his seventies, why should he mess around now and ruin his fame for the rest of his life?
The opponents are all the same, but now the national team has gained more understanding and tolerance than in any previous period.

To put it bluntly, strength is the original sin.Everyone now absolutely believes that the Chinese team will be able to hold it without losing the chain when they really encounter a major competition, so the requirements for friendly matches are not so strict.

The king of friendly matches, it's time to take off this hat, the real strong team never dominates in friendly matches.

In these two games, Lippi’s purpose was mainly to examine the state of the old players. In the first game against Paraguay, Zhou Tiancheng played the first half. In the second game against Haiti, the opponent’s strength was even worse. half an hour.

2:0, 6:1, the Chinese team won the two games without any suspense. In the absence of Zhou Tiancheng, the Chinese team was still fully fired.

Lippi joked with Zheng Zhi: "With such an offensive efficiency, is it necessary to bring Zhou back in the Asian Cup?"

Zheng Zhi smiled: "Old man, last time we were champions, this time there can only be one goal, right?"

Hearing Zheng Zhi's words, Lippi nodded lightly: "Yes, it's sure to be sure with him, but it's not like there's no chance without him."

"If you think it's okay, we can try it too."

Lippi smiled lightly, and then sighed: "During the Asian Cup, it happened to be the most intense time in the Premier League. It was really a bad experience to compete with the club. Ha, I have never seen such an intercontinental competition in winter. conduct."

Lippi shook his head lightly, he knew Zhou Tiancheng's mission, so these two games were mainly to maintain the running-in and tacit understanding between Zhou Tiancheng and the team.

Zhou Tiancheng returned to Manchester in a very full spirit and continued to prepare for Manchester United's upcoming league matches.

In the next No. 11 round of the league, Manchester United defeated Crystal Palace 1-0 at home, winning three consecutive league victories while maintaining the first position.

Van Gaal was very satisfied with Zhou Tiancheng's state after returning from the national team. Even if he didn't say anything, this game was the first time he replaced Zhou Tiancheng before the end of the game. After Zhou Tiancheng assisted Mata to score, Van Gaal Gall replaced both of them.

Certainly not to give them a chance to receive applause from the home fans, although they did get them.But more is for the next round of competition.

League No.12 away game against Arsenal.This is still a worthy opponent.

……

Arriving in North London, Arsenal is the only home team in this area. The Manchester United team took the busy Piccadilly line of the London Underground, all the way north, through Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus, and Russell Square, and heard the clear broadcast "London Tube, Arsenal Station" is the point.

Zhou Tiancheng has been here before, representing Dortmund more than once, but now he secretly compares it with the surrounding scenes of Old Trafford in his heart.

Being able to have a subway station named after the team can indeed highlight the unique status of the club in the developed and long-established London subway network. From this perspective, Tottenham, the younger brother in North London, is still far behind.

But Zhou Tiancheng has no sense of awe, even though the legends in Arsenal history are played in a short MV loop outside the Emirates Stadium, Henry, Pires...

But the more they did this, the more Zhou Tiancheng couldn't help but find it ridiculous.

Does it have anything to do with the current Arsenal team?

These legends have long since moved from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium with you, and they have all stayed there and become history.

……

This game is the focus of the No.12 round of the Premier League. Carragher came to Sky Sports to prepare for this game after writing a preview for the BBC column.

Manchester United and Arsenal, when the two teams meet now, seven out of ten fans will choose to support Manchester United.As a well-known sports media in England, Sky Sports will naturally not oppose the fans' choice.

Not to mention the fact that it is.

"Wenger is experiencing the days that Van Gaal has experienced some time ago. It is a lot of pressure for him. He is in this position. The memories of Arsenal fans except for the fabulous unbeaten season in 2003-04 are the team's. Peak, next he is consuming the enthusiasm of the Arsenal fans. He has won the fourth place in the league six times in ten seasons, ha! If it is said that a champion can be selected for the fourth place, I am afraid that the whole of Europe is not as persistent as Arsenal. Crazy. Every season is struggling on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League, but this season is even worse. They have been squeezed out by Chelsea by four points, and they are not even guaranteed fourth. This game may be Wenger's last. Opportunity - only one victory in the last four games, forcing Wenger to fight for enough points against Manchester United."

But can Manchester United give it?
Arsenal is indeed a professional player competing for the top four, and has counterattacked many times to get the Champions League tickets at the last moment, but now they can't do anything if they want to, and it's not time yet.

If you want to amplify your moves, your energy savings are not enough, not to mention who you are facing.

Yang Cheng saw it very clearly: "Jamie, do you believe it? I guess Wenger is scratching his head at this time. He probably never expected to meet Zhou Tiancheng's team in the Premier League, and it will become the norm in the future."

"Hahahaha, interesting, Yang, is there any difference?"

"The difference is that if Arsenal is still in this situation in the future, even if they want to compete for fourth place, it depends on Manchester United's mood... In this situation, Manchester United will definitely not even give the fourth place. Can Arsenal get it? Unless Wenger can figure out a way to take the initiative, Jamie, might as well look back at the scenes of Dortmund and Arsenal in the Champions League in previous seasons..."

(End of this chapter)