road to victory

Chapter 321 World Cup ([-])
"Ai Mei, I can breathe a sigh of relief," Fan Shang said with a smile.

"How is it possible! This should be the easiest match in the World Cup, and it will be more difficult later on." Jacquet shook his head.

Fan Shang shook his finger, "I think the next game will be to win two consecutive victories."

Jacquet frowned, and then he understood the schedule, "I think you're right" because he thought that the opponent in the next game would be Saudi Arabia, and Asian teams are generally underestimated now.

However, another match in the same group surprised Fan Shang and the others. Denmark only won by one goal against Saudi Arabia.Moreover, relying on the tall and tall central defender in the corner kick, he bullied the Saudi Arabian defender.

At this time, serious expressions appeared on the faces of both Yakai and Fan Shang.

"Everyone who can enter the World Cup has two brushes!" Fan Shang sighed.

"What brush?" Jacquet looked confused. He couldn't figure out what the brush had to do with the World Cup.

"It's a Chinese saying, which means that the teams that can enter the World Cup are teams of a certain level." Fan Shang explained.

Jacques nodded in agreement, and Saudi Arabia is not as weak as imagined.

Five days later, the first round of the group stage was all over. It can be said that there was no surprise, and there was no big upset.The most surprising thing is that Nigeria made a strong comeback after falling behind twice, and finally defeated Spain 3:2.

Paraguay, where the other two Vincent players belonged, relied on a candy-style defense and drew 0:0 with Bulgaria. In the game, Chilavert scored another free kick and hit the ball on the crossbar. He almost missed Became the first goalkeeper in the World Cup.But he is also the closest goalkeeper in history.

Although the French team played against the underdog Saudi Arabia in the second round, they still sent almost all the main players. However, due to Djorkaf's minor injury in the last game, Pires replaced him in the starting position.

At the end of the game, Jacques and Vincent looked at each other. The two felt that they were a false alarm and thought that Saudi Arabia was so strong. The final score was 4:0, and France won the game without bloodshed.

However, there was another episode in this game. Zidane was sent off with a red card for stepping on it. After he got off, Jacques didn't say anything, but Vincent pointed at Zidane's nose and just squirted, not at all. He didn't show mercy.

Originally, the players thought that Zidane, who seemed docile but actually hot-tempered, would definitely take on Fan Shang, but who would have thought that Zidane just looked at Fan Shang and then nodded.

At this time, many substitute players who were not very familiar with Fan Shang seemed to have slowly changed their views on Fan Shang.

Due to the 1:1 tie between South Africa and Denmark in the previous game, France qualified early from this group.The final game against Denmark will determine which team will top the group.

In the second round of the group stage, there was not much upset. Paraguay's draw with Spain may not have been expected by many people before the game. This time, Paraguay led by Chilavert really made people see what is called a candy-style defense.In Group G, England's last-minute defeat by Romania has also become another topic of this round.

Before the last round of the group, Jacquet called the coaching staff together again, "Tomorrow is the last round of the group, shall we win the first or second place in the group?"

Fan Shang had considered this issue before, after watching the situation of the knockout match, Fan Shang made up his mind first. "I think we should strive for the first place in the group."

"Why?" Jacques asked, "If you want to return to the first place in the group, you may encounter Paraguay or Spain, and the second opponent in the group should be Nigeria. Although they are eye-catching in the group stage, it is really hard to say in the knockout stage."

"Aimee, we can't just watch one game." Fan Shang took out the knockout matchup map in his hand, "If we qualify second in our group, we will be in the same half as Brazil, and we will be in the quarterfinals. Will meet Brazil. I don't think it's a good idea."

When everyone looked at this picture, they actually understood it very well, but it was just a sacrifice of immediate interests and long-term interests.

"Fan Shang, what do you think is our chance of reaching the final in the lower half?" Jacques asked.

"I dare not say, but at least it is much higher than meeting Brazil in the quarterfinals." Fan Shang couldn't say that we would definitely win the championship, so he could only say something half-jokingly.

Yakai stared at the matchup map for a long time, and finally made a decision with a slap on the table, "We are going to be the first in the group!"

So in the last game, France had a fierce match with Denmark, and finally France defeated Denmark 2:1.Since South Africa and Saudi Arabia played 2:2 in another game, two places for the promotion of this group were produced. France won the first place in the group with 9 points, and Denmark won the second place in the group with 4 points. The team advanced to the last 16, Saudi Arabia and South Africa were eliminated, and they can pack their bags and go home.

With the end of the last group match, all the top 16 of this World Cup have been produced. The biggest dark horse is Nigeria, and Paraguay also won the second spot in the group by virtue of their victory in the last game, beating Spain. In fact, there is still a small upset in Group A. Norway also successfully advanced to the top 2 with a 1:16 victory over Brazil in the last game.

Of course, the most disappointing part of the group stage was Spain. They had nothing to show except for taking Bulgaria 6:1 in the last game.The Asian teams are also weak overall. There is no Asian team in the top 16. The only victory is Iran's victory over the United States.

The results of several Bordeaux players participating in the European Cup were also different. Song's Cameroon was eliminated, and he himself also received a red card in the last game.

Chilavert and Gamara led Paraguay to the top 16, and Bordeaux's other players participating in the World Cup are all in France.

France's opponent in the top 16 will be Paraguay. This team is a headache for Jacquet, and everyone will have a headache with their candy-style defense.

"Fan Shang, you are quite proficient in defense, how should you deal with this kind of defense?" Jacques came to ask Fan Shang.

"You should ask Roger about this." Fan Shang said in his mouth, but he was thinking about how to break Chilavert's gate in his mind.

"You should do it, I've already asked him, but he has nothing to do with you Bordeaux, and it's the same now." Jacques said helplessly.

(End of this chapter)