Chapter 13: Fighting the Tiger (1)
After the match with Poland, compared with the content of the media report the previous week, the media report collectively came to a 180-degree turn, and all kinds of praise were desperately thrown at Portugal without money, as if the previous report did not exist at all, what kind of artistic football, beautiful football and other words were installed on Portugal's body. And Oliveira, who was the most vocal critic last time, was praised by some media meatily: "Oliveira's magic wand bless Portugal." ”
The story also comes from an interesting little story about Oliveira who broke his foot before the game and took out a cane at the end of the game to keep directing the match. And this crutch has become what journalists call a "magic wand". Lao Lei also saw this report after the game, and wondered if Oliveira recognized Harry Potter. Thinking of the picture of Oliveira wearing a magic robe and riding a broomstick, Lao Lei couldn't help but laugh a little, and this report also brought a lot of smiles to the happy Portugal.
The 5-0 win over Poland allowed Portugal to temporarily jump to the top of the table on goal difference. In the other Group D match played on the same day, South Korea drew 1-1 with the United States. At this time, the situation in Group D is that Portugal and South Korea have 4 points, the United States team has 2 points from two draws, and Poland has 0 points at the bottom of the two stops, and it has bid farewell to the World Cup in advance.
However, Portugal's final game against South Korea will not be easy, as they will have to fight to top the group and avoid being beaten by South Korea and the United States beating Poland. If it happens, Portugal probably won't have time to cry.
Portugal have three days to rest and adjust before the final round of the group stage, and the third round of the group will be played on June 14. Thanks to the confidence that the game against Poland gave Portugal's players, the Portuguese team is now confident that they will qualify from the group. Oliveira also tasted the sweetness of the last game, and he intends to continue to adhere to this tactic, and in the next three days, Portugal only conducted a relatively relaxed training with the ball to prepare for the South Korean Taiji Tigers.
The most profound feature of this South Korean team, coached by the amazing coach of the Netherlands, is that it runs, and it runs undeadly. Against such an opponent, Oliveira of course wanted to use possession to slow down the pace of the game, after all, it would be unwise to let the Portuguese star with great skill compete with the South Korean player. And in Oliveira's view, with the full support of the host's fans, the morale of this South Korean team is bound to be high, and at this time, it should avoid its edge and use its own strengths to attack the weaknesses of the other.
This time, there was no time for Ray and Kayla to have a tryst, as head coach Oliveira was going to have a three-day closed training session. It's not about training any tactics, it's about letting the players spend less energy on their girlfriends and wives and preparing for the game. On the night of June 13th, after a one-day phone call with Kayla, Lao Lei entered the system training. This time, what he wants to train is the skill lottery reward he got at the end of the season, and the final word drawn - header. This is the second shooting skill that Lao Lei got in addition to long-range shooting.
It is also said that with Lao Lei's height of more than 185, there seems to be no header in the entire Portuguese Super League season. This can also be regarded as making up for Lao Lei's shortcomings in skills and one more way to score. During heading training, Lao Lei was tortured by an unscrupulous system as usual. At the beginning of this training, even an old thunder's rough nerves almost lost his own soul. Lao Lei said proudly with tears in his eyes, what's the big deal about your header hitting the goal, have you ever pushed into the mouth of the Demon World Cannibal Flower.
After Lao Lei entered the training scene, he looked at the huge Demon Realm Man-eating Flower that existed in place of the goal, with bright, colorful petals, and a fragrance wafting out from time to time. If it weren't for the saliva that secretes from the petals of a flower and the giant serrations on the sides of the petals, you might have liked it and marveled at the miracle of the old man of God. No matter how many times I've been here, Lao Lei still feels cold in his hands and feet every time he comes in, and he wants to cry that I'm a mortal.
Of course, Lao Lei's training ball is not a real football, but the meat of a favorite food of the Demon World Cannibal Flower, but I don't know how Lu Dao was made into a "ball" by the system, except that the materials are almost the same. The punishment for this training is that whenever the football is off, Lao Lei can come to a 5-minute tour of the Demon World Cannibal Flower for free. As soon as he said it, with a miserable scream of "ah", Lao Lei was instantly swept into its mouth by the fat tongue of the Demon Realm Man-eating Flower. Another painful and happy night of training, Lao Lei spent the last night before the South Korean match in training.
The day after the match against Poland, Portugal had already arrived in Incheon, and the match against South Korea will be played at the Moon Hak Stadium in Incheon. Although South Korea is known as the Red Devils of Asia, it is still not in the eyes of Portugal. However, after the first game against the United States, the Portuguese players did not show an obvious mental state of underestimation, and the whole team still completed the training requirements put forward by Oliveira very seriously in training.
Portugal also don't have a lot of pressure to qualify in this game, and they only need a draw to secure the right to qualify. They now need to consider whether they want to meet Italy first in the group or Mexico second. Italy drew with Mexico in last night's game, while Croatia were beaten 1-0 by Ecuador, who were already out of the tournament and had no desire to do so, so Italy were lucky to get a place to qualify.
In terms of performance in the group stage, Italy was undoubtedly disappointing, with Maldini, Cannavaro, Inzaghi, Vieri and many other top superstars in the group stage. It's no surprise, though, that the Italians have always been known for playing knockout rounds, where their reinforced concrete defence is something that no opponent wants to face. Mexico's performance in the group stage was eye-catching, with a solid defense and fluid coordination, which will not be an easy opponent to deal with.
Oliveira was a little upset by the choice of these two opponents, but he finally decided to go all out to beat Italy at the top of the group. Winning the group is still very useful for the team's morale and psychological advantage. He can only hope that the Azzurri can continue to be in a slump in the knockout rounds and not wake up suddenly. It's not that I'm afraid of Italy, but it's that fighting Italy has always been a war of attrition, which Portugal, which is interested in the championship, doesn't want to see.
In any case, they have to pass this hurdle in front of South Korea first. Today, Lao Lei is the earliest in the Portuguese team, and he is full of strength to fight South Korea, and he said that today I will be the hero of the Tiger Wu Song.
On the way to Wenhe's stadium, Lao Lei saw the scene outside through the window. To be honest, Lao Lei admires the South Korean fans very much, Incheon has been dyed bright red by these fans, and many streets have been crowded with these fans, which has a sense that all the people are soldiers. Lao Lei's Portuguese team-mates were also surprised by this on the bus, and this kind of scene is generally only available to those European giants in Europe.
As the bus slowly pulled into the stadium, the Portuguese players were disturbed by the frenzied spotlights of the media and the screams of the fans as soon as they got out of the car. Lao Lei was used to this kind of battle, and he also knew that these people were coming for Figo and Rui Costa and others, and they didn't have anything to do with themselves. After getting off the bus, a South Korean reporter found Figo for an interview, and the question was nothing more than what to think of today's game, what to think of the Korean team, and so on. Figo: How do they know the players of the Korean team, but after all, the other party is the host, and they have to maintain the demeanor of the star, they are all very general to say that we respect the Korean players, they are very good and so on.
Hearing these perfunctory official responses, a proud smile was evident on the South Korean journalist's face. Of course, in Lao Lei's opinion, this is a typical villain's smug smile, and if you want to put it in the novel, there should be a hero who appears on the stage and slaps him a few times, telling him that he should maintain the good quality of modesty.
I don't know if Lu Dao didn't get enough praise, but the reporter also found Lao Lei, a rising star in Portugal, to conduct an interview. Lao Lei looked at the reporter of the South Korean team in front of him, and his heart was happy, should I say that this is a revelation from God or God. After listening to the Korean reporter in front of him ask a lot of questions in awkward Portuguese, Lao Lei smiled faintly at the panting Korean reporter and said coldly: "I'm sorry, I don't know any Korean team, is it amazing?" After speaking, he ignored the stunned Korean reporters and walked straight ahead with the large team.
What Lao Lei didn't know was that his words soon appeared on the Internet, and then on TV, and were known by everyone who cared about the game. Everyone in South Korea expressed their anger at Lao Lei's words, bluntly saying that this is a person who lacks politeness. After knowing Lao Lei's words, the players of the South Korean team angrily said in an interview with the media that they would defeat the South Korean team in a dignified manner to show their strong strength. Hiddink also said: "Remaier is a good young player, but he has to learn to respect his opponents before he can continue to improve. ”
This situation has made some reporters very excited. I didn't expect that before this game that should be calm, I could get such eye-catching news materials. However, the Portuguese reporter is very calm, and Lao Lei is now a well-known bad boy in Portugal. Some time before the World Cup, Lao Lei did not act out of the ordinary, and Portuguese reporters thought that he had changed his sex. As a result, it is really a truth to make them believe that the country is easy to change and their nature is difficult to change. The only thing they wondered about was why Lao Lei wanted to target South Korea, and in their memory, they didn't know what kind of contradiction Lao Lei had with South Korea.
Of course, they don't know the Dao, but this is accumulated from the previous life. In the locker room for the last 10 minutes before the game, Oliveira called Old Ray aside. asked a question about Lao Lei's interview, and asked Wei Lu what he did, Lao Lei replied directly: "Look at them are not happy." ”
This answer made Oliveira stunned, and asked if the young man should be dragged like this. After coming back to his senses, he didn't say anything, just wanted to know the details of the situation, in case a reporter asked about it and was caught off guard. To be honest, the South Korean team is really not in his eyes at the moment, and Portugal and South Korea are not the same heavyweight in world football.
The players were about to play, and when Lao Lei came out, there were sudden shrill boos on the field, and only boos were left, and no other sounds could be heard.
Lao Lei was stunned for a moment and quickly came back to his senses, he had this kind of treatment in Ferreira, the University of Coimbra, and Benfica. Lao Lei is no longer surprised, but every time he encounters this kind of thing, he can't help but feel a sense of happiness in his heart. Because he likes to make people who hate themselves hate themselves even more.
In front of the camera, on the big screen of the stadium, and on the broadcast pictures of various parts of the world, Lao Lei's smile and smug smile appeared.