Chapter 313: World Cup Group Stage Draw: The National Football Team Led by ggbond Falls Into Hell

Baidu Hot Search.

No. 3: The draw for the groups of the Russia World Cup will begin tonight.

No. 7: Which teams are participating in the World Cup?

The draw is only a few hours away, and today Check Dongqiu Di is extremely lively.

Besides Messi, Ronaldo, and Tang Ye, many fans are discussing the situation of the World Cup draw.

At 9:40 in the morning, a fan with the ID "sd32821" posted a comment that received nearly 30,000 likes in just four short hours.

Big Brother SD analyzed the situation of the World Cup group draw in depth from the perspective of Chinese national team fans.

As a fourth-pot team, the Chinese team will be drawn against one first-pot team, one second-pot team, and one third-pot team, forming a group of four teams in total.

The top two teams in the group will advance to the knockout stage.

And this is the goal for the national football team at next year's World Cup!

It seems like all they need to do is finish in the top 50%, but considering the comprehensive strength of the national team, this is indeed not an easy task.

First-pot teams include Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina... it is hard to imagine what kind of scoreline the national team would produce when facing such globally top-tier powerhouses.

However!

Big Brother SD proposed a viewpoint: the result of the first-pot draw is irrelevant for the national team.

The reason is simple: the national team by default cannot beat a first-pot team, so the key lies with the second-pot and third-pot teams.

If they want to advance to the knockout stage, then the second-pot and third-pot teams are the most critical factors for the national team!

Taking everything into consideration, Big Brother SA provided a draw result that is relatively suitable for the national team.

First pot: Belgium.

Second pot: Iceland/Panama.

Third pot: Tunisia/Costa Rica.

Actually, none of these five teams are easy for the national team to handle, but this is already the most ideal scenario.

After all, out of more than 200 national teams worldwide, only 32 can participate in the World Cup.

There is not a single weak team among those qualifying for the group stage!

Baidu Hot Search.

1. The ceremony for the group draw of the Russia World Cup begins.

2. The Chinese team enters the World Cup group stage for the second time.

3. Kickoff time for the Russia World Cup.

4. Russia World Cup.

At the Carrington Base, Manchester United players who had finished training early gathered in the cafeteria.

One corner of the cafeteria's television screen was shattered, but the picture quality was still quite clear.

"Chris, I wanted the glass bottle version; this one is canned. Never mind, I'll drink this anyway. Wow, it's quite cold."

Bang!

Smalling slammed his butt onto the sofa, launching Tang Ye, who was sitting beside him, straight into the air.

"Damn, haha!"

"Chris, if you were any heavier, I could have bounced even higher."

"Can't get any heavier; Michel told me to maintain my physique."

Smalling placed his hand on the backrest of the sofa while Tang Ye picked up the cola that had fallen beside it.

Just then, the image on the television suddenly changed, and Tang Ye focused his attention intently on the screen.

Pfft!!!

"Damn!"

Tang Ye jumped up immediately, but the sprayed cola splashed all over his pants.

"Hahahaha, haha."

Lin Lin Jiade and Martial were laughing wildly as Tang Ye placed the still-fizzing cola on the coffee table: "Shit, I forgot I just shook the cola."

"Tom, I think you need to go take a shower first."

Ten Hag leaned against the edge of the dining table, offering advice while laughing.

After glancing at the screen, Tang Ye shook his body, took off his shirt, and sat back down on the sofa.

"Forget it, let's finish watching first."

"Didn't the cola spill all over the sofa? And you're still sitting on it?"

"Actually, you didn't look closely; my body caught all the sprayed cola."

Tang Ye stood up to show Rodri the sofa beneath him: "Look, Rod, the sofa is clean."

"Fuck, haha!"

Rodri sat down beside Tang Ye, who then picked up the foam-covered cola from the coffee table and took a small sip.

The draw has begun!

Meanwhile, on the other side.

"China Central Television, China Central Television!"

"Good evening, dear audience members. This is the live broadcast of the Russia World Cup group stage draw ceremony."

Tonight's program features three CCTV commentators providing analysis simultaneously, accompanied by a female translator.

"I'm a bit excited, Instructor He!"

"That's how it is, haha!"

"Hey, here it comes!"

"As you can see, the old gentleman in the suit in the camera is the Argentine legend Diego Maradona; he is the guest for today's draw ceremony!"

【Charge, charge, charge!】

【Great ggbond, please lend your luck to the National Team.】

【Infantino, it's up to you!】

【Maradona is drawing; isn't it Maradona you need to pray to?】

【It's a sure thing. Tang Tang Qiuwang sacrificed his college entrance exam scores for this very day, right? National Team, take off!】

Under the gaze of all Chinese fans, the groupings for all the top-seeded teams were displayed at the very bottom.

A1: Russia

B1: Portugal

C1: France

D1: Argentina

F1: Germany

H1: Poland

Maradona reached his hand into the glass bowl and retrieved a white piece of paper.

This was the first team drawn in this draw ceremony.

【uru (Uruguay)】

After Maradona finished drawing the team, another guest placed his hand into the glass bowl.

【A4】

"The first one drawn is Uruguay; Uruguay has entered Group A!"

Counting Russia as A1, Group A now has two teams.

Next is Group B; the top-seeded team Portugal (B1) is waiting for their opponent.

Maradona took the second ball from the draw bowl and said in English with an Argentine accent: "Spain."

Huh!

The camera cut to the Portuguese manager Sanchez and the Spanish manager Hierro on site; neither of their expressions was very good.

"This..."

Tang Ye turned his head to look at Rodri, who was already stunned.

"Portugal?"

"Rod, you're going to play against Cristiano Ronaldo. Although you haven't been selected for the National Team yet, you should be selected very soon."

Tang Ye placed his hand on Rodri's thigh, trying to comfort his little brother.

He was also quite surprised by this draw result.

For both Spain and Portugal, this was not a good draw position.

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: The World Cup group draw ceremony is underway; Group B welcomes the Spain-Portugal clash.

【Awesome, damn it.】

【Ronaldo fans are suffering; Spain is hard to beat.】

Tang Ye's good friend Rod encountered a not-so-good draw position, but the atmosphere in the Manchester United canteen was still quite relaxed.

Keep watching.

"..."

The second teams for Groups A through E were all out; now it was Group F.

The top-seeded team for Group F is...

Germany!

"This is the defending champion!"

Rodri and Tang Ye whispered quietly; the sadness from drawing Portugal had already vanished.

Anyway, none of the top-seeded teams were weak, so if they had to play Portugal, they would play Portugal.

Compared to Spain, Portugal was the one who should be suffering more!

"Germany should be the strongest among all the top-seeded teams."

Rodri said slowly: "Although the defending champion usually won't win again, Germany crushing the group stage is definitely no problem; no matter what team they meet, they will..."

While Rodri was speaking, Maradona took the paper from the white ball and unfolded it.

"China!"

"?"

Rodri suddenly turned his head to look at Tang Ye; the latter also turned his head around, and the two locked eyes.

"Tom, listen to me; actually, I was just joking just now. Germany isn't as strong as you think."

Tang Ye leaned back in his chair, one hand on his head: "This, this... am I going to play Germany..."

"It seems that's the case."

Smolin slapped Tang Ye's arm: "It's fine; it's not like there's no chance at all. Just beat Germany!"

Tang Ye shook his head.

Chris was simply too optimistic; Tang Ye was not such an optimistic person.

"During the Brazil World Cup, my father and I were there watching in person. Germany was very strong; Jerome Boateng's clearance almost kicked my head."

"It's fine, it's fine."

Mata, who had been standing behind the sofa without saying a word, placed both hands on Tang Ye's shoulders, while Ten Hag also looked at Tang Ye on the sofa.

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Maradona's Hand of God, China enters Group F to face defending champions Germany.

【Lifelong Maradona hater!】

【Damn, you guys are invincible】【F*ck! Give us our money back!】

【GG Bond's first World Cup ends here.】

Tang Ye's condition wasn't too terrible, but the hearts of Chinese football fans watching the live broadcast on TV were f*cking shattered.

They drew the fiercest team in the entire tournament right off the bat!

The 2014 Brazil World Cup champions, Germany, who defeated Brazil 7-1!

The German Super Tank!

The live camera cut to the Chinese national team's head coach, Lippi, in the audience.

Mr. Marcello's face had already turned dark.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, Tang Ye's phone was ringing, but he wasn't in a rush; he decided to finish watching the draw first.

Drawing Germany was already an unavoidable reality; now they could only hope the other two teams in Group F wouldn't be too strong!

……

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Russia World Cup group draw results released, Argentina and Croatia in the Group of Death, China faces the defending champions.

Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran.

!

Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria.

Group F: Germany, Senegal, Sweden, China.

Group H: Poland, Mexico, Colombia, Japan.

Among the several Asian teams, Japan's luck should be the best.

China and Iran weren't much different; if one had to compare, China's luck was slightly better than Iran's.

The reason was simple: Iran's second-pot team in their group was Spain.

One Portugal and one Spain; one could say Iran had absolutely no chance of making it to the knockout stage.

But!

The situation for the Chinese national team wasn't very good either.

Putting Germany aside for now, neither Senegal nor Sweden was a team China could handle.

"Damn it..."

Tang Ye, bare-chested, leaned against the sofa, holding his head with both hands.

"Not only do I have to play against Germany, but I also have to play against Zlatan."

"Haha."

Ibrahimović packed up his belongings: "In half a year we'll be opponents; you need to be careful, we're even stronger than you imagine."

Walking over to fist-bump Tang Ye, Ibrahimović said with a smile: "When we play against China, I will score."

Tang Ye sighed helplessly: "Is Sweden very strong?"

"Of course!"

Looking at the group draw results on the TV screen, Tang Ye realized a problem.

For the Chinese national team, any of the other 31 teams would be very difficult to handle.

Viewed this way, drawing Sweden and Senegal wasn't actually a very disastrous outcome.

They could only take it one step at a time!

The phone in his pocket was still vibrating; Tang Ye put back on his training kit, which had already been blow-dried dry, and then took out his phone.

In less than 15 minutes, Tang Ye had received a huge number of messages on both WhatsApp and WeChat.

【Bruno: A bad draw result, but I think you can focus on Senegal and Sweden.】

【Ale: It's fine, Sweden isn't strong.】

【……】

Every time an important event occurred, Tang Ye would receive many messages from friends; this was truly a very happy thing.

After finishing WhatsApp, it was time for... WeChat!

Opening the green app he hadn't used in a long time, he saw that the group chat for the Chinese national team's first squad already had 99+ messages.

Checking the current time, it was 4:42 PM in Manchester.

Adding seven hours made it 11:42 PM.

The Chinese football players had stayed up until nearly midnight to watch the live draw, never expecting such a result in the end.

【Zhang Zhang Yuning: I'm really f*cked.】

【Wu Lei: Actually, it's okay; Germany is unavoidable, but Senegal and Sweden are already relatively good results; being in Portugal's group would be truly doomed.】

【Zheng Zhi: Did Tang Ye watch the live broadcast?】

【Zhang Zhang Yuning: It should be afternoon over where Tang Ye is; he might be training, let me @him.】

【Zhang Zhang Yuning: @Tang Ye】

Hmm, he got @mentioned.

Holding his phone with both hands, Tang Ye typed quickly.

【Tang Ye: I'm here, I'm here.】

【Tang Ye: Sweden has a teammate of mine, Zlatan...】

After typing the three characters "Zlatan," Tang Ye felt something was off, so he pressed the backspace key again.

【Tang Ye: There's a teammate of mine in Sweden, Ibrahimović; he's quite formidable.】

【Zhang Zhang Yuning: Go for it, Tang Tang Qiuwang! You have nine matches in December.】

"Haha."

He had almost forgotten that Brother Zhang Yuning often watched his matches; Tang Ye sent a thumbs-up emoji.

【Tang Ye: Go for it, Brother Zhang Yuning!】

Exiting the group chat interface, Tang Ye received a message from the team manager concerning the national team's January training camp in Hainan.

【Manchester United has many matches; it's fine if you don't attend the January training camp. The Football Association isn't forcing you, but you must return as soon as possible after the season ends.】

"Tom, come with me for a moment."

Ten Hag had something to discuss with Tang Ye; Tang Ye quickly replied to the manager's WeChat message, then followed Ten Hag outside the cafeteria.

"Mr. Erik."

Tang Ye and Ten Hag exchanged a high-five; the Manchester United manager observed Tang Ye's expression carefully, seemingly trying to read something from it.

"I watched the World Cup draw as well; China's grouping might not be very favorable..."

"Tom, national team matches are important, but I must remind you that the World Cup is next year's affair, so your focus right now should be on the club."

Ten Hag held up the number "9": "We have nine matches in December. Michel mentioned this in the group chat a few days ago; you even sent me a question mark back then. You remember that, right?"

"..."

Feeling slightly awkward, Tang Ye pinched his nose: "I remember, Mr. Erik, but I truly sent that by mistake; I was chatting with a friend from a game at the time."

"I know, I know."

Ten Hag nodded: "In any case, you need to devote the vast majority of your attention to the club; that is my only requirement."

"I can do that, Mr. Erik."

"Mm."

Ten Hag patted Tang Ye's arm: "Good luck."

Baidu Hot Search.

1. Results of the Russia World Cup Draw.

2. National Team vs. Germany.

3. Is the National Team Hopeless of Advancing from the World Cup Group Stage?

Check Dongqiu Di Match Preview: At 1:30 AM on December 3rd, Manchester United travels to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal. Can the Red Devils of Manchester, who won every match in November, extend their winning streak?

The red bus pulled up beside the stadium's side gate.

"We've arrived, Rod."

Tang Ye shook the sleeping Rodri, successfully waking up his junior teammate Rod.

"Rodri, your mindset is excellent; you can even fall asleep before a match against Arsenal."

Smalling, walking past in the aisle, patted Rodri on the shoulder; the latter shrugged at Tang Ye: "Maybe it's because I ate your gum when we got on the bus."

"Haha, let's go quickly, Rod; if we don't move, we'll be the last ones off the bus!"

As they disembarked from the bus, Arsenal fans had already surrounded them.

"Germany!"

"Germany!"

Rodri glanced at Tang Ye: "It seems they've been following the World Cup draw as well."

Arsenal fans were truly too clever, actually thinking to use the World Cup affair to mess with Tom's mindset.

They indeed succeeded, but during the match, Tom would absolutely not make things easy for them.

"Let me tell you, Rod, actually drawing Germany isn't such an unbearable thing."

Walking toward the locker room, Tang Ye began talking with Rodri.

"I read an analysis by a fan, and I think he made a lot of sense. Since we can't beat the Pot 1 teams anyway, we might as well draw the strongest Pot 1 team; then the remaining three teams in the group get blown away together, which is actually advantageous for us."

"Rod, do you think that makes sense?"

"Wow."

Rodri shrugged: "Looking at it that way, it is indeed a good thing; Germany should easily beat any non-Pot 1 team. However, you still need to defeat, um... I recall it's Senegal and Sweden."

As Rodri and Tang Ye discussed World Cup matters, Tang Ye suddenly thought of something and shook his head rapidly.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's not talk about this anymore; I promised Mr. Erik that I would focus on the club first."

"China Media Group! This is the live broadcast currently being brought to you..."

"The referee is checking his watch!"

"Alright, the match has begun; now I will introduce the starting lineups for both sides in this game, starting with the home team, Arsenal!"

Arsenal (3-4-2-1)

Goalkeeper: Čech

Defenders: Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal

Midfielders: Bellerín, Ramsey, Xhaka, Kolašinac

Forwards: Özil, Lacazette, Sánchez

Head Coach: Wenger

Arsenal deployed their most frequently used 3-4-2-1 formation this season, while Manchester United lined up in a 4-2-3-1.

Both sides were fielding their most proficient formations!

Sitting on the substitute bench, Ten Hag rested his hands on his thighs.

He cast a glance toward Wenger's position in the adjacent dugout.

Despite knowing full well that Tang Ye countered the three-defender formation, Wenger had still deployed it.

Ten Hag felt that Wenger did not regard Tom's strength with any seriousness.

Arsène had offended Tom!

And to offend Tom was to offend him, Ten Hag!

This was unacceptable!

……

(End of Chapter)