Chapter 848: Greater Expectations Rest Upon Us (Bonus for Monthly Votes)

"Damn, that shot by Messi really scared the hell out of me; luckily it didn't go in, or we would have been completely finished afterward."

On the way from the locker room to the training ground, the Chinese team players chatted happily.

Losing makes one dislike reviewing the match, while winning makes reviewing the match the most anticipated thing.

"Right, if that goal had gone in, we probably wouldn't have been able to turn things around later."

Tang Ye strongly agreed with Wu Lei's words: "That was too critical."

"But it didn't matter; I, King Wu of the Ball, scored a last-minute winner that destroyed everything."

"Haha, damn!"

"Hey, I'm not joking."

Tang Ye pointed at Wu Lei: "Just say whether it was truly cool or not; anyway, if I had scored that goal, I definitely would have taken off my shirt to celebrate too."

"That's for sure; score one more and you'll have a hat trick."

"Oh, right."

Realizing it only now, he indeed nearly completed a hat trick in yesterday's match.

But it didn't matter anyway; beating Argentina is awesome, and everything else is irrelevant.

"..."

"Wales... Wales is extremely important!"

"If possible, I hope our match result against Wales is not a loss, but a draw, or even a victory."

Escrivá's expression was serious: "You should have seen that Germany has become very strong this year."

"I know you have experience beating Germany; I wasn't there then, but that was four years ago, and things from four years ago should not interfere with our match today."

Escrivá told the players that if they expected to lose to Germany in the third round, they must secure at least one draw in the second-round match against Wales.

Otherwise, with only three points, the Chinese team would have no way to advance to the knockout stage!

"Of course, I must clearly tell you that Wales is absolutely not easy to beat; it might even be harder than beating Argentina."

"Just give it your all."

Wu Lei stood right in front of Escrivá, while several Chinese team players looked relaxed and were in very good spirits.

"Stop, stop, stop! I know you are very happy right now, but the match against Argentina is already in the past!"

"We beat Argentina, but in this World Cup, we have only played one match so far; everything has just begun!"

Some players within the team were too relaxed; Escrivá had to educate them properly.

"Having beaten Argentina, do you know what situation we are in now?"

"What are the fans online saying about us now? 'The biggest dark horse of the World Cup,' 'A chance to advance to the knockout stage,' 'Even stronger than Argentina'..."

"Because we beat Argentina, greater expectations now rest upon us."

Escrivá stared fixedly at Tang Ye: "You can imagine what the consequences will be if we fail to advance to the knockout stage now!"

"..."

The words were somewhat direct, one could even say somewhat cruel.

But this was indeed the truth.

People are like this; originally, if the national football team failed to advance to the knockout stage, it would be considered a matter of course, and the Chinese team players would not be blamed for it.

But now it is different.

Beat Argentina, only to turn around and stop at the group stage?

Absolutely unbearable!

Check Dongqiu Di match report: In the first round of Group H, Portugal defeated Uruguay 1-0; B. Fernandes scored from a scramble, while C. Ronaldo's header hit the post.

This match was the focal point of Group H, and C. Ronaldo's post-match interview was the focal point within the focal point.

The interview video gained high popularity, but not because C. Ronaldo's performance in this match was exceptionally outstanding or exceptionally poor; rather, it was because he directly answered some questions related to the Chinese team when responding to reporters.

"The match result was unexpected; before the game started, I never thought China could defeat Argentina. But as you know, TY is the kind of player who often creates miracles, so after watching the match on TV yesterday, I quickly accepted this result."

"I will not comment on Argentina, but TY's performance yesterday was indeed outstanding. So I still say that Manchester United's success is due to TY's success, and not because of anything else."

"I do not intend to promote the so-called 'coach uselessness theory,' but Erik actually did not play a very significant role at Manchester United."

C. Ronaldo curled his lip, his face full of contempt for Ten Hag.

Everyone says transferring to Juventus was C. Ronaldo's most failed choice.

Then returning to Manchester United to serve under Ten Hag was absolutely the second most failed!

"If you get the chance, you will know that if Manchester United had only TY without Erik, they could still win the Champions League."

Click-click!

The sound of shutters rang out continuously; reporters captured C. Ronaldo's expression at that moment and also recorded every word of the Portuguese's statements.

If Manchester United had only TY without Erik, they could still win the Champions League...

Is this statement correct?

The triggering conditions are too stringent, so trying to verify this statement through facts is, to be honest, somewhat difficult.

However, everyone knows very well that C. Ronaldo is an extremely emotional guy.

You cannot guarantee that some of his statements were made under objective circumstances.

ESPN reposted a player interview: Dembélé highly praised China for defeating Argentina and stated, "They will be the biggest dark horse of this World Cup."

A famous YouTube blogger: C. Ronaldo repeatedly mentioned Ten Hag during the World Cup, but this is meaningless; Manchester United's affairs no longer require his concern.

"442" Editor-in-Chief: Charles Browning's (Jiang Guangtai) injury absence has brought great trouble to China, and this trouble will affect their chances of advancing to the knockout stage.

"Although they pulled off an upset to beat Argentina, I still harbor concerns about the Chinese team's prospects; the second-round match against Wales will be quite critical for them."

"At present, it seems the Chinese team has no perfect way to deal with Bale."

As a professional tactical publication, "442" is still quite formidable in certain aspects.

Even though Bale's ability is far from his personal peak, he is still not a player the Chinese team can handle easily.

Of course, "442"'s statement here is not accurate.

Actually, it is not just the Chinese team; other national teams and even clubs have no particularly good methods against Bale either.

Because speed is just too disgusting; while corresponding weaknesses can be found for any other technique, this does not apply to speed.

Speed has no weaknesses!

……

Check Dongqiu Di hot discussion: Group C, second round, National Football Team vs. Wales; compared to first-round data, the starting lineup value of the National Football Team may reach three times that of Wales.

【Not bad, it's all about market value! National Football Team is awesome!】

【Has everyone gone mad recently? The entire internet is praising Tang Ye and the National Football Team; truly ruthless.】

【So when will Jiang Guangtai recover? Why isn't the Football Association releasing any news?】

【I feel Jiang Guangtai must have already recovered safely, but the Football Association is just holding back and not saying anything, waiting to spring him suddenly to disrupt the opponent's plans, and then we go straight to the knockout stage.】

Chinese fans are extremely optimistic; they have already designed the upcoming route for their own team.

Against the two opponents, Wales and Germany, the Chinese team needs to find a way to eliminate one of them.

Then turn around and go straight to the knockout stage!

Exactly, this is the most perfect plan!

The rise of Chinese football is imminent, and the fans can hardly wait.

……

"People's Daily Online" — xxxxxx visits the Chinese team's temporary World Cup base to offer condolences to the male national football team athletes.

Offering condolences is nothing much, just standing for a while to film a video; Tang Ye naturally felt it didn't matter.

But what he didn't expect was that he would actually be asked questions related to the Olympic Games.

"Why didn't you go to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics?" The moment this question was thrown out, Tang Ye froze on the spot, and within a few seconds, he was sweating profusely.

Fortunately, the other party did not make things difficult for him; they just made a joke and left.

That was too scary.