Chapter 882: I'm Sorry I Couldn't Take You to the Final

Trending Search No. 1: National Football Team loses to France.

No. 2: China 2:4 France.

No. 3: National Football Team will play Argentina or Portugal in the third-place match.

No. 4: Argentina vs Portugal.

No. 5: China's first defeat at the Qatar World Cup.

Before the semi-finals began, France and China were the only "undefeated teams" in this World Cup, meaning neither had lost a single match from the first round of the group stage up to the game before the semi-finals.

When two undefeated teams meet in the knockout stage, one team's undefeated record is bound to end.

Regrettably, the team whose record ended was China.

As the biggest dark horse of this World Cup, the Chinese team was considered capable of creating miracles "infinitely," because they had repeatedly slapped the faces of their detractors.

But a dark horse ultimately cannot stay dark forever.

The French team not only possessed superior overall strength compared to China, but their players' characteristics also had a clear suppressing effect on the National Football Team.

"Do you know what the Chinese team fears most?"

Immediately after the match ended, Li Li Laoba's assistant posted a video on Bilibili.

"What the Chinese team fears most are players who rely purely on speed, like Mbappé, Dembélé, and Bale. Why did China beat Wales in the group stage? Wasn't it because Bale was in terrible form? Otherwise, just Bale alone would have been enough to give us a huge headache!"

"Then in the semi-final against France, having one fast winger on the flank is one thing, but the French team had three, plus that Theo Hernández—this guy is also a sports car."

"So what can be done? Some fans are still asking below Li Li Laoba's WeChat official account about Escrivá; what can Escrivá do? Even if you swapped in Ten Hag or Klopp, it wouldn't help; how do you play when the opposition is full of sports cars?"

Who knows what he ate, but after speaking a few sentences, Li Li Laoba let out a loud burp.

"Don't blame Saint Escrivá; he couldn't do anything either. China has Tang Ye, but only one Tang Ye—I've said this many times."

【Better late than never: Li Li Laoba's take on the third-place match】

【Will the third-place match be against Portugal?】

Danmu comments floated across the top of the video.

And Li Li Laoba seemed to know exactly what danmu his fans would send, because later in this video, he indeed mentioned the matter of the third-place match.

Feng Feng Xuejuan walked over: "So is the third-place match against Portugal? Will Tang Ye play against Cristiano Ronaldo?"

"Play Portugal? The third-place match won't be against Portugal. You clearly don't understand football," Li Li Laoba scolded.

"With the form Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes (B-Fei) are in, how could Argentina possibly beat Portugal?"

"Let me tell you, I've already written the script for you: Portugal will shut out Argentina 2-0 in regular time, and then face Mbappé's France in the final."

"Then Tang Ye will achieve a double victory over Leo Messi and be crowned the Ball King."

At this moment, Feng Feng Xuejuan had something to say.

"What if that thing doesn't get a double victory? Everyone says Argentina's loss in the group stage was due to carelessness."

"Who said that?"

"People online said it."

"You believe what people online say?"

"To be honest, Argentina is just like that; they have no chance. Even if they played the National Football Team again, they would lose. Actually, I've never been very optimistic about the National Football Team, you know, but I just feel the Chinese team can beat Argentina; even though the Chinese players exhausted their stamina in the semi-final, I still favor them."

He had promised not to watch the CSL or the National Football Team, but now Li Li Laoba was practically playing the national anthem in his livestream room.

Part of this stemmed from Li Li Laoba's hatred toward Argentina, or rather toward Messi, but more of it was recognition of the Chinese team.

Three group stage matches, seven points, finishing first; the Round of 16 and Quarter-finals, fighting with all their might to successfully advance.

To achieve this journey of accomplishments, the Chinese team could be said to have exhausted all their energy.

"Damn, that Jiang Guangtai really served up a terrible performance; he played so well in the previous matches, but as soon as he faced France, he completely fell apart."

"Little Assistant, you could put the post-match ratings in the video; look at my brother Guangtai, in the Round of 16 and Quarter-finals Jiang Guangtai should have been 7.0+, I remember there was even a 7.5, but as soon as he played France he dropped straight to 4.5; what can you do about that?"

"Let me tell you, in the second half, S-Crivá shouldn't have subbed Jiang Guangtai in; he should have let him rest, skipped the semi-final entirely, and then gone all out against Argentina! I don't know why Escrivá thought scoring a penalty gave them a chance to turn things around."

【Every prediction Li Laoba made was wrong; fans who believed Li Laoba are set for life】

【To be honest, I also felt we could turn it around; we just needed to win free kicks. If the opponent doesn't give us free kicks, what can we do? Wei Wei Shihao and Wu Lei's deception skills aren't good enough; couldn't we have tried to win a few more free kicks?】

【It wouldn't matter even if they gave us free kicks; Griezmann's red card completely shattered Tang Ye's mentality. Mine is shattered too.】

Match Preview: Lower Bracket Semi-Final Clash of the Titans, who will advance to the final between Argentina and Portugal?

From the perspective of the Chinese team, everyone certainly hopes Portugal advances.

The reason is very simple: compared to Portugal, the Chinese team has more experience playing against Argentina.

They won once during the group stage!

Whether they can win a second time remains to be seen, but considering the tactical characteristics of the National Football Team, handling Messi is definitely easier than handling Cristiano Ronaldo—Leo's existence would bring huge troubles to China's defense.

Manchester Evening News Editor-in-Chief: Argentina defeats Portugal 2:1 to advance to the final.

Mundo Deportivo—Predicts Argentina 1:1, defeating Portugal in a penalty shootout.

The Daily Mail—Favors Portugal to eliminate Argentina.

Experts favoring Argentina and those favoring Portugal are basically split fifty-fifty; if one must say, slightly more experts favor Argentina.

Of course, the experts also gave their reasons: they believe Argentina's loss in the group stage should not be used as a basis for judging the team's strength.

Argentina lost to China in the first round of the group stage; perhaps they just weren't prepared yet?

Time arrived at the day of the Argentina versus Portugal match, which was the day after the China-France battle.

Today, Escrivá did not assign any tasks to the players, so everyone was basically resting at the hotel.

Rather than conducting a post-match review, it was better to let the players calm down and relax on their own.

"Where is Tom?"

Escrivá encountered Marty in the corridor.

"I, I don't know? I didn't see him. You said it was dismissed."

"..."

Escrivá shook his head: "I have something to discuss with him."

"Then you can give him a call."

"Hiss... I feel calling would be a bit too awkward. Moreover, it's not good to discuss such matters over the phone."