On the morning of the second day of the game, the Brazilian team's coaching staff gave the entire team a half-day off, so they didn't have to train or even get up early.
Everyone can take a nap, have a good rest and relax.
This is also their "privilege" to reach the semi-finals.
Restorative training is done in the afternoon.
However, before the restorative training, after lunch, the coaching staff arranged for the whole team to watch the video of the match between China and England.
Due to time conflicts, none of the Brazilian players watched the entire game.
Of course, after yesterday's game, I'm afraid many players have already watched the highlights of that game online. At least they know how the Chinese team scored those six goals.
But watching highlights and watching the whole game are two different things.
So at noon today, the entire Brazilian team gathered in the hotel conference room to watch the video of the entire match between the Chinese team and England.
This is the preparation for the semi-finals.
Give players a comprehensive understanding of their opponents in the semifinals.
Although everyone had already watched the highlights online, they still watched the game video very carefully.
This is not easy for Brazilian players who are naturally loose.
Perhaps it was because the Chinese team defeated England 6:0, which still gave them a little shock.
Watching highlights is one thing, watching live video of games is another.
For these top professional players, they can see more from the game videos, and it is definitely not just "watching the fun" like the fans.
After the video was played, all the lights in the conference room were turned on and the light returned.
The team's head coach Pedro Garcia appeared next to the projection screen and said to the players:
"If the Chinese team defeated England 1:0, 2:1, or even 3:2, we can all say that their victory was somewhat lucky. But they won 6:0. This is definitely not luck. In fact
There is no game in this world where you can score six goals by relying on luck. I believe that after watching the complete video of the game, you all should know what kind of opponent we will face next."
When Garcia said this, his expression was very serious.
When he said this, no player smiled playfully and didn't take it seriously.
As the meritorious coach who led the team to win the World Cup, Pedro Garcia has absolute authority in this team.
"We faced the most powerful Chinese team in history in the semi-finals, and they also have the support of 1.4 billion people. You can imagine how great the pressure we will face by then... It may be far away
It’s beyond your imagination! That game will be very, very difficult, and you must be mentally prepared. No matter how you overestimate the difficulty of this game, it’s never too much.
"After yesterday's game, we celebrated well. But starting from today, forget about the past games, put down the idea of celebrating, and devote ourselves to training and preparation for the semi-finals. There are still two games left in the World Cup. I hope
Our last game is the final, not the third or fourth place final."
※※※
After the meeting, the Brazilian team players left the meeting room and returned to their respective rooms to rest.
On the way, they were all still discussing the match between the Chinese team and England.
Although they have been discussing this topic from yesterday to today, this is the top hot topic in the team.
But after watching the complete game video between the Chinese team and the England team, they seemed to have a lot to say.
"Most of the time England was suppressed by the Chinese team... At least the British media was right. The Chinese team's attacking lineup is indeed top-notch."
"In fact, the Chinese team's defense is also very good. They have conceded one goal in five games, which is the second-fewest team. I think we must not underestimate the defensive level of this team."
"To be honest, although they are the team that conceded the second fewest goals, their defense is really not as good as their offense... The reason why they conceded one goal is because the opponent put too little pressure on their defense. I think as long as we can
If they continue to put pressure on their defense during the game, they will definitely concede goals..."
"Isn't this good? If the Chinese team also feels that their defense is very good, maybe this is our opportunity?"
"I finally had a chance to play against the Chinese team. I thought I wouldn't have a chance before I retired..."
"Thank God we can play them again in the World Cup!"
Almeida Nettorella has been listening to the discussions of his teammates, but there is a question in his mind that is getting bigger and bigger.
In the end, he couldn't help but find the team's captain Kendall Kabangka and asked him to help him solve his doubts:
"Captain, I think being able to reach the semi-finals is indeed a very happy thing. But... why is our enthusiasm for discussing the Chinese team a bit... too much. Well, it's like... it's like..."
The man, who plays for the Blue and White Munich and is considered the best defensive midfielder in today's football, was thinking about his words and trying to express himself accurately, but he never found the right words.
Or did Kabangka help him express that meaning: "It's as if we are looking forward to playing against the Chinese team?"
Netolela nodded vigorously: "That's right! That's the feeling. It feels like everyone is very excited and looking forward to it..."
Kabangka looked around and found that other players were looking at them. Obviously Neto Leila was not the only one who had such doubts. These people were relatively young and it was basically their first time to participate in the World Cup.
.
There is a generational gap between them and the senior players in the team, and it is indeed difficult to understand what the senior players think.
It was not just these young players who stopped, but also the enthusiastic old players just discussed.
Kabangka realized that he, the captain, had been ignoring an issue before, that is, he had been thinking about when he would have another match with the Chinese team. His teammates who had experienced that game eight years ago all had the same idea.
, so he thought the whole team had this idea.
But in fact, there are people in this team who are suspicious.
But they didn't ask.
Until Neto Leila, the best among them, pierced that membrane.
If Netolela hadn't taken the initiative to ask, maybe they would have chosen to bury this doubt in their hearts.
When the game comes, this kind of doubt and uncertainty may become a stumbling block for the Brazilian team to move forward.
So Kabangka decided to use this opportunity to unify the team's thinking. This is one of the most important preparations before the semifinals.
He told the team:
"You all know that we were in the same group as the Chinese team at the World Cup in the United States and Canada eight years ago and played against each other once."
The teammates nodded one after another, not only knowing, but also knowing that the Brazilian team did not win that game.
"In that game, we ended up with a 3:3 draw with the Chinese team. Almeida, what do you think of this result?" Kabangca asked Netolera.
Netoleira actually knew about that game. He was only fourteen years old at the time, and he was still a poor kid playing football in a Brazilian slum.
He watched it in a restaurant with his neighbors.
He remembered that the Chinese team did not equalize the score until the 80th minute when Hu Lai equalized.
So he replied: "The Chinese team is very lucky, they are absolutely tied."
After listening to Netolela's words, Kabangka smiled and shook his head: "No, we are lucky."
"Ah?" Now not only Netolera, but also the young players who were confused just now, all looked surprised and puzzled.
Netolella also turned his attention to the old players behind Kabangca who participated in the game eight years ago, such as forward Marquios, left back Rafael Fonseca, and midfielder Cardoso Toni.
, center back Jose Amorim, goalkeeper Victor Lemos.
I found that they were all nodding in agreement with Kabangka's statement.
Obviously, this is not Kabangka's trick, this is really the consensus of the old players who have experienced it firsthand!
But how is this possible?
The Chinese team was able to draw with Brazil. After the game, the whole world was saying that the Chinese team was lucky and how difficult it was to draw with Brazil...
Why did the Brazilian players who played that game say they were lucky?
Kabangka continued: "After the Chinese team equalized the score at that time, their morale was greatly boosted. If they continued to attack fiercely, I think we might not be able to withstand their attack at that time. It is very likely that Hu will score again. That way
They didn't draw us absolutely, but defeated us. If we lost that game, the last teams in that group would be China and Russia. But fortunately, the Chinese team failed to break our goal, so we still
Qualified as first in the group..."
After listening to the captain's explanation, Netolera defended: "Maybe it was because the Chinese team was exhausted at the time and had no energy left to attack."
"Maybe." Kabangca shook his head noncommittally, "No matter what the reason is, we were indeed lucky to keep that point. But guys, we are the Brazilian team, and we ended up facing the first time in the World Cup.
The Chinese team was almost defeated. Can you imagine the impact that game had on us? Although we qualified for the group and were first in the group, we did not celebrate when we returned to the locker room after the game.
"
Faced with this problem, the young players looked at each other in confusion. What the captain said was somewhat unbelievable.
They couldn't imagine what it was like.
Young Renaldo Lima said: "That's because Hu is very strong. He scored all three goals by himself. And before the World Cup, he was already the Premier League Golden Boot..."
Kabangca shook his head and disagreed with Lima's excuse for them: "Hu is very strong, but you know Hu's playing style. He needs the support of his teammates. He alone will not be able to get into our league no matter what."
Three balls.”
These words left Lima speechless. As the main striker of Catalonia United, he often played against Hulay in club matches, so he knew very well what Kabangka said made sense.
Kabangka continued following Lima's topic: "So it's actually very simple. The little-known Chinese team at that time was very good as a whole. They pushed us into a state of disarray, not by luck, but by luck.
Really capable. But even so, for us, that game was a shame."
Behind him, Fonseca, Toni and other players who had experienced that game also nodded in agreement, obviously they also thought it was a shame.
"Since that game, I have been looking forward to playing another match with the Chinese team. It is not a friendly match, but a formal match. Just to beat them once, otherwise I will always be unable to breathe out."
Kabangka touches his heart with his hand.
"And that bastard Hu always said in front of me that even if we win the championship, the Chinese team is the only team we have not won in the World Cup."
Toni, who was on the same club team as Hulay, lowered his head and did not show a wry smile in front of everyone. In club games, Hulay actually did this in order to influence his opponent's mentality.
Lima twitched his lips. He could also testify that Hu Lai did say this in front of Kabangka, because he was beside Kabangka at the time...
This is not actually Hu Lai's nonsense.
Brazil is the only team in history that has never missed any World Cup, and in the history of Brazil's participation in the World Cup, the Chinese team is indeed an opponent they have never won. Because the two teams are
We played against each other once in the World Cup eight years ago...
This is not actually because the Brazilian team is inferior to the Chinese team. The main reason is that the Chinese team has participated in the World Cup too few times, only three times in total, and the chance of meeting the Brazilian team is really low.
"But we are not on the same continent as the Chinese team, so if we want to play against the Chinese team, we can only play in the World Cup - the Copa America two years ago, which was held in Brazil. We once wanted to invite the Chinese team to participate, but they refused
...I even laughed at Hu about this, saying that he was afraid of losing to us."
At this point, Kabangka laughed and then shook his head:
"But Hu also mentioned that we have never defeated them in the World Cup... Hu is right, they are indeed opponents that we have never defeated in the World Cup, so we must defeat them in the World Cup.
So do you know why we are so looking forward to and excited about the match against China?"
Kabangka looked at Netolela who had originally asked the question.