Chapter 79 A brand new version that has never been played
Not long after Hu Lai returned to Jincheng and started strength training, Wang Guangwei heard that Hu Lai was back and moved here with him. It was convenient for him to learn to drive, because the driving school base where he learned to drive was in Liucheng District.
A few days after Wang Guangwei came to stay, the 2022 Qatar World Cup in this time and space officially started.
In fact, the atmosphere of the World Cup has been very strong in China before. Traditional media such as TV and newspapers, as well as emerging media such as the Internet and mobile Internet, began to warm up the World Cup a month ago.
As the opening of the World Cup approaches, the publicity campaign becomes even more intense.
It was so violent that a ball blind person would think that the Chinese team had entered the World Cup. Of course, if the Chinese team had really reached the World Cup, then the ball blind person would find that the battle was a hundred times more exciting than what he is seeing now.
Hu Lai discovered that even though time and space had changed, some things were still deeply rooted. He wondered if they were one of the basic rules of the multiverse.
That is, although China has not participated in the World Cup, China's enthusiasm for the World Cup may be higher than those of other countries that have participated in the World Cup...
This was true in the time and space he traveled through, and it is still true in the time and space he is in now.
It's even crazier in this time and space.
After all, in this time and space, the Chinese team has never participated in a World Cup. But in that time and space, it still had the experience of participating once.
When we first entered the World Cup, we were talking about "forty-four years of waiting." Now in this time and space, the media is promoting "a sixty-year wait" during the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, which is a full sixty years...
Hu Lai sometimes feels terrible just thinking about it.
In the past sixty years, China has developed from the beginning of reform and opening up to what it is today, and it has not even been used for sixty years.
Chinese football has never been able to break out of Asia.
It’s no wonder that before the reform of the Football Association, the image of Chinese football was so bad that it really had to be reformed.
Of course, when the World Cup comes and the domestic media publicizes it, Hu Lai's mentor Zhao Kangming has to be turned out again and again. The media talks about how the Chinese team won ten consecutive games in the 2005 World Cup qualifiers.
The reason why he didn't make it to the strong match is related to Zhao Kangming's red card.
So poor coach Zhao was obviously the famous coach of Dongchuan Flash Stars a month ago. Everyone hopes that he can lead the Flash Stars to achieve good results in the new season of the Chinese League and successfully surpass the Super League... Now it has changed in the media
Became the "sinner of Chinese football".
In this World Cup qualifier, the Chinese team performed better than previous ones and reached the top 12 in the final stage. However, it still failed to reach the World Cup and ended up finishing fifth in the group.
At the Asian Cup in early 2019, the Chinese team reached the semi-finals, which gave many Chinese fans hope.
As a result, many people later learned that the highest-level football tournament in Asia was not the Asian Cup at all, but the top 12 Asian qualifiers for the World Cup.
Those opponents that the Chinese team could defeat in the Asian Cup will have a particularly difficult time in the top 12. Even the Asian Cup champions may overturn and lose to the "underdogs" in the top 12.
After this top-12 tournament, the Chinese national team has veterans on three lines withdrawing. Which of them is not a famous figure in Chinese football? They are also top bosses in their respective clubs, such as Hu Lai and Wang Guangwei.
A star player to look up to.
But their best efforts only allowed the Chinese team to participate in the top 12 again after 20 years.
As for big shots like Qin Lin, he did not participate in the World Cup qualifying matches at all.
Generation after generation of Chinese players have devoted all their youth, but they still can't even touch the threshold of the World Cup.
Wang Xiaojun, Zhao Kangming, Qin Lin...
So many famous players and legends in the history of Chinese football have only regrets and tears when talking about their careers because they failed to lead the national team to the World Cup.
When Qin Lin retired from the national team, he choked up and apologized to the fans because he failed to fulfill everyone's wishes and realize the ideal that he had pursued for half his life.
But actually, it's not him who should apologize.
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The World Cup without the Chinese team is still very lively. For Hu Lai, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more about this new football world.
Although it is a completely new version compared to the football world he is familiar with, some general directions are almost the same.
For example, Chinese football is still very weak.
After all, there may be great changes between clubs, but the level of the national team can always be traced. A country's football level is directly related to its own economic development level and the level of football development.
These are all fixed and difficult to change drastically.
World history has not changed, the world pattern is exactly the same as that time and space, and the football development level of each country is naturally well-founded.
Otherwise, once Hu Lai travels through time and discovers that the world's most powerful football country is India, he will probably completely lose his sense of belonging...
The birthplace of modern football is still Britain, and then with the colonial behavior of Britain and other European countries, football was brought to the world, thus becoming the world's number one sport.
If the British had invented basketball in this time and space, then maybe basketball would be the number one sport in the world now.
Because colonial expansion had a profound impact on the promotion of football.
Therefore, the world football map is not very different.
Brazil, Argentina, England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are the traditional powers in the football world, with a glorious tradition that has lasted for many years. And these countries also happen to be the countries that have won the World Cup so far.
Countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Uruguay, Paraguay, Mexico, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Poland rely entirely on their talent explosion. If they produce a group of "golden generations", they can leave their name in the history of world football. If they don't, they will be reduced to
For mediocre people.
Teams like Japan, South Korea, and Iran play an important role in Asian football. Australia and New Zealand have also joined the Asian Football Confederation. Only some Pacific island countries are left in the Oceania Football Confederation, which is almost negligible.
After years of development, American football has made great progress and is no longer the so-called "football desert".
African countries have a place in the world of football because they are rich in football talents.
Countries like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates took advantage of the opportunity to recruit a group of naturalized players, and their standards improved accordingly.
Even countries like Vietnam and Thailand have vigorously developed youth training and have made great progress.
Chinese fans always talk about the comparison of the strength of Asian football in the past. They feel that the Chinese team cannot even win against Vietnam and Thailand, which is simply embarrassing. But in fact, based on the current comparison of football strength, the Chinese team can beat Vietnam.
Thailand is already a very difficult thing...
Fortunately, Chinese football has undergone drastic reforms in recent years, especially the emphasis on campus football and the cultivation of youth training talents, so that Chinese football has gradually found its sense of belonging again.
Hu Lai himself was one of the beneficiaries of this policy. He, Chen Xingyi, Luo Kai, and Wang Guangwei also became the first representatives after the reform of Chinese football.
But no one knows whether this reform is really effective and whether Chinese football is really on the right track as a result.
Just like neighboring Japan, no one can say that their football reform plan has been successful until their national team can participate stably in every World Cup.
Whether the reform of Chinese football is successful or not, at least we have to wait until the Chinese team can reach the World Cup finals.
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The world football landscape is similar to the world Hu Lai is familiar with, but when it comes to individual players, it is very different...
He had just traveled through time and heard about the first native star center Selius Caesar in this world. In this year's World Cup, he was exactly thirty years old, the most golden age for a professional player, and his physical fitness was still
He has not started to decline, but his experience and skills are at their peak. He is naturally ambitious and wants to lead the Italian national team to win the World Cup.
Zhang Qinghuan’s model, Louis Francis, is a French international. He is 34 years old this year and his career has inevitably entered the late stage. However, due to the characteristics of his style of play and other reasons, his condition is still very good. As the "grand commander" of the French national team
". He also shoulders the ardent hopes of French fans, hoping that he can lead the French team to regain the championship glory that the Gallic Rooster has lost for 12 years in this World Cup.
When the French team won the World Cup 12 years ago, Francis was 22 years old. He was not yet the main player of the French team and could only win the World Cup. As the number one organizing midfielder in today's football, he failed to rely on his own ability.
Winning the World Cup has always been something that worries Francis.
Greimand Aylmer, a German football superstar, is 32 years old. He plays the role of a midfielder and is good at both offense and defense. He is nicknamed "The Sun" because Aylmer is a "B2B" midfielder who can move from his own penalty area to
The opponent's penalty area is all within his coverage, just like the sun in the sky, spreading sunshine all over the earth. However, when Hu Lai saw Aylmer's photo, he had a deeper understanding of his nickname "Sun"
"This nickname should be a metaphor for how his bald head reflects the sunlight on the court, like a little sun on the court, blinding his opponents all the time...
But it is said that Aylmer actually had flowing blond hair when he first debuted. With his handsome appearance and blond hair, he looked like the sun god Apollo. Perhaps the nickname "Sun" originally came from this.
The German team is the defending champion of this World Cup, and Aylmer is the core of this team. In the last World Cup, it was he who led the German tank to sweep the opponents, and finally won the World Cup with seven wins in seven games.
He himself also won the Golden Ball award at that World Cup.
This time he and the German team's goal is naturally to successfully defend the World Cup, breaking the curse that no team has been able to successfully defend the World Cup in the past 40 years since the Brazilian team successfully defended the World Cup in 1982. As a player, he is still 32 years old.
He is considered to be at his peak, but his opponents are not ordinary people either.
Caesar of Italy and Francis of France, which one is not here for the championship?
There is also Alexandra Cerrados from Spain, this Spanish striker who perfectly combines speed and skill. He is 28 years old and is the youngest of the four. He is nicknamed "Prince". He leads
As Spain's "golden generation", the only goal of this World Cup is naturally to win the championship.
The above four people have a unified title in world football: "The Four Heavenly Kings".
They are recognized by everyone as the top four players in today's football world. In terms of club honors, they are all Grand Slam players. Only in terms of national team honors, there are some differences, and this is the only area where they can distinguish themselves.
Both Aylmer and Francis have won the World Cup, but Aylmer won the championship as the core of the team, while Francis won the championship by lying down, so Aylmer is better in this regard.
In terms of European Cup honors, Aylmer is a little short of hero. He has not won a European Cup, while Francis and Caesar both have a European Cup.
"Prince" Cerrados is the youngest of the four and the latest to debut, but he has risen quickly. The club has already won a Grand Slam, domestic league, cup championships, and the Champions League championship, which is a personal honor.
He also won the World Footballer of the Year and the European Ballon d'Or. He only had national team honors, but because he was the youngest, it was still blank.
For him, this World Cup is the best opportunity for him to achieve a breakthrough. Because at the age of 28, he is in his prime. Four years later in the World Cup, he is already 32 years old, and he relies on speed to make a living.
I'm afraid it won't be as good as it is now.
In addition, the Spanish national team also has a group of players who have reached a mature stage like him. This group of "golden generation" who work well together have emerged since the World Youth Championship. They have been competing for many years now and it is time for them to produce results.
The favorites to win this year's World Cup are also the teams of these four people.
In addition to these "Four Kings", there are many superstars in world football. Some of them are in their prime, some are beginning to decline, and some are just emerging and have an unlimited future.
For example, after many years of silence between the South American duo, two young people have emerged and have become very popular in the past two years.
One is a young Argentine player nicknamed "Eagle", 19-year-old Mellie Banega. He is generally favored by the Argentine media and fans, who believe that he is the legendary "Eagle King of the Pampas" in Argentina.
The best successor to Orijo Igovara.
After the "Eagle King" retires, a so-called successor will appear in Argentine football every few years, but I don't know if everyone is looking away, or if Igovara's successor brings a lot of benefits to those young people.
There was too much pressure, and in short, none of them met people's expectations.
At present, only this young man named Mellie Banega has the most hope of becoming Igovara's successor.
When Hu Lai first learned about this person, the first thought that popped into his mind was Messi. After all, he had a similar background, so it was difficult for him not to think about that person.
But take a closer look, this Argentine super genius plays for the Spanish giants Madrid Kings...
Hu Lai suddenly felt an indescribable sense of disharmony. Messi went to Real Madrid?
He can no longer think of Banega as Messi.
In terms of personal abilities alone, Banega and Messi do have some similarities. They are fast, good at dribbling, sharp in breakthroughs, and versatile in the frontcourt. But they are only similar. Hulay knows very well that Banega is not Messi.
In the projection of this world, Messi is Messi and Banega is Banega.
In addition to this Argentine genius, Brazil also produced a young genius named Kendall Kabangca.
Even though there are two cards in the name, there is no similarity with the "Kaka" in that world. Kaka is "unparalleled in the world, and a stranger is like jade". His handsomeness is his biggest feature, but this Kabangka is not like Kaka.
He is not even remotely handsome. He is a mixture of black and Indian. He is not ugly, but he is definitely not handsome either. His dreadlocks and hair style give him a wilder vibe.
The style of play is also completely different from Kaká’s European style of striding and dribbling the ball in a straight line. He is more like a samba football dancer, but he is different from the Neymar Hulay knows. Neymar is a forward, and
Kabangka is the attacking midfielder. His body is much stronger than Neymar, but he has the same flowers at his feet. He is more like Ronaldinho than Neymar. His nickname is very similar. He is called "Elf".
"Elven" Kabangca is only 20 years old, one year older than Banega. Both are leaders in the young generation of South American football and are considered to be leaders who can lead their respective national teams to re-emerge in the future.
In addition to these two young geniuses, there are also many famous stars, such as Russia's Ivan Romanov, a high center forward nearly two meters tall, with a strong body and an impact on the court like It looked like a nuclear bomb, so he was nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible".
Another representative of Spain’s “golden generation”, goalkeeper Rodríguez Baccar.
The center back pairing of the England national team, George Birx and Tim Martin, play for the same club and have worked together for more than ten years. They have an incomparable understanding. Some media once believed that it was not true that neither defender would transfer. It's a pity, otherwise it would have set a world football record for the transfer fee of a defender.
As well as their teammates in the England national team, the all-around midfielder "tough guy" Harry Bogarde, whose foot skills are not good enough, makes up for this shortcoming with his always strong fighting spirit and tenacious style, running and kicking without any effort. His long-range shooting made him the core midfielder of the England national team.
Dutch forward Maxi Carey, a false nine, has comprehensive skills and is a world-recognized free kick master with a cool style of play.
…
There are many more famous world-class players, too many to list here.
In short, it is a little different from the time and space that Hu Lai traveled to. There are no peerless twins here, but there are "Four Heavenly Kings", and even the "Four Heavenly Kings" cannot completely suppress the other superstars. There will be a situation where a certain person wins the Golden Globe Award for several years in a row.
Football in this world has not become the version of "Messi, Ronaldo and others".
Today's World Cup is a stage for these heroes and stars to show themselves to the fullest. They are not someone's foil, nor are they teammates of so and so, they are who they are.
They have their own dreams and persistence, as well as their own dignity. They will not stick together to win the championship, nor will they compete to be "someone boasts" or "the leader of the group".
They will also praise the "Four Heavenly Kings", but they will not kneel on the ground and praise the "Four Heavenly Kings".
Even fans of the "Four Heavenly Kings" will not say silly things like "forcing the Four Heavenly Kings".
Hu Lai is eager for such a brand new version that he has never played before.
