After returning to the room, Igor Gazal said to his roommate Almeida Netolera.
"I always feel that our captain is telling us a story to prevent us from underestimating our opponent in the semifinals..."
Netolela actually found this to be quite bizarre.
Will Brazil, the majestic seven-star team, feel ashamed because they failed to win against the Chinese team?
So why not be ashamed of not winning against Russia?
At that World Cup, Russia and Brazil were in the same group. As a result, the Brazilian team was tied by Russia in the first round of the group stage.
So why don't Kabangka and the others feel resentful about Russia?
To say that it has not defeated the Chinese team... Although the Brazilian team has defeated Russia in history, the current Brazilian team has not defeated Russia.
Because since the World Cup in the United States and Canada eight years ago, the Brazilian team has not played against Russia again.
Just because you didn't win against the Chinese team and you were provoked a few times by Hu Lai's bitchy mouth, you want to seek revenge from the Chinese team?
Anyway, Netolela felt that the captain was exaggerating, and this reason was untenable.
"If the captain hopes that we will not underestimate the enemy, he is actually overly worried." Igor Gazal continued. "I think after watching the match between the Chinese team and England, no one really looks down on the host country, right?"
Netolella agreed: "Anyway, I will definitely give my best in the game. If the Chinese think that we will underestimate the enemy, then they better really think so."
Ghazal was amused: "I hope so too."
Both Ghazal and Netolela felt that the story they heard today was too exaggerated and not very credible.
But they all understand why the captain did what he did.
After all, this is the semi-finals, and their opponents are the hosts who have just beaten England with six goals, and they have the support of 1.4 billion people behind them.
This opponent is indeed a threat.
They will go all out in the game, but not because the captain said it is to avenge the humiliation. It is just because they must defeat the Chinese team so that Brazil can go to the finals and defend the championship.
Only two teams in World Cup history have successfully defended their title.
One is Uruguay and the other is Brazil.
Uruguay's record of defending the title is too long, it is the first and second championship. At that time, the overall level of world football was not high, and defending the title was not as difficult as it is now.
Brazil not only successfully defended its title, but also achieved an unprecedented "three consecutive championships".
Now their goal is to defend the World Cup title in a more difficult situation.
※※※
The quarter-finals were played over two days.
The first day is the two quarter-finals in the first half, China and England, Brazil and France.
The winner has been decided.
The highlight of the second day is the clash between Argentina and the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
At this stage of the World Cup, there are basically no "dark horses" left.
If you look at the historical record, then the host Chinese team can be considered a dark horse.
But looking at the dominance they showed in the quarter-finals, it's hard to think that this is a "dark horse".
Of course, it is also possible that England is too lazy...
I must wait until the semi-finals and use the strong defending champion Brazil team to test the quality of the Chinese team.
But that will have to wait until July 10th, three days later - that is the day when the semifinals begin.
Today, July 7th, the most important thing is the two quarter-finals in the second half.
The match between Argentina and the Netherlands kicks off at 5pm.
Italy and Germany will appear at 9 p.m.
The most watched of these two games is the match between Argentina and the Netherlands.
Because of Melly.
The three most influential players in today's football are Hulay, Melly and Kabangka.
The three of them also created the "Big Three" era after the "Four Heavenly Kings".
Now two of the three have reached the World Cup semi-finals, and one will definitely reach the final.
So the remaining giant can’t be left behind, right?
Before Hulay scored four goals for the England team, Melly's voice in this World Cup was greater than Hulay's, and he was infinitely famous.
But now the trend of public opinion has changed, and everyone has begun to talk about Hu Lai.
The odds of the Chinese team winning the championship soared after this game.
Some professional media people simply commented like this:
"...After the game against England, Hu had already kicked the ball to Melly. Now the ball is at Melly's feet. How will he respond?"
Yes, how will Melly respond?
Fans and media all over the world have focused their attention on him, wanting to see what kind of performance the Argentine superstar can perform in response to Hulay.
※※※
Maxi Carey stood on the sidelines, looking at the court with his hands in his pockets. Beside him, Joseph Drost was pointing into the court and yelling.
If someone who doesn't know enough about the Dutch team sees this scene, they will definitely think that Drost, with rich body language and excited expression, is Houji's assistant coach.
On the other hand, the man next to him, who has an unchanging expression and is as steady as a mountain, with a thunderous chest and a face as calm as a lake, must be the head coach of the Dutch national team, right?
But they guessed wrong.
Droste, who was hunched over and extending his arms, shouting and looking unsteady at all, was the head coach of the Dutch team.
Maxi Carey, with his hands in his pockets next to him, is actually an assistant coach...
Just watching this scene will definitely make people think that the Dutch team is now in a disadvantageous situation, causing the head coach to become emotional and restless.
But the camera looked past the two coaches, and the real-time score of the game was displayed on the big screen in the distant stands:
Seventy minutes of the game
Netherlands 1:0 Argentina
"Droost is still urging the Dutch team to attack and attack. This is normal. Although they are currently leading by one goal, they are only leading by one goal. This is actually very dangerous in football matches. In order to
To ensure that the Dutch team can reach the semi-finals, they should at least score one more goal..."
"The Dutch team's extremely aggressive playing style was very effective in this game. For a long time at the beginning of the game, Argentina was not able to adapt to the Dutch team's tough playing style. Talented Argentine talents such as Melly and Farias were in the Dutch team
The players' muscles and collisions are like fragile and delicate flowers..."
"I don't know if Hu Lai gave him too much of a shock yesterday. I feel like Melli was a little lost in this game and couldn't find his form for a long time... Under the fierce personal defense of the Dutch defenders, he frequently lost the ball.
ball……"
The commentators also criticized Argentina's performance mercilessly.
"Oh my God, Argentina won't just stop in the quarterfinals, right?"
In the stands, Han Shuyu was filming a VLOG while complaining to Li Qingliang next to him.
"The Argentine national team, which has the 'best offensive player in history' Melly Banega, has to be eliminated in the quarter-finals of three consecutive World Cups? Isn't it too ironic?"
There was a hint of irony in Han Shuyu's tone.
This title of "the strongest offensive ability with the ball in history" was given to Melli by the media.
What they said is correct, Melli's ability to hold the ball is indeed unrivaled in the world, surpassing Hu Lai's.
It would be really embarrassing for Argentina, which has such a historical superstar, to fail in the quarter-finals for three consecutive World Cups.
No matter how powerful you Merry is in history, what's the use of you?
The 2026 World Cup in the United States and Canada was the first time Melli participated in the World Cup. He was only 23 years old at the time. At that time, Argentina was placed in a group with Portugal, Cameroon, and Costa Rica. In the end, Argentina won three games in three games and accumulated nine points to qualify first in the group.
In the quarter-finals, they met the Netherlands and the draw was 1:1 in 120 minutes. Melli was blocked by Danny Drew in that game and did not score. In the end, through a penalty shootout, Argentina won
eliminated the Netherlands.
Then they met Spain, who later became the champion, in the quarter-finals, and Argentina was eliminated cleanly 0:2.
Four years later, at the 2030 World Cup in Spain, Argentina was placed in a group with Belgium, the Czech Republic and Costa Rica. At that time, Melli was already the well-deserved core of the Argentine national team.
He also led Argentina to two wins and a draw, accumulating seven points and qualifying first in the group.
Argentina defeated Switzerland 3:0 in the quarter-finals.
The result was another quarter-final, and Argentina was suffocated by Italy 0:1.
Out again.
If Argentina still fails in the quarter-finals of this World Cup, it really makes people wonder whether this Argentina team is cursed...
Before the game, the Dutch media also talked about "revenge" because it was Argentina who kicked the Dutch out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals eight years ago.
However, given that the two teams that were aiming for revenge did not end well yesterday, everyone just regarded the Dutch media as a loser. Many people online even made fun of the Dutch's "revenge" as a joke.
The result of this game was beyond their expectations.
In the 30th minute of the first half, the Dutch team won a penalty kick, and then their captain Danny Drew made a solid penalty kick. The Dutch team led Argentina by one goal.
The lagging Argentina team became more and more impatient as they played. Facing the more physically dominant Dutch team, there was nothing they could do.
Just when Han Shuyu was complaining about Li Qingliang, the Dutch team was attacking with the ball.
Their attack method is simple and crude, with right back William Kolarenz passing the ball at a 45-degree angle from the wing.
In the penalty area, Dutch high forward Jaden van Bruggen retreated from the goal. He jumped high during the retreat, and then grabbed the ball before the Argentinian defender and threw the ball backwards!
In the crowd at the back, a not-so-tall Dutch player suddenly burst out and thrust his head towards the top!
Push the flying football towards the goal that is just around the corner!
At this moment, Argentina goalkeeper Mariano Penalva was still in front and was completely powerless against the ball. He could only look back and watch the ball fly into the goal again!
"Tess Derriu——!!! Ahhhh! The ball is in! The ball is in! Derriu! A ghostly blow! In the 72nd minute of the game, Derriu gave Argentina a fatal blow!
This will be a goal that may end the suspense of the game!! The Netherlands leads Argentina 2:0!"
The commentators roared crazily.
Han Shuyu was stunned, his brain temporarily lost the ability to think, and he could only repeat mechanically: "I'm ba'ao! I'm ba'ao! I'm ba'ao! I'm ba'ao! This... this, this, this, this!"
On the left side of the stand where she was standing were Dutch fans cheering wildly, and on the right were stunned Argentinian fans.
She seemed to be on a dividing line, dividing the world into two halves.