As long as the Chinese team defeats Costa Rica, the Chinese team will enter the quarterfinals of the Brazil World Cup.

However, Costa Rica goalkeeper Navas didn't think so. He felt that the probability of Costa Rica advance to the quarterfinals is also quite high.

Because he is Dong Fangzhuo's teammate and he is familiar with Dong Fangzhuo, he laughed and said in an interview with Sports Weekly: "I think I can win Dong off, I am so familiar with him. When I was in Real Madrid, I would practice with him for more than an hour every day. Of course, every time I basically lose very badly. He can shoot from any angle or position, but I think I am much happier than other goalkeepers, because I can train with him every day and master a lot of things."

"Then why are you so confident that you can save his shot?"

"Because the competition is different from training, the training is still, but there is no time to think about the competition, so I am very confident in myself."

"What if it's a set piece shot?"

"This...we try not to give him a chance to shoot a set piece, haha!"

"We are not only Dong Fangzhuo, we also have Feng Renliang, Zhao Xuri, etc."

“Costa Rica is not just Navas, haha.”

Navas, who has a squid face, is actually a very talkative and funny guy.

Then he talked about the World Cup 12 years ago.

"In 2002, we also played with your Chinese team. We won you 2:0. I had to read the newspaper at that time and said you would win us, tie with Turkey, and then advance to the knockout round."!!! Many of the reporters present were old reporters, of course I remember what happened back then.

At that time, the news media said that they won Costa Rica, tied Türkiye, lost to Brazil, and scored 4 points to qualify from the group stage. As a result, the Chinese team lost in all three games...

"It's different from the past. Now Costa Rica is at a disadvantage. Do you still have so confidence?"

"We are not weak. We eliminated Italy and England, so we can also eliminate the Chinese team."

Navas' eyes were shining with light. It seemed like a joke before, but now it is really not a joke.

Yes, since they can eliminate Italy and England, why should they be afraid of the Chinese team?

This is unscientific.

As the biggest dark horse in the 2014 World Cup, they can compete with any team.

Although there are not many people who know Costa Rica, in fact, this is a rich and beautiful country. The country's name means "rich coast" in Spanish, and the beautiful name of "Central America and Switzerland". It is just because the country's small land area is very far away from China, and it is rarely within people's sight. It is only when it is separated from the Chinese team that participated in the first competition in the 2002 World Cup.

During this year's World Cup, Costa Rica was divided into a group with Italy, England and Uruguay, and was considered the weakest team in the group. However, in the group stage, it defeated Uruguay 3:1, defeated Italy 1:0, and tied England with an impressive record of 0:0. In the group, which was known as the "Death Group" before this game, it beat the three championships and won the first place in the group, becoming the darkest dark horse since the start of the game.

The dark horse career of Costa Rica began in the summer of Italy in 1990. They reached the top 16. At that time, their head coach was Milu, a well-known Chinese people. The dark horse led by the magic coach Milu was only lost to the Czechoslovak team in the quarterfinals. Many people still remembered it vividly. At that time, the Costa Rica team was composed of amateur players. After entering the top 16, the team was busy changing air tickets, and the players were busy calling their boss to ask for a few more days off to participate in the next game.

More than 20 years later, the return of the dark horse is not so accidental. Now the team is led by Campbell and Ruiz who play for top leagues such as the Premier League. The old coach Pinto formulated a pragmatic tactic. Although everyone had not guessed the results in the group stage beforehand, judging from the process of the game, Costa Rica is indeed speaking with strength, and no one thinks they are just based on luck.

The dark horse is running wildly!

And can the Chinese team tame this dark horse?

A reporter from Sports Weekly interviewed Costa Rica coach Jorge Pinto.

Pinto's attitude seems very cautious about the quarterfinals that will be faced in five days. "The road ahead will only become more and more difficult. It is already very difficult to qualify in the group, and everything will be possible in the knockout round. We are ready to go all out to the next battle."

"In my opinion, the Chinese team is harder to play than Italy and England. These two teams are in the stage of alternating new and old, while the Chinese team is at its peak. Compared with four years ago, I think the Chinese team is stronger and there are more players to share with Dong Fangzhuo. But we won't worry about anything because of this. We have always done a good job and we want to go further."

"It's the knockout round soon. For our young men, our mentality is very peaceful now. I know that many people are not optimistic about us and think that it's already good that we can only reach the top 16. I will let them know that this idea is wrong."

"This game will have a lot of meaning and an opportunity for us to create history. We will focus our efforts to let ourselves and the people of our country enjoy this game. We are on the road to creating history."

"We are not a popular team, we have never thought too much, there is no specific goal to reach a certain stage, but we will try our best to go the farthest. I know we have the ability to go further."

Although Pingto is still relatively low-key, he is actually full of confidence.

On China, everyone is also discussing, but no one discusses the quarterfinals, but the quarterfinals.

"Mexico cannot beat the Netherlands, our opponent must be the Netherlands, and the opportunity for revenge is here."

"Even if you play Mexico, the Chinese team will be fine. Didn't you play a game with Mexico in 2010? 3:2, we won."

"If the Netherlands hadn't had a misjudgment four years ago, it wouldn't be possible for anyone to enter the finals. This time they would have to pay off their debts. Sneider and Van Persie were old and would definitely not be able to beat us."

"Brothers, we don't seem to be discussing the wrong direction? The game against Costa Rica has not yet been played, so why are we discussing the Netherlands and Mexico?"

Some fans raised questions, "Are you too optimistic?"

"It must be true that if we don't reach the semi-finals, it will be a failure for the Chinese team. I believe that the guys from the national football team must also be thinking about the Netherlands and thinking about how to avenge them. I never thought that they would lose to Costa Rica."

Fans can be objective, but players certainly won't.

In an interview with Brazil's Global Daily, Dong Fangzhuo made it clear: "The teams that can enter the knockout stage will definitely not have weak teams. I think the World Cup knockout stage is very similar to the Champions League knockout stage. If you are careless, you will pay the price. Costa Rica has the ability to defeat any team. We must be prepared for a hard battle. The knockout stage focuses on defense, not offense."

Head coach Crowchen also said: "You can see their defense in the group stage. They conceded very few goals. It is absolutely not easy for us to score. We must remain cautiously optimistic. A team that can eliminate Italy and England and can play hard against Uruguay. It must be a strong team. We need enough physical fitness to play this game. Fortunately, I rested most of the players in the third round of the group."

Speaking of this, a strange smile appeared on Crowchen's face.

The Chinese team is feeling a little restful when they play Costa Rica.

※※※※

Friday night, the first knockout match started first.

The host Brazil tied 1:1 with Chile in regular time, then went overtime and a penalty shootout, and finally advanced to the quarterfinals with a score of 4:3. A little bit closer, the host would have to capsize.

So the World Cup knockout stage is not easy to play at all.

Then, the Netherlands narrowly defeated Mexico with a score of 2:1.

The next night, Colombia took Uruguay 2:0.

The fourth quarterfinals are China vs. Costa Rica.

When Milu, the former coach of the two national teams, looked forward to the game before the game, he was optimistic about the Chinese team: "In my opinion, Costa Rica's dark horse road has come to an end, and they cannot prevent the Chinese team from advancing to the quarterfinals. The Chinese team is no longer a dark horse. They are one of the favorites to win the championship. After leaving Italy, England and Spain, their current championship odds are ranked sixth."

"And there are three reasons why I am so sure that the Chinese team advances. One is that Clauchen and the Chinese team have been together for ten years. The second is that the Chinese team plays very maturely and has a tacit understanding. The third is that Dong Fangzhuo is in the team."

At the press conference before the game, Clauchen finally showed his fangs: "I hope the team can resolve the battle within 90 minutes and don't drag the game into overtime. In a World Cup event, the rest time is too short. The longer the game plays, the more tired the players are."

"The Chinese team wants to attack?"

"Yes, we won't deal with Costa Rica to overtime."

"Where is Dong Fangzhuo's location?"

"forward."

"He will show up at the center."

"Didn't you say you should fight conservatively before? Has it changed the formation again?"

"hehe……"

Clauchen did not change the formation, but he adopted Sun Jihai's suggestion to play against the central defender.

The lineup he gave was:

Goalkeeper: Zeng Cheng.

Defenders: Zhang Linpeng, Sun Jihai, Feng Xiaoting, Zhu Ting

Midfielder: Huang Bowen, Zheng Zhi, Zhao Xuri

Forward: Hao Junmin, Dong Fangzhuo, Feng Renliang

This lineup was predicted by fans in the second round of the group stage, but unexpectedly, Clauchen actually used it...

After watching the Chinese team's press conference, Costa Rica coach Pinto took a breath.

Does the Chinese team really want to attack?

This is really a headache. He hopes that Dong Fangzhuo will play in the midfield. He originally wanted to play a protracted defensive battle with the Chinese team. If the Chinese team wants to attack hard, it is really difficult to defend.

But he still insisted on his playing style, still 541. Goalkeeper: Navas

Defenders: Gamboa, Duarte, Jaincarlo Gonzalez, Umania, Diaz

Midfielder: Ruiz, Borges, Teheda, Boranios

Forward: Campbell

They are the only team that plays 541 formation in the World Cup. Of course, once their two full-backs come forward to assist, they will become 361 formation, but they are more focused on defense...

After the lineup came out, Peng Weiguo, who was a commentator in ccav5, said bluntly: "This time I really want to break the turtle formation. In fact, Costa Rica is just one person in front, and ten people in the backcourt defend. Unless there is a particularly good opportunity, they will definitely not attack easily."

"It's not easy for the Chinese team to break the turtle shell formation."

Host Duan Xuan asked: "How to break the turtle shell array?"

“Isn’t this simple yet?”

"Who is the team that is best at breaking the turtle shell formation? Real Madrid, who is Real Madrid? Dong Fangzhuo. Actually, I think the more they fight, the more they give the Chinese team a chance."

"We need to add dribbling in the frontcourt to cause fouls in the frontcourt, so that we can solve the problem by using free kicks."

"Well, well, with Dong Fangzhuo, a guy with a free kick goal rate of 33.74%, you can really make good use of this, but I think Costa Rica should be on guard too, right? 10 of them defend in the backcourt may not easily foul, and 10 of them blocked the door and stuffed the door."

Duan Xuan nodded and shook his head again: "If the tortoise shell is so easy to break, then England and Italy would not have come home so early."

"It's very simple, because they don't have Dong Fangzhuo. If there is Dong Fangzhuo, can they not go home? I don't believe it. I think the German team is the most terrifying in this cup. Maybe they can really pose a threat to the Chinese team. Fortunately, unless both teams reach the final, they will not be able to touch it."

"What if you get ambushed by Costa Rica?"

"This depends on the consciousness of the players on the court. In short, as Clauchen said, he hopes to resolve the battle within 90 minutes, and he doesn't want to fight attrition. Leaving his physical strength to fight the Dutch team to the death is the safest way. In the last World Cup, we played overtime, so our physical fitness was at a disadvantage. Later, we lost a lot of money to the Netherlands. This time we can't repeat the same mistakes."

Peng Weiguo analyzed it with great confidence: "Don't forget that we have Hao Junmin and Feng Renliang. In this game, I think not only Dong Fangzhuo can perform, but others will also do their best."

The handicap that Spinach Company gave to this game before the game was that the Chinese team gave the half-ball one, and it was optimistic that the Chinese team would win in regular time.

But who knows whether the handicap is right? Brazil also gave a goal in the match against Chile, but Brazil tied with Chile, and the game between Colombia and Uruguay actually tied... .m.
Chapter completed!