0:0, the score above Ibaraki Stadium was so cold. At the first time after the game, Chinese players were very satisfied with the score. It was really not easy to draw Brazil, and it was even more difficult than expected.

Logically speaking, those who should have lost the game should not be Ou Chuliang's god-level performance, the Brazilian should have a joyful smile on his face now.

Many players walked into the small penalty area to celebrate with Qu Chuliang.

Fan Zhiyi was the first one, and he said with lingering fear: "Ge Ou, if you weren't in this game, it would be really cold."

Li Weifeng also hit Qu Chuliang with his palm, his face had not yet calmed down, and he felt like he had survived the disaster.

Zheng Zhi came over and gave Ou Chuliang a thick hug. He knew best what Ou Chuliang's performance meant and was truly happy for Ou Chuliang.

"You made the guys on the other side cry to death tonight."

His eyes swept to his depressed Brazilian friends. He laughed, "I have to complain about them."

Releasing his arms, Zheng Zhi walked towards Ronaldo.

“Ahhh,”

"Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie,"

"Didn't you wear shooting boots together today?" Zheng Zhi put his arms around Ronaldo's shoulder without hesitation and became solemn. "Fortunately, tonight is just a very ordinary group stage. If it is a knockout round, I think your luck will be worse, and then you have to pack your luggage and go back to Brazil."

Ronaldo pushed Zheng Zhi's hand away in anger.

"Go! Go! Go,"

"No matter how bad our luck is, it will still be a draw. If your luck is worse, it will be a loss. You played well, because your goalkeeper is too good."

He raised his waist and turned his head to look at Ou Chuliang, "If it weren't for him, you would have lost at least three goals! I can't count it until now. How many opportunities have I wasted?"

Ronaldo started to conduct a review. For him, his experience tonight was incredible. He was able to score one or two goals, and his teammates should be able to score goals. Victory should be within reach, but the data everyone handed over was 0, which was an ugly duck egg.

"Of course, your defense is really good. Although we have many shooting opportunities, we often get a rush when we kick. I also understand a little why you were able to win the Olympic championship last year. These young people are indeed not as experienced as you."

"But this is not the strongest Brazilian team, nor is it the most important game. I hope we can meet in the group stage in the World Cup next year."

A dead duck has a stubborn mouth, and if it is flat, it will be flat.

Zheng Zhi immediately smiled again, "Meeting in the group stage? It's a bit interesting. But we don't want to meet you. If there is another equally strong opponent in the group, it will be too difficult to qualify in the group."

Thinking that the 202 World Cup would really be together, Zheng Zhi smiled meaningfully. But who would like to meet that champion Brazil at that time? Even if two Ou Chuliang stand in front of the goal, they may not be able to defend a draw...

"Be careful, you may have to meet France in advance," he patted Ronaldo on the shoulder again. "If that's the case, I think you may not be able to reach the final."

Ronaldo's heart immediately skipped a beat, and he met the French team in advance? That means that Brazil will meet France in the second place in the group. The premise is that the Chinese team will win the first place in the group.

Now it seems that the probability is a bit high. If the Chinese team beat Cameroon, then the goal difference will be greater than that of Brazil...

Don't dare to think...

At the press conference, Brazilian head coach Leo was also very depressed.

"The game process is beautiful and the result is very sad. This is not the result we want, but we tried our best. We have as many as 15 shots and 5 chances to score. There is no need to ask me why it is still a draw. If you have eyes, you should see a goalkeeper standing in front of the opponent's goal, and on our front line, the best scorer in the world, he was the winner of the European Golden Boot Award last season."

Although the Golden Boot Award has not been awarded yet, Ronaldo's 18 goals in the Champions League and 37 goals in Serie A, with a total of 55 goals, the world's best goal record. He can't even score in the game. What can he do?

Although the draw was bitter, Reiner led the Brazilian team to play the best game after he came to Japan. He didn't believe that the team could still be fired by the Brazilian Football Association, and the fans would be dissatisfied.

It's just a matter of luck that I can't win today.

"What's more, the Chinese team's defense is really good. I think Brazil has played at an extraordinary level today."

And Horton's side is similar to Leo's words. Horton praised the team's defense.

"I basically agree with Leo's statement. We have a proud defense line. Sun Jihai, Fan Zhiyi, Li Weifeng, Wu Chengying, Zheng Zhi, and Li Yin. They completed the defensive tasks well. Under such a difficult situation, it is understandable that we find it difficult to make a difference in offense. The draw is already the best result we can get, and the Brazilian team is indeed quite strong."

"but,"

"I don't agree that the draw is luck. Because it is obviously unfair to Ou Chuliang. He can save so many must-scoring goals, it cannot be luck, but strength. You can say it is strength plus luck, but it is definitely not just luck. We should see that the Chinese team has produced a world-class goalkeeper. What gains will be given in this battle? It's not because we tied the powerful Brazil, but because we have gained the most trusted goalkeeper."

For the first time, Horton praised Ou Chuliang without hesitation. If even Horton could not see Ou Chuliang's excellence, then he would not be an excellent football coaching mentor...

Media from both countries also reported the competition. Brazil's Global Sports did not criticize the Brazilian team for the first time, and they pointed the finger at Ou Chuliang - "A Chinese rejected the goal."

——Brazil could have won a hearty victory, but the Chinese goalkeeper performed so well. He rejected the Brazilian strikers' goals at least five times by himself. In addition, when Zheng Zhi led the defenders to defend with all their might, this Chinese team really looked like Italy! Although Leo's team only scored a draw tonight, they played a convincing game.

And China's "Sports Weekly"? - "Thousand-Armed Guanyin Ou Chuliang!"

——In this game, the most amazing performance was not the winner of the 2000 Golden Ball Award, nor was Fan Zhiyi who scored the Golden Ball in the 2001 League Cup final, but Ou Chuliang, who played for Sichuan Guancheng. Ou Chuliang received a high and low block, blocking all the Brazilian strikers' shots. According to Teacher Zhang Lu, he was possessed by San Tordo and Kahn! Please call him Ou Sheng!

...

※※※※

After the first two rounds, the Chinese team achieved 4 points with one win and one draw, surpassing Brazil to rank first in the group, and Brazil ranked second.

But the second night, Brazil fell to third place because Japan defeated Cameroon and did a pretty good job than Brazil. Brazil won the game 3:2 before, while Japan won the game 2:0.

For most of the game, the Japanese team controlled the battle, and eventually the rookie Takayuki Suzuki scored twice, defeating African champion Cameroon 2:0.

In this way, the situation in Group B is a bit complicated. Brazil, Japan and China all have hopes to advance to the semi-finals of the Federation Cup. However, the Chinese team has more advantages because Cameroon was eliminated early. They will definitely not compete with the Chinese team in the third round. It can be said that the Chinese team basically got the ticket to the semi-finals in advance, and Brazil and Japan are going to compete for a ticket.

Coincidentally, the competition in Group A is also shocking.

The French team actually lost 0:1 to Australia. If it is not surprising or alert to Australia's 2:0 victory over Mexico in the first game, then it would be incredible to kill the favorites to win the championship 1:0 in the second game, and it is even more unpopular than the Chinese team's 0:0 draw against Brazil.

France lost 0-1 to Australia in the World Cup and European Cup "double champions" and the team. Captain Leboff was sent off with a red card in the second half, and Australia achieved one of the most brilliant victories in history.

South Korea defeated Mexico 2:1 with Liu Xiangti's header in the last minute. Previously, both teams suffered defeats in their first game, with South Korea losing 0:5 under the World Cup champion France, while Mexico lost 0:2 to Australia.

In this way, the promotion situation of Group A has become confusing. In addition to the eliminated Mexico, France, Australia and South Korea have hope.

Both groups will have to wait until the last round before they can see the final conclusion.

And the Chinese team has also re-examined Cameroon's team. Even Brazil's team's Ronaldo has defended it. So is Etoo of Cameroon still terrible?

Obviously no longer afraid.

More importantly, even Japanese players can handle Etoo, so Fan Zhiyi and Li Weifeng will be more confident.

Therefore, only after doing some things, you will know whether you can do it or not. Before you do it, you are always worried and scared.

But if you advance to the group stage next, then you have to consider who your opponent is. Australia is now ranked first in Group A, not France, and Horton and others feel uncomfortable. The French team should not lose to Australia, they should steadily rank first, so that the Chinese team can find a way to compete with Cameroon in the third round, and compete with Brazil's goals and goal difference.

Now, I don’t know if I will encounter France, but there is more suspense.

Who doesn’t want to have a good signing position and then have the chance to enter the finals? Japan and Brazil have a very high probability of winning and losing...

However, Holden still believes that the French team will eventually defeat Mexico and return to the top in the group, while South Korea will fight against Australia, and both sides will eventually suffer losses. Therefore, the Chinese team must win with all their might, kill Cameroon and get first in the group, and then push Brazil to the second in the group, so that Brazil and France will fight ahead of schedule. In this way, the probability of the Chinese team entering the Federation Cup final will greatly increase.

On the evening of the 7th, the third round of Group B was held at the same time. Brazil and Japan started the battle in Ibaraki, while the match between China and Cameroon is now Niigata started.

Brazil and Japan staged a wonderful offensive battle, and the stronger Brazil defeated Japan 3:1. After Horton adjusted the formation to 442, the Chinese team lost the embarrassment against Brazil. Finally, with the goals of Yang Chen, Shao Jiayi and Zheng Zhi, they won Cameroon 3:0.

In this way, the Chinese team won two wins and one draw in three games, ranking first in the group by the advantage of goals and goal difference. Although the Brazil team also scored 6 goals, there were only 4 goals difference, so they could only rank second.

The suspense is left on the side of Group A. Brazil has already won the second place, which means that the first in Group A must be against Brazil. No one wants to play Brazil. But the first thing is to ensure the promotion of the game is not? So France, Australia and South Korea have few choices.

Both France and South Korea need victory, but Australia only needs a draw. France only needs 1:0, and South Korea needs a big victory, but in fact, the probability of the French team winning first is high.

In the end, France accepted the future calmly. They defeated Mexico 4:0 and returned to the top. South Korea fought hard and won Australia 1:0. But it was useless for South Korea. In the end, France and Australia were the ones who advanced.

In this way, the situation of the Federation Cup final is:

France vs Brazil;

China vs Australia.

The winner will advance to the final.

As soon as the situation of the match came out, the Chinese domestic media cheered.

"Sports Weekly" - Almost led the final! China successfully avoided the world champion and European champion France and drew the Oceania champion Australia!

"Sina.com" - 6 goals in the group stage, 0 goals conceded, the Chinese team advanced to the semi-finals with strong opponents, Oceania champion Australia!

The media also selectively lost their memory. They quickly forgot that Australia once defeated the French team 1:0 in the second round, but now they are so optimistic? It seems that Australia is really a gift package.

They are not as cautious as Chinese fans. On Sina's football forum, many fans expressed their concerns about Australia.

“Australia is actually not easy to play.”

"They can win France 1:0, lose 0:1 to South Korea, and even 3:0 to Mexico. A team that is very cramped, but has the strength. Most of the players of the team play in the British league, which is equivalent to half of England."

"We play with them, and they have obvious physical advantages. After the power of Kowell and Viduka is exerted, we really can't underestimate them."

Of course, there are more rational fans who said, "We can't just see the advantages of Australia, but also see our advantages. Don't we? Just look at the advantages of the opponent and not the shortcomings of the opponent, then there is no need to play against a strong team? If China can beat Brazil, can we only look at the advantages of Brazil? The Chinese team lost 0 goals in three games is a great advantage. Our offense is more stable than Australia, and our players' strength is also an advantage. Maybe Australia doesn't want to meet us either?"

Wrong.

When the Australian and South Korean team matches ended, the Australian media was more excited than the Chinese media.

The Sydney Herald immediately wrote an article saying that the Australian national team's opponent in the semi-finals of the Federation Cup is China, and it seems that Australia's probability of entering the Federation Cup final is almost 100%. The Chinese team can dominate Asia, but Australia can quickly let them find their place. If it is not for the last round, Australia can easily defeat South Korea. Being able to defeat France and Mexico, Australia's strength is enough to have a place in world football, and it is Viduka and Cowell who play for Leeds United.

Australia doesn't know how much it is. But the odds offered by major European spinach companies and Asian spinach companies are so painful, and Australia actually makes the half-ball.

Did it really beat Mexico and France and make Spinach so optimistic? At least Australian fans think so, Australia is very awesome now.

However, in the eyes of Chinese football legends, Australia is not enough to stop the Chinese team. Former international Gao Hongbo believes: "As the big dark horse of the Federation Cup, Australia broke through the siege, which surprised the experts. They met the Chinese team in the semi-finals, and the winner will reach the international competition finals for the first time in history."

"Australia should not be underestimated. After all, they defeated the French team. Relying on their excellent physical conditions and high-altitude advantages, Australia entered the semi-finals in an upset, but it would be a joke to say that they have more chances than the Chinese team. They can bully Mexico, or even France, because Mexico is not interested in fighting, and France only sends the second team. I think many people in the world have not yet realized how strong our country's defense is."

"I don't brag. Sun Jihai, Fan Zhiyi and Li Weifeng are not better than the defenders of the second team in France? Not to mention Mexico. Although Wu Chengying plays at home, he is also the best left-back in China. As for goalkeeper Ou Chuliang, I wonder if you have noticed that he is not only a player who conceded zero goals in this Cup, but also has the most saves in three games. No matter how strong Kewell and Viduka are, can they be better than York, Kerr, Henry and Germany's Elber and Kilsten? Similarly, in the midfield, is the midfield composed of Li Yin, Qu Bo, Shao Jiayi and Zheng Zhi not as good as Australia? Yang Chen on the front line is at least half a pound with the opponent's forward."
To be continued...