Chapter 24 Captain Zhou Yi

Because Zhou Yi started this game, Zheng Zhi, who had started the previous two games and wore the captain's armband, naturally sat on the bench.

The captain's armband also went to Zhou Yi's arm.

When the players from both sides came on the field, captain Zhou Yi was at the front, leading his teammates onto the court.

Next to him is Spain's captain for this match, centre-back Sergio Ramos.

"Captain Zhou Yi!" Liu Jianhong was very excited when he saw this scene.

Although it is no longer news that Zhou Yi has become the captain of the Chinese team, this is the first time that Zhou Yi has appeared in front of everyone wearing the captain's armband.

"Twenty-three-year-old captain, Zhou Yi is the youngest official captain in the history of the Chinese national team!"

Zhou Yi has never been a captain in the national team or club before, and has never worn the captain's armband.

But no one seems to be worried about his lack of experience as a leader, because although he does not wear the captain's armband in the club, he is indeed a spiritual leader, almost like a real captain. Apart from not picking sides, he is basically the captain. He did everything he needed to do.

And last season, Dortmund still won the double crown under such difficult circumstances and successfully defended the Champions League. Zhou Yi not only played an important role on the court, but also played a key role in the locker room, helping the team stabilize. Military morale, Klopp even praised having Zhou Yi is what any head coach dreams of.

Through these news, everyone knows Zhou Yi's leadership ability.

Leadership is not necessarily linked to age or experience. Not to mention, Zhou Yi actually has a lot of experience. In the Chinese team, he is the player with the most European war experience and the most European league experience. He has experienced two Champions League finals and countless fierce battles.

In this national team, if he is not qualified to be the captain, then no one is more qualified than him for this position.

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Wearing the captain's armband, Zhou Yi's appearance is no different from his usual appearances. As soon as he comes out, he looks around and looks left and right.

When Zhou Yi was not famous at the beginning, he was criticized for being "lack of concentration" and "not serious enough" for doing so.

Of course no one says that now, it has become Zhou Yi's habit, and no one has anything to say.

In this game, the Chinese team drew the home team lottery, and they still chose red jerseys, while Spain could only wear black away jerseys.

On the red jersey, the golden captain's armband is very conspicuous.

Coupled with the contrasting color design of his personalized sneakers, even in the TV broadcast with non-HD signals, people can recognize Zhou Yilai at a glance. He is completely different from other players.

Of course, personal temperament is also very important.

Although this was his first World Cup appearance in his life and his first appearance wearing the captain's armband, he didn't feel nervous or uncomfortable at all.

After taking the field, players from both sides lined up and played the national anthem of the participating country.

When the national anthem of the Republic of China was played, Zhou Yi did not cover the national flag on his chest with his hands, but sang the national anthem with his hands behind his back, his head held high and his chest held high.

When the broadcast camera showed him a close-up, the audience in front of the TV could even hear his singing voice.

After the national anthem was played, cheers from fans from both sides rang out.

Next comes the necessary pre-match procedures, including shaking hands with players from both sides, exchanging team flags, gifts, and picking sides...

Zhou Yi and Ramos stood together.

They met again after a month.

However, in the Champions League final a month ago, neither of them was the captain.

Real Madrid's dream of ten crowns was shattered by Zhou Yi. Ramos was deeply impressed by Zhou Yi.

Now this game can be said to be a gathering of hatred between the country and the family.

Zhou Yi even felt that Ramos shook hands with him harder than in the Champions League final...

Spain's first captain Casillas sat on the bench in this game. In the last World Cup game, Spain's head coach Vicente Del Bosque made some adjustments to the team's lineup. I don't know if it was for tactical considerations. , or out of consideration to appease people's hearts.

Anyway, Casillas, who conceded seven goals in the first two games, did not continue to start, and his replacement was Reina.

Naturalized center Diego Costa, who started the previous two games, also sat on the bench in this game. He was replaced by Villa and Torres, the two main forwards in the last World Cup.

Diego Costa is killing everyone in the league, and has also attracted competition between the Brazilian Football Association and the Spanish Football Association. The Brazilian team hopes that Diego Costa can play for the Brazilian national team. After all, the current Brazilian team is very lacking in excellence. center.

But Diego Costa abandoned Brazil and chose to play for Spain. This decision caused strong dissatisfaction in Brazil. At this World Cup, Brazilian fans booed him a lot. I don't know if his poor performance in this World Cup is related to this.

But Costa's performance was indeed poor. As the main center, he started two consecutive games with a powerful Spanish midfielder behind him, but failed to score a single goal. Spain only scored one goal in two games, and it was thanks to Xabi Alonso's penalty kick. The Spanish team did not score a goal in the sports battle.

With such a poor offensive performance, it is no wonder that Del Bosque made adjustments to the forward line in this game, replacing Costa and Pedro, and letting the 33-year-old Villa and the 30-year-old Torres start.

In addition to making adjustments to the forward and goalkeeper, Bosque also made adjustments to other positions. On the defense, Azpilicueta and Xavi Martinez, who started the last game, were replaced. , their replacements were Juanfran and Albiol.

Midfielder Xavi still did not enter the starting lineup for this game. As the core of Spain's midfield, Xavi has not played since the 1:5 defeat to the Netherlands in the first game. The same is true for this game. He did not play, which disappointed those who planned to watch the dialogue between Zhou Yi and Xavi in ​​the World Cup. After all, Zhou Yi is the most similar playing style to Xavi. Some people even say that they learned from Zhou Yi You can see Harvey as a young man, and I wonder if Harvey sees it the same way. But it was a pity that the two people lost the opportunity to talk directly.

Perhaps Del Bosque feels that the old Xavi can no longer keep up with the pace of the game. If the young and energetic Chinese team is allowed to speed up the pace of the game, Xavi will not make much contribution even on the court. So he still didn't start this game.

His replacement was Cazzola.

Busquets also did not start, replaced by Atletico Madrid's young player Koke.

It can be said that this time the Spanish team's starting lineup has undergone a big change, and the adjustment has been very large.

Of the players who started the first game against the Netherlands, only Ramos, Alba, Xavi Alonso and Iniesta are still on the court.

In the last game, Bosque completely gave up what he insisted on in the first two games and put both Xavi and Busquets on the bench, indicating that he realized that Barcelona's system is no longer suitable for the current Spanish team.

The reason why the Spanish team was able to sweep Europe and the World Cup before was because of its powerful Barcelona-style Tiki-taka football.

But at that time, the main players were all in their prime, so whether it was the club or the national team, there was no problem using this tactic, and it was able to capture the feeling of three major competitions. But now the core of the main force has aged, and this tactic requires high physical fitness. After a difficult season, everyone is very tired physically and mentally. If this tactic is used again, the result will be collapse.

Replacing Cazorla and Koke, replacing Villa and Torres, Del Bosque hopes that Spain can get rid of the influence of the previous Tiki-taka football in this game and switch to another fast, simple and direct football.

The emphasis on wingers is also a tradition in Spanish football.

Compared with Spain's Great Shift, the Chinese team's adjustments were much smaller. They only made adjustments in one position, that is, Zhou Yi replaced Zheng Zhi. At the same time, Zhou Yi's position was slightly higher, Yang Hao and Yang Muge. These two defensive midfielders are behind him to protect him.

The Chinese team's bench is not as thick as Spain's, so there is not that much room for adjustment.

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After the side pick ended, the Chinese team won the right to pick the side, and Spain got the right to kick off.

When Zhou Yi chose the venue, he did not hesitate to choose the half court with Spanish fans behind him. This was already expected when he appeared on the scene.

His purpose was to allow the Chinese team to attack in the first half in a direction with the support of its own fans, and to gain the support of Chinese fans at close range when attacking the Spanish goal. In the second half, when the two sides fought again in different places, the Chinese team relied on its own fans to defend and also received support from its own fans.

The enthusiasm and fanaticism of Chinese fans should play a certain role in the Chinese team's defeat of Spain - Zhou Yi believes so, just like his teammates.

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After all procedures on both sides have been completed, the players of the two teams stood in their respective positions and waited for the game to begin.

Villa and Torres walked into the center circle and prepared to kick off.

"Both sides are already in their positions, and the game is about to begin. Audience friends, the next ninety minutes will determine the fate of the Chinese team!"

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