LRAB Chapter 34 Wukong vs. the Wizard
Chapter 34 Wukong vs. the Wizard
6 month 21 day.
Shizuoka, Japan.
The first quarter-final match of the 2002 World Cup took place between two traditional powerhouses, Brazil and England!
This can be said to be the most eye-catching match in the quarterfinals of this tournament.
The main reason is that there have been too many upsets in this tournament.
With France and Argentina eliminated early in the group stage, and Italy suffering another upset, there are not many traditional powerhouses left.
In the quarterfinals, only Brazil and England are two strong teams facing off.
Other matches, such as Germany vs. the United States and Spain vs. South Korea, are typical examples of "strong against weak" in the conventional sense.
The match between China and Senegal is a clash of dark horses.
While it boasts the hype of a "historic clash between Asia and Africa," the lack of star players limits its appeal to casual fans.
So when the Brazil vs. England match started, it instantly attracted global attention!
Brazil fielded their strongest 3-5-2 formation, with a star-studded front three of R&F and a formidable back two of Kawhi Leonard.
England, on the other hand, used a traditional 4-4-2 formation, with Heskey and Owen as the strikers, one tall and one fast, and Beckham and Scholes supporting the midfield.
The match was indeed very exciting.
Brazil dominated possession, but England scored the first goal.
In the 22nd minute, England launched a long pass from their own half. Heskey headed the ball across to the edge of the penalty area, but Lucio's first touch was too heavy, and Owen intercepted it instantly!
Owen faced Marcos one-on-one and calmly chipped the ball over the goalkeeper into the net.
England lead 1-0!
This is the first time Brazil has fallen behind in this World Cup.
However, Brazil did not panic despite being behind, and Ronaldinho began to take over the midfield.
In the 45th minute, Ronaldinho received the ball in midfield, dribbled forward at high speed for 30 meters, and then made two consecutive stepovers against Ashley Cole to create space before sending a low cross into the left side of the penalty area!
Rivaldo surged forward at high speed and, without adjusting, fired a shot into the far corner, leaving Seaman no chance to save it.
1-1! Brazil equalized the score before halftime.
In the 50th minute of the second half, a classic moment in the World Cup was born.
Brazil is awarded a free kick, which Ronaldinho will take.
Just when everyone thought he would cross the ball to find a high point, the ball drew a strange, rapidly descending arc, heading straight for the top right corner of the goal!
Heman was positioned too far forward, and by the time he realized what was happening, it was too late to turn the tide.
Goal! 2-1! Brazil has taken the lead.
Ronaldinho's goal and assist made him a legend in one match!
However, Ronaldinho seemed a little too excited after scoring.
Five minutes after the goal, Ronaldinho deliberately elbowed Mills after receiving the ball in midfield, and the referee showed him a straight red card!
With 10 men, the Brazilian team shrunk their formation to 4-4-1 and ultimately held on to secure the victory.
Brazil becomes the first team to advance to the semi-finals!
They will face the winner between China and Senegal in the semifinals.
The subsequent match between Germany and the United States was relatively dull.
The German team in this tournament is actually of average overall strength, and when facing the American team, they actually adopted a defensive counter-attacking strategy.
The US team, on the other hand, focused on offense, had more possession, and created many shooting opportunities.
But experience prevailed, and thanks to Ballack's header and Kahn's numerous brilliant saves, Germany defeated the United States 1-0 and advanced to the semi-finals.
then……
A day has passed.
South Korea vs. Spain!
After calming down a bit following the South Korea-Italy match, football fans around the world watched another game that raised their blood pressure.
The South Korean team continued their rough play, committing fouls without receiving cards, which is another story.
In the 50th minute, Kim Tae-young headed the ball into an own goal, but the goal was disallowed because Helguera fouled a South Korean defender by pulling him in the penalty area.
In the third minute of extra time, Joaquin made a strong breakthrough on the right wing and crossed the ball from near the byline.
Morientes leaped high at the far post and headed the ball into the net, and Casillas was ready to celebrate—because it was a golden goal that sealed the victory! 1-0!
However, the linesman raised his flag, and referee Gandour ruled the goal invalid because the ball had already gone out of bounds before Joaquin's cross.
Slow-motion replay shows that the ball did not go out of bounds!
In the 111th minute, Morientes played a through ball to Enrique, who made a run into the box and found himself one-on-one with Lee Woon-jae.
But the linesman raised his flag again, offside!
Slow-motion replays showed Enrique was parallel to the South Korean defender, by a hair's breadth, indicating a misjudgment.
Spain missed their last chance to win, and their morale completely collapsed.
In the end, Joaquin missed his penalty in the penalty shootout, and South Korea defeated Spain to advance to the semi-finals!
After the match, the South Korean media naturally hailed the Taeguk Warriors as having "made Asian football history."
Spanish media, on the other hand, launched a scathing attack.
Marca was the most blunt:
"Egyptian referee Ghandour and his assistants will forever be nailed to the pillar of shame in the World Cup. They disallowed two 100% legal goals. Victory should have been ours, but it was stolen by dirty tricks."
"This isn't the World Cup, this is South Korea's World Cup. We can't remember any other words besides 'robbery' and 'theft'."
"The Italians are telling the truth. Now it's our turn. The Koreans relied on the referees to get ahead all the way, from Portugal to Italy, and now to us."
……
However, Ye Xian and the national football players are temporarily unable to pay attention to these verbal battles.
Two hours after the match between South Korea and Spain, the match between China and Senegal will kick off!
At the pre-match press conference, Senegal's national team coach, Mechu, was quite composed:
"I think the Chinese team is a strong team. Their matches against Brazil, Türkiye, and Japan were all impressive."
"Yes, I know that the Chinese team's tactics are very varied, and I admit that it is difficult to predict what formation they will use to play against us, including their starting lineup."
"In the past four games, they have even fielded all their players – except for the two substitute goalkeepers. Every player on the Chinese team could potentially start; it's really unpredictable."
"So I'm prepared to stick to the same strategy no matter what. That's right, I'm not going to change my tactics; I'll still use a solid defense and sharp counter-attacks to defeat the Chinese team."
On the Chinese side, Milutinovic and Ye Xian attended the pre-match press conference together as usual.
At first, they were all routine questions, like whether I was confident of winning, how well I was preparing, what I thought of my opponent, and so on.
Then a reporter who looked dark-skinned asked a strange question:
"It's said that Senegal hired Guinea's most famous shaman today to perform a ritual, hoping to gather the strength of all of Africa to defeat the Chinese team. What are your thoughts on this?"
Milutinovic was stunned, then looked at Ye Xian beside him.
Ye Xian was at a loss for words.
Superstitions on the football field are indeed not uncommon, especially in places like Africa where they are particularly prevalent.
But what's the point of asking this kind of question here? It's beyond the scope of the curriculum!
"Are you scared? Actually, it's not just that wizard." The black reporter pressed on, "At this crucial moment that will determine whether African football history can be made, all of us African wizards will work together!"
This little black guy is getting more and more excited as he talks.
Forget it, there's no point in arguing with this kind of person. The only solution is to use magic to defeat magic.
"Do you know Sun Wukong?" Ye Xian suddenly asked.
The reporter was taken aback and replied, "Is it the Monkey King?"
"Yes, he can smash an entire mountain to pieces with one blow, and somersault 108,000 kilometers in one go."
Ye Xian said in a serious tone, "He is protecting the Chinese team."
"The wizards you're talking about are probably equivalent to a Taoist priest in our society, capable of casting spells and applying curses, right?"
"One Monkey King can probably defeat ten thousand Taoist priests, which is also ten thousand wizards."
"And he's not even the strongest on our side. We still have the Buddha, Lao Tzu..."
"so……"
"Now you understand who will win this match, right?"
The whole audience burst into laughter!