Time flies in a flash.

May 31, 2002.

The French team, the last World Cup champion, will also be the first team to appear in the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, with their opponent being Senegal.

France vs Senegal is the opening match of the Japan-South Korea World Cup.

And Zidane is missing?

The French team did not arouse enough vigilance, because even without Zidane, they still have many awesome candidates, such as Vieira, Djokaf, Petit, etc.

Moreover, Germany is also the number one favorite to win the World Cup.

So, win Senegal in the first game?

Everyone thinks so.

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At 18:30 Beijing time, the 17th World Cup Football Championship, which was participated by the Chinese team, was grandly opened at the Shangyan Stadium in Seoul.

Starting tonight, 736 football heroes from 32 countries will launch a war without gunpowder at 20 stadiums in South Korea and Japan, inheriting the glorious dreams of the World Cup for 72 years and leaping through the passion of fans around the world.

Compared with previous World Cups, this World Cup is the first World Cup in the new century, held by two countries for the first time, held in Asia, a region outside Europe and the United States, and China has been given more symbolic significance and attracted more attention from the world.

After 44 years of hard work, Chinese football finally realized its dream and became a member of the World Cup final. In a sense, this World Cup is a grand ceremony for people all over the world, a carnival for Asians, and a World Cup for Chinese fans. For Chinese fans, for the first time, it was from a World Cup spectator to a real "fan" and the first time it was from an outsider to an insider. That joy, expectation, and excitement could not be expressed in words.

Seoul Main Stadium - Shangyan Stadium was packed today and became a boiling ocean. South Korea summarized Kim Dae-jung, heads of eleven countries including Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and FIFA President Blatt, and former FIFA President Avilan Ger and other football giants attended the opening ceremony.

At 18:30 Beijing time, the opening ceremony officially began.

Amid the cheers and attention of hundreds of millions of spectators, the host South Korea and Japan entered the stadium. The national anthems of South Korea and Japan resounded over the stadium. The FIFA flag and the national flags of the 32 participating countries fluttered in the wind in the stadium. The five-star red flag was raised high for the first time in the World Cup final, which made hundreds of millions of Chinese fans excited.

After the wonderful opening ceremony, the opening match of this World Cup France against Senagar kicked off.

The temperature of the stadium is 20 degrees Celsius, the wind speed is 1 km/h, the humidity is 75%, and it is raining lightly. The audience is close to 63,000 fans, and the law enforcement officer is Buisem of the UAE. The lineups of both sides are not much different from those of the pre-match prediction. Lemayer lined up a 4-2-3-1 formation, Djokav replaced the injured Zidane, with Henry and Villotd on both sides of his left and right sides, and Trezege broke out. Senegal head coach Mechu lined up a 4-5-1 formation, and Diov played the forward.

After losing Pire and Zidane, the quality, transformation and flexibility of the French team's midfield and frontcourt organization seemed to have dropped to a higher level. In fact, the French team's brilliant record, including the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000, was more based on the basis of defensive counterattacks. If this defensive counterattack lacks the clever passing organization of Zidane and Pire, it may only be in a relatively chaotic state.

Therefore, the French team did not play what everyone expected in the game.

After Le Mail discovered the pain of not having Zidane, it was too late. The French team tried to make up for the midfield gap left by Zidane's absence throughout the game, but still allowed Senegalese players to seize the loopholes in the defense to score the first goal.

As a result, the French team lost.

Losing to Senegal 0:1.

"How terrible it is without a midfield soul!"

"France lost Zidane, and lost to Sergar."

"And if we didn't have Zheng Zhi, we couldn't imagine it at all!"

Huang Jianxiang, who was on the live opening ceremony, sighed, "Recently, many media have rumored that Zheng Zhi was also injured, but at present, this should be a smoke bomb. What we see is that Zheng Zhi is still jumping around on the training ground."

In fact, Zheng Zhi is now under the care of the domestic traditional Chinese medicine expert team every day. At present, there is no big deal. If nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely represent the Chinese team in Costa Rica.

No one can take risks.

Once every four years, he still made it to the World Cup for 44 years. Even Zheng Zhi himself was not calm. For Zheng Zhi, he had to add 18 years, including the previous life.

Shortly after the game, the first Asian team Saudi Arabia team was massacred.

0:8 Lose to the elderly German chariot!

The strength of the Asian team is vulnerable, and even the German team can't stand it?

On the 3rd, the first game of the World Cup Group C was whistled at the Manjusri Football Stadium in Ulsan.

The Chinese team's opponents Brazil and Turkey made their first appearance. The Brazilian team's "3R" combination all appeared. In the first half of the stoppage time, Basturk made a wonderful pass at the front of the penalty area, and Hassan scored the first goal. In the second half, Ronaldo scored Rivaldo's cross. Before the end of the game, Louisson won a penalty for Brazil, and Rivaldo took the penalty and hit it.

Brazil defeated Türkiye with a thrilling score of 2:1.

Türkiye finally showed its true strength.

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4 days.

The Chinese team, who had been in Seogwipo for 18 days, is finally going to make a debut today. This is the first time that Chinese football has been in the World Cup and a new chapter in the history of Chinese football.

Although he saw Saudi Arabia lose 0:8 to Germany, he also saw Senegal defeating France, Ecuador insulting Maldini, especially the Turkish team fighting Brazil, the Chinese team's confidence has grown sharply.

The advantage of the first match between Costa Rica is that the Chinese team understands them, but they don’t understand the Chinese team. The Costa team is Latin playing style, mainly individuals, and the overall concept is not strong.

At the press conference before the game, Costa Rica coach Guimares was full of confidence: "The Chinese team is a dangerous opponent, but we think we can compete with them. We are confident in winning the first game. The French team can lose to Senegal, so it is normal for us to win the Chinese team."

Goalkeeper Mason echoed the head coach's point of view, saying: "The Chinese team is very strong, but our team is also very strong."

Forward Parks also pointed out, "Costa Rica is not afraid of any team in the same group, and Brazil and Türkiye will also be attacked by Costa Rica."

Parks said: "It doesn't matter which team is very famous or not. What is important is that no matter who the opponent is, you must do your best."

On the Chinese team, Horton is also very proud.

"We have been preparing for this game against Costa Rica for a long time, and now our work is ready, and we are waiting for this game to come."

The reporter asked: "Which one goal or three points are more realistic for the Chinese team?"

Horton's answer was very sleek: "It's more realistic to get four points!"

Then he said seriously: "I want to win every game, and this game is of course no exception. However, there may be three results in every game. I hope our result is victory."

Zheng Zhi, who was standing by, was also asked: "Zheng Zhi, have you ever thought about scoring the first World Cup goal for the Chinese team?"

Zheng Zhi smiled and said, "This question is good, but in fact, each of us thinks this way."

"I also gave everyone a reward. If anyone scored the first goal of the Chinese team in the World Cup, I would personally reward 1 million!"

"Oh!"

There was an uproar in the scene.

This reward is awesome, so everyone can't fight for it? I'm so willful to have money.

"But what if everyone is rushing to shoot and not passing the ball?"

"If you lose, the reward will be gone." Zheng Zhi shrugged. It turned out that he still has the prerequisites, "My reward must be valid under the premise of a draw or win."

“Have you ever thought you would do it yourself?”

"Of course, there will definitely be many free kick opportunities in the game. As long as there is a free kick opportunity, I can score."

He is confident in his free kick style.

...

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Seoul time is 12 o'clock and Beijing time is 11 o'clock. There are still three and a half hours before the start of the World Cup Chinese team VS Costa Rie, but fans on both sides have arrived at the stadium one after another.

In the square outside the stadium, Chinese fans began to gather constantly and waved the five-star red flag. Gwangju fans also cast slogans such as "China and South Korea are friends."

There is news that 40,000 Chinese fans will appear at the Gwangju Stadium today, but obviously the news is not very accurate; there is another saying that 20,000 Chinese fans have arrived in Gwangju. However, based on the reporter's consultation with relevant personnel from Chinese travel agencies, their judgment will be about a little over 10,000 Chinese fans today.

There are dozens of Costa Rican fans outside the court, who are collectively equipping the costumes. The uniforms of famous Costa Rican players like No. 9 Wanchop and Gomez are all worn on these Costa Rican fans. It is estimated that the number of Costa Rican fans at the Gwangju Stadium today is about 400 to 500.

The Seoul government notified fans who went to various stadiums to watch should arrive at the stadium two hours ahead of schedule to enter the stadium at the latest. Every fan and reporter who entered the stadium must undergo a very strict safety inspection, so that everyone may have about one minute during the safety inspection. Obviously, if fans gather in large numbers before the game, some fans will definitely be unable to enter the stadium at the start of the game because the security inspection is too long.

An hour and a half before the game, both sides announced the starting lineup.

The starting lineup of the Chinese team is: goalkeeper Ou Chuliang; the four defenders are Sun Xiang, Fan Zhiyi, Li Weifeng, and Sun Jihai; the four forwards are Shao Jiayi, Li Yin, Zheng Zhi, and Qu Bo; the two forwards are Yang Chen and Xie Hui.

Costa Rica side: goalkeeper Ronnis; defenders Martinez, Wright, Marin; midfielder Castro, Fonceca, Soris, Santno, Wallace; forwards Vanchop and Gomez.

At 14:51 Seoul time, all Chinese team members lined up to run into the Gwangju World Cup and began formal training before the game.

One minute ago, 11 main players of Costa Rica also lined up to run into the field. Due to the appearance of the two teams, the atmosphere in the field has reached a higher climax.

20 minutes ago, a huge Chinese flag of 30 meters square was held high by Chinese fans and circled around the stadium stands halfway, which aroused cheers from all Chinese fans. At the same time, Korean fans also played a flag of 5 meters wide and 20 meters long. This flag was composed of the national flags of China and South Korea connected together, indicating the friendship between South Korean fans to Chinese fans.

Under the leadership of Zhu Guanghu, the Chinese coaching team leader, 10 starting players except the goalkeepers of the Chinese team were training on physical flexibility on the court, while other substitutes were running around their halftime under the leadership of assistant coach Shen Xiangfu. Horton was also standing in the middle of the field and chatting with the team leader easily?

At 14:30 on June 4, Beijing time, the second game of the first round of the World Cup Group C was whistled at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium, South Korea. The "World Cup debut" that hundreds of millions of Chinese people finally kicked off!

"CCTV, CCTV, audience friends, fans..."

"Horton lined up a 4-4-2 formation, and the starting lineup was only one change from what we predicted before the game, that is, Sun Xiang of Eindhoven replaced Wu Chengying, and the starting lineup of the Chinese team was composed of players from the overseas army!"

"Goaler Ou Chuliang, defenders Sun Jihai, Li Weifeng, Fan Zhiyi, Sun Xiang, the midfielder is Li Yin, Zheng Zhi, Shao Jiayi and Qu Bo, and the forwards are Yang Chen and Xie Hui."

"Guimarães lined up 3-4-3, and the main midfielder Lopez did not appear, and the forward Fonseca was replaced."

"The law enforcement officers in this battle are Greek Kiros, two assistant referees are from Portugal and the Netherlands, and the fourth official is from Sweden."

"Today's Gwangju Stadium's temperature is 31 degrees Celsius, the wind speed is 0.3 meters per second, the weather is cloudy and the humidity is 34%. It requires high physical fitness for both players! This climate is similar to that of Costa Rica, so the Chinese team has no advantage in physical fitness."

Kiros whistle, Costa Rica kicked off first!

The Chinese team immediately launched a press conference!

The game that vowed to score three points will not allow Chinese players to be slackened.

The two forwards who played in Germany, Yang Chen and Xie Hui, were very active in fighting, and soon forced the Costa Rica defender to kick the ball in the backcourt.

As a result, the ball fell to Fan Zhiyi's feet, Fan Zhi handed the ball to Zheng Zhi. Zheng Zhi immediately launched a fast attack and sent the ball to the front right. Eindhoven's winger Qu Bo quickly cut in. Just as he was about to remove the ball, he was knocked to the ground by the opponent's left defender.

The Chinese team immediately won a chance to position the frontcourt.

"The opportunity is here!"

"Front court set piece!"

"But the position of this set ball is not good, so Zheng Zhi may still pass the ball into the penalty area in Costa Rica."

Sure enough, Zheng Zhi passed the ball to the back point to find Li Weifeng and Fan Zhiyi. Unfortunately, neither of them hit the ball, but instead was pushed out by Costa Rican striker Wanchop.

However, the ball is still owned by the Chinese team. Li Yin immediately distributed the ball outside the penalty area to Shao Jiayi who pulled it out of the penalty area!

Shao Jia looked up at the penalty area and directly crossed the left foot!

"oops!"

"Hey! Zheng Zhi!"

In the penalty area of ​​Costa Rica, Zheng Zhi suddenly rushed in from outside the penalty area, then jumped high at the back point, and dived violently! His forehead accurately hit the ball, and the ball's flight route was instantly changed, and he rushed straight to the upper right corner of the goal!

"The ball has entered!"

"The ball has entered!"

"The ball has entered!"

Huang Jianxiang immediately jumped up in the live broadcast room and shouted loudly.

The entire stadium was filled with joy! Before the fans even started shouting slogans to cheer, they saw Zheng Zhi’s goal!

The surprise came too early!

"It's Zheng Zhi!"

"Zheng Zhi scored the first goal of the Chinese team in the World Cup!"

"Many players haven't even touched the ball!"
Chapter completed!