Chapter 492: Ignore
The World Cup final will be held in Johannesburg!
South Africa is the only country in the world with three capitals: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial). Unlike previous World Cup finals, which were mostly held in the capital cities, this time the host chose to hold it in the "City of Gold."
The day after the semi-finals ended, the Chinese team and their entourage flew to Johannesburg, accompanied by the players' families and friends.
Excited, thrilled, and nervous emotions intertwined in their minds. From boarding the plane to landing and taking the bus to the hotel, everyone chattered incessantly without a moment's pause.
The coaching staff and team leaders were also anxious at this time. They lacked experience, although Alihan had played in two World Cup finals during his player career with the Netherlands, both times ending in failure.
The calmest person was Wang Feng. Apart from inspiring the team as usual, he didn't say much. Most of the time, he just smiled and listened to the players' chatter.
After experiencing countless finals in major competitions, the heart of the Chinese superstar was as firm as a rock. At this moment, he was even interested in admiring the scenery outside the bus window.
In this "City of Gold," skyscrapers stood tall, the streets were wide and clean, parks and grasslands were visible everywhere, and people of different colors walked leisurely on the roads, their faces glowing with health.
No wonder FIFA and the South African Football Association chose this place as the venue for the final. It should be one of the best-developed cities in Africa and the center of South Africa's economy, culture, and tourism.
The only thing that might not be satisfactory is that Johannesburg's altitude is 1754 meters, relatively high, which is a burden for athletes, especially for the Dutch who come from lowlands.
After arriving at the hotel, the coaching staff arranged lunch and a brief rest for the players. Training would officially begin in the afternoon. Wang Feng took the time to call home, and they had also safely arrived.
"Little Siyao can only babble a few words now, but there's one word she pronounces particularly well, and that's your name—Wang Feng." Lu Yao teased, "It's all thanks to the Chinese fans in the stands who kept shouting next to her for six consecutive matches, and she learned it by rote."
Wang Feng couldn't help but smile. He also talked to his mom, sister, and uncle, and everyone cheered him on. His uncle said, "Xiaofeng, win the World Cup for China and bring glory to our ancestors!"
On the evening of July 10th, the day before the final, the World Cup third-place playoff was held at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with Spain and Uruguay facing off.
Before the match, FIFA President Blatter shook hands warmly with the players of both teams. When it was Uruguay's turn, he exchanged friendly greetings with Forlán and even patted his shoulder.
Who would have thought that when it was the turn of the young star Suárez, who had shone brightly in this World Cup, Blatter immediately became expressionless. After a perfunctory handshake, he didn't even look at him and walked straight past.
Suárez turned around and looked at Blatter, looking very surprised. This scene was recorded by many media outlets. Normally, as the helm of FIFA, he wouldn't be so indifferent when facing young stars. Who knows if this young player will transform into a dragon in the future, like Wang Feng, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Messi.
Many people speculated that the reason Blatter ignored Suárez was probably because of the handball incident against Germany in the quarter-finals. Although from a competitive perspective, it was understandable, it did cause a lot of controversy and negative impact.
So they believed that the road ahead might not be easy for this Uruguayan newcomer, at least he wouldn't have much chance with international awards.
After the match started, Spain, learning from their painful lesson, played more actively. Despite the light rain, their passing was smoother. In the 10th minute, Xavi took a corner from the right, and Torres headed the ball into the net from the edge of the small penalty area, 1-0!
Just 8 minutes later, Busquets suddenly took a long shot from 25 meters in front of the Uruguayan goal, causing Muslera to fumble, and Pedro slotted home with his right foot from 8 meters out to the right of the goal, widening the lead for the Matadors.
The more confident Spain became, the more they seemed to break through the opponents' defense effortlessly. Although Uruguay had Forlán and Suárez supporting them, they still couldn't escape defeat.
Just before halftime, Diego Pérez was dispossessed by Iniesta in the middle, who then passed to Pedro in the middle, and after Torres made his way into the penalty area, he chipped the ball into the net again, 3-0!
After the break, Uruguay pulled one back in the 53rd minute. álvaro Pereira and Suárez broke through the defense with a wall-pass combination on the right, and then Pereira crossed to Forlán, who volleyed home from 14 meters out in front of the goal.
This goal ignited the hope of the Uruguayan fans in the stands momentarily, but Spain quickly extinguished their enthusiasm. In the 71st minute, Xavi crossed from the side, and Puyol headed home from before the goalkeeper into the bottom right corner.
4-1! The Matadors secured third place with a thrilling victory and achieved Spain's best result in World Cup history.
After the match, everyone marveled at Spain's formidable strength but also felt sorry for them. If they had shown such fighting spirit in the semi-finals, would they have suffered the sudden death of conceding two goals in three minutes?
Regarding this, Spain's head coach Bosque said, "I don't think we should make such comparisons. We played very smoothly in today's game, but in the previous round, it was very difficult to break down the defensive shell of the Chinese team."
"Moreover, they have Wang Feng, the big weapon. I'm not saying Forlán and Suárez are not good; they are both top strikers in football, but compared to the Chinese superstar, they are much inferior. The most intuitive data is that the two of them together have fewer goals than Wang Feng."
"So the players need to focus more on Wang Feng. On the attacking end, they face setbacks, and on the defensive end, they face extreme threats. In some ways, the Chinese team is much more difficult to deal with than Uruguay."
Uruguay's coach Tabárez did not refute this point. He said, "The Chinese team has made it to the final, while we only got fourth place. There is indeed a gap between the two."
At the same time, he highly praised his country's hero, Forlán. "Diego is truly an outstanding player. I think anyone who watched this game would agree with this sentiment, especially that volley."
Forlán scored five goals in this World Cup. Except for a penalty against South Africa, the other four were all stunning long-range shots from outside the penalty area, a performance that only he achieved!
In recent years, he has been playing in La Liga, winning the Pichichi Trophy in the 2004-2005 season at Villarreal, surpassing Eto'o. After joining Atlético Madrid, he helped the team qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 10 years and won the UEFA Europa League.
With 120 goals in 208 La Liga appearances, although he can't compare to Messi or even Wang Feng in terms of scoring, he is still among the top strikers in European football.
Now, his outstanding performance in the World Cup is bound to attract the attention of some top clubs. However, age has become a bottleneck for Forlán's development. After all, 31 years old is a bit too much for any striker.
Follow current novels on (f)reew𝒆bnovel