The sixth professional football player who started with Manchester United

Chapter 117 Opener

Wales arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil a few days in advance and subsequently trained at the venue arranged by the organizing committee.

The time soon came to June 6, at five o'clock local time, the opening ceremony of the 12th FIFA World Cup kicked off at the Sao Paulo Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

With the beginning of the opening ceremony, it means that this month-long football feast with a total of 64 games will officially begin. After the 25-minute opening ceremony, the opening game will begin.

After the short but not simple opening ceremony, tens of thousands of fans at the scene and fans all over the world are looking forward to the start of the opening match.

Especially fans of Brazil and Wales.

Looking around, this St. Paul Arena, which was built in 2011 and was not completed until 2013, can accommodate more than 5000 people. Today, nearly 1 Welsh fans arrived.

With the end of the opening ceremony, the stadium has also become a place where fans from both sides compete. Although the number of Welsh fans is at a disadvantage, the momentum of the more than 1 people is not much inferior to the Brazilian fans.

At this time, in the dressing room of the visiting team, all the Welsh players were changing their equipment in an orderly manner.

"Jack, are you nervous?" Bell asked beside Dabao.

This national teammate who joined Real Madrid last season won the UEFA Champions League just in his first season after joining Real Madrid. I have to admit that he was very lucky, and Bell played very well in his first season in Real Madrid last season. Excellent, played 27 times on behalf of Real Madrid throughout the season, scored 15 goals and 12 assists, and is the hero of Real Madrid's double crown.

At the same time, Bell is also the number one star of Wales in this World Cup.

"It's okay." Jack said as he adjusted his shin pads.

"How can you not be nervous? I'm a little nervous. This is the World Cup. It's my first time. Do you think we can win the game? If we win this game, maybe we can qualify for the group stage Woolen cloth."

"It's nothing, it's all a game. I think it's no different from other games. As for winning or losing, as long as we face it calmly, I think there is no chance of winning."

Bell rolled his eyes at Dabao's words.

Everyone in the team knows that the national team's great player is often the calmest one.

In fact, the reason is very simple. Dabao has no sense of national honor for Wales. He still regards the Welsh national team games as part of his professional games. Therefore, Dabao sings the national anthem before each Welsh national team game. He was the only one in the Wales team who didn't hum along.

"Good evening, audience friends. We are broadcasting the 20th World Cup live at the Sao Paulo Arena in Brazil. I am the host, Duan Xuan. The opening game of this World Cup will kick off in an hour, and my partner He Wei and I will explain the opening game today.”

"Hello everyone, I am He Wei. This is the fifth time the World Cup has been held in South America since the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. It is also the second time Brazil has hosted the World Cup. The first time was in 1950, when Uruguay finally won the World Cup. After winning the championship, I wonder if the five-star host Brazil can win the championship at home in this second World Cup held in Brazil. In addition, this World Cup is also the first time in the history of the World Cup that goal-line technology has been used."

"When it comes to winning the World Cup, Brazil is indeed the favorite to win this World Cup. Mr. He, what do you think of the opening game that is about to start today? Speaking of Brazil's opponents today, I believe many of our Chinese fans are also very interested. Looking forward to it, after all, although our national team has no chance to appear, as a Chinese, we still have some people appearing in the World Cup."

"To be honest, Wales is still weaker than Brazil in terms of strength. Whether it is the strength of the team's lineup or the world ranking, Wales is weaker than Brazil. The pressure on Brazil will be much greater, and in previous World Cups, we all know that the opening game is not easy to play."

"This is true, especially in the last few World Cups. In 02, France was upset by Senegal. Germany also narrowly beat Costa Rica in the World Cup. In the last World Cup, South Africa and Mexico drew 1-1."

"Yes, the opening game is not easy, especially for the host country, which is under too much pressure, and the players in the Welsh team are all playing in the five major leagues. The ability to withstand pressure is not necessarily weaker than Brazil, especially in the team. The two cores of Bale and Dabao, one is a winger and the other is the core midfielder of Wales, both of which have experienced the test of European competitions."

"Well, Bale's performance in Real Madrid last season was also very good. As for Dabao, he is even more comfortable in Inter Milan. After half a season, he has become the core of Inter Milan and helped Milan successfully win the Champions League next season. Qualifications, there is no media in Italy saying that if Inter Milan hadn’t performed too poorly in the first half of the season, Juventus’ league title might not have been so stable.”

"Let's first take a look at the starting lineups of both sides in today's World Cup opening match. Let's first take a look at the home team Brazil. The starting lineup arranged by coach Scolari is goalkeeper Cesar and the two full-backs are Alves. With Marcelo, the center backs are Thiago Silva and Ruiz, the midfielders are Paulinho, Gustavo, and Oscar, and the forwards are Hulk, Neymar, and Fred. Look at this starting lineup Brazil's lineup should be a 433 formation. Paulinho and Gustavo should be double midfielders, and Oscar should be the central midfielder. However, it is not ruled out that Neymar and Hulk may drop back to play as wide midfielders. In that case, Brazil It became a 4231 formation."

"Let's take a look at Wales again. Koeman's starting lineup today is goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, and the back line Collins, Williams, Gant, and Davis. These four are the back line that Wales played more. In the combination, Dabao and Ledley should be the midfielders in the midfield, Richards, Bell and Bellamy should be the avant-garde, Robson Kanu on the forward line, and Koeman in Wales should have a 4231 formation. It's a typical Premier League squad."

"Yes, most of them play for teams in the Premier League or the English Championship. The tacit understanding between players should be very good. This is Wales' advantage."

(End of this chapter)