Zhou Yi stopped talking on Weibo after cursing Reporter Zhang with "fragrant grass." No matter how much Reporter Zhang raged, he didn't respond at all.

Of course, he didn't actually need to respond. After catching the other party off guard with his curse, he drifted away, leaving only a legendary figure for posterity to admire.

And he didn't need to lift a finger to beat a drowning dog; the netizens would do it for him.

After creating a trending topic with tens of millions of hits for everyone, Zhou Yi disappeared from the internet again.

What was he doing? Of course, he was seriously preparing for the semi-final.

That night, the Chinese team's opponent in the semi-final was revealed. Unsurprisingly, Brazil defeated Honduras and would face the Chinese Olympic team in the semi-final.

This was not an opponent that could be won easily.

So even though many reporters wanted to get some information from Zhou Yi about his feud with Reporter Zhang from *The Legal Evening News*,

Zhou Yi didn't answer the question. "I'm only focusing on our opponent in the semi-final. Don't bring up the problems of irrelevant people. There's nothing to say. I've said everything I need to say."

Reporter Zhang was completely abandoned by Zhou Yi...

After teasing Reporter Zhang for a day, the "mobs" on the internet quickly shifted their attention and interest. Although Reporter Zhang continued to post articles on his Weibo and a certain Q&A website, criticizing and scolding Zhou Yi, no one cared about his words anymore.

Compared to a war of words, the game was the main thing.

It was already amazing that the Chinese Olympic team had reached the semi-finals of the Olympics, but if they won one more game, they would definitely win a medal, which would be a historic breakthrough for Chinese men's football.

Could Zhou Yi and his teammates do it?

This was the question everyone was most concerned about now.

The Brazilian Olympic team was the top favorite to win the gold medal at this Olympics. The fact that the Chinese team met them in the semi-final made many domestic fans feel regret—look at the two teams in the other semi-final, Mexico and Japan.

The Mexican Olympic team had been defeated by the Chinese team in the group stage, and with the current performance of the Japanese team, they were not afraid of them. Of the four teams, everyone felt that the two relatively weaker teams had been matched together, while the Chinese team had to face the strongest team...

Now many people looked back at the group stage and felt that if the Chinese team had lost a game in the group stage and taken second place, it might have been better. That way, the Chinese team could have avoided Brazil in the semi-final. Although they would have met the host team, Great Britain, in the quarter-finals, but looking at the performance of the British team in this tournament, everyone believed that the Chinese team could definitely win even if they met them.

Now, if the Chinese team wanted to reach the final, they had to fight Brazil to the death. In the end, it was very likely that it would be a case of "when the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman benefits."

So a reporter asked Zhou Yi if he regretted taking first place in the group.

Zhou Yi looked puzzled. "Why?"

"Because then the second place team could avoid the Brazilian team..." the reporter asked.

"But we might also meet Brazil in the final."

"That's true, but if we get to the final, we're guaranteed a medal..." the reporter argued.

Zhou Yi smiled. "Have you forgotten what I said at the press conference? Our goal this time is the gold medal. How could we be satisfied with just reaching the final? If we have to meet them sooner or later, then what's the difference between meeting them in the final or the semi-final?"

Zhou Yi did emphasize at the press conference that the Chinese team's goal was the gold medal, but everyone still felt that there was some element of bravado in his words. Everyone was a professional football reporter and knew that there were many factors that determined the outcome of a football match: strength, form, and luck were all indispensable.

Even if the Chinese team was in high spirits and the players were in good form, their overall strength was still inferior to the Brazilian Olympic team. Coupled with the unpredictable luck, how could Zhou Yi be so sure that they would win the gold medal?

※※※

At yesterday's routine press conference for the Chinese team, Zhou Yi mainly scolded the Chinese *er gui zi* (traitors/double agents), but some of the information he revealed also attracted the attention of the Brazilian media.

This information was that Zhou Yi publicly stated that the goal of the Chinese Olympic team was the gold medal.

Although Zhou Yi had said he wanted to win the gold medal when he was in China, after all, that was only in China, and the influence was not great. In any case, it was absolutely impossible to reach the ears of the Brazilian team.

This time was different. He directly said that he wanted to win the gold medal at the press conference during the Olympics.

"...When Zhou Yi said these words, our semi-final with Honduras had not yet been played. I don't know if he will still have such courage after learning that the opponent in the semi-final is the Brazilian team led by Neymar..." The Brazilian media was very confident in the Brazilian team, so they said such words.

Moreover, they also noticed that the theme of this press conference was Zhou Yi's angry scolding of certain media in China. Combining this with the news reports of the past two days, they could easily figure out what had happened—after the Chinese team eliminated the South Korean team, some controversial remarks by certain players seemed to have stirred up a storm in China. This storm swept through the entire Olympic team, so Zhou Yi, as the captain of the team, stood up to explain.

But judging from his explanation, the conflict had not been alleviated, and the problem had not been solved at all.

Zhou Yi had no intention of easing his relationship with the Chinese media.

These things seemed to have nothing to do with Brazil at first glance, and the Brazilian media had no need to pay attention to them. If Brazil's opponent in the semi-final was not the Chinese team, they would not care.

However, as the opponent in the semi-final, the Brazilian media believed that this matter would definitely have an impact on the Chinese team. Moreover, it was difficult to call this impact "positive"—affected by this matter, the Chinese team's preparations and players' mentality would change, and this change would affect their performance in the game.

This was definitely a good thing for Brazil—although the Brazilian media was still full of confidence in their team, they would not think that the Chinese Olympic team, with Zhou Yi, Sun Pan, Yang Muge, Guo Nu, and He Ying, was vulnerable and could be easily defeated.

Now that they were encountering difficulties and troubles, it was definitely good news for Brazil.

With this analysis, there was no suspense that the Brazilian Olympic team would enter the final. No matter whether they met the Mexican or Japanese Olympic team in the final, they were confident that they could defeat their opponents and win Brazil's first Olympic gold medal in men's football history.

For Brazil, which is known as the "kingdom of football," it is indeed a very disgraceful history that they have never won an Olympic gold medal in their strongest men's football event. Not to mention the Brazilians themselves, many foreigners probably find it difficult to understand—why can't the Brazilian Olympic team, which has so many talented players, win an Olympic gold medal in men's football?

You know, they have even won the World Cup, the highest honor in adult men's football, five times.

It is said that the Olympics are youth football competitions for players under the age of twenty-three, but in the history of the U20 World Youth Championship, Brazil has also won five championships, which fully proves the level of Brazilian football in all age groups.

But in the Olympics, they just can't get a gold medal.

Since the Brazilian men's football team first participated in the Olympics in 1952, in the past sixty years, the Brazilian men's football team has never won an Olympic gold medal.

Before 1984, the Olympics did not allow professional football players to participate, so Brazil could not send the strongest lineup composed of players such as Pele and Garrincha to participate in the Olympics. They could only form the Olympic team with second-rate domestic players, and their combat effectiveness was of course very different from those teams in Eastern Europe that sent the strongest lineup.

After the Brazilian national team won the World Cup for the first time in 1958, from the Rome Olympics in 1960 to the Munich Olympics in 1972, the Brazilian Olympic team was eliminated in the group stage. In the 1976 Olympics, the Brazilian Olympic team reached the top four for the first time in history, but in the end, they did not get a medal and only got fourth place...

In 1984, the Olympics finally allowed professional players to participate. This time, Brazil was determined to show the strength of their football kingdom on the Olympic stage, so they reached the final and approached the gold medal for the first time. But unfortunately, they met the even stronger French team. At that time, the French team had the "midfield iron triangle" combination of Platini, Giresse, and Tigana, and they had just won the European Cup that year. In the end, in the final, the Brazilian Olympic team lost to the French team 0:2 and missed the gold medal.

At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Brazilian Olympic team had famous geniuses such as Romario, Bebeto, and Taffarel, and once again reached the Olympic final, but they fought hard with the Soviet team for one hundred and twenty minutes and lost 1:2, once again losing the gold medal.

After 1992, there was a major change in Olympic football, that is, Olympic football was no longer an international A-level event, but a competition for players under the age of twenty-three. The players participating in the Olympics were required to be players under the age of twenty-three, which blocked the vast majority of mature and high-level professional players from the door of the Olympics. This was the result of a battle of interests between FIFA and the International Olympic Committee.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, each team was allowed to have three overage players. This regulation has continued to this day. Although there are many restrictions, Brazilian football has entered its golden age, and the strength of their national team under the age of twenty-three is still strong. The Brazilian team in that Olympic Games had Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Bebeto, and others. Two years ago, the Brazilian national team had just won the American World Cup, and everyone believed that this Brazilian Olympic team was the favorite to win gold at the Olympics. But they lost 0:1 to Japan in the group stage, which was a major upset at that Olympic Games. In the end, although the Brazilian team reached the top four, they lost to the eventual champion Nigeria in the semi-final and only won a bronze medal.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the Brazilian Olympic team led by the famous coach Luxemburgo declared that they would win the gold medal, but they were eliminated by Cameroon in the quarter-finals and did not get a medal. Luxemburgo, who was also the coach of the Olympic team and the national team, was dismissed from the positions of coach of these two teams by the Brazilian Football Association on the plane from Sydney back to Brazil...

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Brazilian team did not even make it to the finals. They were eliminated in the South American qualifiers. Although that Olympic team had geniuses such as Diego and Robinho, they did not perform well and failed to prove themselves.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Brazilian Olympic team was also full of stars. They had outstanding players such as Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Ronaldinho, Diego, and Pato. They met the Argentine Olympic team led by Messi and Aguero in the semi-final. The duel between these South American rivals ended with the victory of the Argentine Olympic team. Later, Argentina won the championship, and Messi won his first and only Olympic gold medal. What about Brazil? Another bronze medal...

Looking back at the Olympics since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, almost every time the Brazilian Olympic team came for the championship, but the final results were disappointing.

The crown of this football kingdom has five shining pearls of the World Cup championship, but it lacks the Olympic championship. Although the lack of an Olympic champion cannot reduce the status of Brazilian football, it always makes people feel a little regretful.

At this London Olympics, the Brazilian Olympic team has the number one genius Neymar, AC Milan's main center-back Thiago Silva, Real Madrid's main left-back Marcelo, AC Milan's main striker Pato, as well as Oscar, Ganso, Hulk... a group of famous talented players.

Their goal is still the gold medal.

This time, will the goddess of luck open her arms to them?