Chapter 340 Training Results

After the training that day, the media blocked every member of the Chinese team at the training ground entrance. They wanted to find out through any means possible whether Zhou Yi's training with the team had gone well or badly.

Although they could speculate based on the laughter coming from the training ground, it was still just speculation, lacking concrete evidence.

They hoped to get the correct answer from the players or coaches.

"Zhou Yi? Training together? Of course, he trained with us... How did it feel? It felt pretty good. You wouldn't know it was his first time training with us..."

"We were all stunned. Zhou Yi's adaptability was truly amazing..."

"Today's training was very successful..."

…

The answers given by everyone who was interviewed made the Chinese reporters ecstatic.

They hadn't had much hope for the effect of Zhou Yi's return to training, feeling that Zhou Yi training with the team was more symbolic than practical.

But now, hearing the players who participated in the training say this, they were surprised and happy—Zhou Yi's return wasn't just symbolic after all...

Later, when Lippi was interviewed, he, as the head coach, confirmed this point.

"...As everyone knows, Zhou Yi participated in the team's training today, training together with us. To our delight, the training effect was good. We were all very happy to see that after being absent for nearly a month, Zhou Yi's first training session with the team yielded good results..."

Lippi's words were equivalent to confirming what the players had said before, completely solidifying the news that Zhou Yi's first practice after recovering from his injury had gone well.

Although Lippi could have lied and said the effect was poor, to release a smokescreen to the Spanish side, he didn't do so.

On the one hand, such a high-profile issue would be difficult to fake, and he couldn't control everyone's mouths. On the other hand, and most importantly, Lippi felt it wasn't necessary to play this little trick. Even if he let the Spanish know this, he was confident in leading the Chinese team to defeat Spain.

Perhaps because he had experienced the defending champion Italy's humiliating group stage exit four years ago, he could now somewhat guess what Spain was thinking, and knew that Spain was just a "paper tiger" that looked intimidating. It looked like the World Cup defending champion, but in fact, this team was completely different from the world champion team of four years ago.

After two consecutive losses in the group stage, there were many articles analyzing this team in the media.

One point was very accurate—there is no invincible tactic, just a group of suitable players meeting the right tactics at the best age.

In Lippi's view, neither Barcelona nor the Spanish national team's tiki-taka could be considered the greatest tactic in the world. Tiki-taka was far from being the most popular tactic in world football, and it couldn't start a trend.

It was simple, this tactic had high requirements for players, and not all teams could be like Barcelona in the 2008-2009 season, or like Spain in the 2010 World Cup, having a group of players in their golden age who were well-suited to this tactic.

When Gao Hongbo wanted to promote tiki-taka in the Chinese team, imitating Barcelona, the effect wasn't particularly good. Why?

Although the Chinese team had Zhou Yi, a midfield core comparable to Xavi, the Chinese team lacked suitable players in many other positions.

The reason why this Spanish team was declining and the reason why this Spanish team was in its prime are actually the same—time.

From 2008 to 2012, the Spanish national team won two European Championship titles and one World Cup title, because these players were all in their prime. But now?

The main striker, Villa, was already thirty-two years old, Torres was thirty, Iniesta was thirty, Xavi was thirty-four, Xabi Alonso was thirty-two, and Casillas was thirty-three.

Among them, Xavi's aging had the greatest impact on the team.

In addition, having won all the championships in the past three major tournaments, this team's desire to win was no longer as strong as before.

They could no longer run around the field like before, covering the entire stadium.

No one can defeat time. Even the invincible armada can be defeated by British pirate ships. The collapse of the Spanish dynasty is also in line with objective laws.

Spain was already declining, while the core players of the Chinese team under Lippi were mostly around twenty-two or twenty-three years old, full of youthful vigor, which was different from the aging core players of Spain.

So-called newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.

If Spain was a tiger, it was an old tiger.

And the Chinese team was a newborn calf, afraid of no one.

※※※

The news that Zhou Yi's first training session with the team had outstanding results quickly appeared in major media outlets and on the internet.

Chinese fans cheered and were greatly encouraged.

Although it was a bit late to start training now, it was still gratifying that the training effect was good.

The Spanish media were also paying attention to Zhou Yi's situation.

This news was, of course, bad news for them.

But some Spanish media outlets are always good at finding bright spots in bad news.

For example, some media claimed that it was hard to say whether Zhou Yi's training had been effective or not. Because no one had seen it, it was all based on what the Chinese team players and coaches said. They could completely lie in order to create tension for Spain's preparations. They advised the Spanish national team not to be too nervous. If they focused all their attention on Zhou Yi, what if Zhou Yi didn't play? Wouldn't Spain have wasted its efforts? And it would disrupt the Spanish team's own preparation rhythm.

This Spanish media outlet also took the opportunity to criticize China, saying that China has a tradition of making and selling fake goods. They are good at manufacturing fake goods, and many famous European brands have suffered from it. To cover up their counterfeiting behavior, the Chinese have also invented a slightly better-sounding word called "shanzhai" (imitations). In addition, at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, a segment where a little girl sang was later proven to be lip-synced. This Spanish media outlet used this incident to illustrate that the Chinese dared to fake even at such an important Olympic Games opening ceremony, so what was a collective lie during the World Cup group stage?

Of course, this Spanish media outlet probably forgot that their famous Spanish clothing manufacturer zArA makes money by copying the clothing styles of other well-known brands... The amount of compensation they lose in lawsuits every year is not small, but the money they earn from plagiarism is more, so it is worthwhile for them. However, such a brand can appear prominently in major high-end shopping malls in China. It has to be said that monks from afar chant scriptures better, and even plagiarism is more refreshing and refined...

※※※

The next day, Zhou Yi's second training session with the team was still very effective.

On the third day, the last day of training before the match, Lippi mainly conducted set-piece training.

In crucial life-and-death battles, set pieces are always an important means of scoring.

During the training break, Zhou Yi chatted with his teammates. He suddenly had an idea and wanted to design a few more set-piece tactics for the team.

Zhou Yi's suggestion was met with enthusiastic responses.

Then everyone put their heads together, brainstormed, and gave full play to their imagination.

They really came up with a few sets.

Then everyone went to the training ground and began to practice the set-piece tactics they had designed.

The coaching staff did not stop them, but watched from the sidelines.

"That's great..." Lippi's assistant coach Madaloni murmured.

"The feeling after Zhou Yi returned to the team is different." National team scout Pezzotti also nodded.

"He has a natural leader's temperament. He doesn't need a loud voice or exaggerated body movements to make people listen to him." The team's physical fitness coach, Gaudino, also commented.

Lippi did not participate in the discussion, but listened quietly from the sidelines, always with a smile on his face.

He sincerely believed that the Chinese team would definitely be able to achieve a historic breakthrough in his hands, qualifying from the group stage, and perhaps even going further...

※※※

After finishing the last day of training, Zhou Yi was blocked by reporters at the edge of the training ground. They wanted to hear Zhou Yi's views and expectations for tomorrow's game.

Of course, what they were most concerned about was whether Zhou Yi would definitely play in tomorrow's game.

Faced with this question, Zhou Yi did not give a definite answer: "I don't know. I train hard and do everything I can. As for whether I can play, that's the coach's consideration. If he lets me play, I will play well. If he doesn't let me play, then he must have his considerations. I have no comment on this."

Zhou Yi's words were impeccable, but they were not what the reporters wanted to hear.

So the reporters asked him what he thought about Spain becoming the first team to be eliminated from this World Cup.

"It's very surprising. Before the World Cup started, no one would have thought that something like this would happen. But that's football. Anything can happen on the field. Even the defending champion may be eliminated in the group stage. Nothing is impossible."

"So the Chinese team also has a chance to defeat Spain?" A Chinese reporter asked.

Zhou Yi smiled without saying a word, but everyone understood what he meant.

"But Spain is fighting for honor, and a team fighting for honor is not easy to deal with..." A Spanish reporter said.

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "And we are fighting for survival."