Chapter 425 The World Cup Begins

Chapter 425 The World Cup Begins

After a series of celebrations, Zhao Jinge rested for a day in Manchester and then took a plane back to Wolfsburg.

After reuniting with his family, Zhao Jinge spent a few quiet days in Wolfsburg.

In early June, with the arrival of the German national team training day, Zhao Jinge could only say goodbye to his family temporarily and return to Frankfurt, the training ground of the German national team, one step ahead of schedule to participate in the new national team training session.

In order to prepare for the World Cup, after the start of this training camp, Germany will conduct closed training for half a month.

During this period, except for friendly matches with a few scheduled opponents, they will not appear in public in front of the media, and the players are not allowed to go home to avoid leaking any tactical information about the team.

These measures are unprecedented. In doing so, Loew obviously felt the tremendous pressure brought by the World Cup.

This time, Germany, as the defending champion, is burdened with huge performance pressure and national expectations.

After winning the European Cup again two years ago, the German national team, which has won two major championships in four years, has become the team with the best chance to defend the World Cup in the past decade. They are undoubtedly the biggest favorites to win this World Cup.

And this status as the top seed will put their every move under the spotlight or even a magnifying glass.

The German team cannot afford to lose. Once they lose, negative voices will surround them from all directions!

Unfortunately, through the analysis of relevant club competitions in the past two years, a large amount of detailed data has proven that there is a serious aging problem in the German team.

On the central axis, Royce, Eretz, Khedira, Boateng, Hummels and others have all passed their prime.

Judging from their ages, there is no doubt that this will be their last World Cup, and judging from their condition, some of them may not even be able to participate in this World Cup!

In addition, coupled with the retirement of Lahm and Klose before the European Cup, and the retirement of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mertesat, the German national team of 14 years has almost disappeared. !
But for a player of this level, it is difficult to find a perfect replacement once he retires.

Therefore, if we cannot seize the opportunity at the end of the careers of these current players to sprint for the World Cup championship, they may not have a chance four years later.

Even if Germany is full of talents, it is not easy to find the right players and the tactics that best suit them if they want to re-align the lineup.

For example, Argentina's paper strength is no weaker than Germany's, and they also have top players like Messi in the team. However, due to the unbalanced technical and tactical play and the team's lineup, their results have never been able to break through.

As for Portugal, which is led by Cristiano Ronaldo, their strength may not even qualify for the group stage.

On the World Cup stage, top stars are useful, but not that useful.

Loew cannot deal with the next game with the idea that Germany will be able to sit back and relax with Zhao Jinge here.

After this World Cup, Germany's lineup needs to be re-established, and tactics also need to be adjusted based on the technical characteristics of the new members.

Since winning the World Cup again in 2014, the German team that has been at the top of the world will gradually fade out of people's sight and gradually become history after this World Cup.

So this is their last big competition together!
Loew hopes they can leave no regrets and end with the best results!

A training base on the outskirts of Frankfurt.

When Zhao Jinge came to report, his teammates from the national team who had been summoned were basically already here.

Outside the training base, there were many German fans who came to cheer for the team.

Because this World Cup is held in Russia, many German fans will go to the scene to cheer for the team. And because of their confidence in the strength of the German national team, many German fans will take the initiative to come to cheer for their national team.

"Zhao, come on!"

"Bring back the championship trophy!"

After seeing Zhao Jinge, fans shouted about his fame and cheered him with various words.

After arriving at the training ground and greeting several teammates, Zhao Jinge quickly went to the locker room to change clothes, and then quickly joined the training.

He took a glance and found that there were a few familiar faces missing in the team, and there were also a few unfamiliar faces. After a brief communication, Zhao Jinge also had a good idea of ​​the German team's roster for the World Cup in Russia.

Goalkeepers: Neuer, Ter Stegen, Trapp.

Defenders: Hummels, Süle, Ginter, Plattenhardt, Rudiger, Kimmich, Boateng, Hector.

Midfielder: Toni Kroos, Eretz, Khedira, Goretzka, Gundogan, Brandt, Draxler, Thomas Muller.

Forwards: Zhao Jinge, Royce, Sane, Werner.

In order to maintain stability, this time Loew recruited almost all players who have performed very well in their respective clubs this season, secured their starting positions, and have strong immediate combat ability. However, it is difficult to conceal the decline of the German team!
As the champion of this year's Champions League, Manchester City only selected three people in the national team roster this time. As the runner-up, Real Madrid also only selected Tony.

People like Brandt, Goretzka, Süle, Werner, Sane, Rudiger, etc. have never proven themselves in real giants. They are just recruits in the top arena, plus those professional players. A veteran at the end of his career, this makes the German national team's lineup not look as bright as imagined!
Zhao Jinge had nothing to do about this. The golden generation of the German team had finally passed, but fortunately they had rediscovered the engine that supported the German tank, and that was Zhao Jinge himself!

After the announcement of the German team's twenty-three-man roster, it was not without controversy. The biggest controversy actually came from the forwards.

"Is it too much to have four strikers up front?"

A few years ago, the biggest headache for German fans was that the team was weak and lacked powerful forwards.

In just a few years, they no longer had such worries. Instead, they disliked that the team's forward line was too bloated!
"To be honest, the forward line does not need to carry so many people. Draxler can play as a winger, Zhao Jinge and Thomas Muller can play as a midfielder, Muller can even play as an attacking midfielder, and Reus and Sane can play as a winger. That’s it!”

"Yes, Royce's performance in the past two seasons has been too poor. He played a total of eleven games in Dortmund last season. Although he was very efficient and scored seven goals, his appearance rate was too shabby! Might as well replace Emre Can!"

Royce has really struggled in the past two seasons. His goal statistics are far behind, let alone compared with Zhao Jinge, even compared with the 23-year-old Sane.

Many German fans are reminded of the last World Cup.

During the World Cup in Brazil, Reus did not play for Germany due to injury. Before this World Cup, Reus was injured for almost a season. Even though he performed well in the last European Cup, the fans still have feelings for him. It's really not good. After all, with his glass body, it's still unknown how many games he can play in this World Cup! Fans, like military fans, are all big pigs. After getting a new favorite, they will abandon the old one in the blink of an eye.

Since you can't score goals, naturally no one wants to play with you.

As a result, many people were puzzled by Loew's decision, and doubts arose one after another.

In any case, after the final twenty-three-man roster was announced at the end of May, Germany's lineup framework was basically finalized.

Loew conducted a week of closed training after the team was all assembled.

Loew's German team tactics are pass-and-control tactics, which have helped them win countless honors in various competitions.

Logically speaking, they should not change their playing style easily.

However, in recent years, Barcelona has suffered successive defeats in the league and the Champions League, which has given Loew a serious sense of crisis. Moreover, Guardiola, who has made football control the top of the world, has also made considerable progress in the past few years. Tactical reforms, such as combining pressure with ball control, such as three-back tactics.

When pass-and-control football has reached this stage, it no longer has the mystery of the past. Everyone has a comprehensive understanding of it, knows its advantages and disadvantages, and knows how to limit it.

In La Liga, Atletico Madrid's high press and defensive counterattacks made Barcelona very uncomfortable, proving that this method can effectively limit the passing and control of football.

In Group F, where Germany is located, the tall and powerful Swedish team is a team that likes to press high.

Although the Swedish team's lineup does not look luxurious, but it can break into the World Cup from Europe where there are many strong players, the Swedish team's strength is naturally not weak, and it definitely has the strength to qualify in the group!
Therefore, there is no doubt that they will be Germany's biggest competitor in the group stage. The Swedes from Northern Europe will definitely show their best form when encountering Deutsche Chariot in order to ensure qualifying from the group.

In this case, the situation is a bit unfavorable for Germany.

The match between the two teams is the first of the group stage, and the outcome of this match is crucial to both teams' qualifying situation.

The winning side will undoubtedly have an advantage in qualifying, while the losing side will be in danger of being eliminated.

Moreover, the second place in the group will have to face the first place in other groups. If you really qualify as the second place in the group, it will be difficult to play in the subsequent games.

As the defending champion, Germany will undoubtedly receive a lot of attention from all parties.

In this case, their every move is observed under a magnifying glass by the outside world.

If they lose the first game, external criticism will completely engulf them, and the players and coaching staff will be under unprecedented pressure.

If this state of affairs continues into the next game, they might lose two games in a row, and losing two games in a row means they will be eliminated!

The majestic World Cup champion lost two consecutive games in the beginning and did not qualify for the group stage. He returned home at the speed of light. This will probably set a new world record for German football!

This kind of record is not a good record, but the kind of record that will be remembered and laughed at for a lifetime.

During the World Cup in Brazil, the tragic experience of defending champion Spain is still vivid in our minds. Germany does not want to follow the Spanish path no matter what!

Therefore, for the sake of safety, Loew plans to make some adjustments to the team's tactics.

Of course, due to limited time, he could not create a new set of tactics.

These adjustments are mainly prepared for the first game of the group stage, which is the game against Sweden.

Facing Sweden, which has a large number of people and a strong defense, how to carry out threatening counterattacks and positional warfare is the key to limiting or even defeating them.

And this is the main reason why Loew recruited Royce into the team!
To this end, he specially designed a set of playing methods and practiced them within the team.

The results of the drill were pretty good. During the period, he also played two friendly matches with two lower-level teams in Germany to test the players' condition.

Generally speaking, except for some older players, Germany is in good shape as a whole.

However, the problem of the aging team lineup is very obvious.

Playing an entire season without getting any rest has led to a decline in the competitive status of Eretz, Khedira, Toni Kroos and others.

And their physical fitness may not support them to play the whole game.

Therefore, in the next game, if you want to arrange for these people to play, you must minimize their appearance on the field at the same time, so as to avoid insufficient substitution places in your hands when unexpected situations arise.

Fortunately, there are a lot of backup players on the bench, so Loew doesn't have to worry about personnel issues for the time being.

On June 7, eight days before the start of the group stage, the entire German team took a flight from Frankfurt to Russia, the venue for this World Cup!

The German national team is not the first team to set off. Before them, the Three Lions and the Gallic Roosters have already set off one step ahead of schedule.

However, as the number one favorite in this World Cup, the German team has received much more attention than the other two teams.

The entire German team first arrived by plane in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. After a short stay here, they transferred to Moscow, the capital of Russia.

During their stay at the Warsaw Airport, they caused a huge sensation at the airport. After many fans discovered the German national team, they gathered around them and asked for autographs and photos. The scene was once out of control.

The airport had to deploy hundreds of security personnel to maintain order and isolate the area where they were located, which allowed the situation to stabilize.

When they entered the training camp in Russia, they were wildly sought after by fans. A total of more than 5,000 German fans who arrived in advance came to the airport to pick them up.

As for the reporters from various countries who came to the scene, they were countless.

Seeing the hundreds of reporters outside the airport and the crowds of thousands of fans, the players of the German national team felt the atmosphere of the World Cup.

(End of this chapter)