Chapter 291 Old Enemy

Li Qing did not exclaim, but was a little surprised. He muttered in a low voice: "I was drawn into Group D! This is fun."

England, which was supposed to be a seeded team, was reduced to a second-tier team because the host country automatically occupied a seeding seat. Being drawn into Group D was thought of by the media before the draw started, but actually being drawn together is another matter. .

Since its inception in 1930, the World Cup has provided countless exciting high-level games to global audiences, created countless thrilling goal moments, and created the most famous rivals in World Cup history.

If you ask a veteran World Cup fan which rivalry is the most intense on and off the field, the veteran World Cup fan will definitely say England and Argentina.

From politics to football, England and Argentina have plenty of grudges.

England and Argentina first met in history at the beginning of the 19th century. The invader Great Britain defeated the Spanish royal family that colonized Argentina and became the new owner of Argentine land. The Argentinians were very dissatisfied with Great Britain's colonization and hated the country to the death. Since then, they began to organize a war to defend their motherland. and declared independence three years later.

In the mid-19th century, with the wave of the Industrial Revolution, Britons continued to flock to the vibrant South American continent. It was during this period that the Britons, who accounted for half of Argentina's economy, brought modern football.

The earliest football clubs in Argentina were founded by Britons, such as Newell's Old Boys, which is related to Messi. There are also Britons behind the establishment of Argentina's traditional giants River Plate and Independence.

However, at that time, Argentines were not allowed to participate in football matches and game management. This change to colonization angered the Argentines, so a large number of clubs organized by Argentines themselves sprung up, and the clubs founded by the British became the The only value and meaning of these clubs’ existence.

In other words, the football hatred between England and Argentina, as the orthodox princes of Great Britain, officially began at that time.

Since the World Cup was founded in 1930, England and Argentina have met five times in the World Cup, namely in the 1962 Chile World Cup group stage, the 1966 Great Britain World Cup quarter-finals, the 1986 Mexico World Cup quarter-finals, and the 1998 France World Cup 1/ 8 finals and the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup group stage, of which England won three and lost two.

The most classic contest among the five games was undoubtedly the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, but before that, it had to be said that it came from the Falklands War that broke out in early 1982, which made the people of Britain and Afghanistan incompatible with each other ever since. Although The two countries signed a peace agreement after the war, but the anger in the hearts of Argentines has not been calmed.

Sports events are called wars in peacetime. Football, as the world's number one sport, has deservedly become the Argentinian's first choice for revenge against the English. At that time, Maradona was born. As the wheel of fate turned, England and Afghanistan met in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

At the height of his powers, Maradona first hit the ball into the goal with the classic 'Hand of God', and then performed the best goal in the history of the World Cup, 'scoring past six people in a row', humiliating England and eventually winning the World Cup. .

The grievances of the 1998 World Cup in France were mainly due to the grievances between current Atletico Madrid head coaches Diego Simeone and David Beckham, which led to England, who had one less player, eventually eliminated. In the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, Beckham In the group stage, Argentina was eliminated early with a penalty kick.

The same group was drawn again after 16 years. The battle in Group D instantly became the focus of the world's attention. The big bosses who represented the two teams at the draw ceremony had gloomy faces. Obviously, they did not expect that each other would be drawn into the same group.

They are not teams from the same continent, which means that a European team is very likely to be drawn next...

No European team participating in the World Cup is an underdog...

In other words, Group D is likely to become the group of death!

Except for Li Qing, who behaved normally in front of the TV, the other people in England and Argentina felt nervous and depressed.

Watching the live broadcast, Argentina's number one star Messi frowned, obviously feeling that next year's World Cup will not be easy to play...

The third-tier team drawn in Group D is the Iceland team that eliminated England in the 2016 European Cup in France. Arnold, who watched the live broadcast, complained: "The draw of this World Cup is to play with us, right? Why are the teams drawn all those who have a grudge against us?" team?"

"that is!"

Solanke nodded dejectedly and said: "Can't we draw a weaker team?"

Arnold didn't know where the inspiration came from. He asked Li Qing anxiously: "Li, do you think our group will become a death group?"

Although Iceland eliminated England in last year's European Cup and advanced to the quarter-finals of the European Cup, at that time Iceland was obviously despised by England and was not treated rigorously, resulting in a shocking upset. Now it is almost impossible to be drawn into the same group again. Lose again.

Li Qing said with a half-smile: "Do you think there is a fourth-level super team?"

Arnold smiled awkwardly. In the fourth tier, there are only Serbia, Nigeria, Australia, Sun Country, Morocco, Panama, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. Except for Serbia, which is also a European team, it is impossible to draw, and the other seven national teams can all draw. .

Among the seven teams, except for the African Eagles Nigeria, which is slightly stronger, the pressure that the other six teams can bring to England is really limited.

The eight teams in the third level have their own stars, and Group H is the first to become the group of death.

The overall strength of Poland, Senegal and Colombia, who were drawn together, is not much different. With three teams competing for two qualifications, one strong team will inevitably be eliminated.

More than ten minutes passed quickly, and the eight teams in the fourth tier appeared in the group roster. The fourth tier team drawn in Group D was Nigeria, which is also the strongest team in the fourth tier.

The broadcaster gave eight detailed groupings, and Li Qing found that his influence was still relatively limited. England, which was originally in the same group as Belgium, moved to Group D, while Croatia, which was originally supposed to be in Group D, went to Group G.

The World Cup group draw ended in more than two hours. Social networking sites such as INS, Twitter, and Facebook were instantly occupied by the draw results of the World Cup group stage that had just concluded. China’s domestic football APP Qi Qi Di was even more popular, among which the most popular Of particular concern is the fact that England and Argentina were drawn into the same group again after 16 years.

Although the overall strength of England and Argentina in Group D is higher than that of Iceland and Nigeria, they still have to deal with every game carefully if they want to stand out from Group D.

In addition, the strong dialogue between England and Argentina is held in the first round of Group D, which means that the two teams must do their best.

Among the eight groups, except for Group H, which is a bit like a group of death, the same is true for Group E. Except for the overall strength of the Brazilian team, which is superior to the other three teams, Switzerland, Serbia and Costa Rica all have the strength to compete for a qualifying spot in the group.