There is nothing in Italy that is not excited, the old coach Trapatoni was quite crazy after the game:

"We created more goalscoring opportunities, but unfortunately we lost the game in the end. The South Korean team devoted themselves to the game. This game was very exciting."

"I think the winner tonight should be Italy, but everyone knows what's going on on the court."

"This World Cup Italy has suffered so many misfortunes. I have witnessed many unexplained things that have happened and finally hit Italy. Today we played very well and we will leave the World Cup with our heads high, but some things are so bitter in retrospect."

"One of us was sent off, I don't understand why."

Cannavaro said angrily: "This is simply the biggest scandal in World Cup history!"

After the game, the Italian reporter of "All Sports" blocked Cannavaro who rushed towards the lounge in anger. Facing the reporter's question about the referee, Cannavaro's answer was very simple, "Shame!"

When the reporter asked for further interviews, Cannavaro said that it was not appropriate to talk about these issues in South Korea, and everything would be said until he returned home. However, Cannavaro still couldn't suppress the anger in his heart. Perhaps he was so angry that he did not point his finger at the referee and the Koreans, but accused the Italian Football Association of incompetence. "Is the Italian Football Association going to resign? This is how we were eliminated, and their work was not reflected."

Toti, who was sent off with a red card, was even more angry:

"When we just came on the court and shook hands with them before the game started, the referee Moreno was very indifferent to us and didn't want to talk to our players. The referee's performance was the same as I expected. Sure enough, just 5 minutes into the game, they awarded a penalty to the South Korean team. And I was sent off later, which made me feel ridiculous. When he came to give me a penalty, he hesitated for a while. After walking five or six steps, he might remember that I already had a yellow card. At this time, he came over and gave me another yellow card, and sent me off."

Toti also objected to the penalty kick that the South Korean team received shortly after the start of the game: "Sue Qi-hyun deliberately fell to cheat the penalty. The referee's penalty was too annoying! They were trying to drive the Italians out of the World Cup!"

Panucci: "We don't understand who is playing this game, we've been in good shape until they scored that tied... Maybe that's fate. But what happened on the court today is humiliating, for a player who has been dreaming of the World Cup since childhood, they're driving him away from the World Cup in this way."

Panucci continued: "What happened today is ugly. We lost the game in a disgraceful way. Maybe our leaders over there will hear more explanations, and then we will start complaining... Today, Corina performed very well as an international referee on the field."

Vieri told the Milan Sports Daily with regret: "Zheng Zhi called us before the game and warned us, but unfortunately we didn't take it to heart. I really regret it now! I didn't expect the Koreans and the referee to be so shameless!"

After Italy was eliminated, European media also generally believed that the result was unbelievable.

German "Kicker" believes that the referee's penalty kick makes sense, and the fake fall penalty sent off by Toti is too far-fetched. Tomasi's goal is indeed a misjudgment. Many good goals of the Italian team in this competition were strangled by wrong punishments. These two penaltyes will always be controversial, and the Italians can only say goodbye to the World Cup sadly.

French "League" believes that "South Korea sent Italy home, which is another big upset", and another big hotline left too early. Italy once had the advantage, but failed to expand the results. South Korea then staged a dramatic reversal. The Italian team Tomasi's goal was rejected, while Toti's red card was too hasty. As for Trapatoni, after the game, he believed that the football tonight had changed.

The Spanish team, which is about to confront South Korea, regrets Italy while believing that South Korea has defeated Italy with a golden ball and a controversial referee. "Maca" believes that this game includes everything about football: penalty kicks, red cards, wrong judgments, and terrible mistakes of the striker. Italy has been leading the way, constantly performing their waste of time, but the performance of the Koreans is surprising. The newspaper expressed concerns about the referee, because the referee in this game has helped the home team many times, penalty kicks, Toti's red card, and Tomasi's goals were blown up by him.

Spanish "As" believes that the Italian team reappeared the scene of being defeated by the North Korean team in 1966. The Koreans relied on the endless attack to defeat Italy's back line. The article believes that the result is incredible, but it is a fact. The Italians defeated themselves. Regarding the referee issue, the newspaper believes that Italy was retaliated by such revenge because of the discord between the upper class and Blatt, so the referee may be fair in the match between South Korea and Spain.

Spanish coach Camacho, who watched the game, sighed in an interview with Spain's Efe News Agency, "I have said that South Korea will be the most difficult team to deal with. Their performance today proves my words. Within 90 minutes, their players can keep running and put pressure on their opponents, and the opponent is playing at home. We have a lot to pay attention to, including the referee! But we still have the ability to win the game and advance to the semi-finals!"

...

Anyway, this battle has opened the eyes of the whole world.

One-eighth ended, England 3:0 Denmark, Germany 1:0 Paraguay, Spain 1:1 Ireland (3-2 penalty kick): Senegal 2:1 Sweden (overtime), United States 2:0 Mexico, Brazil 2:0 Belgium, China 3:0 Japan, South Korea 2:1 Italy (overtime).

The next quarter-finals matches are Germany VS the United States, Brazil VS England, South Korea VS Spain, China VS Senegal.

If the Chinese team defeats Senegal, then the Chinese team's opponent is the winner of South Korea VS Spain...

On the 22nd, China will compete with Senegal for the semi-finals.

As a new team in the World Cup, Senegal reached the quarterfinals in one fell swoop, drawing the best results of the African team created by Cameroon in the World Cup. Through the World Cup, the previously unknown Senegal football and Senegalese players have been understood by the majority of fans. Indeed, as head coach Mei Chu said, a great team is being born.

Saturday's game is coming, and this year's African footballer Senegal striker Diouf pointed out that the three Chinese players are the ones he and his teammates are going to fight with. He told reporters at the hotel where the team stayed:

"The Chinese team is a team worthy of our respect, but we must stick to our own style of play. We should not ask ourselves too many questions or put too much pressure on ourselves. They have some very outstanding players, especially Zheng Zhi, Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai. They are all playing football in the top leagues in the world and have excellent strength. I am very sorry that my club teammate Fan was injured. I joked with him before that I will definitely pass him in the game to complete the goal, but it seems that we can't meet on the field. Of course, without him, I think the Chinese team's defense will become much more fragile, which is our opportunity."

Diouf also plays for Liverpool, and it seems that the relationship between the two is pretty good.

Although Fan Zhiyi was injured, he has appeared on the training ground these days to give advice to his national teammates. He believes that the most dangerous player in Senegal is Diouf, no doubt.

In fact, there is no need for Fan Zhiyi to say that Diouf has made the whole world clear about his awesomeness.

He has high speed, excellent physical fitness, strong desire to shoot, strong explosive power and dexterous ball control skills. This is the 21-year-old Diouf.

In the first game of the group stage against the defending champion France, Diouf began to shine. It was he who neatly stole the ball from Djokav's feet in the 29th minute, and then tore through the enemy's right defense line alone, giving his teammates a fatal assist and helping the team break out with a 1-0 cold.

Since then, in the group stages of Denmark and Uruguay and the 16-8 match against Sweden, Diouf came down to earth like a god in the frontcourt. His dazzling breakthroughs and explosive sprints made the opponent's defense line mess. Under the leadership of Diouf, this unknown African team shockedly entered the quarterfinals and became the most surprising team in this cup.

Horton's biggest worry now is the defense. Fan Zhiyi was absent and could not find a reliable player to replace him.

Qupine?

Zhang Enhua?

He felt that it was not possible because both of them were too slow, and Fan Zhiyi was the most suitable one, but Fan Zhiyi was injured.

what to do?

When the coaching team held a meeting, everyone's opinions were very disagreeable.

Using Qu Bo or Zhang Enhua? They all have their own opinions, and there are even saying that Zheng Zhi will return to the central defender to guard Diouf, but Horton feels it is not ideal. If Zheng Zhi returns to the central defender, then the Chinese team's midfield will be completely mediocre and it is impossible to consider.

During training on the 20th, Horton called Zheng Zhi to the side of the court to consult his opinions. As a result, Fan Zhiyi was also next to him, and Zheng Zhi put forward another opinion.

"I think it's necessary to let an experienced player guard him. Li Weifeng is definitely the most suitable candidate now, but one Li Weifeng is not enough, we need two!"

"Their impact is too strong, and our defense line must be very balanced."

Anyway, it was discussed privately, so Zheng Zhi didn't hide it.

"It's better to let Sun Jihai come to the middle lane, form a middle lane partner with Li Weifeng, and then let Xu Yunlong play right back. The other positions remain unchanged."

"Sun?"

"Fight the central defender?"

Holden's eyes immediately lit up.

Moving Arsenal's right-back to the center back is indeed a beautiful strategy. There is no more suitable candidate than him. At least it is more reliable than Qu Bo or Zhang Enhua?

“This method works.”

"Fan, what do you think?" Holden looked at Fan Zhiyi again. After Fan Zhiyi thought about it, he nodded.

"I agree with doing this. Sun Jihai can complete the task very well, and he is reassuring."

Then, several big guys hit it off.

After finishing this concern, the starting lineup of the Chinese team was about to come out. In the following days of training, Sun Jihai was in the position of central defender and partnered with Li Weifeng...

The World Cup quarterfinals also caused smoke again.

At 14:30 on June 21, Beijing time, the first game of the World Cup quarter-finals was whistled at Shizuoka Stadium, and Brazil, who played less and more, defeated England 2:1. Irving seized Lucio's turnover and took the lead. Ronaldinho assisted Rivaldo to equalize, and used a free kick to overtake in the second half, but soon received a controversial red card. The number one hero of Brazil's reversal will miss the semi-finals. Their semi-final opponents will be the winners of China and Senegal.

Then, the second quarter-finals also started. At the Manjusri Ulsan Football Stadium, Germany defeated the United States 1-0 and became the second team to reach the semi-finals. The United States had a slight advantage after the opening, but Germany made a strong effort in the last stage of the first half, and Barack scored a header. In the second half, the United States took the initiative, but the German defense line, led by captain Kahn, tried to protect the city gate. Finally, it advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup 1:0.

At 14:30 on June 22, Beijing time, the third game of the World Cup quarter-finals was played at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium. Spain was eliminated by South Korea 3:5 in the penalty shootout. The referee once again became the focus, and the first half was 0:0. In the second half, South Korea's own own goal was invalid. In overtime, Morientes scored a goal, but was misjudged as being out of bounds. After hitting the post, Morientes's single-handed opportunity was blew as offside.

After the penalty shootout, Elgra and several angry Spanish players besieged the assistant referee...

Elgra seemed extremely angry. He shouted and rushed towards the referee and lineman who were walking towards the center circle, and furiously tried to pull the assistant referee to theory. In the chaos, there was a fierce physical conflict between the two sides. A person who looked like an assistant coach of the Spanish team grabbed Elgra and tried to calm him down, but the latter responded fiercely and broke free and continued to rush towards the referee. At this time, Elgra's teammate Juan Fran also raised his arm and shouted something to the referee. It was the assistant coach of the Spanish team who grabbed Elgra's jersey. In the end, Xavi forced him to leave, and the referee was able to escape under the escort of the officials outside the field...

The South Korean team actually reached the semi-finals of the World Cup!

After the game, Spain's largest newspaper, "Maca", criticized the referee with the title "robbery!".

"Maca" said that it was the referee of the Egyptian Gundor who helped the Koreans eliminate the Spanish team. The entire football sport was strangled in South Korea today. The Egyptian Gundor and his two assistants will be nailed to the shameful pillar of the World Cup forever. The referee blew away two goals of the Spanish team. The victory originally belonged to us, but we were "robbed" by the black hands.

"Maca" believes that Spain's two goals were good goals, and the referee and assistant referee's penalty led world football to a disaster. In the long post-match report, "Maca" used the title "The referee gave the sport a fatal kick." Jose Annot, a columnist of "Maca", was obviously out of anger and said that the Korean and Japanese World Cup would simply call the Korean World Cup, because the Koreans are so "strong", the World Cup will not leave us any memories, except for the disgusting words "robbery, stealing".

While the whole world was calling for justice for Spain, the Chinese team also started a pre-match press conference.

While the Koreans were cheering the whole country, Zheng Zhi also yelled to Spain in front of the media for wrongdoing.

"I'm sorry, I just watched the game between Spain and South Korea."

"Spain has done its best to win, and the game is really difficult. Everyone has seen that what happened to other teams has repeated it in them, and they are just another victim."

Reporter: "How do you evaluate the ruling of Spain by law enforcement referees in this game?"

Zheng Zhi: "I think the referee should have acted more fairly in an important game like the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but in the end I feel helpless."

"I'm very disappointed because Spain fought for 120 minutes and got at least 4 opportunities. They were playing football. The referee should not take away their two goals. I want to say that the game should use its feet to decide the outcome, not the referee."

Reporter: "If the Chinese team also advances to the semi-finals, then you will face the Korean team. Are you afraid?"

"Fear?"

"They should be afraid of!"

"Give them eleven referees, and they can't beat us,"

"At worst, we can play the World Cup as the Asian Cup!"

Zheng Zhi did not give Koreans any face at all, and he made them worthless.

"I believe they are now ready to sit in front of the TV and pray that the opponents in the semifinals are not us, but unfortunately, they will definitely be disappointed!"

"They are nothing except the referee."

After stepping on the Korean team, I finally talked about Senegal.

"Senegal's performance so far is different from ours. They are one of the few teams with good skills and good competitive state. We were surprised by their defeat of the last champion France in the opening game, but after that we were no longer surprised by their performance. They first qualified from strong teams such as Uruguay and Denmark, and then eliminated the Swedish team that could emerge from the group that even Argentina could not qualify. Its strength is conceivable."

"They are a young team and have many players with high skill and combat skills. They are very similar to Brazilian team. But they run more actively than Brazilian team. The personal skills and good physical strength shown on the field make me believe that they are a team with higher strength than Brazil. Brazil has shown their strength and lethality too early in many games, and Senegal's killer weapon has not been fully revealed yet, so it would be a fatal mistake to underestimate Senegal."

"Of course our Chinese team is also a very good team, and our performance is remarkable so far. But it should be clear that we have not tried our best yet. We still have some mistakes along the way, but we played better each game. I believe that our experience, our confidence, our skills and tactics and sufficient physical strength to drag down any opponent will help us defeat Senegal. Our goal is to enter the semi-finals. Now I don't want to say anything like the finals, because the steps need to go step by step, and the game needs to be won one game after another."

"We will do our best to the honor of the Chinese people in this battle!"

Head coach Horton is also full of confidence: "We have already performed perfectly on the field, and now we have to continue this. Now we have an opportunity to create history. Senegal is an excellent team, but our competitive state is currently rising rapidly. We can definitely overcome difficulties and continue our World Cup path. Whether we are physically and technically, we are ready for the battle against Senegal. Only a team that does not make mistakes on the court and makes fewer mistakes and can perform at the real level can we laugh to the end. We will not strive for no shortcomings in the battle against Senegal, and we will do our best. We will be responsible for our commitment to the Chinese people. We are proud of fighting for China!"

...
To be continued...