Football: The strongest post-2000s Chapter 182

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The group stages of the 2017 FIFA U- 20 World Cup in Korea have concluded, with the top two teams from each of the six groups advancing to the Round of 16, and the four best third-place teams also qualifying.

Li Qing’s England U- 20 team was drawn against Costa Rica U- 20. This team had a mediocre performance in the group stage, so when the draw results came out, the English media already declared that England U- 20 had “one foot” in the quarterfinals.

Of course, such reports were clearly disrespectful to their opponents, but the whole world, including Costa Rican fans and media, did not believe they could upset England U- 20. After all, this was not the Costa Rican national team that created a miracle in the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

Who made England U- 20 have an almost abnormal Li Qing?

15 games, 31 goals in the Premier League, snatching the Premier League’s top scorer title.

A competition of the U- 20 World Cup level truly posed no difficulty for him.

For details… you can refer to England U- 20’s big win against South Korea U- 20 in the last round of Group A.

England U- 20 Youth Team’s match against Costa Rica U- 20 Youth Team at Jeonju World Cup Stadium was the fourth match of the Round of 16. Before this match, there were Venezuela U- 20 Youth Team VS Sushi Nation U- 20, South Korea U- 20 Youth Team VS Portugal U- 20 Youth Team, and Uruguay U- 20 Youth Team VS Saudi Arabia U- 20 Youth Team.

These three matches undoubtedly attracted attention from Asia. Among the four Asian teams participating in the U- 20 World Cup, only Vietnam failed to reach the Round of 16, and the remaining three teams naturally became the spiritual sustenance of Asian fans.

Li Qing didn’t pay attention to the matches, but he saw the results. The Venezuela U- 20 Youth Team, which topped a group with Germany U- 20 Youth Team and Mexico U- 20 Youth Team, played very pragmatically, defeating the Sun Nation U- 20 Youth Team 1- 0.

The South Korea U- 20 Youth Team, perhaps due to being demoralized by Li Qing’s England U- 20 Youth Team in the last round of the group stage, was 0- 3 down in less than half an hour. If it weren’t for Lee Sang-heon scoring a consolation goal at the end of the match to save face, the host South Korea U- 20 Youth Team would have suffered two humiliating defeats.

Seeing South Korea U- 20 eliminated, the Spanish and Italian media and fans were exceptionally excited!

Some things can be forgotten, but some things… cannot!

The Uruguay U- 20 Youth Team also won pragmatically, defeating Saudi Arabia U- 20 Youth Team 1- 0 with a penalty from De La Cruz.

England U- 20 Youth Team’s match was held at 8 PM local time in South Korea. Jeonju World Cup Stadium, which can hold 43, 348 fans, had over 40, 000 fans in attendance, even more than the match between South Korea U- 20 Youth Team and Portugal U- 20 Youth Team.

In the live commentary box, CCTV 5 commentator He Wei excitedly said: “Is the packed Jeonju World Cup Stadium a sign of the prosperity of the U- 20 World Cup? No! It’s the attraction brought by Li Qing! As the new top scorer in the Premier League, his charisma is immense!”

“Besides the majority of fans from our home country, South Korean fans and neutral fans visiting South Korea also make up a considerable share. From this, it’s not hard to see that Li Qing’s popularity is extremely high…”

At a young age, Li Qing became the biggest star in the England U- 20 team. From the start of the match, he was the focus of Costa Rica U- 20 Youth Team’s marking. However, most of Costa Rica U- 20 Youth Team’s players played in domestic leagues or American college leagues, with limited ability.

Having already endured the defensive pounding of Premier League defenders, Li Qing was still at ease against Costa Rica U- 20 Youth Team’s defense, and he quickly opened up the game for England U- 20 Youth Team with his individual breakthroughs.

The first to score was his club teammate, Arnold. He continuously cut inside from the right wing, creating an overlapping opportunity for Arnold. When he attracted enough defensive attention, he used the instep of his left foot to push the ball towards the byline.

Arnold surged forward, controlled the ball, and then scored with a low shot, giving England U- 20 Youth Team the lead.

Knockout matches are not like group stage matches; losing means elimination. Costa Rica U- 20 Youth Team consciously strengthened their attack, but the consequences were disastrous.

Li Qing’s signature dribbling counter-attack helped England U- 20 Youth Team extend their lead in the 13th minute, bringing the score to 2- 0 on the scoreboard.

CCTV 5 commentator He Wei looked at Li Qing on the broadcast screen and smiled: “I have to say that Li Qing’s overall strength is several levels above every player on the field. His ability shouldn’t be participating in this level of competition. If England U- 20 Youth Team doesn’t win the championship, I think it’s a complete waste of Li Qing’s ability.”

Commentary guest Zhang Lu smiled: “You can’t say that. The U- 20 World Cup is also a stage, and the championship is the highest honor for this age group. There’s no precedent worldwide for a 16-year-old winning a top-tier league championship, so essentially, Li Qing is still a young player.”

At this point, he changed the subject: “It’s said that French prodigy Mbappé wasn’t planning to participate in the U- 20 World Cup, but after hearing that Li Qing would represent England U- 20 Youth Team in the U- 20 World Cup, he also decided to represent France U- 20 Youth Team as a senior national team player in the U- 20 World Cup.”

With a two-goal lead, England U- 20 Youth Team consciously slowed down their attacking rhythm. The U- 20 World Cup is a tournament format, and the biggest characteristic of tournament matches is that the interval between matches is not too long. Often, players have to prepare for the second match before their physical strength has fully recovered.

Many players in England U- 20 Youth Team have played three group stage matches, and their physical reserves are not as good as at the beginning of the tournament. In order to go further in the subsequent knockout stages, minimizing physical exertion becomes particularly important.

Li Qing didn’t have this concern. He ran where he needed to be and didn’t act like a big shot. Solanke, who was initially dissatisfied with him for taking the number 10 jersey, gradually realized how naive his thoughts were.

Before halftime, Li Qing directly assisted Solanke to extend the lead to three goals.

Solanke, who scored, proactively embraced Li Qing. Head coach Simpson, seeing this, felt even happier than the team scoring a goal.

The two main strikers burying the hatchet had a huge positive impact on England U- 20 Youth Team’s quest for the U- 20 World Cup championship.

There was a huge gap in overall strength between the two teams, and a 3- 0 score basically meant that the suspense of the match had been lost.

In the second half, England U- 20 Youth Team consciously made adjustments to their main players. Li Qing was substituted in the 68th minute, but the score at this point had already become 4- 0, and the match had completely lost its suspense.

Ultimately, England U- 20 Youth Team defeated Costa Rica U- 20 Youth Team 4- 0 with Li Qing’s two goals and two assists, which can be seen as England avenging the humiliating defeat suffered by their senior national team three years ago in Brazil.

With two goals and two assists in this match, Li Qing, who only participated in two matches, instantly topped the U- 20 World Cup scoring chart and also ranked first in the assist chart.

Five goals and four assists in two matches, which is even more than many teams’ total goals contributed in the group stage!

After playing the Round of 16 match, England U- 20 Youth Team did not stay long in Jeonju. They directly took the high-speed rail to Tian’an to prepare for the quarterfinals, where their opponent would be the winner between Mexico U- 20 Youth Team and Senegal U- 20 Youth Team. _

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