Chapter 135 Hate Him To The Bone

The day after the game between China and Cameroon, the other second round games also concluded one after another, and the final rankings were determined.

Group I: Argentina, China, Cameroon, Greece (rankings decrease from left to right);

Group J: Australia, Serbia, Italy, Iran

Group K: United States, Slovenia, Russia, Puerto Rico

Group L: Spain, France, Lithuania, Dominican Republic

According to the rules of the World Cup, the top two in the second round groups advance to the quarterfinals, and the third and fourth place teams compete for 9th to 16th place.

According to the rule of the first place in each group playing against the second place in the adjacent group, the quarterfinal matchups were also determined.

Groups I and J form the upper bracket, with Argentina facing Serbia and China facing Australia.

Groups K and L form the lower bracket, with the United States facing France and Slovenia facing Spain.

The games in the upper bracket will begin first.

At the same time, Australia from Oceania, the United States from North America, Argentina from South America, and China from Asia are already the best teams in their respective continents. Like Cameroon before them, they have all secured direct qualification for the Tokyo Olympics next year.

The Chinese team was delighted to get the Olympic ticket, but now they have to consider their next opponent, Australia.

This is the process of major international competitions. Before the moment of winning the championship or being eliminated, they are either fighting or on the road to preparing for battle.

In the 2016 Rio Olympics, China and Australia were in the same group, along with the United States.

That year, the Chinese team miraculously defeated the United States in the group stage, but lost to Australia.

After that, the Chinese team eliminated Argentina in the quarterfinals, eliminated Spain in the semifinals, and defeated the United States in the finals to win the Olympic championship.

Although Australia also reached the final four, they faced the United States in the semifinals, so the Chinese team did not have the opportunity for revenge.

Now, three years have passed, and that opportunity has come again.

The Chinese team is more mature than in Rio, and is no longer a team that relies solely on one star and four shooters and outside shooting touch.

And with Simmons joining, Australia is also stronger than they were in Rio.

Entering the quarterfinals, the games become single-elimination, a true win or go home situation.

The game will take place in two days, and both teams are actively preparing.

At this moment, Andrew Bogut's remarks put him at the center of public opinion.

When asked about his thoughts on the Chinese team, the Australian said,

"Their shooting and free throws are very inconsistent, and they are not good at physical confrontation. They rely heavily on the referees' calls."

When asked about the prospects for the game, Bogut also seemed extremely confident.

"We beat the Chinese team in Rio, and Tang was on the team then, so we will still win, and we will win easily. Playing against the Chinese team is the best result for us."

After these answers were reported by the media, they immediately aroused the indignation of Chinese fans.

"Damn it, this bastard, he mocked Sun Yang before, and now he's attacking the Chinese team again. Get out of China!"

"Bogut is really trash. There was news before that he complained about the team's accommodation. Damn, why didn't he say that in Rio?"

"Exactly, the World Cup this time is arranged in four- and five-star hotels. The conditions in Rio were so bad. This guy is obviously a racist!"

"Saying that the Chinese team is not good at physical confrontation and relies on the referees? This is 2019! Has this idiot not watched the group stage?!"

"This kind of person is really trash. He must be jealous that the Chinese team won the Olympic championship. Garbage!"

"Beat him hard, and make him slap himself in the face!"

"Beat him to death, make sure he doesn't dare to come to China again!"

……

This is not just a war of words, but a real arousal of the anger of Chinese fans.

Bogut has become the first foreign basketball player to be so hated by Chinese fans.

In fact, not to mention Chinese fans, the Chinese team members are also very angry.

Compared with the World Games held in Japan and South Korea before, they basically did not enjoy any home-court advantage in this World Cup, and there were even many controversial calls.

As a result, Bogut said they relied on the referees.

They were also holding their breath.

However, anger cannot solve problems on the basketball court. The Australian team is strong, and the Chinese team must not reduce any of its pre-game preparations.

It seems that this Australian team's style of play is very similar to that of the Greek team: Simmons breaks through, and the others shoot.

Simmons' finishing is not as good as that of Antetokounmpo, but his passing is stronger, and the Australian team's outside shooters are more consistent.

But in fact, that's not all. Mills' breakthrough and finishing ability is also a great weapon in international competitions.

In addition to Dellavedova and Ingles, Australia has many people who can handle the ball, which is the root cause of their strength.

If the Chinese team wants to beat Australia, they must do a good job of defending every point, unlike the previous game against Cameroon.

Two days passed quickly, and the game between China and Australia will be staged at Wukesong at 7 pm.

The two teams went to the arena for training in the morning.

The Chinese team first, followed by the Australian team.

The Chinese team's training attracted many fans to watch. After the Chinese team left, the Australian team followed.

At the entrance, some radical fans saw Bogut getting off the bus and cursed at him directly.

"fxck.you, Bogut, you're a bitch!"

Beijing cursing is famous, and they didn't show any mercy to Bogut.

Bogut heard the cursing, glanced at the fans, and then gave him the middle finger directly.

This immediately aroused more and louder curses from the fans.

However, he smiled and entered the training hall with his teammates.

"Losers only bark at people like dogs."

After entering the training hall, he said disdainfully to Mills beside him.

Mills frowned slightly. He and Tang Tian were former teammates, and he didn't feel so bad about China.

Although those fans were quite rude just now, Bogut's words were a bit too much.

Bogut saw that Mills ignored him, turned around and said to Landale behind him.

"Yes, they are always like this, yellow-skinned Asians."

Landale and Bogut were birds of a feather.

After their training, Australia coach Lemanis accepted an interview with reporters.

When asked if he was confident about the game tonight, he nodded without hesitation.

"Of course, we have seven NBA players, we have excellent chemistry, we are very experienced, and we are here to make history."

And when asked if he had made any targeted tactics against the Chinese team, Lemanis seemed very calm.

"No, we don't need to. We just need to play our strength. Winning tonight's game is not our ultimate goal. We are looking further ahead."

From Bogut to Lemanis, it is clear that this Australian team is extremely confident.