"After the game, China's captain Zhou Yi immediately accepted an interview with our reporter. He has something to say about China's historic entry into the World Cup semi-finals, matching the best result of Asian teams in the World Cup set by South Korea..."

Zhou Yi appeared on the screen: "It's quite gratifying to make history. This is the result of our team's concerted efforts. But I don't think this is the limit, but a brand new starting point..."

The reporter's voice was a little excited: "Does this mean we will go even further?"

"Why not?" Zhou Yi asked rhetorically.

"But the next step is the semi-finals, and going further means... the finals..." The reporter was taken aback.

"If possible, who wouldn't want to be in the finals? Any team that can reach the semi-finals probably wouldn't just be thinking of stopping there, would they?" Zhou Yi countered.

The reporter recovered from that apprehension and had to admit that Zhou Yi was right.

"Of course, whether we can do it is another matter. But our whole team will definitely work towards this goal."

Zhou Yi on the TV screen was not very excited, and his tone was calm.

The reporters had interviewed several Chinese players, and Zhou Yi was the calmest. Perhaps this is because Zhou Yi never regarded reaching the World Cup semi-finals as the ultimate goal.

At the post-match press conference, Lippi said: "I am very happy to be able to create the history of Chinese football. I am very happy that the team can bring joy to Chinese fans with victory. But the World Cup is not over, and the work of all of us is not over. Now is not the time to celebrate. After we go back, we will carefully summarize this game and study our opponents in the next game..."

A reporter asked: "In the semi-finals, you will meet the German team, the top favorite to win this World Cup. What do you think of this?"

"The German team is certainly very strong, and they are the top favorite to win the championship. But I believe in my players, and we are also very strong. This can be seen from the way we have come all the way, defeating teams like Spain and Brazil..."

Lippi seemed very confident and had confidence in his team.

No one would laugh at or question Lippi's confidence, because the results of the game are right in front of everyone. Everyone with eyes can see how the Chinese team has come all the way. Whether this Chinese team is strong is no longer a question.

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After the game, Chinese media workers collectively entered a high-intensity work rhythm. They had to send their written manuscripts back to China in the shortest possible time, and their colleagues in China had to edit and typeset them as quickly as possible. Traditional print media had to deliver them to the printing plant in the shortest possible time to print out the finished product, so that everyone could buy fresh newspapers on their way to work in the morning.

Online media is different from newspapers, but their requirements for speed and timeliness are only higher than traditional newspapers, because they can post them online immediately after editing and let everyone see them. Whoever can seize the opportunity and take the lead can attract the most attention.

The workers in the television media are also very busy, cutting the just-concluded game into highlights, and producing various short videos for use in different programs...

China's historic entry into the World Cup semi-finals, matching the best result of Asian teams created by South Korea, has become the focus of attention of all Chinese people.

This is a competition between media, and no one wants to be left behind in this competition...

In addition to these media people, ordinary netizens and fans are also continuing their carnival online.

Because this game kicked off at four o'clock in the morning Beijing time, it was almost six o'clock after the game, and the sky was already bright.

The fans who had stayed up all night were not sleepy at this moment. They opened the curtains, looked at the pale eastern sky outside the window, stretched, and then continued to pay attention to all news about the Chinese team.

Weibo, Hupu, Zhihu, Tieba, QQ, WeChat... In all online communities, a large number of topics related to the Chinese team have emerged, and "We won" is the most frequently used phrase.

Comedians have also come out one after another, using their intelligence and talent on Chinese football.

It's just that in the past they wrote jokes mocking and satirizing Chinese football, but now they are writing jokes praising and praising with tears in their eyes.

"It's time to show off my identity as a thirty-year-old Chinese football fan!"

"I no longer have to let South Korea's disgusting 'best historical result' hang in front of my eyes!"

"There were two firecrackers outside our community just now, it's like celebrating the New Year!"

"What is two? There are still people setting them off here... It's so cool! I just went out to see, the roads outside the community are covered with red paper scraps, a real 'red earth'!"

……

On the foreign network, in response to Zhou Yi's previous tweet congratulating the German team on reaching the semi-finals, Mark Wagner also responded with a tweet, writing: "Congratulations, my good friend! Now we can meet in the semi-finals! I won't hold back then!"

Then he @ Zhou Yi.

Not only are Chinese media reporting on the Chinese team's victory, but German media are also paying attention to the news that the Chinese team has reached the semi-finals.

Because there are three players in this Chinese team who play in the Bundesliga, especially Zhou Yi, the German media is very familiar with him.

Because they are familiar with and know Zhou Yi's strengths, when the Chinese team became their semi-final opponent, no media outlet said that this was a good result for the German team. On the contrary, their attitude was very cautious.

"... With Dortmund's absolute core and main winger, Schalke 04's main defensive midfielder, Paris Saint-Germain's main striker, Inter Milan's main central defender, and Chelsea's main goalkeeper... This Chinese team is completely different from the Chinese team we used to think of. I think we should be more careful. Meeting the Chinese team in the semi-finals is definitely not good news. They have successively defeated Spain, Brazil, and Colombia, especially in the game against Brazil, they made the proud and arrogant host taste the bitterness of failure..."

"Löw said that he has been seriously studying the Chinese team's game videos, and he will find a way to deal with the Chinese team. My suggestion is, no matter what the cost, we must contain Zhou Yi. He is the brain of the Chinese team and he is very important to the Chinese team!"

"Don't ignore Yang Muge and Yan Min either. One is Schalke's main defensive midfielder. In the game that just ended, he defended James Rodriguez, who had performed well in the previous four games, to the point where he had no temper at all. Yan Min is a winger with strong raiding ability..."

"In addition, I think Sun Pan will definitely become a character who will cause us great trouble. Obviously, he is a goalkeeper who gets stronger when he meets a stronger opponent. At that time, the German team's offensive may instead stimulate his state... I want to remind everyone of one thing, remember how Dortmund was eliminated from the German Cup by Offenbach Kickers, a third-tier team - it was Sun Pan who was guarding the goal for Offenbach Kickers at that time. He helped the team drag the game into a penalty shootout, and then used his personal ability to defeat Dortmund in the penalty shootout... I have no doubt that Lippi will refer to that game, and the Chinese team will definitely practice penalty kicks before the semi-finals..."

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While feeling happy for the Chinese team's entry into the semi-finals, domestic fans also began to pay attention to the semi-finals with Germany.

Now that they have reached the semi-finals, it is impossible to have any weak opponents.

In fact, the weakest team in the semi-final list may be the Chinese team...

Just after the game between China and Colombia ended, the remaining two quarter-finals were also played the next day.

Argentina defeated Belgium 1-0 with Higuain's goal in the eighth minute, becoming the third team to advance to the World Cup semi-finals.

In another quarter-final, the Netherlands and Costa Rica drew 0-0 in one hundred and twenty minutes. In the last minute of extra time, Dutch coach Van Gaal made a substitution adjustment, replacing starting goalkeeper Cillessen.

This kind of substitution is very rare, because unless the goalkeeper is injured, he will not be easily replaced.

But this substitution had a very obvious purpose, which was the penalty shootout.

Van Gaal replaced the Dutch team's substitute goalkeeper Krul.

After this substitute came on the field, he caught up with the penalty shootout between the Netherlands and Costa Rica.

In the five rounds of penalty kicks, Krul judged all the directions correctly and saved two penalty kicks, eventually helping the Netherlands eliminate Costa Rica 4-3 in the penalty shootout and advance to the semi-finals.

In this way, there are two European teams, one South American team, and one Asian team in the semi-finals.

Compared with world-class strong teams such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Argentina, the Chinese team, which historically entered the World Cup semi-finals, is indeed the weakest, although their performance in this World Cup may not be weak...

Now that they are facing the top favorite to win the championship, Germany, in the semi-finals, Chinese fans will have many ideas.

Some people will think, since we are already in the semi-finals, why can't we enter the finals and create the best result of an Asian team in World Cup history?

Some people think even more on this basis. If we can reach the World Cup final, then why can't we think about winning the championship? The Chinese team bravely won the World Cup! If this really happens, then it will no longer be a joke used to ridicule Chinese football online... Such a result is really exciting just thinking about it.

But some people will also think that the German team is too strong, and we should not give the Chinese team too high expectations and too much pressure, which will be detrimental to the team's performance. In fact, reaching this point, the Chinese team's performance has far exceeded our expectations, so everyone should relax and enjoy the Chinese team's games, regardless of winning or losing.

Both of these opinions have a lot of support, and the two sides quarreled online.

The latter accused the former of wishful thinking, and the former believed that the latter was a coward who didn't even dare to think about it...

In fact, this kind of ideological disunity is not only among fans, but also within the Chinese national team, where everyone's ideas are different...

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ps, tomorrow should be the last day of updating this book. The last three chapters will be updated completely. Thank you for your company these past two years!