Chapter 291 Enemy
Li Qing did not exclaim, but was a little surprised. He whispered: "We were drawn to Group D! This is fun."
England, which should have been a seeded team, became a second-tier team because the host country automatically occupied a seeded seat. Being drawn to Group D was something the media thought of before the draw began, but it was another matter to actually be drawn together.
Since its birth in 1930, the World Cup has given audiences around the world countless wonderful high-level matches, created countless thrilling goals, and also created the most famous rivals in the history of the World Cup.
If you ask a veteran World Cup fan which rivalry is the most intense on and off the field, then this veteran World Cup fan will definitely say England and Argentina.
From politics to football, England and Argentina have too many grievances.
The first encounter between England and Argentina in history was in the early 19th century, when the invader Great Britain defeated the Spanish royal family that colonized Argentina and became the new owner of Argentina's land. The Argentines were very dissatisfied with Great Britain's colonization and had irreconcilable hatred. Since then, they began to organize a war to defend their motherland and declared independence three years later.
In the mid-19th century, along 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 occupied half of Argentina's economy, brought modern football.
Argentina's earliest football clubs were founded by Britons, such as Newell's Old Boys, which is related to Messi, and the founding of the traditional Argentine giants River Plate and Independiente also had the shadow of Britons.
However, at that time, Argentines were not allowed to participate in football matches and match management. This indirect colonization angered the Argentines, so a large number of clubs established by Argentines themselves sprang up like mushrooms after rain, and defeating the clubs founded by the Britons became the only value and meaning of the existence of these clubs.
In other words, the football hatred between England, the orthodox prince of Great Britain, and Argentina officially began from that time.
Since the World Cup was founded in 1930, England and Argentina have played against each other 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, the 1998 France World Cup quarter-finals and the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup group stage, of which England won three and lost two.
The most classic contest of the five games was the 1986 Mexico World Cup quarter-finals, but before that, we have to mention the Falklands War that broke out in early 1982, which made the people of Britain and Argentina incompatible since then. Although the two countries signed a peace agreement after the war, the anger in the hearts of the Argentines has not been calmed.
Sports events are called wars in peacetime. As the world's number one sport, football deservedly became the first choice for Argentines to avenge the princely English. At that time, Maradona turned out, and under the wheel of fate, England and Argentina met in the 1986 Mexico World Cup quarter-finals.
Maradona, who was at the peak of his career, first scored the ball into the goal with the classic "Hand of God", and then scored the best goal in the history of the World Cup, "scoring after passing six players", humiliating England and eventually winning the World Cup.
The grudges of the 1998 World Cup in France were mainly the grudges between Diego Simeone, the current head coach of Atletico Madrid, and David Beckham, which led to England being eliminated with one less player. In the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Beckham used a penalty kick to send Argentina out in advance in the group stage.
After 16 years, they were drawn into the same group again. The battle in Group D instantly became the focus of attention of the whole world. The bigwigs who represented the two teams in the draw ceremony all had gloomy faces, and obviously did not expect that they would be drawn into the same group.
They are not teams from the same continent, which means that they are likely to draw a European team next...
There are no weak teams in the European teams participating in the World Cup...
That is to say, Group D is likely to become the group of death!
In front of the TV, except for Li Qing who performed normally, the other English and Argentine people felt nervous and depressed.
Messi, Argentina's top star, frowned while watching the live broadcast, obviously feeling that next year's World Cup will be difficult...
The third-tier team drawn to Group D is Iceland, which eliminated England in the 2016 European Cup in France. Arnold, who was watching the live broadcast, complained: "The draw for this World Cup is a joke on us, right? Why are we drawn teams that have grudges against us?"
"That's right!"
Solanke nodded depressedly and said, "Can't we draw a weaker team?"
Arnold didn't know where the inspiration came from. He asked Li Qing nervously: "Li, do you think our group will become the death group?"
Although Iceland eliminated England in last year's European Cup and advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Cup, Iceland was obviously despised by England at that time and was not treated seriously, which led to a shocking upset. Now that it is drawn to the same group again, it is almost impossible to lose again.
Li Qing said with a smile: "Do you think there is a super strong team in the fourth tier?"
Arnold smiled awkwardly. The fourth tier only has 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, the other seven national teams can draw.
Except for the African Eagle 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 tier have been assigned, and Group H has become the first group of death.
The overall strength of Poland, Senegal and Colombia, which were drawn together, is not much different. Three teams compete for two qualifying places, and one of the strong teams will inevitably be eliminated.
More than ten minutes passed quickly, and the eight teams in the fourth tier appeared in the group list. The fourth tier team drawn to Group D is Nigeria, which is also the strongest team in the fourth tier.
The broadcaster gave the detailed eight groups, and Li Qing found that his influence was still relatively limited. England, which was originally in the same group with Belgium, came to Group D, and Croatia, which was originally supposed to belong to Group D, went to Group G.
After more than two hours of the World Cup group draw, social networking sites such as INS, Twitter, and Facebook were instantly occupied by the results of the World Cup group draw that had just ended. The domestic football APP Dongqiudi was even more popular. Among them, the most concerned was that England and Argentina were drawn to the same group again after 16 years.
Although England and Argentina are better than Iceland and Nigeria in Group D in overall strength, they still have to be careful to deal with every game if they want to stand out from Group D.
In addition, the strong dialogue between England and Argentina is the first round of Group D, which means that both teams must do their best.
Among the eight groups, except for Group H, which is a bit like the group of death, Group E is also the same. In addition to the overall strength of the Brazilian team surpassing the other three teams, Switzerland, Serbia and Costa Rica are all strong enough to compete for a place in the group.