Chapter 686: Exciting——A vigorous battle

When Xiao Ming was looking at Löw, Löw was also looking at Xiao Ming.

Loeff's coaching experience at the club is not particularly outstanding. Although he created the frontcourt golden triangle of "Barakov, Bobic and Elber" in Stuttgart for the first time, he won the German Cup that year and reached the final in the second year of the European Winners' Cup. In the end, he only lost to Chelsea to finish second. However, he did not achieve anything next. Fenerbahce and Adana of Turkey, as well as his old club Karlsruhe, were both dismissed due to poor record. Tyrol Innsbruck of Austria won the Austrian League championship and left again because the team went bankrupt. After he was idle, he stayed at home until 2004. He became the assistant coach of the German national team after Klinsmann resigned, but he did not perform well so far.

Loeff has never dealt with Xiao Ming before, but like most Germans, he did not leave any good impression of Xiao Ming because of Xiao Ming's unremarkable remarks about German football. What's more, the opponent in this final was the English national team led by Xiao Ming, so there would naturally be no friendly performance after meeting.

So something that excited the reporters happened, and the entire press conference was filled with a tense atmosphere.

The fuse came from a German reporter's attack on Xiao Ming: "Mr. Xiao Ming, in the five conversations in the knockout stage of the World Championship, England lost to Germany. Do you think this will be the sixth time?"

Xiao Ming has never been a good person. Although he rarely does the kind of thing that you don’t mess with me, I will go and provoke you, unless he has to deal with the other party afterwards, someone will provoke him, and he has some ways to make others unhappy.

"The knockout match? We are playing the final now." Xiao Ming pretended to rub his temples and looked like he was thinking hard: "It should be the final?" He asked a British reporter in the audience.

The British reporter laughed and replied: "Yes, Xiao, we are playing in the final."

"Oh, is it the final?" Xiao Ming said suddenly: "I don't remember very clearly. When was the last time England and Germany met in the World Championship final? Who won in the end?"

The British reporters in the audience burst into laughter and replied in a mess: "We won the 1966 World Cup final! Four to two! The only hat trick in the World Cup final! Hurst!"

Keywords, 1966, World Cup in England, Hat Trick, Hurst...

All fools can hear it, aren’t you talking about history? Then the only time in history when England and Germany met in the World Championship final, England won...

The German journalists present looked ugly, and Löv said coldly: "What's there to say about a controversial goal?"

"Mr. Loeff, the final score of that game was four to two! England won two goals! Even if the ball was controversial - let alone just controversial - we still have three uncontroversial goals, Germany only has two." Xiao Ming turned to look at Loeff, emphasizing the number of four to two...

"Without the controversial third goal, the fourth goal may not be scored!" Löv snorted.

"In the final, in 1990, I fell outside the penalty area and had a penalty kick." Xiao Ming smiled and reminded him.

Loeve said nothing about it now. If England defeated Germany by controversial penalty kick to win the World Cup, at the 1990 Italian World Cup, Germany also relied on Bremer's controversial penalty kick to defeat Argentina by 1-0. If that penalty kick is not scored, who will win to death, it is unknown...

"Since that's the case, then, who has more World Cup champions in Germany or England? Who has more European Cup champions?" A German reporter couldn't help but stand up and said loudly to Xiao Ming.

"Are we talking about history at today's press conference? Then there is no need to compete in the finals. Is Germany good to win? Is it good to play in the World Cup in the future? Is it good to play in Brazil every World Cup?" Xiao Ming smiled.

"It was you who talked about history first..." The reporter choked halfway through his words. Xiao Ming looked at him with a smile, reminding him that the first person to bring the topic to history was the German reporter just now...

The reporter sat down in disappointment, and the host of the press conference came out to smooth things out: "Okay, everyone, this press conference is a press conference about the 2008 European Championship final. Please do not leave this category for the next topic, thank you."

He wanted to calm down the situation, but Xiao Ming had no intention of chasing and fighting again and again - he should chase the remaining brave men and women, and not seek fame and learning from the overlords - this is his usual style.

So when a British reporter asked Xiao Ming's prospects for the finals, he once again said something that caused the whole audience to be uproared.

"This final? I think the process must be very exciting." Xiao Ming's two sentences were normal, but the next paragraph revealed his mentality: "Maybe just like during World War II, Germany had the upper hand at the beginning, but the final victory still belonged to Britain."

All reporters couldn't believe their ears. The grudges between Britain and Germany were not clear in one sentence or two sentences, but before the football match between the two countries began, Xiao Ming directly mentioned the topic of World War II, a game that made both Britain and Germany painful. Xiao Ming was the first...

What is the big mistake of the world? This is the big mistake of the world!

When the reporters in the audience were in a mess, Löff finally couldn't help it. He responded coldly: "Yes, it's possible, but that requires the Americans to intervene."

The audience calmed down, and Löw's answer was too clever - Germany had an absolute advantage in the early to mid-World War II, and the whole of Europe was trembling in the tank cluster under their blitzkrieg. Even the British Empire was defeated by the Third Reich. However, Britain's victory was not based on its own ability. Germany's expedition to the Soviet Union and later the United States' participation in the war was the biggest reason for Germany's failure.

Judging from the current situation, Xiao Ming's words were shot in the foot. If he despises the other party, he was despised by the other party. German journalists were sneering and waiting to see the jokes, while British journalists looked at Xiao Ming with some concern...

Then Xiao Ming killed all of them in an instant: "Sorry, maybe I am that American... I have dual nationality between the United States and the United Kingdom."

Lov was silent, the host was silent, and the reporters were silent.

Xiao: "The final will be like World War II. The Germans have an advantage at the beginning, and the final victory belongs to the British!"

Lough: "That's right, after the Americans joined the war."

Xiao: "Sorry, I have dual nationality between the United States and the United Kingdom!"

...

This passage was completely copied to major media, and reporters rarely put all the conversations in the newspapers intact. Of course, the evaluations were different.

"Maybe what we lack is Xiao Ming, an American... Of course, he is an authentic British Empire, but he is born in the United States and has American nationality. This is a fact. This so-called "American" has led our national team to enter the finals of the European Cup for the first time in history. Maybe only he can lead our national team to the top in the European Cup for the first time and hold up the Delaune Cup we have never touched before!"

This is a report from The Times.

"This guy Xiao is really too unscrupulous. World War II is a huge disaster for everyone in the world. He actually said it so lightly with such a disaster in human history! This is a blasphemy! Our young men should teach this arrogant guy a lesson on the court! Let him know that no matter what the situation is, don't underestimate German football!"

This is a report on the sports version of the German Bird of Pictures.

Xiao Ming was not afraid of any disadvantages that his words would bring. After all, many years have passed since World War II, and Xiao Ming was just an example, and not many people would care about it. Capello, who coached England two years later, said the same thing at the World Cup, and the others just regarded it as a behind-the-scenes and interesting talk.

What's more, Xiao Ming grew up in East London, where the most bombed during World War II, so those who are familiar with his background will naturally forgive his words.

He did not intentionally provoke his opponents, but he quickly counterattacked after the opponent started provoking first, although the counterattack was a bit too much - Besides, there are not all pure Germans in the German national team now, such as Klose and Podolsky, both of them are descendants of Poland, and there are not many people who value this aspect.

At the same time, Xiao Ming is quite afraid of the tenacious spirit of German players. If he can tease the other party with words before the game starts, it will be more beneficial to England.

Besides, tomorrow is the final. At that time, all your attention will be on the competition between the two sides. How many people will care about what he said?

But no matter what, after this press conference that added fuel to the fire, the world's attention to the final increased a lot.

Battle between England and Germany! If Germany wins, they can continue to consolidate their reputation as the strongest team in Europe. Originally, they won the European Cup three times, and this time they won the championship, they will firmly suppress other teams. If Britain wins, they will be the tenth team that has won the European Cup, and four championship teams (Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain) have made England reach the final full of gold. If they can beat Germany in the final, they will become an unprecedented team in the history of the European Cup to defeat five former European champions in a cup! Such a gold-rich champion is definitely enough to be convincing.

The European Championship final itself is enough to attract attention. Coupled with the grudges between Britain and Germany from the country to football, the significance of this series, and Xiao Ming's fire, the focus of this game is no less than that of the World Cup final.

Xiao Ming is quite familiar with this German national team.

Not to mention, the two superstars of this German national team - Barack and Klose, to some extent, were trained by Xiao Ming - Barack was just an amateur player when he was poached by Leiden Oriental. When Klose joined Leiden Oriental youth team, he was just a young player in a low-level team. Although they didn't play for Leiden Oriental for a long time, if it were not for Leiden Oriental training, perhaps these two amateur players at that time would not have had the chance to stand out.

In this regard, the German national team has to thank Xiao Ming. From 1998 to 2006, the German national team encountered serious misfortune. Klinsmann's group of people was really outstanding, so outstanding that they suppressed the growth of a whole group of young players. During that period, in addition to the old goalkeeper Kahn, Barack and Klose were the most outstanding players in the German national team. Without these two people, it might not have been possible that Germany would have recovered rapidly in the 2002 World Cup after the 2006 World Cup.

But in other aspects, the Germans were very disgusted with Xiao Ming - his Leiden East defeated Bayern, taking this opportunity to surpass the Bundesliga and squeeze the Bundesliga into the fourth league. After losing to Leverkusen, Xiao Ming made a big fuss and criticized the entire German football for nothing...

From this perspective, Xiao Ming has definitely stood opposite to German football and has become one of the few people that German fans hate the most. However, for Xiao Ming, who has become the head coach of the English national team, this will not have any impact on him. On the contrary, because of the grudges and hatred between English and German football, the more he is hated by German fans, the more he is supported by English fans.

For English fans, they no longer care about what kind of person the head coach of the national team is. After all, they have been tossed by McLaren before, and they have almost felt a sense of despair that they have not felt for a long time. Since missing the World Cup in 1994, England has not achieved great results in the World Championships, but they have entered the final circle. Even if the English fans are dissatisfied with the previous coaches, they have never thought that their national team might miss the World Championships. However, under the leadership of McLaren, they are only one step away from participating in the final circle of the European Cup. At this time, Xiao Ming emerged from nowhere to turn the tide and keep the building going.

After dreaming of a strong team all the way to reach the final - if we kill this German team that has brought countless painful defeats to the English national team in history, then Xiao Ming's position in the minds of English fans will immediately surpass that of meritorious coaches such as Robson, and can even be compared with Sir Alf Ramsey, the best head coach in the history of England's national team - Ramsey won the only World Cup championship for England, and Robson was the only head coach who had a good end in the position of head coach of England national team after Ramsey resigned. In addition to these two people, all the previous head coaches in England after World War II were not worth mentioning. Xiao Ming's entry to the finals of the European Cup alone was enough to kill them in seconds.

But as Xiao Ming said to Jessica, since he has entered the finals, what else should he consider the runner-up? To consider it, it is to consider the championship.

The pillar of this German team is Barack, and the most threatening one on the front line is Klose. Although Podolsky scored more goals than Klose, Podolsky's goals were all in the group stage, and Klose's goals appeared at critical moments, not to mention that he had several direct assists. Now Klose is no longer the shooter who only knows how to use his head. As the forward who is at the forefront, his ball-making ability and footwork skills have also been greatly developed.

Behind Klose are Schweinsteiger, Barack and Podolsky. Barack is the captain and offensive core. He runs on a large scale. Xiao Ming is very familiar with his strong physique, excellent physical fitness, strong confrontational ability, strong long shots and comprehensiveness are Barack's specialties. Schweinsteiger is the lubricant for the midfield. His running and passing are the guarantee that the German midfielders will be alive. Although Podolsky's position is midfielder, he appears more in the forward position. His back-row insertion and cooperation with Klose make him often play much better in the national team than in the club. For a while, Podolsky was on the bench at Bayern and scored goals as soon as he went to the national team...

The three of them and Klose accounted for most of the German offense. The two midfielders behind them, Flins and Hitzelspeg, were basically defending. Flins occasionally made an attack forward. His long shots were quite powerful and his physical fitness was also very good.

Germany has always been without a shortage of excellent defenders, and this national team is no exception. Friedrich, Mertsacker, Metzeld and Ram’s defense line. Although Ram is the short man who has dragged his legs, the other three are extremely tall, especially the central defender composed of Mertsacker and Metzeld can be regarded as the first height of this European Championship. However, in Xiao Ming’s view, Germany’s defense line is a little bit that can be used.

If he is tall and has no speed, he will not be too fast. In fact, Mertsacker is a central defender with a slow speed. Metzeld's turn is fast, but his physical fitness has been greatly reduced. Friedrich is more focused on defense. The only fast Ram often needs to assist. In addition, his condition is not as good as Lehmann's goalkeeper two years ago. The current German national team's defense line seems to be one level worse than that of Summer and Coral at that time, even compared with the German national team's defense line in the 2002 World Cup.

So from the beginning, Xiao Ming did not intend to use defensive counterattack to deal with Germany - although their defense line was not fast and counterattack seemed more appropriate, Germany's offense was quite excellent. They did not lack good players who broke through the wing, nor did they lack centers to grab points in the middle, nor did they lack heavy gunners outside the penalty area - it was too inappropriate to use recycled counterattack to deal with such an offensive lineup.

If you expand the defense zone to the midfield and fight head-on, England will not have the upper hand in physical fitness. German football has always been synonymous with strength. Instead of fighting with the opponent's strongest point, it is better to seize the opponent's weakness and attack fiercely.
Chapter completed!