Because Zhou Yi started in this game, he started in both games, and Zheng Zhi, who wore the captain's armband, naturally sat on the bench.

The captain's armband also hit Zhou Yi's arm.

When the players from both sides appeared, captain Zhou Yi walked in front and led his teammates into the stadium.

Next to him is Spain's captain centre-back Sergio Ramos.

"Captain Zhou Yi!" Liu Jianhong was very excited when he saw this scene.

Although it is no longer news that Zhou Yi became the captain of the Chinese team, this is the first time that Zhou Yi appeared in front of everyone wearing the captain's armband.

"The 23-year-old captain, Zhou Yi is the youngest official captain in the history of the Chinese national team!"

Zhou Yi has never been a captain in the national team and club before, and has never worn a captain's armband.

But everyone seems to be worried that he lacks the experience of being a leader, because although he does not wear the captain's armband in the club, he is indeed the same as a real captain. Apart from not going up to pick the side, he basically does everything the captain should do.

Moreover, in such a difficult situation last season, Dortmund still won the double championship and successfully defended the Champions League championship. Zhou Yi not only played an important role on the court, but also played a key role in the locker room, helping the team stabilize the morale of the army, and making Klopp praise the fact that he has Zhou Yi is something that any head coach dreams of.

Through these news, everyone knows Zhou Yi’s leadership ability.

Leadership does not necessarily have to be linked to age and experience. Not to mention, Zhou Yi has rich experience. In the Chinese team, he is the player with the most experience in European competitions and the most experience in the European league. He has experienced two Champions League finals and countless fierce battles.

In this national team, if he does not have the qualifications to be the captain, no one is qualified to be more suitable for this position than him.

※※※

Zhou Yi's appearance with the captain's armband is no different from his usual appearance. As soon as he comes out, he looks around and looks around.

When Zhou Yi was not famous at the beginning, he was criticized for doing this for being "inattentive" and "not serious enough".

Of course no one says that now. This has become a habit of Zhou Yi, and there is nothing to say about everyone.

In this game, the Chinese team drew the home team's lottery, and they still chose the red jersey, while Spain could only wear black away jerseys.

On the red jersey, the golden captain's armband looks very conspicuous.

With the pair of personality sneakers with contrasting colors under his feet, even in the non-high-definition TV broadcast screen, Zhou Yi can be recognized at a glance, which is completely different from other players.

Of course, personal temperament is also very important.

Although this was his first World Cup appearance in his life and his first time wearing a captain's armband, he was not nervous or uncomfortable at all.

After appearing, players from both sides lined up and played the national anthem of the participating countries on the spot.

When playing the national anthem of the Chinese name Republic, Zhou Yi did not cover the national flag with his hands, but sang the national anthem with his hands with his head held high and his chest up.

When the broadcast camera gave him a close-up, the audience in front of the TV could even hear the singing he made.

After the national anthem was played, cheers from fans from both sides rang out on the spot.

Next is the necessary pre-match procedure, including shaking hands between players on both sides, captains on both sides exchange team flags, gifts, and picking sides...

Zhou Yi and Ramos stood together.

They met again a month later.

However, in the Champions League final a month ago, neither of them was the captain.

Real Madrid's dream of ten championships shattered Zhou Yi, and Ramos had a deep impression of Zhou Yi.

Now this game can be said to have accumulated all the national hatred and family hatred together.

Zhou Yi even felt that Ramos was trying harder when shaking hands with him than in the Champions League final...

In this game, Spain's first captain Casillas sat on the bench. In the last World Cup game, Spanish head coach Bosque made some adjustments to the team's lineup. I don't know whether it was for tactical considerations or for comforting reasons.

Anyway, Casillas, who conceded seven goals in the first two games, did not continue to start, and Reina was the one who replaced him.

Naturalized center Diego Costa, who started in both previous games, also sat on the bench in this game, and replaced him were Villa and Torres, two main strikers from the last World Cup.

Diego Costa won the league, which also attracted the competition between the Brazilian Football Association and the Spanish Football Association. The Brazilian team hopes that Diego Costa can play for the Brazilian national team. After all, the Brazilian team now lacks excellent centers.

But Diego Costa abandoned Brazil and chose to play for Spain. This decision attracted strong dissatisfaction in Brazil. Brazilian fans booed him a lot in this World Cup. I wonder if his poor performance in this World Cup is related to this.

But Costa's performance is indeed very bad. As the main center, he started two consecutive games, behind the powerful Spanish midfielder, but he failed to score a goal. Spain scored one goal in two games, but it was still a penalty kick from Xavi Alonso. The Spanish team failed to score a goal in the sports game.

With such a bad offensive performance, it is no wonder that Boske would make adjustments to the forward line of this game, replacing Costa and Pedro, allowing the 33-year-old Villa and 30-year-old Torres to start.

In addition to making adjustments on the front line and goalkeeper, Bosque also made adjustments to other positions. On the back line, Azpilicueta and Xavi Martinez who started the last game were both replaced, and Juan Fran and Albiol were replaced.

Midfielder Xavi still did not enter the starting lineup in this game. As the core of Spain's midfielder, Xavi has not played in the formalities after losing 1:5 to the Netherlands in the first game. The same is true for this game. He did not play, which disappointed those who planned to see Zhou Yi and Xavi's conversation in the World Cup. After all, Zhou Yi has the most similar style to Xavi. Some people even said that from Zhou Yi, you can see Xavi when you were young, and I don't know if Xavi also sees the same thing. But it's a pity that the two of them lost the opportunity to have a direct conversation.

Perhaps Boske felt that the old Xavi could no longer keep up with the pace of the game. If the young and energetic Chinese team were allowed to speed up the pace of the game, Xavi would not make much contribution even on the court. So he still did not start in this game.

The person who replaced him was Cazzola.

Busquets also did not start, replaced by Atletico Madrid's young player Cork.

It can be said that this time the Spanish team's starting lineup has undergone a great shift in the universe, and the adjustment range is very large.

The players who started in the first game against the Netherlands, only Ramos, Alba, Xavi Alonso and Iniesta are still on the court.

In the last game, Boske completely gave up what he insisted on in the first two games and put Xavi and Busquets on the bench, which shows that he realized that Barcelona's set was no longer suitable for the current Spanish team.

The reason why the Spanish team was able to sweep Europe and the World Cup before was because of its powerful Barcelona-style Tiki-taka football.

But at that time, the main players were all in their year of playing, so there was no problem using this tactic, which could cover the feeling of three major competitions. But now the main core players are old, and this tactic has high requirements for physical fitness. After a difficult season, everyone was very physically and mentally exhausted. The result of using this tactic is a collapse.

With Cazola and Cork, Villa and Torres, Bosque hopes that Spain can get rid of the influence of Tiki-taka football in this game and play another fast, simple and direct football.

The emphasis on the wing roads was also a tradition before Spanish football.

Compared with Spain's Great Movement, the Chinese team's adjustment was much smaller, and they only made adjustments in one position, that is, Zhou Yi replaced Zheng Zhi. At the same time, Zhou Yi's position was slightly forward, and Yang Hao and Yang Muge, the two midfielders, protected him behind him.

The Chinese team's bench is not as strong as Spain, so there is not so much room for adjustment.

※※※

After the side picking ended, the Chinese team won the side picking right, while Spain got the kick-off right.

When choosing the venue, Zhou Yi chose to back the halftime with the Spanish fans without hesitation. This was already optimistic when he appeared.

The purpose of his doing this is to allow the Chinese team to attack in the first half to have their own fans' support, and to gain the support of Chinese fans from close range when they attack in front of Spain. When the two sides fought again in the second half, the Chinese team was backed by their own fans' defense and could also get the support of their fans.

The enthusiasm and fanaticism of Chinese fans should play a certain role in the Chinese team's defeat of Spain - Zhou Yi believed so, just like his teammates.

※※※

After all the procedures of both sides are completed, the players of the two teams stand in their respective positions and wait for the game to begin.

Villa and Torres walked into the middle circle and prepared to kick off.

"The two sides have taken their place, and this game is about to begin. For the audience, the next ninety minutes will determine the fate of the Chinese team!"
Chapter completed!