It's cheating, but Hazard

Chapter 242 Fateful Showdown: France vs. Uruguay (Daily Transition)

The World Cup is about to begin, and Charles is traveling to Cape Town with his teammates.

After the 10:0 victory over the Chinese team, the morale of all the French players was unprecedentedly high.

Even though the Chinese national football team was weak, this was a big win of 10:0.

Tunisia is in North Africa and Cape Town is at the southernmost tip of Africa.

And there are no direct flights between the two places.

The French team must first fly from Tunisia to Munich, and then transfer from Munich to Cape Town, which takes 13.5 hours.

On the plane, the players were already drowsy, but Domenegue was still very energetic.

I saw him concentrating on reading the "Weekly" he had just bought at the Munich Airport.

This newspaper is a regional newspaper in Lorraine. Although it was purchased in Germany, it is all in French.

"Astrologer Santi Hagi from Metz (France) predicts that the French team will qualify successfully from the first round."

"Because more than a third of the French team's players are fire signs (Leo, Aries and Sagittarius)."

"For example, Charles, the most important midfielder of the French team, is an Aries."

"Fire signs are all active, passionate and ambitious in their own way, and they are influenced by the element of fire."

"They are often considered the most dynamic and powerful of the zodiac, and they tend to be natural leaders and innovators."

“They have strong personalities and lots of passion, drive, and a strong sense of purpose.”

"Fire signs have a natural ability to inspire others, are creative and open-minded, and are always ready to take on a challenge."

"So the French team will not lack industry, aggression and calmness."

Domenegue nodded when he saw this.

As expected of a famous astrologer from Metz, he thought exactly the same.

"However, Santi Haji also said that the scarcity of players from air signs (Gemini, Aquarius and Libra) may lead to a lack of creativity in the French team."

Domenegue frowned when he saw this.

Damn it, this Santi Haji came out of nowhere and dared to talk nonsense in the newspaper!

Then, Domenegue took out the second newspaper, "Transfer Market".

This is the very famous "Transfermarkt", and the players' market values ​​are basically estimated based on this standard.

However, when he went to buy it, the latest issue of "Transfer Market" had been sold out and there was no time to restock it.

He took the previous issues that he hadn't seen before.

The focus of this issue is to estimate the value of the top 32 teams in the World Cup.

However, not all coaches have announced the 23-man roster in advance like Maradona did. So in order to reduce the error, Transfermarkt calculated the value of each team based on the 25 players most likely to be selected.

"10, Group G, Ivory Coast

"The total value of the Ivory Coast team is 1 million euros. The most valuable player in the team is the striker Drogba who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, with a value of 8000 million euros."

"9. Netherlands, Group E

"The total value of the Dutch team is 2 million euros, and the most valuable player in the team is Sneijder, an attacking midfielder who plays for Inter Milan in Serie A, with a value of 8000 million euros.

"The winger who plays for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga is second in the team at 2800 million euros."

"8. Germany, Group D

"The total value of the German team is 3 million euros, and the most valuable player in the team is the striker Gomez who plays for Bayern Munich, with a value of 500 million euros.

"Ranked second is the full-back Lahm, who also plays for Bayern, with a market value of 2500 million euros."

"7, Group G Portugal
"The total value of the Portuguese team is 3 million euros. The most valuable player in the team is Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Real Madrid in La Liga, with a value of 4000 million euros."

"6, Group B Argentina
"The total value of the Argentine team is 3 million euros, of which Barcelona striker Messi, who won both the World Footballer of the Year and the European Footballer of the Year last year, is worth 9000 million euros."

“5. Group F, Italy
"The total value of the Italian team is 4 million euros. The most valuable player in the team is De Rossi, a defensive midfielder who plays for Roma in Serie A, with a value of 3800 million euros."

"4, England, Group C
"The England team is worth 4 million euros, with the most valuable player being Manchester United striker Rooney, who is worth 4000 million euros.

"The Three Lions have a total of four players worth more than 4 million euros, namely Terry, Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney."

"3. Group G Brazil

"The total value of the Brazilian team is 5 million euros. The most valuable player in the team is Kaka, an attacking midfielder who plays for Real Madrid in La Liga, with a value of 1500 million euros."

"2, Group A, France

The French team is worth 5 million euros, with Charles, who plays for Barcelona, ​​being the highest valued at 2000 million euros. A total of 16 players are worth tens of millions of euros.

"1. Group H Spain
"The total value of the Spanish team is 5 million euros. The most valuable player in the team is Xavi, a midfielder who plays for Barcelona in La Liga, with a value of 6500 million euros..."

Seeing this, Domenegue was quite satisfied.

Just looking at the value of the players, Group G can be called the group of death.

The future World Cup champion will surely be born among Spain, France, Brazil and England.

As for the rest?
We'll talk about it when the time comes.

"Raymond, our captain hasn't been decided yet. Once we get to Cape Town, this matter can't be delayed any longer."

The teaching assistant whispered.

Domenegue closed the newspaper and rubbed his forehead.

Maybe it’s just like what the zodiac says, people of fire signs are all ambitious.

Gallas is just such a representative player.

He is a Leo, but he is completely different from the humble Ciel, who is also a fire sign.

Henry had always worn the captain's armband before, but now Henry's strength has declined and he has become a substitute in the national team, so Domenegue plans to choose one of the starting players to be the captain.

He had originally considered letting Evra come.

But Gallas was very dissatisfied with this. As the former captain of Arsenal, he felt that the captain's armband should be his.

"Then who do you think is suitable?"

The teaching assistant thought for a moment and quietly pointed his finger at Charles.

"No matter who is given the captaincy, there will be controversy. So let's give it to the one with the least controversy, instead of continuing to rank them according to seniority. And we haven't announced that Evra is the captain yet."

Domenegue nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you then."

After a long flight, the plane finally arrived in Cape Town.

In 6 days, they will start their first group match against Uruguay.

The hotel prepared this time is very luxurious and is located in the resort town of Knysna Headlands.

Charles dragged the suitcase and Benzema back to the room tiredly to rest.

"I heard that today, when the logistics staff were setting up props on the training field, they saw two poisonous snakes on the grass."

Benzema sighed and continued, "I don't know how those snakes got in."

Ciel, who was lying on the bed, jumped up when he heard this.

"Didn't they say that all the venomous snakes have been caught? Domenegue seemed to say that he would also file a complaint against FIFA and the World Cup Committee."

"How did you get in?"

Benzema quickly waved his hand, "No, I'm not talking about entering the hotel. I want to know if there will still be snakes when we train tomorrow." But Charles didn't want to rest at all. He quickly opened the suitcase and took out two packs of mosquito nets.

"what is this?"

Benzema also sat up and asked curiously.

Charles threw one of the mosquito nets to Benzema. "It's a mosquito net, used to keep out mosquitoes. My dad bought it specially when he went to China last year, just to keep it for this time."

"First, move all the things on the bed and put them on my bed. Then, open the mosquito net I gave you and it will become a small tent."

"Then you open the zipper and put the mattress and other things in."

Charles was instructing while Benzema was practicing.

This was repeated twice and the two tents were quickly set up.

Although this hotel is very luxurious and has sea view rooms, there are two poisonous snakes in the stadium. He doesn't believe that there will be no mosquitoes in the hotel.

After resting for a while, Charles took out all the remaining mosquito nets in the suitcase, gave half to Benzema, and then the two of them distributed them to all their teammates.

When Charles came back, the room was empty and Benzema was still delivering the mosquito nets.

Suddenly, Charles noticed something flashing before his eyes.

Judging from his experience of fighting wits and courage with rats in Barcelona, ​​that thing was none other than a rat!

Charles quickly took the slippers in his hand, rushed to the corner and moved the table away.

However, the moment the table was moved away, the mouse flashed by again and disappeared.

Charles walked in the direction where the mouse disappeared. Just as he was about to move the wardrobe away, he suddenly felt something furry running across the back of his foot.

"what--"

He subconsciously jumped onto the table he had just moved away, and shot the mouse with the slippers in his hand.

But the mouse was obviously faster than him.

Before his slippers even touched the ground, the mouse disappeared again.

That’s right, what just ran over his feet was nothing but a mouse!

He was not afraid of rats, but the rat just now showed no moral integrity and actually attacked him.

Seeing that Benzema wouldn't be back for a while, Charles could only sit at the table and pick up the landline to call the front desk.

Although South Africa is in Africa, its official language is not French.

The call was answered quickly.

The front desk speaks English.

"Sorry, my English is not very good."

Charles began to communicate with the front desk using the English he had just consolidated for more than half a month.

"Okay, I understand. How can I help you?"

The receptionist asked gently.

Charles' eyes were still searching for the mouse's movements, "Do you know Tom and Jerry?"

"Yes, it's a cartoon."

"Yes, Jerry is in my room now."

Out of the corner of his eye, Charles spotted the mouse's movements again, so he quickly threw away his only remaining slipper.

"what?"

The receptionist asked in confusion.

Charles realized that the slippers had missed the target, so he could only repeat what he had just said.

"I said Jerry is in my room now."

The receptionist finally understood what Charles meant, "You mean there's another rat in your room?"

"Yes, please... uh, come for a moment, and then... while you're at it, please have Tom come for a moment."

Charles's mind was full of Spanish and he couldn't figure out how to express what he meant in English.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally uttered a sentence.

The front desk clerk patiently replied, “We don’t have Tom in our hotel.”

Charles felt that the rat was going to climb onto him in the next second. He had never really hated rats.

"Okay, then come on your own."

Finally, after the hotel's efforts, the rat that was lurking in the room was finally caught.

Six days passed in a flash. During the preparation period, Charles had no intention or courage to go out for fun.

Because he was worried that he wouldn't see the police when he was out and about.

Just because the police represent safety doesn’t mean thieves won’t dare to rob the police.

It's because the police won't appear in dangerous places.

"Zhuangdianer.com, Zhuangdianer.com, you are watching the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Group A, France vs. Uruguay."

"In March of this year, the Spanish version of FIFA's official website conducted a survey among fans, asking them to choose the strongest striker combination in their minds for the World Cup."

"Spain's Torres and Villa received 33% of the votes, while the second place went to France's striker combination of Charles and Ribery, who received 31% of the votes."

"Ribery and Charles' Bayern and Barcelona met in the Champions League final this season, and their performances were also very eye-catching."

"Although Ribery did not play in the final, no one can deny his contribution."

"Of course, since the fans surveyed are mostly from Spanish-speaking countries, the results are subjective."

"In third place are two Chilean strikers who are not considered top strikers. They are Suazo, who plays for Zaragoza and is the La Liga winter record holder this season, and Alexis Sanchez from Udinese."

"Then France's opponent today, Uruguay, their forward combination ranked fifth in this survey."

"Uruguayan strikers Forlan and Suarez, of which Forlan was the winner of the European Golden Boot last season and scored 13 goals in La Liga this season;"

"Ajax's Suarez has been in fantastic form this season, scoring 31 goals in the Eredivisie and winning the league's Golden Boot at the end of the season."

"Currently, the French team is full of talented players, and Charles is the most valuable player in the world right now."

"But remember, France hasn't beaten Uruguay in 44 years."

"The two countries met twice in the 1966 World Cup and the 2002 World Cup, but France ended up losing one and drawing the other."

"Originally, this game would have been a fateful showdown."

"In the 2002 World Cup, Henry was sent off by the referee for a direct red card after he tackled Uruguayan striker Dario Silva while returning to defence."

"In the end, the French team had to play 10 against 11 and was forced to settle for a draw."

"Afterwards, Henry became the target of criticism from the French media, while Silva became the hero of Uruguay in that match."

"Now eight years later, Henry is no longer a starter for France;"

"Silva, who caused Henry to foul, lost his right leg in a car accident in 2006."

"Although he wore a prosthetic leg and played for Uruguayan stars in a charity match in 2009, the two were destined not to continue their fateful confrontation at the World Cup."

(End of this chapter)