After the Chinese national football team qualified for the group stage, there was a large-scale celebration across the country. The people who worked the hardest were the police and security guards who were there to maintain order.
Major media and websites reported extensively on the Chinese team's road to qualification, and netizens were also enthusiastic. The comments section under each report was filled with heated discussions, even more heated than the 2008 Olympics.
The joy of the Chinese team's first World Cup victory and defeating Spain to qualify has finally made the world's number one sport explode on Chinese soil, becoming a grand event that unites the people's hearts and morale.
Every member of the national team has become a hero, and no one is ashamed to play or watch football anymore.
If you have relatives or friends who happen to play football, you will attract envious looks from people around you.
However, amid the celebrations of fans across the country, many people expressed pessimism about the prospects of the Chinese team.
Because, according to the principle of the first place in Group A against the second place in Group B in the round of 16, the Chinese team will face the host and the football kingdom Brazil in the round of 16.
Many people speculate that the Chinese team’s World Cup journey will come to an abrupt end in the 1/8 finals.
Even so, the Chinese team created a big miracle and the fans celebrated happily.
Moreover, considering the possibility that the Chinese team might be eliminated in the round of 16, many people made a temporary decision to go to Brazil to watch the Chinese team's round of 16 match.
Regardless of whether they win or lose, China's first World Cup knockout match is definitely worth watching live. Moreover, the opponent is the football kingdom of Brazil.
As a result, the prices of tickets for the China vs. Brazil quarter-final started to soar at a rocket speed on that day, and it is estimated that the final price will be very high.
In the following two days, the group matches ended one after another, and the final list of teams that advanced to the top 16 of this World Cup was Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, China, Colombia, Greece, Costa Rica, Uruguay, France, Switzerland, Argentina, Nigeria, Germany, the United States, Belgium, and Algeria.
Defending champion Spain was eliminated in the group stage, and England and Italy in Group D were eliminated by Costa Rica and Uruguay. Costa Rica was particularly surprising as it ranked first in the group.
It can be seen that even the world's strong teams are not guaranteed to win.
Gao Hongbo and Lu Wenbin also used the example of Costa Rica to encourage the team to face Brazil.
In particular, the Chinese team also has Lu Wenbin as their secret weapon. If they take the lead or go into a penalty shootout, the Chinese team can temporarily replace Lu Wenbin as the goalkeeper.
During training, everyone has witnessed Lu Wenbin's magic in saving penalties.
Generally speaking, with the shooting skills of the Chinese players, if they perform well in front of Lu Wenbin, they can score one or two out of ten penalty kicks, but if they perform poorly, they can basically not score any goal.
Only shots with both power and speed directed towards the blind corner have a chance of scoring a goal, and the chance of that happening is also not high.
This is an analysis based on the Chinese team itself, and on the other hand it is an analysis of the Brazilian team.
The Brazilian team looks strong, but it is not.
The 3-1 victory over Croatia in the first game and the 4-1 victory over Cameroon in the third game could only be considered normal performances, but the 0-0 draw with Mexico in the second game showed the fact that Brazil's attack was weak.
Although it still bears the name of Five-Star Brazil, today's Brazilian team is far from the lineup of superstars such as Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, and Juninho Jr. when it won the championship in 2002.
If we count the players of today's Brazilian team, Neymar, Gustavo, Oscar, Maicon, Marcelo, Silva, Cesar, etc., although they are well-known, they are nothing compared to the superstar-studded Brazilian team in 2002.
With the inspiring reality of Costa Rica in front of them, the fact that Brazil was tied 0-0 by Mexico, and the trump card of Lu Wenbin, the Chinese players were not intimidated by the Brazilian team.
Inspired by Lu Wenbin's leadership aura, everyone was clamoring to fight the Brazilian team to the end.
Of course, no one made the stupid remarks that some players in 2002 said, "Neymar can be easily frozen."
The Chinese team's trump card is Lu Wenbin's all-round offense and defense and his ability to command the backcourt, which relies on the overall team.
What Lu Wenbin and Gao Hongbo did was to break the Chinese players' inherent fear of the football kingdom of Brazil.
As long as they have faith, dare to fight, dare to grab and dare to counterattack, the Chinese team is not without a chance to defeat Brazil and advance to the quarterfinals.
After all, this Brazil team definitely does not have the strength to beat Spain 5-1 like the Netherlands team.
The Chinese team only lost to the Netherlands 2-3, so a draw or a win against Brazil are both very possible.
Not to mention winning, if it's a draw, when it comes to the penalty shootout, let alone Lu Wenbin's goalkeeping ability, just the fact that Lu Wenbin is standing in front of the goal is enough to make the Brazilians psychologically confused.
Lu Wenbin and Gao Hongbo privately analyzed that the probability of the Chinese team defeating Brazil and advancing to the quarterfinals is not small.
At 13:00 on June 28, the first quarter-final of the 2014 World Cup between China and Brazil officially began at the Mineirão Arena in Belo Horizonte.
In last year's Confederations Cup semi-final, the Chinese team lost 1-3 to Brazil at this stadium.
But today's Chinese team is no longer the Chinese team of last year, and Lu Wenbin is no longer the Lu Wenbin of last year.
Lu Wenbin and his teammates have a better understanding of each other, and the transition between offense and defense is more handy. Lu Wenbin also has the killer skill of a goalkeeper with full value.
The entire Chinese team is determined to take revenge and defeat Brazil on the same field to advance to the quarterfinals.
But it's not that easy.
Even without superstars like Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, the Brazilian team still stood out in the football kingdom and was selected for the national team. The individual skills of the members are still very impressive, and their cooperation in play is so smooth and pleasing to the eye.
Just 8 minutes into the game, Brazil used a series of passes from four players in the frontcourt, plus an unexpected heel pass from attacking midfielder Oscar to tear through the Chinese team's defense, allowing Neymar to score with a low shot in the penalty area.
1-0, the host Brazil team easily took the lead just 8 minutes into the game.
The Brazilians were singing and laughing on the field and in the stands, while the Chinese players were somewhat shocked.
However, there was no frustration.
After all, at the pre-match mobilization meeting, Lu Wenbin and Gao Hongbo had already told everyone that losing goals against Brazil was inevitable, and it would not be surprising even if they fell behind in the score.
Therefore, we must not lose our fighting spirit and must work together to try to equalize the score.
The tactic discussed before the game was to replace Lu Wenbin as the goalkeeper when the score was ahead, and not to replace him when the score was tied or behind. What they feared was that without Lu Wenbin's counterattack and command of the defense, the defense line would be penetrated by the Brazilian team.
In that case, even if Lu Wenbin was standing in front of the door, it would not be very safe.
Therefore, now that the score is behind, everyone can only continue to defend under the leadership of Lu Wenbin and wait for opportunities to counterattack and try to equalize the score.
As long as they equalize, the Chinese team will have a chance.