Chapter 881 The Tragic Opening
The opening ceremony was indeed about to begin. Staff were already making final preparations on the field below, and everyone's attention was gradually shifting from their surroundings to the field.
After about ten minutes, the opening ceremony officially began. A huge football was placed in the center of the stadium. Surrounding the football were 24 small footballs in the colors of national flags of various countries, representing the 24 participating national teams.
Then, the music started, and six girls in star-striped tights walked into the stadium carrying the American flag. They represented the American team.
Next, the national flags of various countries were carried into the venue by girls wearing tights in the colors of these countries' flags.
When the seventh country entered the venue, the famous Italian rock star and composer Giorgio Moroder played the electric guitar and sang the theme song of this World Cup "Summer in Italy" with his slightly hoarse voice. Singing with him was Gina Nannini, who was wearing a blue short-sleeved jacket.
The two singers' singing voices were very distinctive, high-pitched and passionate. As they sang, all 24 teams entered the stadium and stood at the four corners of the stadium, forming a cross.
In the enthusiastic singing, the fans in the stands all stood up to the rhythm, swaying their bodies and humming and clapping to the beat. When the music faded and the singing stopped, cheers and applause suddenly rang out at the scene, accompanied by sharp whistles.
"Awesome! So awesome!" Qin Zhengguo was so excited that he stood up with the girl he was talking to in front of him during the music. The two of them couldn't help twisting their bodies and making butt-butting movements with their hands raised high.
Seeing this excited look, Song Yuanchao didn't know what to say. In fact, he was also very excited at this time . The atmosphere on the scene was completely different from watching TV. He also stood up and danced to the rhythm, but Song Yuanchao was still somewhat restrained and not as crazy as Qin Zhengguo.
The cheers lasted for several minutes, and soon as the red balloon rose, a person dressed in red walked in the front holding the red balloon. Behind him, a group of models wearing eye-catching red skirts and red hats walked in slowly. At the end of these models were a few models wearing red Statue of Liberty hair accessories, and a few other models wearing the same colors but different clothing styles.
The models walked from the aisle to the court, each of them was beautiful and moving, twisting their steps as if they were walking on a catwalk, making people feel the impact of fashion and color to the sound of music.
Next, the costumes representing Africa came on stage. Each team had costumes characteristic of its own country, and as they came on stage, the background music and singing also changed. This opening ceremony was refreshing, as if one was not on a football field at all, but attending a fashion show.
The entrance of the 24 model teams once again caused cheers. Song Yuanchao felt the atmosphere and kept clapping and cheering. The 1990 World Cup was a different World Cup. The opening ceremony of this World Cup was equivalent to a fashion show, and it would never be surpassed in the future.
Although the entire opening ceremony was brief and not as luxurious and complicated as imagined, it was still fresh in people's memory. After the opening ceremony, Song Yuanchao and his friends were still reluctant to leave and were discussing which of the models' outfits was more attractive.
After a break of about half an hour, the highlight of the opening match began.
The opening match was between defending champions Argentina and Cameroon from Africa.
Compared to Argentina, Cameroon is just a small country in central and western Africa. Moreover, Argentina was at its peak at that time. It not only had several football stars, but also the talented football king Maradona.
In the last World Cup, Cameroon failed to score a single goal and was eliminated in the group stage, so everyone was optimistic about Argentina in this opening match. In the minds of most people, this was an opening match with a predetermined outcome, and the winner would be Argentina led by Maradona.
But who would have thought that at the beginning of the opening match, the Cameroonians showed their physical strength and power that made it difficult for the Argentines to adapt, and the two sides fought back and forth for a while.
Moreover, Cameroon adopted a key defensive strategy against Maradona. As soon as Maradona got the ball, fierce Cameroon players would rush forward to chase and intercept him, making constant small moves, which prevented Maradona from playing his full role.
In the 22nd minute of the game, Maradona took the ball and broke through. The Cameroon players were at a loss for a moment. Finally, Victor kicked Maradona in a brutal way. Although he received a yellow card, he also made Argentina lose the best offensive opportunity.
Next, because of the referee's drastic penalty, Cameroon's actions became much more aggressive, and Argentina's attacks were resolved several times, and finally the first half ended in a 0:0 draw.
At the beginning of the second half, the Argentine head coach made an adjustment, replacing Rujepin with Caniggia to enhance Argentina's offensive power and reduce the burden on Maradona.
This substitution quickly achieved good results. In the 61st minute of the game, Caniggia's breakthrough forced Cameroon to commit a foul, which resulted in a red card. Cameroon was one man short against Argentina, and Argentina had the advantage in numbers. Cheers rang out at the scene, and everyone felt that Cameroon was doomed and the victory would belong to Argentina.
"It's safe, it's safe. 11 against 10 people, the advantage is on me! Hahaha!" Qin Zhengguo laughed happily, looking like he was sure of winning.
Fans in the surrounding area who supported Argentina and Maradona also began singing and dancing, celebrating Argentina's upcoming victory in advance.
But no one expected that just 6 minutes later, in the 67th minute, Cameroon won a free kick outside the Argentina penalty area. No one took the free kick seriously because the position of the ball was very ordinary. But just when everyone thought that the free kick was just a formality, a scene that shocked the whole world appeared.
The free kick was taken. This ordinary free kick flew high towards the goal. When it landed in front of the goal, Cameroon player Omam suddenly jumped up, shook his head to touch the ball in the air, and the football flew just below the goal.
The Argentine goalkeeper had obvious problems with this ball which was not at a tricky angle and he actually missed the ball. The ball hit the grass to the goalkeeper's right and bounced backwards, and actually rolled into the goal in full view of everyone. Everyone at the scene was stunned. Qin Zhengguo, who had been twisting his butt with the Italian girl next to him the moment before, was stunned for an instant, as if he had seen a ghost.
"In...in? How...how is this possible?" Qin Zhengguo let out a wail, and the girl next to him covered her eyes in pain. Song Yuanchao sighed inwardly. Although when he saw this scene on TV in his previous life, it was no different from Qin Zhengguo now, but when it reappeared in front of him again, Song Yuanchao still felt the same shock.
After the goal, Cameroon was ecstatic and cheered. On the other hand, Argentina looked incredible Maradona, with his general demeanor, did not regret it. He clapped his hands and reminded everyone loudly that it was nothing, there was still a lot of time, and the final outcome was still unknown. He asked everyone to cheer up and equalize the score as soon as possible to win the game.
After another kick-off, Argentina, which was behind in the score, launched wave after wave of fierce attacks on Cameroon. Cameroon's defense was shaky. Cameroon veteran Milla led his players to support hard, intending to maintain the lead until the end of the game.
Caniggia and Maradona cooperated and took turns to attack Cameroon's defense. Cameroon had no choice but to commit fouls again. This time the referee directly gave Cameroon's Benjamin a second yellow card and sent him off the field.
After Benjamin left the field, Cameroon was left with nine players. With two players missing, all the Cameroon players retreated to the midfield to defend and completely gave up the attack.
Argentina, with a well-organized lineup, attacked frantically again and again, but was held firmly by Cameroon at all costs. Although the defense was shaky, it never allowed Argentina to get a decisive blow. As time went by, there was not much time left in the game. When the linesman raised the overtime sign, Song Yuanchao sighed, knowing that the destined history could not be changed after all. Argentina lost the opening game just like in history.
Finally, with the referee's whistle, the opening game ended.
The Cameroon team ran into the stadium excitedly, celebrating their hard-earned victory. On the other hand, the Argentine team, including Maradona, did not expect to lose this game. They all looked lonely, disappointed and confused.
"This ball... this ball... damn it! I really don't understand... this... how could this happen..." Qin Zhengguo didn't expect this result. His previous excitement was gone. He held his head and cursed non-stop. Seeing him like this, Song Yuanchao patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "The ball is round. Anything can happen on the field. You should understand the principle . Besides, this is only the first game. There will be opportunities later."
"Yes, yes, there is still a chance!" Qin Zhengguo's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly. The group stage had just begun. It didn't matter if Argentina lost the first game. With Argentina's strength and Maradona, they could still win as long as they won the next two games.
Thinking of this, the spirit that had been drained just now suddenly returned. At this time, looking at the Argentine team that had already left the field, Qin Zhengguo shouted loudly, "Go Argentina!" The slogan of "Go Maradona", as his shouting rang out, the fans around him also shouted, and Maradona, who heard the shouting, looked up in this direction and waved to the stands.
"Did you see it?" Qin Zhengguo's face instantly turned red with excitement. He pulled Song Yuanchao and said, "Maradona waved to me just now. Hahaha! He waved to me! It's worth it! It's worth it! This trip is worth it!"
Song Yuanchao smiled and gave him a thumbs up, but he didn't comment in his heart: "Anyway, as long as you are happy, Maradona waved to you? Haha..."
