Chapter 1 The Club World Cup

The Club World Cup's schedule is arranged like this. Because there are too many participating teams, it can't be like the Toyota Cup where you just play one game. So there are qualifying rounds and the main tournament.

There are seven matches spread across four match days, with a single-elimination format. The champions from Asia, Africa, Oceania, and North and Central America and the Caribbean are drawn to face each other, with the two winners advancing to the semi-finals. The champions of Europe and South America automatically qualify for the semi-finals and face the two winners from the previous round. The winning teams then meet in the final.

In reality, the Club World Cup had already begun before Liverpool even arrived in Japan, because the two semi-final spots had to be decided first.

On the ninth, the first Club World Cup match took place, with Oceania champion Auckland City facing African champion Al Ahly. The African champions won 2-0 and secured a semi-final spot.

The next day, on the tenth, Asian champion Al-Sadd from the United Arab Emirates lost 1-2 to Mexican champion Monterrey.

This meant Al Ahly and Monterrey were the two teams to qualify for the semi-finals.

They would face Boca Juniors and Liverpool in the semi-finals.

For a long time, the champion teams from other continents have been mere accessories to those of South America and Europe. The final has almost always been between the South American and European champions. It's basically the Toyota Cup, a single match to decide the winner, with a few extra games thrown in to lengthen the tournament.

But this time, neither team wanted to meet Liverpool in the semi-finals. If they faced Boca Juniors, they would have a chance, however small, to compete for a spot in the final, even if it was only a one percent chance.

But against Liverpool, they had absolutely no chance, not even a 0.01 percent chance.

However, it wasn't up to them.

It depended on the draw.

In the end, Monterrey, the champion team from North and Central America and the Caribbean, had bad luck and were drawn against Liverpool.

Al Ahly would face Boca Juniors.

The semi-finals would begin on the thirteenth, and Liverpool would officially make their debut.

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One detail illustrates why Liverpool's players weren't taking the tournament seriously, and felt like they were on vacation – Monterrey was their opponent in the semi-final, yet Liverpool's players knew nothing about them, not even which country they were from. Let alone any information about their players.

And Liverpool didn't bother to gather any information about them. The only intelligence they had was the recording of Monterrey's match against Al-Sadd.

Even Martin O'Neill couldn't name any of the Monterrey players, and could only refer to them by their numbers. This shows how little importance Liverpool placed on this match... how low.

But there's nothing to criticize about that. After all, there are so many teams in the world, it's impossible to expect elite teams to know about all of them, to investigate all of their opponents. They don't have the energy or manpower to do that, and they wouldn't do it anyway.

It's just one match. Surely Liverpool can win with their absolute strength, right?

They probably won't meet again in the future, so what's the point of studying them so much?

In the face of overwhelming strength, all schemes and tricks are useless.

Even Martin O'Neill thought so, and didn't think it was necessary to study them in too much detail. He watched the recordings of Monterrey's matches just to get an impression, to know what kind of team they were, and the condition of their players. These were just general impressions, the kind that any ordinary fan could get from watching a match.

From this, you can see Liverpool's attitude towards Monterrey, and their attitude towards the Club World Cup.

Perhaps only Boca Juniors could make them perk up a little.

The European champions should have this kind of arrogance, because the European leagues are the highest level of soccer leagues in the world, and the European Champions League is the highest level competition in Europe. In terms of skill, it has surpassed the World Cup. The team that can stand out from the Champions League and win the title is, in fact, the best team in the world, and they should have this kind of mentality and performance. It would be too much if they were trembling with fear when playing against a team they had never even heard of.

Martin O'Neill's caution was directed at those European opponents. When dealing with teams he didn't even recognize, he insisted on focusing on his own team, sticking to his own style of play, and no opponent could stand in his way.

With five minutes left before the start of the match, Martin O'Neill said to his players in the locker room: "Just play at the level you've shown in training, stick to the rhythm you're used to, and you can win this match, lads."

He said it casually, and the Liverpool players also had relaxed expressions on their faces.

They chatted and laughed with each other as they walked onto the pitch, feeling more like tourists visiting the Tokyo National Stadium than participants in the Club World Cup, which symbolizes the highest level of club soccer in the world.

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When the Liverpool players took the field, they hadn't even remembered who the opposing players were. They couldn't match the numbers with the faces at all. It was as if they were completely in the dark.

But it didn't matter. No matter who was standing on the opposite side, no matter what team it was, it didn't matter.

Because... whoever opposes the Red Army, dies!

Liverpool launched a fierce attack on Monterrey's goal from the start of the match.

At first, Monterrey mustered their courage and tried to hold off Liverpool, thinking, we're not fighting for a spot in the final, we're not fighting for victory, we're fighting for our dignity!

But their dignity only lasted for five minutes before it disappeared without a trace.

In the fifth minute, Liverpool opened the scoring. The player who scored the goal for Liverpool was none other than the team's number one star, the ace striker, Chen Yingxiong!

He used his signature header, soaring above Monterrey's goalkeeper and defenders, to smash the ball into the goal.

A huge cheer erupted from the stands of the Tokyo National Stadium – no Japanese team was participating in this Club World Cup, so many Japanese fans simply became Liverpool fans, and Chen Yingxiong fans.

"Ahhhh!" The Japanese commentator was also extremely excited. "Liverpool scored first! This is their favorite start, and what they are best at! Once they take the lead, they can easily play defensive counter-attacks! This is the winning formula that allows Liverpool to sweep Europe!"

However, Liverpool did not follow the Japanese commentator's prediction and retreat into a defensive counter-attack after taking the lead.

It's true that Liverpool usually falls back on defense after taking the lead, playing their favorite defensive counter-attack.

But that's only against those strong European opponents.

In the eyes of Martin O'Neill and Liverpool's players, this Mexican team they had never heard of clearly didn't count.

So after scoring, they continued to maintain high pressure, bombarding Monterrey's defense.

For a time, alarms were sounding continuously in front of Monterrey's goal, and the atmosphere was tense. The small area of the penalty box was plowed over and over again by Liverpool's attacks.

With rapid attacks, many shots, and an overwhelming advantage in strength, goals naturally came one after another.

Liverpool led 4-0 in the first half.

Chen Yingxiong scored twice, and Suarez and Gotze each scored one goal.

After the start of the second half, Martin O'Neill began to make substitutions. He really wished that the Club World Cup had the same rules as pre-season friendlies, allowing him to replace at least eleven players. This would allow more players to get playing time, and allow more of the key players to rest.

Unfortunately, this match was a formal match, and he could only make three substitutions at most.

He replaced Sanchez with Adam Johnson, Inler with Lucas, and Skrtel with Agger.

All three substitutions were used up before the sixtieth minute.

According to everyone's understanding, using up all three substitutions early meant that Liverpool wanted to rest, adjust, and slow down the pace. The subsequent match would officially enter garbage time. Liverpool would definitely prepare for the upcoming final. Perhaps there wouldn't be too many changes in the score of this match.

But the development of the match did not go as everyone thought it would. Although they made the substitutions early, Liverpool's attack did not slow down at all. They continued to press Monterrey in the second half.

In fact, playing like this didn't consume much energy, because they firmly controlled the ball, leading Monterrey by the nose. Of course, the one being led by the nose was more tired. Liverpool could control the rhythm themselves, fast or slow as they pleased, and it wasn't tiring for them.

Chen Yingxiong scored twice again in the second half, putting on a great performance with four goals in the match.

In the end, Liverpool slaughtered Monterrey 7-0 in the semi-final and advanced to the final.

This match surprised many media outlets. Of course, they had guessed that Liverpool would win easily. But they didn't expect Liverpool to be so brutal. Faced with a weak team, when the opponent had no will to resist, they were still merciless, scoring seven goals and completely destroying the opponent.

Were they showing off their strength?

Or were they demonstrating to Boca Juniors? Telling them that the championship belonged to Liverpool, and if they were wise, they would surrender and admit defeat in advance, and they might even get a whole corpse! If they didn't know what was good for them and wanted to fight against our great Red Army, then Monterrey would be their fate!

The score surprised many media outlets, but it won Liverpool a lot of fans – the Japanese worship the strong, and Liverpool is undoubtedly a strong team.

The next day, everyone was enthusiastically discussing the match between Liverpool and Monterrey, enjoying every goal Liverpool scored, especially Chen Yingxiong's goals. As for the poor Monterrey, no one sympathized with them.

As for the Japanese fans who were waiting outside the hotel to block Chen Yingxiong, there were even more of them...