Chapter 184 Provocation

While the Chinese team was on the bus preparing to go to the stadium, besides a lot of Chinese reporters and fans waiting outside the hotel, there were also some Brazilian media and Brazilian fans.

Some of the Brazilian fans were holding signs, displaying them to the Chinese team players.

Zhou Yi almost died of laughter when he saw these signs at first glance.

Because these signs were all written in Chinese characters, but the meaning was very strange.

"Tiny Zhou Yi!"

Perhaps they meant to say Zhou Yi was insignificant?

"Zhou Yi Seppuku!"

This sign may have been made by a Japanese person, but unfortunately Zhou Yi was not Japanese, and Chinese people don't have the practice of apologizing by seppuku...

"Big Badass Zhou Yi!"

This meaning was clearly expressed, but unexpectedly a bit cute...

Seeing these ridiculous signs, Zhou Yi didn't get on the bus directly, but turned to face these Brazilian fans, then turned around, stood in front of the signs, made a V-sign with his fingers, and asked his teammates to take a photo for him as a souvenir.

Sun Pan very cooperatively picked up his smartphone and pressed the shutter button.

Other media reporters also noticed this scene and turned their cameras and lenses over to record this moment.

Of course, this scene had different interpretations in different people's eyes. The Chinese thought Zhou Yi was showing his confidence and humor, but in the eyes of the Brazilians, Zhou Yi was provoking them.

So when Zhou Yi was taking photos with these messy banners, there were always Brazilian fans scolding him behind him. If there weren't police and security guards blocking them, some Brazilian fans might have rushed up to beat Zhou Yi up, causing him to miss the next game completely.

After the photo was taken, Zhou Yi took the phone from Sun Pan and checked how the photos were taken, and then asked him to send the photos to him: "I want to post it on Weibo!"

"Damn, I was planning to post it too..."

"You can just forward mine." Zhou Yi decided.

Then the two of them lowered their heads, operating their phones and walked onto the bus, leaving the scolding behind.

Soon, Chinese fans refreshing Weibo discovered that Zhou Yi had updated a new Weibo post, which was the photo of him in front of those signs, as well as some individual photos of the signs, focusing on each sign so that everyone could clearly see what was written on them.

The accompanying text was: "Thank you to the enthusiastic Brazilian fans for cheering me on, but I think they still need to work hard to learn Chinese and improve their knowledge..."

Soon, Sun Pan forwarded this Weibo post: "As the photographer, I can attest that the enthusiastic Brazilian fans extended a very warm greeting to Zhou Yi!"

Fans looked at the time, wasn't the Chinese team on the bus preparing to go to the stadium?

At this time, the two main players were still on Weibo?

"Brothers, can you guys be serious?"

"Hahaha! The Brazilian fans' Chinese is really worrying!"

"Seppuku? Was this sign written by a Japanese person? I've heard that Brazil and Japan have a good relationship, it seems that's true!"

"Tiny Zhou Yi? Zhou Yi quickly proves to them that you are not small at all!"

"Big Badass? So cute..."

"Zhou Yi has offended the Brazilian fans, and they even came to the Chinese team's hotel to protest. The pressure during the game can be imagined, I hope he won't be affected by anything bad..."

"Damn it, didn't our fans yell back?!"

"The Brazilian media is fanning the flames like crazy, I suspect someone organized this..."

※※※

Because of Zhou Yi's words before the game, the atmosphere of this match suddenly became much more intense.

When the Chinese team arrived at the stadium and went out to warm up, they could hear boos directed at them.

Of course, Zhou Yi was the one who was booed the most.

But Zhou Yi didn't care, he just focused on warming up.

After warming up, everyone returned to the locker room.

At this time, there were still more than half an hour before the game started.

Everyone was making their final preparations.

The team's assistant coach Li Te walked in and clapped his hands to remind everyone: "Hurry up, Lippi will be here to speak in a moment!"

Soon, Lippi and the coaching staff walked into the locker room, everyone had already changed their clothes.

They looked at the head coach, and Lippi looked at them.

"In twenty minutes, this game will begin. Because our opponent is the host, it will always receive more attention and cause more discussion than other games. Now I want everyone to put aside those things before the game and focus on this game. Always remember, they are not as strong as they say, and we are not as weak as they think," Lippi said.

"No matter what happens on the field, you must believe in yourselves, believe that you can defeat your opponents. This is very important. This will definitely not be our last game in the World Cup, I am very convinced of this."

"I know that the Chinese team and the Brazilian team faced each other in the World Cup twelve years ago, and I also know the score of that game. But you are not the Chinese team of that year, and the current Brazilian team is not the Brazilian team of that year. There is no invincible team in this world, and there is no 'unspoken rule' that the host cannot be eliminated."

On the other side, Scolari was also making the final arrangements for his players.

"...Their core is Zhou Yi, we must constantly put pressure on him in the game, give him enough pressure, entangle him, and not let him easily get the ball to pass... Also, be careful of their counterattacks, our defenders must return to defense in time after going up to attack... Finally, I want to say that our strength is higher than theirs, there is no doubt about this. This is also our home field, so we should win, and we must win. What is our goal? To lift the World Cup trophy in front of the people of our country! I have had the experience of lifting the trophy, so trust me, I will make your wish come true!"

Lippi continued: "...The Brazilian team does have the advantage of playing at home. In the game, we will encounter their huge number of home fans, and their voices will definitely have some impact on us. But please remember that the ones most affected are not us, but them. Playing at home is an advantage, but it is also a huge pressure. If they perform a little less well in the game, then the expectations of the home fans, and even the national fans, will turn into pressure... This has already been proven in the first two group matches. The Brazilian fans' demands are not just that the Brazilian team must win... So we must constantly create trouble for them in the game, including both offense and defense. As long as they are mired in the mud, then those who support them will lose patience..."

Scolari: "...We are fighting for 200 million Brazilian compatriots! Behind each of you, there are 8.7 million people watching you! They will give you strength! Don't let them down!"

Lippi: "We must be more patient than them, and of course, we must also be more cunning than them..."

Speaking of this, he glanced at Zhou Yi, and Zhou Yi smiled.

"Remember, the World Cup is a competition where the result is greater than everything, the result is far more important than the process. No matter what the process is, even if it is extremely embarrassing, as long as we are the final winners, then that is success!"

※※※

When the players from both sides walked out of their respective locker rooms, they met in the player tunnel.

The players from both sides stood together, forming two teams.

Zhou Yi, as the captain of the team, stood at the front of the line wearing the captain's armband. The other Brazilian players could easily see him without turning their heads.

The Brazilian players were no strangers to Zhou Yi. After all, they were all playing in the European arena. Although they came from different clubs, they always had the opportunity to meet in the Champions League. For example, Marcelo, Alves, Thiago Silva, and Fernandinho in the Brazilian team's starting lineup had all encountered Zhou Yi in the Champions League. Oscar had played in the European Super Cup, and Gustavo, who played for Wolfsburg, often met in the Bundesliga.

So everyone must be familiar with Zhou Yi.

Even Neymar, who had not had time to face Zhou Yi in the club, must have heard of and knew Zhou Yi, after all, the media had reported a lot about Zhou Yi's deeds.

The winner of the Champions League for the past two seasons, the European Player of the Year last season, it was not an exaggeration to describe him as famous.

However, when the Brazilian players looked at Zhou Yi, they did not look at him with the eyes of a Champions League champion, but with a strong sense of hostility.

Zhou Yi had just made wild remarks and insulted the entire Brazilian football.

In addition to the national team's grudges, they also had club feuds to settle with Zhou Yi.

After all, Borussia Dortmund did not have a player playing for the Brazilian national team, so there were no teammates of Zhou Yi here, but all opponents.

Marcelo, who was defeated by him in the Champions League final last season, Thiago Silva and David Luiz, who were eliminated in the Champions League quarter-finals, Hulk, who was defeated by him in the Champions League Round of 16. And Oscar, who was defeated by him in the European Super Cup.

If we count one season earlier, then there was also Fernandinho, who was defeated by him in the Champions League group stage.

In addition, Alves and Cesar had both been defeated by Zhou Yi, not to mention Gustavo, who was already in the Bundesliga. Whether it was in Hoffenheim, Bayern Munich, or Wolfsburg, he often played against Zhou Yi and completely lost more than he won.

It could be said that the entire Brazilian team was basically defeated by Zhou Yi alone...

Now this game was simply a combination of public and private grievances for the Brazilian players, and they wanted to settle everything in this game!