Throughout the World Cup, China Team's itinerary had followed Brazil's Atlantic coast southward.
They had started in Recife, then traveled to Salvador for the knockout stage. On the night they finished playing the Netherlands, the entire team had set off south for São Paulo, the venue for the World Cup semifinal.
If China Team were fortunate enough to reach the final, they would head to Rio de Janeiro, not far to the northeast of São Paulo.
But for China Team, that was simply too far away.
Reaching the semifinals was already something no one on the team had dared believe possible. The whole country was celebrating, the entire world was in an uproar, and within the team itself, everyone was talking about it.
The team had been heavily drained. From the group stage through the quarterfinals, every match had been a desperate battle. The schedule was extremely congested, placing enormous demands on the players' fitness. There was even a saying that by the semifinals, it would no longer be merely a contest of tactics and technique, but more importantly, a clash of wills.
During the World Cup, Queiroz's training had always been relatively light, focusing mainly on recovery while making appropriate tactical adjustments. Defense remained the priority, and that was the key factor behind China Team's journey to this point.
Just as outsiders had said, everyone within the National Team understood perfectly well that two major trump cards had been the most important factors behind their reaching the final four.
One was Yang Yang, and the other was their overall defense.
It could be said that these were China Team's two legs. If either one were lost, China Team would collapse and be unable to move forward.
As the World Cup entered its final stage, the playing styles of the