Hunan, Changsha.
The legendary holy land of "stir-fried pork with chili peppers over noodles," and also the venue where the China national football team would face Japan.
For Changsha's cultural tourism department, this was clearly a good opportunity—a chance to promote Changsha through the China national team.
Some might ask, what if the China national football team lost? What if they lost to Japan? Wouldn't that publicity campaign blow up in their faces?
Well...
To be honest, anything that could bring profits came with a certain amount of risk.
The greater the potential reward, the greater the price you might have to pay.
This was something that had to be considered carefully.
Mm...
They were betting that the China national football team could beat Japan!
They still had to believe in GGBond!
Repost: The China national football team released a training video ahead of their match against Japan: fully prepared!
Some fans had previously worried that, with group standings unrelated to seed status, the China national football team might not go all out against Japan.
But now, that concern seemed largely unnecessary.
China attached great importance to this match against Japan. They had even arrived at their Changsha hotel two days early.
Didn't that show they intended to go all out?
It was in the bag!
"We can play a little more conservatively in the match the day after tomorrow."
In the hotel conference room, Escribá was emphasizing several points to the players. "Whether we finish first or second in the group, our chances of becoming a seeded team are slim. There's no need to risk everything on matchday the day after tomorrow."
Escribá was not Erik ten Hag, after all. He did not place much importance on things like maintaining a winning streak's momentum.
Ferran preferred a safer