Trash Talk Before the Finals, Respect for Li Yufei

July 13, 2014, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Only twenty-four hours remained until the World Cup final.

The clamor around Maracanã Stadium gradually faded.

The entire city shed its daytime frenzy, settling into the suffocating stillness unique to the eve of a great battle.

There were no unrestrained cheers, no boisterous parades.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the ultimate moment when the new king of the Football World would be crowned.

The World Cup's official media center blazed with light, never going dark through the night.

Hundreds of media outlets and over a thousand reporters from around the world had gathered there.

Cameras and microphones were aimed at the press conference podium, shutters clicking in rapid succession.

According to the official World Cup schedule, the routine pre-match press conference began on time the day before the final.

Germany national football team Head Coach Löw and England Head Coach Capello took the stage one after the other.

The two renowned managers dueled from afar—pre-match barbs, tactical groundwork, tests of mentality.

A tactical war without smoke or gunfire officially began early in the media center.

The first to appear was the Head Coach of the German War Machine—Joachim Löw.

Dressed in a simple dark suit, Löw stood tall, his expression composed.

There was no arrogance from Germany's crushing victory over Brazil, only absolute calm and rigor.

After their epic seven-goal slaughter of the hosts, Germany's morale had soared to the top of the world.

But from beginning to end, Löw had deliberately suppressed the restless excitement within the squad.

He knew better than anyone that the semifinal massacre was already in the past.

Their opponent in tomorrow's final was never the crippled Brazil side.

It was England, armed with the greatest superstar of the era.

It was Li Yufei, whose one-man brilliance