First Beat the Tai Chi Cat, Then Kick the Bald Eagle

The World Cup draw had taken place before Lu Yang left for Brazil.

Italy's group was neither particularly good nor particularly bad.

Their opponents were Asian powerhouse South Korea National Team, North America's "king-level" United States National Team, and Italy National Team's old rival, Spain National Team!

The weakest of them was the United States National Team, but it truly was a king-level team in North America, since most of its opponents were teams like Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, El Salvador, Canada, and Panama.

Even so, the United States often failed to qualify for the World Cup.

That was why people considered the United States National Team uncompetitive.

But South Korea National Team was different. Its footballing strength ranked among Asia's best.

Many of its players played in the Bundesliga, while most of its domestic internationals were key players for European clubs.

Of course, there had once been plenty of South Korean players in Italy as well.

But at the World Cup before last, South Korea and Japan had done things that enraged the entire football world, and Italy National Team in particular had been badly screwed over by them.

After that, not a single South Korean could be found in Italy's football league system for eight years.

During that period, Italy National Team had never faced South Korea National Team either.

Therefore, this meeting between the two sides attracted a great deal of attention.

The opening ceremony of the Brazil World Cup was exceptionally grand. South America had made tremendous efforts to ensure that this World Cup would go down in history.

In particular, South America had three enormous markets it needed to win over.

No matter the industry.

Those three markets were the United States, Europe, and the rising star... China!

But the rules and cultures