Chapter 56 Quarterfinals

The match between the French team and the German team was obviously two teams with outstanding strength, but the game was very boring. Only one goal was scored in 90 minutes, which was very unsatisfying.

Fans who had just watched this game then watched the game between China and Colombia, only to find that this game was completely different from the previous one.

At the beginning of the game, the Chinese team and Colombia did not test each other out at all, and started a high-speed and confrontational contest from the beginning of the game.

This really surprised the commentators and fans.

Originally, they thought that since these two teams have reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup, they should be more cautious, because the two teams are close in strength, and the victory or defeat may be just one goal. If they are not careful, If you make a mistake and get caught by your opponent, it's all over.

Looking at the cautious way France and Germany play, you can see how teams of similar strength will perform...

But neither the Chinese team nor Colombia seemed to think about it that much.

In terms of the starting lineup, Yang Hao, who had started every game before, did not appear in the starting lineup in this game. He was replaced by veteran Zheng Zhi.

From then on, the starting lineup in other positions was exactly the same as in the previous game.

The mere adjustment of Yang Hao's position should not be to allow Yang Hao to avoid the risk of yellow card suspension, but for other purposes.

Perhaps some clues can be seen from the fierce attack launched by the Chinese team on Colombia after the start of the game.

Whether Zheng Zhi is in Guangzhou Hengyuan or in the national team before Zhou Yi, he is responsible for midfield rhythm control and dispatch. He is not the kind of person who rushes high and then passes a fatal through ball. , the kind of player who assists his teammates, of course he can also do that, he has the ability in that area, but he is better at sorting out the midfield.

When Zheng Zhi returns to play, Zhou Yi no longer needs to take on the task of sorting out the midfield. He can completely leave this job to Zheng Zhi. And what about Zhouyi?

The task Lippi gave him in this game was to move forward, closer to Colombia's penalty area, and use his vision and ability to pass more deadly passes. In addition, he can also threaten Colombia with long shots. goal.

Judging from this adjustment, Lippi is thinking about offense, not defense, otherwise he would not let Yang Hao, who is better at defense than Zheng Zhi, sit on the bench.

Lippi wants to use offense to fight Colombia decisively.

He hopes to end the game within ninety minutes this time.

Why?

Because the Chinese team's current physical fitness has problems. If they play another 120 minutes or even a penalty shootout, the Chinese team's physical fitness will really be exhausted.

Even if they get through Colombia and reach the semi-finals, the Chinese team will not have the strength to resist when facing Germany.

Taking this into consideration, Lippi hopes that the Chinese team can resolve the battle in only 90 minutes, so that the physical energy consumption of the Chinese team players will not be so great.

After all, the Chinese team's bench is not thick enough and the available players are limited. The eleven players who start the game are basically the strongest lineup of the Chinese team. This main lineup is relatively stable, and he can only fine-tune one or two positions in each game. So far, this lineup has played four games, and almost every game has been a fierce battle. Especially the last round of quarter-finals with Brazil, not only played 120 minutes, but also played five rounds of penalty shootouts.

Although Lippi gave the team a day off the day after the game, this was nothing more than a drop in the bucket for the Chinese team players who continued to fight.

You know, before the World Cup, only one-third of the Chinese Super League and AFC Champions League were played in China. The physical exertion of domestic players was not too great, but the returned players who supported the team’s main combat effectiveness had experienced For a whole European season, among the six of them, except for Yan Min who did not play many games in the first half of the season, the other five are the absolute main force of their respective teams, starting every game and never taking a break.

The intensity of the European leagues is very high and the players' physical strength is extremely stressed. Therefore, every overseas player who returns to the national team is actually in a state of fatigue and goes directly into the training of the national team without rest.

Not to mention Zhou Yi and Yan Min, who reached the Champions League final with Dortmund and played at the club until May 25th.

Zhou Yi was injured in the Champions League final and missed the training of the national team until the group stage.

Zhou Yi is definitely the most tired person in the team, because he is an indispensable core in Dortmund. Except for missing more than a month due to injury, he participated in all other games. Dortmund has suffered frequent injuries this season and has become even more dependent on Zhouyi.

Coupled with the injury in the Champions League final, he was unable to train with the Chinese team normally.

Don't think that a player who doesn't participate in training and recuperates at home can quickly recover his physical fitness, which will make him better physically than those players who train normally... On the contrary, such players' physical fitness is actually worse. Because for professional players, physical fitness is definitely not developed by rest, but by scientific, continuous and stable physical training.

Zhou Yi missed important training of the national team due to injury, which also made his physical fitness worse than that of his teammates.

Lippi doesn't want to add a burden to the team. Instead of being conservative and cautious in going back and forth with Colombia, it is better to resolve the battle quickly, so that he will have more room for maneuver in substitutions.

Why does he think he can resolve the battle quickly?

Because Lippi didn't believe what the outside media said, this was a close game.

He believes that the Chinese team is stronger than Colombia.

Although the Chinese team is far behind Colombia in terms of the number of goals scored in this World Cup - the latter has scored 11 goals in this World Cup so far, only one goal less than the Netherlands, ranking first Second on the World Cup goalscoring list. The Chinese team only scored six goals. However, half of the six goals of the Chinese team were scored without Zhou Yi. The first two group matches were not the complete form of the Chinese team.

Although the Chinese team may not be able to compete with Colombia in terms of the number and value of its stars, the Chinese team has top-notch players in Europe in key positions. He Ying and Yan Min are the two main players of their respective clubs on the striker, and Zhou Yi is in the midfield. With Yang Muge, the defender is Guo Nu and the goalkeeper is Sun Pan. This happens to be a very good central axis.

Lippi firmly believes that his team can defeat Colombia.

※※※

The Chinese team, which was aggressive offensively, launched a fierce attack on Colombia's goal after the opening.

In the third minute, when Yan Min took the ball from the left and cut inside, he was brought down by Colombian player Carlos Sanchez.

The referee Velasco from Spain called the Colombian player for a foul and gave the Chinese team a chance to take a free kick in the frontcourt. This free kick was a little in front of the top of the penalty arc. It was at an angle slightly to the left, but it was in a good position. free kick.

He Yinglai took this free kick that could be shot directly. The football he kicked bypassed the wall, but flew out from the left post of the Colombian goal.

"Oh! What a pity!" the commentator Duan Xin exclaimed. "I almost got in!"

In the sixth minute, the Chinese team launched an attack from the left. When Yan Min took the ball from the left and tried to break into the penalty area, a Colombian player kicked the football out of the baseline.

The Chinese team thus got a corner kick opportunity.

This set kick was taken by Zhou Yilai. He ran to place the ball, and the two defenders of the Chinese team, Guo Nu and Feng Xiaoting, also entered the Colombian penalty area.

"The Chinese team got a corner kick. This is the first corner kick of this game..." Duan Xin said.

After Zhou Yi placed the football, he took two steps back and prepared to take the corner kick.

In the penalty area, players from both sides have also completed their positions.

After Zhou Yi took a run-up, he kicked the football towards the goal with his right foot. This was an inswinging ball, and the football flew past the front point of the goal.

In this position, both He Ying and Guo Nu were competing for the top position. The two of them also led Colombia's defensive power in front of the goal. As many as four defensive players crowded around them to defend them.

But no one on either side touched the football.

The football passed over He Ying's head and flew straight to the back of the goal!

The football passed in front of the goalkeeper. Because the speed was too fast, the goalkeeper did not react in any way. He just turned his head to follow the football and looked back.

There should have been a defensive player there, but he was also attracted by the fight for the top just now and ignored the people around him.

Feng Xiaoting, another central defender of the Chinese team, seized this opportunity and ran out from his side, appearing exactly where the football landed!

He raised his foot and swept the flying football towards the goal!

Colombian goalkeeper Ospina made the save after seeing Feng Xiaoting's shot, but how could it be too late?

If Colombia can stand alone at the back post when defending a corner kick, it can still block Feng Xiaoting's shot. But this time, Colombia did not do that, and the football flew into the goal without any suspense!

"Ah! Feng Xiaoting! The ball is scored!!" Duan Xin shouted excitedly. "Only seven minutes into the game, the Chinese team took the lead! What a great start! What a great start!"