Chapter 34: Returned a Blitz?

"Ouch, ouch, ouch -"

Tang Zheng used a shocking world wave to help the Chinese team break the deadlock. The Australian stadium was filled with passionate and huge cheers from Chinese fans, which lasted until the fifth minute of the game.

It's not that the Chinese fans' mood has dropped, but that the long-term chanting has seriously reduced their physical fitness and they need some time to buffer.

The goal scored less than a minute into the game was the fastest goal in the history of the Asian Cup finals. As fans, they naturally could not suppress their excitement.

In this kind of fanatical atmosphere, it is easy to get over-excited, resulting in some sequelae.

For example: out of breath.

Australia, which was lagging behind, accepted this result after a few minutes of substitution. Coupled with the home fans in the stands who spared no effort to cheer and cheer, many players quickly came out of their sluggish mentality and faced the game again.

Indeed, the Chinese team is the favorite to win this Asian Cup, but as the host, Australia is also the same. They have the absolute strength to compete with the Chinese team. As long as the game is not over, they hope to defeat the Chinese team and win the Asian Cup championship. !

The Asian Cup has been held for sixteen times since 1956. In the past fifteen Asian Cups, a total of eight national teams have won this honor, which means that no matter which team wins the game They will become the new Asian champions and will represent Asia in the Confederations Cup in Russia in 2017.

Closer to home, players on both sides of the game are heading towards the championship and fighting for every ball, especially the lagging Australian team. Their players are physically strong and have high tactical literacy. Although the current Chinese players have improved their tactical ability a lot, their physical fitness is still poor. Overall improvement cannot be achieved in a few years or decades. It requires the efforts and accumulation of generations to change.

The bodies of Australian players are very European, so few Chinese players can withstand physical confrontations. Therefore, Australia, which has changed its offensive and defensive strategy, has some effectiveness in attacking under the cheers of the home fans.

The Chinese team, which was still able to control the game, gradually lost control of the football. Tang Zheng had to focus more on the defensive end, which indirectly led to the weakness of the offensive end, allowing Australia to gain more offensive opportunities.

However, Lippi, the head coach of the Chinese team sitting in the visiting team's coaching bench, did not feel any worries. He crossed his legs as if this game had nothing to do with him.

Of course, this is directly related to the very stable double midfielder combination of Tang Zheng and Li Kui.

Tang Zheng has rich experience in competitions.

He has a strong ability to read the game and a sense of position. Together with Li Kui, who is very strong in frontal defense, Tang Zheng's excellent defensive ability can also be reflected. In other words, the partnership of Tang Zheng and Li Kui can achieve 1+ The effect of 1 greater than 2.

In addition, Australian players are physically close to European players, but their foot skills are far different. Football is a team sport, and not every match is one-on-one. Australia is also worried about the Chinese team's quick counterattack and the offensive input. The number of troops is not particularly large, so the Chinese players seem to be at a disadvantage against the Australian players. Yan Junling's goalkeeping has not been tested for a long time.

In a blink of an eye, the game reached twenty minutes, and Australia's offense never threatened the Chinese team's goal. Postkoglu, who was standing in the home team's coach's command area, couldn't hold it anymore. He signaled the two full-backs to have the courage to participate in the attack. Don't take too much care of defense.

Because in Postkoglu's view, the Chinese team has been under great defensive pressure during this period, and there should be no extra thought on the offensive end.

Tang Zheng, the core of the Chinese team's offense and defense, focused on defense during this period. He did not dare to participate in the offense when there was an opportunity to switch from defense to offense. Therefore, Postkoglu believed that the team should invest more offensive forces and strive to attack as soon as possible. Scored the game goal to equalize the score.

There is no comparison between the final and other games. Once the game drags on for a long time, the chance of equalizing the score becomes smaller.

Anyway, losing 0:1 means losing the championship, and the result of losing 0:2 and 0:3 is the same. In this case, why be afraid of expanding the score?

Having said that, the Australian players on the field have different ideas. Several veteran players with rich game experience believe that the team should organize offense based on defense. The opponent, the Chinese team, is not a weak team. It was the third player in last year's World Cup in Brazil. Six, the team that scored the most goals and conceded the fewest goals in this Asian Cup.

Not to be underestimated!

Besides, it is still a long time before the end of the game, so there is no need to look like death.

What if we concede another goal?

The Chinese team's quarter-final opponent, South Korea, and semi-final opponent, Japan, weren't the Chinese team's victory locked in this way?

Five minutes later, Australian head coach Postkoglu shook his head and sighed. He could understand the concerns of the players, because it is indeed a long time before the end of the game. If too many troops are invested, problems will easily arise in the defense. .

Tang Zheng did put a lot of energy into defense during this period, but his vision and passing ability can directly send exquisite long passes to his teammates.

Lu Liang and Wu Sanshi are extremely fast, Gao Lin has strong ball-playing ability, and Hao Junmin is very good at picking up and distributing the ball. As long as Tang Zheng can send the ball to their feet, they can bring great benefits to the team's defense. direct threat.

If it weren't for Gao Lin's habit of masturbating, the score might really have been expanded by the Chinese team.

Once the score expands to two goals, it will be really difficult to chase.

Thinking of this, Postkoglu decided to let the team's offense slow down and wait for the opportunity.

※※※

Australia slowed down its offensive pace. No one expected that the Australian team, which changed its offensive strategy, would get more opportunities. Veterans Cahill and Bresciano got shooting opportunities respectively, forcing Chinese team goalkeeper Yan Junling to make a key save.

Central 5 commentator He Wei's calm mentality has changed: "The Australian team playing at home will show the strength they should show. I hope the Chinese team can maintain 100% defensive attention during this period. If once Australia is defeated If you seize the offensive opportunity to equalize the score, the next game will be very difficult..."

As the game time went by, Lippi, who was originally calm, became a little worried. He took advantage of a dead ball opportunity to pull Tang Zheng on the sidelines to give him instructions, adjust his defensive strategy, and strengthen his defense.

Lippi deserves to be a coach with a rich coaching resume, and his targeted tactical adjustments are very effective.

Strengthening the defense in the middle directly makes it difficult for Australian players who are not strong in foot skills to get the ball in the middle, and indirectly reduces the pressure on the defense.

Postkoglu shook his head again. He did not expect that the unexpected joy would disappear so quickly.

So, he couldn't help but turn his head and look at Lippi on the sidelines.

Lippi, who was still frowning before, has returned to normal at this time, regaining his expression that has nothing to do with him in this game.

Could it be...that this is the difference between myself and a world-class coach?

However, Postkoglu was not discouraged. Having played in the professional league, his blood was not cold yet and he refused to admit defeat.

As long as the game is not over, anything is possible.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch—"

The turbulent scene in front of the Chinese team's goal ended, and the offense created opportunities from time to time. Therefore, the Chinese fans in the stands saw a glimmer of hope of expanding the score, and the cheers grew louder and louder.

Fans holding banners, slogans and flags waved wildly, letting the world see their enthusiasm.

Australian fans, who occupied more than half of the entire stadium, naturally would not let the Chinese fans show off their power in their home court. They made huge boos when the Chinese team took the ball to attack, and when their own team took the ball to attack, they made a deafening roar. chants.

The fanatical home atmosphere also gave some confidence to the Australian team, which was lagging behind. However, the Chinese team's defense was very good. Starting from the midfield, the Australian players, who were not very good at foot skills, faced the Chinese team in the midfield. The defense seemed very uncomfortable, and there were frequent problems with the ball.

The mistakes in the Australian midfield began to increase. The Chinese team's offense, which switched from defense to offense, emphasized fast foot passing and did not give Australian players a chance to get close to their bodies. Therefore, after the first half of the game, the Chinese team gradually gained some counterattack opportunities.

The opportunity came out, but unfortunately the ability to grasp it was a little lacking.

Gao Lin and Wu Sanshi continuously wasted exquisite passes from Tang Zheng and Lu Liang, otherwise the Chinese team would have taken a two-goal lead in the half hour of the game.

If the score becomes 2:0, the next game will definitely be much easier for the Chinese team.

Therefore, Central 5 commentator He Wei sighed: "In terms of comprehensive ability, our national team is indeed slightly better than other national teams, especially in the midfield, but the scoring ability of Gao Lin and Wu Sanshi is somewhat affected. field creativity.”

Commentator Xu Yang nodded and said: "The Chinese team has scored a total of 14 goals since they faced Saudi Arabia in the group stage. Tang Zheng personally contributed eight goals and three assists, accounting for 10% of the team's goals. 78.5%. From another perspective, it is not difficult to see that the forward line's scoring ability is weak. If there is a player with Hao Dong's strength at the center position, I think the Chinese team's offense can be less dependent on Tang Zheng, and it can also release some pressure on Tang Zheng. Let him focus on offensive playmaking..."

People are often forced out, and the same is true for Tang Zheng.

Since the forward can't score, he can only rely on his super personal ability to score goals.

Gao Lin, who missed the opportunity again, pulled his hair with both hands and looked up to the sky with a sigh.

He also knows that the outside world has been dissatisfied with his performance. He can score goals in insignificant games, but fails to score in key games. Thinking about some young players playing in Europe, the pressure on him becomes more and more. Come bigger.

If Lippi hadn't been very familiar with him since coaching Guangzhou Evergrande, maybe another coach would have changed the starting center.

※※※

The Chinese team failed to seize the opportunity, while Australia failed to create an absolute chance. The score did not change at all until the end of the first half. The first half ended with the Chinese team leading 1:0.

In accordance with international practice, the on-site director's close-up shots were given to the players from both sides of the game walking towards the tunnel.

The Chinese players who appeared on the broadcast screen were obviously quite satisfied with the end of the first half. Several of their teammates who had a good relationship with each other were talking and laughing, while the Australian players of the home team looked worried and unhappy.

A microcosm of the first half can be seen from the facial expressions of the players on both sides. Australia, which had the upper hand most of the time, did not score. The Chinese team seized one of the limited offensive opportunities to break the deadlock.

It is a pity that most of the opportunities were squandered, otherwise the second half of the game would have been better.

The fifteen-minute intermission passed quickly, and the game changed sides again in the second half.

It is worth mentioning that the coaches of both sides seemed to be very satisfied with the performance of the starting players and had no intention of making adjustments. However, the Australian team, which had a kick-off advantage, organized a wave of extremely threatening offense at the beginning of the second half.

The offensive routine is very simple. After receiving the football, captain Jedinak directly passes the ball to the right side of the team's attack. The forward Cahill on the side relies on his accurate judgment of the football's placement to overpower Li Xuepeng and tip the ball to Kruse. , the latter immediately sent the ball to the offensive left rib, and veteran Bresciano appeared where he should be.

Bresciano stopped the ball and shot so consistently that Li Kui didn't even have time to step forward to block the ball before it flew towards the goal.

At this time, Yan Junling, Dortmund's starting goalkeeper, showed his strong personal qualities and blocked the ball out of the right goal post with one palm of his side.

"Oh oh oh——"

The Australian fans in the stands obviously did not expect that the team would create a possible offensive opportunity at the beginning of the second half. When they reacted, they could only subconsciously let out a burst of exclamation.

China almost lost the ball at the beginning of the second half. Lippi, the head coach of the Chinese team, was a little annoyed. He rarely stood on the sidelines and waved at the players to express his dissatisfaction, but it is not difficult to see that this was Lippi's game against the players. An outlet for a lack of concentration.

Many times, the head coach's reaction can affect the players on the field, especially the head coach with both coaching resume and glory. The players are often affected by their body movements on the sidelines.

Of course, most of this impact is positive.

Central 5 commentator He Wei muttered with lingering fear: "We played a blitzkrieg against Australia at the beginning of the first half, and almost got a blitzkrieg from Australia at the beginning of the second half. Fortunately, Yan Junling was focused, otherwise Australia would have equalized the score."

The game continued, and with Lippi venting his dissatisfaction on the sidelines, the attitude of the Chinese players on the field improved qualitatively.

The Chinese team's game strategy in the second half was very simple, first solidly defend and then wait for opportunities to counterattack.

Five minutes later, the scoreboard still showed the score 0:1, with Australia in front and the Chinese team in the back.

Australian head coach Postkoglu stood in the home team's coaching area with a frown on his face and a heavy look on his face. He didn't know how to make adjustments.

Facing the Chinese team's solid defense, he really didn't have many offensive methods.

In other words, with the current offensive capabilities of Australia, it will take some luck to knock on the door of the Chinese team.

As it happens, the team seems to be having a bit of bad luck.