Chapter 1192 Veterans Don't Die
Before the third round of the group stage, the situation in Group C was generally clear.
Colombia has basically advanced with two consecutive victories, Côte d'Ivoire has basically been eliminated with two consecutive losses, and the rest is the second place in the group.
Both China and Greece have one win and one loss, and according to the promotion rules of the World Cup group stage, since Greece lost to Colombia 0-3 in the first round, it is behind the Chinese team in terms of goal difference, so Greece is in the group stage The qualifying situation is very unfavorable.
In the final round, Greece can only advance if it beats China.
For China, a draw will qualify.
This should have been extremely good news, but for China, for Chinese players and fans, this is a worrying situation, because in the past few decades, the Chinese team has always proved one point time and time again, That is, a draw can advance, which is tantamount to failure.
In recent years, with the emergence of a group of players such as Yang Yang, the overall strength of the Chinese team has improved a lot, but this nightmare still hangs over the head of Chinese football, because it has brought too many painful nightmares.
More importantly, the Asian teams in this World Cup are still as sluggish as ever.
Australia has three games and three losses, and the group is at the bottom, but considering that they are in the death group with the Netherlands, Chile and Spain, and even Spain failed to qualify for the group, it is understandable that Australia is at the bottom.
But South Korea and Japan are also at the bottom of the points, and these two teams have one draw and two losses, without a win.
Only the Chinese team won a victory against Côte d'Ivoire. This is also the only victory for an Asian team in this World Cup. People have to admit that the Chinese team is indeed the strongest team in Asia.
Of course, according to some foreign media, this is the Chinese team with Yang Yang.
Under such circumstances, the focus battle between China and Greece is undoubtedly even more eye-catching.
One is an upstart in Asia, and it can even be said to be the hegemony of Asia, and the other is Greece, which won the European Cup ten years ago as a dark horse. The two teams competed for the second place in the group, attracting the attention of Asian and European fans. Strong concern.
...
When it comes to Greece, one has to mention the European Cup in 2004.
The head coach of the Chinese national team, Queiroz, mentioned the Greek team ten years ago many times before the World Cup. At that time, Yang Yang was also playing for Ajax in the Netherlands, so he knew that before the European Cup in 2004, Greece was just a team. A team that is at the mercy of others.
This team is unremarkable in Europe where there are so many strong players. Even if they enter the official European Cup, no one will pay attention to this team. The only impression is that their defense is not bad.
But in the end, it was such a team that was not seen by anyone at all, and did not have even a single player that could be counted. In the end, it won six consecutive victories in the European Cup, creating a near-impossible miracle. Another miracle of a dark horse winning the championship in the history of the Cup.
Otto the Great Rehhagel, this is a famous coach who can't get rid of it anyway when he misses European football.
Many people remember him because of the miracle of Greece winning the championship, but that was not the first time he created a miracle. As early as the late 1990s, he led Kaiserslautern to create a miracle of newly promoted teams winning the Bundesliga. The altar is an extremely rare legend.
One legend can be said to be accidental and luck, but if legends are created twice, there must be a reason.
Queiroz believes that Rehhagel's success in Kaiserslautern and Greece is the success of football as a whole.
In fact, almost all European football nowadays emphasizes integrity.
The overall level of Chinese players is not high. If you want to gain a firm foothold and grab a place in the World Cup where strong players gather, you must rely on the whole, which requires every player to go all out.
Greece is what the Chinese team should learn from!
This is also the direction that Queiroz has been working hard for the past four years.
Today's Greece is no longer as brave as it was ten years ago, but they are not the big team of the year, and even if they are reduced to the third tier in Europe, they are still not something that Asian teams can underestimate.
Despite having a top scorer like Yang Yang, facing Greece, the Chinese team still assumed the stance of a weakling.
Greece also attaches great importance to Yang Yang. They are in European football, and naturally they all know how strong this Real Madrid superstar is, so they dare not be careless.
The first half of the game was very dull, the two sides scored 0-0, and the pressure was very high.
The Chinese team has an advantage in qualifying and is more patient.
But in the second half, after changing sides and fighting again, Greece stepped up its offense, but the Chinese team was still tenaciously defending, and even Yang Yang often retreated to the front of the penalty area to participate in the defense.
But in the 79th minute, when a counterattack was intercepted in midfield, Greece quickly launched an offensive.
Captain Zheng Zhi returned to the front of the penalty area to help defend in time. When facing the opponent's right pass, he had no choice but to take a tactical pull foul behind him, pulling the Greek striker to the top of the penalty area. Did not give the opponent a single chance.
But because of this foul, Zheng Zhi was sent off with a red card.
The foul was obvious, the intention was clear, and there was no need for an excuse.
Zheng Zhi didn't give any explanation for himself. After seeing the referee holding up the red card, he turned around silently and walked forward.
As he walked, he tore off the captain's armband on his arm, and gradually his eyes turned red.
He will be thirty-four years old soon. As early as three years ago, he could not stay in Europe and return to China. He is still able to maintain his form and participate in the World Cup all because of his strength.
Now, he does his best.
"The next thing is up to you!" Zheng Zhi came to Yang Yang, put on the captain's armband for him, patted the national emblem on his chest vigorously, hugged him, turned and left.
At this moment, Yang Yang felt the weight of the captain's armband on his arm.
None of the other players in the national team had any objections, because if it wasn't for Zheng Zhi, Yang Yang would have been the captain of the national team long ago.
As for Zheng Zhi's red card at this time, the international players are more moved and regretful.
I was moved because of Zheng Zhi's contribution, because this was a red card in the final stage of the game, which was a tactical foul, and regret was because they made a mistake just now, which led Zheng Zhi to use this tactical foul to make up for it.
Veterans don't die, they just fade away.
...
After Zheng Zhi was sent off with a red card, the Chinese team made a substitution, replacing Wu Lei with Zhao Xuri.
Zhao Xuri played in the Russian Super League. He performed well and had a strong defensive ability, but he was a little edgy, but no one will forget his world wave in the World Youth Championship.
Missing a good scoring opportunity, Greece further strengthened its offense, and it can even be said that it was going all out.
For them, there is no other way to go but to win this game.
Greece's frenzied offensive put huge defensive pressure on the Chinese team. Even after 80 minutes, they made two very threatening attacks, but they were both firmly defended by the Chinese team.
The wind in the penalty area is turbulent, the front of the goal is precarious, and there is one less person on the court...
Under such circumstances, the situation of the Chinese team can be described as precarious, and it may be overwhelmed at any time.
In the 88th minute, Yang Yang once again returned to the front of the penalty area to participate in the defense.
Zhao Xuri intercepted the ball with a fierce but precise interception, and quickly passed it to Chen Tao.
Chen Tao passed to Yang Yang again, Yang Yang took the ball with his back, knocked it back to Zhou Haibin, and pointed behind him.
Zhou Haibin has cooperated with Yang Yang for many years. After seeing his gestures, he immediately understood. When he saw the Greek defense line pressing up, Yang Yang turned around and sprinted forward.
The opponent's two central defenders dragged at the back, and Yang Yang retreated deeper. If the pass passed to the middle, he would definitely not be able to catch it.
Yang Yang sprinted forward at the fastest speed, which made the fans on the scene excited. Even the on-site commentator couldn't help but admire: "In the final stage of the game, there is still physical strength to maintain such a fast sprint. That's all. Yang Yang is really worthy of our admiration and worthy of learning by all professional players."
But Yang Yang on the court didn't take this into consideration, he just focused on the ball.
Sure enough, after Zhou Haibin was assigned to the left, Yang Yang stopped the ball before the Greek defender Papastathopoulos.
As soon as he stopped, Papastathopoulos leaned over.
One on one!
Yang Yang hardly gave the opponent any time to react. He started the car as soon as he stopped, and immediately swayed his body, making a gesture to cut inward, which scared the Greek central defender on the opposite side to quickly block it.
But Yang Yang dunked the ball with his right foot to the bottom line.
The Greek central defender played for Dortmund and has a lot of experience. He immediately adjusted his body weight and kept up with Yang Yang.
But as soon as he adjusted his center of gravity, Yang Yang kicked the ball back to the right with his left foot.
This continuous change of direction caused Papastathopoulos to lose his balance of gravity, and there was a gap in the defense. Yang Yang accurately dribbled the ball inward, blocked the Greek central defender with his body, and moved inwards. cut.
The central defender Manolas and the returning midfielder Maniatis also returned to the front of the penalty area at the same time. The two of them, one inside and one outside, were like a net. At the same time, they moved towards Yang Yang, trying to net him in the middle .
But Yang Yang didn't wait for the opponent to approach. After breaking through Papastathopoulos, he dribbled the ball horizontally and adjusted a step. He shot with his right foot directly, without giving the opponent any chance to think.
The ball was like a cannonball. From the left side of the penalty area 21 meters away from the goal, it directly hit the upper right corner of the goal, piercing the goal of the Greek team, one to zero!
"The ball went in!!!"
"The ball went in!!!"
"Yang Yang! Yang Yang! Another world wave!!!"
"Long shot from twenty-one meters away!
"It's another world wave, and the Yang Yang area has worked again!"
"At the critical moment in the final stage of the game, Yang Yang played tricks on the Greek defenders in the area he is most familiar with. He hit a volley with his right foot and opened the door to victory for the Chinese team, one to zero!"
"Greece is doomed!"
"The Chinese team will advance to the top 16 again!"
"Long live Yang Yang! Long live the Chinese team! Long live Chinese football!"