Chapter 1194 Entering the Quarterfinals for the First Time

On the evening of June 29, at the Pernambuco Stadium in Recife, Brazil.

China played against Costa Rica in the fourth round of the knockout round of the World Cup.

In the thirty-sixth minute of the game, Costa Rica made a backcourt clearance and kicked the ball directly near the center line. Feng Xiaoting pressed the opponent's forward with a header and headed it back.

The old captain Zheng Zhi was suspended due to a red card, and the defensive midfielder Wu Xi was qualified to start. Together with Zhou Haibin and Chen Tao, he formed a three midfielder.

As soon as Zhou Haibin received the ball, he immediately distributed the ball to the left.

The starting left back Jiang Zhipeng quickly sprinted forward along the left lane. After receiving Zhou Haibin's pass, he waited and watched the situation ahead. Facing the Costa Rican player who came up to defend, he feinted and then suddenly rushed forward, pulling away a little. After the distance, the left foot took a 45-degree oblique pass from the left with a large arc.

Jiang Zhipeng's oblique pass directly aimed at the back of the goal, and in the penalty area, Yang Yang also threw off the Costa Rican defender at the fastest speed in an instant, sprinted forward quickly, and rushed forward before everyone else, facing the fall With a light pad of his right foot, he padd the ball directly to the left of the goal.

Costa Rican goalkeeper Navas flew to the right to block the near corner, but he did not expect that Yang Yang deliberately hit a far corner. Half high ball, played very smartly.

In the end, the ball flew into Costa Rica's goal.

One to zero!

The entire Pernambuco stadium immediately boiled!

Thousands of Chinese fans who came all the way from afar cheered and sang the national anthem in the stands.

Yang Yang turned around excitedly, flew all the way along the way, pointed at the Chinese fans in the stands, and finally slid and knelt on the sidelines.

...

The first half ended with a one-goal lead, and after changing sides to fight again in the second half, the Chinese team continued to maintain a steady and steady tactic.

Costa Rica's offensive efficiency in the entire first half was extremely low, and no shot was even aimed at the goal, but even so, the Chinese team still did not dare to be careless.

Yang Yang, who wore the captain's armband, kept reminding his teammates repeatedly that they must pay attention and pay attention again.

Always stay focused!

At the same time, he is also actively looking for opportunities.

In the 51st minute, the Chinese team launched another attack. Jiang Zhipeng went forward from the left to attack. After Hao Junmin got the ball on the left side of the penalty area, he did not make a pass from the bottom. Instead, he kicked the ball back and crossed it to the front of the penalty area. middle road.

Yang Yang stopped the ball with his right foot, took a furious shot with his left foot, and directly pumped the ball into the lower left corner of Costa Rica's goal.

Navas reacted quickly and flew to save, but after all, he was still beyond his reach.

Two to zero!

...

In the 66th minute, Costa Rica defender Adulte fouled while defending Yang Yang, accumulated two yellow cards and was sent off with a red card, which made Costa Rica have to fight with one less player.

So far, the game has basically lost its suspense.

In the end, the Chinese team defeated Costa Rica 2-0 with Yang Yang's brace.

Both teams tend to be defensive and play relatively average, but Yang Yang's two goals are relatively beautiful.

After defeating Costa Rica 2-0, the Chinese team entered the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time!

...

As soon as the game was over, not only the thousands of Chinese fans who came to the Pernambuco stadium were excited, but also the whole country in China as far away as Asia. Countless fans cheered crazily, and fans in major cities could not help but walk on On the streets, cheer for the Chinese team's performance in Brazil.

This is the first time in the history of Chinese football!

This is another breakthrough in World Cup results!

Although this is not the first time that an Asian team has entered the quarter-finals of the World Cup, as early as during the Korea-Japan World Cup, South Korea and Japan have achieved such results, and even the South Korean team has reached the semi-finals.

But everyone knows how that report card came about, so no one wants to mention it.

But the Chinese team reached the quarter-finals this time, but it is worthy of the name, relying on real strength and performance to enter.

From the group stage to the knockout stage, the strength of the opponent is indeed not strong, but like Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Greece and Costa Rica, they are also frequent visitors to the World Cup and strong teams.

Among them, Costa Rica beat Uruguay, Italy and England to qualify as the top of the group. If this team is not strong, then what are these three traditional strong teams that have won the World Cup?

Domestic fans and the media all praised the national team, especially Yang Yang's performance.

As Brazil drew 1-1 with Chile in the round of 16 knockout rounds, but defeated the opponent with a penalty kick, Neymar did not score, so Yang Yang currently surpassed Neymar and Messi with five goals and topped the World Cup scorer list .

This also made countless fans cheer for Yang Yang.

In the other three games in the round of 16 knockout rounds, except for Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Chile, which defeated their opponents on penalties, the Netherlands conceded a goal first, relying on the goals of Sneijder and Huntelaar. The ball reversed Mexico two to one.

Colombia defeated Uruguay 2-0. James Rodriguez, a midfielder who has become popular in this World Cup, scored twice and achieved amazing results. The ball, tied with Yang Yang for the top scorer list, which made James Rodriguez famous.

But amid the jubilation, there are also voices of doubt.

They are both Asian teams and located in East Asia. Japan and South Korea have always regarded China as their sworn enemy. In recent years, China’s performance has improved by leaps and bounds. The appearance of a legendary superstar like Yang Yang who can be recorded in the annals of world football makes them even more jealous. endlessly.

In this World Cup, except for China, the Asian teams can be described as annihilated.

But when they came back from the World Cup, they heard the news that the Chinese team defeated Costa Rica 2-0 and entered the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time. This made them envious and jealous. have.

For example, the Chinese team is Yang Yang's one-man team.

The most unified statement is that the Chinese team will stop at the quarterfinals.

Both South Korean and Japanese media firmly believe that since the Netherlands defeated Mexico, the Chinese team will encounter the Netherlands in the knockout round of the quarter-finals, so it will be difficult for the Chinese team to go further and will stop at the quarter-finals, which will equal Japan’s previous record in Korea and Japan. The results achieved in the World Cup, but it is inferior to South Korea's semi-finals.

The media of the two countries have listed a lot of data and evidence, showing that the Chinese team is behind in all aspects against the Netherlands, and has no chance of winning, because the Dutch team was the runner-up of the last World Cup and almost won the championship. team.

Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Van Persie, Kurit... Even Huntelaar and De Jong are well-known European stars. The head coach Van Gaal is also a well-known European coach for many years, and he is very familiar with Yang Yang.

More importantly, Ali Han has coached the Chinese team for many years, and the Chinese team is deeply influenced by Dutch football, so in the eyes of Korean and Japanese media, this is a bit like a student being tested by a teacher.

But students are just students after all. Whether it is the overall strength or the individual ability of the players, it is difficult for China to compete with the Netherlands.

The pessimistic remarks from Japan, South Korea, Australia, and media from all over the world have made domestic fans dissatisfied. Even in China, there are many voices who believe that the Chinese team has no chance of winning against the Netherlands.

"Even if we have Yang Yang who is number one in the world, no matter how tenacious we are, the gap in strength is huge, which cannot be made up anyway, and stopping at the top eight is a satisfying, even surprising result. "

On the evening of July 5th, the quarter-final match at the New Water Stadium in Salvador, Brazil, also seemed to confirm the common view of the outside world, that is, China has no power to fight back.

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Almost from the beginning of the game, the Chinese team was fully restrained.

Captain Zheng Zhi returned to the starting lineup, and the Chinese team once again played a four-five-one three-pivot formation, with Wu Xi, Zheng Zhi, and Zhou Haibin in the midfield, and Hao Junmin and Chen Tao separated on the two wings.

Queiroz's formation has only one purpose, and that is to strictly prevent the defense.

From the first minute, the Dutch team kept attacking the Chinese team's goal.

Sneijder, Robben, Dirk, Vlaar, De Jong, and even Van Persie, who had a good chat with Yang Yang before the game, all changed their faces at the beginning of the game, and all turned towards China fiercely. The team's goal attack.

Yang Yang retreated into the 30-meter zone from the 15th minute, which shows how much offensive pressure the Chinese team is under.

Queiroz developed an iron barrel defensive tactics for the team, even to some extent, under the strong offensive pressure of the Netherlands, the Chinese team did not even have a chance to counterattack.

Everyone in the team gritted their teeth and persisted, while the Dutch team kept creating opportunities and threats.

The situation on the court was one-sided. The restricted area of ​​the Chinese team was turbulent, and the goal was crumbling, but everyone in the team was struggling to support it. Even Yang Yang returned to the restricted area to defend many times, which shows how passive the situation on the field is.

But even so, the two sides still played zero to zero in the first half.

The Dutch are more or less cautious and do not dare to press too much.

But the situation changed again in the second half, and Van Gaal began to increase his investment in the offensive end.

The Dutch team won consecutive free kicks in the frontcourt. Sneijder scored two direct free kicks within 15 minutes. As a result, he hit the left post once and the crossbar once, both of which were almost scored.

The extremely passive scene made the Chinese players extremely painful on the court. Everyone gritted their teeth and persisted. Everyone stood inside and outside the penalty area to block the opponent from the goal.

Starting from the 70th minute, Van Gaal made substitutions and brought in new players to inject fresh blood into the offense. However, the Chinese team still strictly guarded against death and would not easily move half a step.

At this moment, all the talents really felt Queiroz's transformation of the Chinese team's defense in the past four years, especially the cultivation of players' tactical literacy. According to bystanders, this Portuguese, who is good at training young players, is the national football team. When they are young players, they keep instilling various tactical knowledge and defensive awareness.

And this, in the end, helped the Chinese team to block the indiscriminate bombing of the Dutch.

Ninety minutes later, the two sides entered overtime with a scoreless score.

In the first half of the extra time, the Netherlands changed two players and continued to increase their attack. After changing one player, the Chinese team continued to guard against death, and finally successfully dragged the score of zero to zero into the second half of the overtime.