Chapter 767 Team Spirit

On the afternoon of June 29th, Beijing time, at the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Confederations Cup third and fourth final, China against the United States.

When the Swedish referee Hansen blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the scoreboard showed a score of 0-2.

The Chinese team trailed the United States by two goals in the first half.

It was a very bad result, watching the American players walk off the court and everyone was elated, as if they had victory in their hands.

In fact, the luck of the Chinese team today is indeed not good.

When guessing the side before the game, the Chinese team lost to the other side, allowing the US team to get the side with the more advantage in the first half.

After the opening game, the Chinese team also played very calmly, but in the tenth minute, the American team made a pass from the right, and Dempsey volleyed a shot. The depression is refracted into the far corner of the goal.

Zeng Cheng couldn't predict the ball at all, and regrettably fell behind.

After that, the Chinese team still maintained enough patience, but the US team seemed to be playing crazy throughout the first half. The running was very active, the range was very large, and the speed and physical confrontation ability were also very strong. Like it was about to end the fight in the first half.

Under the impact of the US team's frequent counterattacks, the Chinese team's defense line once again revealed flaws. After Donovan and his teammates cooperated two-to-one, Zheng Zhi, who had passed the defense, scored a left-footed volley and expanded the score to two. than zero.

It can be said that the second goal was a huge blow to the Chinese team.

After the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, the Chinese players looked very frustrated.

Clearly, everyone underestimates the strength of the United States.

...

According to the current FIFA rankings, the United States is ranked 15th, which is a very high ranking, but as we all know, in North Central America and the Caribbean, there is no one to play except Mexico.

Therefore, almost everyone concludes that the US team's world ranking is very watery, because in the world-class competition, the US team has never really won any good rankings.

The best result in recent years is the World Cup in Korea and Japan, where they entered the quarter-finals.

In this Confederations Cup, the US team was divided into the same group with Brazil, Italy and Egypt. The result was a 1-3 loss to Italy, then a 0-3 loss to Brazil, and a 3-0 defeat to Egypt in the last game. Thrillingly, with the advantage of the number of goals, they beat Italy and Egypt to advance.

In the semifinals, the U.S. team lost 0-2 to Spain, and their performance was not ideal.

On the contrary, it was the Chinese team. Although they lost to Brazil 0-1, their overall performance was still recognized by the outside world. In particular, Yang Yang made many threatening attacks on the front line, which made the Brazilian defense line feel quite threatening.

Judging from the performance of the two teams from the group stage to the semi-finals, the outside world basically believes that China and the United States should at least be on the same level. After all, the Chinese team has improved rapidly in recent years. Famous players play in the Europa League, and Yang Yang is the number one player in world football.

But no one thought that the United States would fight so fiercely in the first half.

This also exposed the lack of preparation of the Chinese national team, because the United States played Spain a day earlier than the Chinese team. They have one more day of preparation time than the Chinese team, and their physical fitness will be relatively more abundant.

The U.S. team made use of this skillfully. After the opening, they adopted this kind of running and impact tactics that almost did not hesitate to use their physical strength. In the end, it felt like they beat the old master to death, and directly pressed the Chinese team on the grass. beat.

In the first half, they took the lead 2-0. If they can really win the Chinese team with Yang Yang, the number one player in the world, it will undoubtedly be something to boast about.

…………

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Two goals behind, the Chinese team's morale plummeted.

In the locker room, everyone sat upright, cautious, and did not dare to let out the air. Obviously, they were worried about the trend of the game, and at the same time, they were afraid that they would lose even worse in the second half?

You know, the last few years have been better, but if you go back further, the Chinese team is not without such a fiasco experience.

Alihan is desperately encouraging the players. He keeps telling them that the team can reach the semi-finals, which is already a very satisfactory result. At least before this, no Asian team has achieved this. 's results.

Therefore, he appealed to the players not to have psychological pressure, to let go of their hands and feet in the second half and do their best.

"The U.S. team is not as strong as we thought. This game strategy they adopted in the first half will definitely lead to their lack of physical fitness in the second half. This is our chance!"

"They fought so fiercely in the first half that they had no control at all, and even the sun and grass were helping them in the first half, but the second half was different, the sun would be on our side."

Alihan said a lot, from the tactical adjustment of the team, to how the two flanks should move forward to participate in the offense, to how the double midfielder should help defend the defense line, etc...

Afterwards, captain Zheng Zhi also stood up to call on his teammates, but the locker room was still a little dull, and the players still didn't seem to be able to lift themselves up. Obviously, they all began to seriously lack confidence.

Just when halftime was almost approaching and everyone was worried about what the second half would be like, Yang Yang suddenly stood up.

"You don't have to think too much in the second half. After the opening, focus on guarding the goal and pass the ball to me when you have the opportunity!"

After hearing this, everyone could not help but look up at Yang Yang, with surprise and admiration in their eyes.

Yang Yang has just gone through a long Premier League season, with Liverpool fighting on the four fronts. In terms of competition pressure and consumption, Yang Yang is bigger than all of them. After returning to the national team, Yang Yang trained very hard. The core combat power of the team is the player with the most playing time in the team.

Three group matches, the semi-final against Brazil, and now the third- and fourth-place finals against the United States, Yang Yang is basically a match for three days.

Without Yang Yang, the Chinese team would not be able to get out of the line at all.

In fact, as of this afternoon, his performance in the first half was not very active.

According to the physical cycle of a professional player, his current body is not in shape, but he still bravely stands up when the team needs him.

He is the soul of this Chinese team!

"You don't need to worry about how to attack, you just need to defend well first, grab the ball, and give it to me, understand?"

Yang Yang repeated his words again.

With such a straightforward and straightforward deployment, who doesn't understand?

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"Friends from the audience in front of the TV, welcome back to the National TV Sports Channel."

"What we are currently broadcasting live for you is the 2009 South African Confederations Cup finals, where the Chinese team played against the US team. Now the score on the field is 0-2, and the Chinese team is temporarily behind."

"In the first half, the US team broke the goal of the Chinese team twice, and both times were counterattacks. One of them was the change of direction caused by the ball hitting a pothole on the grass. The field conditions on the scene in South Africa were indeed not ideal. This is a question that many teams have been responding to in the Confederations Cup."

"Now we will see if our Chinese team can turn the situation around in the second half. No matter what the final result is, I think we should all be satisfied with the team's performance, because this is the first time the Chinese team has played in the Confederations Cup and entered the semi-finals, even if Just fourth place is a historic breakthrough."

"Of course, we still sincerely hope that the internationals in South Africa can play energetically and try to turn the situation around in the second half."

"Especially our top star Yang Yang, after continuous battles, his physical energy consumption is also very large, and more players need to stand up and give him more help and support."

"The game will start immediately, and the second half will be kicked off by the U.S. team."

...

With the whistle of the referee Hansen, the U.S. team quickly kicked off the ball and returned the ball to the backcourt for the first time.

The trident in the frontcourt of the Chinese team, Yang Yang, Gao Lin and Chen Tao all rushed towards the American backline for the first time.

"The Chinese team showed a more positive performance after the opening."

"It forced directly to the backline of the US team and was forced to make a long pass."

"Feng Xiaoting put the ball to the right and handed it to Zhang Linpeng."

After Zhang Linpeng stopped the ball, he rushed forward quickly along the right, directly over the midfield.

Chen Tao pulled to the right and raised his hand for the ball.

But when the ball came to Chen Tao's feet, there were already two defensive players in the US team.

Just like the defensive strategy in the first half, the U.S. team used this large area to run and cover with physical strength to form a local numerical advantage, and then curb the Chinese team's offense.

Chen Tao took the ball with his back, and had no chance, so he chose to pass the ball back.

Zhang Linpeng did not retreat immediately after passing the ball, but continued to move forward. After receiving the return pass from Chen Tao, he glanced at the middle lane at the front of the penalty area.

I don't know when, Yang Yang and Gao Lin suddenly switched positions, Gao Lin pulled to the left, while Yang Yang quickly ran to the middle, and raised his hand to ask for the ball at the top of the penalty area.

Have the opportunity!

Without thinking, Zhang Linpeng kicked the ball low and sent it to the top of the arc.

In the middle of the frontcourt, Yang Yang blocked the American defender with his body, and stopped Zhang Linpeng's pass with his right foot.

Yang Yang has an excellent direct free kick. At the front of the penalty area, the US team did not dare to foul easily, for fear of giving him a chance to play, so this time he just blocked Yang Yang with his body.

After Yang Yang stopped the ball with his right foot, he quickly turned around and moved the ball forward with his left foot.

The ball quickly bounced out of Yang Yang's left foot, clinging to the grass, and flew to the left side of the goal at a very fast speed.

Howard, the American goalkeeper who played for Everton, knew the threat of Yang Yang well. When he turned around, he realized the danger. When he kicked up, Howard immediately flew to save.

I have to say that Howard responded very quickly and knew Yang Yang very well, but this time, Yang Yang shot very fast and powerful enough, almost rubbing the left post into the net.

Howard was a step behind in the end.