Chapter 1206: .1206 Steady improvement

The Croatian VS China friendly match, which was staged in the Croatian capital Zagreb, received national attention before the match. In recent years, China has strengthened cooperation with Croatia when implementing the
Belt and Road
initiative, and Croatia has not been rejected by mainstream European powers. Ideological influence, in many local media polls, China is considered a reliable and trustworthy partner.
This allowed the Chinese team to come to Croatia to play a friendly match and to a certain extent strengthened the relationship between the two countries.
Situ Yunbing had a long conversation with Croatia’s main midfielder Rakitic in the player channel before the game. This pair of masters and apprentices has actually had no cooperative relationship for seven years since Hamburg, but because Rakitic played for Barcelona afterwards, So when Situ Yunbing coached Liverpool, the chances of them meeting were not few.
When Rakitic became a veteran, Situ Yunbing had nothing to teach him. At least these years, Rakitic has lived in Barcelona more or less in Xavi, Iniesta and the others. Under the shadow, his peak has been in Hamburg, unlike De Bruyne, even if he was frustrated after leaving Hamburg, he was reborn as Europe's first offensive midfielder!
Rakitic’s respect for Situ Yunbing is from the heart. The pinnacle of his career was still in Hamburg. Although there was only a short one and a half years of cooperation at that time, the common experiences they experienced were unforgettable for each other. Passionate years.
This friendly match did not see Modric, he was not called up due to injury.
Situ Yunbing greeted Croatian coach Dalic with a friendly handshake on the sidelines.
The World Cup runner-up coach can be regarded as one of the biggest names in the competition.
The starting lineup of the Chinese team today is no different from the starting lineup of the French team a month ago, while Croatia has a 433 formation.
Goalkeeper: Subasiqi.
Defenders: Fusariko, Vader, Lovren, Jedvai.
Midfielder: Kovacic, Rakitic, Brozovic.
Forwards: Rebic, Mandzukic, Perisic.
In fact, the Croatian lineup does not necessarily have to be strong. It only depends on their performance in the World Cup, which is actually not very stable.
If you look back at the 2018 World Cup, there will actually be a phenomenon where the collective strength of the top strong teams is downshifted.
No team can be as strong as Brazil in 2002, Italy in 2006 as stable, Spain in 2010 as unsolvable, and Germany in 2014 as solid.
Croatia had a strong three-game winning streak in the group stage. In the knockout round, it was a roller coaster. They played an ups and downs 4:3 with Denmark. They eliminated the host Russia through a penalty shootout. The game against England was reversed in overtime, and the final was a complete defeat. To France.
It can only be said that 2018 happens to be the end of an era and the transition period of a new era. As a result, the strong are not strong, the weak are not weak, and the distance between the ceiling and the floor has been shortened.
Maybe a stronger new king will be born in the next World Cup.
Croatia is also facing a new generation, Modric is getting old, it may be difficult to see him in the next World Cup, and Rakitic is also nearly 35 years old, I am afraid he can only play the role of fire fighting.
Croatia's second place in the 2018 World Cup is absolutely inseparable from the two midfielders' control of the overall situation. Therefore, if these two are missing in the next World Cup, even Croatia's strength will be greatly reduced.
The friendly match began, and with the cheers on the scene, Croatia restrained the attack on the Chinese team's defense line.
The Chinese team patiently fought a defensive counterattack. Croatia's offensive was not aggressive. The threat Perisic and Rebic could create on the wing was very limited compared to the French team's two wingers Dembele and Mbappe.
This allowed Abu Dukemiti and Li Lei to not panic on the court.
Without Modric's creativity in the frontcourt, Croatia's ability to deliver threats has also plummeted. Rakitic is more responsible for smoothing the transition between offense and defense.
Croatia has a high ball possession rate, but it has not created an effective threat.
And their restraint also made the Chinese team's counterattack fail to make many threats. Their performance on the defensive end is very tough.
The game was relatively flat, and this might be the friendly match Situ Yunbing wanted to see.
Although it is lively and exciting like playing France, the overall training efficiency of the Chinese team's defensive counterattack is relatively low.
Today's friendly match can really hone the Chinese team's defensive counterattack tactics.
In the 32nd minute of the game, Perisic crossed the middle of the penalty area and found a chance to kick. This long shot was full of threats. The football went straight to the dead corner of the goal. The concentration of Shen Jingjie made a world-class save. The support was raised above the beam and won rounds of applause.
Seeing that the situation could not start for a long time, Croatia began to deliberately strengthen the offensive.
The threat of the Chinese team's counterattack is gradually increasing.
In the 38th minute of the game, when Zhang Zhibang assisted in the wing and forced Perisic to lap the ball to speed up the breakthrough, Abdul Khaimiti immediately went up to form a joint defense steal.
The Chinese team launched a quick counterattack from the backcourt. Zhao Fenghua pulled the side to catch the ball and moved forward after taking the ball. When the Croatian midfielder moved to his side to form an encirclement and suppression, Zhao Fenghua picked the ball to the center zone.
Huang Bozhou followed up and passed the ball straight ahead.
Wu Lei knocked the ball across the front of the penalty area and sent the ball to the wing. Luo Xin quickly cut inside to get rid of the defense, and took advantage of the opportunity to lap the ball to the right side of the penalty area. Lovren returned to the defense to block. He crossed and shot the line, but Luo Xin knocked the ball back to the triangle position.
Luo Cheng, who followed up on the other side, stopped the ball and adjusted the ball decisively!
The football goes straight to the upper right corner of the goal!
Goalkeeper Subasiqi flew to save but failed to touch the football!
The Chinese team leads 1:0 away!
Dalic looked solemn, he didn't know anything about the Chinese team, and he didn't study his opponent before a friendly match.
Croatia is only fighting at its own pace, but he did not expect the Chinese team to be more mature and tough than he thought!
After all, it is the team trained by Situ Yunbing, not to be underestimated!
The lead of the Chinese team made Situ Yunbing very satisfied. The main reason is that the team's overall defense has become a natural circle, and the mentality has also become a bit hot.
Croatia has strengthened its offensive after losing the ball, but is also more aggressive in anti-tackle interceptions.
Before the end of the first half, Mandzukic received Rakitic's through ball in the penalty area and turned a half-turned volley. Fortunately, Cheng Renjun put the tackle in time to block the ball out of the baseline.
After the end of the first half, Situ Yun asked the team to further strengthen defense in the second half during the intermission.
He hopes that the team can make Croatia feel desperate through tight defense, and then get more opportunities to counterattack.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides to fight again. Croatia obviously made adjustments during the intermission. They changed their tactics and played relatively simple and rude.
Want to give full play to the threat of Mandzukic.
Situ Yunbing was aware of the crisis on the sidelines. In fact, the Chinese team’s defensive tactics of compressing the defensive space are specifically aimed at the more popular European style of penetration and penetration, but if it encounters the old England’s rough style of long pass and slamming style, I am afraid it will It's a bit uncomfortable, because as long as the opponent's high-center forward can have an advantage in confrontation, then the Chinese team's regional defense control is of little significance.
Therefore, tactically, there is basically no relationship between who is more advanced and who is behind, and there is more mutual restraint between them.
In the 58th minute of the game, after Perisic sent a precise cross from the wing, Mandzukic beat Bai Yuanfan in front of the goal and scored with a header!
This ball Shen Jingjie is powerless!
Although Bai Yuanfan and Cheng Renjun succeeded in clearing the siege repeatedly in the second half, they could not withstand the repeated impact of their opponents.
The lead of the Chinese team has been wiped out!
Situ Yunbing showed a look of helplessness, but he also accepted it frankly.
This is the situation of a weak country in football, it is difficult to do everything!
The idea of ​​the Chinese team has been shattered. Situ Yunbing did not have the idea of ​​struggling, and directly made substitutions, replaced many of the main players in the team, and let the substitute players go up and feel the atmosphere of the game.
The last 90 minutes of playing the French team without substitutions meant that the substitutes had not exercised. If the substitutes are not allowed to appear in Croatia today, I am afraid that Situ Yunbing will have to wonder whether the recruitment of substitutes is too much.
Moreover, the UEFA Europa League is nearing its end. The main players of some clubs in the team really can't overspend on FIFA match day, because they will definitely play 90 minutes per game as long as they return to the club without injury.
After the substitution of the Chinese team, Dalic also chose to make a substitution. Croatia also needs to take care of the players’ emotions and avoid excessive consumption of players. Compared with the players of the Chinese team who play for European clubs, the Croatian stars are different. Few play for European giants!
After the two teams changed players, the quality of the game began to decline, and the dangers in front of both sides became a lot more. As a result, the dangers were resolved again and again in the successive high resistance performances of Subasiqi and Shen Jingjie.
Kovacic had a fantastic opportunity to fly in the penalty area. Zhang Yuning outflanked the kick. Situ Yunbing and Dalic smiled bitterly on the sidelines. The two of them inadvertently made contact with each other, and suddenly felt helpless.
When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the fans still greeted the players of the two teams with applause.
Chinese fans must feel that the team's performance is not bad.
Last month they lost 4:6 to the French team, and this month they tied with Croatia 1:1.
The Chinese team is still in a trend of improvement.
Situ Yunbing and Dalic shook hands after the game, and then the two had a pleasant conversation.
Players from the two teams on the field also exchanged jerseys amicably after the game.
The Chinese team players regret that they did not win the game, but they themselves did not notice that they have gradually adapted to such a game!
This is a very good phenomenon.