Vol 4 Chapter 765: Team Soul

On the afternoon of June 29th, Beijing time, Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa.
In the 3-4 finals of the Confederations Cup, China played against the United States.
When Swedish referee Hansen blew the whistle at the end of the first half, the scoreboard showed a score of zero to two.
The Chinese team trailed the United States by two goals in the first half.
This is a very bad result. Looking at the American players walking down the court, everyone looks happily, as if they have held the victory tightly in their hands.
In fact, the Chinese team's luck today is indeed not good.
When guessing the side before the game, the Chinese team lost to the opponent, allowing the American team to get the more advantageous side in the first half.
After the opening, the Chinese team also played very calmly, but in the tenth minute, the US team made a cross from the right, Dempsey fired a volley, but the original part was not hit, but the result was hit in the grass pit The depression, refracted into the far corner of the goal.
Zeng Cheng couldn't predict this ball at all, and unfortunately fell behind.
After that, the Chinese team still maintained enough patience, but the US team seemed to be crazy in the first half of the game. The running was very positive, the range was very large, and the speed and physical confrontation ability were also very strong. Look at that posture. It's like ending the battle in the first half.
Under the impact of the US team's frequent counterattacks, the Chinese team's defense line once again showed flaws. After Donovan cooperated with his teammates, Zheng Zhi deducted the return defense and volleyed the goal with his left foot to expand the score to two. Than zero.
It can be said that the second goal hit the Chinese team very hard.
After the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, the Chinese players were very frustrated.
Obviously, everyone underestimated the strength of the United States.
...
According to the current FIFA rankings, the US team is ranked 15th, which is a very high ranking, but it is well known that in Central and North America and the Caribbean, except Mexico, there is no one can play.
Therefore, almost everyone concludes that the US team ’s world ranking is very high, because the US team has never really won any good rankings in world-class competitions.
The best result in recent years is the World Cup in Korea and Japan, where they reached the quarterfinals.
In the current Confederations Cup, the US team was divided into the same group with Brazil, Italy and Egypt. The result was a 3-1 loss to Italy, then a 0-3 loss to Brazil, and only a 3-0 defeat of Egypt in the last game. Thrillingly relying on the advantage of the number of goals, pressured Italy and Egypt to advance.
In the semi-finals, the US team lost to Spain 2-0, and the performance was not ideal.
On the contrary, the Chinese team lost to Brazil one-on-one, but the overall performance is still affirmed by the outside world, especially Yang Yang has made threatening attacks on the front line many times, making the Brazilian defense line also quite threatening.
From the performance of the two teams in the group stage to the semi-finals, the outside world basically thinks that China and the United States should be at least at the same level. After all, the Chinese team has improved rapidly in recent years. Famous players play in the European League, and Yang Yang is the first person in the world football to sit in town.
But no one expected that the United States would fight so fiercely in the first half.
This also exposed the lack of preparations for the Chinese national team, because the United States played Spain one day earlier than the Chinese team. They had one day more preparation time than the Chinese team, and their physical fitness will be more abundant.
The US team used this skillfully. After the opening, they adopted this kind of almost vigorous physical running and impact tactics. Eventually, they felt a bit of a fist and beat the teacher, and they directly put the Chinese team on the grass. beat.
In the first half, they took a 2-0 lead. If they can really win the Chinese team with Yang Yang, the world's first player, it is undoubtedly a very worthy thing to boast.
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Two goals behind, the morale of the Chinese team plummeted.
In the locker room, everyone was sitting on the front of their shoulders, being cautious and not dare to show up. 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 past few years are better, but if you go back further, the Chinese team is not without such a fiasco.
Alihan is desperately encouraging players. He keeps telling players that the team can reach the semi-finals. It is already a very satisfactory result. At least before, no Asian team has achieved this. Results.
Therefore, he called on the players not to be psychologically pressured, let go of their hands and feet in the second half, and try their best to do their best.
"The US team is not as strong as we thought. The strategy they adopted in the first half of the venue will definitely lead to their physical disability in the second half. This is our chance!"
"They fight so fiercely in the first half, they have no control at all, and even the sun and the grass are helping them in the first half, but the second half is different, the sun will be on our side."
Alihan said a lot, from the team's tactical adjustments, to how to insert the two wing forwards to participate in the attack, to how to defend the defense line with double backs, etc ...
Subsequently, the captain Zheng Zhi also stood up and called on his teammates, but the locker room was still a bit dull, and the players still seemed to be unreliable. Obviously, they all began to lack serious confidence.
Just before the halftime, almost everyone was worried about what the second half would look like, but Yang Yang suddenly stood up.
"You don't have to think too much in the second half. After the opening, concentrate on keeping the goal and pass the ball to me if you have a chance!"
After listening, everyone could not help but looked up at Yang Yang, with surprise and admiration in his eyes.
Yang Yang has just experienced a long Premier League season. Liverpool are fighting on the fourth line. Yang Yang is bigger than all of them in terms of game pressure and consumption. After returning to the national team, Yang Yang also worked very hard. In the Confederations Cup, he is the ball The team's core fighting power is the player with the most minutes played.
Three group matches, semi-final against Brazil, and now three or four finals against the United States, Yang Yang is basically a game every three days.
Without Yang Yang, the Chinese team could not make it out of the line.
In fact, by this afternoon, his performance in the first half was not active.
According to the professional player's physical cycle, his current body is not in a state, but he still bravely came forward when the team needed him.
He is the soul of this Chinese team!
"How to attack, you don't have to control, you just need to catch the defense first, after grabbing the ball, give it to me, understand?"
Yang Yang repeated his words again.
Such a simple and straightforward deployment, who does not understand?
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"Audience friends in front of the TV, welcome back to the national TV sports channel."
"We are broadcasting live for you in 2009. The finals of the South African Confederations Cup in the third or fourth place, the Chinese team against the United States team, the score on the field is now zero to two, the Chinese team is temporarily out of backwards."
"In the first half, the American team broke through the Chinese team's goal twice, both of which were counterattacks. One of them was a change of direction caused by the ball hitting a pothole on the grass. The field conditions in South Africa were really not ideal. A problem that many teams in the Confederations Cup have been responding to. "
"Now it depends on whether our Chinese team can reverse the situation in the second half. Regardless of the final result, I think we should all be satisfied with the team ’s performance, because this is the first time the Chinese team has entered the semi-finals in the Confederations Cup, even if Only the fourth place is a historic breakthrough. "
"Of course, we still sincerely hope that the internationals in South Africa can play their spirits and strive to reverse the situation in the second half."
"Especially our top star Yang Yang, after continuous combat, his physical energy consumption is also very large, and more players need to stand up and give him more help and support."
"The game started right away, and the United States kicked off the first half in the second half."
...
With the whistle of the referee Hansen, the United States kicked off the ball quickly and passed the ball back to the backcourt in the first time.
The Chinese team's trident in the frontcourt, Yang Yang, Gao Lin and Chen Tao all rushed towards the US back line for the first time.
"The Chinese team is still more active after the opening."
"Directly reached the back line of the American team and was forced to make a long pass."
"Feng Xiaoting pushed the ball to the right and handed it to Zhang Linpeng."
After Zhang Linpeng stopped the ball, he rushed forward along the right road and directly rushed past 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, the American team already had two defensive players coming.
Just like the defensive strategy in the first half, the US team used this large range to run and cover up the physical strength to form a local number advantage, and then contained the Chinese team's offensive.
Chen Tao took the ball on his back and had no chance to choose to pass it back.
After Zhang Linpeng passed the ball, he did not retreat for the first time, but continued to move forward. After receiving Chen Tao's return, he glanced at the middle of the frontier of the penalty area.
I don't know when Yang Yang and Gao Lin suddenly exchanged positions. Gao Lin pulled to the left, and Yang Yang quickly ran to the middle and raised his hand for the ball in the arc of the restricted area.
Have the opportunity!
Without thinking, Zhang Linpeng directly kicked the ball low and sent it to the top of the arc.
In the middle of the front court, Yang Yang blocked the American defender with his body and stopped Zhang Linpeng's pass with his right foot on his back.
Yang Yang has an excellent direct free kick effort. In the area at the front of the penalty area, the American team dare not foul easily, afraid of giving him the opportunity to play, so this time only Yang Yang was blocked with his body.
After Yang Yang stopped the ball with his right foot, the whole person quickly turned around. The left foot gently moved the ball forward. After shaking a little space, the left foot quickly lifted up and directly hit a volley.
The ball quickly ejected from 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 about Yang Yang's threats. When he turned around, he realized the danger. When he got up, Howard flew out.
I have to say that Howard responded quickly and knew Yang Yang very well, but this time, Yang Yang shot very fast and he was very strong, almost rubbing the left post into the net.
Howard was a step behind.