Chapter 489: Sigh
On July 7th, at 8:30 p.m. local time in South Africa, which is 2:30 a.m. in the capital for many domestic football fans, this was destined to be a sleepless night. Whether they were office workers or students, they completely disregarded their work and study tasks for the next day, with only one plan in mind: watching the Chinese team's match!
The match was scheduled at the Durban Stadium, where the journey of the Chinese team in the World Cup began.
Before the match, the Spanish dressing room was filled with high spirits. Just as the head coach, Bosque, announced the starting lineup, adopting a 4-2-3-1 formation with goalkeeper Casillas.
Defenders Ramos, Pique, Puyol, and Capdevila.
Double defensive midfielders Busquets and Alonso, three midfielders Iniesta, Xavi, and Pedro.
Single forward Villa.
These players, based on the Barcelona possession system, were all eager to give Wang Feng a hard time. "That guy Sneijder would rather challenge us than face Wang Feng? It's ridiculous! I will make him understand the terror of Spain, starting with defeating the Chinese team!" Harvey complained angrily.
Ramos interjected weakly, "But Wang is indeed very good. You guys have suffered losses before." This touched on their sore spot, and Iniesta widened his eyes, saying, "That was at Real Madrid. I don't believe the Chinese team has that level. When else will we get revenge if not now with the national team?"
Seeing the players in high spirits, Bosque had nothing more to say, just reminding everyone to be patient during the match. Apart from Wang Feng's sharp attacks, the Chinese team's defense was also very good.
On the Chinese team's side, head coach Alhan deployed a 5-4-1 defensive counterattack formation, surprisingly placing Dong Fangzhuo on the bench and leaving only Wang Feng up front.
"Our main goal in the first half is to defend, and in the second half, we'll send fresh troops to attack. Spain's possession and penetration are very strong. Everyone must be extra vigilant when defending."
Once the match started, as most people expected, Spain quickly gained possession of the ball, with ball possession reaching 80% at one point, while the Chinese team retreated entirely to defend.
In the 3rd minute, Pedro suddenly sent a through ball from the right, Villa seized the opportunity to penetrate, but his shot from 9 meters in front of the goal was blocked by goalkeeper Qiu Shengjing, followed by Feng Xiaoting clearing the ball.
In the 7th minute, Villa received a pass from Busquets and broke into the penalty area, but the linesman raised his flag for offside. From the slow-motion replay, it was indeed obvious, and Villa himself knew it, giving a thumbs-up to Busquets in appreciation.
In the 10th minute, Xavi took the first corner of the match, and after Ramos' header at the near post, Puyol's header from the back post went over the crossbar.
From the opening until the end of the first half, Spain continued to attack, creating threatening opportunities every few minutes, like an unending wave.
There were about 5,000 Chinese fans in the stands of the Durban Stadium, continuously cheering for the team. However, every Spanish attack made them nervous.
Fortunately, the team held on, and the score remained 0-0 at halftime.
At the start of the second half, Alhan, following the pre-match arrangements, substituted one defender with Dong Fangzhuo to strengthen the counterattack. This did reduce the defensive strength to some extent, but after 45 minutes of battle, Spain's attacks were not as sharp as in the beginning.
With the addition of fresh troops, the Chinese team launched several good attacks. In the 52nd minute, Wang Feng passed to Dong Fangzhuo in the penalty area, but Casillas blocked his shot from close range. In the 59th minute, Zheng Zhi's cross found Dong Fangzhuo's header, and Wang Feng's volley narrowly missed the crossbar.
Defensively, there weren't many issues, but at a critical moment, Feng Xiaoting made a fatal mistake, leaving a defensive gap.
In the 70th minute, Spain got a corner kick, Xavi crossed into the penalty area, Pique failed to reach the ball with his head, but the defenders' attention was drawn to him. When the ball arrived at the far post, everyone was horrified to find that no one was marking Puyol! The Barcelona captain headed in from 9 meters in front of the goal, to make it 0-1! The Chinese team was now trailing!
"Ah! Sometimes it's like this. The coach's tactics were good, but the players are not machines; mistakes are inevitable. There's about 20 minutes left in the game, I hope the players can bounce back soon."
After taking the lead, Spain played even more smoothly, but their attacking desire diminished. Facing the tough opponent, the players were already accustomed to the rhythm of winning by one goal.
The Chinese team became a bit anxious, gradually pressing forward to pressurize, but they repeatedly failed under Spain's smooth possession system. If the opponent had increased their pace, they would have easily been caught on the counterattack.
At this time, Wang Feng accelerated and ran across the field at full speed. He no longer cared which position he was playing; wherever the team needed him, he would go.
In the 74th minute, Harvey dribbled through the middle, but the Chinese superstar seized the opportunity to tackle and passed it to Zhao Xuri, who then immediately gestured for a pass.
After receiving the ball, Zhao Xuri was immediately pressed by Iniesta. In a rush, his pass was a bit weak, and Wang Feng had to retreat to win the ball, colliding with Xiao Bai who was chasing the ball.
Using his strong lower body strength, the Chinese superstar stabilized himself, while Iniesta was knocked down. Wang Feng was about to continue his attack when the referee blew the whistle, penalizing him for a foul. He shook his hand in anger. How could this be considered a foul in a fair challenge?
"Ah, we finally got the ball back, but now it's back to Spain's possession. This time Zhao Xuri's handling was problematic; he should have passed the ball earlier."
Seeing time running out, Alhan went all out and successively substituted Chen Tao and Gao Lin to strengthen the attack. In the 80th minute, under the joint pressure from Deng Zhuoxiang and Chen Taode, Busquets lost the ball, which was then passed to Dong Fangzhuo.
Dong Fangzhuo passed to Wang Feng, and the two executed a two-on-one combination in the frontcourt, with the last shot aimed at the penalty area.
"Look at this attack by the Chinese team. Wang Feng has reached the penalty area, beautiful! He bypassed the last defender and shoots!!"
"Oh no! Casillas is incredibly brave tonight! He managed to block the ball from such a tricky angle. Four years of being teammates at Real Madrid have made him very familiar with Wang Feng's attacking style."
"Is there a second chance? Ramos grabbed it, but unfortunately, our attack ended in failure this time!"
In the 86th minute, the Chinese team regained possession of the ball, and this time, Wang Feng was fouled by Capdevila when he reached the frontcourt, winning a free kick.
"Eh? Here it is! A free kick from about 25 meters from the goal! This is within Wang Feng's range, and he has almost never missed in major tournaments. This is the Chinese team's excellent hope!"
"Run-up! Direct shot! Oh my god!" Commentator Zhang Jun couldn't help but curse, "Casillas, like a god descending to earth, blocked the ball from almost a dead angle. He's truly a gatekeeper of sighs!"
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