Chapter 627: The Best Comfort
On June 30th, at the Maracan? Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the final of the 2013 Confederations Cup kicked off as scheduled, with the opposing sides being China and the host team Brazil.
The Samba Army deployed in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with goalkeeper César.
The four defenders were Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, and Marcelo.
The two defensive midfielders were Gustavo and Paulinho.
The three attacking midfielders were Hulk, Oscar, and Neymar.
The lone striker was Fred.
The game's trajectory still saw Brazil maintaining absolute dominance on the field, while China held firm defensively. It's worth mentioning that, similar to their tactics against Uruguay, the Samba Army also employed a high press in the middle and attacking third, aggressive and full of countless small movements.
To be honest, this tactic might be more suitable for a bloodbath with European teams, but for China, it wasn't very effective because they only needed to ensure that the opponents couldn't easily penetrate their defense to threaten the goal.
So, in the first thirty minutes, the hosts constantly attacked in the front court but only managed 5 shots with 1 on target, most of the time resulting in meaningless passes.
The Chinese team also paid a price, with a slightly biased home referee handing out three yellow cards to them, especially Wang Feng receiving one.
It was in the 27th minute when Neymar received a direct pass from Gustavo, dribbled past Feng Miao but was tackled by Wang Feng, who came to support from the periphery. Clearly, he was the first to touch the ball, but the Brazilian rolled on the ground in pain.
Oscar and Alves came over to check on their teammate. "Innocent" Oscar immediately saw through Neymar's act and couldn't help but smile.
"The old fox" Alves naturally saw it too, but he still protested to the referee, and in the end, the Chinese superstar received a yellow card.
Neymar, lying on the ground with his face buried in the turf, Oscar's mysterious smile, and Alves' serious expression formed a ridiculous scene, which happened to be captured by the cameras on the sidelines, becoming another classic photo in football.
From the slow-motion replay, it was undoubtedly a wrong call. Therefore, after the match, "Sports Image News" commented, "If these three (Brazilian) players were to enter the entertainment industry, Alves would definitely win the Oscar."
"Neymar would be slightly inferior. Although he acted the pain so convincingly at first, he couldn't even face the camera afterwards, and Oscar is totally unqualified. He would definitely not find a job after laughing at such a crucial moment."
Back to the game, the Brazil coached by Scolari was actually better at defending and counterattacking. They needed to surge forward to unleash their full potential, and trench warfare wasn't ideal for them.
In the 37th minute, Paulinho's through ball failed to penetrate the defense, and Sun Xiang cleared the ball with a long kick. The ball landed at Wang Feng's feet in the middle, and with his back to goal, he passed it to Huang Hu, who was ahead of him. Then, along with Dong Fangzhuo on the left and right flanks, as if they had telepathy, they quickly surged forward.
Huang Hu received the ball with his back to the center circle, attracting the attention of Gustavo and Thiago. Instead of letting them come forward to press, he discreetly flicked the ball with the outside of his foot to Dong Fangzhuo, who was in an open space.
Brazil's defense quickly shifted towards Dong Fangzhuo, trying to block the passing lane of the Chinese star, but Dong Fangzhuo still managed to find Wang Feng with a quick low pass.
Wang Feng, sprinting at high speed, forcefully pushed aside David Luiz to receive the ball, and ahead of him was an open path. In order not to be deliberately fouled by the opponents, he continued to dribble and accelerate.
Running all the way to the edge of the penalty area, facing the onrushing goalkeeper César, the Chinese superstar calmly passed to the other side, where Wu Lei, the receiver, didn't miss the almost empty goal opportunity this time and easily scored.
"Goal! The Chinese team takes the lead!"
"Even under such intense pressure from Brazil, they couldn't break through the opponent's defense and instead, it was the Chinese team who seized one of the few chances to take the lead!"
"Wu Lei really doesn't score until the final. In the last match against Spain, he missed several one-on-one opportunities, but this time, he managed to put the ball in the net without spitting out the cake."
Falling behind made the Brazilian team even more anxious, and they further intensified their attack, finally achieving results in the 69th minute of the second half.
Thiago Silva sent a long pass, and the ball landed at Neymar's feet. He quickly used his dribbling skills to get past Fang Fan, then made a clever diagonal pass.
Inside the penalty area, Hulk resisted the challenges from Zhang Fanlin and He Ming, and with a powerful shot, caught goalkeeper Wang Xianghe off guard, and the ball rolled into the net from the bottom right corner, equalizing the score for Brazil.
As if after a difficult climb, reaching a resting platform, all the members of the Samba Army felt a sense of relief. But before they could catch their breath, another blow struck.
Eight minutes later, after a quick steal in the backcourt, Wang Feng passed the ball to Huang Hu, who then dribbled with the ball, utilizing the space created by Wang Feng's movements.
Until the Brazilian defenders couldn't resist moving forward to intercept, he made a diagonal pass to Dong Fangzhuo on the flank. By this time, they had reached the edge of the penalty area, and Dong Fangzhuo didn't hesitate to pass into the penalty area.
Without the ball, Wang Feng ran like lightning, surpassing all the players and rushing to the far post. Thiago Silva couldn't keep up with his pace and could only choose to slide tackle to intercept the passing lane, but it was still a step too slow.
The Chinese superstar reached the position first, volleyed in the air to the far corner, leaving goalkeeper César with no chance of saving. He could only watch the ball fly past him and into the net, brushing the inside of the post.
"Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful! A lightning-fast counterattack like a gust of wind! Instantly destroying the host's defense!"
"Wang Feng once again gives the Chinese team the lead. This goal will definitely strike a blow to the opponent's morale. There are less than 15 minutes left in the game, boys, give it one more push, you've already touched the trophy!"
As expected by the commentators on-site, experiencing this setback made Brazil almost lose heart. Although they continued to attack fiercely, their relentless determination gradually weakened.
In the end, the Chinese team held on to the 2-1 lead until the end of the match, lifting the trophy of the 7th FIFA Confederations Cup!
At the award ceremony, the best goalkeeper was won by Wang Xianghe of the Chinese team, which made the 21-year-old boy extremely happy, believing that he would have a better future.
The Golden Boot award undoubtedly went to Wang Feng, who scored 7 goals. The Silver Boot and Bronze Boot were won by Torres with 5 goals and Fred with 4 goals, respectively.
The Golden Ball award, representing the best player of the tournament, also rightfully belonged to the Chinese superstar, while the Silver Ball award went to Neymar, the Brazilian player. Although he wasn't the top scorer in his team, his contribution was outstanding, coupled with his fame and status, it was not surprising that he received the award.
The Bronze Ball award went to the Spanish player Iniesta, similar to Neymar's reasoning, Torres' position was far below the mark.
The trophy for the champions of the Confederations Cup was presented in gold, with a globe symbol at the top, symbolizing the global nature of the event. The name of the tournament was engraved on the two spiral bands around the body of the trophy.
The base of the trophy was a hexagonal wooden base, decorated with gold trimmings, with the name of the champion team engraved on the decorative strips, and two turquoise rings on the base embedded with the emblem of the Intercontinental Cup.
Holding this trophy and accepting interviews, Wang Feng said it was the best comfort for the Chinese team and domestic fans, and the team would continue to improve in the future.
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