Chapter 708: Narrow Defeat and Intense Golden Boot Battle (Second Perspective)
"Goal! Huang Hu!"
At the Sydney Olympic Stadium, domestic fans who had traveled from afar were ecstatic. They continuously waved flags and banners, praising and encouraging the young men on the field in their familiar language.
Not to mention the fans staying up late to watch the live broadcast on television. Some leaped from their sofas in excitement, while others grabbed their beers and drank them down in one go.
At this moment, this team stirred the hearts of everyone!
"Dong Fangzhuo receives a quick pass from Feng Miao inside the penalty area, deceives the opponent with a fake turn and shot, drawing the Australian defense into a flanking strategy."
"Unexpectedly, the shot turns into a pass. After a clever through ball past the defensive line, Huang Hu starts his run at just the right moment, takes control of the ball, and shoots into the far corner at a narrow angle, finally breaking through the Australian goal!"
"Although the two players didn't have much time to practice together, they still managed to execute this exquisite combination play based on experience and on-field intuition."
"This is Huang Hu's fifth goal of this Asian Cup, currently leading the goal-scoring chart and likely to win the Golden Boot."
"But I think he would rather lift the champion trophy!"
After scoring, Huang Hu didn't waste time celebrating. He quickly retrieved the ball from the net and ran towards the center circle because the team was still trailing!
The electronic scoreboard on the field clearly displayed the score of 1:2 and the match time of 84 minutes and 37 seconds.
At the beginning of the final, Australia relied on the advantage of being the host and their excellent physical condition to frequently challenge the Chinese team, making it difficult for these young men to adapt for a while.
Coupled with the clearly biased refereeing decisions, everyone's mindset was somewhat unbalanced, especially in the 29th minute when the opponent's forward fell in the penalty area. The referee didn't hesitate to award a penalty kick to the home team!
Regardless of the players on the field or coach Lippi on the sidelines, they all protested vigorously, but in the end, they couldn't overturn the harsh decision, and Australia took the lead with a penalty kick.
Then they continued to attack and create threats, scoring two more goals while China was in chaos, leading by two goals. Marcello Lippi decisively made personnel adjustments and reminded everyone to calm down.
Afterward, Australia changed tactics and retreated to defend. Despite continuous fierce attacks from the Chinese team, they couldn't break through their defense until now when they finally pulled one back.
Watching their players fiercely advance in the face of unfair struggles time and time again, Italian coach Marcello Lippi felt some regret in his eyes, but more than that, he felt proud. Regardless of the result, these young men's spirit deserved praise.
He was confident that with this team, they could achieve good results at the World Cup in three years, living up to the name of champions!
"Beep! Beep! Beep~!"
"Well, less than three minutes into stoppage time, the main referee blew the final whistle. We ultimately failed to create a miracle and lost 1:2 to Australia in this game full of twists and pressure, missing out on the Asian Cup championship."
"But our national team boys can leave the field with their heads held high. They are great!"
The live broadcast turned to Huang Hu, the 22-year-old young player who was the top scorer of the tournament.
But there was no joy on his face, only regret. He felt he had wasted precious opportunities and couldn't be the savior of the world.
Dong Fangzhuo walked to the young man's side and patted his shoulder, as if he knew what was on his mind. "Don't blame yourself for all the responsibility for failure. You are already outstanding enough."
Huang Hu smiled bitterly and nodded. "I understand. We still have more important matches to prepare for, and there are things left unfinished."
What he said was to thank the domestic fans who came from afar to cheer for the team. For more than 90 minutes, they never stopped shouting passionately, even when the situation was unfavorable.
"Dong Fangzhuo, we will always support you!"
"Huang Hu, you are the best!"
"Feng Miao, your passing skills are amazing!"
Seeing the players bowing and thanking them as they approached the stands, the fans expressed their praise and love for the players in the simplest language.
Some people say that domestic fans only want to see victory and cannot accept defeat. This is completely nonsense. What they cannot accept is hopeless defeat.
At the subsequent award ceremony, seemingly to make up for the Chinese team, besides the Golden Boot award won by Huang Hu, the Best Player award also went to Dong Fangzhuo.
He was the biggest star of this tournament, so he was heavily marked by the opponents. Although he scored very few goals, he played a crucial role in creating space in every game and assisting his teammates.
The Best Goalkeeper was the Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan, and the Best Referee was the referee of the final, Hafani Al-Riza.
When he went up to receive the award, the array of boos from the domestic fans made the officials of the AFC, responsible for the ceremony, look very unsightly.
But they had no choice but to push this referee onto the stage, otherwise, the controversy would be even greater.
After receiving the silver medal, the Chinese team left the field and then returned to the European arena one after another.
Although Wang Feng did not come to the scene to support, he congratulated the team on their achievements for the first time on social media and praised them as a tenacious team of tigers and wolves.
"I look forward to fighting alongside you!"
It is worth mentioning that Real Madrid's winning streak continued into the new year. They won three more matches, extending the record to 29 consecutive victories.
However, on January 20th, they drew 1-1 with Espanyol in the Copa del Rey match, freezing the record at 29.
Due to their advancement to the final of the Asian Cup, both Huang Huo and Dong Fangzhuo missed the first Bundesliga match of the new year. This 18th round match happened to be Werder Bremen hosting Bayern Munich.
The entire Werder Bremen team fell into a rare slump, while Kevin De Bruyne was in top form, contributing two goals and one assist in a row, ultimately helping Werder Bremen win 4-1.
This victory further narrowed the gap in points between the two sides, and the competition for the championship remained suspenseful.
However, in the second half of the season, Werder Bremen faced a prolonged three-line battle. Considering Bayern Munich's current performance, they still had a significant advantage in the race for the league title.
Therefore, the club's goal remained to secure a spot in the Champions League and strive for success in the Europa League and domestic cup competitions, avoiding coming away empty-handed in both.
On February 3, 2015, in the 19th round of the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen challenged Eintracht Frankfurt away.
Coach Schaaf still let Huang Hu sit on the bench for this match. He had experienced a tough winter battle, and he wasn't ready for continuous high-intensity matches in a short period.
With the home team opening the scoring, Fritz assisted Hajrovic in equalizing the score, and in the end, the two teams shook hands with a 1-1 draw.
In fact, in the 70th minute of the second half, when Huang Hu was sent onto the field, he scored a goal for the team after 10 minutes, only to be ruled offside.
The angry Chinese youngster rushed to the referee and tried to argue vehemently, but ended up receiving a yellow card for his intense words.
Returning to the home game against Hoffenheim, Huang Hu returned to the starting lineup and scored a goal in the match, ultimately helping Werder Bremen win 3-0 at home.
After this game, the total number of goals scored by the Chinese youngster this season reached 14, but Alexander Meyer scored a hat-trick in this round, successfully surpassing him once again to top the scorer's list, intensifying the competition for the league's Golden Boot.
"Huang, we definitely support you in winning the Golden Boot." During the celebration dinner after the game, captain Fritz patted his chest and said, "We may not be able to compete with Bayern for the league title, but we can't miss out on this award."
After all, the team hasn't had the best scorer of the season for many years. The head coach and the club also attach importance to it. On the basis of not affecting the competitive level, Schaaf has formulated many attacking plans for the Chinese young players.
On February 14th, Valentine's Day, on such a special day, the people of Bremen couldn't spend time with their loved ones. They needed to compete in the 21st round of the Bundesliga, away to face Bayer Leverkusen.
Originally, this was just an ordinary league match, but it completely ignited the atmosphere because of a lightning-fast goal in the 47th second of the opening.
After two corner kicks, Celaschi's long pass found Selke in the area of the arc. Selke headed the ball back, and Huang Huo directly volleyed into the host's goal as it fell.
But before the Bremen fans could rejoice for long, Leverkusen midfielder Son Heung-Min responded with a long-range shot from outside the penalty area.
This Korean player, who is the same age as Huang Hu, started much higher than him. He debuted at the age of 18 and quickly became a key player for Hamburger SV after contributing nine goals in nine friendly matches. Later, he broke the record for the youngest player in the history of Hamburger SV to score in league matches, with his total score doubling each season and reaching 12 goals before leaving the team.
When he transferred to Bayer Leverkusen last season, Son Heung-Min's value soared to 10 million euros, and he contributed 12 goals and 7 assists in all competitions.
In South Korea, many media outlets call him the "next Asian football king" and even think that he can rival Dong Fangzhuo and even Wang Feng in the future.
So in this game, the Korean was full of confidence and vowed to step on new heights by surpassing Huang Hu of the same age, using this as a foundation to advance towards the other two big mountains.
However, the Chinese young players are not to be underestimated. Although Henke is slower to start, he firmly rooted himself in Bremen, rose from steady rotation to starter, and then became the team's top scorer, surpassing Son Heung-Min at this point.
"A mistake appeared in Bremen's backcourt. Oh, this shouldn't have happened. The ball Wolfs passed to Stenberg had too little force, and Kislin intercepted it ahead of time."
"Shot! It's a goal! This ball is definitely unstoppable. It's a very basic mistake that allows the home team to take the lead."
"If Stenberg had run a few more steps to intercept, such a tragedy wouldn't have happened."
After experiencing an unexpected conceded goal, Bremen's overall performance was relatively poor for a while, especially the midfield and backline couldn't make effective connections, and players like Huang Hu had to retreat to participate in defense.
"Karim Bellarabi~!" The commentator on site shouted the name of the goal scorer.
The BayArena, which can accommodate more than 30,000 people, boiled again. They had completely forgotten the embarrassment of conceding a goal at the beginning. Now it was Leverkusen's time!
3:1! Bellarabi's long-range shot from the edge of the penalty area was a sign for the home fans that the home team had secured victory.
Within 10 minutes, conceding two goals in a row, Fritz, on the Bremen side, clapped his hands vigorously to attract everyone's attention. His expression was unusually fierce: "Guys, what are you doing? Where is your focus? Why didn't anyone stop the opponent's shot?"
"I seem to hear Mr. Schaaf's roar. If the game continues like this, it won't be as simple as a defeat. Pull yourselves together."
For a while after that, due to being ahead in the score, the home team slowed down their attack, and the away team was able to stabilize their position and maintain the score until the end of the first half.
During halftime in the dressing room, the atmosphere was solemn. The head coach didn't say anything extra, but directly substituted Stenberg, who had performed poorly, with Lukimya.
The two subsequent conceded goals were directly related to the German, and his face was gloomy. This could severely affect his future career.
As a product of Bremen's youth training, the best destination for him is, of course, to make a name for himself in the home team. If he is benched because of this, his future achievements will be very limited.
Schaaf did this to sound the alarm for other players. Competition and elimination in small teams are equally cruel.
After the break, with a change in mentality, the away team's situation was not as passive as in the first half. In the 54th minute, Hajrovic passed to De Bruyne on the right flank.
The Belgian midfielder, facing the three defenders forming a triangle, completed a quick turn and shot in a small area without stopping the ball.
When he rushed into the area of the arc, he passed to Huang Hu on the wing, and then continued his run into the penalty area. The latter cut inside to avoid Wendell's block and passed it diagonally to De Bruyne.
This time, the Belgian midfielder chose not to stop the ball and instead used the outside of his foot to send a lob pass, still targeting the Chinese young player.
A wall-like cooperation successfully tore open Leverkusen's defense. Huang Hu leaped to head the ball before goalkeeper Leno could react, and the ball went into the home team's goal.
2:3! Bremen pulled one back!
Seven minutes later, Huang Hu continued to operate on the wing, exchanging passes with De Bruyne. This time, Leverkusen deployed heavy defense to prevent the two from entering the dangerous area.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, De Bruyne suddenly sent a diagonal pass into the middle, where Selke, unmarked, made a horizontal run and used his right foot to chip the ball into the far corner as it fell.
At this moment, Leno's positioning was a bit forward. Although he quickly retreated and made a diving effort, he couldn't touch the ball. It grazed the underside of the crossbar and went into the net, bringing the two teams back to the same starting line!
The game entered a full-on offensive battle, with players on the field also getting a bit heated. They transitioned quickly between attack and defense, often finding themselves in the opponent's penalty area just a second after being in the attacking half.
In the 77th minute, Fritz intercepted Leverkusen's pass in the backcourt, then turned and faced the defensive line. After a quick glance, he saw the situation ahead clearly, and then sent a precise long pass to Selke's feet in the frontcourt.
The German striker failed to control the ball with his chest and pushed it towards the sideline while protecting it and waiting for support.
Huang Hu quickly moved into the best position, so Selke seized the opportunity to use his heel to pass the ball to him. The timing and strength were just right, allowing the Chinese youngster to easily take the ball.
After a series of feints to deceive the defender Bernisch in front of him, Huang Huo pretended to cut inside but actually accelerated past him towards the baseline. Then he shot towards the far corner of the goal, the ball grazing past the goalkeeper's fingertips, hitting the inside of the post, and deflecting into the net.
4:3! After more than 70 minutes, the away team took the lead again, and Huang Hu also scored his first hat-trick of the season!
The goal frenzy was not over yet. In the 86th minute, Son Heung-Min equalized again through a counterattack, and in the 92nd minute, Huang Hu broke through on the wing and crossed, with Selke heading the ball past Leno.
In the end, Bremen won 5:4 against Leverkusen, the largest difference in the Bundesliga this season.
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