LRAB Chapter 35 Opening Offensive
Chapter 35 Opening Offensive
2002 6 Month 22 Day.
Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan.
Today, 50,000 fans gathered here to watch the final quarter-final match of this World Cup.
China vs. Senegal!
The stadium was now completely enveloped in red.
Whether it's national economic strength, the ease of traveling to Japan to watch the games, or the number of people traveling to Japan, China far surpasses Senegal.
Even local Japanese fans were on the side of the Chinese team at this time.
After all, they are both Asian teams, and the Chinese team is a "stronger" team that has defeated the Japanese team. The Japanese are now ashamed to be associated with the South Koreans, so they naturally regard the Chinese team as their home team.
Therefore, although it is nominally a neutral venue, it is actually a home game for China!
The small green contingent supporting Senegal occupied only a pitifully small corner of the stadium.
The African drumbeats they played were completely drowned out by shouts of "Go China!" and "China will win!"
However, among these fans with their faces painted in various colors, there was indeed one guy dressed in a bizarre way.
He had long feathers stuck in his head and many strange symbols painted on his body.
In his left hand, he held a vessel about the size of a washbasin. There was something inside the vessel, something like hair, but it was hard to see clearly.
His right hand held a scepter-like object.
At this moment, this strangely shaped creature was gesturing wildly and muttering to itself.
It seems he really is a high-ranking shaman from some tribe in Africa!
Of course, it's definitely true that the African journalist said at the pre-match press conference that "all of Africa supports Senegal."
Before this World Cup, the best result for an African team was in the 1990 World Cup, when Cameroon reached the quarterfinals but ultimately lost to England.
In the match where Argentina defeated the defending champions, who had the legendary Maradona, 1-0, Milla's hip-twisting dance became a classic moment of the World Cup.
Now, Senegal has also defeated defending champions France 1-0 and has also advanced to the quarterfinals. Of course, all Africans will support them!
More importantly, their opponent today is not a traditional powerhouse, but the Chinese team, which is weaker on paper!
Therefore, Senegal's chances of advancing have naturally increased significantly!
With the added "magical blessing" of the African shaman, most African fans believed that Senegal would easily defeat the Chinese team and make history by entering the World Cup semi-finals!
"CCTV, CCTV..."
In Huang Jianxiang's routine announcement, millions of fans saw the starting lineups for both sides on their television screens.
As expected, the starting lineup that Mechu fielded for Senegal today was a 4-1-4-1 formation.
Goalkeeper: Tony Silva;
Defenders: Omar Duff, Aliou Cissé, Papu Diop, Ferdinand Colley;
Defensive midfielder: Salif Diaw;
Midfielders: Halillou Fadiga, Moussa Ndiaye, Pape Diop; Henry Camara;
Forward: El Diouf.
The Chinese team, on the other hand, used a more attacking 4-3-3 formation to counter this:
Goalkeeper: Jiang Jin;
Defenders: Wu Chengying, Li Weifeng, Zhang Enhua, Xu Yunlong;
Midfielders: Ma Mingyu, Li Tie, Li Xiaopeng;
Forwards: Yang Chen, Su Maozhen, Qi Hong.
Because the World Cup is a tournament format, it's essentially like playing two matches a week in a league, and some players are feeling fatigued.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Ye Xian made some rotations in certain positions.
In fact, for this Chinese team, most of the players are not that different in skill level, so rotation does not have a big impact on the team.
The key is to see whether the tactics are executed effectively and how well the players are physically fit.
Anticipating that Senegal would play conservatively today, Ye Xian devised an offensive strategy for the Chinese team, aiming to launch a preemptive attack right from the start!
The goal was to disrupt the opponent's defensive rhythm and then bring it into the Chinese team's rhythm.
Just three minutes into the game, Ma Mingyu delivered a beautiful diagonal through ball, accurately finding Qi Hong on the right wing.
However, Qi Hong failed to stop the ball properly when he received it.
After he adjusted, he began to be harassed by the Senegalese defenders, and he hastily took a low shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper, missing a good opportunity.
Then Li Xiaopeng made a straight, over-the-top pass, this time finding Yang Chen, but the latter also failed to control the ball, and the opposing defender intercepted it first.
7 minutes.
The Chinese team played a short passing combination in the attacking third. Su Maozhen passed the ball back from the edge of the penalty area, and Li Tie rushed in from behind to take a long-range shot, but it went over the crossbar.
"Our Chinese team launched a fierce attack at the start of the game. Are they trying to win the game in one fell swoop?" Huang Jianxiang was a little surprised.
Zhang Lu also said, "The Chinese team attacked very fiercely today, and they also fielded more attacking players in the midfield and forward areas."
"But the problem is that we didn't capitalize on our opportunities in those ten minutes."
"Won't this kind of attack leave hidden dangers in the backfield? After all, we all know that Senegal's counter-attack speed is very fast."
"However, the competition has only just begun, so let's observe for a while before making any decisions..."
Actually, Ye Xian, who was on the sidelines, was also a little unsettled at this moment.
This opening offensive tactic can theoretically be considered a success.
Several opportunities were created in just ten minutes!
If we can score a goal at this point, the rest of the game will be much easier.
But the Chinese national football team is still the Chinese national football team; their basic skills, whether it's ball control or shooting, are still lacking...
Fortunately, Mechu did seem to be somewhat wary of the Chinese team; perhaps the 3-0 victory over Japan had intimidated him.
Senegal's defense was indeed pushed back quite far today, and they committed relatively few players to counter-attacks.
Therefore, the Chinese team is currently able to control the situation.
But I still want to remind you of something.
Ye Xian quickly stood up and walked to the command area.
"Li Xiaopeng! You need to run more, create more gaps, and give Wu Chengying room to move forward!"
"Li Tie, you need to move back a bit and focus on protecting your teammates' passing. Don't make any runs into the box to shoot!"
"Ma Mingyu, you move a bit closer to Wu Chengying's side. Don't forget, focus on attacking their right flank!"
"Yang Chen, watch your position! After Wu Chengying moves forward, you need to coordinate with him promptly. If he can't get back, you also need to cover for him!"
"Li Weifeng, you defended well that time, keep it up..."
Besides encouragement, the focus was more on reminding the players of their positions.
As the saying goes, those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly.
Sometimes, players on the field can't actually see the true situation on the field.
They are like characters in a 2D world, basically moving on a plane, making it difficult to perceive the 3D world.
Only players with the best vision can have a 3D perspective!
Chinese football players clearly lack this vision.
Therefore, coaches are needed to provide reminders so that the pre-match tactics can be executed more effectively.
Well, okay, there are also some people who have a 3D perspective.
Those are the fans watching the game on TV and in the stands!
This is why fans often angrily criticize players for being too stupid:
"You couldn't even see such an obvious gap!"
"Send it now! Why aren't you sending it?! You're still sending it back!"
"What kind of ball is that? There's obviously a defender behind him, can't he see it?...
But believe me, even when they're on the field, they most likely won't see it...