Chapter 109 The Hardest Moment "The Chinese scored against us in the same way our German captain is good at!" “This is ironic!” After the German commentator recognized Lin Feng's free kick technique, he felt even more heartbroken. He felt that Lin Feng was mocking the German team in this way! Even the Chinese, who are known as a football desert, have begun to mock us. What is wrong with this world? But after taking a look at the score on the field, everything seemed relieved again. The Chinese team beat the German team 2:0, so why can't we satirize German football? The Chinese fans in the stands were all going crazy with joy, while the German fans were completely silent. Countless German fans covered their faces with their hands, looking painful. Some female fans with weaker psychological defenses even started crying. The German fans were broken, really broken. They could still comfort themselves by saying that losing to Turkey was the third place in the World Cup, but they really couldn't find any reason or excuse for losing to China, a weak team that didn't even make it to the World Cup. This is a disgrace to German football! Many fans could not accept this result and started to leave early.
On the field, Kahn was very angry after conceding two goals in a row, but he couldn't blame his teammates. He could only kneel on the ground and pound the grass hard. His teammates and he tried their best on this ball, but there was nothing they could do. The opponent's free kick even gave Kahn the illusion that it was Ballack himself who kicked the ball. The angle, power and speed of this ball were impeccable. Even if Ballack himself took action, he couldn't do better. So even if he was not disturbed, it would be difficult for him to get out. Ballack in the stands felt the same way. He became more and more interested in this young Chinese player. “This game is not easy to win!” Klose on the side sighed and said to Ballack. Both of them missed the game due to injuries. I thought my teammates could easily win against the weakest opponent, but I didn't expect the situation to turn out like this. Before the first half was over, the German team was already two goals behind. How can this be reversed? Löw was also thinking about this problem. As for Klinsmann, the nominal coach of the German team, he had completely given up on treatment at this time and placed all his hopes on Löw. The German team's mentality was obviously affected by Lin Feng's second goal, and the players played more anxiously. The consequence of this impatient mentality is a sharp increase in the number of mistakes! In the 41st minute of the first half, the German players made a mistake when attacking in the frontcourt. After intercepting the ball in the backcourt, the Chinese national team launched a quick counterattack, and Chen Tao transferred the ball to the left on a large scale. Sun Xiang sent a cross near the baseline, but unfortunately the ball was too fast and the Chinese national team players who were outflank in front of the goal failed to get the ball, and it slipped past the goal.
Two minutes later, the German team tried to pass the ball directly into the penalty area, but was discovered by the Chinese national team players in advance. After Feng Xiaoting intercepted the ball, he quickly moved to the right. Sun Jihai quickly passed the ball to Lin Feng, who made a long pass to Gao Lin on the front line. Gao Lin chested the ball and passed it back to Xie Hui. Xie Hui took the opportunity to dribble into the penalty area, but his low shot was blocked by Kahn. The Chinese national football team launched a textbook-level quick counterattack, but unfortunately the final shot was just a little off and they missed a great chance to score. The Chinese national football team’s counterattacks time and again make the Chinese fans who stayed up late to watch the games excited! Before the game, they never thought that the Chinese national team could actually dominate the German team. Shouldn't the script be reversed? German fans watching this game have fallen into collective despair. The opponents became more courageous and played better and better, while the German team's performance became worse and worse. How to play this? If they keep playing like this, let alone equalizing the score or even reversing the game, it would be good if the opponent does not expand the lead! “Is it true that the Chinese team is ranked outside the top 50?” "A team of this strength can't even make it to the World Cup finals. Are all the teams in Asia so strong?" "It seems that we can no longer underestimate Asian teams. If we don't work harder, I'm afraid we will be caught up by them soon!" This game made German fans face up to the strength of the Chinese team for the first time, and at the same time it also created a serious sense of crisis. Even Asian football is making rapid progress, but they are standing still or even taking big steps backwards. If this continues, German football may have no future. From the perspective of German fans at this moment, we can indeed understand their extreme concern about the future. The overall strength of the German national team led by Ballack is much worse than that of the German team that won the World Cup in the 1990s. This can be reflected from the results of recent World Cups. Being eliminated in the quarterfinals twice in a row can be said to be the darkest moment for German football. Even the runner-up place in the World Cup in Japan and South Korea was just a lucky chance in the eyes of many German fans. After all, their opponent in the semi-finals was the South Korean team, which could be said to be the weakest team among the top four. But now it seems that this is not the bottom line of German football. If even the Chinese team can lose, who else can’t lose? German football is in danger in next year's World Cup. …… After the first half, both teams returned to the locker room for a short break.
In the first half, the Chinese team was at a clear disadvantage in the middle, but took the initiative on the flanks. Several flank attacks were very effective and caused considerable trouble for the German team's defense. This is actually normal, after all, the German team's formation is three defenders. The three-man defense is missing two full-backs. Once the opponent breaks through the wing-backs' defense, the backcourt will be empty for players to run around in, which makes it easy to lose the ball. The German team's tactical changes have not been very long, and they have not yet fully mastered the three-back style of play. In addition, the Chinese team's counterattack in this game was very targeted. They hardly entangled with the German team on the wing. They either made long passes from the backcourt or passed the ball directly behind the middle. In short, they used various methods to quickly transition to the frontcourt, making it difficult for the German team's wingbacks to play their roles. To address this problem, Löw can only ask the wing-backs to focus more on defense and retreat in time when the opponent attacks. If that doesn't work, just commit fouls in the frontcourt. After the start of the second half, both sides made personnel adjustments. The German team replaced Mertesacker with Huth. Both of the German team's central defenders had cards on them and were reluctant to make any moves when defending. This would cause the team to suffer a lot when defending and the opponent would easily seize this weakness to make trouble. The Chinese national football team also made substitutions. Li Tie, who had not appeared for a long time, came on and replaced Chen Tao. This is about strengthening defense. Li Tie has rarely played for Everton since his injury. This game is also his first game after his official comeback! Seeing the long-missed Li Tie being substituted onto the field, the Chinese national football fans who came to the scene applauded him. Li Tie had a solemn look on his face and seemed a little restrained after his first appearance. Shortly after the start of the second half, he received a yellow card for tackling an opposing player. This made Zhu Guanghu on the sidelines worry whether his decision to substitute him was the right one. Although Li Tie's performance was average, the performances of other players of the national football team were still outstanding. In the 60th minute, Sun Jihai completed a one-on-two breakthrough in the frontcourt and won warm applause from the fans. Unfortunately, the piglet saw that the situation was not good and immediately knocked him to the ground, without giving him the chance to continue his performance. China's team took a free kick and Lin Feng stood behind the ball again. The German team felt they were facing a formidable enemy, and almost all of their players returned to their own penalty area to participate in the defense. The position of the ball was not very good. Lin Feng tried to shoot a heavy shot, but unfortunately he failed to control the ball and it went over the crossbar. German fans breathed a collective sigh of relief when they saw the football go above the goal frame. It would be so embarrassing if this kid really scored and completed a hat trick against the German team! The Chinese team just threatened the German team's goal with a free kick, and the German team immediately retaliated. In the 62nd minute, Schweinsteiger's breakthrough in the frontcourt caused Sun Jihai to foul. The two players swapped roles, and even the location of the foul was almost the same as before. Germany's free kick did not pose a threat. When Zheng Zhi dribbled the ball forward, he made a wall pass with Lin Feng, and then sent a low pass, finding the gap in front of the German team's penalty area. Unfortunately, Gao Lin and Xie Hui were both a step too slow, and Kahn cleared the ball in time. The Chinese team's attack caught the German team off guard. Before this, the Chinese team had been looking for opportunities from the flanks, so they specially strengthened the protection of the flanks in the second half. Unexpectedly, just as they focused their defense on Centennial Road, the Chinese team actually started to attack from the middle. It's really cunning! Although China's several counterattacks created some dangerous situations in front of Germany's goal, the overall situation of the game was still under the control of Germany.
The German team controlled the ball for most of the time, especially after 70 minutes of the game, when the Chinese players' physical fitness began to decline, the German advantage became more and more obvious. In the 72nd minute, Schweinsteiger suddenly made a forward run in front of the penalty area, shook off the defender, received a pass from his teammate and shot from a small angle, but was saved by Li Leilei. In the 73rd minute, Podolski broke through Sun Xiang on the right and made a cross. Neuville's shot in front of the goal hit the post. At the beginning of the first half, Germany's suffocating attack returned. But this time, the Chinese team's situation was much more difficult than in the first half. Compared with the players playing in the top five leagues, the main players of the Chinese national football team are veterans who play in the Chinese Super League or young players who have just gone abroad. Compared with the Chinese Super League, the physical confrontation and game pace of the five major leagues are much more intense. For the national team players who are accustomed to the pace of the Chinese Super League, they will definitely not be able to adapt if they are suddenly asked to play such a high-intensity game. It was fine in the first half if we had enough physical energy, at least we could keep up with the opponent's rhythm by actively running. But when their physical strength declined and they could no longer run, they were completely unable to keep up with the opponent's pace. For a time, the number of mistakes and fouls committed by the Chinese national football players on the field began to increase, and sometimes even their movements began to become deformed, which was obviously a sign of physical exhaustion. After seeing their opponents showing signs of fatigue, the morale of the German team was boosted, and even the German fans in the stands rekindled their hope. With their cheers, the German team launched wave after wave of crazy attacks on the Chinese team. Delles, Schweinsteiger, Podolski... Long shots, headers, grabbing points in the penalty area... The German players took turns attacking the Chinese team's goal, and Li Leilei became the busiest person on the court. He blocked several shots from the opponent in succession and kept the goal safe by himself. But if you defend for too long, you will lose. China's first goal finally came. In the 79th minute, Zheng Zhi was double-teamed by several German players when he received a pass from Sun Jihai in the backcourt. If it was the first half and Zheng Zhi had enough energy, he could have barely protected the ball. But in the second half, he was exhausted and couldn't hold on any longer. The ball was quickly intercepted, Schneider received the pass and broke into the penalty area. Li Weifeng, who hurriedly returned to defense, was forced to make a tackle. But this time the tackle only hit the person and didn't touch the ball at all. The referee decisively awarded a penalty kick and showed a yellow card to Li Weifeng. Frings took the penalty kick. Although Li Leilei judged the direction correctly, he still failed to prevent the ball from entering the net, and the score on the field became 1-2. The German team scored a goal and the game became full of suspense again. "Change people, change people immediately!" Zhu Guanghu knew that the team could not hold on any longer, and his replacement Tiezi Ge not only failed to help, but made things worse.
So they were forced to use two substitutions, replacing Zheng Zhi and Xie Hui with Zhao Xuri and Ji Mingyi. The Chinese national football team's formation changed to 541, which was completely transformed into an iron bucket formation. Even though it doesn't look very good, we have no time to attack at this moment. Let's just park the bus and withstand the opponent's attack first! Even if the Chinese national football team parked the bus, they might not be able to withstand the opponent's attack. Germany's attack became even more crazy! In the 82nd minute, Podolski's shot from outside the penalty area went wide. In the 83rd minute, Schweinsteiger's long shot from outside the penalty area hit the crossbar. In the 85th minute, Li Tie brought down Kuranyi in front of the penalty area, and Deisler's free kick was saved by Li Leilei. The situation was very unfavorable for the Chinese national team. Apart from the goalkeeper's long kick, the team couldn't even pass the ball across half the court. The overall defensive formation was completely crushed by the opponent. "Hold it!" "I'm so nervous, I can't even watch it!" "How much time is left in the game? Why hasn't it ended yet?!" "We can't just passively defend like this anymore, we have to attack, offense is the best defense!" "It's easy to say, but don't you see that our players are exhausted?" "I can't run, I can't pass the ball, how can I attack?" "Hey, don't think too much, just defend well and hold on for the last few minutes!" The situation on the field was extremely tense. The fans watching the game were so nervous that their palms were sweating. They just hated that time was passing too slowly and wished they could turn the time back. On the field, the players of the Chinese national team were far more tormented than the fans. In the 87th minute, the German team launched continuous attacks, causing chaos in the Chinese national team's penalty area. In the chaos, a German player fell to the ground, and the hearts of the players on the field and the fans in front of the TV were lifted. Afraid that the referee would blow the whistle and give the opponent another penalty kick. (End of this chapter)