Chapter 63 He must be restricted! There was not much time left in the first half. Although the Chinese national team was in a very difficult situation, the players gritted their teeth and persevered, preventing the Japanese team from expanding the score. In the end, the two sides tied 1:1 in the first half. Back in the locker room, coaches from both teams were busy arranging tactics. "In the second half, we will continue to play defensive counterattacks and withstand the opponent's attack first!" Zhu Guanghu learned from the lesson in the first half and finally did not get arrogant again this time. The Japanese team is indeed stronger than the Chinese national team. The opposing players have more delicate techniques and the cooperation between the players is more tacit. If they really put their guard up and go out for an offensive fight, the Japanese team would clearly have a better chance of winning. On the other hand, the Chinese national football team is not very strong in positional warfare, but they are quite good at defensive counterattacks. In this case, we must play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, and make the most of our own strengths.
The Chinese national team is not in a hurry for this game and can accept even a draw. The one who should be anxious is the Japanese team, because a draw is not enough to quench their thirst, what they need is 3 points! In this case, the Japanese team will definitely continue to strengthen its offense in the second half. The Chinese national football team can take advantage of this and work on increasing the threat of counterattacks. Zhu Guanghu found several midfielders of the Chinese national team and repeatedly emphasized to them the speed of counterattack. "When it is our turn to counterattack, we must be quick. The faster we counterattack, the less time the opponent has to react, and the greater the chance of a successful counterattack." Zheng Zhi, Shao Jiayi and others nodded repeatedly. They understood the principle, but how could they pass the ball to Lin Feng quickly and accurately while ensuring the success rate of the pass? This kind of work is easier said than done. This not only requires the midfielder to have a broad vision and be able to observe the running positions of his teammates. They also need to have a strong passing ability to hit the target wherever they are pointed. Otherwise, the ball will be passed but it will be uncomfortable for teammates to receive it, which will also affect the quality of the counterattack. More importantly, they must also have strong physical confrontation capabilities. Because when you pass the ball, the opposing players will definitely try to stop you! You have to complete the above operations under the interference of the other party. In football, those who can do this are all top midfielders. Zheng Zhi and Shao Jiayi are still quite far from this standard. Zheng Zhi may be slightly stronger, but compared with the top midfielders, his gap is still very obvious. Although the two accepted the coach's arrangements, they could not guarantee that they could achieve the results the coach wanted. They could only try their best! In fact, there is someone in the national football team who can do this, and that person is Chen Tao. But Chen Tao was injured in the last game and his injury has not yet fully healed. Although Zhu Guanghu put him on the roster for this game, he did not plan to let him play. If the injury gets worse, it will be totally counterproductive. After all, he is the future midfield hope of the Chinese national football team! …… The fifteen-minute halftime break ended quickly, and the players from both teams returned to the field to continue the second half of the game.
In the second half, the Japanese team once again launched a fierce attack on the Chinese national team amid the cheers of many Japanese fans. The Chinese national football team was well prepared for this. Zhu Guanghu had long guessed that the Japanese team would launch an attack at the beginning, so he had already asked the players to be on high alert. The Japanese team's offensive strength is indeed very strong in Asia, but it is not as good as other teams. The Chinese national football team in 05 was not as bad as it would be 20 years later. At that time, the Chinese national football team was still top-notch in Asia. Although it can only be considered at the bottom of the first-class level, it is still considered first-class in Asia and is barely on the same level as the Japanese team. In addition, the Japanese team did not recall players who were studying abroad, while the Chinese national team played with all their main players, so the gap in paper strength between the two sides was not as big as expected. With the Chinese national team united in mind and working together in defense, it was very difficult for the Japanese team to score goals. The Japanese team's attack was all talk and no action, and the Chinese team's counterattack was in almost the same situation. Every time they finally stole the ball, they couldn't pass it twice before the opponent took it back. The Chinese national football team played very passively on the field and was almost always under siege by the Japanese team. Although the Japanese team could not score a goal, the feeling of being besieged still made the fans feel very frustrated. The main reason why the Chinese national team played so passively was that the counterattack did not pose enough threat to the opponent. In the second half, the Japanese team clearly tightened their restrictions on the Chinese national team's midfield! Without Chen Tao on the court, Zheng Zhi's role in the midfield is really too prominent. After discovering this, the Japanese team immediately set about strengthening restrictions on Zheng Zhi. In addition to arranging special personnel to guard Zheng Zhi, there were also people nearby ready to double-team him at any time. Even the world's top midfielders would not be able to bear such treatment, let alone Zheng Zhi. After Zheng Zhi was restricted, the Chinese national team's front attacking group found it difficult to get support from the midfield, and they had all their skills but were unable to display them. We have to find a way to solve this problem and pass the ball to the forwards. But what to do? Zhu Guanghu frowned and fell into thought. Before he could come up with a solution, someone on the field had already given the answer. Seeing that the Japanese team had strengthened their defense against Zheng Zhi, Lin Feng knew that he would not be able to touch the ball if he continued to stay in the front, so he took the initiative to retreat and provide support. Lin Feng's retreat gave the Chinese national team's backcourt players a safer option when passing the ball. Therefore, his teammates chose to pass the ball that was originally intended to be passed to Zheng Zhi to him. Zheng Zhi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this. To be honest, every time his teammates passed the ball to him, he was nervous, fearing that the ball would be lost at his feet and the opponent would launch a counterattack on the spot. When the Japanese players saw Lin Feng retreat so deep, they were confused for a moment and didn't know what to do. It stands to reason that now that he has retreated here, it would be even more difficult for him to launch an attack on the Japanese team's goal. Because there are at least two lines of defense and six or seven defensive players in front of him. No matter how capable he is, it is impossible for him to take on so many people alone. Therefore, after seeing Lin Feng retreat, the Japanese team's midfielders and defenders all breathed a sigh of relief.
But their teammates, the Japanese players in the frontcourt were in trouble. Lin Feng entered their defense area. Logically, they should send people to defend Lin Feng. But if they do this, the restrictions on Zheng Zhi will be reduced, and Zheng Zhi, who has already been restricted, is likely to become active again. They had already experienced Zheng Zhi's threat in the first half, so the Japanese players dared not be careless with him. But if the restrictions on Zheng Zhi continue, what about Lin Feng? You can't hold down three gourds with two fingers! We can't just leave him alone, can we? Although Lin Feng no longer posed a direct threat to the Japanese team's goal, he took over the command of the Chinese team's midfield and was constantly passing the ball to his teammates, helping them threaten the Japanese team's goal. All in all, Lin Feng's threat to the Japanese team's goal has not decreased, he just changed the way! The Japanese players on the field have not yet figured out how to deal with Lin Feng's change of role and position, but Lin Feng has already begun to contribute his strength in the midfield. After the 51st minute, Lin Feng, who was dribbling the ball in the midfield, saw an opportunity on the wing and made a precise diagonal long pass, passing the ball to right back Xu Yunlong. Xu Yunlong dribbled the ball down the bottom line and made a high-quality cross. The pass was very good, but unfortunately Li Jinyu headed the ball too straight and it went directly into the opponent's goalkeeper's arms. Although the ball did not go in, it still scared the Japanese team. Especially the Japanese team's head coach Zico, after seeing the long pass from Lin Feng, he was so scared that he jumped up from the coaching seat. He must be restricted, otherwise something bad will happen sooner or later! (End of this chapter)