Chapter 166 One-Person Football Team
Li Weifeng looked at the red card in front of him, did not argue, lowered his head and walked out of the sideline silently.
In the 57th minute, just two minutes after Robin van Persie missed his second penalty kick, the Dutch team once again launched a quick counterattack. In order to prevent Robben from cutting inside, Li Weifeng reflexively put in a tackle with Rong Hao. He had no intention of committing a foul, but his movement speed was not as fast as Robben's. He only knocked down people without touching the ball.
The La Rianda referee showed him a second yellow card. This penalty was not controversial, just like the foul caused by Li Weifeng's insufficient defensive ability to contain Robben. Under the comprehensive factors of timing, speed of action, and rationality of action, if Li Weifeng could be 01 seconds faster, this would be an extremely successful and exemplary tackle defense. Without this 01 seconds, it would only be a foul.
And these 01 seconds are the unknown world beyond his ability.
The three-center-back system cannot be missing. Two minutes later, Jieshuai replaced Rong Hao with 30-year-old veteran Ji Mingyi. Rong Hao's performance today was far from amazing in the match against Cameroon, but mediocre to the point of being almost unknown. He could not keep up with Robben's wide range of position changes across the entire wing and even on the opposite side, nor could he adapt to the suddenness and speed of Sneijder and others when they played the ball to Robben.
Rong Hao's defense and Robben's offense are two different realms of football, just like Li Weifeng's helplessness. But despite his mediocre performance, Rong Hao is also an integral part of the team's overall tactics. Defense adjustments can make up for the lack of three central defenders, but one less player on the field is a cruel reality. The Chinese team's tactical adaptability is not high. The ability was suddenly unable to maintain the previous full offensive.
After another two minutes, the Chinese team was completely different from before. The Netherlands did not need any high-end passing and cutting to keep the Chinese team busy. When a weak team beats a strong team, the biggest reliance is often on morale. Once the momentum is gone, the all-round gap will immediately be revealed.
In the 66th minute, when defending Van Persie, Ji Mingyi raised his leg from behind in an attempt to destroy the ball. At the same time, he squeezed forward and leaned on his hands. Van Persie was like a hen with weak feet. He fell down and chewed the mud. The referee Lianda awarded an indirect free kick.
At this time, the Chinese team players made the same mistake as Italy a few days ago. Ji Mingyi and Du Wei only focused on arguing with the referee, but did not prevent the Dutch team Van Bronckhorst from seizing the opportunity to take a free kick.
Van Bronckhorst lobbed directly into the penalty area from 40 meters away. Not to mention that the Chinese team was caught off guard. Even most of the Dutch did not react, except for Kuyt, who is always tireless and always looking for opportunities.
The placement of the pass was very precise, just half a beat behind Wang Dalei. Kuyt took the lead and tapped the ball past him. But Wang Dalei showed the physical fitness of a top goalkeeper at this time. He just used his strength to pull his body back.
He chased Kuyt again and blocked the angle of his shot.
At this time, Sneijder also pursued the goal. Kuyt did not need to force the shot at all. He is a very selfless team player. Kuyt took the football back to Sneijder on the other side of the goal, and the Chinese team's goal was unobstructed in front of the Dutch No. 10.
Sneijder pushed the ball into the empty goal, and Zhuo Yang's lightning-quick pursuit rescued the ball only one meter deep inside the goal line. Under the watchful eye of Espinosa, the second linesman with a keen eye, his efforts were obviously in vain.
At 0:2, the Chinese team, with one less player to fight, walked onto the cliff.
Zhuoyang is not sure whether this is his hardest-working game. He dare not deny the previous battles in his eight years in the industry, but he is sure that he must be even harder than when he played against Italy five days ago.
In the first 70 minutes, the Chinese team, which was far different in strength from its opponents, never allowed the score to expand. It was almost evenly matched against the powerful Netherlands. The only factor in this was Zhuo Yang. Without Zhuo Yang, the Chinese team would have been defeated at this time. Without Zhuo Yang, maybe it would have been declared garbage time in the first half.
The Dutch team has had four must-kill counterattacks so far in the game, resulting in two goals and two penalty kicks. However, if Zhuoyang hadn't restrained the entire Netherlands' defensive focus, preventing them from launching the most cathartic counterattack, this number would have been doubled at worst, and it would have been a tragedy.
A total of 736 players participated in the World Cup in South Africa. Zhuoyang encountered the tightest defense that these 736 players have experienced this month today, but he still passed seven extremely high-quality threatening balls and organized and instigated nine times. A very imaginative offense and single-handedly completed five high-quality shots.
Without Zhuoyang's intimidation and efforts on both offense and defense, the Chinese team would not be able to sustain itself until now. This is a one-man team. Zhuoyang knew that his teammates worked hard and worked hard, just like him, but the upper limit of their abilities limited their efforts and did not see the results in the score.
Zhuo Yang also knows that based on the current overall strength of the Chinese team, it is inevitable to leave the World Cup early, and he should even return to China at this time. Being able to reach the top 16 is undoubtedly a success, and leaving at this time will never seem like a failure. But he still didn't want to just leave without fighting for the opportunity until the last minute. Zhuoyang didn't want to.
Zhuoyang knew that no matter how hard he worked before, he would still need to work harder next.
Coach Van Marwijk is very satisfied with his tactical response today. The score of 2:0 now trumps all controversies. Although after the game there will definitely be more media questioning his more conservative approach to playing against such a weak team like China, Lao Fan doesn't care. Victory can make everything insignificant.
In Lao Fan's analysis, the overall strength of the Chinese team is undoubtedly ranked in the bottom ten or even the bottom five among the top 32. However, the Chinese team is the most special team among the top ten. We must not simply follow the usual rules. Ten underdogs look at this team through their eyes. Otherwise, we will definitely fall in front of them. Cameroon is a lesson learned from the past.
The x factor in this is Zhuo Yang! Before becoming the head coach of the Dutch national team, Lao Fan successively coached Feyenoord in the Eredivisie and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. In both teams, he had played against Zhuo Yang's Madiburg, and both times were because of key battles. Defeat to Madibao ultimately led to dismissal.
In Lao Fan's view, you can be arrogant and arrogant when facing the Chinese team, but no matter how cautious you are when encountering Zhuo Yang. To be honest, Lao Fan hopes that the Chinese team can win the first place in Group F before. He would rather let the Netherlands face Paraguay or even Italy than face Zhuo Yang. Lao Fan doesn’t want his coaching career to change. An interruption happened in Zhuo Yang's hands. A one-man team is neither easy nor easy to play, especially if this person is Zhuo Yang.
Lao Fan was very satisfied with the 2:0 score. Missing two penalty kicks was not the end of the world. He had to fight with the Chinese team until the penalty shootout after 120 minutes. That would be the end of the world in despair.