The frenzied atmosphere that surrounds the arena over the Pernambuco Arena is still there, and the fans on both sides know that there can be no slackness at this time, so there is a huge cheer, especially for the Chinese fans, who have watched their national team suppress Costa Rica, and the sense of pride and superiority in their hearts is particularly strong and must be vented.

With Lu Liang coming to the right side, the Chinese team's offensive focus was also placed on the right side.

Zhang Linpeng has always been known for his assists, and his speed, body and crosses were excellent, which led to the collapse of Costa Rica's defense on the left side, but fortunately goalkeeper Keylor Navas performed well, coupled with the poor shooting skills of Chinese striker Gao Lin, Costa Rica was able to keep the goal intact.

In the blink of an eye, the game came to half an hour, and the live director took advantage of the relative stalemate on the field to give Lippi and Pinto a close-up respectively.

The emotional color on the faces of the two is obviously different from the beginning of the opening, or the expressions of the two are directly exchanged.

Before, Lippi was worried, but now the feng shui takes turns, and it is Pinto's turn to frown, thinking about how to break the game.

The Chinese team's attack surprised him, especially since Tang Zheng had not been directly involved in the attack.

If Tang Zheng was directly involved in the attack, what would have been the result?

Thinking of this, Pinto really didn't dare to imagine it anymore......

In fact, Tang Zheng wants to participate in the team's attack, but he is more worried about Costa Rica's rapid counterattack, as a team that can often participate in the World Cup, Costa Rica itself has a certain strength.

The overall strength of the team's back line is not as good as the front, so Tang Zheng doesn't dare to go too far ahead, after all, the captain Zheng Zhi is thirty-four this year, and the speed is not as fast as back then.

In the knockout round, many times it is about defense and patience.

Unless it is a last resort, Tang Zheng will not leave his post without permission.

Because of the weakness of the forward line, the Chinese team's offense has always been thunderous and rainy.

The head coach of the Chinese team, Lippi, seemed to stand on the sidelines calmly, giving people the feeling of strategizing to win thousands of miles away, but in fact, he was very worried about Costa Rica's rapid counterattack.

The problems caused by the lack of points for a long time are very obvious.

Irritable!

Hao Junmin, Lu Liang, and Wu Sanshi tried to shoot from the front of the penalty area respectively, but the front and back of the penalty area were almost full of Costa Rican defenders, and the effect can be imagined.

The long-range shots either hit the Costa Rican players or put anti-aircraft guns.

Gao Lin, who had been waiting for an opportunity in the penalty area, couldn't bear the loneliness, and completed a half-turn volley in several opportunities to retreat.

Outcome?

Due to the interference of central defender Gonzalez, Gao Lin did not fully twist his body with his back to the goal, and the half-turned volley completed with his right foot kicked the ball directly to the outside of the corner flag on the right, giving Costa Rica a backfield sideline ball.

Yang 5 commentator He Wei looked at the football flying out of the sideline, stunned, and only coughed lightly after half a ring: "Our attack has become too simple now, we should organize the attack patiently like disgusting, advance through layers, and then use the assault ability of the two wings to create opportunities." ”

Shooting directly out of the sideline, Gao Lin inevitably blushed, but he has rich experience in the game and has his own way of dealing with embarrassment.

He frowned, stood up with his hands on the turf, and then walked to the shooting spot and stepped on his right foot a few times, giving the impression that the turf was uneven.

Foreign TV stations that don't know much about Gao's technical characteristics may think that the uneven turf caused Gao Lin's shot to be outrageous, but the Chinese fans sitting in front of the TV don't think so.

After all...... 'Gao Aircraft' is not in vain in the Super League.

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Costa Rica backfield sideline ball, several players in the front court of the Chinese team organized high pressure on the spot, forcing the Costa Rican backfield players with the ball not to dare to play with fire in the backfield.

In order to avoid the possibility of the Chinese team playing a counterattack on the spot in the front, the Costa Rican backcourt players had no choice but to clear the siege with a big foot.

Perhaps it was too much pressure, left-back Dias received a cushion pass from central defender Gonzalez and made a mistake, and kicked the ball out of the sideline with a big kick, and the Chinese team won the ball on the sideline in front.

Zhang Linpeng jogged over and was about to throw the sideline ball, Tang Zheng shouted, and made a movement of pressing down with both palms, signaling Zhang Linpeng to slow down.

Zhang Linpeng changed from running to walking, and Tang Zheng seized the time to turn his head and shouted at Lu Liang, Wu Sanshi, Hao Junmin and Gao Lin respectively: "Hey~ Brothers, calm down, don't shoot blindly from a distance, be patient! Rome was not built in a day!"

After that, Tang Zheng made another palms close to his body and pressed down continuously.

Tang Zheng has a lot of influence in the team, so they all nodded their heads one after another, indicating that they knew.

Zhang Linpeng threw the sideline ball, and the football did not rush to the penalty area or shoot from a distance, but gave the ball to Tang Zheng's feet through an orderly pass, and he decided the direction and way of the team's attack.

Football came to Tang Zheng's feet more often, and the Chinese team's attack became more fluid and more ornamental.

Costa Rica coach Pinto was frustrated, his team had never faced such a situation against strong teams like Uruguay, Italy and England, and he could not have imagined that it would be so difficult to face the Chinese team.

As for why this is so, he knows what the reason is.

Because the Chinese team's current offense revolves around Tang Zheng, focusing on ball control and using frequent conduction to find gaps.

Tang Zheng transferred to Real Madrid last summer for a total price of 125 million euros, and after a season of competition, he has proven himself to be a superb, scoring 20+ goals and assists this season, and is one of the biggest contributors to Real Madrid's double last season.

His ability to create chances may not be the best in Europe, but at least he can finish in the top three, so Costa Rica coach Pinto thought for a moment and then took advantage of a dead-ball opportunity to pull captain Ruiz and adjust the game tactics.

Pinto's tactical adjustment is very simple, that is, only one fast Campbell is left in the front court as a counter-attack point, and the other nine players all shrink within 30 meters of their own defense, compressing the offensive space of the Chinese team.

In addition to Lu Liang and Hao Junmin, the frontcourt players of the Chinese team are more delicate at their feet, Gao Lin and Wu Sanshi are a little rough, so the shrinkage space has a great impact on the Chinese team's frontcourt attack.

For this situation, neither Lippi nor Tang Zheng can do anything.

Breaking down dense defences has always been a worldwide problem, and it can only be done from set-pieces and long-range shots.

When a long-range shot doesn't work, you have to wait for a set-piece opportunity.

It's just that the game didn't wait for a good set-piece opportunity until the end of the first half, and the two sides ended the first half with a score of 0:0.

It is worth mentioning that although neither side scored in the first half, the game was not boring and could even be said to be full of spectacle.

The match between the Chinese team and Costa Rica was wide open and closed for a while, and you came and went, which made the whole Pernambuco Arena climax.

At the end of the first half, the situation of the game was in favor of the Chinese team, of course, this is directly related to Costa Rica's contraction defense, but it is not difficult to see that the midfield line led by Tang Zheng has stronger control than Costa Rica.

So as soon as the referee Eriksen blew the whistle at the end of the first half, Yang 5 commentator He Wei said optimistically: "If the second half of the game can continue the offensive at the end of the first half, I think the team that will win the game in the end will be us!

At the same time, the Costa Rican national television commentator was a little sullen, saying: "Our team should be more active in the second half, full of strategic attacks, Don is too strong individually, his area of activity must be limited as much as possible, otherwise...... Kylor Navas's stunning form is not a panacea, and it is up to the attack to solve the battle!"

Yang 5 commentator Gong Lei agreed with He Wei's statement and nodded: "I think during the halftime break or Lippi should make detailed tactical adjustments to the team's attack, except for the complete suppression of Costa Rica at the end of the first half, in fact, most of the first half was more chaotic, of course...... Tang Zheng, who has a super ability to run and cover, covered up some problems, and if Lippi did not fine-tune his tactics in the second half, it would actually be a hidden danger for his own defense. ”

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Fifteen minutes of the break passed quickly, and the second half changed sides again, with neither side making any changes to the line-up for the first half.

The Chinese team, which had the advantage of the kick-off, did not rush forward to attack, but handed the ball to Tang Zheng, who organized the team's first wave of attack in the second half.

Except for Campbell, who was at the front, he ran forward, and the other players retreated to the halfcourt, waiting for the Chinese team to attack.

Tang Zheng saw it, pulled the ball back with his right foot, and then passed the ball to right fullback Zhang Linpeng.

The reason why it was not given to left-back Jiang Zhipeng was because Tang Zheng felt that Jiang Zhipeng's condition was not adjusted to the best, and he would always be habitually nervous, so it was a very good choice to hand over the ball to Zhang Linpeng, who had a big heart.

The Chinese team controlled the ball in the backcourt, no one in Costa Rica stepped forward to press, and Zhang Linpeng waited unhurriedly until Tang Zheng approached to ask for the ball before passing the ball out.

It was clear that Costa Rica's tactics at the start of the second half were to defend solidly.

Regarding Costa Rica's defensive options, Lippi talked about it during the halftime break, he asked the team not to rush, to be patient, and once there is no passing angle in the front court, the priority choice is not to blindly handle the ball, but to hand it over to Tang Zheng.

Through continuous passes, Tang Zheng and Soccer both came to the attacking 40-meter area.

His vision was quite broad, and he could see that the Costa Rican defenders were very protective of each other, and it was difficult to make individual breakthroughs, so he did not hesitate to give the ball to Hao Junmin, who ran to the right rib of the attack.

Hao Junmin, Wu Sanshi, Zhang Linpeng and Gao Lin formed a continuous combination on the right side of the attack, but Gao Lin made a mistake in a catch, stopped too far away from the body, and the football was obtained by Costa Rican defender Borges.

The Chinese team switched from attack to defense, and the forward line and midfield line did not press the Costa Rican players as they did in the first half, but retreated to their own half.

The World Cup is a conference system with short intervals between matches and is quite demanding on the physical fitness of the players.

Several players who play in the European League have just finished a long season, and then invested in the preparation of the World Cup, the physical recovery is limited, the players who play for the Chinese Super League are not scientific enough, and the top competition at the national level like the World Cup is extremely demanding in all aspects.

High pressure is very physically demanding, so ...... If you can save, you will save.

The tone of the first five minutes of the second half was that the Chinese team attacked from the position, and Costa Rica counterattacked quickly.

Because Tang Zheng and Zheng Zhi had a very high rate of prediction and accuracy, Costa Rica's counterattack never brought a threat to Yan Junling's goal, and Lippi stood in the home team's coach's command area for five minutes before returning to the coach's box.

"Whoa—"

The Chinese fans, who occupy nearly half of the arena in Pernambuco, were full of excitement and passion at this time, creating a tsunami-like chant to cheer for the Chinese team.

However, at this moment, Gao Lin won the ball and handed it to Lu Liang not enough power, and was returned to the 30-meter defensive area of Costa Rica captain Ruiz.

As before, slowly returning to their own half, the Chinese fans in the stands did not pay much attention, because Tang Zheng had already watched Campbell, and Costa Rica's quick counterattack could not be successful.

Of course, Costa Rica has not thought about playing a quick counterattack, and captain Ruiz has received the latest tactical adjustment from head coach Pinto - in the process of switching from defense to attack, it is necessary to appropriately increase the time of possession of the ball, otherwise it is difficult to directly threaten the Chinese goal guarded by Yan Junling.

Ruiz controlled the team's rhythm from defense to offense, and through layers of advancement, the football came to the Chinese team's defensive half.

Everyone thought that Costa Rica's attack would not pose a threat to the Chinese team, after all, positional attack is not Costa Rica's good offensive method.

But...... There are exceptions to everything.

Costa Rica captain Ruiz split the ball down the middle to the left flank, and Bolanos tried to cut inside on the left flank, but there was not much space, and he chose to give the ball to full-back Dias.

Dias had no psychological advantage over the opposing Zhang Linpeng, and he knocked it to Bolanos, who pushed the ball directly to the top of the arc of the penalty area without stopping.

Ruiz stepped forward into the arc of the big penalty area and picked up his right foot without making any adjustments, and Tang Zheng stretched his foot half a beat slower and did not touch the football.

The two central defenders Li Xuepeng and Ren Hang watched the football roll against the turf to the lower right corner of the goal, and subconsciously stretched out their feet, but they didn't touch it.

The speed of the football against the turf is not particularly fast, but it is better at a tricky angle, the goalkeeper Yan Junling stood close to the middle, and he was also mentally prepared for Ruiz's long-range shot, but Tang Zheng, Li Xuepeng and Ren Hang's continuous stretching of their feet did not block the football, but played a role in interfering with Yan Junling's vision.

By the time Yan Junling saw the football slowly rolling towards the lower right corner of the goal, it was too late, and he subconsciously fell to the ground and reached out to pounce on the ball without touching the football, and the football almost brushed the inside edge of the goal post on the right side and rolled into the net......

No one could have imagined that Costa Rica, who had been extremely passive at the start of the second half, would break the deadlock in the first positional attack with a low, long-range shot that was not threatening.

This is like a bolt from the blue for the dominant Chinese team.

Costa Rica is already good at defense, and now the score is ahead, and it still doesn't hold until now?