Chapter 162: It depends on Tang Zheng

Lu Liang bypassed the active defenders of Meunier, Alderwereld and Vertonghen with a wide range of passes on the left side of the attack, and accurately found Sun Jingbo at the back of the penalty area.

Vertonghen chose to lose both hands behind his back in the face of Sun Jingbo's ball, and at the same time paid attention to Sun Jingbo's every move, ready to make a shot to block at any time.

Sun Jingbo picked up his right foot when he touched the ball for the second time, and made a gesture to shoot about 15 meters from the goal on the right rib of the penalty area.

But Sun Jingbo did not shoot directly, but passed the ball to the top of the arc of the penalty area without observation.

It was only then that Alderweireld realised that he had forgotten to mark the most dangerous player of the Chinese team......

Tang Zheng, who was running diagonally and straight, did not make any adjustments and picked up his right foot.

Tang Zheng's shot was very accurate, and his right foot hit the middle of the ball with the instep of his foot, so the ball rolled against the turf to the lower left corner of the goal.

Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois went down very quickly with a height of nearly two meters, trying to block Tang Zheng's slash, but compared to the speed of the football, Courtois's save speed was still slightly slower by half a beat, and the ball continued to run almost against Courtois's right fingertips......

"Whoa~"

The Chinese fans at the St. Petersburg Arena raised their arms and opened their mouths, creating a huge chant like a tsunami.

The Belgian fans in the stands watched the football roll towards the bottom left corner of the goal and fell into despair and forgot to make a sound.

But...... Half a second later, the Belgian fans burst into flames of joy and jumped to their feet, raising their arms and chanting as if they had scored a goal.

“Oh-My-God!!”

British Sky commentator Andy Gray exclaimed: "The ball hits the left-hand post!"

"Goalpost! Didn't enter!!"

Yang 5 commentator He Wei was dumbfounded.

"Belgium escaped!"

When Courtois heard the sound of a doorpost, his heart was surging, and he longed for a carp to raise his arms and shout.

However, his eyes followed the rebounding football, and the whole person was not good......

Lu Liang adjusted his direction during the run and faced the rebounding football.

At this time, the Belgian players in the box reacted, but it was too late.

The fallen hearts of the Belgian fans in the stands rose to their throats again, and at the same time, their pupils shrank, and there was a hint of despair in their eyes.

Lu Liang, who was not disturbed in any way, pushed the ball with the arch of his left foot in the run, and in the face of the push in front of the small penalty area, even Courtois's second reaction was extremely fast, and Lu Liang's follow-up shot flew into the far corner.

The football crashed into the upper right corner of the goal without any suspense, and the St. Petersburg Arena resounded with the huge cheers of the Chinese fans: "Whoa~"

“Goooooooooooooooal——”

Sky England commentator Andy Guerrera raised his voice and stirred up the excitement of fans in front of the television.

"The ball is in, the ball is in! Lu Liang scored a supplementary shot to help the Chinese team expand to two goals!"

Yang 5 commentator He Wei stood up abruptly with his hands on the commentary seat and shouted.

Lu Liang, who scored the goal, was very excited, opened his arms, and ran wildly all the way until he was dragged to the ground by Sun Jingbo and stopped, celebrating the goal with his teammates.

The Chinese fans at the St. Petersburg Arena were excited like children, and it was undeniable that they had thought of the Chinese team beating Belgium before the game, but they did not expect that the game would lead by two goals before the end of the half......

This is not at all like the process of playing between two teams with strong and weak strengths.

After all, according to the strength of the two teams, Belgium is likely to lead the Chinese team by two goals.

However, now it is the Chinese team leading Belgium by two goals, which gives people a somewhat unreal feeling.

It is precisely this feeling of unreality that gives Chinese fans surging strength, and the huge chanting of the mountains and tsunamis is wave after wave.

The Chinese players were celebrating the two-goal lead in the game, and the Belgian players looked at each other, they never imagined that the game would turn out like this.

As the favorite to win the World Cup, it was bad luck to lose to France by one goal in the semi-finals, but why did the game fall behind the Chinese team by two goals before halftime?

It's not scientific!

Most of the game is also dominated by our own side, so there is no reason to fall behind the Chinese team......

Belgian coach Martinez, who appeared on the broadcast screen, frowned, put his hands in his pockets, and looked at the Chinese players celebrating the goal.

※※※

"China leads Belgium by two goals, and if the score can be extended to the end of the game, we will create the best result for an Asian team in the World Cup. Yang 5 commentator He Wei said this, and his voice changed: "I hope our players will not be too complacent, the first half of the game is not over, there is still a long time before the full game, a temporary victory does not mean that the game will be won in the end, only when the referee Cunha blows the whistle at the end of the game to win the game." ”

It just happened that the on-site director gave a close-up shot of the head coach of the Chinese team, Lippi, and He Wei's excited tone was a little more emotional: "This game is the last game of Lippi's coaching career, and I believe that everyone hopes that Lippi, who has made a significant contribution to us, will end his coaching career with a victory, so no matter what, the boys of the Chinese team must win this game, I don't know for themselves, but also for Lippi." ”

Naturally, the experienced coach Lippi will not make mistakes easily, and he pulled Zhang Linpeng as the players celebrated their goals.

The game restarted, and Belgium, which was two goals behind, had to strengthen its attack and launch waves of fierce attacks towards the defensive half of the Chinese team in a frenzied atmosphere.

Fortunately, Lippi arranged targeted tactics for the team when the Chinese team scored the second goal, and the role of full defense was very obvious, plus Belgium, which was two goals behind, played very aggressively, very direct, and the offensive organization was not patient enough, and it was difficult to directly threaten Yan Junling to guard the goal.

In addition, the Chinese team's full retreat to protect the space is in place, and Belgium's attack is greatly limited.

Even though Hazard and Mertens have excellent skills at their feet, there is no way to connect several people.

The back three of Tang Zheng, Li Kui and He Chao protected the front of the central defender and the two ribs very well, leaving little space for the Belgian.

Until referee Cunha blew the first half to the end, the score did not change.

2:0

China led Belgium by two goals into the dressing room.

For this score, no one thought before the game......

Although the Chinese team played very passively at the end of the first half, the result was obviously acceptable for them.

As a result, the Chinese players who appeared on the broadcast screen appeared very relaxed, and their teammates who had good relationships talked and laughed with each other, as if the game had nothing to do with them.

The Belgian players had the exact opposite expression, their faces were heavy, there was no communication between their team-mates, and they were obviously still thinking about the first half that had just ended.

Throughout the first half, Belgium was far ahead of the Chinese team in terms of possession time, number of shots, goals hit and corner kicks, but the result was a two-goal lead for the Chinese team, and the huge sense of powerlessness was even more painful than that of the French team.

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"Perfect first half!!"

When the players from both sides returned to the locker room, Shao Shengyi, a commentator from CCTV 5 who switched to the Beijing studio, said with a smile: "The overall strength of Belgium is much stronger than that of the Chinese team, but the result is that we are ahead, this is football! As long as the Chinese team can show a performance in the second half that is not weaker than the first half, I believe that it will be our Chinese team that will win the game in the end!"

Those Chinese fans who did not switch TV stations all nodded their heads, and in this case, it is natural to support their home team.

Although he did not qualify for the World Cup final, finishing third was acceptable.

Chinese fans are very satisfied with the current score, and Korean fans are somewhat sour in their hearts.

The fourth place in the World Cup can be said to be the best result of an Asian team in the World Cup, and the South Korean team used the host to win the fourth place in the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup, which can be said to be a late player for Asian teams, but the third and fourth place finals between the Chinese team and Belgium ended with the Chinese team leading by two goals at the end of the first half.

In other words, it is very likely that the Chinese team will no longer share the best results of Asian teams in the World Cup with the South Korean team, but will enjoy this record that has never been recorded again!

Therefore, South Korea's SBS Sports TV commentator Park Zhenhui said in a weird manner during the halftime: "The score of the first half does not mean the score of the whole game, the overall strength of the Chinese team is obviously weaker than Belgium, and the Chinese team can lead by two goals obviously because Belgium has not yet found the feeling of the game, I believe that when the Belgians find the rhythm of the game, it is very possible to score three or even four goals!"

"You must know that Belgium in the 1/8 finals was behind Japan by two goals, but what happened in the end?

South Korean fans sitting in front of the TV immediately thought of the sixth 1/8 final of this World Cup, although the Japanese team did not lead Belgium by two goals in the first half, but they did score three goals in a row when they were two goals behind.

This...... That's enough!

Most South Korean fans believe that it is impossible for the Chinese team to beat Belgium!

"Whoa—"

The St. Petersburg Arena resounded over the sky with the incessant chanting of Chinese fans, wave after wave.

The Chinese fans at the scene were like children who love new toys, dancing and venting the ecstasy in their hearts.

The fifteen-minute half-time break passed quickly, and players from both sides returned to the players one after another.

Before the start of the second half, Belgium made the first substitution, Chadli replaced Meunier, who had not performed well in the first half.

The Chinese coach who came to the coaching area of the visiting team frowned, clearly worried about Belgium's first substitution.

The reason why Belgium fell behind the Chinese team by two goals in the first half was that Meunier and Carrasco did not perform well enough, but Carrasco's tactical ability was significantly stronger than Meunier, so the Chinese team would be tested very much in the second half.

Chadley helped Belgium beat Japan in the 1/8 finals and advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, and his performance in the quarterfinals and semi-finals was also remarkable.

However, Lippi is very confident in the tactics he arranged during the break, as long as the Chinese team can implement the established tactics, unless there is an accident, the Chinese team will not be able to be reversed by Belgium.

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"Beep~"

With a whistle from the referee on duty, Cunha, the second half of the game between the Chinese team and Belgium officially began.

Belgium, who were two goals behind, quickly took advantage of the kick-off to launch a wave of threatening attacks on the Chinese team's defensive hinterland, but fortunately goalkeeper Yan Junling was in a brave state and kept Lukaku's goalmouth rush out.

"Oh, oh, oh-"

The Chinese fans at the St. Petersburg Arena subconsciously let out a burst of exclamations.

Yang 5 commentator He Wei frowned: "The backward Belgium is menacing, it seems that ...... The second half wasn't as simple as we thought it would be......"

Sure enough!

Five minutes into the second half, Belgium had four shots on goal, three of which hit the back of the net.

The head coach of the Chinese team, Lippi, couldn't sit still, and he was ready to make changes to the lineup.

But before the dead ball appeared, there was a problem in the back line of the Chinese team.

In the 53rd minute, substitute Chadley attacked Zhang Linpeng who was defending at the back point with a pass on the right rib, and the football was about to fly out of the bottom line, and the left central defender Vertonghen, who was not involved in the attack throughout the first half, stopped the football at the bottom line, and then looked up to observe.

Just when everyone thought Vertonghen were looking for Lukaku, he suddenly crossed the ball towards the line of the box and De Bruyne slotted home a shot on the run.

The football rolled from the crack to the far corner of the goal against the turf, and it was too late for Yan Junling to react......

"This ...... The ball is so deserved......"

Yang 5 commentator He Wei shook his head and sighed.

However, the Chinese fans in the stands were not discouraged when the team conceded a goal, believing that Belgium had only narrowed the score.

It wasn't until a minute later that Hazard burst into the box after a series of passes from Carrasco and Lukaku, and Ko Joon-yi slipped on the way back and tripped Hazard with his foot when he had no choice.

The referee on duty, Cunha, was very decisive and confident, and awarded Belgium a penalty.

As the captain, Tang Zheng naturally wanted to help Gao Zhunyi plead, but according to the slow-motion replay given by the video referee, Gao Zhunyi did trip Hazard when he fell to the ground, which means that there was no problem with the penalty.

In this regard, the hopes of Tang Zheng and Chinese fans can only be pinned on goalkeeper Yan Junling.

But Hazard was very calm, and in the face of the huge boos created by the Chinese fans in the stadium, he easily hit and helped Belgium equalize 2:2!

Belgian fans cheered and Belgian players celebrated their goals in a frenzied atmosphere, venting the pressure of the equaliser.

Immediately, the on-site director gave Tang Zheng a close-up shot that was pushed to his face.

The two goals of the Chinese team are not Tang Zheng's direct goals, but his assist and planning one are equivalent to saying that without Tang Zheng, there would be no two goals of the Chinese team.

Now that the score has become a draw, the on-site director thinks that if the Chinese team wants to exceed the score again, it has to look at Tang Zheng!

He Wei, the commentator of Yang 5, was in a complicated mood, but he was full of confidence in Tang Zheng on the broadcast screen: "The score draw is not the end, I believe that the Chinese team led by Tang Zheng will definitely be able to solve the dilemma encountered now......! That's what the fans in front of the TV think, right?"