"Beep~"

With a long whistle from the referee on duty, Andres Cunha, the first half of the first group stage of Group C of the 2018 World Cup in Russia came to an end, and the French team and the Chinese team were evenly divided, entering their respective locker rooms with a score of 0:0.

The live broadcast gave a long shot of the players on both sides, and the French fans in blue jerseys had a heavy face, according to the arrangement of the pre-game coach Didier Deschamps, at least a one-goal lead at the end of the first half, but ...... It was 0:0 after halftime, and the Chinese team had one or two chances to score in the first half, which means that the Chinese team was able to grasp even one chance in the first half, and the score was not 0:0.

As the favourites to win this World Cup, France have a squad that will amaze anyone.

There are many media reports that the players who did not make it to the 23-man squad of the French team can all rank in the top 10 of the total value of the teams participating in the World Cup, and the 11 starters selected from the players who did not make the French squad or missed the squad due to injury have the ability to beat any strong team in the world.

It can be seen from this that the depth of the bench of the French team is enviable.

It was the abundance of talent in the French squad that made the starters nervous, and they were worried about the disgusting media reporting after the game.

Pressure is a double sharp blade, if you use it well, you can get twice the result with half the effort, and you will be invincible, and if you don't use it well, you will get twice the result with half the effort, which will affect the performance.

The expressions of the Chinese players who appeared on the broadcast screen were natural, and players such as Tang Zheng, Lu Liang, Sun Jingbo and other players with big hearts could show faint smiles on their faces, showing that they were satisfied with the first half of the game and were full of confidence in the next second half.

In the first half, they knew that France, one of the favourites, was no different.

If you play well enough in the second half, let alone draw with France, you can even win.

As players from both sides entered the tunnel one after another, the frenetic atmosphere at the bustling Kazan Stadium dropped significantly, and fans in the stands used the fifteen-minute break to leave their seats and head to the stadium shop to buy food, drinks and the indispensable throat lozenges.

The players consume a lot on the field, and the fans in the stands also consume a lot.

The stadium is the battle area for the players, and the stands are the battle area for Chinese fans and French fans.

The fact that a weak team can beat the strong in many cases has a lot to do with the support of the fans in the stands, so the fans hope that they can help the national team.

At the same time, the signals of national television stations in various countries with the right to broadcast the World Cup have returned to the live broadcast rooms of their respective cities, and the well-known commentators sitting in the live broadcast rooms will review the end of the first half.

The fifteen-minute half-time break passed quickly, and the vacant seats in the stands of the Kazan Stadium that were given to the live broadcast were filling at a visible rate.

The players on both sides of the game returned to the stadium, and the on-site director gave Deschamps a close-up with great meaning.

It is not difficult for fans who know the ball to see that this is to hope that the French team, which did not make achievements in the first half, can show the strength to compete for the championship in the second half.

However, Didier Deschamps was clearly pleased with his starting line-up and did not make any changes before the start of the second half.

At present, the starting lineup is stable, and the central defender Gao Zhunyi, who has been criticized by the media, has played well, and has a tacit understanding with Zhang Linpeng, and has contributed two key defenses under the overall defensive system to ensure the stability of the team's defensive line.

Not long after, the second half of the first group stage of Group C of the World Cup between the Chinese team and the French team was announced.

Compared with the first half, the Chinese team has made significant adjustments in terms of technology and tactics.

At the beginning of the game, the Chinese team strengthened the midfield press, which caused the French team, which was eager to open up the situation at the beginning of the second half, unable to organize an effective attack, and the French coach Deschamps, who was standing in front of the coach's box, frowned.

Deschamps turned his head to look at Lippi, who was about to retire this summer, and he really didn't expect the Chinese team to press high at the beginning of the second half, otherwise he would not have laid out too many tactics for the team to start the game during the break.

The high pressure of the Chinese team at the beginning of the second half made it impossible for the French team to attack, and the high hopes of Mbappe, Griezmann and Dembele could not get the ball at their feet, and even if they had the ball at their feet, they would face two or three defenders of the Chinese team in a local area, and there were no good chances at all.

Italian national TV commentator Álvaro passionately commented: "Mr. Marcelo Lippi obviously did a lot of work during the break, the Chinese team's defense was very successful, they stopped the French team from attacking wave after wave, I think as long as this situation continues, the Chinese team is very likely to draw with the strong French team, and may even win the game!"

After two minutes of hesitation, Deschamps did not give the team the latest instructions, so the French players on the field still followed the game tactics laid out by head coach Deschamps during the break.

The French players on the field played very awkwardly, but Deschamps was still unmoved, so the French national sports TV commentator was a little dissatisfied with Deschamps: "Didier Deschamps should make adjustments to the lineup or tactics, five minutes have passed in the second half, and the team has no threat to the Chinese team's goal, which is not good news for us to win the World Cup in Russia......"

It's not that Deschamps doesn't want to make adjustments, it's that premature adjustments tend to have no effect on the game.

At present, the physical condition of the Chinese players is quite good, and it is obvious that they have put too much effort into this game, and no adjustment can change the current situation.

Of course, with a little more luck, the situation may be different.

However, as a national team with absolute strength to win the World Cup, how can the French team rely on luck to win?

It is undeniable that the current Chinese team is very strong, and it can even wrestle with the French team in a certain period of time, but the football game is a 90-minute battle, and the Chinese team, which has already taken high pressure in the first half, sacrificed high pressure at the beginning of the second half, which is obviously very serious for the physical consumption of the players.

Could it be that the physical fitness of Chinese players is inexhaustible?

This possibility, naturally, will not arise.

So Deschamps stood still and waited for the Chinese team's physical fitness to decline, and when the time came...... It was the moment when his French team scored a goal!

※※※

In the blink of an eye, ten minutes before the second half passed, and the scoreboard at the Kazan Stadium showed that the score remained unchanged, still 0:0.

But the French coach Didier Deschamps, who was standing in the command area, did not fluctuate much on his face, as if the game had nothing to do with him.

In fact, Deschamps already has a glimmer of expectation in his heart for the team's goal.

If you don't look carefully, it is not difficult to see that the running coverage of individual Chinese players has declined somewhat, and Lippi has a rich coaching resume, and there is a little worry in his heart.

At this moment, Kante cut off the pass that Hao Junmin handed to Lu Liang.

Hao Junmin, who is over 30 years old, was affected by the decline in physical fitness, and his subconscious counter-robbery was half a beat slower.

N'Golo Kante was quick on the ball and quickly handed the ball to Pogba in the centre circle.

Tang Zheng has a strong sense of defense and defended Pogba for the first time, but he was a little far away from Pogba, and Pogba did not stick to the ball, let the ball turn around and did not give Tang Zheng a chance to get close, and directly sent a through ball to the right rib of the Chinese team's defense with extreme accuracy.

Mbappe's high-speed forward cut to attract Zhang Linpeng's attention, and right-back Deng Hanwen was slightly distracted, and it was too late for him to chase after he realized the efficiency of the French team's transition from defense to attack, and he could only pin his hopes on another central defender, Gao Zhunyi.

Gao Zhunyi, who has gradually become Gent's main central defender, noticed that Griezmann, who switched positions with Mbappe, was inserted at high speed from behind, but his speed was not as fast as Griezmann, and Pogba's pass rolled quickly from the left side of the Chinese team's center circle to the right rib of the Chinese team's defense, so that goalkeeper Yan Junling did not dare to attack.

Seeing that Griezmann was about to enter the penalty area, Gao Zhunyi had no choice but to put a tackle from the side behind, hoping to complete a fast, accurate and ruthless clearance behind Griezmann before the ball.

But Antoine Griezmann was quick on his feet and took the ball away first.

Griezmann and Mbappe, who fell to the ground, Chinese defenders Zhang Linpeng, Gao Zhunyi and goalkeeper Yan Junling all looked at referee Cunha.

At the same time, there was a noticeable drop in the loud outburst of Chinese fans in the stands, who feared that referee Cunha would blow the whistle for a penalty.

Half a second later, referee Cunha crossed his hands, that is...... There was no foul in Ko Zhunyi's tackle!

Tang Zheng, the captain of the Chinese team who was chasing back, breathed a sigh of relief, although he couldn't see whether Gao Zhunyi had fouled due to his position, but he felt that Gao Zhunyi was suspected of fouling, because Griezmann's speed had fully increased......

Thankfully, referee Cunha didn't blow the whistle.

Antoine Griezmann and Mbappe were a little unhappy with the referee's decision by Cunha, but they did not roar at the referee, but shook their heads.

The on-site director gave a close-up shot of the referee Cunha, and judging from the broadcast picture just now, Gao Zhunyi was very suspicious of fouls.

But the game continued, the Chinese team switched from defense to offense, and the on-site director failed to give a slow-motion replay, so he could only wait until the dead ball appeared, and then analyze whether Gao Zhunyi's back shovel touched Griezmann from multiple angles.

About 20 seconds later, China's attack was disrupted by N'Golo Kante, and referee Cunha blew his whistle to signal a timeout before moving to the sideline technical area.

The live director took advantage of the dead ball opportunity to give a slow-motion replay.

The Chinese fans sitting in front of the TV watched the replay from three angles, and the hanging heart rose to their throats.

Ko Zhunyi's right foot stretched out from the shovel behind his back obviously kicked the position between the calf and heel of Griezmann's left foot, which was dragged behind.

"At this time...... The video referee alerted referee Cunha. The tone of the Yang 5 commentator He Wei became a little apprehensive, and just turned the broadcast screen to give a close-up shot of the fouling Gao Zhunyi, and he looked nervous: "At this time, the Chinese team members are nervous, and the video referee team just reminded the referee after repeatedly watching the slow-motion replay, and Cunha is now watching the slow-motion replay repeatedly in the technical area on the sidelines......"

He Wei's uneasy voice seemed to be transmitted through the signal to the Chinese fans in every Chinese family, who subconsciously covered their mouths with their hands, and their hearts suddenly accelerated.

Although He Wei, who watched the slow-motion replay, was reluctant to admit that Gao Zhunyi kicked Griezmann with a shovel behind his back, as a commentator, he had to respect the facts and frowned: "...... Through the slow-motion replay, the Chinese player Gao Zhunyi did touch Griezmann's left foot behind him......"

Referee Cunha returned to the stadium from the technical area in the spotlight, sounded the whistle for the first time, faced the direction of the Chinese team's penalty area, drew a rectangular penalty area in the void with both hands, and then pointed to the far penalty spot with his right arm diagonally, whistled again, and jogged to the Chinese team's penalty area.

The Kazan Stadium has an LCD screen, and after watching the slow-motion replay, Tang Zheng, the captain of the Chinese team, and other Chinese players have no choice but to accept the result.

Unlike the frustration of Tang Zheng and other teammates, he took the initiative to go to Gao Zhunyi for the foul and appease him.

Before making the mistake, Gao Zhunyi performed very well, and this penalty was not Gao Zhunyi's personal defensive problem, but more of a common mistake of the whole team at this moment, Gao Zhunyi's foul was a gambling defense to help his teammates in front of him make up for it.

"Whoa—"

The French fans in the stands erupted in loud cheers for the team to win the penalty.

In stark contrast, the majority of Chinese fans were silent, with the exception of the players of the 'Dragon Team' fan club, who chanted Yan Junling's name.

Yan Junling became the last expectation of Chinese fans, but unfortunately Griezmann was very calm, and a tricky penalty hole penetrated Yan Junling's handle goal to help the French team break the deadlock with difficulty.

The French players celebrated a rare goal in the Chinese team's penalty area, and the captain of the Chinese team, Tang Zheng, played the role that a captain should play at this time, and his palms continued to beat to cheer up his teammates who did not look good.

The game immediately entered 60 minutes, leaving 30 minutes for the Chinese team.

One goal, time is enough!

The problem is that the players have to be careful about the equaliser, otherwise everything will be in vain.

Hao Junmin's fitness dropped significantly, and head coach Lippi made the first substitution of the game before the game restarted.

Youngster Liu Ruofan, wearing the No. 19 jersey, stood on the sidelines, ready to appear in his first World Cup game.

"Liu Ruofan's ability and potential are stronger than Zhang Xizhe, but Zhang Xizhe has more experience in the game, and at this time, sending a young player with no experience in World Cup competitions, is it a bit too risky to send a young player with no experience in World Cup competitions?"

He Wei looked surprised when he saw the substitution of the Chinese team, and said in surprise: "Bet your youth today?"

Tang Zheng, who was boosting morale, thought that it was Zhang Xizhe who came off the bench, but it turned out to be Liu Ruofan, and his eyes lit up.

In addition to Zhang Xizhe's competition experience, nothing is comparable to Liu Ruofan.

And the most important thing is that Liu Ruofan is a signed player of Tang Zheng's player agency, and he is a demon recommended by his former mentor Xu Gengbao, if he plays well......