Chapter 33: Being watched from behind
"Be careful!"
When Kuroiwa Wuxian went to the penalty area to catch the ball, He Feng issued a warning.
Then he watched Tatsuya Sugiyama rush to score the football into the goal before Liu Yan reacted, and he couldn't help but sigh: "Oops - the Japanese team equalized only three minutes after conceding the goal!" The boys of the Olympic team seem to be overexcited after taking the lead......"
After conceding the goal, the players of the national Olympic team also looked very depressed, and many of them hung their heads.
Among them, Lin Zhiyuan was the most annoyed, he knelt on his knees and slammed the turf in front of the door.
As a talented goalkeeper, this is his first time playing for the national team, and his performance before that can be regarded as very good.
Only one goal was conceded in the previous five games, that is, in the match between the Chinese team and Qatar, and this was because everyone's mentality in that game was a little collapsed by Iranian referee Fahani and made mistakes in defense.
In normal matches, no team has been able to break through the goal he is guarding.
It can be said that he used this U23 Asian Cup to completely establish his main position in the National Olympic team, squeezing the original main goalkeeper Song Kun to the bench. even made the original substitute goalkeeper Xiao Xiao not selected into the squad of the National Olympic team at all......
He had hoped to keep that result until the end of the Under-23 Asian Cup, but he failed in the final.
And the goal that came just three minutes after the team took the lead was nothing short of devastating to the team's morale.
He was very unhappy with his performance, and he felt that he should have solved the Japanese team's attack at the first moment, that is, to save Kuroiwa's shot.
But at that time, his reaction was still a little slower, and in the end he only had time to block the opponent's shot with his body, failed to control the football, and let the football bounce in front of the goal.
Tatsuya Sugiyama of the opponent scored with a follow-up shot.
This made Lin Zhiyuan, who was very demanding of himself, feel ashamed.
If the opponent shoots a world wave and he doesn't save it, forget it. But it was the ball that he had successfully blocked for the first time, but the goal was scored by the opponent, but it seemed that he did not do a good enough save for the first time......
However, Lin Zhiyuan was not heartbroken on the ground for a long time, and after he beat the turf, he stood up, although his face was still a little angry, but he was already able to face the game with a calm mind.
If you want to be a good goalkeeper, you have to have it.
If you're always immersed in the frustration and anger of conceding a goal, how can you be ready for the next shot?
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After Japan's equaliser, the game re-entered the stalemate.
The Chinese team that conceded the goal also realized that they were too inflated and confident before, and really thought that if they scored a goal, they could take advantage of the situation to cover the kill, and the Japanese team that killed them lost their armor......
Reality gave them a resounding slap in the face and woke up the players of the Chinese team.
After the restart, they were much more cautious. No matter how the Japanese team uses the pass to lure them, the Chinese players are just not fooled.
Of course, the Chinese team is so cautious, which naturally affects their attack somewhat.
So the final ended in a stalemate after both teams scored.
Both teams deliberately slowed down the tempo and prioritized a strategy of "no mistakes".
Make sure you don't concede another goal in a short period of time.
The game became dull and it wasn't until the end of the first half that the two sides picked up speed again.
But at this time, there was not much time left for both sides, and they failed to play any threatening attacks, so the two sides ended the first half with a score of 1:1 and went into the break.
In the dressing room, Shi Wuyun encouraged his players: "That conceded goal is not a big problem, you yourself have woken up from conceding the goal and made the right response. Personally, I think it's a good thing to concede a goal if you can learn something...... In the second half, we had to go out and go out, like we did before the end of the first half, don't always worry that they will take advantage of the space behind us, the whole Japanese team has no pace, as long as we can press their formation deep enough, they may not be able to take advantage of the space behind us. At the same time, Luo Kai and Chen Xingyi have to retreat more to get the ball, and if necessary, our formation can be adjusted to 4231......"
Luo Kai and Chen Xingyi, who were named by name, nodded, indicating that they knew.
Meanwhile, in the dressing room of the Japanese team, head coach Koichi Sato was also encouraging his players: "You guys are doing a great job! Although they conceded a goal, they quickly equalized, which hit the morale of the Chinese team hard. Don't you see that their offensive is much weaker next? In the second half, as long as you are more patient than your opponents, I believe that the final victory will be ours...... To continue the way we played in the first half, not to give space to our two flanks in defence, but to find space in attack by passing runs...... Don't worry, the advantage is on our side because if they don't get past us, the support from the home side will all turn into pressure...... At that point, they will naturally panic......"
He added: "Also, you defended very well against Hulai in the first half and basically didn't give him any decent chances. In the second half, you have to continue to play like this, keep an eye on him, and don't give him a chance to run away as a catch! ”
Yoichi Yamapu nodded vigorously: "Understand, coach, I promise not to let him have a chance to shoot in the second half!" ”
In the first half, his defense against Hulai was generally successful, on the one hand, thanks to the successful defense of the Japanese team on the two flanks of the Chinese team, so that the Chinese team could not pass the football to the goal. On the other hand, of course, he pressed Hulai closely, preventing him from being able to get the ball easily.
Throughout the first half, Hulai had two shots on goal, one out of range and one in the frame, but was saved by Japan's goalkeeper Hiroki Ueshima.
Overall, Hulai's first half performance was indeed relatively lackluster, especially under the backdrop of Luo Kai's one-stop goal.
However, no one can say that Hulai is not performing well and dares to relax his defense. Didn't I see that at halftime, Japan's head coach Koichi Sato was still telling his players to continue to defend like that against Hulai in the second half?
If it were another coach, there might really be a hint of slackness, but for Koichi Sato, he will certainly not be tripped over the same stone twice - in last year's East Asian Cup, Hulai also had a mediocre performance in the first half, not even a shot on goal, and disappeared. As a result, in the second half, Junhei Morikawa came to a half-volley, and with that shot, he kicked out the East Asian Cup champion of the Japanese Olympic team.
So on the issue of dealing with Hulai, whether it is Koichi Sato himself or the players of the Japanese team, there is a bloody lesson.
They also deeply understand a truth:
No matter how bad Hulai's performance was before that, as long as the final whistle did not blow, he must not let up his defense against Hulai.
Otherwise, there is a risk of regret.
In the Chinese team's dressing room, Shi Wuyun did not make any adjustments to Hulai's situation in the first half, which in his opinion is a normal situation.
Just because Hule has scored nine goals in this Under-23 Asian Cup doesn't mean he's the kind of player who fires all over the game and always appears in close-ups on the air. With the exception of those nine minutes against Qatar, he hid himself most of the time.
It's like an assassin hiding in the grass and jumping out of the crowd to slap someone on the back of the head with a brick when the time comes.
But if the timing is not good, then he can really squat in the grass and remain motionless, waiting patiently.
Based on his knowledge of the characteristics of Hulai's kicking, Shi Wuyun did not tell Hulai what to do in the second half.
That would be redundant and his style of play would be limited.
Hulai himself must have been well aware of this, so he didn't look impatient at half-time because of his mediocre first half. On the contrary, he sat in his place gracefully, and a pair of small eyes glared around the locker room, making people think that he must be brewing bad water in his stomach again......
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In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again, and no one made any substitutions, so they maintained the lineup and tactics of the first half and continued to fight.
Japan are a bit stronger overall, but they lack speed, especially on the two flanks.
The Chinese team's side and even their advantage lies in speed, especially in the ability to attack on the side, plus Guo Junfu in the middle was limited by Morikawa Junping, so when attacking, they made a fuss on the side, in addition to Chen Xingyi and Luo Kai withdrew to break through, the two fullbacks Bai Di and Sun Gang also frequently stepped forward, and Chen Xingyi and Luo Kai cooperated.
Hulay stayed up front and received passes from both sides.
In response to the Chinese team's attack, the Japanese team contracted in the middle and put the Chinese team's cross on the side, but strictly guarded Chen Xingyi and Luo Kai and broke through inside. Anyway, when they pass to the middle, they also pass the football to Hulai, and the Japanese team only needs to resist Hulai.
In the first half, the Japanese team did just that, except for one mistake in defending Luo Kai, the rest of the time was executed very well, and the Chinese team did not get too many chances.
After a stalemate of ten minutes, in the fifty-fifth minute, Chen Xingyi used his speed on the side to break through the Japanese fullback Yoshihara Masao who was defending him.
Of course, it is useless for him to break through, because the Japanese players have long been waiting in their own penalty area, and even if he breaks through Yoshihara Masao, it cannot be said that he can directly pose any threat to the Japanese team's goal.
At the same time, Yoshihara Masao, who was passed, is chasing back, and soon Chen Xingyi will even lose the space in the cross.
So he no longer hesitated, and even though there were no good chances in front of goal, he still decisively passed the football in.
Hulai wanted to fight for the top in the middle, but the ball was pushed out by Japanese central defender Yoichi Yamaura, who was attached to him.
In the purely physical link, Hu Lai still can't win against the 1.86-meter-tall Shanpu Yangyi.
But he didn't mean that he couldn't exert any influence at all.
Under his interference, Shan Puyang didn't care about the angle and route of the siege, he chose the safest way - directly pushed the football out of the bottom line.
I'd rather give the Chinese team a corner kick than risk other attempts.
After the siege was cleared, Yamapu Yoichi also glanced back at Hu Lai, and saw that the latter did not have any expression of chagrin and frustration, and looked back at him, and smiled at him.
Seeing Hu Lai's smile, Shan Puyang became more vigilant in his heart, and there was no trace of joy and ease in successfully defending.
This feeling actually made him very uncomfortable, and the sense of accomplishment in defense was not at all undevoid, and he always felt like someone was staring at the back of his head, and his heart was always tight.
Reflexively, he raised his hand and touched the back of his head.
It's okay there.
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PS, tomorrow is the last day of October, tomorrow three watches, ask for a monthly pass!