Late at night, the final round of Group B of the World Cup kicked off.

Even though it was early in the morning, the fans still risked being scolded by their boss for dozing off the next day, sitting in front of the TV, and their mood fluctuated with the tension of the game.

This is the first time that the Chinese team has reached the World Cup finals, and the opponent Cameroon has counted this time for the fourth time.

In the history of the World Cup, the mention of one of the most successful teams in Africa reminds one of that summer eight years ago.

Before the 1990 World Cup, Mira was not named among the 22 Cameroonian players scheduled to compete in the final stage, perhaps due to an oversight on the part of Soviet coach Nipomniachtchi.

He probably thinks that Mira is 38 years old and is past the age to play in the World Cup. But Cameroonian fans ignored this, and they reported the situation to President Biya through the club. At the time, Cameroon were not performing well in the African Championship and fans were hoping that Mila would be able to come out and give the team a little more confidence. President Biya made a request to the manager, and as a result, Mila accompanied the team to the Apennines World Cup, charging for the honor of the country.

Due to his age, the coach arranged for him to play half-time every time, that is, to replace Mila in the second half.

In the opening game, Cameroon defeated Argentina, the last World Cup champion led by Maradona.

In the second game against Romania, Mira, who came on as a second-half substitute, scored twice, which was his first and second goals in the World Cup. Meanwhile, the 38-year-old Mira is whipping up a black whirlwind in Italy.

In the rematch, Cameroon played against Colombia, which has stars such as the golden lion king Valderrama and the devil's terminator Asprilla. Milan came on as a substitute in the eighth minute of the second half, but they never found a chance to score because their opponents kept defending him. But when it came to overtime, Mira seemed to be a different person. Not only did he score a goal on 105 minutes, but he also cut off the ball at the opponent's feet after Ikita ran out of the penalty area to push the empty goal.

In the quarterfinals, Mira's fame grew, and people's expectations for him grew. England scored first in the first half, but in the second half, Mira came on and immediately set up a penalty in the box to equalise the score. Not long after, while involving the England defender, Milla sent a key assist to help his teammates score and achieve a rebound. However, due to the carelessness of the Cameroonian defenders, England finally won 3-2 against Cameroon after two missed balls.

Played 149 minutes and scored 4 goals, an average of one goal every 37 minutes. Mira became a national hero of Cameroon, and Cameroonian President Biya specially awarded Mila the title of "Commander of the Brave Knights".

In the last World Cup in the United States, Mira played again, scoring 1 goal against Russia, which made him the oldest goalscorer in the World Cup finals. However, Cameroon did not have a good record and were eliminated from the group stage.

"Uncle Mira" has also forever written his name in the history of the World Cup.

But it would be a mistake to imagine Cameroon as a team that can only rely on "old people" to score goals and win games, as the first World Cup quarter-final team in Africa, Cameroon's overall strength is not at all comparable to today's Chinese team.

Soon after the opening, the Chinese team almost paid the price for the "light enemy".

After an ordinary attack was blocked, the players didn't know whether it was because they didn't react or felt that it had nothing to do with them, so they didn't turn around and chase back at the first time.

As a result, Cameroon made three passes and two downs, and directly stuffed the ball directly into the feet of striker Mboma.

The Cameroonian star, who plays in Japan's J-League, became Japan's top scorer in the J-League just last year and also set the record for the fastest goal in the J-League (26 seconds).

When he and a teammate posed a threat to the Chinese team's goal, the only people in front of him were General Fan and Wei Skirt!

Such a striker is not a problem to play 1 to 2, let alone 2 to 2.

At such a critical juncture, Ou Chulian steadied his horse and slowly retreated, staring at the ball at Mboma's feet without blinking.

He knows that it is superfluous to shout anything at this time, and what he fights for is the personal ability between the team members and the team members.

After losing the fight, another teammate came up to make up for it. Even if you miss an off-ball striker and face the goalkeeper, that's the last resort.

In other words, the ball has been kicked to this point, and it has reached the link of abandoning the car to protect the coach. As for whether it can be kept or not, it depends on whether the other chess pieces are in a key position!

General Fan was also annoyed at this time, and turned sideways and retreated.

You can't be broken through by the opponent, you can't be crossed by the opponent, you can't give the opponent space to shoot...

Although he is the captain of the Chinese team, at this moment General Fan finally understands the gap between Chinese players and players from other countries in the world.

Who can break into the World Cup finals, how can there be a fish belly?

After retreating a few steps, General Fan and Mboma had already entered the penalty area. The Cameroonian striker also began to straddle the ball with one foot, as if looking for the moment when General Fan's center of gravity was dodged.

Another striker, Bjerk, had already provided an assist, and Wei Skirt was between him and Mboma's passing route, not daring to leave easily.

Sampdoria's Bijek is also Cameroon's last remaining veteran at the last World Cup, and his stature is as tall as Mboma, putting unparalleled pressure on the Wei skirt, who is making her World Cup debut for the first time.

"Left, right, left, right..."

General Fan muttered about Mboma's cadence, not missing a gap to the other party. With the rest of the Chinese players coming back to defend, Mboma didn't dare to waste too much time. With a flicker of the right foot, the ball is headed towards the baseline.

Golden opportunity!

General Fan's eyes flashed, and he immediately rushed forward, intending to lean on Mboma and knock him outward.

Mboma started quickly, but General Fan was not too late to find out. Even pulling the strap off, General Fan really used his right shoulder against the back shoulder of Mboma, and with the help of the weight and inertia of his body, he pushed the opponent outward.

Although Mboma is tall and tall, he had to slow down when he encountered such a kraft candy defense of General Fan.

Seeing that the ball was about to roll out of the bottom line, Mboma struggled to shake off General Fan and wanted to make a last fight before the bottom line.

At this moment, a purple figure suddenly appeared, and as soon as Mboma's right leg was barely raised, Ou Chuliang had already rushed to the ground, falling to the ground and hugging the ball tightly.

Out of protection and professionalism for the goalkeeper, Mboma's swinging leg was quickly recovered, but he still tripped over Ou Chuliang and fell to the ground with General Fan.

The referee's whistle did not sound, because Mboma had already rolled away from Ou Chuliang automatically, sat on the ground, spread his hands and said something loudly in his native Chinese.

Bijrk, who ran to the penalty spot, also showed regret, seeing that his teammates were fine, in order to guard against Ou Chuliang's quick counterattack, he did not step forward to pull his teammate's hand.

"Whew! What a danger! Huang Jianxiang wiped the sweat from his forehead and exclaimed.

Fortunately, General Fan was not shaken away, and Ou Chuliang also abandoned the door as soon as possible. Otherwise, if this ball is passed by Mboma, it will be a proper goal! ”

"Liangzai, are you alright?" General Fan got up, looked at Ou Chuliang, who was huddled in front of him, and hurriedly stepped forward to check the situation.

Ou Chuliang's body was arched like a large prawn, and he was holding the ball tightly in his arms. Face outside the field, back to the field, neck almost buried in the chest.

As the most dangerous profession on the field, Ou Chuliang can not do much to protect after making a save. It's more about the professionalism of the opponent's striker, if you encounter a second stunned, even if Ou Chuliang's head and neck are fine, the back will be kicked hard by the opponent.

"Captain, I'm fine." Ou Chu Liang saw that he was completely safe, so he stood up with the ball.

"Let me tell you, oh, how the hell do you guys defend yourself? That ball is so easy for people to kick and pass the ball out? ”

Looking at the teammates who had returned to the defense in front of him, General Fan also moved his real fire.

"What do you want? What do you eat? ”

"If you don't defend aggressively, you just watch the ball roll under your nose."

"If it weren't for Liangzi sacrificing his life to save the ball, we would have to kick off again in the middle circle at this time, do you know?"

In the face of the captain's rebuke, the team members all lowered their heads and listened.

It's good to have more young players, don't play big names in the team, and don't form gangs. Listen to what the "seniors" shout. This kind of unity is not internal strife of the team, even if the individual strength is poor, the overall strength will be strong.

Mboma and Bjerk have also slowly retreated at this time, after all, it is only the beginning, and there are still a lot of offensive opportunities and time. If the ball was just a few minutes before the end, even if Mboma faked the fall, he would not have let Ou Chuliang get the ball so easily.

At the beginning of the game, they almost broke through the gate, and under the order of General Fan, the players looked at the sidelines. It wasn't until they heard Qi Miaosheng shouting on the sidelines the words "defend first, defend first" that the players returned to the defense area and pulled out a line of defense with their teammates.

It has been more than ten minutes since the opening, and Cameroon has threatened the attack four times including the one just now. It's just that the first few shots were formed, and they were either interfered with by the defenders or saved by Ou Chuliang. The most dangerous of all, it just didn't form a shot.

But the danger in front of the goal is so dangerous that people don't look like the solid Chinese team in the first two games.

Cameroon and Austria drew 1-1 in their opening match, so it stands to reason that there is not much difference in quality between the two teams. However, the Chinese team can beat Austria first and use defenders to adjust the formation, which is enough to see that the Chinese team still has a certain strength.

But why did they let the family almost score after the opening game today?

The fans vaguely felt that something was wrong in their hearts, and those world famous coaches saw it at a glance: the Chinese team wants to score today!

That's right, at the request of the "majority of fans" and "leaders", Ladd not only sent Wei Qun, Shen Si, and Yao Xia to replace Zhang Jihua, Qi Hong, and Peng Weiguo, but even Zhang Yuqi and Su Maozhen were replaced by Qu Shengqing and Cai Sheng.

This time there was a big change, replacing half of the original starting players of the Chinese team.

The 1.94-meter high school striker Cai Sheng "stands out from the crowd", known as the "Asia's No. 1 high school striker", he basically hangs in the front court and the Cameroonian penalty area, and does not participate in defense. Compared with other forwards, Qu Shengqing is better at dribbling and breaking, and his speed is not slow, and he is often seen with the ball to seek breakthroughs when the Chinese team attacks.

Such a combination of "one tall and one piece" appeared in France, not for the sake of scoring goals?

Judging from the form of Group B points, all four teams are likely to qualify.

Therefore, the Chinese team's game is not only to win the game, but even to "go all out to win"!

At the very least, we have to score a goal.

Why?

The best place to qualify from Group B is Italy, who have four points from one win and one draw, but they are not safe.

If they lose to Austria and China win, then only the Blues led by the elder Maldini will be eliminated. Even if the Chinese team does not win, Cameroon can also eliminate the Chinese team by virtue of goal difference.

So for Italy, just lose, it's all over! The tactical idea of maintaining peace and winning is more correct when applied to them.

Needless to say, if you win, you will definitely qualify; What about flat? The situation will change again.

If Italy and Austria draw 0-0, there is a situation where they join hands with Austria to qualify.

In this case, the Chinese team and Cameroon draw 0-0, or the Chinese team loses to Cameroon.

To sum up, if the Chinese team wants not to be eliminated by the opponent in this way, it must score!

Even if you can't play 2-2, it's good to play 1-1!

In this way, even if Italy and Austria draw 0-0, the Chinese team is equal to Austria in points, goal difference, goals scored and win-loss relationship, so that the headache is FIFA.

In the end, this is also a fundamental reason why Rad agreed to change the formation - the Chinese team has one less goal than Austria!

Therefore, in the last group game, if the Chinese team wants to take the right to qualify in their own hands, they cannot "accept a draw with 0 goals" like the previous two games. It's about fighting out, at least scoring a goal and coming back and then solidifying the defense.

It is precisely because of this that the Chinese team started to attack Cameroon from the beginning, and the central midfielder, who originally had a great defensive task, was dragged down by the attack, and finally fell behind in defense, which indirectly led to the dangerous situation in front of the Chinese team.

After more than ten minutes of trial between the two sides, the Chinese team, under the command of Qi Miaosheng, began to slowly retreat.

If you don't retreat, you can't do it!

Cameroon's offensive capabilities are too strong!

At least for the Chinese team, it's too strong.

In the face of Africa's "black and hard", Qu Shengqing's characteristics are actually difficult to bring into play.

He's fast, but so is the Cameroonian defender; He is good at dribbling, but the Cameroonian defender can wrap up; He is physically strong, but he really can't squeeze the other party.

Except for Cai Sheng, who formed a high-altitude threat to the Cameroonian players in the penalty area, Qu Shengqing was completely restricted.

"Cousin, do you think Mr. Ladd will be replaced?" Gu Mingchang leaned over to Qi Weisheng's side, looked at Qu Shengqing, who was running uselessly in the front court, and asked quietly.

Qi Miaosheng couldn't see the problem on the Chinese team's front line, but after he glanced at Gu Mingchang, he still calmly replied: "Lao Gu, the problem is not the players on the field, but who do we replace?" ”

Qi Zhuosheng looked back at the bench, Zhang Yuxuan and Su Maozhen were not injured, and they did not have cards, and they played well in the first two games, but they were "sealed" by the fans.

Even if Ladd forcibly breaks the "seal", what if they are replaced?

The two are not as good as Qu Shengqing in terms of dribbling and flexibility, and there is a high school forward Cai Sheng in terms of heading, so it is simply redundant to replace the two of them on the field.

And Li Bing is already old, and when Qi Hong and Zhang Jihua can't play, Ladd still has to keep him to play fullback.

Yu Heewei has a strong assault ability, but his physical fitness is not as good as Qu Shengqing, and he must wait until the opponent is tired of running before he can replace him on the field and use his speed to impact the opponent's defense.

In general, the Chinese team is unreplaceable!

"If only Xie Hui were here." Gu Ming Chang came to remember the afterthought.

"Xie Hui? Is Xie Hui here to do it? Qi Shusheng snorted lightly, "Lao Gu, to be honest, even if he Xie Hui is here, it is not easy to make it, and he will not be able to open the situation." ”

"The overall strength of Cameroon is stronger than ours, and there is a lot of experience in participating in the World Cup, so it is normal for us to be suppressed as a whole."

"Actually, it's the same with Austria, but in the last game we were still focused on defending and relying on defensive counterattacks to 'scare' the opponent to make defensive adjustments."

"But this game is different, if we want to hold the right to qualify in our own hands and not look at other people's faces, we have to attack aggressively."

"In this way, the defensive problems are definitely exposed. Don't forget, in the first two games, we relied on the defenders to participate in the defense to limit the two opponents! ”

After hearing Qi Miaosheng's words, Gu Mingchang didn't squeak.

He suddenly felt that although the Chinese team had wiped out more than a dozen people before the expedition, and it seemed that many "young talents" and "elite soldiers" had been screened out, but in fact, they were all a group of "paper tigers" and "fake tricks" when they got the World Cup.

Asia is a second-rate continent after all, even if it wins the Asian Cup, there is still a big gap between the Chinese team and other strong teams in the world!

"The road to football has a long way to go!" Gu Ming let out a long sigh, shook his head, and sat down in front of his chair.

The offense always creates opportunities for the opponent to counterattack, and under Ladd's order, the Chinese team had to play the first defense.

Ladd and Qi Weisheng were on the sidelines with their hands behind their backs, observing the performance of the players on the field.

The offense is temporarily weak, so what about the defense?

If the new 'formation' can defensively match 80% of the previous two games, there is still some hope. The Chinese team can use this lineup as the core to defend first, and then find an opportunity to counterattack in an all-round way. If this formation can't be defended, then Rad will have to consider whether to adjust the defensive position first and then consider the attack.

Anyway, in Ladd's heart, the Chinese team must not be allowed to concede the first goal!

In the 34th minute, Cai Sheng's header on the human wall rubbed and blocked Cameroon's free kick directly to the goal.

On 36 minutes, Occhulian flew up at the front post and grabbed Cameroon's cross with both hands.

In the 41st minute, Shen Si fouled in the midfield and the opponent's scramble and received the sixth yellow card of the Chinese team in this World Cup. But he himself knows that if this ball is not fouled, it really can't prevent the black and hard in front of him.

After a few more minutes, the first half was over. Both sides played very sullenly, and the score was still 0-0.

Seeing that the Chinese team was still holding on, some fans did not know what to do, and shouted the words "goal" and "attack" in the stands. Some people fan the flames, and some people go with the flow. The word "offense" was shouted loudly throughout the audience, even the CCTV broadcast room could hear it.

"It seems that the Chinese team can't attack if it doesn't attack!" Liu Jianhong shook his head and said, "If you continue to defend like this, the fans will stop doing it!" ”

"Hehe, that's true." Zhang Lu nodded, "The biggest feature of the Chinese team in this World Cup is defensive counterattack, but now simple counterattack is no longer enough to make the team qualify, so we might as well fight." Fought to qualify for the group stage, and if he couldn't fight, he didn't leave with a nest. ”