Chapter 55: Advance to the Final Four
Cheng Hai and his teammates celebrated for almost half a minute before returning to his own half to wait for Uzbekistan to open the circle.
After the game restarted, Uzbekistan, which was stunned by Cheng Hai's lightning goal, was unable to enter the game for a long time, and could only shrink the defensive line in fear and use intensive defense to stop the attack of the Chinese team.
After being pressed by the South Korean team in the last game, the Chinese team can finally use the advantage of strength and morale to bombard the opponent indiscriminately.
However, although the whole Uzbek team was pressed into the 30-meter area of their goal, it also helped Uzbekistan strengthen its defense in disguise.
All of them shrank in the 30-meter area of the goal for intensive defense, so that the Chinese team, which is not very technical, can not break through this turtle shell.
The problem of breaking the dense defense, even if it is a problem all over the world, let alone the Chinese national team.
Although Cheng Hai's speed comes up, sometimes he can break through one or two people in a row to enter the penalty area.
But there are too many people in the opponent's penalty area, and they can't break through at all, they will always be stopped by someone, and they can't find the space to shoot.
And running out of space without the ball to receive passes from teammates is even more unreliable.
Under the dense defense of the opponent, the penalty area was overcrowded, although Cheng Hai's full value of running without the ball and grabbing points could still run out of short gaps, but his teammates did not have that keen insight and wonderful passing ability.
Some opportunities are fleeting, and can only be passed at a certain speed and route, fast or slow, or the ball is slightly off, and the ball will be cut off by the opponent.
Obviously, no one in the Huaguo team has yet reached this kind of passing technique, not even the main forward Wu Xi.
Only top midfielders such as Ronaldinho, Xavi and Iniesta can see such fleeting gaps and achieve this passing technique.
After attacking for more than ten minutes, it still had no effect, and the head coach Sun Wei gestured on the sidelines to let everyone slow down the offensive, and the formation was closed behind.
The purpose is to pull out the Uzbek formation, lure the snake out of the hole, and then hit the opponent's counterattack.
You must know that Cheng Hai's speed is up now, whether it is a quick counterattack or a long-distance attack, Cheng Hai can do it.
The manager's adjustment calmed everyone down from the excitement and bombardment, and the formation was closed in their own half.
Uzbekistan has only then gained some respite and has begun to counterattack.
It's not that they don't want to continue to defend with the bus, the key is that Cheng Hai's lightning goal in the opening 8 seconds made them fall into extreme passivity.
Even if they continue to defend and don't let Huaguo score a goal, by the end of the game, they will still lose the game because they are one goal behind.
Therefore, even if they knew that the contraction of the Huaguo team's formation was to lure the snake out of the hole and to fight their counterattack, they had to counterattack and think of scoring goals and equalizing the score.
Otherwise, they will lose this quarter-final.
However, when attacking, they still pay a lot of attention to the protection of the backline. After all, they were only one goal behind and still had a chance to equalise.
If they don't pay attention to Cheng Hai's marking and let Cheng Hai score another goal, it will be difficult for them.
Uzbekistan's cautious attack made Cheng Hai unable to find too many opportunities, and several attempts to counterattack ended in vain.
Until the 42nd minute when the first half was about to end.
On the football field, it is impossible for any defense to really be leaky, not to mention that Uzbekistan is still facing Cheng Hai, a full or close to full value of many skills such as running without the ball and grabbing points, and his speed has also changed qualitatively.
In addition, the long-term ineffectiveness of the attack also made the Uzbek players a little impetuous, and the formation was unconsciously a little too pressed.
As a result, Cheng Hai finally seized an excellent counterattack opportunity in the 42nd minute.
Although Cheng Hai did not have a chance to counter offside this time, he ran out of a huge gap, so that Wu Xi could have an ideal place to play the ball after receiving the opponent's ball cut off by the defender.
Wu Xi's pass this time did not make any mistakes, and it was passed smoothly in front of Cheng Hai.
Because of the opponent's negligence and Cheng Hai's full value of running without the ball, when Cheng Hai received Wu Xi's pass near the left midline, there was only one of the opponent's fullbacks Azamov in front of him.
Although the two central defenders in the middle, Hormuradov and Ilmatov, were a little further back, they were a little far away, and they couldn't meet with fullback Azamov for a while, and they grabbed Cheng Hai.
Cheng Hai naturally will not waste this rare opportunity.
After receiving Wu Xi's pass, Cheng Hai immediately took the ball forward and rushed straight towards Azamov.
Azamov was stunned, but he had no choice but to retreat while stuck in the position, hoping to drag Cheng Hai for a while and buy time for the two central defenders in the middle to come over and help defend.
But Cheng Hai didn't give him that time.
Cheng Hai firmly controlled the ball at his feet with full dribbling skills, and then approached Azamov as fast as possible while ensuring that the ball did not leave the control range.
Azamov was regressing while being stuck in position, and his speed was naturally not as fast as Cheng Hai facing the direction of attack, and he was leaned up by Cheng Hai almost in a few steps.
As soon as the two sides approached, Cheng Hai made a feint to break through to the middle, and Azamov knew that Cheng Hai would be a Matheus feint at the moment, so his body moved a little to the middle of the road, leaving room to turn back to the side to defend.
Sure enough, after he moved, Cheng Hai immediately leaned towards the side and made a sign that he was going to break through to the side.
This is the basic routine of Matthews's feints, and Azamov was mentally prepared after watching Cheng Hai's video a few times.
Therefore, Azamov had no scruples at this time, and immediately turned around and rushed to the side, stretching out his foot to prepare to break Cheng Hai's ball.
Even if you can't break the ball, you have to leave Cheng Hai behind, and you won't hesitate to foul. Anyway, it's just over halftime here, and it's still far from the danger zone, so even if he fouls, he probably won't be carded.
However, what Azamov didn't expect was that he completely pounced on the side, but Cheng Hai once again dialed the ball to the middle.
With Azamov's body center of gravity completely out of the way, he couldn't pounce back in time.
Cheng Hai took the ball and instantly broke through from the other side of his body.
Azamov, whose center of gravity is in the wrong direction, is no longer able to stop Cheng Hai.
Moreover, in a hurry to stop Azamov, he reluctantly turned back, lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground, and even lost the opportunity to make up for it.
Cheng Hai took the ball and walked away.
Although when Wu Xi passed the ball to Cheng Hai and Cheng Hai broke through Azamov, the two central defenders in the middle, Khormuradov and Ilmatov, had already retreated and leaned diagonally to the side, wanting to block Cheng Hai's possible breakthrough route.
It's a pity that Cheng Hai's speed of breaking through Azamov was too fast, and even Khormuradov, who was the fastest in supplemental defense, failed to completely block Cheng Hai's forward route.
The two met in parallel on the left flank of the frontcourt, and Hormuradov made a ferocious charge, accompanied by a pushing movement in his hand, trying to push Cheng Hai away and knock him down.
There is no penalty area here, even if it is fouled, it will not be penalized, and there are no free kick masters in the Huaguo team anyway.
Khormuradov's idea was correct, but he met the only person in this world who was "physique" of full value.
If Hormuradov is one of those tank guards who are tall enough and heavy enough, it is easy to say that even if Cheng Hai is full of physique, he may really be knocked down.
But the problem is that Khormuradov is only 182cm tall and weighs only 78kg, which has no obvious advantage over Cheng Hai's height of 178cm and weight of 71kg.
Coupled with Cheng Hai's full-value physique, in terms of physical confrontation, Cheng Hai is more dominant.
As a result, the scene everyone saw was that under Hormuradov's premeditated pushing and collision, Cheng Hai only shook his body slightly, not only did not fall, but opened his arms and pushed Hormuradov backwards.
It was Khormuradov's stumbling that made Cheng Hai instantly widen the distance from him and complete the real transcendence.
Cheng Hai really formed a single knife.
Although Ilmatov, another quick defender in the middle, was on the same line as Cheng Hai, as long as he tried to block Cheng Hai diagonally, he would inevitably be left behind by Cheng Hai because of the lengthening of the running distance.
There is no suspense about what follows.
Cheng Hai cut in from the side and entered the penalty area from the corner of the big penalty area, and Ilmatov, who was quickly returning to the defense in the middle, did not dare to foul at this time. Because once a foul is committed, it's a penalty.
He could only pull Cheng Hai with his hands slightly, trying to influence Cheng Hai, but he didn't dare to push too hard, for fear that Cheng Hai would fall in the penalty area, and the referee awarded him a foul and a penalty.
You must know that the Chinese team is the host, this is the home of the Chinese team, and it is normal for the referee to be a little tilted.
But this level of defense, although it can't be said that it has no impact on Cheng Hai, who is full of physique, the impact is too small.
To stop Cheng Hai from continuing to advance or shooting, Ilmatov could only put a tackle from the side.
But the risk of such a foul was too great, and Ilmatov was a little entangled.
However, Ilmatov did not dwell on it for long. Because Cheng Hai didn't take two steps after entering the penalty area, he got up and shot.
Goalkeeper Zhuraev held the near corner, but Cheng Hai volleyed a far corner with the outside of his instep, and the angle was very accurate.
The ball raced past the outside of Zhulaev's body, then slammed into the inside of the post and bounced into the net.
In the 42nd minute, Cheng Hai received the ball from the midfield in a counterattack and ran long distance into the penalty area to score, scoring a brace and helping the Huaguo team take a 2-0 lead.
This goal made the Chinese players and fans celebrate excitedly.
Many applauded and commented:
"Wow, Cheng Hai's long-distance attack is really fast!"
"It feels like he's running a lot faster than he did in the previous races!"
"I don't know what's going on, it's awesome anyway!"
"The better Cheng Hai is, the better, it's best to score ten in one game!"
"Haha, that's impossible! I can't find a few goals per game with more than one goal, Cheng Hai is already a super bull fork! ”
"Yes! Cheng Hai's speed has become so fast today, I estimate that the two goals can't be stopped, and Cheng Hai estimates that he will have to score in the second half! ”
"Not bad! I think it's okay, another hat-trick! ”
"It's basically a win, it's no problem to enter the semi-finals!"
"It's exciting to get to the semi-finals and only have two games left to win the championship!"
"It's sad to think about it, such a big country, whether it is the Asian Games or the Asian Cup, the men's football team has never won the championship, it's a shame! Let's hope there will be a breakthrough this time! ”
"If Cheng Hai's leadership can't win the championship, I won't watch the national football team anymore!"
In the celebration of Chinese players and fans, the Uzbek team became very weighed.
Their strength is not as good as the Chinese team, and now they are still two goals behind, and they must attack.
But on the forward line of the Chinese team, Cheng Hai, who is the top striker in the European arena, is standing on the front line, and the speed has suddenly become so fast.
They can all guess the next plot: they had to attack under the pressure of falling behind by two goals, and then they may not have scored a goal, and they were beaten by Cheng Hai with a counterattack like this just now.
But even if they knew it, they couldn't do anything because they were two goals behind and had to attack. There is still a little chance to attack, and if you don't attack, you will definitely lose, and there is no suspense.
Therefore, after Cheng Hai and others celebrated, after the game restarted, Uzbekistan had to press the whole team and strengthen the attack, leaving only two central defenders in the back to prevent Cheng Hai's counterattack.
Such a situation led to a counterattack by Cheng Hai in the 45th minute, but fortunately, central defender Ilmatov decisively put a tackle and stopped Cheng Hai's breakthrough with a yellow card.
Otherwise, Cheng Hai may have another long-distance run to score.
However, the rest of the first half was a bit short for both sides, and the 2-0 scoreline did not change before the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half.
After a 15-minute break, the two sides changed sides and fought again.
At the beginning of the second half, both sides took advantage of the fact that some of the opponent's players were not in the game at the beginning of the game.
As a result, the Huaguo team is still a step ahead.
In particular, Cheng Hai continued to use the system to enter a deep sleep for ten minutes at halftime, and the energy was good in the first few minutes of the second half.
As a result, just 3 minutes into the second half, in the 48th minute, the Chinese team took advantage of Uzbekistan's big pressure to break the ball and played a counterattack.
And this time, Cheng Hai also used his offside running skills without the ball to succeed, and received a long pass from Park Cheng behind the two Uzbek central defenders, and directly formed a single knife.
Although Hormuradov and Ilmatov were in hot pursuit, they were never able to catch up after being thrown away by Cheng Hai at the initial stage.
Cheng Hai's dribbling attribute of 19 points did not reduce his speed much during the running with the ball.
At the front of the penalty area, when the two central defenders were about to catch up with Cheng Hai, Cheng Hai faced the attacking goalkeeper Zhulayev and shot directly at the goal.
Cheng Hai is naturally a hanging shot.
The ball rose off the ground, crossed the palm of Zhuraev's hand, crossed a parabola, and flew into the Uzbekistan goal without any suspense.
3-0!
Just 3 minutes into the second half, Cheng Hai scored another goal, completed his hat trick, and also helped the Chinese team take a three-goal lead.
This goal is almost the seal of victory.
However, despite knowing that it was bound to lose, Uzbekistan still held on to a little hope, replaced a midfielder, replaced a striker, and made a desperate attempt to attack all fronts.
They still have a little bit of hope.
This kind of all-round attack really allowed them to score.
In the 57th minute, the Chinese team's defense outside the penalty area made a mistake in clearing, and defender Zheng Zheng kicked the ball when he cleared, did not kick far, and it happened to fall to the feet of Uzbekistan's No. 14 midfielder Pilimov on the left side of the big penalty area.
Lu Peng, who was nearby, rushed over to grab the ball.
But Pilimov didn't stop the ball, but directly picked up his big leg and volleyed.
This volley is of quite high quality, both in terms of speed, power, and angle, it is superb.
Although Wang Dalei reacted to the save at the first time, the angle of Pilimov's ball was too awkward and the speed was too fast, and Wang Dalei failed to catch up after all.
The ball flew diagonally above Wang Dalei's palm into the dead corner of the Huaguo team's goal.
Uzbekistan finally scored a goal and pulled a point back and are now only two goals behind.
Pilimov's goal boosted the morale of the Uzbek players and fans, and they pressed more fiercely, wanting to make persistent efforts and score two more goals to equalize the score and drag the game into extra time.
At that time, without Cheng Hai, Uzbekistan may not have the possibility of winning.
However, at this moment, Cheng Hai scored again.
Although Cheng Hai's speed became faster, although the threat became greater, the consumption of physical energy was also greater.
Therefore, after scoring the third goal in the 48th minute of the second half and completing the hat-trick, Cheng Hai did not run much, and he kept walking without a great opportunity to slow down the physical consumption and intimidate the opponent's back line.
After Uzbekistan scored to pull back a point, it may have been the need to continue scoring, or the fact that Cheng Hai was a little paralyzed by the fact that he spent most of his time walking after scoring in the second half, causing central defender Ilmatov to lose some of his position in the 64th minute and relax his marking of Cheng Hai.
Coincidentally, the Uzbek frontcourt attack was cut off by the Chinese team at this time.
After Lu Peng, who broke the ball, took a step forward with the ball, he directly kicked the ball to the front court with a big kick.
In the case of Ilmatov's disposition, Khormuradov alone could not stop Cheng Hai, who ran without the ball at full value and accelerated to 18 points.
Almost in the blink of an eye, Cheng Hai rushed past Hormuradov, and his outstretched hand didn't hold Cheng Hai, and Cheng Hai easily broke free.
Cheng Hai successfully countered offside again, rushed to the front of the penalty area and unloaded the ball to the right front before the attacking goalkeeper Zhulaev, and even stopped to pass Zhulayev who rushed out of the penalty area.
Then, Cheng Hai grabbed ahead of Ilmatov, who was returning to the defense, chased the ball just now in the corner of the small penalty area, and sent the ball into the door of Uzbekistan with a light push.
In the 64th minute, Cheng Hai staged a big four, helping the Huaguo team to lead by three goals again 4-1, completely killing the game.
With less than 30 minutes remaining, an equalizer is out of the question for Uzbekistan.
Even if Cheng Hai ran out of energy after completing this shot and had to be replaced, Uzbekistan was still powerless in the face of the unanimous and intensive defense of the Huaguo team.
After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, and the Chinese team defeated Uzbekistan 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the men's football team at the 2010 Yangcheng Asian Games to advance to the semi-finals.
The Huaguo team is getting closer and closer to the finals!