June 28, Gogenwald Stadium, Utrecht.

World Youth Championship semifinals, China vs. Brazil.

This is a world-renowned battle, with the dark horses of the World Youth Championship against the old powerhouses.

In the 23rd minute of the game, Brazil got a set-piece opportunity in front, and the midfielder who was 1.86 meters tall scored the Chinese team with a header.

The sudden goal made the Chinese players on the field a little confused.

Goalkeeper Yang Cheng pounded the grass in frustration, and the midfielders and defenders who were originally responsible for marking people also regretted it.

The Brazilian players rushed out of the pitch in droves, celebrating all the way.

There were also many fans of the Brazilian team cheering wildly.

……

"Or did we make a mistake in the defense!"

'It's a long-standing problem, almost from the first game of this World Youth Championship, our defence has been very worrying, and although there have been wonderful clean sheets against Germany, there have been many times when there have been inexplicable goals conceded.

The national television commentator was clearly puzzled by the sudden goal conceded by the national youth team.

"Judging from the slow-motion replay, Feng Xiaoting's task is to go to the front point, but our back point defenders are missing, which is a very undeserved mistake, and in such an important game, such a mistake is indeed a little difficult to accept."

"But that's football."

"I hope that the boys of our national youth team can quickly regain their confidence, don't worry, there is still a lot of time for the game, the most important thing is to stabilize the position and not mess up."

……

The head coach on the sidelines, Crouchen, was also very depressed by the sudden conceded goal.

Set-piece defence is what he has always focused on, but it turned out to be lost.

There are some things he really can't do.

Of course, he also believes that the players have done their best.

But for a brutal cup game, the result is the greatest justice, and mistakes should be held accountable.

"It's okay, it's okay, all cheer up, we still have time, continue to hold on defensively."

Crowchen's shouting on the sidelines was quickly transmitted to the stadium by an interpreter.

……

When the Brazilian team took a free kick, Yang Yang stayed in the front court and waited for the opportunity to counterattack, but after seeing the Brazilian team score, he shook his head with some disappointment.

This is quite frustrating indeed!

But Yang Yang quickly adjusted, especially after hearing Crowchen's shouting on the sidelines, he took a deep breath, adjusted his mood, and clapped loudly at his teammates.

"It doesn't matter, we still have an hour, take your time, don't rush."

Yang Yang walked quickly back to his own half.

"Reorganize and defend, Lao Feng, you catch it, they will attack again soon."

After Feng Xiaoting listened, he nodded vigorously, and immediately called several teammates in the back line over and re-instructed.

The ball has already been lost, and it must not be messed up at this time, because it is easy to lose the ball again if it is messed up.

Yang Yang specially appeased Zhao Xuri and Cui Peng, signaling them to stabilize their positions.

"You must defend the line to the death." Yang Yang said in a deep voice.

…………

…………

Although China and Brazil played the quarterfinals on the same day, they were in very different situations.

The Chinese team eliminated Spain in 90 minutes, while Brazil played a full 120 minutes.

There are two days of rest in between, and relatively speaking, the Chinese team still has a slight advantage.

In this game, Krauchen also changed his previous offensive style of play and adopted a 442 balance tactic.

The left side of the midfield arranged Hao Junmin, the middle lane is a combination of Cui Peng and Zhao Xuri, the right side is Chen Tao, the front field is Gao Lin and Yang Yang partner, and Zhou Haibin is suspended and absent.

It is not difficult to see from Crouchen's arrangement that the Chinese team will play more steadily in this game.

From the beginning of the game, the Chinese team took the initiative to shrink the defense, withdrew the three lines to their own half, and deployed heavy troops in the middle and back.

This is also a matter of no choice, after all, the individual skills of the Brazilian team are indeed higher than those of the Chinese team.

In this case, the Chinese team can only have a chance if it emphasizes the overall coordination and the teamwork of the players.

In fact, in the more than 20 minutes since the start of the game, the Brazilian team did not get a good chance.

How so?

Yang Yang felt that the Brazilian team was playing very slowly.

It is the kind of slow and leisurely control and passing, advancing layer by layer, although their passing and receiving cooperation is very skillful and their individual ability is very strong, but they do not play with speed, and there is no change in rhythm, which makes it not difficult for the Chinese team to defend.

On the other hand, the Chinese team, the more holistic and faster overall coordinated operation brought by Crowchen is indeed very effective, and it has also played an effective role.

The speed of the Chinese team is not reflected in the speed of one person, but the rapid transformation of the offensive and defensive rhythm of the whole team.

With Zhou Haibin suspended, the Chinese team's strategy was to defend and counterattack.

Unexpectedly, after defending for more than 20 minutes, the Brazilian team's ground attack did not penetrate the defense of the Chinese team, but relied on a free kick in the front court to score a goal, which is quite depressing to think about.

And Yang Yang looked back and reflected on the goal he had just conceded, and the foul that caused the free kick was a little too far behind.

This means that the Chinese team's midfield and defense have shrunk too much.

Thinking of this, Yang Yang took advantage of the opportunity that the Brazilian team had just returned from the sidelines to celebrate before kick-off, and ran to Zhao Xuri and Cui Peng again, and at the same time called Feng Xiaoting over and said his thoughts.

They all played on the same court, and when Yang Yang came out, his teammates immediately understood.

After thinking about it carefully, it was indeed too far behind just now.

Although it is said to be a defensive counterattack, it is necessary to shrink the defense, but it is still necessary to take a step back, otherwise there is no elasticity, and once it is compressed, the lack of protection of the penalty area is very fatal.

"We're going to press it forward."

When he returned to the center circle and was about to restart, Yang Yang smiled at Gao Lin.

"Are you okay?"

Gao Lin grinned, "I don't know, I don't know, I'll run away first." ”

"Let's do it!"

…………

…………

After the restart of the game, the Brazilian team began to find that the Chinese team played more ferociously.

The double forwards led by Yang Yang and Gao Lin directly pressed the Brazilian team's backline, and the four players in the midfield also pressed forward together, basically in the 30-meter area to the middle line, and the back line also pressed out.

The three lines maintained a tight formation, which made it difficult for Brazil to pass through.

Lacking pace and change of pace, Brazil had close to 60 per cent possession, but it was useless, and even when they did create occasional chances, they were always blocked by Chinese players.

The Chinese team's strategy is more simple and direct, that is, high-intensity pressing and pressing.

Once you lose the ball, you immediately counter-attack on the spot, which is what Crouchen has always demanded.

This kind of pressing and pressing makes it difficult for the Brazilian team to play with speed, coupled with their own habit of slowly and leisurely controlling the ball, advancing layer by layer, so that they advance to the 30-meter area of the front court, and the Chinese team has already arranged the defensive line.

But as soon as the Brazilian team made a mistake and was caught by the Chinese team, they immediately launched a counterattack on the spot and hit directly behind them.

In the 32nd minute, this strategy of the Chinese team brought itself a very good counterattack opportunity.

After Cui Peng broke the ball, Hao Junmin passed diagonally, Yang Yang quickly started to get the ball, and he was about to form a single knife, but the Swiss referee whistled for offside.

Yang Yang was very dissatisfied with the penalty this time, he obviously saw it with God's vision when he started, there was no offside, and a defender of the Brazilian team dragged behind, but the linesman raised the flag, and the referee insisted on the original decision.

"It was a really controversial decision."

"Judging from the slow motion, when Yang Yang started, he should be on the same level as the Brazilian defender, but the linesman's vision may be blocked, thinking that this is an offside position."

"The Chinese team missed a great opportunity to go it alone."

Yang Yang exhaled deeply and walked back quickly, while not forgetting to give a thumbs up to Hao Junmin.

"It doesn't matter, if we can find a chance, we will definitely get a second time."

Yang Yang clapped his hands vigorously, "Take your time, brothers, let's re-grasp the defense and wait for the opportunity!" ”

"Good!" The Chinese players scattered all over the stadium responded in unison.

…………

…………

Brazil quickly took a free-kick.

They don't seem to be planning to change their game strategy, and they still want to control the ball and send the ball into the Chinese team's penalty area through slow and logical passing.

The Chinese team used physical strength to run and cover to achieve the purpose of pressing and pressing.

Not only the players in the midfield, but even Yang Yang and Gao Lin in the front court are also full of energy, constantly harassing and forcing the Brazilian team's backline, which makes the Brazilian team's passing and ball control quite difficult.

In terms of ball possession, the Chinese team is at an absolute disadvantage, but if you just look at it from the field, the two sides are half-hearted, the two sides are very close, and no one has been able to create opportunities.

The time is ticking by.

From time to time, Yang Yang glanced at the time on the scoreboard, silently calculating in his heart.

His instinct told him that he should try to score goals and equalize in the first half, so that he would play with more confidence and confidence in the second half.

The psychological quality of Chinese players is relatively weak, and if they enter the halftime break with a 0-1 deficit, some players are likely to be discouraged, and it is really hard to say how much they can play in the second half.

Sometimes, it's really not a matter of not doing your best, but when you feel discouraged, when you feel that no matter how hard you try, you can't save the situation, even if you have no strength.

And if you want to avoid that, you can only try to equalize.

But what does it take to get the ball from the feet of Brazil?

Yang Yang has the feeling of returning to the club and playing a game of grabbing circles with his teammates.

Today's Brazilian team slowly and leisurely passes and controls the ball, as if they are teammates in a circle, and Yang Yang and Gao Lin are like two monkeys in the circle.

After two years of training in the circle-grabbing game, Yang Yang has already cultivated the experience of grabbing the circle.

It didn't take long to lock on to a target.

Right wing-back Raphinha!