Chapter 117: The Battle of the Top 12 Matches South Korea

There's an old saying in the world of competitive sports: victory masks everything.

After Villarreal's epic crazy comeback to knock out Monaco to qualify for the Champions League group stage, everything in the team was overshadowed by this victory, and everything seemed to be on normal track, and Sevilla, in four days from now, in the second round of La Liga, will be the most suitable opponent to test if they are on the right track.

Sevilla were opponents of Villarreal's Europa League final last season and were the team that gave Dai Zhiwei his first defeat in La Liga.

However, this interesting game was played a little uneventfully, and the 0:0 situation remained until the 69th minute of the game.

In the 69th minute, dos Santos broke down the right side of the penalty area to win a free kick for Villarreal.

In the face of this free kick 29 yards away from the goal, Dai Zhiwei once again staged a curved shot - the Serbian goalkeeper had no choice but to watch the football fly into the goal net by grazing the post!

Dai Zhiwei also proved his free kick skills with the only goal of the game!

After successive tactics Monaco and Seville, the haze that shrouded Villarreal for a while seems to have disappeared, and at this time, Dai Zhiwei is also going to China to participate in the top 12 of the Asian region of the World Preliminaries!

After the Rio Olympics, the first major event of Chinese competitive sports must be the battle between China and South Korea in the top 12 of the Asian region of the World Cup qualifiers.

As the first game of the Chinese men's football team in the new stage of the 2018 World Cup, it is needless to say that the strategic significance is needless to say, in the minds of the Chinese people, it is not easy for Chinese football to return to the top 12 after 15 years, and South Korea's opponent itself is full of topics.

Although the word Koreaphobia hasn't been mentioned for years, who doesn't want to get off to a good start against a formidable opponent?

South Korea's team only assembled on Monday to complete their first joint practice, and for such an important match as the World Preliminary Championships, the preparation time was a bit rushed, but the team's number one star, Son Heung-min, believes that "three days is enough".

Despite being a bit of a big deal, they are confident in the game, and it is also a general reflection of the Korean players, with stars such as Kim Young-kwon and Jang Hyun-so who are familiar with Chinese football predicting an easy win for the team, and when it comes to the score, 3:0 has become a minimum cost.

Compared with the arrogance of the South Korean team, the Chinese team prepared for this game with a low-key attitude, and before leaving for South Korea, the national football team conducted a week of training in Shenyang, which shows the importance of the game.

However, the gap in the strength of the two teams cannot be ignored - the current Chinese men's football team ranks 72nd in the world, 24 places behind South Korea, and what is even more shocking is that the two sides have met 32 times in history, and the number of wins of the Chinese team is only zero, so it can be said that the national football team has no reason to be optimistic.

If the Chinese team really has any advantages, in addition to Dai Zhiwei on the front line, maybe the "home advantage" is one. Compared to the psychological advantage on the turf, the South Korean media is worried about losing the war in the stands.

"Don't let our home turf fall." South Korea head coach Stillik has used the media to make an appeal for more South Korean fans to attend the game, and as the game approaches, his fears are more likely to come true.

The Chinese Football Association has already purchased 15,000 away fan tickets, and with the addition of tourists and Chinese living in South Korea, more than 30,000 Chinese fans are expected to be on site.

South Korean media said that the sound of "come on" may cover the upper rock stadium.

According to the Korean Football Association, the number of attendees will be around 55,000, and the number of Chinese fans may overwhelm the home audience. If Chinese fans can win this battle in the stands at that time, presumably the national football team on the field will also have a better chance of winning.

How the two sides arrange their formations is a big suspense in this game, but no matter how they change their formations, the teams of the two sides do not have too many secrets.

Compared with the Chinese team, which only has one Dai Zhiwei and overseas teenager Zhang Yuning, the South Korean team is much more "foreign".

Interestingly, in their overseas legion, in addition to Sun Xingmin, Ji Chengyong, Gu Zizhe and other famous generals in Europe, there are also 5 Chinese Super League players.

Most of these players are distributed in the midfield, they have been given the opportunity to play against big-name foreign attackers in the Chinese Super League, and they are also quite familiar with Chinese players, among them, the Chinese Super League gang, including Chongqing Lifan foreign player Zheng Yourong, are expected to start this game.

The Chinese team lined up with 5 defenders in this campaign, Zhang Linpeng, Feng Xiaoting, Zheng Zhi, Li Xuepeng and Ren Xing lined up, and in the midfield, Wu Xi, Huang Bowen and Yu Hai formed a back three, and Dai Zhiwei and Wu Lei partnered in the front.

In South Korea's starters, Kim Ki-hee, Hong Jeong-joo and Jang Hyun-so formed the "Chinese Super League" defensive line, and captains Ki Seong-yong and Son Heung-min led the "European-level" attacking group.

It is worth mentioning that the Chinese team wore an "all-yellow" away jersey for the first time in this campaign, probably to borrow the joy of Villarreal, while South Korea made an "all-red" appearance.

South Korea line-up: Jung Sung-ryong; Jang Hyun-so, Kim Ki-hee, Hong Jeong-joa, Oh Jae-suk; Han Rong, Qi Chengyong; Li Qinglong, Gu Zizhe, Sun Xingmin; Chi Dong-won

Chinese team lineup: Zeng Cheng; Zhang Linpeng, Feng Xiaoting, Zheng Zhi, Li Xuepeng, Ren Xing; Wu Xi, Huang Bowen, Yu Hai; Dai Zhiwei, Wu Lei

At the beginning of the game, the South Korean team playing at home took the lead, Ji Dong-won headed the ball, and Son Heung-min shot wide from distance.

China came close to scoring a minute later, when Li Xuepeng's throw-in from the side was thrown into the box, and Dai Zhiwei's shot from 10 yards was blocked by Zheng Chenglong, and Hong just cleared. Then Wu Xi took a corner kick from the left side, and Huang Bowen nodded the ball high in front of the goal.

China suffered another blow after missing two chances in quick succession – South Korea took the lead in the 17th minute when Lee Cheong-ryong tripped Koo Ji-chul on the edge of the box with a pass from Lee Cheong-ryong, and the referee upheld the penalty after consulting the linesman.

Dai Zhiwei had nothing to say about being awarded a penalty at South Korea's home stadium, and in this magical country, even Italy and Portugal in 2002 could not beat the home team, so what was the misjudgment of the Chinese team?

Son Heung-min came to the penalty spot, and after the referee's whistle, he converted the spot.

1:0!

After taking a one-goal lead, the South Korean team's attack became more vigorous and gradually picked up.

Oh Jae-seok dribbled the ball on the left side and went down quickly, Ren Xing originally thought that he was ready in advance and could keep an eye on the card position, but who knew that he still underestimated the strength of the South Korean international and was eaten hard by the opponent.

Ren Xing hurriedly chased after Oh Jae-suk, but Oh Jae-suk's pass was too fast, and he didn't go down to the bottom line and crossed, but fortunately, Zheng Zhi, who changed to play central defender today, grabbed the first point and destroyed the penalty area with a header.

Dai Zhiwei also doesn't understand what kind of magic Ren Xing has, he is a burden to the Chinese team on the field, but whether it is Pei Lan in this life or Gao Hongbo in the previous life, he is very fond of Ren Xing.

Just like Du Feng's appreciation of Dehao, it is incomprehensible.

Li Qinglong wanted to unload the ball, but Yu Hai arrived and carried Li Qinglong with his body. The scramble between the two was cheaper for Wu Jae-seok on the side, only to see Wu Jae-seok break through quickly after receiving the ball, Yu Hai didn't have time to keep up with Wu Jae-suk, so he could only watch him get up and shoot from a distance.

Oh Jae-suk's long-range shot hit a little right, and it was easily picked off the air by Zeng Cheng.

Zeng Cheng did not pause, did not hesitate to kick the ball, the two sides fought for the first point in the midfield did not get the ball, Yu Hai, who was about to become a back, picked up this opportunity, and as soon as he received the ball, he passed it to Dai Zhiwei in front.

Dai Zhiwei turned around and walked away with the ball, when Han Rong, who was in charge of defending him in the middle of the South Korean team, followed, and without hesitation, he was blackfooted.

There is Shaolin football in China, but Taekwondo football in South Korea is not inferior!

Dai Zhiwei, who felt some pain in his leg, scolded "FXXK", but kept moving forward under his feet.

Han Rong was very strong, and seeing that Dai Zhiwei did not fall to the ground, he immediately followed again.

Dai Zhiwei saw Han Rong chasing after him again, and quickly transferred the ball to the right side, and then a right-angle fake dodged Han Rong's collision.

"Right-angle prosthetic body dodges the collision, I'm also a talent!" After Dai Zhiwei dodged Han Rong, he continued to run forward, this time completely getting rid of this annoying guy.

Wu Lei broke through quickly after receiving the ball, but unfortunately he couldn't pass the opponent's defender, so he had to turn around and look for opportunities again. At this moment, Dai Zhiwei just stepped forward, and Wu Lei handed the ball to him.

Dai Zhiwei took two or three steps with the ball after receiving the ball, and after adjusting his pace, it was directly a tiger shot, and the ball rushed to the door of the South Korean team like a cannonball.

South Korea's goalkeeper Zheng Chenglong is really pitiful and lucky, poor because he didn't react at all at this time, only stared blankly at the football that flew towards the goal, fortunately the football was slightly out of the goal, hit the side net of the goal, and the Chinese team missed a good chance to equalize.

However, the Chinese team did not wait to vent their frustration, and the controversial penalty appeared again in the 36th minute, when Wu Lei and Dai Zhiwei made a one-two cooperation and burst into the penalty area and were tripped by Kim Ki-hee, but the referee did not give a penalty.

However, perhaps the referee was ashamed, and Dai Zhiwei complained loudly afterwards and was not warned by the referee.

The Chinese team, which suffered continuous misjudgments, entered the halftime break with a score of 0:1.

Because he was already one goal behind, Perrin readjusted Zheng Zhi from the position of center back to the back at halftime in an attempt to strengthen the team's attack, but this adjustment also laid the groundwork for the second goal conceded by the Chinese team.

South Korea took the lead again in the 56th minute when Jang Hyun-so's free-kick from the right was met by Ki Sung-yong's header from six yards into the far corner.

0:2!

The Chinese team has suffered a major blow!

But fortunately, the current Chinese team is based on Evergrande, which won the third place in the AFC Champions League last year, and Barcelona is not afraid, how can they be afraid of South Korea, so the Chinese team at this time also has a hard work.

The Chinese team, which was two goals behind, made a midfield steal in the 64th minute and counterattacked again, Wu Xi sent a straight stopper, and Dai Zhiwei threw off Han Rong again from the left side and entered the front of the penalty area.

Dai Zhiwei, who was speeding, ignored Qi Chengyong's defense, quickly overtook from the outside, and prepared to enter the penalty area.

is the so-called martial arts in the world, only fast is not broken!

Seeing this scene, the fans at the home stadium of the South Korean team were crazy, and the noise rang in Dai Zhiwei's ears, but he didn't care at all - in fact, he couldn't understand the muttering Korean.

Seeing that Dai Zhiwei was about to completely throw off Qi Chengyong and enter the penalty area, Kim Ki-hee, who came to help defend him, had already prepared a fierce flying tackle.

As soon as Dai Zhiwei came out, he had already arrived, and he didn't have any intention of closing his legs, and his long legs kicked firmly at Dai Zhiwei's left foot leg guard that pulled the ball.

Dai Zhiwei, who didn't realize it at all, was still preparing to move forward, and when he saw Kim Ki-hee's tackle, he subconsciously jumped up to dodge, but he was still hung down in the penalty area.

"Dididi!"

The players of the Chinese team saw that Dai Zhiwei was shoveled away, and immediately rushed up, angrily surrounding Kim Ki-hee, the game frequently encountered misjudgments and the score of the backwardness made the Chinese team soldiers very impatient, and the South Korean team players also arrived at the first time.

Dai Zhiwei sat on the ground and stretched out his hands to look at the referee, he didn't believe that under such a clear foul, the referee would dare not award a penalty?

As for the direct red card off the perpetrator Kim Ki-hee, he thinks that according to the referee's urine in this game, it is really unlikely.

The referee hurriedly stepped forward, and the players on both sides were quickly separated under the obstruction of their respective captains.

The referee then decisively awarded a penalty, but as expected, it was only shown a yellow card.

This penalty made the commentators of Huaxia TV station who broadcast the game live keep blaming the referee, and they don't care about the neutral image of national TV station.

Dai Zhiwei moved his ankle after standing up, and it seemed that he had twisted his ankle when he fell just now, but he still felt some tingling, and the player's health status displayed on the system's personal homepage also dropped to 6.

"How?" Big Brother Zheng Zhi ran over and asked in a low voice.

"It's not a big problem." Dai Zhiwei shook his head, and he pressed the painful part with his fingers again, judging that it should be just a hard injury, and it would be fine in two minutes.

The penalty was naturally taken by Dai Zhiwei, who is the star of the Chinese team.

In this penalty, Dai Zhiwei didn't make any feints at all, and when he went up, he shot a tiger, Zheng Chenglong couldn't even raise his hand, and watched the football spin in the net behind him.

1:2, the Chinese team successfully pulled back a goal, and their morale was greatly boosted.

After the goal, Dai Zhiwei did not do his own unique blowgun celebration, but ran to the door to pick up the football, ready to let the South Korean team restart as soon as possible.

However, Zheng Chenglong in front of the goal line successfully showed the so-called Han national quality, and after Dai Zhiwei scooped up the football, he reached out to knock the football in his hand.

"Yo!" Dai Zhiwei flashed Zheng Chenglong's steal with a dribble behind his back, and then glanced at Zheng Chenglong, "Are you sick?" ”

(End of chapter)