Chapter 16: The Onslaught
Hoffenheim's players almost couldn't believe this situation, obviously their own side pressed the opponent to play, but the result was that the harder they played, the easier it was for the opponent to score.
Thinking of this, Hoffenheim's players' eyes began to be confused, and they were a little unsure of what to do.
Offensive?
They had a tough goalkeeper and two close-range attacks were cleared by the lightning speed goalkeeper and resulted in two goals.
Hoffenheim's head coach Flick's expression, as ugly as it is at this time, he took this warm-up game very seriously, and he made full arrangements before the game, but anything can happen in a football game. Their opening sneak attack was perfect, catching Karlsruhe completely off guard, but in the end it was a bit of a surprise to him that they were down 0-0.
And the second goal was almost exactly the same as the first, which disrupted his tactical set-up and also disrupted the mentality of the players, now that it is 2-0, he has to make a choice, otherwise the game will be lost, although it is only a warm-up game, but this is their hope before the start of the season, before he can make a decision, the game continues.
After the game restarted, Hoffenheim seemed to be blinded, and the attack seemed to be undisciplined, but Karlsruhe counterattacked in waves. In just 10 minutes, both sides contributed 10 shots on goal. Karlsruhe occupied 7 times, while Hoffenheim only had 3 shots on goal, and without exception Wu Feng held on to the football tightly, and there was no chance to make up the shot.
However, only 30 minutes into the first half, and there was still time, Hoffenheim slowly calmed down, and this time, Hoffenheim captain Matthias planned a beautiful attack.
After receiving a long diagonal pass from the back, Matthias unloaded the ball beautifully, and with a dashing change of direction, he dodged the Karlsruhe central midfielder Federico who had stepped forward to slide forward.
Then, after leaning on another central midfielder, Polcello, Matthias quickly distributed the ball to his own striker Olhoff, who was slanting into the box.
Olhoff didn't stop the ball and knocked it back to striker Bertani Gao at the edge of the penalty area. With Karlsruhe centre-back Stoll and Eichner all attracted attention to Olhoff who was inserted diagonally into the box, Bertagao did not have a single Karlsruhe defender around! This is a great opportunity for Hoffenheim!
Betani Gao did not make adjustments this time, and the first time he faced the football was a powerful volley, and the football flew straight to the upper left corner of the goal like a cannonball.
Just when everyone thought that the score on the field was about to be tied by one point, Wu Feng, the behind-the-scenes hero of Karlsruhe's game, stepped forward again!
In the face of the fast-flying football, Wu Feng made a very beautiful fish leap to pounce on the ball, stretched out his hands and tightly grabbed the football that was about to enter the net, but still did not even have a chance to make up the shot, and Mattia, who was already preparing to follow up the follow-up shot, could only retreat stupidly.
Seeing that the attack was again futile, the Hoffenheim players were not discouraged, and soon they continued to make a comeback, at this time the three defenders of Karlsruhe were almost in the three corners of the penalty area, nervous and ready, and the midfielders were no longer too far forward, only hovering around the center circle.
Mattia flicked past Porcello and picked out a pass to Cescutti, who burst into the right side of the box and fired a powerful shot into the near corner that Gould deflected.
Alkhov, who had been running aggressively up front, did not miss the opportunity as he unloaded a flying ball from 15 yards on the right side of the penalty area to score another one-on-one goal. But he didn't dare to continue to rush with the ball this time, and he found that the eastern goalkeeper in Karlsruhe had already stared at him with that cold gaze, and his heart was numb, and he quickly got up and pumped the football into the upper right corner of the goal.
It's just that this time the volley from the far corner didn't bring a trace of excitement to Orhoff, he found that the football was like a black and white elf, and he was once again tightly grasped and held in his arms by those cold big hands, and at this moment he also began to feel a little helpless, and couldn't help but sigh and run back.
They have shot three times in a row in this last time, and the angle of each shot is perfect, and if they were ordinary goalkeepers, they would have already scored two goals, but unfortunately they met this goalkeeper from the east, and they just took it easily, and they didn't even have a chance to make up for it.
In the 38th minute, Betani's powerful shot from outside the box was again blocked by Stoll, and then Matthias, who followed him, unloaded the ball directly with his chest and then rushed straight into the box.
Stoll didn't dare to foul at will in the penalty area, so he could only stick it up, trying to squeeze Matthia out, but Mattia did not entangle with Stoll, and with a light knock, the football flew to the high feet of Betani on the left side.
Betanigao had already come to the small penalty area, but when he saw Wu Feng's expressionless eyes, his heart was numb, as if he saw the lightning-like figure again, took two steps, hurriedly changed his strategy, raised his right foot high, and pumped towards the football with a "bang".
The football is like a rainbow, flying quickly to the lower right corner of the goal, but all this has long been seen by Wu Feng, and the eyesight that he has exercised since he was a child can allow him to see things clearly within 100 meters. Hoffenheim's forwards have always been only players in the third division, and there have not been many changes in shooting skills, Wu Feng already knows the direction of their shots based on the shaking of their shoulders, and then with his speed, he easily grasps the football in his hands.
If you want to pull out a strong bow, if the strength of your arms and wrists is insufficient, it is simply impossible, their Wu family's martial arts is to train to become a marksman, Wu Feng, who has been exercising since he was a child, has far more strength than ordinary people, so this kind of volley is basically nothing to him.
Hoffenheim pressed hard to close the gap in the first half, and they didn't want to go into the dressing room with two points down in the first half.
Hoffenheim's attacking direction opened left and right, Olhoff and Betany were one left and one right, plus the back five midfielders were constantly impacting, and for a while, Karlsruhe's three defenders were like a crumbling boat, which could capsize at any time.
In the last two minutes of the first half, Matthia, who had been running for the ball, got the ball again and immediately charged forward, and his teammates trusted him.
Strikers Bertanigau and Olhoff didn't wait for the ball, and quickly ran forward to pick up the defenders on both sides of Mattia, and Cescuti followed closely from one side to get Stol into position.
Hoffenheim's offensive surged again, and even their defenders ran desperately forward to respond.