Chapter 140: Away Battle in New Zealand (3)
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This was the score at the end of the first half, and if that score was maintained until the end, it would be New Zealand who would have advanced.
On their home turf, with only one goal scored in the first half, the New Zealanders were clearly not satisfied, but given the opposition's bucket formation, it was still a good result to be ahead.
The Tahiti players were a little emotionally shaken at this time, and it was clear that there was no point in holding on in the face of falling behind, and that's when Attani stepped up and encouraged his teammates to persevere, to persevere.
"If only Li Guo could come to the locker room," Attani thought to himself.
Kiko in the stands had the same thought, "Head, let's go to the locker room." β
"I still don't want it, it's a violation like that, and it will cause trouble after the game,"
"But the 15 minutes of the intermission are important, something has to be said,"
Li Guo had an idea, and said to the Tahitian coach through the headset prepared in advance: "Can I connect the headset to the speaker?" β
"But there are no speakers here,"
Li Guo thought for a while, "Okay, can you be my mouthpiece, what do I say, you told your players as they were." β
"Okay,"
"OK, is everyone here?"
"Yes,"
"Do you believe in fate?"
The players looked at each other, how? Is Li Guo going to tell us fortunes?
"Believe it, don't believe it, it's nonsense, it's a lie," the players replied differently.
"Let me tell you a story, at the Olympics, before the final between China and Argentina, I had a dream in which we lost the game, and in China, people say that dreams and reality are opposites."
Everyone laughed.
"Then let me tell you another story, I had another dream last night, and it was the New Zealand team that won."
This time, everyone laughed even more.
'New Zealand football is not as strong as you think, they have a lot of problems, and in the first half apart from the goal conceded, didn't the opponent do anything with you?
"However, with our strength, we can't go head-to-head with our opponents, and in football, losing one is the same as losing a hundred," one player said.
Li Guo smiled, "In a different way, what if you score one in the second half?" It was an away goal, and even if the final score was 1-1, it was Tahiti who advanced. β
As soon as this statement came out, a lot of players' eyes lit up, yes, if we scored one, it was an away goal, it was completely different.
"Chen Xiu, aren't you Tahitian Messi, this game is the time to prove yourself, do I remember your special training?"
"Remember!"
"That's good, and you, like a man, don't keep your head down, even if you lose, walk off the court with your head held high."
"Okay, we promise you, Li Guo!"
*****
At the start of the next game, New Zealand played the smartest way - possession!
Possession of the ball in your own half after taking the lead is the most efficient way to play, wait for the rabbit, the opponent does not grab, then I win, if the opponent grabs like crazy, then he may continue to score.
Not surprisingly, the head coach of Tahiti was anxious, "Li Guo, what should we do, we are doomed if we continue like this." β
"It's okay, it's better,"
"Okay?" Ettaeta thought she had misheard, "What's so good about this?" β
"The Tahiti players don't have the fitness to go through 90 minutes, so it's good for us to mix up at a slow pace and fight at the end."
"I see!"
"And when are we going to fight New Zealand?"
Li Guo's answer almost caused Etaeta to fall, "The last 5 minutes,"
"The last 5 minutes?"
"Yes,"
"Well, I have to believe it," Etaeta thought to herself.
******
"It looks like Tahiti has thrown in the towel," the New Zealand commentator said.
"From 0-10 to 0-1, this should also be a huge improvement in Tahiti football, and it seems that if we don't improve, we may be forced to draw by Tahiti next time."
The New Zealanders fell to their feet in midfield and slowly felt like they had a BarΓ§a feel, with small short passes like at the Camp Nou.
Kiko in the stands asked: "Head, you said the last 5 minutes, is it too late?" β
"Jike, I'm going to tell you, what people do, in fact, it's good to do their best, so let me ask you, have we done our best with the Tahitians in the past few months?"
Ji Ke nodded, "Head, we really have a clear conscience." β
Li Guo put his hand on Ji Ke's shoulder, "That's enough, it's up to people to make things happen, look forward to the best results." β
The ESPN commentator wondered, "Gave up so early? The World Cup qualifiers are held every four years, so they shouldn't be."
He has commented too many games, and has watched many World Cup qualifiers, this kind of game is actually more intense than the World Cup main game, and no one feels that they are worse than anyone else in the PK of the same continent.
"Maybe the Tahitians are waiting for the final showdown?"
*****
With 40 minutes into the second half, the Tahiti coach made a series of gestures from the sidelines.
The Tahitian players understood, Atani glanced at Chen Xiu, and then a big foot, he didn't have Xiaobei's footwork, but this long pass has been practiced for two months.
Chen Xiu pressed the last line of the New Zealand backline, which was an offside line for opponents and a lifeline for strikers.
The pass and run formed just the right tacit understanding, so when Chen Xiu rushed out, it looked like he was offside.
The first reaction of the New Zealand defenders was not to chase back, but to look at the linesman's gestures, and when they saw that the referee did not raise the flag, they knew that something was wrong.
"Maybe I'm 108,000 miles worse than Messi, but I have to score this goal," Chen Xiu thought to himself as he faced goalkeeper Mark Paston.
Mark Paston spread his limbs and pounced on Chen Xiu, everyone's eyes were focused on the two of them, and the other players were a little far away, this was a PK of the two people.
"Shoot, Chen Xiu," Ji Ke in the stands couldn't wait to yell out.
Chen Xiu glanced at it, Mark Paston blocked almost all the routes that could be shot, but at this time, Chen Xiu couldn't hesitate, a good striker must be cold-blooded like a killer in front of the goal, Chen Xiu touched the ball with his right foot and made the most important shot of his career.