The match between England and Paraguay has officially begun.

Before the game, many media reported on the two teams, because on this day there was only the opening game between Germany and Costa Rica, as well as this game between England and Paraguay, Germany is the host, naturally they have to play the opening game, but their match with Costa Rica is not well reported, the gap between the two teams is too big, Germany's table has always been very stable, they rarely lose to weak teams, this game seems to have no suspense from the beginning, and the result is the same, Germany easily won Costa Rica 2:0.

England and Paraguay are different.

England has received no less attention than the German team, and no one thinks that their strength is weaker than Germany, but England's historical results are really not good, even if they have many stars, so this World Cup, England has received more attention and ...... Sympathy, many fans hope that the England team can rise up.

Paraguay is a new upstart in South American football, with world-renowned stars in their squad, as well as many players who play in various leagues in South America and are not well-known, but they have performed well in World Cup qualifiers and are considered the strongest South American team apart from Argentina and Brazil.

So the two teams played each other, and there was zài suspense.

Even the most loyal England fans don't think England is a sure winner, after all, England has suffered a lot of Waterloo.

The match received a bit more attention than the opening match, and perhaps this is what FIFA had in mind when arranging the fixtures, with the two teams behind Germany and Costa Rica in order to get more attention on the first day of the match.

The match between the two teams has begun.

England's tactics and formation surprised many from the start, with pre-game media reports on the return of Wayne Rooney, the young Manchester United star who had been injured but on 5 June. Rooney Guò underwent a medical and returned to the England squad.

Rooney has been training with the team before, so he didn't have to adapt to it, he just had a small leg injury and couldn't participate in the intense game, and now he is back. But some media think that it is difficult for Rooney to enter the starting lineup, after all, the England team still has Zhang Tiehan and Owen, Rooney has just returned from injury, and it is not easy to start the position.

But they all guessed wrong.

Rooney played, Owen also played, Zhang Tiehan ...... Still appeared.

The England team put out a 442 formation, but Zhang Tiehan's position is the key, and the diamond-shaped position in the midfield is not strange, but it is Zhang Tiehan who pulls behind. Instead of Gerrard, as soon as this formation came out, almost everyone looked at the player who pulled back in surprise, how could he play in the back?

Nobody knows.

Everyone looked at it in amazement.

Zhang Tiehan's position is obviously a defensive midfielder, he and Gerrard form a double central combination, but his position is further back, and the formation can also be said to be 4132, Zhang Tiehan is alone at the back. Steven Gerrard up front, Frank Lampard and David Beckham on the wings. This starting combination is really strange to look at.

Many commentators are also very strange, and the England commentator, who knows Zhang Tiehan better, can only explain stubbornly, "When Zhang was at Manchester United, he played in the back, and he could also have a lot of expressions in the back of the midfield." And his tackling ability is very good, and probably Eriksen wants Zhang to contribute to the goal while also contributing to the England defence......"

This explanation really made the fans not cold.

Defend?

There are two world-class central defenders in the backfield, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, and there are two Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the midfield. He's just going to attack, he's going to score goals!

Fans are very puzzled by the England lineup, especially Zhang Tiehan's position, but they can only watch the game and hope that the England team will not have any major problems.

Paraguayan coach Ruiz also looked at the field, when he saw the formation of the England team, he had the same doubts as those fans, which was unexpected, and he didn't know how to deal with it, but the game had just started, and there was no point in thinking about it, he could only calm down and watch the game.

……

Paraguay is a South American team, but they are not playing pure South American football, their tactics are more based on defensive counterattacks, especially against strong teams like England, Paraguay has to play defensive counterattacks, otherwise they really have no chance at all.

Once relying on the courage of legendary goalkeeper Chilavert, the defensive counter-attack is the heirloom of the Paraguayan team.

Now that Chilavert is gone, no one knows what else to expect from Paraguay, whose goalkeeper is Villar, who made 15 appearances for the national team in qualifying and who is the undisputed first goalkeeper of the Paraguayan team.

As a goalkeeper, Villar is only 1.79 meters tall, he is the characteristic goalkeeper produced in South America, he is 29 years old, he participated in the South Korea-Japan World Cup as early as 4 years ago, but he did not get the opportunity to play, because in front of him is the legendary goalkeeper Ziravert in Paraguay's history.

With Zilavet's retirement, Villar has finally waited for his own World Cup journey.

But when it comes to the World Cup, no one can judge whether Villars can still have a good performance, relying on Villars, can they still defend their defense so strongly? Many Paraguayans hope that Villar can continue the glory of the goalkeeper Marvel Lavert, with Chilavert, Paraguay's goalkeeper has always been the strongest position in the team, but with Villar, their confidence is insufficient, no one wants the team to have a big change, especially from strong to weak, so many Paraguayan fans have expectations for Villar.

Fortunately, in the South American qualifiers, Paraguay's defensive table Xiàn was quite satisfactory to the fans. In terms of attack, Paraguay scored a total of 21 goals in 18 games, and the offensive ability is weak, but with tenacious defense, coupled with sharp counterattacks by Santa Cruz and others, Paraguay was still able to qualify.

It is worth mentioning that their defense has also caused Brazil and Argentina to suffer with their attacking firepower.

All the media agreed that if Paraguay wants to escape from strong teams such as England and Sweden in this World Cup, defensive counterattack will be their magic weapon to win.

The game started with Paraguay's solid defence.

Their back four are J Nunez, Cáceres, captain Gamara and Kanissa, with Gamarra being famous. But after all, he was a bit old, so the most active city in the table was Cáceres, and he and Paredes in front of him kept running and defending, so that England's two consecutive waves of attacks ended in failure, and even the football failed to hit the penalty area.

This gives Paraguayan fans hope.

Cáceres is one of the most prevalent surnames in Paraguay. Nearly 10 percent of people in Paraguay have the surname Cáceres, and in the position of Paraguayan defenders, there have been three Cáceres in the past ten years, and this Cáceres is the best among them, his full name is Julio Cesar Cáceres, he has played for Olympia, Nantes, Atletico Mieiro and now the Argentine River Plate team, he is also the main defender of the River Plate team, and now wears the No. 4 jersey of Paraguay, and his status in Paraguay can be seen from the jersey number.

But it has to be said. César Cáceres is not well-known, and before joining River Plate, he played for clubs that were all small clubs in the domestic or Ecuadorian leagues.

However, Paraguay needs such an unfamous player with a good performance!

For example, Santa Cruz, he is the first star of Paraguay, but any team that plays against Paraguay must focus on defending Santa Cruz, and with such strict attention, it is very difficult for Santa Cruz to have a look, so what Paraguay needs is a surprise soldier. A "surprise soldier" that is ignored by other strong teams. For example, at the last World Cup. It was Cuevas, Gombos and others who helped Paraguay reach the round of 16, who would have thought that these unknown juniors who played in the Chinese League A could have a blockbuster performance?

So Paraguay has high hopes for every player, something that rarely happens with other teams.

In the opening ten minutes, Paraguay's defensive table was solid, while England's side. Their attacking appearance is also calm and threatening.

England had three shots on goal in the 10 minutes, with Frank Lampard, Zhang Tiehan and Wayne Rooney each contributing one, with Zhang Tiehan and Frank Lampard both hitting the woodwork, but Villar was brave. He saved both balls.

In addition to shooting, England's counterpoint in attack can also be described as composure, with their continuous passing in midfield making it difficult for Paraguay to make tackles, and the football always seems to be at the feet of the England team.

Many commentators expressed surprise at this, they did not expect the opening to be like this.

But it's actually not surprising to have such an appearance, just look at the current England front six - Zhang Tiehan, Gerrard, Lampard, David Beckham, Owen, Wayne Rooney...... Seeing this lineup, it is estimated that many teams will collapse directly, and any one of them will be a big star, so it is not surprising that the combination of six people has a calm and threatening offensive table.

On the contrary, many people feel that England still hasn't played much strength, after all, if these six people can play their strength and play a smooth cooperation, the threat is more than that, and it is estimated that it is enough for Paraguay to have no resistance at all, not like now.

After ten minutes, everyone can also see the tactics of the England team, they are using long-range shots as an important means of scoring goals, and at the same time, the support of Frank Lampard and Beckham on the two wings can also allow Rooney and Owen to find opportunities, the overall tactics are like this, England's tactics are not complicated, this is probably the characteristic of the England team in the strong team - they always play simple football.

The only bright spots, in fact, came from the defense.

Ten minutes, Paraguay also had a few advances and counterattacks, but many times they failed to cross the halfway line to be counter-robbed, midfielders Gerrard, Lampard's defensive ability is quite strong, plus Zhang Tiehan after pulling, the three can be said to be a steel defense line, Paraguay's attack is difficult to threaten England, they even hit the ball to the front of the court is a little difficult.

Many people were surprised by the solidity of England's defense, which was good before, but rarely completed in the middle of the counter-attack, and they relied more on the defense at the back, after all, the backfield was also full of England's big men, and now they can start to defend strongly in the midfield.

This is thanks to Zhang Tiehan.

Zhang Tiehan is naturally good after pulling, he relies on his running and tackling ability, it is enough to become a defensive line, he and Gerrard, Lampard's defense is still quite solid, but he has to take care of Beckham's right side at the same time - England's captain's defense is really not good, during this time Beckham was broken through twice in a row by an unknown full-back of the opponent!

It's a bit of a shame.

Beckham also smiled embarrassedly at Zhang Tiehan. He doesn't have as much defence as Gerrard and Frank Lampard, but he's not that bad, but Mr. Heartthrob doesn't seem to have found his form yet.

Despite this, Paraguay actually has little to do in attack.

Against such a solid defence in England, they want to score. Not only does it take a lot of luck and chance, but Paraguayan goalkeeper Villar is going to face a tough test.

He was not bad, saving two goals in ten minutes, but the game was more than ten minutes and he needed to save more balls to keep the goal in the net.

That's difficult.

The only thing that makes him happy is that the opponent's No. 13 is not a striker, otherwise, he will definitely face a more severe test.

At the same time, the midfield is in the middle. Zhang Tiehan is dribbling forward.

Starting in this game to play in the back, this is actually a choice of Zhang Tiehan after training with his teammates, not an absolute choice, he just wants to try this position, and Eriksen also wants to try new tactics.

England have a lot of stars and this formation can put the likes of Steven Gerrard in the squad, and if they can put it together, then such an England team will not be afraid of any opponent.

Zhang Tiehan is also adapting to the position.

Training and competition are not the same after all. In ten minutes, Zhang Tiehan also knew that he could still be very good in the back position. The contribution to the team as a whole will not be reduced, but it is undeniable that he has fewer chances to shoot in this position.

There are fewer opportunities, but there are still opportunities.

For example, he had a long-range shot before, and that was when he got on the end of a pass from David Beckham. Unfortunately, the ball didn't get much force, so the ball was saved by the opposing goalkeeper.

Zhang Tiehan is still trying to attack.

He's going to lead the whole team with an attacking rhythm, that's what Eriksen wants him to do, and now he's actually equal to Barcelona's Ronaldinho, no. More important than Ronaldinho, it can be described as this, he is the core of the team's offensive and defensive conversion, and he is also the organizer of the attack, Zhang Tiehan is still very interested in this positioning, he has always played as a defender, even if he plays in the front midfield, he can actually be said to be the core of the team's frontcourt, in Liverpool and Rome, he is not at all involved with the 'offensive organizer'.

But now he's doing it.

He dribbles the ball, he passes, and uses his options to find opportunities for the whole team, the only pity is that the team's table is not very good, it should be said that Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, and even Owen and Rooney's tables are not good, this is Zhang Tiehan's own feeling, many times they often make mistakes, maybe they are not adapted to tactics? Not comfortable with the location?

Zhang Tiehan thought.

Now the tactics are still in the run-in period, and this game is just a 'real yàn', but so far the real yàn has not been successful.

Gerrard's forward midfield positioning, it seems that he is not very adaptable, he has not even shot at goal so far, and the passing or something can only be regarded as barely qualified; David Beckham...... Is this guy really a big star? Frank Lampard, who may have been good in the middle of midfield, has not broken through on the flanks so far, and his passes have been like shots; Wayne Rooney, too few chances; Owen, gone?

In short, Zhang Tiehan could only shake his head and smile bitterly at the table of this group of celebrity teammates.

Although not long after the game began, Zhang Tiehan also knew that Eriksen's tactics had failed, and if he wanted to change his tactics, then the choice could be to have one person with his own double back, then the formation would become 4231, and the other was to put his position on the premise, so it would be impossible for all six people to start, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Owen four, at least two.

But thinking about these jobs is Erikson's, Zhang Tiehan doesn't care, he cares about victory, and now he has to pursue victory.

Although the England team did not play very well, it was enough to suppress Paraguay with the individual ability of the players, after all, the difference in the strength of the players of the two teams was really not small, and the England team still had an absolute advantage on the field.

This time it was Zhang Tiehan's breakthrough in the middle.

He shook off Acuna and Paredes in succession, and in the latter's close defence, he quickly broke through the middle of the pitch.

Gerald ran to the side.

However, Zhang Tiehan did not pass the ball again this time, because he saw an opportunity, and after using his speed to shake off Paredes, Zhang Tiehan got up and passed the ball to the right side of the penalty area. There, Rooney followed up with a shot!

Zhang ...... Rooney! The various commentators shouted excitedly when they saw the shot.

It's a pity that Rooney didn't seem to have shooting boots today, this was his second shot in the game, but the football bounced off the crossbar and flew high in the air, Zhang Tiehan and Gerrard rushed up, and Rooney was also ready to grab points. The three of them went to squeeze the position, and the Paraguayan penalty area immediately became a mess, but Zhang Tiehan broke out of the encirclement and jumped high directly to give the ball to Beckham, who was unguarded on the right side.

The reason why the England captain was unguarded was because he was standing far away, and he had just slowly run into the penalty area, but he could easily unload Zhang Tiehan's pass when he entered the penalty area, and the England captain finally came to his senses.

He's mighty!

A spinning shot, the ball arcs straight into the left corner of the goal!

The Paraguayan goalkeeper has been good before. But in the face of a direct shot of about ten meters in this corner, no matter how fast he reacted, he couldn't be faster than football, not to mention Beckham's shot also had a little arc, and went straight to the left corner of the goal, the angle was too tricky, and when Villar reacted and wanted to save again, the football had already flown into the goal first.

The ball went in.

It's the twenty-fifth minute of the opening game!

……

“Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal！！！！！！”?

"David—"

"--Beckham-!!"

No one thought of it. Beckham, who has not had much to show before, will score the first goal. Everyone looked at the chaotic penalty area just now, especially Zhang Tiehan, who was highlighting the table, he jumped very high, facing a group of short players in Paraguay, Zhang Tiehan's height was too outstanding, and then he gave the ball to Beckham. Before everyone had time to react, Beckham subconsciously chose to shoot, so when the football flew into the goal, the commentators shouted Beckham's name.

"The ball is in! Entered! 1 to 0! It was David Beckham who scored the goal! A direct volley! Pretty! ”

"Wayne Rooney's shot hit the crossbar and Zhang slid into the box to steal the spot. His header gave Beckham a chance, and Beckham lived up to Zhang's brilliant pass this time, knocking on the Paraguayan door with a direct shot! ”

"One to zero! The score has been rewritten! ”

"In the 25th minute, David Beckham scored England's first goal of this World Cup!"

……

The commentators were talking about the goal, which in their opinion meant a lot for England, as it was England's first goal of the World Cup, and it was scored by captain David Beckham, which bodes well for England.

At the same time, this goal also made England fans very excited, in their eyes, Beckham will always be Beckham, he is the core of the England team, although the other stars of the team are very famous, somewhat overshadowing Beckham's brilliance, but there are still many fans looking forward to Beckham can have a look, after all, he was once the backbone of the England team, the star.

Now David Beckham has scored.

Many fans danced excitedly, and they felt that Beckham's goal was more worthy of celebration than others' goals.

It's a particular mentality, and perhaps Beckham has scored too few goals for the national team.

In any case, England led Paraguay with this goal, on the field, Beckham found Zhang Tiehan after scoring a warm hug, he loved the England team deeply, and hoped to contribute more to the team, and now he has scored again, and this goal is undoubtedly thanks to Zhang Tiehan's header pass.

Others also enthusiastically celebrated.

In fact, one of the advantages of the England team is that the competition for the main position of the team is not very fierce, because the England team is basically a famous star, and no one needs to prove themselves in the World Cup, and in the past two decades, the England team's table is not very good, a group of stars together, and the results have not been able to go up, which is the pain in the hearts of England fans and all the players in England.

Everyone wants the team to do better, a star like David Beckham, if he had to choose, even if he didn't play himself in exchange for England's better results, he would undoubtedly choose the latter, because he doesn't rely on the national team's table to improve his reputation, and only a few young stars such as Rooney and Walcott care about this, Gerrard and Lampard may care more about the competition between each other than the main position or something, they don't need the national team to prove anything.

Zhang Tiehan's mentality is similar.

The first time he participated in the World Cup, he hoped that he would have a good performance and that the team could achieve better results in the World Cup, and he himself did not need to rely on the national team's performance to improve his value...... He is already the best in the world, what do you have to rely on the national team to fight for?

Not necessarily.

He would prefer the team to win, and it is worth sacrificing his own goals for it.

That's what he thought at first, so he chose to play in the back, wanting to use his watch to lead the whole team to attack better, but now he has a wry smile in his heart and feels that he thinks too simply.

You still have to rely on yourself when it comes to scoring goals!

Several teammates are world-class stars, but their performance is really not good, if sacrificing their own goals in exchange for the team has a better table, then it is better to score by yourself, then you have a good table, the team's results can be better, this is the best of both worlds.

Zhang Tiehan thought silently. (To be continued......)