At the beginning of the game, both teams played cautiously.

England is a traditional European team, Ecuador is a traditional South American team, the two teams have very different styles of football, and the two teams have only played once in the seventies, and they are very unfamiliar with each other, so strange that they don't know anything at all, so both teams are tentative at the beginning.

Soon ten minutes passed, and the game became a little more intense.

England team has been looking for the initiative to attack, the initiative to attack to occupy the midfield advantage, they began to frequently pass in the midfield, want to take the initiative with the pressure of the midfield, this is also Eriksen's tactics, England has a strong midfield, this game, Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, Carrick and Joe Cole five midfielders, no one in any team feels stronger than this midfield - from the point of view of value, Frank Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham are the world's top stars, Joe Cole and Carrick are slightly less famous, and they are definitely tens of millions of stars.

In the five-man midfield combination, Carrick is the back.

His position is behind Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, England's formation at this time can be said to be 4141, and the formation of England and Paraguay is the same, the difference is that Zhang Tiehan is at the front, and Carrick replaces Zhang Tiehan's position as the team's midfielder, which can also be said to be the core of the backfield.

Eriksen is thinking about letting Karikla and give Gerrard and Lampard the ball, so that both of them can become offensive excesses, and give Zhang Tiehan in front of him a chance, and the combination of five midfielders can also give England a greater advantage in the midfield competition.

That's a good idea......

From a football analysis point of view, Joe Cole and David Beckham are naturally very good as wing-backs, with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard both being versatile midfielders. World-class stars, coupled with a pull-back Carrick, England's midfield is strong, and no team will be inferior against any team.

But as the game progressed, everyone realized that it was not the same thing at all.

Often reality and imagination are different, as the game deepens. England don't have any advantage in the midfield competition, the main reason is that their football is too simple, but when England get the ball, they don't pass much to each other in the midfield, more are straight passes, Carrick hands the ball to Lampard, Lampard passes to Beckham, Beckham passes directly into the penalty area, England's attack is roughly like this. They don't pass the ball around in midfield, and when they do that occasionally, they quickly make mistakes and the ball is snatched away by the opposition; When Ecuador attacked, they were much better at possession than England, and their football would pass the ball in midfield, and the pass was so precise that England started to want to take the initiative. Constantly pressing up and running to grab the ball, but soon they found it futile. The movement of the players is not as fast as the transmission of the football, and the passing between the Ecuadorian players is quite accurate, and their mistakes are much less than those of the England team, which means that the movement of the England five-man team in the midfield does not form much defensive pressure on Ecuador. As a result, England had to shrink their defence in the end.

Against Ecuador, England's attacking disadvantage was revealed.

The problem with England is that they can't hold the ball, and each player has good individual ability, but due to the coordination and tactical level, they play too monotonously in attack. Ecuador are easy to defend and England are hard to keep the ball for too long.

Ecuador is the opposite.

Their individual players are not as good as England, but they are better on the ball than England, and when they attack, they can use constant crossing and transfer to ensure that the football is at the feet of the team, and they are not in a hurry to pass the ball forward, as long as they find an opportunity, they will suddenly attack.

This makes it look like England is not dominant.

Twenty minutes of play passed, statistically, the England team did not have an advantage, England only possessed the ball 47 percent of the time, while Ecuador accounted for 53 percent, that is to say, football is more at the feet of Ecuador, and the England team played very hard, they were very helpless to defend, straight passes, so that Ecuador was easy to defend, as a result, the England team could only run back and forth.

Not only are they a little passive on the field, but the constant movement of the English players also makes their physical consumption much faster than their opponents.

At the same time, fans and reporters outside the stadium are also quite dissatisfied with England's appearance, their football is really not good-looking, and 'ugly football' is a perfect way to describe the current England team.

Rough, ugly, and straight-to-...... These are all words that can be used to describe the England team.

In the group stage, England also used the same tactics, but the opponents were not strong at the time, including teams like Sweden and England team style, so that the two teams played, England's advantage is quite large, but when encountering a South American team like Ecuador, England's football is difficult to play, he has been waiting for opportunities in the front, but more than 20 minutes have passed, he has only gotten very few times, let alone a chance to shoot.

The scene made him feel very powerless.

Even if he has outstanding personal ability, he can't face the entire Ecuador defense by himself, the team's passivity makes him have few opportunities, he can only wait, as a center forward, standing in front to attract defense, waiting for opportunities is his job, but watching the team being suppressed by the other side, he also feels very unwilling.

Maybe you should retreat somewhat?

In the end, Zhang Tiehan could only shake his head helplessly, he is the only striker in the team, a team like England, there is no way to attack without a striker, it is difficult for a midfielder to find a passing object, and when he gets the ball, unless he goes past the opposing player and scores the ball himself, otherwise he wants to pass the ball, he can only hand it over to the rest of the midfield, and then plug it forward, what is the difference between that and not retreating?

This shape shì lasted for ten minutes.

After 32 minutes of play, Ecuador finally converted their advantage into a goal from goalkeeper Moura's big kick, and after two passes, the ball was hoisted in, and Mendes grabbed the header to cross. Hit the ball into the air again, Terry headed it in front of goal, only to make a mistake this time the Chelsea captain made a mistake, but his clearance rubbed the ball towards his own penalty area, C-Tenorio unloaded the ball and singled out goalkeeper Robinson, Ashley Cole desperately returned to the defensive tackle. C. Tenorio's right-footed shot from the penalty spot bounced off Ashley Cole's right thigh and into the back of the net.

Ecuador leads by one goal!

The Gottley Boumler Stadium is boiling!

Ecuadorian fans are desperately celebrating, and the neutral fans who came to watch the game also applauded, and more of them will support the England team, because the England team has more stars, but the England team did not play very well in this game, the football of the England team looks ugly, but Ecuador played very well, and now seeing Ecuador score, these neutral fans also applaud and celebrate for them.

England fans were very dissatisfied.

But in the face of the opponent's first goal. They could only hope for an equaliser, with Gottley-Boumler being much quieter as England trailed behind.

A lot of media are also talking about the game.

'England were a bit passive, they had to change the situation first if they wanted to equalise......

"Ecuador is playing better football, England should improve the goal in the middle of the midfield, we should expect Zhang's explosion......"

"From the beginning of the game, Zhang had a limited number of shots, and he couldn't get support at all in front!"

'Wayne Rooney didn't start. It was Eriksen's choice, but it was missing Rooney. England have fewer attacking chances......"

The commentators were all discussing the game.

England won all three games in the group stage very strongly, everyone did not expect that in the face of the first game of the knockout round, England would play so hard, not only because of the passivity of the situation, but also by Ecuador to score a goal, it is conceivable. The next game must not be good.

They are all looking forward to some changes in the England squad.

But the next game, as before, England's attack did not change in the slightest, with midfielders Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and even Michael Carrick constantly on the move, and they kept working hard. It's very hard, but the effort and hard work have not gained much, and the two wings, Beckham can be said to have no table xiàn, he has almost no personal breakthrough, the pass is better, but the threat of the ball is not once, and there is no good table xiàn in defense, often directly broken through by the opposing fullback Valencia, such a table is difficult to compliment, Joe Cole is better, at least he can often quickly dribble to the bottom line, but Ecuador's defense on the side is very tight, he often finds a position, but there is no way to pass the ball out.

England are passive in three ways.

This situation makes Zhang Tiehan in front of him do nothing, he has been running constantly, and often runs out of the gap, but the football can't be passed, even he has no way, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and it is useless to run without football.

At this time, Zhang Tiehan just smiled bitterly, and he felt how important a technical midfielder was.

If there was a team-mate like Marcos Alonso or even Totti in midfield, when he ran out of space, the football would have been passed a long time ago, but Gerrard, Frank Lampard...... The skills of these two guys are not very good, although he will not say it directly, but the fact is that the skills of the two of them are really unreliable.

In the end, by the end of the first half, Zhang Tiehan didn't get any good opportunities.

The game took place at halftime.

……

England fans thought it would be an easy victory, their opponent, Ecuador can only be regarded as a dark horse, definitely not a strong team, this team has just participated in the World Cup for the second time, the last World Cup group stage two losses and one win, that is, before this World Cup, Ecuador in the World Cup finals, only one victory.

How does such a team compare to the 'all-star' England team?

Entering the knockout rounds, England will surely win easily, and the England team staggered Germany and faced Ecuador, which is equivalent to stepping into the quarterfinals.

Everybody thinks so.

But after watching the first half of the game, England fans didn't think so at all.

Ecuador is definitely not weak...... Even if most of the players in this team have never heard of their names, their skills are really good, and it should be said that every professional player in South America will not be much worse in terms of skills. Ecuador are much better than England.

Let's talk about playing.

There are many stars in the England team, and each of the players who play can be called big stars, but when it comes to the field, the appearance of these stars is not very good, such as David Beckham, the captain of England...... He was broken through by the opposing full-back I don't know how many times. And he didn't break through in the first half, and it's no wonder that the media said before the game that Eriksen shouldn't have started the England captain.

Midfielders Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard seem to know how to run aimlessly in the game.

Run, run!

What's the use? Can not see.

Even the only center forward of the frontcourt team, Zhang Tiehan, who is known as the 'most efficient scorer', doesn't have a very good appearance, and the limited few opportunities to get the ball are always surrounded by many people, they can't think of why this is happening, but they just feel that Zhang Tiehan doesn't seem to be in shape.

To say that the table xiàn is good. Just one can be said of Joe Cole, who constantly broke down the left and was a bright spot for England.

But to say that the real effect is not ......

This is the summary of the England team's first-half table, and even the host of the British radio and television program that broadcast the game live, Leervet, said a little depressed, "Our players don't seem to be in shape, Ecuador is currently one goal ahead, we can only expect midfielder Eriksen to make some adjustments, looking for opportunities to equalize first in the second half......"

……

In the England dressing room. Eriksen was talking about the first half.

The Swedes were naturally very dissatisfied with the team's performance in the first half. But instead of criticizing a player directly, he said it in general and then started to make some adjustments.

"We need to increase the intensity of the fight, increase the intensity...... "we have to fight a little bit harder, add more runs. Put pressure on them to be unbridled with their passes. ”

This is what he values the most.

Throughout the first half of the game, the team was not very hard defensively, although everyone was trying, but it was just running. There was no physical confrontation, and the two teams played very peacefully in the first half, and there was not a single yellow card for 45 minutes, which made Eriksen the most unhappy.

He didn't care much about the team's failure to gain an advantage in the game, mainly because the style of the two teams was there, the team was really not good at possession, but the team also had advantages, such as individual ability, and then such as tough style, tough defense, these are the team's advantages.

How to play to the advantage, change the situation and turn the advantage into a goal, this is what the team needs to do and improve.

This highlights these.

At the same time, Eriksen also asked for more direct passes to the penalty area, in order to create opportunities for Zhang Tiehan in the front court, in the first half Zhang Tiehan's table Xiàn looked at Eriksen's eyes, he knew very well that it was not that Zhang Tiehan was not in shape, but that he had no chance at all, the team's straight attack, three times once to be able to pass the ball to Zhang Tiehan's feet, the only time Zhang Tiehan needed to fight hard, so it was strange to find an opportunity.

There needs to be some changes in the team.

The players in the dressing room listened to Eriksen's words, and somewhat increased their confidence, and they did play very depressed in the first half, but thinking that the opponent was only Ecuador, they felt very unconvinced, what kind of team is Ecuador? How does it compare to them? If they lose like that, they don't feel able to face the English fans.

They held back their strength to perform well in the second half.

……

Finally the second half began.

When the game started, the players of both teams were back into the game, all England supporters expected England to have a good appearance, and the English players on the field were also working hard, several players in the midfield were constantly running, Zhang Tiehan was the same in the front, but he soon found that although the team's situation has improved, at least it will not be suppressed by Ecuador, but he still has few opportunities.

He's up front and it's still hard to get the ball.

The important thing is that the midfielders' passes are not accurate, although they try their best to pass the ball to their feet, but often when the time and position are not right, when they pull out of the gap, the football does not fly over, but when they are caught by two people, the football flies over.

With such a pass, even if he squeezes out of position and fights for the ball, it is difficult to stop and stop.

Even if he stops the ball and wants to turn around and face two or three people, it is very difficult for him to think of what to do, the key is the position and the chance, he passes a player, but he also needs to face a tighter defense. Even if you force a shot, it often doesn't end well.

He's still alone against the opposition backline.

Faced with this situation, Zhang Tiehan could only shake his head and smile bitterly, he found that he was wrong.

Since going to the World Cup with England, he's been a little too reliant on his team-mates, yes. You can say that in a team like England, every team-mate is a star, and he wants to fit in, to work with his team-mates, to find opportunities to shoot together, and in the group stage, it's really not bad to deal with the game table like this.

But Ecuador is the first hurdle.

Ecuador are much better than Paraguay, and they are a South American team that is good at possession. Rather than a team that tends to be defensive in a European style, England and Ecuador will be passive in the game, and with the team table not very good, he will naturally have few opportunities as a member of the team.

He's too dependent on his teammates.

Think about the time when I was at Wigan Athletic, against teams like Arsenal and Chelsea, the support of my teammates was really limited. At that time, the team was not strong, but his watch was still strong. This is because Wigan Athletic positioned themselves on the weak side from the beginning, they passively played counter-attacks, and as a core attacking player, they naturally had many opportunities.

England is different.

No matter what team they face, England will not be the underdogs, at best on par with their team-mates. Yes or like now, the whole England team will feel like a strong side, he is the team's top scorer and not the only star of the team, he still has to rely on cooperation to score goals. But the England team did not have much advantage, and even the situation and passing coordination were not as good as the opponent's.

The mentality is high, but the situation is at a disadvantage.

This kind of gap made the whole team's watch xiàn not very good, and he was also affected as one of them.

Zhang Tiehan felt that he should change his mentality, not rely too much on his teammates and the team, and now he should face Ecuador by himself, rather than thinking about relying on his teammates' passes.

What if you have to face the opponent's entire defense?

What if you don't have the support of your teammates?

Lao Tzu, be fearless!

……

At this time, many English media are still lamenting the performance of the England team.

In the first half, the team's table was not good, they thought that England would turn the situation around in the second half, but they didn't expect the situation to be slightly better, but in fact, the team still has no chance, and if the game continues like this, England will be more and more difficult to play, after all, the leading side is Ecuador.

"We should be more free to attack ......"

'There should have been more passing in midfield, David Beckham should have been substitute......d a long time ago'

"Zhang has no appearance in the front court, and should be replaced by Rooney."

One by one, the media commentators, the brick family called the beast began to give frequent comments to the England team, as if they were all incarnated as tacticians, but it was a pity that Eriksen was indifferent at all, he did not have any idea of substitution, just watched the game on the field.

Eriksen has no intention of making substitutions, so they can only expect a good performance from the players on the field.

At this time, Zhang Tiehan was carefully observing the whole game situation in the front court, observing the position of each teammate and the opposing player, and it was not easy to find opportunities without relying on his teammates alone, although he was very confident in his individual ability, but the previous failures have proved that in the face of the entire Ecuador defense, he has nothing to do alone.

He must find the weak points of the other party.

In the game, wisdom is often more important than hard work, and it is not only the ability to find opportunities, but also to look at the overall situation and see the weaknesses of the other party.

He is now looking for weak points in Ecuador's defense.

After a few tens of points of competition, Zhang Tiehan naturally has his own ideas, he has stayed the longest near the middle penalty area, but it is too difficult to get the ball in this position, it is too difficult to find opportunities to shoot, and it is also difficult to receive passes from teammates in this position.

It didn't take long for him to discover that Ecuador's defense on the left was inadequate.

It's not that Ecuador's left side defense has holes, but that most of their defense is concentrated in the middle, and the defense against themselves is the most, so the defense of the two wings is a little loose, and the Ecuadorian players on the right side are obviously stronger than the right side, and Joe Cole on the left side frequently breaks through, which also leads to some deficiencies in Ecuador's defense.

But as things stand, it won't be easy for the team to find opportunities on the left.

Joe Cole's quick dribble break was good. But it's too difficult for him to find an opportunity to get a kick cross, and with the fact that Ashley Cole behind him is not very good at receiving and inserting very few times, often when Joe Cole breaks through the line, he will be in a situation where he has no support.

England are not an all-attacking team after all, and whenever Joe Cole breaks too far forward. He will break the link with the midfield, which is the weakness of the England team, Zhang Tiehan also found this situation, often at this time, Joe Cole needs to use his personal ability to create zào opportunities, but Zhang Tiehan now does not expect much from others, waiting for Joe Cole to create zào opportunities, it is better to find opportunities yourself.

However, Zhang Tiehan was not in a hurry to go to the left side.

He was still hovering in the middle, constantly running back and forth. is looking for opportunities in the middle steadily, but there is really no chance in the middle, Ecuador's defense is very solid, and it is difficult for the England midfielder to suppress Ecuador, which also leads Zhang Tiehan to be in a situation of no support.

It's hard for him to get a chance.

Little by little, the clock was fast approaching the seventy-first minute.

This time Joe Cole broke through with the ball again and he ran forward quickly when he saw the scene. Zhang Tiehan's eyes lit up, and he slammed into the action to shake off the defender. Run sideways towards the left corner of the penalty area.

The Ecuadorian players who defended Zhang Tiehan were a little flustered for a while.

Hurtado, Espinosa, and Reasco were all around Zhang Tiehan just now, but as soon as he started to run laterally, they didn't know if they should follow, and the important thing was that Zhang Tiehan was running sideways to the left, while left-back De La Cruz was defending Joe Cole. Hurtado, the central defender closest to the left, followed without hesitation, while the other two hesitated slightly, but chose to defend other players, after all, Zhang Tiehan did not get the ball.

But they soon learned that they had made the wrong choice.

Zhang Tiehan waved at Joe Cole as he ran, and at this time, Joe Cole knew what to do even if he was unconscious. He was about to cross, but suddenly saw Zhang Tiehan running over, and he didn't even think about passing the ball back directly.

Zhang Tiehan received a pass in the left corner of the penalty area!

However, at this time, Hurtado had already followed, he stood in front of Zhang Tiehan, blocking the angle of his direct shot, Ecuadorian players will naturally pay attention to Zhang Tiehan's long shot, they will not give him a chance lightly, but Zhang Tiehan did not choose to shoot directly, it is not that there is no chance, but the position in the left corner of the penalty area is not very good, and now there is only one player in front of him, Hurtado, this opportunity can not be missed.

He chose to be outstanding!

Take the ball forward, turn around and start directly, and instantly bypass Hurtado, who didn't have time to react at all, and was directly passed by Zhang Tiehan, this kind of 'Zhang Tiehan-style' back turned and passed directly, he didn't have a chance to use it a few times in the game, because often he got the ball, there are always more than two players on defense, so the big foot ball is likely to be directly cut off by the opponent.

Now facing Urtado alone, Zhang Tiehan can be said to have no pressure.

Kick the ball, turn around, start, several movements are extremely smooth, all in one go, and when Hurtado reacts, Zhang Tiehan has staggered him into the penalty area, Hurtado turned around and wanted to stop but couldn't do it at all, the only thing he could do was to foul, but this is in the penalty area, and a foul is equivalent to giving the opponent a penalty.

He didn't do that.

Because he saw Espinosa coming to him.

After Zhang Tiehan passed Hurtado, he had to face Espinosa's defense, and he couldn't break through any further, the space was too small, and there was simply no more space for him to do that.

Facing Espinosa, Zhang Tiehan made a move to dribble the ball on the bottom line.

Most players will choose this way at this time, as long as he can open a step away, he will have the opportunity to swing his foot and shoot directly, although the angle is a little small, but there is still a chance to score.

Espinosa's first reaction was the same, he was about to run that way, but the next moment he saw Zhang Tiehan choose to dribble horizontally!

Espinosa didn't expect this at all, and when he wanted to turn around to defend again, it was too late, he could only watch Zhang Tiehan take the ball sideways, and then take a step forward directly, and shoot with his right foot from a distance - shoot!

A very fast flat shot!

The ball spun outwards and rushed towards the goal at breakneck speed.

Ecuadorian goalkeeper Mora is waiting solemnly, he and Espinosa have the same idea, they all thought that Zhang Tiehan would break through to the bottom line, but he didn't expect the next moment to usher in the shot, this speed is too fast, from past Hurtado, to the front Espinosa, and then to the shot, during which several actions did not exceed three seconds, Mora did not expect the football to come over like this, and when he reacted, the football had rushed past his feet.

Mora was dumbfounded!

In the face of this shot, he didn't even react at all. (To be continued......)