Chapter 685
Lin Feng scores twice, Wu Lei scores his first World Cup goal, China wins 40-2!
"China has scored again!"
"This goal also came from Lin Feng. He scored the Chinese national team's second goal in the World Cup, and he is also the first player in the history of the Chinese national team to score twice in the World Cup!"
"Now, fans can rest assured and watch the game with peace of mind!"
The two commentators exchanged a smile. They were talking about the fans, but weren't they the fans themselves?
After the Chinese national football team scored its second goal, the players seemed to regain their confidence instantly and completely shed their psychological burden.
Without psychological burdens, the Chinese national football team's performance on the field has improved significantly.
The teamwork techniques previously only seen in training matches are gradually beginning to appear on the field.
In the 38th minute, China took a corner kick, and the Slovakian goalkeeper made a mistake in his attempt to save the ball.
Han Peng's header from 5 meters out hit the post again, but this time, Lady Luck was on his side—the ball bounced into the net after hitting the post!
The score became 3-0, and the Chinese team had secured the victory.
Han Peng was very excited after scoring the goal. He ran to the sidelines and imitated his club teammate Li Jinyu, making a bow and arrow celebration gesture.
Due to age and his own physical condition, Li Jinyu has been out of the national team for a long time.
As one of the best domestic strikers in the last decade, Li Jinyu's biggest regret is probably not being able to participate in the World Cup!
If he were a few years younger, he might have had a real chance to be selected for the national team and compete in the World Cup with Han Peng.
"That kid Dapeng!"
Li Jinyu, who was watching the live broadcast of the match at home in China, thousands of miles away, was deeply moved by what he saw.
Li Jinyu, who was once again left out of the national team and missed the opportunity to participate in the World Cup, was filled with regret.
But seeing his good friend's outstanding performance in the game, Li Jinyu gradually felt relieved and was genuinely happy for his friend.
"Dapeng, keep going! You must keep going!"
This team is already perfect; they don't need a veteran like me to cause trouble. All I can do is offer my blessings to these young players.
"Brother Dapeng is awesome!"
"As expected of the Chinese national football team's top aerial attacker, that header was really cool!"
His teammates gathered around, showering Han Peng with compliments until he was embarrassed.
"Hehe, not at all, it was the opposing goalkeeper's mistake, otherwise I wouldn't have had this opportunity!"
Actually, it's not just the Chinese players who feel nervous; the opposing players are just as nervous.
This was, after all, the first match for both teams in this World Cup, and a crucial game that would determine whether they could advance.
The Slovakian team was already at a disadvantage, and the fact that they had conceded two goals to China had greatly affected the players' mentality.
The mistakes on the field gradually increased, eventually leading to this disaster in front of the goal.
In fact, the opposing goalkeeper made another mistake after that one.
In the 43rd minute, the Chinese national team's attack once again broke through the opponent's defense.
The Slovakian goalkeeper made a decisive decision to come out, but slipped and missed the target while clearing the ball. Fortunately, a Slovakian defender was nearby and cleared the ball out of bounds with a long kick.
If his clearance had been just a fraction of a second slower, the ball might have already been won by the Chinese team and into the goal.
In the final minute of stoppage time, Lin Feng cut inside from the right wing, only to be intercepted by the opposing defender.
He deliberately adjusted his position and made a striking motion as if he were hitting a door.
The other party fell for the trick and immediately stopped and raised their leg to try to intercept.
But he soon realized that it was a feint by the other party.
After faking out the defender to block him, Lin Feng adjusted the angle of the ball and, from the right side of the penalty area, used his left foot to curl a shot.
Some of Robben's fans, upon seeing this shot, immediately thought of the Dutchman.
Lin Feng's move, from cutting inside to feinting past the defender, and finally curling a left-footed shot, was almost identical to Robben's.
Unfortunately, his shot was a little too powerful, and the ball grazed the far post and went out of bounds.
As the ball flew out of bounds, a series of sighs came from the fans in the stadium.
"What a pity! If that ball had gone in, Lin Feng would have completed a hat trick!"
Both commentators also expressed their regret over Lin Feng's shot:
"Yes, that was a really beautiful shot, but you were too focused on the angle. You could have shot it a little more inside!"
"Perhaps Lin Feng was worried that the opposing goalkeeper would save the shot, so he wanted to shoot into a corner. But in hindsight, the opposing goalkeeper didn't have time to make the save!"
"Hehe, maybe it's because Lin Feng has played too many matches in leagues like La Liga and the Champions League that he thinks all goalkeepers are at the level of top clubs. Actually, he's overestimating the level of World Cup goalkeepers!"
A few days ago, England's goalkeeper made a shocking blunder, causing England to lose three points that were within their grasp.
The British team is considered a traditional powerhouse in Europe, and even their goalkeepers are of this caliber, let alone those from ordinary teams.
The World Cup is intense because of the players' commitment and physical confrontation. If we're just comparing skills, it may not actually be as technically advanced as the Champions League.
There was only one minute of stoppage time in the first half, and neither team managed to score.
After the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, the Chinese national football team returned to their locker room with a 3-goal lead.
Inside the locker room, Old Zhu was beaming, giving each player a high-five and a hug as they entered.
"Well done, you little rascals, keep playing like this in the second half!"
"Just you wait and see, old man. In the second half, I'll show them what a top 15 Bundesliga striker can do!"
Gao Lin, who didn't score a single goal in the first half, patted his chest and made a bold claim.
But something about that sounds a bit off.
Top 15 strikers in the Bundesliga?
Could it be that I'm in fifteenth place?
Given Gao Lin's personality, if his ranking were even slightly higher, he wouldn't be talking about the top 15, but rather the top 14 or even 13.
"Conserve your energy, be careful not to get injured, we need to prepare for the next game!"
Old Zhu, however, decided to call it a day. They had already scored three goals, and as long as they didn't make a series of fatal mistakes in the second half, the opponent wouldn't be able to catch up. Since the victory was already secured, there was no need for them to continue wasting their energy in this match; they should save their precious energy for the next, more important game.
China's next opponent is defending champion Italy. Although Italy's performance in the first round was not particularly outstanding, even a weakened giant is still formidable.
For a team like the Chinese national football team, which is far inferior to its opponents in both ranking and World Cup experience, it must be extremely vigilant when facing the defending champions.
……
In the second half, the Chinese team changed their tactics, using a possession-based strategy typically employed against weaker teams to counter Slovakia.
In recent years, with the rise of Barcelona and the Spanish national team, possession-based tactics have been widely imitated around the world.
Not only some clubs, but also many national teams are imitating this tactic.
This tactic places high demands on the midfield. Teams without top-class midfielders who try to imitate this tactic will only end up with a poor imitation.
But coincidentally, the Chinese national football team has such a top-class midfielder.
With Lin Feng controlling the midfield, the Chinese national football team played a decent passing and possession style of football.
While they are still far from the pinnacle of possession-based football like Barcelona and the Spanish national team, they are more than capable of dealing with some weaker teams.
The advantage of possession-based football lies in its strong control of the game. The high possession rate makes it difficult for the opponent to touch the ball, and without possession, it means that no attack can be launched and no threat can be made to the opponent's goal.
Instead, their own goal was constantly being bombarded by the opponent!
Seeing that the Chinese team had switched to a possession-based style of play, Slovakia did try to find a solution.
However, Lin Feng's presence put them in a dilemma. If they pressed forward to press, their backline defense would become vulnerable. If Lin Feng found an opportunity and delivered a decisive pass, they would concede another goal.
However, if they don't push forward, the few players in the frontcourt alone won't be able to win the ball, and they'll just be constantly outmaneuvered by the opponent.
Even more critically, in order to defend against the Chinese team's passing and possession threat, the Slovakian defenders were highly focused and extremely tense throughout the game, which undoubtedly increased the rate at which they expended their energy.
In addition, the intensity of World Cup matches is inherently higher than that of regular matches. After 65 minutes, the opposing players' physical condition begins to suffer, and players begin to experience cramps.
"How about we let Wu Lei give it a try?"
Seeing that the outcome was decided and that the opponent's physical condition had reached its limit, making them unable to threaten the Chinese team's goal, the assistant coach suggested to Zhu Guanghu that Wu Lei and a few other promising young players be allowed to play and experience the atmosphere of the game.
"Okay, let him warm up! Oh, and call Zhang Linpeng too!"
Li Weifeng is, after all, a 32-year-old veteran. His physical condition cannot compare with that of the younger players, so he needs to rest more. The next game will still rely on these veterans to carry the team!
In the 70th minute, both teams made substitutions at almost the same time.
The Chinese national football team made two substitutions at once, with 18-and-a-half-year-old Wu Lei coming on as a substitute, replacing Han Peng, the team's goal scorer.
21-year-old Zhang Linpeng replaced veteran Li Weifeng!
The audience gave the two veterans who came off the field a warm round of applause, while also looking forward to the two young players who came on as substitutes.
Zhang Linpeng already has a record of coming on as a substitute for Inter Milan. He has been training at a powerhouse club like Inter Milan for a long time, and he has also experienced the intensity of matches in the top five European leagues.
Therefore, he adapted very well to the intensity of the World Cup. Although he played center-back instead of his preferred full-back position, his performance on the field was still commendable and very steady.
"Xiao Zhang's physical attributes are really good! His physique and muscles make him look like a player from Europe!"
"That's right. Watch him go head-to-head with the opposing striker; he dominated the entire time, and the striker couldn't gain any advantage over him at all!"
Compared to Zhang Linpeng's performance, Wu Lei's performance was somewhat unsatisfactory.
He wasn't nervous, but rather a little too excited, running around aimlessly in the attacking third, always looking for a perfect opportunity to make a name for himself.
Running around aimlessly is one thing, but the real problem is that they often inexplicably fall into the opponent's offside trap.
Lin Feng passed the ball to him three times, two of which were offside, and the third time he miscontrolled the ball and took too long.
If Zhang Linpeng's debut deserves a 7 out of 10, then Wu Lei's performance is so poor that even a 3 out of 10 is questionable!
In the 82nd minute, the Chinese national team used its last substitution, with Hao Junmin coming on to replace Lin Feng.
Without Lin Feng passing the ball to Wu Lei, Wu Lei became completely silent on the field.
"Making a name for yourself overnight isn't that easy. It's good to teach him a lesson he'll learn from!"
"Won't this damage the players' confidence?"
"It's alright, this kid isn't that fragile. I'll encourage him a bit more later and give him a pep talk, and he'll be fine!"
Old Zhu didn't expect Wu Lei to have any magical performance after he came on, so he wasn't disappointed with Wu Lei's performance.
If they play like this in the first game, it will be difficult for them to get playing time in the next one!
Just when everyone thought Wu Lei's debut would be a disaster, the kid hit the jackpot!
In the 87th minute, the opposing defender made a passing error, which was intercepted by Hao Junmin, who had just come on as a substitute.
The moment Hao Junmin made the interception, Wu Lei keenly seized the opportunity, making a quick run and lurking behind the opposing defender.
Faced with the opponent's counter-pressing, Hao Junmin didn't have time to observe. He vaguely saw a red figure running out and subconsciously passed the ball to it.
Ball here, player here!
The moment Wu Lei received the ball, he was already in a one-on-one situation, and he was just onside – the opposing center-back, who was trailing behind in the middle, was right on the offside line.
Wu Lei remained unusually calm in the face of the goalkeeper who had rushed out of his goal.
Images of countless shooting drills on the training field flashed through his mind. Ignoring the opposing goalkeeper, he glanced at the far corner, calmly adjusted his rhythm, and then smoothly completed the shot.
Although the Slovakian goalkeeper immediately scrambled to block the shot, the ball barely grazed his toes.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment. Amidst the anxious gazes of countless people, the football rolled slowly toward the far post, bounced slightly after striking the inside of the post, and landed bouncyly within the goal line.
The score is now 4-0!
Wu Lei scored his first goal for the national team in the final moments of the match, which was also his first goal in the World Cup!
"This kid... he actually scored?"
On the coaching bench, Zhu Guanghu and his assistant coaches looked at each other in bewilderment.
Who would have thought that Wu Lei, who had performed poorly earlier, would actually score a goal in the final moments of the match!
You say he was lucky, and there was definitely an element of luck involved in that play. If it weren't for the mistake by the opposing defender, the Chinese team wouldn't have had that attacking opportunity.
However, Wu Lei's performance was not influenced by luck at all. His keen sense of smell, his excellent positioning, and his calm handling of the situation in front of the goal all demonstrated his potential as a top-notch striker.
"Hmm, perhaps giving him a little more time in the next match isn't out of the question?"
Old Zhu rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought. (End of Chapter)