Chapter 688
: First Half - 11-1 Draw with Italy, Old Zhu's Inspirational Quote
This attack by the Italian team really scared Chinese fans!
But everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Chiellini's close-range shot miss!
[Thank you so much, Chiellini! That's too kind of you, everyone's rushing to send us gifts!]
[The Italian team's luck is just unbelievable. First, Cannavaro made a basic mistake, and now Chiellini missed an open goal. If I were Lippi, I'd quit on the spot!]
[Haha, doesn't Lippi bear any responsibility? Look at the kind of amazing players he chose. Last season, Juventus finished 7th in Serie A, yet he used the Juventus squad as the core of the national team. Knowing that there were no top strikers available, he was unwilling to call up Totti to fill the gap.]
Cannavaro was a complete mess at Juventus last season, yet they still treat him like a treasure.
These personnel selection errors are one thing, but the key issue is the extremely conservative tactics.
It's fine if you play conservatively in the knockout stages, but to play like this in the group stage is unbearable even for a 20-year Italian football fan like me!
The Italian team has a unique characteristic: they are not strong against weak teams, but they are strong against strong teams.
It seems that their path to the next round is extremely difficult in every tournament.
In the 02 World Cup, Italy suffered a shock defeat to Croatia in their second group stage match, putting themselves in a desperate situation. They barely managed to qualify after a draw against Mexico in their third match.
In the 04 European Championship, the Italian team was completely eliminated in the group stage, unable to even beat the weak Nordic teams. They were utterly doomed!
The 06 World Cup, the one in which Italy won the title, also saw their qualification process not be smooth sailing.
After being held to a draw by the bottom-ranked USA team in the second round of the group stage, the Italian team was forced to play a do-or-die match against the Czech Republic, and finally advanced with a corner kick and a red card from the opponent.
The 08 European Championship was equally dismal, with the world champions, Italy, managing only a paltry one point in their first two group stage matches.
If it weren't for the Dutch helping them out by defeating Romania, the Italians would probably have been eliminated in the group stage once again.
For Italian fans, watching Italian matches is pure torture.
They seem to possess some kind of magic, able to force a 50/50 match against opponents of any level, completely defying the dominance of top-tier teams.
Pirlo's absence has had a clear impact on the Italian team.
Without his highly creative passes, the Italian team's attack in the frontcourt seemed somewhat ineffective.
In the 25th minute, Pepe passed the ball to Marchisio, who, unable to find an opportunity, decided to go it alone. After shaking off the defenders in front of the penalty area, he took a shot, which, unsurprisingly, was blocked by the Chinese defenders.
Seeing that his players were starting to play haphazardly, Lippi couldn't stand it anymore. Under his instructions, De Rossi moved forward from the defensive midfield position to the central midfield position to start linking up the game.
De Rossi is a model of modern defensive midfielder, possessing both defensive capabilities and considerable offensive skills.
Matthäus once called him the new Pirlo, which shows that he does indeed have his own talent in organization and passing.
In the 30th minute, De Rossi saw an opportunity on the right wing and made a wide pass to the right.
After receiving the ball on the right wing, Montolivo, like Marchisio, also opted for a long-range shot.
His shot was even further from the goal, but unlike Marchisio, who saw no opportunity and just took a random shot, Montolivo clearly saw a chance.
The Chinese national team goalkeeper was positioned towards the right side of the goal, leaving the far side relatively open. Montolivo's shot was aimed precisely at the far corner.
It's a pity that while he chose a good angle, his accuracy was slightly lacking.
With a muffled thud, the ball slammed against the post and bounced out, and Italy once again missed the chance to equalize.
But this shot made the national team coach Zhu Guanghu see danger.
He immediately ordered his men to tighten their marking on De Rossi in an attempt to contain Italy's attack.
Unexpectedly, this backfired. In the 33rd minute, Zheng Zhi pulled down De Rossi on the edge of the penalty area and was shown a yellow card by the referee.
De Rossi took the free kick himself, sending the ball into the penalty area.
The pass was perfect; Iaquinta overpowered Li Weifeng, who was marking him, and leaped high to send the ball into the Chinese team's goal.
This is the first goal that the Chinese team has conceded in this World Cup.
The score became 1-1, with Italy equalizing in the 34th minute.
"That goal was a bit of a blow!"
"Yes, if the Chinese national team could hold on for another ten minutes, they could drag the first half through and go into the locker room with a one-goal lead. They would have a greater advantage in the second half. Now both sides are back on the same starting line. Once the Italian team's morale is high, they will definitely launch another major attack, and the Chinese team may concede another goal!"
Sigh, when I saw the national team fail to push their defense forward, I knew they were going to collapse, and sure enough...
Even a weakened giant is still a formidable opponent. While Italy is weaker than it was four years ago, it remains a top-tier team. We can't expect the Chinese national team to keep a clean sheet against them; that's unrealistic!
Actually, getting even one point would be great. That would bring our total to four points, and with our superior goal difference, a draw in the next match would be enough to qualify!
[Stop, stop! Don't say something like a draw is enough to qualify. It's like there's a curse on the Chinese national football team; every time they're in a situation where a draw is enough to qualify, things never end well!]
This goal conceded poured cold water on the previously optimistic Chinese football fans, making them realize that the gap in strength between the two teams still exists. Although the Italian team has become weaker, it will not be so easy for the Chinese team to defeat them.
A small number of fans are blaming Chinese national team defender Li Weifeng, believing that he failed to mark Iaquinta, which gave the opponent a chance to shoot comfortably.
However, the vast majority of fans did not kick him while he was down. Li Weifeng is old, and his height and weight are not his advantage. It is already very difficult for him to withstand Iaquinta for more than 30 minutes before conceding a goal.
Instead of blaming him, we should think about how to avoid similar problems in the future.
[How about we try bringing Zhang Linpeng on in the second half? He played quite well as a substitute center-back in the last game!]
[Zhang Linpeng's physical attributes are indeed outstanding; it seems he wouldn't be at a significant disadvantage even against Iaquinta. However, he's not a true center-back.] [Yes, the last opponent was weak, and the game was essentially over; it can't be used as a benchmark. This match is against the defending champions, and the intensity is much higher. If Zhang Linpeng is brought on and doesn't perform, it will harm both the team and himself!]
The issues that fans are discussing are actually the same issues that Lao Zhu is worried about.
Li Weifeng's age was a major concern for him even before the World Cup began.
But there really aren't any suitable center-backs in China right now. Can Zhao Peng play center-back?
I can't play, I don't have the ability, you know that?!
Others like Ji Mingyi, Zhang Yaokun, Du Wei, and Xu Yunlong all have one problem or another, and they are generally not young anymore.
Among the younger players, there are probably only Wang Qiang from Shandong Luneng and Liu Jian from Qingdao Jonoon, both of whom are in their mid-career. However, their abilities are far inferior to those of Feng Xiaoting and Li Weifeng.
Fortunately, after young players like Zhang Linpeng emerged, Zhu Guanghu saw several promising defenders among the young players from 88-89.
For example, Mei Fang, who is currently playing abroad in Strasbourg, and Ren Hang, who plays for Changsha Ginde.
But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. These players may be able to shoulder the responsibility in the next World Cup cycle, but at this moment, they cannot save the national team.
"It's okay, we can just go in another one!"
Seeing that his teammates seemed a bit dejected, Lin Feng took the initiative to step forward and comfort them, saying something in a lighthearted manner.
Actually, scoring against a team like Italy, which is known for its defense, is no easy feat.
But he carries the hopes of countless people. If even he thinks it's impossible, then his teammates will only feel more desperate!
……
After equalizing, the Italian team launched an even more intense attack on the Chinese goal.
In the 38th minute, Italy won another corner kick.
Pepe took a corner kick from the left, still looking for Iaquinta.
However, the ball was cleared by the Chinese team at the near post, and it flew to the Italian defender Criscito. This guy hesitated for a moment, and at first he seemed to want to pass the ball, but after not finding a suitable passing target, he changed to shooting himself.
As a result of insufficient force, the shot was weak and easily caught by the goalkeeper.
Italy's offensive did not end there. In the 40th minute, Montolivo sent a diagonal pass from the wing, and De Rossi received the ball in front of the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot.
The shot was very powerful, but the angle wasn't controlled well, and it went slightly wide of the goal frame.
Seeing that the team was completely on the defensive, Lin Feng, together with Zheng Zhi and Zhao Xuri, began to press and intercept the opposing players in midfield, especially De Rossi.
De Rossi had been handling Zheng Zhi with ease, but he immediately struggled after being intercepted by Lin Feng.
Lippi has a keen sense of smell. He noticed that the team was gradually losing control in midfield and immediately gave a signal to the team to tighten their formation and stop attacking.
Italy excels at counter-attacking; they build a solid defense and wait for their opponents to make mistakes—that's their winning formula.
Through these forty-plus minutes of play, he had already discerned that the Chinese team's midfield was strong, but their defense was weak. If the formation was pushed too far forward, the Chinese team could use their powerful midfield to protect their defense, making it difficult for the Italian team to launch an effective attack.
The previous goal was scored from a set piece; Italy didn't actually gain much advantage in positional play.
However, if they can draw the opponent's formation out and disrupt their compact defensive formation, relying on counter-attacks and the individual skills of their forwards to overcome the opponent's defenders, then Italy's chances of winning will be very high.
"What a cunning old fox! No wonder everyone calls him Silver Fox!"
Zhu Guanghu had just seen a glimmer of opportunity when the opponent immediately made adjustments, making him secretly lament that Lippi, that old fox, was too cunning.
Towards the end of the first half, after launching continuous attacks for more than ten minutes, the Italian team finally began to tighten their formation and cease their offensive efforts.
The Chinese team immediately switched from offense to defense, took control of the game, and launched an attack on the opponent.
However, time was running out for the Chinese team, and they also had to be wary of counterattacks. As a result, the Chinese team did not dare to commit too many players to the attack, and their attacks were like scratching an itch through a boot, failing to achieve good results.
In the final minute of first-half stoppage time, Lin Feng's long-range shot from 25 meters out was brilliantly saved by Marchetti. The referee glanced at his watch, did not award China a corner kick, and ended the game directly.
This decision angered the Chinese players. Although corner kicks don't have a high success rate, they are still a way to threaten the opponent's goal, and with a bit of luck, they might actually score.
During halftime, instead of immediately arranging tactics for the second half, Coach Zhu first worked on the players' mental state to reduce their stress.
He noticed that the players were too tense in the first half. Although Italy was the defending champion, in terms of actual strength, were they really stronger than top teams like Argentina and Germany that they had played before?
That doesn't seem so, does it?
When Argentina was relentlessly attacking China's goal, the suffocating feeling was truly unbearable.
As for the German team, they have an extremely strong attacking force, and they attack wave after wave. If you can't keep up with their pace, you will be overwhelmed and suffer a crushing defeat.
While Italy's attack is also quite threatening, it's nowhere near as effective as these two teams!
The first two teams are capable of tearing apart or even completely crushing the Chinese team's defense in positional warfare.
However, the Italian team did not have this ability. In the first half, their most frequently used tactic was to cross the ball to find tall players in the penalty area and then use their height to bombard the opponent with headers.
It's not that this kind of attacking method is bad; as long as it leads to a goal, any method is worth trying.
But for a top team like Italy, relying solely on this one tactic makes them too difficult to defeat.
This is against a relatively weak Chinese team, and they're already struggling like this.
If they make it to the knockout stage and face a favorite to win the tournament or a traditionally strong team, I don't know how the Italian team will win!
"Focus on our own game, play boldly and confidently. I'll take the blame if we lose. What are you afraid of?"
"Besides, the other side is the defending champion. Losing to them is not shameful. No one will blame you!"
On the contrary, if we can beat them, you'll be heroes in the eyes of the whole nation. Even if we don't qualify, the whole country will still give you a thumbs up when they talk about the result of this game!
Hearing Lao Zhu's words, Lin Feng, the team captain, also spoke up:
"Old Zhu is right. We shouldn't have had any psychological burden in this game. Losing wouldn't be a loss, and winning would be a huge bonus. Everyone, don't think too much. In the second half, just find an opportunity and pass the ball to me!"
Whether it was Old Zhu's motivational words that worked, or Lin Feng's statement that reassured his teammates, the tense expressions on their faces finally eased. (End of Chapter)