Fox in the Penalty Area

Hu Lixin turned over, and felt in a daze that there was a light around him. When he opened his sleepy eyes, he saw his wife lying next to him and looking at her mobile phone.

That bright light is what the phone screen emits in the dark.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Two-thirty."

Hu Lixin complained: "Then you still not sleeping?"

"Can't sleep. Don't want to sleep."

"Tsk..." Hu Lixin stood up slightly, and saw clearly what was on his wife's phone screen—she was scrolling through Douyin.

"Don't look at TikTok, it's all scolding the national football team." Hu Lixin reminded his wife.

"I'm watching funny jokes to make myself feel better."

"So are you in a better mood now? Can you go to sleep?"

Xie Lan put the phone aside, turned around and looked at her husband, her eyes wide open in the darkness: "You can actually sleep?"

"What else? I have to go to work tomorrow..."

"You don't go to school until lunch, what are you pretending to be like? Nobody said anything to anyone I have to go to work tomorrow morning!"

"Yeah, aren't you going to work tomorrow morning?"

"I asked the director for leave. I said that the national team was in a bad mood after losing and I didn't want to work. I asked for a day off."

Hu Lixin grinned, and the word "good guy" was in his throat, so he didn't dare to say it.

He knew that his wife had been in a very bad mood since watching the Chinese game at night. If he said something wrong at this time, he would not be able to sleep until dawn.

"I'm just wondering, old Hu, why can you fall asleep after watching such a game?" Xie Lan propped his head up with one hand, staring at her husband in the dark with wide eyes.

"Because I was mentally prepared. Since Lin Zhiyuan retired from injury, I have no hope for this Asian Cup." Hu Lixin explained.

"I'm upset not because we lost the game today, but because we played too badly. What does it have to do with Lin Zhiyuan's presence? Didn't you see the performance of the Chinese team today? The attack in the frontcourt was restricted by Iraq.

There is no solution, and the backcourt cannot prevent the opponent's counterattack, and the opponent hits one by one..."

When Hu Lixin heard his wife's series of questions, his drowsiness disappeared, and he couldn't fall asleep for a while.

So he sighed:

"I think you had too high expectations for the team's performance before the Asian Cup. Although it is the Asian Cup, all you think about is their performance in the World Cup. There are also those people on the Internet, such as you on Douyin. Those marketing accounts that came out, just opened their mouths and shut up, saying 'the national football team is the only undefeated team in the World Cup', as if we can draw with Brazil in the World Cup and sweep Asia...Football is not an upgrade game, it's a high level You must be able to beat a lower class - just because you can beat or draw a world champion in one game, doesn't mean you can beat a weaker team in another."

At 2:30 in the middle of the night, the couple lay on the bed and chatted about football seriously.

"Don't compare me with those trolls who don't understand football on Douyin! The problem now is that compared with the one in the World Cup, this national team basically has no change in terms of personnel or tactics. The same staffing , the same tactics, the opponent is not as strong, so why did you play poorly? I am not saying that the result of the game was unexpected. After all, football is round. But from the scene, it is not justifiable to play badly. right?"

Sheilan rebutted her husband.

When Hu Lixin heard what his wife said, he couldn't refute it immediately.

Because he thought about it, his wife made sense.

The result is accidental. Evening the former world champion half a year ago does not mean that he will be able to win the Asian-level opponents half a year later.

But the game scene really speaks volumes.

You can lose, but not in a bad way for everyone to see.

As for the game last night, unfortunately, the Chinese team lost their first Asian Cup in just such a way.

In this game, the head coach Dong Jianhai did his best to play the strongest lineup that Chinese football can currently produce.

Formation 433, starting goalkeeper Hao De, starting central defenders Yao Huasheng and Wang Guangwei, left back Qu Lu, right back Bai Di. The three midfielders are Xia Xiaoyu, Zhang Qinghuan and Jiang Wanqing. On the front line, Hu Lai is in the center, Chen Xingyi is on the left, and Luo Kai is on the right.

Except for the position of the goalkeeper, the other ten players cannot be said to be indistinguishable from those in the World Cup, they can only be said to be exactly the same.

With such a mature lineup and style of play, it stands to reason that even if Iraq is the second-tier team in this group, there should be no suspense for the Chinese team to win them.

Even if it is more pessimistic, considering that this is the first game of the Asian Cup, the players did not enter the rhythm of the competition so quickly and found the state, and their performance was a bit fluctuating. A draw against Iraq is not unacceptable.

After all, the remaining two opponents, whether it is the Philippines or Palestine, are not the opponents of this Chinese team.

So qualifying for the group is not a problem. The important thing is to get the first place in the group, so that the road to the knockout round will be easier.

If you accidentally draw with Iraq, then as long as you get more goal difference on Palestine and the Philippines, it will do.

The official goal for this Asian Cup is to reach the semi-finals, but fans and media opinion believe that the Chinese team has the strength to compete for the championship.

Qualifying as the first in the group and meeting a good opponent in the knockout round will help the Chinese team go further in the Asian Cup and realize everyone's high expectations for them.

As a result, the Chinese team, which played with the strongest lineup and the most familiar tactics, could not do anything about Iraq's dense defense in the game.

Although Hu Lai scored a goal in the game, the goal was invalid because Zhang Qinghuan fouled first when counter-stealing the ball.

After being unable to attack for a long time, the Chinese team allowed Iraq to successfully attack in the 31st minute and conceded the ball first.

The mentality of the players has changed.

The more you kick, the more urgent you are.

Even after the intermission adjustment, there is no improvement.

In the 77th minute, Iraq once again used a quick counterattack to score.

Although Dong Jianhai replaced Zhou Zijing after losing the ball to strengthen the Chinese team's offensive fulcrum in the penalty area, it didn't help.

Falling behind by two goals with only ten minutes left, with the state shown by the Chinese team in this game... the general trend is over.

In this game, Iraq obviously made very sufficient and meticulous preparations, and they almost studied the Chinese team thoroughly.

Defensively, he restricted Chen Xingyi and Luo Kai's breakthroughs by tightening the fence in the penalty area. When dealing with Hu Lai, he always ensured that he had at least two Iraqi players around him. Block up and fill up all the gaps that may exist in the penalty area, and let Hu Lai, who is good at finding gaps, face the embarrassing situation that there is no gap to use.

As for Zhang Qinghuan and Xia Xiaoyu, instead of pressing too much, they let them pass the ball outside the penalty area. This seems a bit negative, and it is letting the ball go to the Chinese team. But it actually ensures that there will be no breaches in the fence they have tightened in the penalty area.

As long as there is no space in the penalty area, no matter how good Zhang Qinghuan and Xia Xiaoyu's passes are, they will not be able to perform well.

At the same time, in terms of offense, Iraq chose two fast and impactful young forwards, specifically targeting the Chinese team's left back Qu Lu.

Dong Jianhai probably wanted to win against Iraq, so he chose Qu Lu, who has a stronger offensive attribute, in the starting game.

Qu Lu did, according to the head coach's tactical arrangement, go forward many times to participate in the offense.

And Iraq just took advantage of this to storm the space behind Qulu's advance.

In the game, Qu Lu repeatedly attacked and could not come back. Iraq had one hit and one hit. The Chinese fans who watched were terrified.

Iraq's first goal was a counterattack from Qulu's side.

Dong Jianhai also saw the problem on Qu Lu's side.

So a substitution was made during the intermission, and Jiao Qirui, who was more defensively stable, replaced Qu Lu.

However, at this time, the Chinese team was already behind by one goal, and they still had to continue to attack in the second half.

So replacing Qulu with another one has no effect.

After they made a big push, the entire backcourt was empty, not just a problem on the left wing.

Generally speaking, after watching this game, even a person who does not understand football will feel aggrieved and unhappy.

Our strongest team bombarded the young Iraqi national team and couldn't score a goal, but was taken away by the opponent twice.

In the World Cup, there is no bloody football at all, and the energy seems to be not as good as the World Cup.

Could it be that the Asian Cup is not as exciting as the World Cup to excite the Chinese players?

Just after the game ended... no, the game was not over yet, and there were criticisms against the Chinese team on the Internet.

Some words are still ugly.

The same group of players, their evaluation in the World Cup and the evaluation in the Asian Cup are completely different, very different. In an instant, many people found the feeling of watching the national football game a few years ago.

I have to say, this is football.

Just because you were able to draw with Brazil half a year ago doesn't mean you'll be able to beat Iraq half a year later. Half a year ago you were praised by the public opinion, and half a year later you can be trampled into the mud by the public opinion.

Hu Lixin didn't know how to evaluate this game. Is there something wrong with the players? Or is there a problem with the coach's tactical arrangement? Or is there a problem with the Football Association's preparations?

From the perspective of a football coach, he can't just vent his emotions like those fans on the Internet.

In the end, he could only say to his wife: "You are right. But the game has already been lost. The next thing is to see if the Chinese team can learn from it and play well in the remaining two group matches."

Changing the conversation from the game we lost to the two games we have yet to play helps my wife get out of the way of being angry all the time.

Sure enough, Xie Lan's attention immediately turned to the future: "Hey old Hu, do you think we won't even be able to qualify for the group stage this time?"

Hu Lixin shook his head, his hair rubbing against the pillow making noises.

"No, it's okay to qualify for the group stage. Losing this game is not a bad thing for the Chinese team. At least it can make them pay more attention to their next opponents, so that they won't... capsize in the gutter."

"That's good. If you can't even make it out of the team, it's really a shame..." Xie Lan said.

"Go to sleep, it's almost three o'clock." Hu Lixin persuaded his wife to go to bed again.

This time Xie Lan didn't get angry with him anymore, but hummed lightly.

After that, neither of the two spoke again, and the bedroom became quiet again.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of long and steady breathing resounded in the room.

The first match day of the Asian Cup Chinese team is over.

This night, I don't know how many people will be unable to sleep for a long time because of this game.

But the reason is completely different from the night after the World Cup opener half a year ago.