Fox in the Penalty Area

What happened in Game 1

Nigeria's head coach Ebubelia Oadebo saw the players looking lost on the court and shouted anxiously from the sidelines. At the same time, he waved his arms vigorously and told the Nigerian players with exaggerated body language:

Don't panic! Hold on! We still have a chance!

As a legend of Nigerian football, Oladebo's status in the hearts of Nigerian players is very high.

Under his continuous reminders, the Nigerian players finally stabilized their mentality.

Their offense also gradually returned to the level before conceding the ball.

The focus of the attack is still on Qin Qi.

In Oladebo's eyes, Qin Qi is still the biggest problem in the Chinese team's defense.

As long as the pressure continues, the young centre-back will surely make another mistake.

If Nigeria still wants to create a miracle, then attacking Qin Qi is indeed the only feasible way.

Qin Qi began to bear tremendous pressure here again.

But unlike before, Qin Qi was no longer uneasy, but eager to try.

He is not Lin Zhiyuan's kind of person who likes to be in the limelight, but in his heart he really wants Nigeria to attack more fiercely.

Because he still remembers what Captain Wang said to him:

He wants to trick Nigeria into coming in and kill him!

If he can keep Nigeria's offense firmly on his side, it will be his huge contribution to the team's defense!

When Ibrahim Opoku faced Qin Qi, he used the same method as before.

He simply relied on speed to force a breakthrough.

But just before he started it, Qin Qi had predicted his intention and started it in advance!

Now Opoku's speed advantage is offset...

Opoku, who failed to speed up in time, was stuck by Qin Qi.

The latter still had moves on his hands this time, but he did not hesitate to let Opoku break into the penalty area.

But before he entered the penalty area, he stopped the person with his hands and feet.

Opoku wanted to push the football away with his feet, but he was half a beat too late, allowing Qin Qi to block the football first. He and Qin Qi exchanged a kick, lost his balance, almost fell to the ground, and lost the ball...

Opoku opened his arms and complained to the referee, indicating that Qin Qi had committed a foul.

But the referee was indifferent this time.

I ignored him.

Qin Qi, who intercepted the ball, ignored him and quickly passed the football at his feet.

The Nigerian player Opoku who lost the ball was still complaining behind him.

Qin Qi didn't even look at him and continued to participate in the game.

The defensive zone he was in was attacked fiercely by Nigerian players, and he was in no mood to quarrel with the opponent's players.

Besides, he is not Brother Hu...

※※※

Seeing Nigeria staring at Qin Qi's side, the Chinese team's defense also shifted its focus in the direction of Qin Qi.

At this moment, Nigeria suddenly changed the direction of their attack - they hit the ball back to the other side!

Cai Shuyi, who was originally defending there, was caught off guard and the opponent seized the opportunity and shot!

"Be careful! Danger!"

"Hey Lin Zhiyuan! Beautiful! Beautiful save! He saved Okuye's shot!"

Fortunately, the Chinese team's goalkeeper Lin Zhiyuan was very focused and did not relax his vigilance against enemies coming from other directions just because Nigeria had been besieging Qin Qi.

Facing the shot of Nigeria center Zaide Okuye, he dived and saved the football from the bottom line.

Although Nigeria was given a corner kick, it did not allow the opponent to score directly.

After the corner kick was taken, Ou Yangjin headed the ball away before anyone else, and did not let Nigeria's corner kick threaten the goal guarded by Lin Zhiyuan.

On the sidelines, Nigerian head coach Ebubelia Oladebo saw that the attack failed to score a goal. He leaned back regretfully and almost sat on the ground.

It was his instruction to the team to make the team suddenly turn when attacking.

He also saw that the Chinese team focused its defense on Qin Qi's side, intending to take advantage of the Chinese team's psychological blind spots to catch the opponent off guard.

He almost succeeded, if it weren't for the concentration of the Chinese team's goalkeeper...

There is no foolproof tactical arrangement in football matches. He made this temporary adjustment because he wanted to catch the Chinese team off guard.

If he didn't succeed, he would have lost his best chance.

He would not expect that such an opportunity would be available again, just like wholesale.

That's why he was so excited and regretful, because his team missed more than just a scoring opportunity in the game...

※※※

"The Chinese team scored again..."

"They lead Nigeria 3:1!"

"It looks like they are going to be the first to qualify from this group..."

In the stands of the Crown Stadium, some Spanish fans were discussing what happened in another stadium.

But people like them are very few.

The vast majority of Spanish fans don't care what is happening in the other stadium.

Because the results of the match between the Chinese team and Nigeria will not affect the match between Spain and Italy at all.

Regardless of the outcome of the match between China and Nigeria, whoever wins between Spain and Italy will advance to the group stage.

Italy's conditions are slightly more relaxed - they can qualify as long as they draw.

However, to be on the safe side, it is certainly impossible for the Italian team to set the goal of this game on a "draw".

The reason why these Spanish fans pay so much attention to the Chinese team's games is because they are Pirates fans.

In their expectations, the Chinese team and the Spanish team should join hands to qualify in this group.

Now that the Chinese team has locked in the qualifying spot in advance, it is Spain's turn next.

but……

Looking at the game going on on the field, a group of Spanish fans frowned and were worried.

The game lasted almost seventy minutes, and the score was still 0:0.

The Spanish team still failed to break through the Italian goal.

"Damn Albertazzi! Is he on drugs?"

The Spanish fans in the stands complained.

"When we played against the Turin Bulls, we didn't think Albertazzi was that good..." someone asked this question.

The companion next to him reminded him: "Nonsense, don't you see who is the forward of the pirates?"

"Ah... Hu!" The man suddenly realized.

"And who is Spain's striker now?"

"Ah... damn Mario Salado, and the incompetent Pablo Alegría..."

The Spanish fans in the stands sighed.

This is truly a despairing reality.

When their club teams met the Italian side in the Champions League, they were able to break through Albertazzi's goal with Julet. This even made them think that Albertazzi was nothing more than that, just a vain name. In fact, he is far from as powerful as the legend says.

But now they know very clearly that it is not that Albertazzi is too weak, but that the Pirates with Hu are stronger and can break the goal guarded by Albertazzi.

The Spanish team, which originally had weak offensive firepower, had nothing to do against Italy, which was good at playing defense to the extreme...

※※※

After replacing Caesar in the second half, Italy's offensive was indeed more intense than in the first half.

However, because Caesar was tightly defended by Spanish players, and his physical functions were indeed not as good as before, he had very few opportunities.

However, as soon as Caesar gets the ball, the Spanish fans in the stands will still boo.

On the one hand, they don't like Caesar, and on the other hand, Caesar's reputation for many years still makes Spanish fans a little afraid...

Hissing is the best "affirmation" for an enemy.

In the last game, Caesar defeated the Chinese team with a goal, which was particularly memorable to Spanish fans.

No one dares to underestimate the man in front of him just because Caesar has not performed well yet.

Otherwise, the Chinese team will be a lesson to others.

Caesar didn't stay in the penalty area. He pulled out and asked his teammates for the ball.

And as soon as he did that, Juan Ramirez appeared next to him.

So instead of doing anything else with the ball, Caesar passed the ball passed by his teammate and passed it directly to another teammate without stopping.

Then he turned and ran into the penalty area.

Ramirez didn't follow him this time.

He is a defensive midfielder, not a central defender. Compared with Caesar, the Italian midfielder Marco Rossini who is currently holding the ball is obviously more threatening.

He lowered his center of gravity and stood in front of Rossini, ready.

Rossini looked at the bandage that was tied from Ramirez's thigh to his knee, but still did not choose to force a breakthrough.

The man in front of me is much tougher than imagined.

Even if he was injured, Rossini did not dare to take it lightly.

He passed the football away.

Pass to Italian right-back Luca Brienza who runs in behind.

When the football rolled toward Brienza, Caesar was heading towards the goal. He also raised his arm to signal Brienza to pass the ball to him.

After Brienza caught up with the football, he passed the ball directly!

He did not continue to dribble, which would give Spanish players a chance to block him. However, it is still somewhat difficult to control the accuracy of direct crosses, so it is difficult for such crosses to directly pose a threat...

But if the football is passed to Caesar, it's hard to say.

Even though Caesar has lost his sprinting speed due to reduced physical function, as a standing center, Caesar still has good jumping and header capabilities.

If the Italian team only uses Caesar as a standing center, it can still threaten Spain's goal.

This is why when Caesar raised his hand to ask for the ball, two Spanish defenders immediately came up next to him.

No one dares to underestimate the "Great Emperor" in the restricted area!

Brienza passed the football directly to Spain's goal!

Caesar and two Spanish players jumped up at the same time, and he still grabbed the landing spot despite being double-teamed!

But at the same time, under the close defense of two Spanish players, it was difficult for him to push the football towards the goal and pose a threat...

But what if he had no intention of heading the ball in the first place? !

"Caesar - cross header!"

Caesar headed the flying football towards the center!

That's the weak point of Spain's defense!

There, another Italian striker, Daniele Dikunzo, appeared!

He was leaning over and burying his head, heading the flying football towards the goal!

Spanish goalkeeper Rodríguez Baccar turned over and rushed back, his eyes showing horror!

He really didn't expect that the "tyrant" who always pursues his own goals would choose to pass the ball to his teammates when he had the opportunity to shoot!

"DiCunzo!!"

Amid the trembling shouts of the Italian commentator, Di Kunzo hit the football firmly on his forehead!

This forward, who is not known for his ability to seize opportunities in Madrid Pirates, faced this ball that almost hit his throat, but he still pushed the football into the goal!

Bucker failed to touch the ball!

He rushed back but only caught a ball of air!

At the 73rd minute of the game, the defending champion and host Spain trailed Italy with a score of 0:1!