Fox in the Penalty Area

"As the focus of this round of the league, Manchester Athletic's home game against Leeds City did not disappoint us. The two teams held high the banner of offense in the game, fought against each other, and scored a total of six goals. And the game The process was also ups and downs... The home team took the lead three times in the game, and the visiting team Leeds City tenaciously equalized three times...The last goals of the two teams were very exciting... Kabunka used his signature high-speed running The scene where Oxtail knocked down Ben Grist was called "cruel" by the commentator Cox. Hu Lai's "absolutely equal" goal before the end fully demonstrated that he is currently the top scorer in the Premier League The striker's sense of smell and quick reflexes in front of the goal... He unexpectedly lifted the ball over Correa's head, turned and got rid of him at the same time, and successfully scored an empty goal...

"If you don't count the Leeds game against Walderhampton - when Houlai was not in the squad - Houlai has scored in the four consecutive games he has played. In the past In October, he scored three goals in just two appearances, and his goal against Wiggerston in the opening 10 seconds also set a record for the fastest goal in the Premier League so far this season... According to sources, Hu Lai may win the Premier League player of the month in October. If he does win the award, then he may be the player who has played the fewest games to win the award...but if he doesn't win, it's no big deal. With Hu Lai's form, I believe it will be a matter of time before he wins the Premier League Player of the Month again...

"Hu Lai is no stranger to the honor of Premier League Player of the Month. He once won the Premier League Player of the Month for the first time in August, when he scored five goals in four league rounds in August. This His performance helped him win the best of the month... Maybe we Chinese fans have to get used to the fact that Hu Lai, as the representative of Chinese football, continues to create new history of Chinese football on the world's top football stage..."

After the game between Leeds City and Manchester Athletic, various domestic media in China reported the game in great detail.

In the era when short videos are popular on the Internet, his last goal, where he picked out Correa and then turned around and shot an empty goal, was picked out separately and spread wildly on the short video platform.

Various self-media took advantage of his wonderful performance to harvest a large number of fans on various platforms.

During the competition, Yan Kang was worried that the self-media marketing account's pursuit of Hu Lai would turn into a cult, and he wanted to cool down the current slightly fanatical atmosphere.

But now it seems that his idea is destined to be difficult to realize in a short period of time...

Considering that there are two World Cup qualifier play-offs against Paraguay, Yan Kang is even more worried.

Some self-media marketing accounts have begun to chase the hot spots of these two games, and the titles have become more and more explosive:

"Paraguay get ready for the wind!" "

"Chinese football is only one step away from the World Cup! "

...

"How did Paraguay go from being a frequent visitor to the World Cup in South American football to becoming a poor settler?" "

look at this title,

Although Paraguay is indeed far inferior to its previous glory days, it has missed four consecutive World Cup finals. But that doesn't mean they are "shabby households"...

The reason why they failed to participate in the World Cup is because the South American preliminaries are known as "hell copy".

There are many strong players in South America, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, etc., but there are only four and a half entries.

Brazil and Argentina have never been absent from the World Cup and are the best in South American football. This means that two places will be lost first, and the remaining teams will compete for the remaining two and a half places.

Venezuela has a plateau advantage, even if Brazil and Argentina play Venezuela away, it will be difficult to get benefits.

Teams such as Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, if one or two strong players emerge, can also stir up troubles in South American football.

Not to mention traditional football powerhouses like Uruguay and Colombia.

Which of these teams is easy to deal with?

If you switch to an Asian team and come to South America to participate in the qualifiers, you may be wiped out. Maybe the Japanese team is a little bit better, but it is also limited. This can be seen from the results of the Asian teams in the previous World Cup finals One spot.

Paraguay has not participated in four consecutive World Cups before. It is not that their level is too poor-although there is indeed a reason for their own decline in strength-mainly because their opponents are too strong.

In this World Cup qualifier, Paraguay finally won the fifth place in the South American qualifier where there are many strong players. Being qualified to compete with Asian teams for half of the places shows that they are definitely not easy to mess with.

After all, in front of Paraguay are Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay, four veteran teams that have always played steadily.

But in the articles or videos of these self-media marketing accounts, Paraguay is like a low-level team, as if the Chinese team will definitely step on the opponent's corpse to stand on the stage of the World Cup...

We have Hu Lai, who currently ranks first in the Premier League scorer list, yes, but Paraguay also has players who play in Europe!

There are as many as twelve players in the Paraguayan national team playing in European leagues at all levels. Just for this alone, the Chinese team is really not qualified to be tough in front of Paraguay.

Among the twelve players, two players are representatives of Paraguayan football. One of them is Souza Espinola, the main striker of Munich Blue and White. He has played for the Bundesliga giants for five seasons. Scoring 133 goals, the style of the game is chic and the technique is exquisite. His failure to participate in the World Cup has always been considered a great pity by many fans and the media.

The other is Paul Arcey, the main central defender of the Serie A giants Turin Bulls. He is not strong in stature, but he has excellent defensive skills and first-class consciousness. Otherwise, he would not be able to become the third captain of the Turin Bulls in the Serie A league that emphasizes defense. .

These two people just hit each other.

The Chinese team had to withstand the Paraguayan attacking lineup led by Sousa Espinola when defending, and racked their brains to break through the Paraguayan defense led by Paul Arce when attacking.

This is definitely much more difficult than facing Uzbekistan in the Asian playoffs.

For this reason, Yan Kang specially wrote a long article on the Internet to analyze Paraguayan football. The purpose is to pour cold water on everyone and warn them to guard against arrogance and impetuosity. As a spectator, don't have the sense of expectation of "fulfilling all achievements in one battle". You must see the progress of Chinese football from this qualifier. This is the most long-term benefit to Chinese football...

However, what he wrote so painstakingly, put it on the Internet, and the most responses he received were:

Too long not to look.

After watching it, some people criticized Yan Kang for committing a "capitulationist mistake" and surrendering before a fight, which is the "defeatism remnants" accumulated by Chinese football over the years...

Only in places where professional fans gather, did they resonate with many people. Because Yan Kang is indeed right.

These people's worries are entirely necessary.

The World Cup has set off an unprecedented football boom in this country. Naturally, many people who did not pay attention to football at all and did not understand football came to watch the national team's games. They are full of enthusiasm for the Chinese team and have high hopes.

But they don't know much about the laws of the football world, and naturally they don't understand the strength of Paraguay, the fifth-placed team in the South American qualifiers.

This kind of attention and enthusiasm is a good thing for Chinese football, but it also symbolizes tremendous pressure.

Among those who follow the trend to follow the Chinese team's impact on the World Cup, some people may turn their heads and curse Chinese football after the Chinese team's failure to enter the World Cup, just like what has been repeated many times before.

They don't care how strong Paraguay is, or how difficult it is for the Chinese team to get to this point...

Anyway, they are happy when they win, and curse when they lose. This is the unbreakable "truth" in their hearts, and they have never made mistakes.

※※※

"Wait a minute, Sugiyama."

When Sugiyama Tatsuya changed his clothes and was about to leave the dressing room, he was stopped by someone.

He looked back at his tall and handsome teammate Sousa Espinola, and asked in German, "What's the matter, senior?"

Sosa has become accustomed to the special Japanese address of the young Japanese player, so he didn't care what he called himself, but asked: "It's like this... Are you free tonight? I want you to have a meal."

Sugiyama Tatsuya heard this, although he was a little puzzled, he still nodded and said, "Of course, I'm free..."

Sosa showed a gentle smile on his face: "If you don't mind, how about treating you to your country's cuisine?"

"Thank you so much, senior." Sugiyama Tatsuya hastily bowed slightly.

"You're welcome, I'm actually asking you for help with something..." Sousa waved his hand quickly.

"Looking for my help?" Tatsuya Sugiyama showed both surprise and confusion on his face.

※※※

In a very typical Japanese restaurant, Sousa Espinola sat on a tatami cushion in a different position-this was the third time he changed positions in half an hour.

In the beginning, he strictly followed the Japanese dining etiquette, imitating Tatsuya Sugiyama's sitting on his knees.

But it didn't take long for him to feel a tingling sensation from his leg to his heel.

Just looking at Tatsuya Sugiyama who was acting nonchalantly in front of him, Sosa really didn't have the nerve to change his posture, as if he was afraid that doing so would give Tatsuya Sugiyama the illusion that he disliked their Japanese etiquette.

But after struggling for a few minutes, he couldn't help but adjust his sitting posture to sit cross-legged.

This time he persisted for a little longer, and finally changed his position for the third time just now...

To be honest, Sousa now regrets that he should not invite Tatsuya Sugiyama to eat this Japanese food with "authentic taste" as its biggest selling point. Even the sitting posture is so authentic...

While changing positions, Sosa explained his purpose of inviting Sugiyama Tatsuya.

Sugiyama Tatsuya's eyes widened for this purpose: "Eh? Senior want to know Hu Lai?"

Sousa nodded very solemnly: "Yes. Although I know that he is now ranked first in the Premier League scorer list, and I know that he just scored a beautiful goal against Athletic Manchester...but I have never played with him. After playing against him, all you know about him is limited to knowing these statistics. But you met him in the game, so I want to know what impression you have of him as a person who has played against him...you also You know, Sugiyama, we will compete with the Chinese team for the last ticket to the World Cup in ten days or so."

Sugiyama Tatsuya was still very surprised: "I didn't expect you, senior, to attach so much importance to the Chinese team. Logically speaking, with your strength, as long as you don't underestimate the enemy, there should be no suspense in defeating the Chinese team, right?"

"In theory, yes. But football is round and there are many unknowables. I worry that Hu is the biggest unpredictability..."

Seeing Sosa being so serious, Sugiyama Tatsuya also frowned and began to seriously think about the impression Hu Lai left on him.

Sousa didn't bother him when he saw this, and the small private room became quiet.

After a while, Sugiyama Tatsuya shook his head and said: "I don't know how to introduce him to you, Senior. I thought about it just now and found that he has many different...faces. When I want to use a sentence or two When you describe him in words, you can't do it at all. You are right, senior, Hu Lai is indeed the most unpredictable. There is one thing that may be used as proof..."

Then Sugiyama Tatsuya told Sosa the whole process of the goal they scored in the U23 Asian Cup final.

When Sugiyama Tatsuya said that Hu Lai accidentally slipped and fell to the ground when facing the Japanese Olympic goalkeeper single-handedly, but unexpectedly scored the football into the goal, Sosa widened his eyes: "It can still be like this ? God, I can't imagine how he should do it..."

Sugiyama Tatsuya smiled and shook his head: "Before I saw that ball with my own eyes, I couldn't imagine that anyone else could score like this... So I can only say that Hu is an unpredictable person. What he thinks, and what he will do next. This is why when playing against him, defenders feel very tired defending him, because the attention must be 100% on him all the time, and no distraction is allowed... But how? Maybe?"

Hearing Sugiyama Tatsuya's words, Sosa frowned and fell into deep thought.