Midfielder Ruler

The fanatical atmosphere surrounding the Pernambuco Arena is still there. Fans from both sides know that there cannot be any neglect at this time, so they create huge cheers, especially the Chinese fans. They watch the national team they support suppressing Costa Rica, and feel in their hearts That sense of pride and superiority is particularly strong and must be vented.

As Lu Liang came to the right, the Chinese team's offensive focus was also placed on the right.

Zhang Linpeng has always been good at assists. His speed, body and passing ability are very good, which caused the Costa Rica defense to collapse on the left. Fortunately, goalkeeper Navas performed well, and the Chinese team forward Gao Lin had poor shooting skills. Costa Rica was able to Able to keep the goal intact.

In the blink of an eye, the game came to half an hour, and the on-site director took advantage of the relative stalemate on the court to give Lippi and Pinto a close-up shot.

The emotional color on the two people's faces is obviously different from the beginning, or in other words, the expressions of the two people have directly exchanged.

Before, Lippi was frowning, but now the situation has changed, and it's Pinto's turn to frown, thinking about how to break the situation.

The Chinese team's offense surprised him, especially since Tang Zheng was not directly involved in the offense.

What would be the result if Tang Zheng directly participated in the attack?

Thinking of this, Pinto really didn't dare to imagine anymore...

In fact, Tang Zheng wanted to participate in the team's offense, but he was more worried about Costa Rica's quick counterattack. As a team that can often participate in the World Cup, Costa Rica itself has certain strength.

The overall strength of the team's defense is not as good as that of the frontcourt, so Tang Zheng does not dare to go too far forward. After all, captain Zheng Zhi is already thirty-four this year and his speed is not as fast as before. In order to avoid the space behind him being exploited, some offensive space should be sacrificed appropriately. it is also fine.

In the knockout rounds, the competition is often about defense and patience.

Unless absolutely necessary, Tang Zheng would not leave his post without permission.

Because of the weakness of the forward line, the Chinese team's offense has always been loud and clear.

Lippi, the head coach of the Chinese team, seemed to be standing calmly on the sidelines, giving people the feeling of being strategizing and winning a victory thousands of miles away. In fact, he was very worried about Costa Rica's quick counterattack.

The problems caused by being in power for a long time without scoring are very obvious.

impatient!

Hao Junmin, Lu Liang, and Wu Sanshi each tried long-range shots from the front of the penalty area, but almost all the Costa Rican defensive players stood in front and behind the penalty area. The effect can be imagined.

Long-range shots either hit Costa Rican players or fired anti-aircraft guns.

Gao Lin, who had been waiting for an opportunity in the penalty area, couldn't bear his loneliness. He completed a half-turn and volleyed the goal in several opportunities to retreat.

result?

Due to interference from central defender Gonzalez, Gao Lin did not turn his body completely with his back to the goal. He completed a half-turn with his right foot and volleyed the ball directly to the outside of the corner flag on the right, giving Costa Rica the ball. A backcourt sideline ball.

Central 5 commentator He Wei looked at the football flying out of the sideline and was stunned. After a while, he coughed lightly: "Our offense has become too simple now. We should organize the offense patiently like that, and pass through the layers. Push forward and then use the attacking capabilities of the two wings to create opportunities.”

The shot kicked the ball directly out of the sideline. Gao Lin inevitably blushed, but he has rich experience in the game and has his own way of dealing with embarrassment.

He frowned, stood up with his hands on the turf, then walked to the shooting spot and stepped a few times with his right foot, giving the impression that the turf was uneven.

Foreign TV stations that don't know much about Gao Lin's technical characteristics may think that the uneven turf caused Gao Lin's shot to be too outrageous, but the Chinese fans sitting in front of the TV don't think so.

After all...'Gao Jiji' is not a wasted name in the Chinese Super League.

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Costa Rica took a sideline ball in the backcourt, and several players in the Chinese team's frontcourt organized high-level pressure on the spot, forcing the Costa Rican backcourt players holding the ball to not dare to play with fire in the backcourt.

In order to avoid the possibility of the Chinese team counterattacking in the frontcourt, the Costa Rican backcourt players had no choice but to make a big-footed clearance.

Perhaps due to too much pressure, left back Diaz made a mistake when receiving a pass from center back Gonzalez, and kicked the ball out of the sideline with a big kick. The Chinese team won the frontcourt sideline ball.

Zhang Linpeng jogged over and was about to throw the sideline ball. Tang Zheng shouted and made a downward movement with his palms, signaling Zhang Linpeng to slow down.

Zhang Linpeng changed his mind to running, and Tang Zheng took the time to turn around and shout at Lu Liang, Wu Sanshi, Hao Junmin and Gao Lin respectively: "Hey, brothers, calm down, don't blindly shoot from far away, be patient! Rome is not a day." Built!”

After saying that, Tang Zheng made another continuous downward movement with his palms close to his body.

Tang Zheng had a great influence on the team, so everyone nodded slightly to show that they understood.

Zhang Linpeng threw a sideline ball. The football did not rush to the penalty area or take a long shot. Instead, he passed the ball to Tang Zheng in an orderly manner, and he decided the direction and method of the team's attack.

More football comes to Tang Zheng's feet, and the Chinese team's offense becomes smoother and more enjoyable to watch.

Costa Rica head coach Pinto is very depressed. His team has not encountered such a situation when encountering strong teams such as Uruguay, Italy and England. He did not expect that it would be so difficult to face the Chinese team.

As for why this happened, he knew why.

Because the Chinese team's current offense revolves around Tang Zheng, focusing on controlling the ball and using frequent transmission to find openings.

Tang Zheng transferred to Real Madrid last summer for a total price of 125 million euros. After a season of games, he has proved that he is worth the money. He scored 20+ goals and assists in the season, which is the biggest number for Real Madrid to win the double championship last season. One of the heroes.

His chance creation ability may not be the best in Europe, but he can at least be among the top three. Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Costa Rica head coach Pinto took advantage of a dead ball opportunity to pull captain Ruiz to give him face-to-face instructions and adjust the game tactics.

Pinto's tactical adjustment is very simple, that is, only the fast Campbell is left in the frontcourt as a counterattack support point, and the other nine players all shrink within the 30-meter area of ​​their own defense, compressing the Chinese team's offensive space.

In addition to the Chinese team's frontcourt players Lu Liang and Hao Junmin who have relatively delicate foot skills, Gao Lin and Wu Sanshi are a bit rough, so the shrinking space has a great impact on the Chinese team's frontcourt offense.

Neither Lippi nor Tang Zheng were able to do anything about this situation.

Breaking through dense defense has always been a worldwide problem and can only be achieved through set pieces and long shots.

When long-range shots don't work, the only option is to wait for set-piece opportunities.

It's just that the game didn't wait for a good set-piece opportunity until the end of the first half. The two sides ended the first half with a score of 0:0.

It is worth mentioning that although neither side scored a goal in the first half, the game was not boring and could even be said to be full of entertainment.

The match between the Chinese team and Costa Rica was very open for a while, with back and forth, making the entire Pernambuco Arena climax.

At the end of the first half, the game situation was leaning towards the Chinese team. Of course, this was directly related to Costa Rica's shrinking defense, but it is not difficult to see that the midfield line control led by Tang Zheng was stronger than Costa Rica.

So as soon as the referee Eriksson blew the whistle to end the first half, Central 5 commentator He Wei said optimistically: "If the second half can continue the offensive at the end of the first half, I think we will finally get the ball to win the game." The team will be us! Quarterfinals? Why not??”

At the same time, the commentator on Costa Rica's national TV station was a little unhappy. He said: "Our team should be more active in the second half and attack aggressively. Don's personal ability is too strong, and his area of ​​activity must be restricted to the maximum. Otherwise...the goal will be in danger! Keylor Navas’ amazing form is not a panacea, and we have to rely on offense to resolve the battle!"

CC5 commentator Gong Lei agreed with He Wei's statement and nodded: "I think Lippi will make detailed tactical adjustments to the team's offense during the halftime break. In addition to completely suppressing Costa Rica at the end of the first half, in fact, The game was chaotic for most of the first half, of course... Tang Zheng, who has excellent running coverage ability, covered up some problems. If Lippi does not fine-tune his tactics in the second half, it will actually be a hidden danger for his own defense. "

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The fifteen minutes of the halftime break passed quickly, and the game changed sides in the second half. Neither side made any adjustments to the lineup for the first half.

The Chinese team, which had a kick-off advantage, did not rush forward and handed the ball to Tang Zheng, who organized the team's first wave of offense in the second half.

Except for Campbell, who was at the front and ran forward, the other players retreated to half court, waiting for the Chinese team to attack.

Tang Zheng saw this, pulled the ball back with his right foot, and then passed the ball to right back Zhang Linpeng.

The reason why he did not give it to left back Jiang Zhipeng was because Tang Zheng felt that Jiang Zhipeng's condition was not adjusted to the best and he was always nervous. Therefore, giving the ball to Zhang Linpeng, who has a big heart, was a very good choice.

The Chinese team controlled the ball in the backcourt, but no one from Costa Rica came forward to press. Zhang Linpeng waited patiently until Tang Zheng came close to ask for the ball before passing the ball out.

Obviously, Costa Rica's tactic at the beginning of the second half was to defend solidly.

Regarding Costa Rica's defensive options, Lippi talked about it during the halftime break. He asked the team not to rush for success and to be patient. Once there is no passing angle in the frontcourt, the priority is not to blindly handle the ball, but to hand it over to Tang Zheng. .

Through continuous passes, both Tang Zheng and Qi Qiu came to the offensive 40-meter area.

His field of vision was quite broad, and he could see that the Costa Rican defensive players were well protected from each other. It was difficult for a personal breakthrough to succeed. Without any hesitation, he handed the ball to Hao Junmin, who ran to the right rib of the attack to receive the ball.

Hao Junmin, Wu Sanshi, Zhang Linpeng and Gao Lin formed a continuous cooperation on the right side of the attack. However, Gao Lin made a mistake in receiving the ball and stopped too far away from his body. The football was obtained by Costa Rica midfielder Borges.

The Chinese team switched from offense to defense. The forward line and midfield line did not press the Costa Rican players like they did in the first half, but retreated back to their own half.

The World Cup is a tournament-based competition with short game intervals and very demanding physical requirements for players.

Several players who have played in the European League have just finished a long season and then devoted themselves to preparing for the World Cup. Their physical recovery is limited. Players playing in the Chinese Super League are not scientific enough. Top national competitions like the World Cup have extremely demanding requirements in all aspects. .

High position pressure requires very high physical fitness, so... save what you can.

The tone of the first five minutes of the second half was China's positional attack and Costa Rica's quick counterattack.

Because Tang Zheng and Zheng Zhi's arrival rate was extremely high and accurate, Costa Rica's counterattack never posed a threat to Yan Junling's goal. Lippi stood in the home team coach's command area for five minutes before returning to the coaching bench.

"Ouch-ouch——"

The Chinese fans, who occupied nearly half of the Pernambuco Arena, were filled with excitement and passion. They shouted like a mountain and a tsunami to cheer for the Chinese team.

However, at this moment, Gao Lin's pass to Lu Liang after getting the ball was not powerful enough. It was passed by Costa Rica captain Ruiz who returned to the 30-meter defensive zone. Hao Junmin instinctively went to grab it, but failed to grab it. The Chinese team once again switched from offense to defense.

As before, he slowly returned to his own half, and the Chinese fans in the stands didn't pay much attention, because Tang Zheng had already spotted Campbell, and Costa Rica's quick counterattack could not succeed.

Of course, Costa Rica has never thought about a quick counterattack. Captain Ruiz has received the latest tactical adjustments from head coach Pinto - the ball possession time must be appropriately increased when switching from defense to offense, otherwise there will be no quick counterattack. It is difficult to directly threaten the Chinese goal guarded by Yan Junling.

Ruiz controlled the team's rhythm from defense to offense, and through layers of advancement, the football came to the Chinese team's defensive half.

Everyone thought that Costa Rica's offense would not pose a threat to the Chinese team. After all, positional offense is not an offensive method that Costa Rica is good at.

But... there are exceptions to everything.

Costa Rica captain Ruiz distributed the ball from the center to the left wing. Bolanos got the ball in the left rib and tried to cut in, but there was not much space. He chose to hand the ball to the full-back Diaz.

Dias had no psychological advantage over his opponent Zhang Linpeng. He then knocked it across to Bolanos, who pushed the ball directly to the top of the penalty area without stopping.

Ruiz advanced into the penalty area and raised his right foot without making any adjustments. Tang Zheng extended his foot half a beat too late and did not touch the football.

The two central defenders Li Xuepeng and Ren Hang watched the football rolling against the turf towards the lower right corner of the goal. They subconsciously stretched their feet, but neither of them touched it.

The football is not very fast against the turf, but it is better because of the tricky angle. Goalkeeper Yan Junling stands close to the middle and is mentally prepared for Ruiz's long shot. However, Tang Zheng, Li Xuepeng and Ren Hang's continuous stretching of their feet did not block the football. , but had the effect of interfering with Yan Junling's vision.

By the time Yan Junling saw the football slowly rolling towards the lower right corner of the goal, it was too late. He subconsciously fell to the ground and reached out to throw the ball without touching the football. The football almost brushed the inside edge of the right goal post and rolled into the net...

No one expected that Costa Rica, which was extremely passive at the beginning of the second half, would break the deadlock with a non-threatening long-distance low shot in the first positional attack.

This was like a bolt from the blue for the dominant Chinese team.

Costa Rica is already good at defense. Now it is leading the score. Why not defend it forever?