Midfielder Ruler

At the 55th minute of the game, there was still no change in the score. Close-ups of the on-site director were shown to Dutch coach Louis van Gaal one after another. Obviously, he hoped to see the Dutch team take the lead in making substitutions and changing tactics. , to solve the problems in the Dutch team's offense.

No one expected that the Dutch team, which should have taken the lead in making substitution adjustments, stood still, while the Chinese team, which should have been on the defensive, was unexpectedly prepared to make adjustments.

Wu Xi, wearing jersey No. 22, stood to the left of head coach Lippi in front of the visiting team's coaching bench, with assistant coach Madaloni making supplements from time to time.

Central 5 commentator He Wei raised his eyebrows and said curiously: "Positionally speaking, Wu Xi is the most suitable to replace the captain Zheng Zhi who has accumulated yellow cards and has been suspended for this game, but Lippi believes that Cai Huikang can complete the defense better. In fact, Cai Huikang completed the task very well, but his offensive ability is basically negligible, so Tang Zheng, who has a balanced offensive and defensive ability, has to distract himself from the series organization of the midfield and backcourt. After all, human energy is limited, especially in In this kind of top-level competition, the opponent will not give Tang Zheng much space..."

"Wu Xi's defensive ability may not be as good as Cai Huikang's, but his offensive organization ability is stronger, which can effectively alleviate the huge pressure on Tang Zheng from the Chinese team's transition from defense to offense. If the defense remains stable, he may be able to change the transition from defense to offense. Attack quality and efficiency.”

Not long after, Robben sent a pass of good quality from the left wing of the attack. Van Persie jumped high while running, but he failed to control his strength due to Feng Xiaoting's personal interference and pushed the ball out of the left post of the goal. .

The referee on duty, Marco Rodriguez, decisively blew his whistle and then pointed his finger to the side of the court to signal the game team to request a substitution.

The broadcast screen immediately switched to Wu Xi standing next to the fourth official holding up the substitution electronic sign. He jumped on the spot from time to time to feel the strength of his body, preparing to play and contribute to the national team.

There was no surprise. The player who was replaced was Cai Huikang, who performed very well on defense in this game.

Many commentators did not understand this substitution adjustment. Cai Huikang completed the defensive task very well, and even made several key interceptions. The Chinese team is currently tied with the Netherlands 0:0, and there is no reason to improve.

There is a huge difference in strength between the two teams. The Chinese team should stay on the defensive rather than strengthen the offensive.

Seeing the substitution adjustments made by the Chinese team, Dutch coach Louis van Gaal felt confused.

Replace the pure defensive midfielder with a defensive midfielder with stronger offensive attributes to strengthen the attack?

Thinking of this, Van Gaal couldn't help turning his head to look at the silver-haired Lippi, with the corners of his mouth raised slightly - fighting?

Who is afraid of whom?

Spain, which tried to play against each other, was defeated miserably 1:5. The Chinese team, which is far inferior to Spain, wants to play against Spain?

Wait for elimination!

Cai Huikang, who was substituted, made no mistakes before he was substituted. Lippi replaced him only for tactical needs, so he took the initiative to hug Cai Huikang and praise him.

Wu Xi, who came on the field, made a change of tactical gestures towards captains Tang Zheng and Hao Junmin before running to his position.

Tang Zheng and Hao Junmin nodded slightly to express their understanding.

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Wu Xi, who just came on the field, did not help the Chinese team on both offense and defense. Instead, it exposed some problems in the originally solid midfield defensive system. Fortunately, Tang Zheng has a strong ability to read the game. He was able to find the rhythm of the game during the period when Wu Xi was looking for it. Lee focused entirely on the defensive end.

Sneijder, who is good at catching the opponent's defensive loopholes, shook his head and smiled bitterly when Tang Zheng cleared the ball out of the sideline again. Only now in the game did he truly feel Tang Zheng's terror.

Tang Zheng's outstanding performance also made head coach Lippi breathe a sigh of relief. Logically speaking, Cai Huikang's condition and physical fitness are fine. Under normal circumstances, he should continue to stay on the court, and Wu Xi, who replaced Wu Xi, still needs time to adapt to the rhythm of the game. , is accompanied by certain risks.

If Tang Zheng hadn't been so focused on the game, the Dutch team might have taken advantage of Wu Xi's slower pace to find loopholes in their own defense.

As the game time went by, Wu Xi slowly found the offensive and defensive rhythm of the game, and the defensive problems exposed by the Chinese team's defensive system were gradually solved.

Helpless, Van Gaal had no choice but to return to the coaching bench, and then took his assistant Blind as if to discuss something.

Based on the progress of the game, it is not difficult to guess that Van Gaal became dissatisfied with the performance of the players on the field.

In Van Gaal's view, only Tang Zheng in the entire Chinese team can pose a threat to his team's defense. In addition, from the beginning of the game to the present, his team has basically been in control of the situation, and the offensive has become higher and higher.

However, the Chinese team's defense was impregnable and no problems were exposed.

It was hard to wait until the Chinese team's defense was unstable due to substitutions, but Tang Zheng's timely replacement and prediction were amazing and helpless.

Robben has rich experience and outstanding ability, so he certainly cannot adjust. Sneijder is the core of the midfield, and there is no suitable substitute on the bench. Captain Robin van Persie is still in good condition and has no problems with his physical fitness, so he is naturally not considered.

It seems that Depay, who played very depressed in this game, may consider being adjusted off.

But when to make adjustments is a science, so Van Gaal did not consider adjustments at the first time, but waited for the opportunity to come.

As the game continued, the defensive midfielder duo of Tang Zheng and Wu Xi gradually developed a tacit understanding, and the overall defense became airtight.

The Dutch team attacked, and the football came to Robben's feet on the right again. Li Xuepeng was in front of him. Lu Liang's assistant was taken away by Kuyt, who was moving inside. Robben realized that he had a chance to cut inside. .

There was no time to observe Tang Zheng's position. There was an obvious sway of his upper body to the left, which made Li Xuepeng take a step to the right. Robben connected with his feet very quickly and slammed the ball toward the baseline with the inside of his left instep. .

Li Xuepeng froze on the spot, but Robben was extremely explosive and very fast. It was too late for Li Xuepeng to start chasing Robben again.

"Oh oh oh——"

The Chinese fans at the New Water Source Stadium blurted out subconsciously as they watched, and deafening loud exclamations swept the entire stadium instantly.

The Dutch fans at the far end of the stadium jumped to their feet, shouted, and applauded Robben's special skills: "Ooooooooo-"

The Dutch fans who had just jumped up suddenly sat down again a second later, because Robben, who was starting at full speed, encountered a very timely interception. He had to jump on the spot to avoid it while running at high speed.

The CC5 commentator stared closely at Tang Zheng who was shown on the broadcast screen, and said with lingering fear: "Tang Zheng appeared at the right time. The sudden acceleration of Robben is quite terrifying. Once Robben is allowed to enter the penalty area, the consequences will be disastrous!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the commentator Xu Yang added excitedly: "Tang Zheng made a clean move even though he made up the position in time. He didn't even commit a foul. He only gave the Dutch team an insignificant sideline ball."

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Tang Zheng fell to the ground and kicked the ball out of the sideline. The left back Li Xuepeng ran to Tang Zheng very gratefully. Tang Zheng, who was very focused on the game, clapped his hands first and said loudly and seriously to Li Xuepeng: "Keep focused on the game. Pay attention, don’t be distracted, and don’t predict in advance.”

Li Xuepeng's performance in this game can be said to be very good. Occasionally, he was forced to break through by Robben, and there was often room for his teammates behind him. There was no problem with defense. As the game time became less and less, Li Xuepeng was keenly aware that the game should be scheduled. At first, words of thanks can be left behind after the game.

Besides...the football game is a team sport, and one's own shortcomings should be made up for by other teammates.

In the blink of an eye, twenty minutes into the second half, the Dutch team finally made its first substitution adjustment. Lens, who is also good at speed and breakthroughs, replaced the starting left winger Depay who did not perform well in this game.

Compared with Depay, who has a more comprehensive overall ability, Lens is obviously more capable of breaking through and can create more opportunities for his teammates. Moreover, Lens is left-footed and can often change positions with Robben, testing both sides of the Chinese team. Road's defensive attention.

Lens is good at breakthroughs and his physical fitness is also quite good. He did pose a threat to the Chinese team's defense at the beginning, but the Chinese team's defensive players have a strong sense of defense.

So much so that British Sky TV commentator Andy Gray was very surprised and said: "Marcelo Lippi's transformation of the Chinese team was very successful. The Chinese team's defense in this game allowed me to see the Italian national team at its peak. Chain defense, link by link, tightly connected.”

Commentator Martin Taylor nodded and said: "Indeed, the Chinese team's multiple defenses in this game really allowed us to see the Italian national team's chain defense, which was very successful, whether it was Alger Robben or Robin Van Persie. , they failed to find a chance in the Chinese team's chain defense. Jermain Lens's substitution brought a new offensive concept to the Dutch team's offense, but the Chinese team's defensive players were quite focused, and Tang You The state is excellent. If the Dutch team's offense fails to improve, I think the 0:0 score is likely to remain until the end of the game and then enter overtime?"

"That's right!" Andy Gray cooperated with his old partner Martin Taylor and nodded lightly: "The Chinese team was on the defensive for most of the game, and the long period of defense also gave them great confidence, because The strength of the Chinese team is far inferior to that of the Dutch team, and comprehensive defense is the psychological preparation of the Chinese players before the game!"

Sky TV fans sitting in front of the TV are relatively depressed. Most of the fans watching the live broadcast are neutral. They prefer to see the exciting offensive battle. Now the Chinese team is fully defensive and the Dutch team is conducting a half-time offensive and defensive exercise.

Of course, the Chinese fans sitting in front of the TV are also very depressed. Before the game, they thought that they would be passively beaten most of the time, but people can't avoid getting lucky. The Chinese fans sitting in front of the TV always want to see themselves The supported national team was able to seize the opportunity of a quick counterattack and beat the powerful Dutch team.

However, the Dutch team firmly controlled the rhythm of the game. With waves of fierce attacks, the Chinese team had no extra time to score goals. Therefore, the Chinese fans always watched with fear, fearing that the Dutch team's offense would break through the goal guarded by Yan Junling.

"Wonderful save! Yan Junling made a side dive and blocked Sneijder's long shot from the front of the penalty area!!"

"Ouch~ Tang Zheng fell to the ground and shoveled in a critical moment! Forced Robben, who forced a breakthrough, to take off early and give up control of the football!!!"

"Feng Xiaoting put huge pressure on Van Persie as he retreated. His header was weak and the ball was easily won by Yan Junling!"

…

Central 5 commentator He Wei and guest commentator Xu Yang kept explaining the game process, and their mood-changing explanations made the Chinese fans in front of the TV very hesitant.

The Dutch team held the advantage for a long time without scoring, and the close-up shots of the live broadcast once again took care of the Dutch national team coach Louis van Gaal.

Obviously, he hopes to see the Dutch team make substitution adjustments again to bring new offensive blood to the offensive end.

When the game reached a stalemate, the on-site director also showed the Chinese team coach Lippi a close-up shot.

However, neither Van Gaal nor Lippi has any plans to adjust the team's lineup to cope with changes.

With Wu Xi coming off the bench, the Chinese team's offensive and defensive transitions were smoother than when Cai Huikang was on the court. However, the long-term passive defense put great pressure on Lu Liang and Wu Sanshi, and they were not resolute enough to commit to the offense.

Wu Xi is strong in offense and weak in defense, and Tang Zheng needs to share more of the defensive work. Therefore, Lippi's adjustment seems to have solved the problem of the Chinese team's series organization that relies more on Tang Zheng from defense to offense. In fact, the exposed problems are still very big.

But as the game time decreased, Lippi became more and more cautious, because Wu Xi's replacement of Cai Huikang previously caused some defensive problems.

We must learn from the past mistakes.

As time passed by, the Dutch team consciously stepped up their offense. The offensive wave became higher and higher. Coupled with the fanatical game atmosphere above the New Water Source Stadium, it gave people the illusion that they could score at any time.

The Chinese fans in the stands were very worried, worried that the national team they supported would make mistakes and concede goals at the end of the game.

But in fact, the Chinese players were very focused on defense and did not leave much space for the Dutch team to attack.

The game time came to 80 minutes, and the Dutch head coach counterattacker was completely anxious. From time to time, he ran to the edge of the smart area and made active offensive gestures towards the players on the field. It is not difficult to see that Van Gaal was worried that the game would enter overtime.

Once it enters overtime, it becomes more difficult to defeat the Chinese team.

If the game goes into overtime, the place to advance to the semi-finals will most likely be decided by a brutal penalty shootout.

I don’t know if the game was specifically against Van Gaal. The Dutch team, which attacked hard in the 90 minutes of regular time, did not score a goal. The Chinese team also did not score a goal. The two sides ended the 90 minutes of regular time with a score of 0:0.

Central 5 commentator He Wei looked at the injury time given on the broadcast screen and said in an extremely serious tone: "Both sides only made one substitution adjustment in the second half. Three minutes of injury time is normal. The game can end at 0:0. End it and go into overtime?”

"Based on the focused game attitude of both sides, it's very possible!"

Guest commentator Xu Yang said solemnly.