Midfielder Ruler

"Ouch, ouch, ouch -"

Eighty minutes into the 2015 Asian Cup semi-final between China and Japan, the score was still 0:1. The Japanese team, which drew the home team's draw, was in front, and the Chinese team, which was drawn the away team's draw, was behind. Therefore, the sound continued to ring over Newcastle Stadium. The Chinese fans continued to burst into deafening chants.

The Japanese team, which is lagging behind, has worked hard during this period. However, as the Chinese team has the best defensive ability in this Asian Cup, the players are very focused on defense. In addition, the head coach Lippi often provides guidance on the sidelines. The players gave orders and the defense looked tight, but it was actually very solid.

Central 5 commentator He Wei couldn't help but said: "The Chinese team is the best defensive team in this Asian Cup. If we win the game 1:0, we can try to hit the Asian Cup record of winning six games without conceding a goal. In the previous history of the Asian Cup, the Iranian team had a record of winning four consecutive games without conceding a goal. However, due to the age, the level of Asian teams is very different, and there is not much reference value. Look at the Asian teams that the Chinese team has encountered. If Really creating six consecutive victories and winning the championship without conceding a goal, the Chinese team will become the first team in the history of the Asian Cup to truly win the championship without conceding a goal!"

As soon as he finished speaking, He Wei changed his tone again and said: "Of course this is not a failure of my character. Knowing that the Chinese team performed very well, it is reassuring. It is not difficult for the senior fans sitting in front of the TV to see that the Chinese team is now It can be said that it is the strongest Chinese team in history, even stronger than the Chinese team in the World Cup in Brazil last year..."

During the conversation, a few more minutes of the game passed, and at the 85th minute, the score still did not change. The Chinese team led the Japanese team 1:0.

The live director's close-up shot switches between Aguirre and Lippi from time to time. The Japanese team has made all three substitution adjustments, while the Chinese team has only made two adjustments, and they are all alignment adjustments, and they have not yet made any adjustments to tactics. out adjustment.

From a tactical perspective, it is not difficult to see Lippi's comprehensive suppression of Aguirre.

The Japanese team, which made all three substitution adjustments, did not play the role it should have except increasing the ball possession rate. It is equivalent to saying that Aguirre's three adjustments were a failure.

Of course, Aguirre doesn't think so. He thinks there is no problem with substitutions. The problem is the mentality and fighting spirit of Japanese players.

As the game time becomes less and less, Japanese players are impatient and their fighting spirit has also dropped to a certain extent. They have completely lost the demeanor of the Asian hegemons in the past.

New Wolf Sports commentator Zhan Jun smiled broadly and said: "The Japanese team has made all three substitution adjustments, and the Chinese team has one more adjustment. If it weren't for bad luck, the Chinese team would have won this game to advance. The Asian Cup is only a matter of time. Why? Look at the mental outlook of our players, and then look at the mental outlook of the Japanese players. Although the mental outlook of the players cannot be directly proportional to the results of the game, at least we can see the aspirations of a team. Do you have a strong desire to win..."

Even the commentator of Japan's J-Sports-2 TV station doubted whether the Japanese team could equalize the score: "Sometimes I really don't understand.

It's just one goal behind, not two or three goals behind. Why not fight hard? The Chinese team is not as strong as expected, they only have one outstanding player, Tang Zhengjun, and we have a stronger overall team..."

However, at this moment, Shinji Kagawa received a cross pass from Honda Keisuke and found a space for a long-range shot. He thought that instead of spending time organizing an offense, it would be more economical to take a long-range shot.

Long-range shots are indeed a very important means to break through dense defenses, but in many cases players need to have certain technical skills as well as luck.

Shinji Kagawa himself has very good foot skills and often scores stunning long-range shots. However, this time there was a problem with his mentality. His raised right foot did not completely kick the ball. He originally wanted to touch the ball with his instep. To the outer instep.

Cai Huikang, who was slightly out of position, thought he could only witness Kagawa Shinji complete a long-range shot. When he came over from the side, he just saw the football flying towards his feet. Out of instinct, the inside of his right foot flew forward with the football. The trajectory has a dynamic movement toward recycling.

Cai Huikang's stopping skills are not particularly good, but he is not bad either. Facing the sudden football, he can stop it less than half a meter away from his body.

Immediately, Cai Huikang's subconscious reaction was to complete a clearance. Suddenly he heard Tang Zheng shout: "Give it to me!"

Cai Huikang, who raised his right foot, stopped abruptly and used the arch of his foot to push the ball to Tang Zheng.

Because the movement was too awkward, Cai Huikang, who completed the pass, was a little unstable until he fell to the ground.

But at this time, no one was obviously paying attention to Cai Huikang who fell to the ground. Everyone's attention was on Tang Zheng.

Including the commentator of Japan's J-Sports-1 TV station who was still complaining about the players before. He suddenly changed his tone and exclaimed: "Oops!!"

The Japanese players in the broadcast clearly thought that Shinji Kagawa's long shot, which had gained space for a long shot, would at least pose a certain threat. How could they know that a mistake would occur?

And that’s even with almost no human interference…

So when the football came to Tang Zheng's feet, no Japanese players stepped forward to interfere...

With an ability like Tang Zheng's, it is very dangerous when no one is watching.

In the blink of an eye, Japanese team coach Aguirre also realized something. He subconsciously took a step forward and shouted to the players on the field: "Foul!"

In fact, there is no need for Aguirre to remind him, the players on the field also know what they should do.

Captain Makoto Hasebe and Takeshi Shibasaki, who came on as a substitute in the second half, rushed towards Tang Zheng who was facing his own goal. However, Tang Zheng had no intention of continuing to dribble the ball. He directly used his right foot to complete a long pass of more than 40 meters. .

※※※

"Nice long pass!!"

Central 5 commentator He Wei subconsciously shouted through the broadcast screen.

The football flew directly from the Chinese team's defensive area of ​​35 meters to the Chinese team's attacking right rib. According to the flight trajectory of the football, we can see that Sun Jingbo, who came on as a substitute in the second half, was following up at high speed towards the landing point of the football.

Left back Yu Nagatomo gritted his teeth and failed to keep up with Sun Jingbo, and the two even distanced themselves at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Asaya Yoshida had to follow Gao Lin's forward route to defend, so Morishige Masato shouldered the important task of defending Sun Jingbo.

But Tang Zheng's long pass has a very large lead time, and Sun Jingbo is one of those wingers who runs faster and faster, so there is a forward acceleration after the football lands.

Morishige didn't seem to expect that the football would accelerate after it hit the ground. Sun Jingbo was different. He realized that Tang Zheng would pass a long ball with a considerable amount of advance before the long pass, so he ran at full speed with all his strength.

The initial misjudgment made it too late for Morishige to catch up with Sun Jingbo. All he could do was to place his hope on goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, hoping that he could save the team.

The Japanese fans in the stands also had the same idea. At this moment, they pinned their hopes on the illusory god.

Central 5 commentator He Wei did not expect that Japanese central defender Morishige would make such a serious error in judgment, but he has quite a lot of commentary experience. He paused and his voice suddenly rose an octave: "Single sword!"

In the blink of an eye, Sun Jingbo stretched out his foot to stop the ball forward while running at high speed, and continued to run towards the Japanese team's penalty area without losing speed.

Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima had the experience of Tang Zheng's lob shot. This time he did not abandon the goal. Instead, he stood at the line of the small penalty area. He waited until Sun Jingbo reached the top of the penalty area before lowering his center of gravity and abandoning the goal.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch—"

At the same time, the sky above Newcastle Stadium rang with the loud roars of Chinese fans like a mountain and a tsunami.

Sun Jingbo did not feel any nervousness in this fanatical atmosphere, but his mind was particularly clear. He chose to use his right foot when Kawashima Eiji abandoned the goal and hit the penalty spot.

When Kawashima Eiji saw Sun Jingbo's movements, he subconsciously froze on the spot, lowered his center of gravity, and was ready to make a save at any time.

left?

right?

Or above?

Just when Kawashima Eiji was wondering which way Sun Jingbo would choose to shoot, Sun Jingbo, whose left foot was on the line of the penalty area, had already kicked the ball with the arch of his right foot.

The football rolled against the turf toward the lower right corner of the goal, which is the lower left corner of Kawashima Eiji.

Kawashima Eiji realized this and it was too late to make a save, because the football moved very fast against the turf, and it took time for Kawashima Eiji's body to press to the ground.

But before Kawashima Eiji's body was completely pressed to the ground, the football had already rolled across his coverage area against the turf. Then, in Kawashima's desperate eyes, it rubbed the inner edge of the upright on the right side of the goal and hit the snow-white net.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch -"

The huge cheers at Newcastle Stadium paused briefly as the ball hit the net, but resounded throughout the stadium again half a second later.

Central 5 commentator He Wei seemed particularly excited in the fanatical atmosphere. He looked at Sun Jingbo who opened his arms to celebrate the goal and said with passion: "The goal is in! The goal is in! The game went into the 87th minute, Sun Jingbo Received Tang Zheng's long pass and beat Japanese goalkeeper Kawashima Eiji! 2:0! With less than three minutes of regular time, it basically means that the Chinese team has advanced to the finals of this Asian Cup!"

"Long live the Chinese team! Long live the Chinese team! Long live the Chinese team!!"

"Let's listen to the surging sound from the Chinese fans above Newcastle Stadium! As He Wei said, there are more than five minutes left including injury time. With a two-goal lead, we can say that victory is guaranteed! Promotion is in sight. !!”

Guest commentator Xu Yang shouted almost crazily.

Sun Jingbo, who scored the goal, finished his personal celebration excitedly, and his teammates also ran over, hugging each other and high-fiving each other to release the pressure caused by expanding the score.

Tang Zheng, who was the captain of this game, did not forget his responsibilities. After celebrating the goal with his teammates, he reminded his teammates not to be negligent in the next game. The Japanese team is different from other opponents. They are very resilient and It has the ability to narrow the score, equalize the score, and even overtake the score.

Lippi, the head coach of the Chinese team in front of the away team's coaching bench, hugged and celebrated with his assistants Madaloni and Li Tie after singing. A one-goal lead is too variable, but a two-goal lead is different. At this point in time, it is basically It means sealing the victory.

The players on the bench even threw their towels and jerseys excitedly, fully venting the excitement brought about by expanding the score.

The Chinese fans in the stands were as excited as children, dancing and dancing. Even though the people next to them were not close friends or relatives, or even friends, at this time they forgot about the so-called sense of distance and hugged each other excitedly.

Among these fans, there are also some fans of the opposite sex.

It wasn't until the excitement subsided that they realized what...

Closer to home, while the Chinese players were walking towards their own half, Tang Zheng jogged to the visiting team's coaching bench to give him a face-to-face instruction.

The on-site director just captured this scene. Central 5 commentator He Wei changed his tone with excitement and said tentatively: "Director Lippi asked Tang Zheng to explain some tactical changes. If I am not wrong, I want to take over." You should be defensive in the next game..."

Before the game restarted, the on-site director showed Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda, Makoto Hasebe, Maya Yoshida and other players pushing close-ups on their faces.

From the expressions on their faces, it is not difficult to see that falling behind by two goals is a big blow to them. If falling behind by one goal means there is still hope of equalizing the score, then falling behind by two goals can only mean that they hope to score early.

Because the Chinese team is the best defensive team in this Asian Cup. It has not conceded a goal for nearly 450 minutes so far. It is not difficult to score against the impregnable Chinese team.

Otherwise, the Japanese team would not be able to score until the end of the game.

What's more important is that the Japanese players have completely lost confidence, and the following games also verified the lack of trust of the Japanese players.

At the end of 90 minutes of regular time, the fourth official held up the electronic sign indicating three minutes of injury time. The Japanese team still did not score a goal.

0:2

The Japanese team is in front and the Chinese team is behind.

Taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, the Chinese team made the third substitution adjustment of the game to reasonably consume the game time.

Facing the Chinese team's substitutions that delayed the game, the Japanese players had no reaction.

For their part, it seemed like they wanted the game to end sooner.

Substitution adjustments were completed and injury time came to two minutes. The Chinese team still led the Japanese team by two goals.

The excitement of the Chinese fans in the stands became more and more exciting as the game time became shorter and shorter. Newcastle Stadium has completely become a sea of ​​joy for Chinese fans.

The Chinese fans sitting in front of the TV seemed to be affected by the fanatical atmosphere at the scene. They danced and vented loudly at home, bars, Internet cafes and other places where they watched the game.

With the success of the World Cup in Brazil last year, the population base in China that likes football is getting larger and larger, so there are very few incomprehensible looks.

Compared with the sluggish sports market a few years ago, the current domestic sports market can be said to be ushering in spring.

"Beep~beep~beep~~"

With the three whistles of Hassan, the referee on duty, the first semi-final of the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia came to an end.

In the end, with two goals from Tang Zheng and Sun Jingbo, the Chinese team defeated the Japanese team without any blood and took the lead in advancing to the Asian Cup finals.

One day later, the host Australia defeated Iraq 2:0 with home advantage and met the Chinese team in the final.