Midfielder Ruler

The 2015 Asian Cup final in Australia was held at the Australian Stadium in Sydney. The first half ended with the visiting team China leading 1:0. In the second half, Australia changed sides and played again, showing their desire to win to fans around the world and taking advantage of the kick-off to quickly create He made an attack that was very likely to score, and almost gave the Chinese team a blitzkrieg.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch -"

The Australian fans in the stands were inspired by the team's attack, and they made waves of loud cheers.

In many cases, the performance of players is directly linked to the performance of fans, because in the fanatical home atmosphere, Australian players seem to feel an inexplicable energy blessing, allowing them to perform at their best.

However, Australia's offense seemed to lack some luck. Except for the blitz at the beginning of the second half, which almost scored, the next two consecutive shots missed the goal by a hair.

Postkoglu stood in the home team coach's command area and paced back and forth. He himself wanted to make adjustments to the team's lineup, but there was always a gap between the players on the bench and the starting players. It took time to adapt to the game when he was replaced. Rhythm.

After much deliberation, I still pin my hopes on the starting eleven.

Unless there is a physical problem, Postkoglu does not want to make adjustments to the lineup in a short period of time.

The one with different ideas is Lippi, the head coach of the Chinese team, who already has the idea of ​​​​substituting.

Wu Sanshi has outstanding abilities, but his talents are limited. Now he has reached the upper limit of his personal abilities and there is not much room for improvement. On the other hand, Sun Jingbo, who is young, has excellent abilities and talents. His appearance may not be able to compete with Australia's junior players. The defensive line poses an immediate threat, but can enrich the team's positional offense over time.

As an outstanding product of La Masia, there is no doubt about Sun Jingbo's ability.

In the 53rd minute of the game, the Chinese team took the lead in making substitution adjustments. Sun Jingbo replaced Wu Sanshi, who performed relatively mediocrely.

Wu Sanshi, who was substituted, naturally looked unhappy, but he also knew that he did not perform well in this game. Apart from complaining to the head coach Lippi in his heart, he still did a good job on the surface. He high-fived his teammate Sun Jingbo to complete the substitution. The handover ceremony was followed by a round of applause to thank the fans with arms raised in the air.

Sun Jingbo, who came off the bench, did not do a good job on the defensive end. After all, La Masia emphasizes offense rather than defense. However, captain Tang Zheng's supplementary defense and Zhang Linpeng's excellent form are enough to ensure the safety of the right defense, allowing Sun Jingbo to use more Focus more on switching from defense to offense.

Sun Jingbo came on as a substitute and created a scoring opportunity in the third minute.

He received a long pass from Tang Zheng on the right and passed Jedinak and Kruse. With a small step and dribbling the ball, he got past center back Sainsbury to get a long shot opportunity.

Unfortunately, Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan was very focused and reacted very quickly. He flew sideways and blocked the ball out of the left goal post, trying to keep the goal.

"Oh oh oh——"

While there was a burst of exclamations in the sky above the stadium, Australian head coach Postkoglu made up his mind to replace veteran Bresciano with young Longo.

It is undeniable that Bresciano's ability and game experience are better than Longo's, but the veteran's speed is slow, his physical fitness has declined, and his frequency of touching the ball is slightly slower. The reason why Tang Zheng was able to get the ball and send a wonderful pass to Sun Jingbo was that he passed the ball too slowly to Bresciano. Otherwise, he would not have lost control of the football with Tang Zheng's assistance.

In the 58th and 9th minutes, Australia also made substitution adjustments, with 22-year-old Longo replacing veteran Bresciano.

Central 5 commentator He Wei looked at the broadcast and gave some knowledge to the fans in front of the TV: "Longo, who was born in September 1992, came from the Tottenham youth training camp. He performed well on behalf of the Tottenham youth team in the early days, but now Swindon is playing in the third tier of English league, but his ability has been demonstrated in the previous games. The head coach Postkoglu chose to use Bresciano considering that Bresciano has rich experience in the game, and now he is sent to run. Longo, who is more capable, obviously hopes to compete with the Chinese team in the midfield..."

Longo's appearance has indeed brought positive effects to Australia. His running ability gives the Australian midfield more activity. His offensive effect may not be obvious, but his defensive effect is huge. With the cooperation of captain Jedinak and Milligan, This poses a great threat to the Chinese team's offense.

The midfield attack was hindered, and Tang Zheng began to change his offensive strategy, passing the football more through the back line. Many times, Tang Zheng would even come between the two central defenders to take the ball and organize the attack.

Australia is lagging behind and time is passing by second by second. Therefore, the Australian players have no choice but to move their formation forward to shorten the distance from the Chinese players in possession of the ball, increase the chance of stealing the ball, and strive for a counterattack.

But the risk of doing so is very high. Both Lu Liang and Sun Jingbo are very fast players. As long as Australia does not pay attention when switching from offense to defense, one result is likely to occur.

The Chinese team expanded the score.

Postkoglu naturally thought of this possibility, but the team had no choice...

There really is no choice.

※※※

Time passed quickly, twenty minutes passed in the second half, which meant that there were still the last twenty-five minutes of the game, and the score was still that the home team Australia trailed the Chinese team 0:1.

The fanatical atmosphere in the stands remained the same, with both Chinese and Australian fans sparing no effort to cheer for their teams.

The sound was so loud that even fans sitting in front of the TV could hear it clearly.

But the Chinese fans sitting in front of the TV seemed even more excited because... the Chinese team was leading.

Although Longo's appearance has strengthened the activity of Australia's midfield, the Australian fans sitting in front of the TV are still a little worried.

The Chinese team seems to have few offensive opportunities, but every time they attack, they can score.

Either force Matthew Ryan into a crucial save or miss the ball.

In other words, the Chinese team's offense can easily pose a threat to the Australian goal, but Australia has the upper hand and cannot score.

The most worrying thing about football matches is that there is heavy thunder but little rain.

Postkoglu couldn't help but look up at the scoreboard. What he looked at was not the score, but the time.

68’53”

The time is approaching seventy minutes, and there is less and less time left in the game.

In the 72nd minute, veteran McKay replaced left back Franjic.

"This is a very bold attempt!" Central 5 commentator He Wei said: "The 31-year-old McKay has played for Changchun Yatai twice and is good at offense and defense, but what is really impressive is his offense. Ability, replacing the left back with a wing back, this is not a substitution, but to strengthen the attack!"

as expected!

McKay, who came off the bench, did not stay in the back, but appeared in the left wing position when the team was attacking.

Former Guangzhou Evergrande and current Porto player Zhang Linpeng is no stranger to Maikai. The two of them are adaptable to each other in this campaign. Moreover, Zhang Linpeng is young and explosive and has a better body. McKay could not get a favor from Zhang Linpeng at all. Instead, he started first The first time he got the ball, he made a passing error under the pressure of Zhang Linpeng.

Fortunately, the Chinese team's offense failed to result in a shot, otherwise McKay's confidence would be greatly dampened and affect his performance in the next game.

Head coach Postkoglu also breathed a sigh of relief. He naturally did not want to see the substitution adjustments he made become an opportunity for the Chinese team to expand the score.

The possibility of losing has been thought of before the game. If substitution adjustments become a breakthrough point for the Chinese team, his substitution adjustments, that is, on-the-spot dispatching ability, will be criticized by the media.

In addition to the preparation of troops before the game, the most important thing that reflects the ability of a professional coach is the on-the-spot dispatching ability.

Looking at the entire world of football, coaches who can be called famous coaches are very good at on-the-spot management, so Postkoglu does not want to be criticized by the media.

But what Postkoglu didn't expect was that the Chinese team's next shift from defense to offense would create a fatal opportunity...

※※※

The seventy-fifth minute is the critical point of physical fitness in this football match. The physical fitness of the players on both sides has dropped significantly. Especially for the tournament system, one game every four days or so is not enough for the players to recover all their physical fitness, so the two players The players on the team that entered the finals were not ideal in terms of physical recovery. At this time, they relied more on perseverance.

However, the Chinese team has one more day of rest than Australia, and the Chinese team's two knockout stage games did not enter overtime. The physical fitness of the players is not as high as that of the Australian players, so the physical fitness of the Chinese players is slightly better than that of the Australian players.

Of course, this is only for a very small number of players with excellent physical fitness.

The training system of several international players playing in the Chinese Super League is definitely not as good as that of European international players. In addition, the self-discipline of domestic players is also relatively poor, and their physical consumption is the same as that of most Australian players.

Australia switched from defense to offense. Sainsbury directly made a long pass from the backcourt to veteran Cahill. The latter overpowered Li Xuepeng, whose physical fitness had declined significantly, to complete the header back. Longo, who actively participated in the attack, received the ball.

Since the Chinese team's defensive players were all in position, Longo couldn't find a good passing teammate, so he had to give the ball to Cruze and let him think of a solution.

Kruse's technical characteristics are not that of an organizational player. When he receives the football, he can only pass it to his teammates who are in space. It is really difficult for him to pass a creative through ball.

After passing the ball back and forth several times, the football came to the feet of McKay, who had just replaced him. Thinking of the mistake he made when he came on the field, he was ready to regain the field.

Facing Zhang Linpeng, McKay would not be foolish to go one-on-one. He saw Longo running over from the corner of his eye, hoping to complete a one-two with Longo.

There have been many successful cases in training in the past, so McKay believes that Longo can understand his intentions.

In fact, Longo did understand McKay's intentions and approached consciously.

But it was not only Longo who noticed this, but also Li Kui who was assisting in defense.

From the corner of his eye, McKay saw that Longo was about to run. The corner of his mouth turned up slightly, and he moved the ball to the right with the outside of his right foot. The ball rolled towards Longo, while McKay ran forward along the left sideline of the offense. .

Longo, who responded, also thought about how to handle the ball next, and swung his right foot, preparing to hit the ball directly without stopping.

However, at this moment, Li Kui, who was assisting in defense, suddenly dropped his center of gravity, stepped forward with his right foot, and his heel got stuck in front of the football.

Without any mental preparation, Longo's right foot was blocked, making it difficult to control his body's center of gravity. His upper body naturally leaned forward and fell forward.

Longo realized something when he fell to the ground and screamed out of reflex, hoping to get the referee's sympathy.

It's a pity that the referee Farhani Ariza was not far from the scene of the incident and could see clearly. He did not blow the whistle because of Longo's scream, but hooked his fingers at Longo who fell to the ground. , signaling Longo to get up quickly.

Li Kui, who blocked the ball, immediately passed the ball to Zhang Linpeng who was about to turn around. The latter was about to pass it directly to Sun Jingbo in the ribs, but he suddenly heard Tang Zheng's shout and passed it across without hesitation. Tang Zheng in the middle.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch—"

The Chinese fans in the stands suddenly thought of something and subconsciously burst into loud cheers.

Tang Zheng, who has considerable experience in the game, will naturally not be affected by off-field factors. He took the initiative to meet the football passed by Zhang Linpeng, and at the same time moved the ball away from the high-pressing Australian captain Jedinak.

Jedinak obviously did not expect that Tang Zheng would make consecutive stops, so he chose to fall to the ground and commit a foul, which seemed half a beat too late and only scooped up a ball of air.

The head coach Postkoglu, who was standing in the command area of ​​the home team coach, never thought that captain Jedinak, who ranked first in the Premier League's steals and interceptions list in the 2013-2014 season, would make such a low-level mistake. He was so frightened that he lost half of his consciousness. .

Another defensive midfielder, Milligan, was a little far away. He knew the ability gap between himself and Tang Zheng, so he chose to retreat and wait for Tang Zheng.

Tang Zheng, who passed Jedinak, did not dribble again. He directly handed over to Sun Jingbo, who cut in at high speed along the right road.

McKay, who came on as a substitute, was out of position, which meant that there was a huge sprint area in front of Sun Jingbo, and central defender Sainsbury had to fill in.

Sainsbury's, who was well aware of Sun Jingbo's abnormal speed, did not rush towards Sun Jingbo, but stood still and prevented Sun Jingbo from cutting inside.

Partnering with Spiranovic to defend Gao Lin, once Sun Jingbo knocks him away, the goal will be in danger...

Sainsbury is thoughtful, but the offense always takes the initiative, and his thoughtfulness will not affect the offense.

Sun Jingbo is the kind of player who runs faster and faster. With Sainsbury's position, he chose to run to a position parallel to the penalty area line to slow down, then made a slight adjustment and raised his right foot to pass.

Sainsbury's was unable to do anything due to distance issues and could only witness the football drawing a graceful arc in mid-air.

Gao Lin and his partner Spiranovic took off at the same time, but goalkeeper Matthew Ryan punched him out without anyone being able to hit him...

"Oh oh oh——"

The football was urgent and fast, and both Spiranovic and Gao Lin were likely to grab the spot, so when goalkeeper Matthew Ryan struck out to knock the ball out, the Australian fans let out a frightening exclamation.

Head coach Postkoglu also took a deep breath, but before he could exhale it, it came up again and reached his throat.

Because the football flew towards Tang Zheng, who was participating in the attack, and Tang Zheng, who was running, adjusted his steps and raised his right foot...

"Oh oh oh——"

There was another burst of exclamations from the home team fans.