Midfielder Ruler

"Ouch, ouch, ouch -"

When 23 Chinese players appeared at the Kazan Stadium, more than 20,000 Chinese fans in the stands burst into deafening cheers.

For players such as Tang Zheng, Lu Liang, Zhang Linpeng, Yan Junling, Hao Junmin, and Wu Sanshi, this is not their first World Cup, but now they feel that they are in excellent condition. Perhaps... this World Cup can refresh the previous World Cup. A record for the top eight.

Top four?

why not?

Tang Zheng, Hao Junmin, Zhang Linpeng, Jiang Zhipeng, Yan Junling, and Wu Sanshi are all at the peak of their careers, both physically and in condition. Together with Lu Liang, Sun Jingbo, Gao Zhunyi and other players who are on the rise in their careers, there are There is a high chance of creating the best result achieved by an Asian team in the World Cup.

In addition, young players such as Liu Ruofan and Ye Erfan, who have the potential to become top players in Europe, can help the national team as long as they perform well.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch -"

As huge cheers swept the audience, French players entered the stadium through the player tunnel one after another, and the French fans of the expedition team also cheered.

At this moment, the Kazan Stadium became a sea of ​​joy for fans from both sides, with overwhelming cheers coming one after another.

Tang Zheng was about to start jogging to warm up with his teammates. He noticed Griezmann's gaze, put down his outgoing right foot, raised his right arm, and took the initiative to face Griezmann with a smile.

Griezmann subconsciously raised his right arm, took hold of Tang Zheng's outstretched right hand, and said first, "Hey Tang, at the national team level, I will definitely beat you!"

"Really?" Tang Zheng held Griezmann's right hand firmly and said playfully.

"Of course!" Griezmann laughed: "We are the favorites to win the championship!"

"Yes, yes, I hope you and your teammates will be merciful later and don't let us lose embarrassingly." Tang Zheng continued to show weakness to the end and gave a pleading look.

However, Griezmann was not fooled. He took back his right hand and patted Tang Zheng on the shoulder: "It's useless to show weakness. Wait until you lose!"

"Hey~" When Tang Zheng saw that his plan was revealed, he didn't feel any emotion. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders: "Then let's compete with each other!"

Pogba, who had an unpleasant experience in the past 2017-2018 season, looked at Tang Zheng, who was chatting happily with Griezmann, with complicated eyes, but soon he clenched his arms and secretly cheered himself up.

Everyone says that Tang Zheng is the number one star in the world. Pogba doesn't think so. He thinks that Tang Zheng is only temporary and the future... belongs to him!

Tang Zheng will turn twenty-nine this year, and he is only twenty-five.

It's just that... Pogba didn't notice that Tang Zheng had already won two Champions League championships and a FIFA Ballon d'Or, which symbolizes the best player in world football, at the age of 25.

In his career, Pogba has only won one European Golden Boy Award.

Compared with Tang Zheng, there is still a long way to go!

Also looking at Tang Zheng was Real Madrid player Varane. He had great doubts about whether he could defend Tang Zheng and then join the attack.

In his heart, Tang Zheng is almost invincible!

In addition to Tang Zheng and Griezmann 'reminiscing about old times' on the sidelines, three former Dortmund teammates, Dembele, Lu Liang and Yan Junling, also chatted for a few words before returning to their respective teams for pre-match warm-ups under the attention of the fans. .

Not long after, the forty-minute warm-up time ended, and the players from both teams returned to their respective locker rooms one after another to make final preparations for the upcoming first group match of Group C.

As the start time of the game gets closer and closer, the bookmakers' odds are becoming more and more optimistic about the Chinese team's draw, and some outsiders even prefer the Chinese team to win.

Because...so far in this World Cup, there have been two upsets.

Who can be sure that the Chinese team will not defeat the French team in an upset?

At the same time, commentators from national TV stations that have the rights to broadcast the World Cup have obtained the starting lineups of both teams. The official formation of the Chinese team is still the usual 4231, which is a bit surprising.

The surprise is that there have been major changes in the defense. The left back is Jiang Zhipeng, who has been in excellent form recently. The center back is not Feng Xiaoting, but Gao Zhunyi's partner Zhang Linpeng, who is capable of playing the right back position. With Zhang Linpeng playing as the center back, the young player Deng from Guangzhou Evergrande First appearance in Korean.

The goalkeeper is still Asia's No. 1 goalkeeper Yan Junling, and he deserves the title as Dortmund's main goalkeeper.

The double defensive midfielder Tang Zheng partners with Li Kui, the three forwards Lu Liang, Hao Junmin and Wu Sanshi, and Sun Jingbo is at the forefront of the striker.

But Sun Jingbo is not the kind of center who stands in the post. He has a large area of ​​activity and his coquettish movement can often play an unexpected role in the frontcourt.

However, many media are worried that Sun Jingbo's progress has slowed down in the past two years and has not reached the height predicted by experts. However, Sun Jingbo's own ability is not bad. What he lacks is the chance to transform into a dragon!

The French team's lineup is 433, with goalkeeper Lloris, Lucas Hernandez, Varane, Umtiti and Pavard, three midfielders Tolisso, Pogba and Kante, and three forward Mba Pe, Griezmann and Dembélé.

There are still ten minutes left before the start of the game. Players from both sides of the game are walking from their respective locker rooms to the tunnel. The difference is that the starting players stay in the tunnel, while the substitute players walk straight forward, and then sit to the left and right respectively. own team's bench.

At the same time, the on-site director's close-up shots were given to the players' tunnel, and then to those world-famous players.

The broadcast screen successively showed the faces of Tang Zheng, Griezmann, Mbappe, Pogba, Kante, Varane, Lu Liang, Zhang Linpeng and other players. The difference from the pre-match warm-up was the direct contact between the players from both sides. not enough.

Apart from the handshakes between club teammates and national team teammates, there was basically no communication between other players.

Soon, the Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha led the players into the stadium. The fans who had been waiting for a long time in the stands were in perfect agreement. They shouted loudly and deafeningly: "Ooooooooooooo-"

Those Chinese fans and French fans sitting in front of the TV realized that they supported the national team in the first World Cup group match!

※※※

"CCTV! CCTV! The game that is being broadcast for you now is the live broadcast of the Chinese team and the French team in Group C of the 21st FIFA World Cup in 2018. The first to kick off is the French team, who are wearing blue jerseys The white shorts are attacking from the right side of the broadcast screen to the left. The Chinese team is wearing the traditional red jersey and red shorts. They are attacking from the left side of the broadcast screen to the right..."

Central 5 commentator He Wei said the moment the referee Andres Cunha blew the whistle.

Griezmann kicked the ball directly to Pogba who was receiving from outside the arc of the center circle. The latter passed it directly back to central defender Varane under the pressure of Sun Jingbo.

Sun Jingbo suddenly stopped and changed direction, and cooperated with Lu Liang to pounce on Varane who was receiving the ball.

Sun Jingbo and Lu Liang were both very fast. Varane did not dare to neglect and passed directly back to the captain and goalkeeper Lloris.

Facing the aggressive Sun Jingbo and Lu Liang, Lloris did not dare to relax at all. As a goalkeeper, he chose to drive the ball forward with his big foot.

The football flew toward the Chinese team's defensive half. Pogba measured his steps as he retreated. When he was about to take off and pass the ball to Griezmann, he saw a red figure jumping first from the corner of his eye and heading the ball away.

"Tang Zheng!" Central 5 commentator He Wei changed his voice and shouted: "Leap high! The football was passed to Hao Junmin, and the Chinese team switched from defense to offense!"

Pogba was very upset, but he had no choice but to retreat.

The Chinese team's switch from defense to attack ultimately failed to threaten Lloris's goal, because captain Tang Zheng did not dare to move too far forward at the beginning of the game, and Li Kui is a traditional defensive midfielder who is honest about his duties and offensive. The effect played is completely negligible.

Therefore, it is difficult for Lu Liang, Sun Jingbo, Wu Sanshi and Hao Junmin to pose a substantial threat to the French team's defense on the offensive end.

However, French coach Deschamps was obviously wary of the Chinese team's quick counterattack. The French team had very limited direct offensive forces in the first five minutes of the game. They relied more on their strong midfield and frontcourt control to control the rhythm of the game.

In the first ten minutes of the game, the French team had an absolute advantage, not only in possession of the ball, but also in the number of shots, shots made and corner kicks.

However, the Chinese team is not purely defensive. They also have two opportunities to quickly counterattack.

It's a pity that Lu Liang was too strong when facing Varane's pass, causing him to lose control of the football.

Another time, Wu Sanshi fired an anti-aircraft gun from a long shot in front of the penalty area, which was equivalent to helping the French team clear the siege.

As the Chinese team launched two quick counterattacks, the French team became more cautious in attacking, focusing on success rate rather than threat.

Jiang is still old and hot. The 'Silver Fox' Lippi saw through the change of mentality of Deschamps' team at a glance, and took advantage of a dead ball opportunity to make a tactical gesture towards Tang Zheng.

It wasn't until Tang Zheng nodded lightly that Lippi returned to the coaching bench.

Soon, the fans at the scene discovered the Chinese team's tactical changes. Their formation premise was very obvious, from retreating to defend in the half-court area to increasing the pressure in the midfield and frontcourt, forcing the French players who got the ball to speed up the passing rate.

As velocity increases, so do turnovers.

The Chinese team's intensified pressing was not just for a short period of time, but continuous, forcing the French team's passing error rate to increase dramatically.

Deschamps, who was standing in the visiting team's coach's command area, frowned. He really didn't expect that the Chinese team coached by Lippi would use such a very physically demanding tactic in the World Cup...

Having said that, the high pressure did put great pressure on the French team's offensive organization, which led to an increase in the pass error rate.

The Chinese fans in the stands also showed their presence during the period when the Chinese team stepped up their pressure. Led by the fans of the 'Dragon Team' fan club, they created waves of loud cheers for the Chinese team. Come on, shout and cheer: "Ouch, ouch, ouch -"

The French team's offense had to move from the back of the midfield to the backcourt. In the 17th minute, Tolisso once again made the mistake he made in the UEFA Champions League semifinals in the 2017-2018 season. His cross pass was directly delivered to the feet of Sun Jingbo.

Fortunately, Sun Jingbo, who got the ball, thought too much. By the time he realized that he should break through, it was already too late. The central defender combination of Kante, Varane and Umtiti had already taken their positions, so the Chinese team had a rare high position. Pressing and stealing the ball had to lead to a positional battle.

Tolisso, who made a mistake that almost turned into a big mistake, was very careful in handling the ball next time, including Pogba and Kanter.

It is worth mentioning that Griezmann, who appeared at the center position, played very awkwardly in this game.

In addition, Mbappe and Dembele, who have been affected by the decline in overall passing success rate, do not have many opportunities to get the ball, and naturally have fewer one-on-one breakthrough opportunities.

Taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, the on-site director gave French team coach Deschamps a close-up shot of his face.

This picture is profound. As the French team with the highest total value in this World Cup, it was helpless in the face of the Chinese team's defense, and even conceded a goal due to its own mistakes.

In other words, Deschamps' formation is full of controversy, especially using Griezmann as the center.

Gao Zhunyi didn't have much to do against Griezmann, but Zhang Linpeng did. He often used some small moves to interfere with Griezmann, so that Griezmann played poorly.

Half an hour into the game, the Chinese team stopped executing high-position pressing tactics and retreated to half court again.

Central 5 commentator He Wei's excitement dropped: "High pressure poses a great threat to the French team's offense, but the hidden dangers are also obvious. In the second half, there is a high possibility of physical exhaustion..."

British Sky commentator Andy Gray also held the same view. He said frankly: "Marcelo Lippi's tactics in the first 30 minutes of the first half were very reasonable, forcing the overall strength and powerful French team to be unable to organize. Attack effectively to ensure the safety of the goal, but... the Chinese players will definitely experience a decline in physical fitness in the second half, and the Chinese team will definitely be in great trouble by then..."

The Chinese team gave up high-position pressure, and the passing success rate of the French team's midfield, backcourt, and midfielder increased significantly. Unfortunately, it was difficult for the three forwards to adjust after the sluggish state in the first 30 minutes.

After nearly 20 minutes of pressing, the Chinese team exhausted their physical energy too quickly and spent most of their time defending in the half court. Therefore, the 0:0 score did not change until the end of the first half.

For the French team, 0:0 is difficult to accept, but for the Chinese team, it is completely acceptable.

The Chinese team's plan before the game was to maintain a tie and compete for victory. What affected the Chinese team's prospects of qualifying was not the seeded French team, but Peru and Denmark.

The draw with France gives the Chinese team better prospects for qualifying. Even if they lose to the French team in the end, they can defeat Peru and Denmark in the next two rounds of the group stage and qualify for the group. However, Peru and Denmark are not as easy to deal with as imagined. , so the draw with the French team in the first round is of very high significance.

"The first half is over! The French team and the Chinese team are evenly matched. Neither team made any achievements. The two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 0:0!" Central 5 commentator He Wei was full of passion. For the Chinese team, it was 0:0. The locker room is obviously very good news.

If the 0:0 score can be maintained until the end of the game, it will basically mean that the Chinese team will emerge from Group C!