World Cup of Great Powers

On the afternoon of August 25, Manama Stadium, the capital of Bahrain.

When Zeng Zheng led the Chinese team members to appear in the stadium, there was thunderous applause in the corner of the left stand.

Looking up, thousands of fans who came to watch the game had already unfurled a huge banner.

It read: "Coach Zeng, we will always support you!"

Zeng Zheng was deeply moved by this simple and simple sentence.

He took off his sunglasses and waved in the direction of his fans.

Zeng Zheng and the coaching staff came to the coaching bench.

Manama is no better than Europe.

Those who can come here to watch football are all die-hard fans.

The players' mentality is very good.

This can be related to the motivation of the coaching staff before the game.

Many team members are working hard for the big pearl in Zeng Zheng's hand.

However, considering the physical condition and status of the players, as well as home and away tactics, rotation is imperative.

On the court, several young players were doing pre-match training.

Du Wei, Sun Xiang, Xu Liang, Qu Bo, and Zeng Zheng brought almost the entire central axis of the Chinese Youth Team.

"Hey, what is this?"

In the stands, Rossi was bragging carelessly to others.

“Coach Zeng’s main focus is on surprise!”

"Have you forgotten the first 433 in Shenyang?"

"What's wrong with the young team member today!"

"Of course Coach Zeng can't miss such a good training opportunity!"

Rossi's speech was echoed by many fans around him.

These fans are holding the corner of the "Believe in Zeng Zheng" banner in their hands, and of course they must keep their word!

...

Amid the cheers of the fans, the team ended training and returned to the locker room.

The outside world is guessing what kind of lineup Zeng Zheng will form, but within the team, everyone already knows it.

In Zeng Zheng's team, there are only the most suitable and best players, not the biggest or most powerful players.

So after Zeng Zheng returned to the locker room, the eleven players had already consciously changed into their team uniforms and were waiting for Zeng Zheng's lecture.

Looking at these young faces, Zeng Zheng smiled and said: "Some of you came to Manama the year before last."

"We're going back to our old place today, so we don't need to make any new tricks."

"Just use the same flat push and it's done."

“As the old saying goes: ‘It’s not about new tricks, it just works’!”

After saying that, Zeng Zheng was the first to burst into laughter.

The head coach was so relaxed, and some young players also had a look of determination in their eyes.

Looking at the fiery eyes of the "seniors" beside them, these new recruits of the Chinese Youth Team also want to go into battle immediately and kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds.

"The overall strength of the Bahrain team is not outstanding. Like the Thai team, it is a troublemaker."

"But the more this happens, the less we can be careless."

"This is my home field again, be careful of capsizing in the gutter!"

"But, don't be too nervous."

"Just play according to your usual training."

Speaking of this, Zeng Zheng glanced at Zhang Xiaorui and Zhao Junzhe, these two people are the key to scoring in this game.

"The Bahrain team likes to play 541. This is a typical anti-counterattack formation."

"So even in the away game, we must take the initiative and use the opening attack to create opportunities. At the same time, you two must also control the rhythm of the game and don't be greedy for speed. Do you understand?"

Zhao Junzhe and Zhang Xiaorui nodded in unison.

"Because the Bahrain team has a single-arrow lineup, their offensive ability from the two wings is not very strong. However, this lone forward named Saadi may choose to attack from the wings."

"Although the full-backs can participate more actively in the frontcourt attack, they must be smarter and optimistic about Saadi's position."

"In the end, there is nothing left to say."

"Although I would be satisfied even if this game ended in a 0-0 draw, for a team like Bahrain that likes to defend at home, it would be a pity not to score three points!"

"Don't forget, the Bahrain team is not like the Thai team. It is a West Asian team and can become a support force for the Iranian team."

"We must not take such an opponent lightly, do you understand?"

"Understood!" the players responded in unison.

...

"The game is about to start!"

"Welcome everyone to watch the match between China and Bahrain in Group A of the top ten matches of the second stage of the 27th World Cup in Asia."

"I am the host Huang Jianxiang."

"I'm at the stadium in Manama, the capital of Bahrain."

"Currently, we have got the national team's roster for this game."

"To be honest, after seeing this list, I was also very surprised, because coach Zeng not only rotated the lineup, but also still used 433."

"But I think since we were all surprised, our opponents were even more surprised."

"The goalkeeper is still Ou Chuliang."

"Even Coach Zeng will not rotate the goalkeeper position easily."

"The defenders are Sun Jihai, Xu Yunlong, Li Weifeng, and Wu Chengying."

"The midfielders are Li Tie, Zhang Xiaorui and Zhao Junzhe."

"The forwards are Qu Bo, Zhang Yuheng, and Shao Jiayi."

"This kind of formation is really surprising."

"As a member of the Chinese Youth Team, Qu Bo participated in the last Olympic Games, but he was not a main member."

"Coach Zeng used Qu Bo as a right winger today. It seems that he took a liking to his ability to rush forward."

...

"Don't be nervous, it's just the Bahrain team, it's not like we haven't played before."

Before kick-off, Zhang Yuheng patted Qu Bo on the shoulder and gave the "junior" psychological counseling.

Qu Bo took a few deep breaths of the hot air and stepped hard on the turf.

The Bahrain team deliberately chose such a hot time to kick off, simply because they wanted to use their home court advantage to cause a little trouble for the Chinese team.

"Don't worry, Brother Zhang, I'm fine. I've also seen big scenes!" Qu Bo moved his arms, revealing his not-so-strong biceps.

Zhang Yuheng smiled slightly and said, "Okay, let's see how you perform in the game!"

Soon, as the referee blew his whistle, the Bahrain team took the lead to kick off.

As Zeng Zheng guessed before the game, the Bahrain team did not want to compete with the Chinese team in the middle.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After passing a few balls back and forth in the midfield, he saw that one of his own players had already rushed to the Chinese team's penalty area, so he directly passed the ball to China with a big kick.

Team restricted area.

Li Weifeng jumped high and used his head to clear the ball to the feet of his teammate.

In the Bahrain team's first attack, the ball was hastily handed over.

Lee Tie, who was single as a defensive midfielder, didn't make too many adjustments after receiving the ball.

In the peripheral vision, he saw a white figure rushing past, and he passed the ball directly to the ground and kicked the ball forward.

At the same time, Sun Jihai's right foot just blocked the ball.

When the ball arrives, the people arrive!

Seeing the opportunity for the opponent's right back to attack, Sun Jihai directly pushed the ball forward, and a man passed the ball.

"Sun Jihai has a great life!"

"The players who are inserted in the middle are very fast!"

"Have the opportunity..."

But just when Sun Jihai wanted to pass the ball, the Bahrain team took the lead in blocking the passing route due to the large number of defensive players on their team.

The Bahrain defender who flew forward stretched his foot to block the corner kick!

"Less than a minute into the game, the Chinese team got a corner kick."

"Let's see who takes the corner kick."

"Zhao Junzhe."

"Zhao Junzhe ran towards the corner kick area."

There are many players in the team who can play corner kicks, so no one is surprised who is assigned to play corner kicks.

Zhao Junzhe placed the ball in front of the corner cue and slowly took a few steps back.

At this time, the Chinese team's high points basically rushed into the opponent's penalty area.

Zhang Yuheng, Li Weifeng, Li Tie and Sun Jihai are all the targets of the opponent's focus.

Among them, Zhang Yuheng stood in the middle, being flanked by two opponents in front and behind.

I saw Zhao Junzhe take a deep breath, make a gesture, and quickly rush to the ball.

"boom!"

The ball shot into the sky.

There was a commotion in the restricted area.

Shao Jiayi grabbed the front point, while Li Weifeng quickly rushed to the back point and blocked the Bahrain defender with his body.

Forcibly creating a space for Zhang Yuheng to jump in the middle.

At the same time, Zhang Yuheng also jumped high and headed for the ball that Shao Jiayi ferried over.

This kind of corner kick-style aerial coordination has been practiced countless times in previous exercises. Zhang Yuhuang shook his head in front of the ball and smashed the ball into the opponent's net.

Whoosh!

After landing, Zhang Yuheng raised his arms directly and rushed to the sidelines.

"The ball went in!"

“It starts in less than a minute!”

"The Chinese team scored an away goal!"

“It’s so amazing!”

"Facing Bahrain's five-back lineup, the Chinese team actually took advantage of a corner kick to score in the opening game."

“Coach Zeng’s tactics really worked!”

"Set-pieces have always been an important scoring method for the Chinese team."

"I didn't expect it to come in handy so quickly today."

...

"Coach Zeng, we scored a goal, we scored a goal!"

Zeng Zheng finally broke away from Chi Shangbin's embrace, and then said with a smile: "Coach Chi, why are you so excited?"

"Hey! How can you not be excited! This is an away goal!"

The Chinese team's away games have always been fraught with crises.

No matter how good the plan is before the game, nothing is as reassuring as scoring a goal during the game.

The team members surrounded Zhang Yuheng and ran back to their own half happily.

Qu Bo is right next to you.

Looking at the tall, mighty and handsome Zhang Yuheng, I couldn't help but feel envious.

The game starts again.

The Bahrain team lost the ball at the beginning, which left their players at a loss.

The 541 formation focuses on defense.

Now after just one minute of playing, they have to switch from defense to offense. This is simply too embarrassing!

After taking a one-goal lead, the Chinese team began to play more and more patiently.

Looking back at the Bahrain team, their personal ability has no advantage over the Chinese team, and it is difficult for the single forward formation to produce decent offensive power.

Even if Li Tie plays as a defensive midfielder, under the control of Zhang Xiaorui and Zhao Junzhe, he doesn't run too much in the midfield.

Zeng Zheng stood on the sidelines, occasionally mentioning the players.

"The offensive intention is too obvious!"

“Everyone saw it in advance!”

"Stop talking nonsense. Is it because there are too many people or is it pre-judged? I still can't tell?"

"Just kick as I say!"

Time passed bit by bit.

After the opening attack, the Chinese team became more and more calm.

Zhang Xiaorui also gradually adapted to this three-forward formation, passing and penetrating in an orderly manner.

Compared with the two-forward formation, Zhang Xiaorui can also choose to attack on his own when in possession of the ball;

But with three offensive players in front, Zhang Xiaorui's passing responsibility is far greater than that of a single player.

This is something Zeng Zheng asked him to learn and adapt to.

At Juventus, there are many players with the ability to score goals!

He has to learn how to pass the ball first.

In the 14th minute, after Qu Bo received the ball in the right front court, just when he wanted to rely on his personal ability to get rid of it, the defender pounced on him.

As the whistle blew, Qu Bo won a free kick for the team.

After getting up, Qu Bo quickly passed the ball and kicked it to Zhang Xiaorui who was in front of him.

Before the latter could catch the ball, he was double-teamed by two defenders.

Zhang Xiaorui stretched out his right foot and kicked the ball back to Qu Bo again.

After receiving the ball, Qu Bo took a step to the right, moved his big foot directly, and kicked the ball to the other side of the court.

At the same time, Shao Jiayi jumped up high and stopped the ball with his chest.

Then he took a long stride and began to rush towards the opponent's penalty area.

Before the defender turned around and pounced, Shao Jia pushed with his left foot and accelerated to get rid of the Bahrain defender's defense.

After he caught up with the ball again, he swiped hard with his left foot and passed a flat ball.

At the same time, Zhang Yuheng's tall figure happened to appear in the center of the penalty area.

Because he had scored a goal before, everyone's attention was attracted to him.

Just when all the Bahrain players pounced on the tall Chinese forward, Zhang Yuheng slipped his foot and the ball rolled between his legs.

boom!!!

Qu Bo, who followed from the right, fired a volley. The ball hit the post and went directly into the net.

Uh-huh!!!

This time, it was Qu Bo who raised his arms high.

"Goal, I scored!!!"

The joy of scoring this goal is no less than the goal in the World Youth Championship final.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Hey, the Chinese team is really amazing!"

"I thought we could only score goals through set kicks, but I didn't expect we could score goals through normal play."

"I really admire Coach Zeng. The players he selected really made a great contribution today!"

...

After conceding two goals in the first ten minutes, Wolfgang was so angry that he jumped on the sidelines.

Forget about the first corner kick, maybe it was a mistake;

But the second goal was completely led by the Chinese team.

First, Qu Bo quickly served a free kick, disrupting the Bahrain team's defensive order;

Then Qu Bo moved with his big feet and calmly distributed the ball to the other side;

Then Shao Jiayi passed the ball lightly, and Zhang Yuheng made a clever pass.

Finally, with the help of Qu Bo who inserted at high speed to grab the back point, the ball was completed so easily.

The Bahrain team's 5-back formation is useless in the face of this wave of attacks!

If this continues, will the Chinese team defeat Bahrain?!

After taking a two-goal lead, the Chinese team began to slow down its offensive.

This is still Zeng Zheng's request.

It is enough to score minus two goals in the away game at the beginning of the game.

Preserving strength and reducing consumption is the most important thing.

The overall strength of the Bahrain team is indeed not as good as that of the Chinese team, and the individual abilities of the players are not strong either.

After losing the ball, he made several consecutive attacks, but he blindly passed the ball into the penalty area, and was then destroyed by defenders such as Li Weifeng.

This kind of blind high-altitude bombing, Zeng Zheng's requirement is 100% air defense.

Under such "strict" requirements, no one dares to neglect it easily.

The Bahrain team's attack was fruitless, and the Chinese team began to firmly lock the game situation.

Throughout the first half, the Chinese team's ball possession rate was as high as 63%, and most of the time they controlled the ball in the midfield.

With all three lines of the Bahrain team huddled within a 30-meter area of ​​their own side, it was definitely a huge test for Zhang Xiaorui's organization and conditioning.

The three forwards all have strong running abilities. The rest depends on how Zhang Xiaorui finds gaps.

Fortunately, Zeng Zheng was not in a hurry as he had a two-goal lead.

After Zhang Xiaorui organized several consecutive attacks, the Chinese team also hit several goals one after another.

Although they didn't score, they threatened the opponent's goalkeeper and made the opponent's defense frightened.

It is precisely because of this that the opponent's counterattack did not come out.

Zeng Zheng watched for a while and then returned to the bench.

"Boss Zeng, drink some water."

Han Tao handed over the water at the right time.

Zeng Zheng took a sip and then patted Zheng Zhi's thigh next to him.

"Tseng!"

Zheng Zhi quickly straightened his back, ready to be ready at any time.

"Are you interested in doing some organizational work?!"

Zheng Zhi: "???"

...

Entering the halftime break with a two-goal lead, Zeng Zheng praised all the international players in the locker room.

Then the tactics for the second half were adjusted.

"Zhang Xiaorui, come down; Zheng Zhi, come up."

Everyone knows that Zheng Zhi is Zeng Zheng's favorite general, and even the abbreviations of their names are the same.

Zhang Xiaorui nodded.

He didn't get an assist in the first half, which was a bit of a pity.

These 45 minutes of offensive and defensive experience were enough for him to ponder.

In the second half, with Zheng Zhi coming on the court, the Chinese team's formation changed again.

Zheng Zhi fell behind and formed a double defensive midfielder with Li Tie.

Although he is a defensive midfielder, he is responsible for the Chinese team's offensive ball.

"Playing the ball from the attacking midfielder is a style of play that everyone knows and understands."

"Defensive midfielders and central defenders playing the ball will be a major issue for the future development of football."

While Zeng Zheng was explaining, Han Tao was writing down notes in his notebook.

The heads of Jin Zhiyang, Chi Shangbin and Shen Xiangfu were about to explode.

At this time, it is better to listen a little.

Just ask Han Tao to borrow his notes later.

"The ball from the midfielder can stretch the opponent's formation."

"Especially with a team like Bahrain that is so densely packed."

"We always organize attacks from the front midfielder and press the opponent's formation too tightly."

"Especially after we scored the second goal, the Bahrain team's defensive position obviously became much more reasonable."

"In this case, if we don't want to rely solely on set pieces to attack, we have to think of new tricks."

"Zheng Zhi is a bit reckless."

"But you can still cultivate your feet skills..."

Facts have proved that after Zeng Zheng's adjustments, the Chinese team's offense in the second half could once again open up the situation.

Zheng Zhi picked up and dribbled the ball in the middle, fully demonstrating his ability to push forward.

Especially at the beginning of the second half, Zheng Zhi got the ball in the midfield and got rid of two opponents in a row. Then he suddenly made a long pass and sent the ball into the opponent's penalty area. After Zhang Yuheng almost scored again with a header, everyone was surprised.

Wolfgang's eyes widened.

As a German coach from Europe, he suddenly felt that his team was being crushed in all directions.

Is this also a team led by an Asian coach?

Damn, are you trying to bluff me?

In desperation, the Bahrain team had to strengthen Zheng Zhi's defense.

Specifically, the number of small movements increased, making Zheng Zhi extremely awkward from catching the ball to passing the ball.

However, the tactic of playing the ball from the back midfielder is still unfamiliar.

Taking advantage of the problems exposed by the new formation and new tactics, the Bahrain team finally launched a very threatening counterattack.

The opponent's wide players took advantage of the gap created by Sun Jihai and attacked behind Sun Jihai at full speed.

When the ball was brought to a position parallel to the Chinese team's penalty area line, the ball was passed directly to the top of the gourd.

Because the opponent had previously passed the ball into the penalty area, Li Weifeng and others ran towards the penalty spot.

By the time he realized it was a flat pass in the end, it was too late.

No. 2 Mohd volleyed with his left foot from the instep, blasting a world wave about 27 meters away from the goal, and passed the goal guarded by Ou Chuliang.

Ou Chuliang rolled around on the ground and then got up. When he saw the ball entering the net behind him, he couldn't help but beat the ground hard several times.

The Bahrain fans in the stands were also going crazy now.

They stood up and danced their own folk dance to cheer for the team members.

Seeing the ball being lost, Jin and Chi quickly ran to Zeng Zheng and said, "Xiao Zeng, stop playing around. We have plenty of time to practice. Let's not lose the three-pointer we got!"

"Yes, Xiao Zeng, if this continues, three points will become one point, which is not good!"

Zeng Zheng nodded, indicating that I would listen to the advice this time.

With a wave of his hand, the formation changed again.

Shao Jiayi withdrew from the left wing position, and the formation once again became the familiar 442.

In addition, Zhao Junzhe, Zheng Zhi, and Li Tie are all defensive midfielders. The Chinese team, together with the rear, instantly became impregnable.

After seeing that the Bahrain team's offense could no longer make it past halftime, both Jin and Chi breathed a sigh of relief.

Jin Zhiyang pointed at Zeng Zheng's nose and laughed and cursed: "Okay, you brat, it turns out you had a back-up plan a long time ago!"

"It makes us so anxious."

"It has to be young people!"

"I can't do it with a ball for training."

Chi Shangbin was also looking at the court and murmured: "This is the top ten game, this is the top ten game!"

In the rest of the game, Zeng Zheng gave two substitutions to Xu Liang and Sun Xiang, two national youth players.

Whether it is the time of substitution or the position of substitution, Zeng Zheng's intention to win has been very obvious.

The Bahrain team launched a strong attack in the last ten minutes, but failed to even attack the Chinese team in the first half.

Xu Liang even took this opportunity to mix up a well-positioned frontcourt set-piece, and almost expanded the score again.

In the end, with Zhang Yuheng and Qu Bo's two goals in the opening stage, the Chinese team defeated the Bahrain team 2-1 in the away game and won the second game of the top ten competition.