King of the Zone

After so many competition experiences, coupled with the additional power of observation brought by various full-scale skills, Cheng Hai discovered the goalkeeper Mane's intentions.

Under normal circumstances, free kicks are blocked by the wall at the near corner and the goalkeeper at the far corner.

But Mane's position is too close to the midpoint, and the center of gravity is slightly tilted towards the near corner, and there is a feeling of rushing to the near corner at any time.

Although Mane did not do it obviously, Cheng Hai believed that his intuition was correct, and Mane must have been prepared in his heart to move to the near corner in advance.

Therefore, before the free throw, Cheng Hai was ready for the far corner.

Of course, this is a bit of a gamble.

On the one hand, we have to bet that Mane's center of gravity shifted to the near corner after he sent the ball, and he didn't have time to shoot straight to the far corner.On the other hand, Cheng Hai is required to kick a shot with excellent strength, speed, and angle. The ball is fast, the angle is tricky, and it goes straight to the dead corner.

Otherwise, if Mane didn't jump to the near corner, Cheng Hai would have sent the ball directly into the opponent's arms.

Therefore, even though he decided to hit the far corner, Cheng Hai had to be fully prepared, and he had to kick a shot that went straight to the upper left dead corner.

In this way, even if he made a wrong bet and Mane could save in time, he would not be able to save the shot that went straight to the dead corner.

Moreover, the arc must be large enough, let the ball fly out from the near end first, and let Mane pounce on the near end goal.

Then draw a large arc in the air, pass by Ma Nei, and fly to the dead end at the far end.

This is the most perfect and the highest probability of scoring.

With full arc skills, I hope there will be no accidents in this free throw.

Soon, the wall was lined up, and the referee blew the whistle for free throws.

Cheng Hai stood four or five meters behind the penalty spot, took a deep breath, checked the height of the wall and the goalkeeper's position, and started to run up.

All the fans and commentators at the scene and in front of the TV stared wide-eyed.

The Chinese fans naturally hope that Cheng Hai will take the penalty, while the Senegalese fans are praying that Cheng Hai will miss the penalty.

Under the watchful eyes of countless people at the scene and in front of the TV, Cheng Hai ran up to the ball, stood with his left foot as a support foot, and slammed his right foot on the middle and lower part of the ball.

The moment Cheng Hai hit the ball, several Senegalese players lined up on the wall also jumped up neatly, trying to block Cheng Hai's free kick.

Then, everyone saw that the ball drawn by Cheng Hai flew into the air, and flew over the head of the Senegalese defender Guye, who was near the outermost end of the goal.

The human wall failed to stop Cheng Hai's free kick.

Next, it's up to the goalkeeper.

In fact, the moment Cheng Hai made a run-up shot and just touched the ball with his last step, the goalkeeper Mane had already moved from the far end to the near end before seeing the ball flying over.

He predicted that Cheng Hai would hit the close corner, so before seeing the path of the ball shot by Cheng Hai, he made a decision to shift ahead of time and rushed to the close corner.

After he moved a step, the ball kicked by Cheng Hai flew over the head of Geye on the outermost side, and it looked like it was about to fly to the near corner of the goal.

Ma, who had already moved a step closer, was overjoyed and was about to take off and catch the ball.

Unexpectedly, the next moment he saw, the ball that passed over Guye's head drew a huge arc in the air, turned and flew towards the back of the goal.

Mane was startled suddenly, thinking that he would immediately turn around and rush to the far end.However, the center of gravity of his body was originally thrown towards the near end, so he was caught off guard, how could he have time to throw his center of gravity in the opposite direction?

Then everyone saw that the goalkeeper Mane, who moved ahead of time and rushed towards the near end, suddenly stopped at the midpoint of the goal line, did not move, turned his head and watched Cheng Hai's free kick made a big bend in the air, and then stuck to the far crossbar and got into the upper left corner of the goal.

The CCTV-5 commentator of Huaguo CCTV in the commentary seat jumped up and shouted loudly:
"nice shot!!!"

"The ball is in, it's in, it's in, it's in..."

"Cheng Hai scored a beautiful arc free kick to help the Olympic team lead Senegal 1-0!"

"Senegal's goalkeeper Mane originally threw himself towards the near end, but Cheng Hai's ball suddenly made a big turn after it passed the wall and flew towards the far corner of the goal."

"The opposite center of gravity made Mane unable to make a save, so he froze on the goal line and watched the ball fly into the goal."

"Senegal can't hold on anymore, and the Olympic team should play better in the next game."

As the commentator said, everyone knows how the situation of the game will change after Cheng Hai makes this free kick.

Therefore, Cheng Hai and his teammates celebrated wildly.Not only because the goal was scored beautifully, but also because the trend of the next game will be more beneficial to the Hua Guo Olympic team.

In the end, it was because Cheng Hai hit the referee Clattenburg in the face with a goal: No matter how much you favor Senegal, I can still score and eliminate them!You can't stop me from scoring goals and leading the Hua Guo team to win and advance to the semi-finals.

Cheng Hai and his teammates celebrated for half a minute before being stopped by Clattenburg under the protest of the Senegalese players, allowing Senegal to open the ball.

After the game restarted, the Huaguo team, which led by one goal, naturally retreated their formation in an orderly manner.

Because they are ahead, they have the capital to shrink their defense.

Senegal really had no choice but to press forward and take the initiative to attack.

They are behind in the score, and they will definitely not be able to compete with the Huaguo team.They believe that if they don't attack, the Hua Guo team can defend in the backcourt until the end of the game.

When Senegal's formation presses up and takes the initiative to attack, they will naturally leave a lot of gaps in the backcourt.

And it is still a gap at the U23 level.

For Cheng Hai, this is naturally available.

However, under the favor of the referee, Cheng Hai's two passes to his teammates were judged offside, which made Cheng Hai and his teammates extremely dissatisfied.

But because the score was leading, although everyone was angry, they did not lose their minds and did not argue excessively with the referee, leading to more serious punishment.

If he couldn't pass through, Cheng Hai dribbled the ball and broke through instead.

But it’s not enough to break through with the ball by yourself, because the Senegalese players fall down as soon as they touch it. Often Cheng Hai falls down suddenly when the opponent touches him during the breakthrough with the ball, and then Cheng Hai’s attack is called a foul by the referee and stopped.

As for Senegal's offense, they often fall down at the first touch, and then they are awarded free kicks in the frontcourt by the referee.

Fortunately, the opponent did not have a free kick expert like Cheng Hai, and failed to score a few free kicks.

But such a law enforcement environment is really frustrating, and the Huaguo team played quite angrily throughout the first half.

However, despite the referee's favoritism, Cheng Hai's personal strength is so outstanding that Senegal has nothing to do regardless of the offensive and defensive ends.

Defensively, under Cheng Hai's midfield sweep, Senegal has almost never shot into the penalty area.

In terms of offense, although some contact referees can favor the opponent, but some surmounts that do not have contact with each other, and the cooperation with teammates against the wall, the referee can't favor the opponent.

In the 44th minute before the end of the first half, Cheng Hai and his teammates played such an attack.

It was also Senegal's attack that was interrupted, and the Hua Guo team played a quick counterattack.

But in the process of counterattack, because he was afraid that the referee would judge offside, Cheng Hai did not pass through to Dong Xuesheng, who could actually succeed in countering offside. Instead, he dribbled the ball into the opponent's half.

When encountering the opponent's first interceptor near the center line, Cheng Hai directly passed the opponent with a man-ball pass, and the referee couldn't judge Cheng Hai for a foul.

Cheng Hai's speed prevented the opponent from even making a foul interception.

After breaking through the first opponent and entering the opponent's half, two players from the opponent blocked Cheng Hai's way forward.

Cheng Hai did not break through forcefully, because that would knock the opponent down during the breakthrough, and the referee would call him a foul, ending the attack.

Therefore, when the contact was about to be made, Cheng Hai flicked his ankle and passed the ball to Cao Yunding who was following him but was unguarded, and then ran without the ball to get behind the two opposing players.

Running without the ball, the opponent naturally couldn't make another foul interception, nor could he flop to cause Cheng Hai's foul.

With superhuman speed, Cheng Hai circled behind the opponent, and then received the ball from Cao Yunding who hit the wall and cooperated with him about ten meters away from the penalty area line.

Because it was a counterattack, and Dong Xuesheng was dragging and running, so at this time Cheng Hai had only the last central defender Toure in front of him.

Although there are several opposing players chasing after Cheng Hai, their running speed without the ball cannot keep up with Cheng Hai's running with the ball, and they cannot threaten Cheng Hai for the time being.

But if Cheng Hai is stopped by Toure, and there is a slight delay, the opponent's players who return to defense may be in place.

Therefore, Toure did not rush forward, but retreated and got stuck, blocking Cheng Hai's route into the penalty area, so as to slow down Cheng Hai's attack speed.

However, just when everyone thought that Cheng Hai was going to be forced to slow down or pass the ball away, Cheng Hai pushed the ball aside while running, and then suddenly shot from about 30 meters away from the goal before Toure could react.

The ball soared into the air and flew past Toure, who hurriedly flew to block the hole of the gun, and it seemed that he was going to fly out of the baseline.

But it circled an arc in the air, avoiding the ten-finger pass saved by goalkeeper Mane, then circled into the range of the door frame, and flew into the goal against the right post.

In the 44th minute of the first half, Cheng Hai scored twice through a counterattack, helping the Hua Guo team take a 2-0 lead.

There was no controversy about the ball, and the referee Clattenburg could only pinch his nose and finger the middle circle to indicate that the goal was valid.

Cheng Hai and his teammates celebrated enthusiastically again, venting out the depression caused by the unfair punishment.

This was the last attack of the two sides in the first half.

Not long after the game restarted, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

During the intermission, head coach Sun Wei reminded everyone that they must be calm in the second half and not conflict with the opposing players and head coach to avoid being sent off by a red card and suspending the next game.

Especially Cheng Hai, he must not be caught in a fight.

If something really went too far, Sun Wei asked the nearby players to stand up and replace Cheng Hai to confront the opposing player, or appeal to the referee.

In short, with a score of 2-0, the probability of the Hua Guo team advancing is infinitely close to [-]%.For the next game, Cheng Hai must not receive a red card.

Other players can resist and counterattack appropriately according to the situation, but they must also be rational and cannot actively apply for red and yellow cards.

After a 15-minute break, the two sides changed sides and fought again. Senegal made substitution adjustments, replacing two defensive players and replacing two offensive players to strengthen the offense.

The Huaguo team continued to shrink their formation, strengthen their defense, and play defensive counterattacks.

After the number of attackers came up, coupled with the referee's favoritism, Senegal's offensive became much more ferocious.

In the 53rd minute, Senegal got the best shot since the opening: Forward Coulibali ran into the penalty area without the ball, received a wonderful pass from his teammates three or four meters to the right of the penalty spot in the penalty area, and got a chance to shoot in the penalty area.

This is a very good open opportunity, and there is no one to interfere when Coulibali shoots.

As a result, who knows, with such a good opportunity, Coulibaly missed the ball, and the ball flew out like a cannonball, but hit the outside of the goalpost and bounced off the baseline.

Huaguo players and fans breathed a sigh of relief, but Coulibaly knelt down on the ground in disbelief, holding his head in his hands, staring at the ball that rolled out of the baseline with an expression of disbelief.

But facts are facts.

There were not many offensive opportunities under Cheng Hai's mopping up, and such a good opportunity wasted. Whether it was Coulibaly himself, or the Senegalese players and fans, they were quite disappointed.

The ball was missed and Senegal's morale was affected to a certain extent. In the next 10 minutes, in the 60th minute, the Huaguo team expanded the score again.

It was also a counterattack, but this time it wasn't Cheng Haijin's goal or his assist, but it was his attack.

He dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and used his attractiveness to attract most of the defensive attention of Senegal's defense line. After that, he distributed the ball to Rao Weihui who was plugging in from the side. Then Rao Weihui made a pass from the side.

The ball was not controversial, and Clattenburg could only continue to circle his fingers to indicate that the goal was valid.

Leading with three goals in the 60th minute of the second half, the Huaguo team basically sealed the victory.

Of course, because of the bias of the referee, the next thing is not clear, so the head coach Sun Wei did not make a substitution, but still left Cheng Hai on the field to deter the opponent's defense and help the defense.

Cheng Hai's defensive position, speed, and physical fitness have indeed played a big role in improving the strength of the Hua Guo team's defense line, which is almost equivalent to playing the game with one more person for the Hua Guo team.

In the U23 level competition, Cheng Hai averaged more than 16km of running distance per game, which is actually more than double the average running distance of players from many teams.

It's really equivalent to one more person competing.

Therefore, although Senegal was almost desperate to attack with all members, and there was unscrupulous help from the referee, Senegal did not take the ball into the penalty area until the 82nd minute of the game to create a penalty.

But this penalty has caused a lot of controversy.

Because after Konate dribbled the ball into the penalty area, the central defender Li Jianbin tackled the ball first, and then tripped Konate, and he did not make any dangerous moves.

Under normal circumstances, this kind of tackle will not be judged as a foul. Instead, it is a precise tackle and clearance in the penalty area, which is a good ball.

As a result, Clattenburg didn't agree, so he decided to call Li Jianbin a foul, awarded a penalty to Senegal, and gave Li Jianbin a yellow card.

This made Li Jianbin angry and wanted to go to the referee when he got up, but Zhang Linpeng quickly stopped him and pulled him away.

Full-back Wu Xi and midfielder Tang Jiashu stood up and protested to the referee, but they were not aggressive to the referee, but only protested from a distance, so that Clattenburg could not show a yellow card to the two.

Of course, this kind of protest will have no effect, and Clattenburg insisted on his penalty.

Wu Xi's and Tang Jiashu's protests were just to express that the people of Huaguo would not just submit to everything, but would still resist.

There was no accident in the penalty kick, and it was sent in by Senegal, which tied the score at 1-3.

This goal gave Senegal hope.

With about 10 minutes left in the game, they still had hope.

In the next game, Senegal continued to attack aggressively and got a lot of opportunities with the help of the referee.

However, their shooting skills are not flattering. There was even a scuffle in the penalty area. Senegalese player Diam got a chance to face an empty goal. As a result, his stab kick was weak and weak, and was confiscated by goalkeeper Wang Dalei.

Even though Clattenburg gave a full 5 minutes of stoppage time, Senegal failed to seize the opportunity to score.

After 5 minutes and 26 seconds of stoppage time, amidst the deafening boos of the Chinese and overseas Chinese fans, Clattenburg finally reluctantly blew the whistle for the end of the game.

After all, the Huaguo team won a 3-1 victory with Cheng Hai's brace and Dong Xuesheng's header despite the fact that the referee was extremely partial to the opponent, defeating Senegal and advancing to the semi-finals.

Senegal's penalty kick also became the first goal conceded by the Hua Guo Olympic team since participating in the London Olympics.

After the game, during an interview in the player channel, a reporter asked Cheng Hai about his views on the referee's enforcement. Cheng Hai said: "I am not the only one who evaluates the referee's enforcement. What everyone in the media evaluates after the game is my opinion."

Cheng Hai didn't shoot directly, because he was afraid of attracting a suspension from the organizing committee.

But the head coach, Sun Wei, doesn't have so many scruples. Anyway, the Hua Guo team's tactics are all around Cheng Hai. The difference between whether there is a head coach or not is actually not very big.

Therefore, Sun Wei bombarded the on-duty referee Clattenburg at the post-match press conference, claiming that Clattenburg was Senegal's 12th man on the field, and helped Senegal destroy several anti-offside single-handed goals of the Hua Guo team, and successfully created that penalty, allowing the Hua Guo team to concede a goal for the first time.