Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 652 All Defeated Opponents
Castelão Stadium in Fortaleza.

The quarter-final match between Brazil and China is about to begin here.

When both teams came out of the locker room, they met in the players' tunnel.

Dan Yongzhuo was the second in line on the team, and the other Brazilian players could see him without even turning their heads.

Many Brazilian players are familiar with Shan Yongzhuo, especially their defenders, as they have faced each other many times in European competitions.

For example, Thiago Silva had many friendships with Shan Yongzhuo, who was playing for Rome at the time, while he was at AC Milan.

Other opponents Shan Yongzhuo has faced in European competitions include David Luiz, Dani Alves, Marcelo, and Paulinho.

Those attacking players are no strangers to Shan Yongzhuo; he has faced Neymar and Oscar before.

However, these people's experiences fighting against Shan Yongzhuo were mostly unpleasant defeats.

The Brazilian players looked at Shan Yongzhuo with deep apprehension.

In the last match, Shan Yongzhuo scored four goals, leading the weak Chinese team to a resounding victory over Uruguay single-handedly, which left a deep impression on everyone.

In addition, Shan Yongzhuo is already a renowned player and is widely recognized as the world's number one star. Whether or not these defenders can contain Shan Yongzhuo in this match will be a great test for them.

Dan Yongzhuo didn't care about the hostility of the Brazilian players at all. He used the sacrifice skill again, showing that he didn't care about Brazil at all.

In his view, Brazil is not even as difficult to deal with as Uruguay.

This Brazilian team still favors attacking play, especially in the back line, where Marcelo and David Luiz particularly like to push forward and attack.

Midfielders Paulinho and Fernandinho are not players who focus solely on defense; both of them also enjoy pushing forward to attack.

However, the attacking strength of this Brazilian team is actually quite mediocre.

In Shan Yongzhuo's view, the attacking power of this Brazilian team is actually not as good as that of Uruguay, which has Suarez.

Brazil's attack relies too much on Neymar's breakthroughs, which are their only sharp weapon. Locking down Neymar would greatly reduce the effectiveness of their overall attack.

When their attack falters, Marcelo and David Luiz, who like to push forward, leave a lot of space behind them, making it easier to launch counter-attacks than against Uruguay.

After all, Brazil is playing on home soil, and they hope to win the championship, but they also hope to deliver a spectacular attacking performance for the fans.

This is the contradiction in Brazil's strategy; they won't deploy a three-center-back formation like Uruguay did against Shan Yongzhuo.

This mindset also brings them a huge psychological burden, which is the opportunity that the Chinese team seized.

When the match began, the Castelau Stadium erupted in cheers, filling the 6-seat stadium with the roar of the Brazilian fans.

The stadium turned into a sea of ​​yellow, with Brazilian fans making up the vast majority of the crowd.

Although there are fewer Chinese fans, they are still easy to find; you can spot the sea of ​​red that occupies a large part of the stands at a glance.

However, this is the first time the Chinese team has faced such a huge disadvantage in terms of fans in this World Cup.

After the match began, commentator Liu Jianhong started introducing the starting players for both sides.

In this match, Du Wei, the starting center-back for the Chinese team, returned from suspension and partnered with Feng Xiaoting in central defense. The two full-backs remained Wu Xi and Sun Xiang.

The midfield quartet consisted of Zheng Zhi and Huang Bowen in the center, with Yu Hai and Gao Lin on the left and right respectively.

Hao Junmin lay in ambush behind Shan Yongzhuo.

依然是熟悉的4-4-1-1，不过知道情况的人都会反应过来，当比赛开始之后，这套阵型立马会变成本届世界杯中国队的最强利器8-1-1。

Brazil fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation. The four defenders were Maicon, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, and Marcelo.

The two defensive midfielders are Paulinho and Fernandinho.

The three midfielders are Neymar, Oscar, and Hulk.

Add to that Fred, the one-sided arrow.

After Liu Jianhong finished introducing the starting players, the Brazilian commentator said, "This is the second time we've faced the Chinese team in the World Cup. The last time was twelve years ago in 2002, when we won the World Cup..."

"We met the Chinese team in the second round of the group stage and easily defeated them 4-0."

"But this Chinese team is completely different from the one 12 years ago. Two South American teams, Colombia and Uruguay, have already fallen to them. Especially with Shan Yongzhuo in the squad, the Brazilian team cannot afford to underestimate them..."

After the match began, the Brazilian team, taking advantage of their home field advantage, launched a fierce attack on the Chinese team.

Four minutes into the game, Neymar received the ball on the wing and, facing a double defense from Zheng Zhi and Yu Hai, chose to dribble through the middle.

Although he successfully broke through the two players, Huang Bowen intercepted the ball first.

China's 8-1-1 formation revealed its greatest advantage: rapid defensive coordination and use of numerical superiority to compensate for a lack of strength, making it difficult for the opponent to break through effectively.

"The Chinese team must keep a close eye on Neymar today. He is the absolute core of the Brazilian team and poses a great threat..."

Liu Jianhong also expressed his concern.

Neymar is definitely a formidable player, but from another perspective, if Neymar's ability were placed in Brazil's peak years, he would only be at the level of an average starting player.

Now, the Brazilian team has to rely on Neymar's role as the core player, which is the biggest predicament for the team today.

However, despite the loss of star power, this Brazilian team is still significantly stronger than the Chinese team.

After the start of the game, they launched a series of fierce attacks, making the Chinese team look very embarrassed.

In the 6th minute, Marcelo crossed from the wing, Feng Xiaoting headed the ball away, and Paulinho unleashed a powerful long-range shot from outside the box.

The football arced through the air but ultimately went wide of the goal.

The Brazilian fans in the stands almost cheered.

Although Paulinho's shot didn't go in, it signaled the start of Brazil's all-out attack.

In the 8th minute, the Brazilian team once again executed a beautiful combination play.

Neymar received the ball and broke through the defense, eventually passing it to Oscar in the middle before continuing to run forward.

Oscar received the ball but was closely marked by Huang Bowen and unable to turn around. He used the outside of his right foot to flick the ball backward and pass it back to Neymar, who was running forward.

Neymar rushed into the penalty area, but Feng Xiaoting in front, Zheng Zhi behind, and Wu Xi on the left surrounded him.

Facing a double-team, Neymar created some space and unleashed a low shot.

Another gasp rippled through the stands.

Zeng Cheng fell to the ground, narrowly managing to drag the ball out of bounds.

Brazil won their first corner kick of the match.

(End of this chapter)