Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 663 The Powerful German Team
Night had begun to fall, and the sky above the Mineirão Stadium was a deep, dark blue, seemingly piercing the horizon under the occasional beam of light.

The fans had been waiting impatiently for a long time. Unable to contain their excitement, they started shouting wildly, reaching a climax even before the game had started.

The referee's whistle blew, accompanied by thunderous cheers, and the World Cup semi-final between China and Germany finally began, presented to the world in an unreserved manner.

The moment the whistle blew, Shan Yongzhuo sprinted towards the German team's half without stopping.

With long passes becoming China's winning weapon, a long pass attack at the start of the game is a good option.

Shan Yongzhuo moved quickly towards the edge of the penalty area, where Hummels and Boateng closed in. These two were Shan Yongzhuo's opponents in this match.

However, in this attack by the Chinese team, although Hao Junmin finally passed the ball out, the power was slightly too great, and Shan Yongzhuo was unable to get the ball, thus the plan to make a strong start to the game failed.

Shan Yongzhuo didn't think much of it. This kind of long-pass attacking style of play has a very low success rate. It would be good if they could threaten Germany's goal, but there's nothing to regret if they didn't succeed.

However, Shan Yongzhuo noticed Boateng not far away and his expression became somewhat complicated.

Shan Yongzhuo's one-sided bet has now become a hot topic worldwide, leaving Boateng in a difficult position, unsure whether to continue or not.

For Boateng, the best way to avoid cross-dressing now is to defend against Shan Yongzhuo and prevent him from scoring.

However, as the match progressed, the overall advantage of the German team's lineup became fully apparent.

With the combined pressure from the two defensive midfielders, Schweinsteiger and Khedira, Hao Junmin had a very hard time getting the ball, and even when he did, he rarely made any impact.

On the contrary, Khedira's constant forward runs and combinations with Kroos, Özil and Müller showed that the German team's attack had a good overall cohesion.

However, the German team's problem is also obvious: they lack a strong, true center forward.

Germany's starting lineup was a 4-2-3-1 formation, with veteran Miroslav Klose leading the attack.

Although Klose has always been Germany's most consistent aerial threat, the 36-year-old Klose's decline in form is quite obvious, and even facing Feng Xiaoting's defense is not so easy.

This German team can be considered a golden generation, with outstanding players in every position. Even players like Schürrle and Draxler could only sit on the bench.

However, the corresponding problem is the awkward position of the center forward.

Löw, clinging to his strikerless formation and possession-based style of play, excluded his original starting center forward Gomez from the squad at the last minute before the World Cup.

This makes the German team's lineup look impressive, but in reality, it also has its problems.

For example, how to break through a dense defense has become the biggest problem for the German team right now.

The best way to break through a tight defense is to rely on a strong center forward and use a high-ball, long-ball approach to try and score.

This was originally the style of play that the German team was most proficient in.

However, thanks to Löw's reforms, the German team's attack is now more three-dimensional. But relatively speaking, with Klose getting older, the German team, like other teams, has fallen into a problem when facing a dense defense.

After the opening tip-off, the game was somewhat close, even a bit dull. The German team attacked relentlessly, completely dominating the Chinese team, but once they got to the edge of the penalty area or into the box, they didn't have many options.

The Chinese team's penalty area was completely overcrowded.

The German team could only look for opportunities by passing the ball around and dared not launch any rash attacks.

This made the game seem a bit dull and even a bit soporific, but the Chinese players were all on high alert and dared not relax in the slightest, because if they showed any lapse in concentration, the German team might seize the opportunity to score.

Let's take a look at Germany's attacking lineup: Kroos, Özil, Müller, and Klose.

In Germany's 4-2-3-1 formation, Kroos is in the center, Özil is on the left, Müller is on the right, and with Klose in front and Khedira occasionally making runs from behind, you can tell how terrifying their attacking power is.

Fortunately, Schweinsteiger's energy was somewhat diverted by Shan Yongzhuo and Hao Junmin, forcing him to stay in his own half more often to participate in defense.

However, the overlapping runs of full-back Lahm also caused considerable trouble for the Chinese team.

Germany controlled the attack for a full five minutes. China managed to intercept the ball occasionally, but they were unable to get it into the attacking third and it was easily won back by the Germans.

In the 6th minute of the match, Kroos found an opening and passed the ball to Klose, who had dropped back to receive it.

Klose tried to dribble forward, but was immediately marked closely by Feng Xiaoting, preventing him from passing the ball to Kroos. As a result, Feng Xiaoting intercepted the ball.

"Pretty!"

"Feng Xiaoting, this defense was very decisive. He immediately limited Klose and made a steal."

The end of the German attack brought a sigh of relief to many Chinese fans.

China's counter-attack speed is very fast. They are much more decisive than Germany. After winning the ball in the backfield, the ball was passed to Yu Hai on the wing, and then he charged forward.

After Yu Hai dribbled the ball close to the center line, he was ambushed and had to pass the ball to Hao Junmin in the middle.

Hao Junmin received the ball and aimed at Shan Yongzhuo's position, intending to get rid of him before calmly passing the ball to Shan Yongzhuo to increase the success rate.

However, it was this split-second decision that ultimately prevented him from shaking off Schweinsteiger's defense, allowing Schweinsteiger to intercept the ball.

Next, Germany continued their possession-based attack.

When the game once again fell into Germany's possession mode, the commentator simply changed the subject: "At this point in the game, both sides are still in the probing stage. Germany has controlled the ball for most of the time, but it can't be said that China's performance is bad. Their defense is very solid because that's the style of both teams. Germany likes to control the ball to gain an advantage, while China likes extreme defense and seeks counter-attacks."

"The player we need to pay the most attention to in the match is Shan Yongzhuo from the Chinese team..."

"Shan Yongzhuo's scoring efficiency is terrifying. So far in this World Cup, he has scored 17 goals, which has already broken Ronaldo's goal record."

"We can expect Shan Yongzhuo to continue breaking his own record in this match."

(End of this chapter)