Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

At 10 p.m. on June 24, the referee blew his whistle.

The final match in Group F, between Paraguay and China, has begun.

For fans in China, this timeframe is relatively late.

Since tomorrow is a workday, staying up late to watch this game might affect my work performance the next day.

With the Chinese team already having qualified, this match was actually optional.

However, the enthusiasm of the fans for watching the game was not affected in the slightest by this small difficulty.

By 10 p.m., almost every household had their living room lights on, with fans eagerly waiting in front of their televisions for the match to begin.

Because of the sheer number of viewers, CCTV's sports channel has been breaking viewership records, and advertising revenue has skyrocketed several times over during this period.

……

Returning our attention to the field, the Chinese team played very aggressively and proactively after the match began.

After a period of probing in the opening stages, the Chinese team gradually increased the intensity of their attack.

Actually, Paraguay, the Chinese national football team's opponent, was also a bit unsure about their chances against China.

Before the group stage started, they underestimated the strength of the Chinese national football team.

I felt that this was just a team from Asia, and Asian teams have historically had a very poor track record in the World Cup.

Although the Chinese team has Lin Feng, football is a team sport. If the overall strength is too poor, it is unrealistic to expect a single star player to turn the tide.

The Chinese team's outstanding performance in the group stage surprised them.

They could beat Slovakia, but beating Italy was truly beyond their expectations, as it was something even they hadn't been able to do.

Furthermore, the Chinese team has already qualified, while the Paraguayan team still has a theoretical chance of qualifying.

This put more psychological pressure on them during the game, which is why they chose a relatively conservative style of play.

In this match, Zhu Guanghu made some adjustments to the team's starting lineup.

Li Weifeng was placed on the bench to rest, while Du Wei started alongside Feng Xiaoting in the center-back position.

Left-back Sun Xiang continued to start, but right-back Sun Jihai was rested, and Zhang Linpeng made his first appearance as a starting full-back for the national team.

In midfield, Chen Tao was placed on the bench, while Shao Jiayi entered the starting lineup.

The forward line remains the same, with Gao Lin and Han Peng still playing together!
In the 5th minute, China's attack reached the wing but was cleared out of bounds by the opponent.

Zhao Xuri threw the ball with a powerful hand throw into the penalty area. Gao Lin jumped high and got to the first ball, but unfortunately, he headed it wide.

Two minutes later, the Chinese national team launched another attack in front of the opponent's goal, and Gao Lin's shot from a tight angle went slightly wide of the goal.

Perhaps because he hadn't scored in the previous two matches, Gao Lin was extremely active in this game.

Before the World Cup started, Gao Lin was still dreaming of scoring a hat-trick at the World Cup!

As a result, he hasn't even scored a goal, let alone a hat-trick.

This is a disgrace to his title of "China's No. 1 Killer"!

Considering that the Chinese national football team will face increasingly stronger opponents in the upcoming knockout stage, if they do not seize the opportunity, they may return home with a zero record.

Wouldn't he get roasted by his teammates?

Gao Lin was very active, but you can't take all the shots on goal!

He controlled the pace, passing one ball to Gao Lin and then another to Han Peng, trying to be as fair as possible.

From the start, Paraguay was completely on the back foot.

From the fifth minute onwards, their goal was repeatedly threatened by shots from the Chinese team.

Paraguay initially opted to tighten their formation to counter China's attack, but this tactic proved ineffective.

After they tightened their formation, the Chinese national team suddenly increased their attacks down the flanks, posing a greater threat.

In the 15th minute, Zhang Linpeng came up to the attack and delivered a cross from near the byline, which almost assisted Han Peng to score.

Unfortunately, the ball hit the crossbar, allowing Paraguay to escape a close call.

Terrified, the Paraguayans had to change their strategy and stop trying to huddle in a defensive posture.

However, after their defensive formation spread out, the Chinese national team had more space to attack in the frontcourt. Lin Feng began to frequently combine with forwards such as Gao Lin and Shao Jiayi in small areas, using quick passing and movement to break through the opponent's defense.

In the 22nd minute, the Chinese team completed nine consecutive one-touch passes from midfield. Although the final shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, this smooth attacking combination made the Chinese fans at the scene extremely excited.

Such dazzling passing and movement, you'd think it was the Spanish national team if you didn't know better!
The result was actually the Chinese team!

Not only did the Paraguayans not expect this, but even the Chinese fans themselves were surprised.

These rough guys on the Chinese national football team actually managed to play such smooth teamwork!
The Paraguayan coach looked distressed; although his team hadn't conceded a goal yet, the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for them.

Since the start of the game, the Chinese team has had 6 shots, while the opposing team has not managed a single shot on goal.

Without a single shot on goal, they couldn't put any pressure on the Chinese team's defense, allowing the Chinese defenders to press forward recklessly, further increasing the pressure on their defense.

Offense is the best form of defense. If they continue to play passively like this, they might not be able to hold on until the second half before conceding a goal!

However, before he could make any adjustments, Paraguay conceded a goal!

In the 28th minute, Victor Sanchez fouled Lin Feng, who was dribbling forward in front of the penalty area, and was shown the first yellow card of the match by the referee.

This yellow card will not only keep him out of the next game, but it also gives the Chinese team a free kick opportunity in an excellent position.

Seeing the opposing team's number eight standing at the penalty line, Paraguay's goalkeeper Villar couldn't help but feel nervous.

As the saying goes, a person's reputation is reflected in their actions, and Lin Feng is widely recognized as the best free-kick taker in football today.

His free-kick goals in La Liga and the Champions League alone could be edited into a highlight reel that would last at least five minutes!
Goalkeepers who have fallen to him include a host of today's top goalkeepers such as Buffon, Kahn, Van der Sar, Cech, Dida, and Valdes.

Which goalkeeper wouldn't be afraid when facing such a monster?
But sometimes, what you fear most is what is most likely to happen.

Because the free kick was in a very good position, Lin Feng took his run-up and aimed directly at the top right corner of the goal.

Villar was a little nervous and reacted a bit slowly, only making the save after the ball had already entered the goal.

But even with his lightning-fast reaction time, it was to no avail. The ball was practically in the corner, a theoretically impossible angle for the goalkeeper to save!

The score became 1-0, with the Chinese team taking the lead and scoring the first goal of the match from a set piece!
Goal!

"This is a direct free kick from Lin Feng!"

You can always trust Lin Feng!

The two commentators were thrilled after seeing the goal, and Zhang Lu even made a joke in the style of netizens!

"We have just received news that this is Lin Feng's fourth goal in this World Cup, and his second free-kick goal!"

"This makes him the first Asian player and the sixth player in the world to score two free kicks at the World Cup!"

"The previous five were Pelé, Rivelino, Genshini, Hierro, and Beckham. Of these, all but Beckham have retired!"

"This means that if Lin Feng can score just one more free kick, he will break the record and claim this honor alone!"

Given the Chinese national football team's strength, winning the championship is highly unlikely.

But being able to leave some records at the World Cup can still give fans a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

However, Lin Feng, who was on the court, was unaware of these records.

Unless you were very interested in it from the beginning and specifically looked it up, who would know that such a strange record existed!
After all, he's not like a certain executive vice president GOAT who spends all his time staring at various technical statistics and historical records.

Data is only useful when you win!
Losing is completely useless. Do you really want to use data to prove that you haven't lost?

……

After conceding the goal, Paraguay seemed to be jolted awake and began to get anxious.

Before this match, they had a goal difference of +2.

But after conceding a goal, their goal difference advantage shrank to just one!
If Italy scores two goals against Slovakia in the other match, Paraguay will be eliminated due to having scored one less goal, even with the same points and goal difference!

Therefore, they must score as soon as possible to equalize the score and get themselves out of danger!
Paraguay's counter-attack finally resulted in their first shot on goal.

Unfortunately, the shot was of mediocre quality and posed no threat to Wang Dalei's goal.

In the 34th minute, Paraguay unleashed a dangerous shot.

Their free-kick cross from the left wing was cleared by the Chinese team, but the crisis was not over.

Paraguay's captain, Caniza, met the ball on the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a powerful volley.

The ball deflected off someone's leg inside the penalty area, severely interfering with Wang Dalei's judgment in front of the goal.

Just as the ball was about to fly into the goal, a white figure stretched out a long leg and cleared the ball off the goal line.

"A shot from Paraguay!"

"Danger!"

"Zhang Linpeng!"

"The ball has been cleared!!"

"This 21-year-old young player made an extremely difficult clearance on the field!"

"His performance in this game was absolutely amazing!"

"Many fans were worried that the right flank of the national team would be undefended after Sun Jihai's retirement, but after seeing Zhang Linpeng's performance, they should be able to put their minds at ease!"

On the sidelines of the court, Lao Zhu's mood was like a rollercoaster ride!
When Wang Dalei saw the ball deflect inside the penalty area and couldn't make the save, his heart sank, thinking that the ball was definitely lost!
But at the crucial moment, Zhang Linpeng stepped up and made an incredible save on the goal line, bringing Old Zhu's heart back from the brink of despair!

He is now extremely grateful that he chose to trust Zhang Linpeng before the match and arranged for him to start, instead of playing it safe and letting Xu Yunlong, a versatile veteran, replace Sun Jihai.

Although Xu Yunlong has more experience, Zhang Linpeng's explosive physical attributes and formidable frontal defensive ability are simply unmatched by this veteran.

Caniza's shot seemed to have exhausted Paraguay's luck.

For the remainder of the first half, although Paraguay continued to try to attack, they never created another chance like that.

On the contrary, the Chinese team launched another small offensive surge at the end of the first half.

In the 42nd minute, Gao Lin passed the ball back to Lin Feng, who was making a run forward, and Lin Feng's long-range shot from just outside the penalty area grazed the right post and went wide of the goal line.

The ball was just a few centimeters off target; if it had been slightly more inward, it would most likely have been another goal.

Lin Feng missed the chance to complete a second goal!
The first half ended quickly.

The score remained 1-0, with the Chinese team returning to the locker room with a one-goal lead.

When they returned to the locker room, the Paraguayan players looked very serious.

The first half of the match made them realize the strength of their opponents. China's victory over Italy in the previous game was definitely not luck; their strength is truly formidable.

Even if they play at their best in the second half, they may not be able to turn the game around, and their chances of even equalizing are not very high, because the Chinese team's counter-attacks are very sharp.

The more troops they commit to the attack, the more likely they are to be caught off guard by a counterattack!
For a moment, the Paraguayan team was caught in a dilemma.

But after learning the score of the other match, they felt a little more relaxed.

In another match, Italy and Slovakia had a score of 1-0, but Slovakia scored the goal, not Italy.

Italy is their direct rival, and what Paraguayans fear most is losing on their side while the Italians win.

But now, both teams are behind, so losing to both is the same as not losing at all!
If both teams finish the match at this score, Paraguay will advance to the knockout stage as the second-place team in their group.

More importantly, because Slovakia scored first, Italy's goal difference became -2, a full three goals behind Paraguay!

If Paraguay doesn't concede any more goals in the second half and Italy doesn't score three more, then even if Paraguay loses and Italy wins, they can still advance by virtue of their goal difference.

So the key is to avoid conceding another goal!
While the Paraguayans were busy calculating their points, in the other match, the Italians were also busy in the locker room calculating their chances of advancing.

"The good news is that Paraguay is currently trailing, and although the Chinese team has made some adjustments to its starting lineup, they have not been slacking off!"

Given China's offensive firepower, they still have a chance to score in the second half!
So all we need to do is defeat Slovakia, and we'll have a chance to advance!

The Italians are now pinning almost all their hopes of advancing on the Chinese team. If China scores just one more goal, their chances will be gone! (End of Chapter)