Chapter 214 China VS Ecuador
Dong Fangzhuo had no idea that he was in trouble. After making the promise in front of the reporters, he still felt good about himself, completely unaware of the consequences his words would cause.
However, after the domestic media reports came out, he realized that he was wrong.
"The Chinese national football team's new star said he will lead the team into the World Cup in South Africa!"
"The Chinese national football striker feels that Brazil and France are not to be feared!"
"As soon as they achieved a little success, they became arrogant. Who gave the national football team the courage?"
"Young players are full of nonsense, the future of the Chinese national football team is worrying!"
……
After reading reports from several media outlets, Dong Fangzhuo was dumbfounded.
"No, that's not what I meant. These media reports are nonsense!"
Dong Fangzhuo began to panic because he realized that he had dragged the entire team down with him.
"Don't you know what kind of people the media are? Don't accept their interviews easily next time. When you accept an interview, it's best to have a press officer accompany you to avoid falling into their trap!"
Zhu Guanghu was furious. They were both young players, and Lin Feng was younger than him. Why didn't others have any accidents during the interview, but you did?
If you are not good at it, practice more. If you can't answer the reporter's questions, don't answer them.
Such random answers have implicated everyone and given the media a handle to attack the Chinese national football team. He is simply a stupid teammate.
"Look, the first report implies you!"
Zheng Zhi pointed to the headline of the first report and said to Lin Feng:
"The main target of these news media is actually you!"
Lin Feng nodded. When hearing the term "national football supernova", everyone would first think of themselves.
Although these words were said by Dong Fangzhuo and not by himself, the reporters did not say it explicitly, so the readers naturally did not know about it. At least without an in-depth investigation, they would not be able to understand the situation.
They would just subconsciously think that this was a promise made by Lin Feng.
These reporters are quite capable. Lin Feng didn't expect that the other party couldn't find any flaws in him, and finally turned it into him by talking about all sorts of things.
"King of Understanding, do you remember which media outlets interviewed you yesterday? Write down their names. We will not accept interviews from them in the future!"
The domestic media is still trying every possible way to harm its own team. It would be better if such unscrupulous media went bankrupt as soon as possible.
Lin Feng has made up his mind that from today on, he will block all these media and will not accept their interviews in the future.
Even a clay man would have some temper. When being bullied to such an extent, Lin Feng naturally would not swallow his anger.
"Don't worry about this matter. I will apply to the top management of the Football Association and the General Administration to ask them to intervene and minimize the negative impact of these reports. What you need to do now is to hurry up and prepare for the game!"
Coach Zhu Guanghu stepped forward with great responsibility, saying that he would handle the matter and asked the players not to continue to be distracted. He was really afraid that this matter would affect the team's preparations and cause the team to suffer four consecutive losses.
……
May 5, Tivoli Stadium.
The Chinese team's warm-up match journey for the World Cup has officially begun, with the first match between China and Ecuador.
The game did not receive much attention and the venue was a small stadium that could only accommodate 2 fans.
However, both teams attached great importance to this game. Both sides tried their best to arrange their full main lineups to play, vowing to win the game.
The two teams used the same formation today, 442. It can be seen that both sides have some ideas about the game and do not intend to play conservatively.
"CCTV, CCTV!"
"Dear viewers, you are now watching the friendly match between China and Ecuador. I am the commentator Huang Jianxiang!"
"I'm the commentator Zhang Lu!"
After the two commentators quickly announced the starting lineups for both teams, they chatted as usual before the game started:
"Coach Zhang, what do you think of the Chinese national football team's training camp in Europe?"
Zhang Lu laughed when he heard this. In recent days, there has been a saying in the country that the Chinese national football team is taking advantage of the World Cup's popularity by going out for training.
Although there was no World Cup to play in, the Chinese national team seized the need of other teams for sparring partners and actually managed to get four strong opponents to train with them.
In this way, the Chinese national football team, which had no World Cup to play in, played in a World Cup through a workaround.
Some fans feel that the Chinese national football team's behavior is shameful, while others think it is a good idea.
There are many young players in the Chinese national football team, and they need to play against high-level opponents to test their own quality and help them accumulate game experience.
If we do nothing just because we didn't make it to the World Cup, we would be wasting this opportunity.
Like this time, the Chinese national football team took the initiative to go out and find opportunities to create games on their own, which was a very good attempt.
If the Chinese national football team misses the World Cup again next time, they can try again.
Of course, fans certainly hope that the Chinese national football team can make it to the World Cup next time. After all, compared with the World Cup finals, friendly matches are still less interesting.
"I think this overseas training camp for the Chinese national football team is very good. The four opponents we met are all very strong and can serve as a touchstone for the Chinese national football team's combat effectiveness. It allows us to intuitively feel how big the gap is between us and the World Cup teams."
Huang Jianxiang nodded and continued, "That's right. Among the four opponents of the national football team, Brazil and France are both the favorites to win the World Cup. Switzerland is a European powerhouse and its strength should be above Ecuador. Although Ecuador is the weakest of the four teams, they also emerged from the fiercely competitive South American region.
Each of these four teams has the strength to participate in the World Cup finals, and even the strength to qualify from the group stage. It will be very difficult for the Chinese national football team to defeat them, but as long as they can play in their own style and with their own momentum, that will be enough.”
When the fans heard what Huang Jianxiang said, they immediately felt something was not right.
"Why does Mr. Huang's implication mean that the Chinese national football team will have to lose in all four games?"
"The Brazilian and French teams are too strong to compete with each other, but Ecuador should be able to give it a try, right?"
"I don't ask for much. I will be satisfied if I can win one of the four games!"
"Haha, my requirements are lower than yours. As long as I can score a goal and get a point, I'll be satisfied!"
As the fans were discussing, the referee blew the whistle for the game.
In the coin-guessing session before the game, the Chinese team chose the venue and the other team chose the ball.
After the whistle sounded, Ecuador did not hesitate. After a little probing, it began to attack the Chinese national team's half.
Six minutes into the game, Ecuador got the first chance to shoot. Valencia's low right-foot shot from 6 meters in front of the goal went wide of the far post.
Valencia currently plays for Villarreal in La Liga. Lin Feng has played against his team in the Champions League before, but Valencia did not play for the team. This is the first time that the two have played against each other directly on the court. Ecuador's style of play is tougher, the players are very fast and have great impact.
The Chinese national football team is not naturally adaptable to opponents with this style. When playing in Asia before, they seemed a little overwhelmed when encountering the South Korean team with this style.
Now facing Ecuador, a team that is much stronger than South Korea and plays a tougher style of football, they are having a hard time holding on to the ball.
Ecuador really treated the Chinese national football team as its World Cup opponent today and had no intention of letting them off at all.
They actively counter-attacked in the midfield and frontcourt, and immediately launched fast breaks and counterattacks after successful steals, maintaining a threat to the Chinese national team's goal at all times and in all places.
This tactic, which focuses on active offense and quick counterattack, is not complicated to understand, but it is simple and easy to use. Especially when encountering a Chinese national team that is weaker than them, it is really powerful.
In the 8th minute, Delgado cut into the penalty area from the left. He seized the opportunity to make a cross. Chinese national team captain Li Weifeng made a fatal mistake - he headed the ball too far. Fortunately, Feng Xiaoting, who was defending behind him, blocked his position and prevented Ecuador's top scorer Tenorio from getting the ball.
The opponent's attack made Chinese fans break out in cold sweats. If Feng Xiaoting had not grown rapidly this season and had not stopped the opponent's forward with his wonderful performance just now, the Chinese national team's goal would have been breached.
Although they escaped temporarily, the opponent's attack was not over yet.
In the 11th minute, after several passes in front of the penalty area, Ecuador's Castillo seized the opportunity and shot a sudden arrow from 30 meters in front of the goal, but it was confiscated by goalkeeper Li Leilei.
After being suppressed by the opponent for more than ten minutes, the Chinese national football team finally seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack.
In the 14th minute, the Chinese national football team launched an attack from the right. While dribbling the ball, Lin Feng completed a side-by-side cooperation with his teammates on the wing. After passing the opponent's half, he passed the ball to the middle of the penalty area.
Han Peng fully demonstrated his ability in the air, jumping high and passing the ball to the back point.
Li Jinyu rushed over like a sharp sword and made a push shot after receiving the ball.
Unfortunately, the shot was too bad and went wide of the goal frame, wasting a teammate's wonderful pass.
"Oh my, how could the ball be kicked like this!"
“This ball shouldn’t be here!”
"We have finally gotten this opportunity, we can't waste it like this!"
In the commentary booth, the two commentators beat their chests and stamped their feet, looking hopeless.
The Chinese national football team’s games really make your heart beat wildly!
After the opening, the opponent was suppressing us and everyone was so nervous that they could hardly breathe.
Just when everyone thought that the Chinese national football team would continue to be passive, they suddenly gave you a surprise.
Although the final shot did not go in, the quality of the Chinese national team's counterattack was really high.
In just the blink of an eye, the two sides completed the transition from offense to defense. Not only did ordinary fans not expect it, even the Ecuadorian side did not expect it.
Li Jinyu was a little anxious just now. In fact, the goalkeeper was still far away from him, so he had time to adjust and then shoot.
But perhaps he was not clear about the positions of the opposing players behind him, and he hardly touched the ball after the start of the game, so his feet felt bad, so he did not play at his best.
If this ball had gone in, the Chinese national team would have taken the lead!
On the sidelines, Ecuador's coach could no longer sit still.
He glanced at the coaching booth of the Chinese team next door with great surprise. He originally thought that the Chinese team, a team that couldn't even get out of Asia, wouldn't that be their easy target?
Unexpectedly, the other party actually has some skills.
He didn't see the counterattack clearly just now, so how did he get into our penalty area?
The opponent's rapid advancement and continuous passing are not only fast but also very accurate.
If the Chinese team can continue to play this kind of cooperation in the next game, their own goal will be in danger.
Thinking of this, he immediately pulled over an Ecuadorian player from the sidelines, gave him some instructions, and asked him to go up and convey his instructions.
The attack failed, and Lin Feng immediately called on his teammates to return to defense.
However, as they retreated,
The Ecuadorian goalkeeper's super long-range kick has already been fired!
The range of this big kick was a bit outrageous. Lin Feng estimated with his naked eyes that the kick went at least 75 meters.
He kicked the ball directly from the opponent's penalty area to the front of his own penalty area.
Obviously, the opponent wanted to take advantage of the opportunity created by the Chinese team's formation and seize the time to launch a counterattack.
But it must be said that the kick was too far away, and the Chinese national team's defender easily got in position and took the ball down.
But the opponent was not ambiguous either. If they failed to get the ball, they would immediately counterattack in the frontcourt.
Ecuador's pressing was really fierce. Under the opponent's crazy pressing, Xu Yunlong's pass was too weak and was almost caught by Tenorio who quickly inserted. Fortunately, goalkeeper Li Leilei made a timely attack and got the ball.
After Li Leilei got the ball, he didn't want to kick it hard, but considering that there were too many people near the opponent's penalty area, he finally chose to kick the ball out with a long kick.
Han Peng was at the front and jumped with all his might after predicting the landing point.
Although he still managed to grab the ball, he had no support from his teammates and could not control it, so the ball fell into the hands of his opponent again.
In the 20th minute, Valencia chose to cut in along the left and shot directly from a small angle 30 meters in front of the goal, but the ball flew towards the corner flag area.
In the 22nd minute, Delgado took a free kick and Tenorio handballed when receiving the ball at the back post.
The opponent launched continuous attacks again, and the defensive pressure on the Chinese national team became increasingly greater.
In the 23rd minute, De La Cruz threw the ball in from the right sideline, Delgado headed the ball in front of the goal, and Tenorio headed the ball into the far corner from 7 meters in front of the goal, giving Ecuador a 1-0 lead.
The Chinese national team's goal ultimately failed to survive the first half, and the scorer was none other than Ecuador's top scorer Tenorio.
Seeing the opponent score a goal, the Chinese national team players all looked a little frustrated.
After playing for more than 20 minutes, they have already felt the gap between themselves and the World Cup team very intuitively.
Based on the Chinese national football team's experience of playing against teams such as Japan and South Korea, they even feel that if Ecuador were placed in Asia, then no Asian team would be their opponent.
With their physique and impact power, no Asian team can withstand it.
But this cannot be an excuse for the Chinese national football team’s failure!
If we can't even beat the weakest team, Ecuador, how are we going to play against the other three?
The game isn’t over yet, there’s still a lot of time left for the Chinese national football team!
(End of this chapter)
