Chapter 224 King Dong missed the chance to kill the game, and the Chinese team tied the French team
In the 62nd minute, the Chinese national team, through small-scale passing and control, brought the battle to the French team's penalty area.
Although the French defender successfully completed a steal, the lost ball was quickly regained by the Chinese national team players.
In the chaos, Lin Feng picked up the ball. Just as he was about to dribble forward and get rid of the French defender, Thuram's tackle tripped him to the ground.
Since the foul occurred in the penalty area, when Lin Feng fell to the ground, the French fans at the scene were almost nervous, fearing that the referee would award a penalty.
However, what you fear will come true. The referee was in a good position and could clearly see the entire process of Thuram's foul.
Thuram's tackle was based on his prediction of the ball's position and he was heading for the ball.
But he underestimated Lin Feng's explosive power and speed, which caused him to kick a little slower than usual. As a result, he missed the ball and his outstretched leg tripped Lin Feng.
For this kind of ball, no matter whether it is in the penalty area or not, the referee will not cover up for him.
The referee showed mercy by only giving him a penalty kick without giving him a card.
But this penalty was very painful for the French team, as they were only leading by one goal. If the Chinese team had scored this penalty, both teams would have been back to the same starting line.
So when they saw the referee award a penalty, many French players were filled with disappointment. Even the French coach on the sidelines shook his hands in dissatisfaction after seeing the penalty. It was unclear whether he was dissatisfied with the performance of his players or with the referee's decision.
Thuram, who committed the foul, argued with the referee with a look of grievance. He felt that he touched the ball first and then tripped the opponent, so it should be a good goal.
The referee rolled his eyes at him and asked, "Don't you know whether you touched the ball or not?"
You can't just lie like that to avoid a penalty, right?
I'm not blind, I saw the ball clearly just now.
Seeing that Thuram was still chattering, the referee became annoyed and gave him the yellow card that he had shown mercy on just now.
Thuram failed to gain anything and after being shown a yellow card, he could only shake his head and leave. He did not dare to continue nagging the referee.
The Chinese team did not care about the French's emotions. All the players stepped forward and pulled Lin Feng up from the ground. They rubbed his head and praised him for doing a good job.
Lin Feng actually didn't want this penalty. If Thuram hadn't committed a foul just now, he would have been very close to the goal as long as he was allowed to pass. With Lin Feng's shooting skills, he had a 90% chance of scoring the goal, and there was no need for a penalty.
Moreover, in terms of probability, the success rate of penalty kicks is only about 75%, and the probability of missing the penalty is actually higher.
Because this penalty kick is directly related to the outcome of the game, the Chinese team attaches great importance to it.
Regarding the question of who will take the free throws, several players discussed:
"Who will take the penalty?"
"Why don't you do it yourself, Xiaolin? You created this ball!"
Zheng Zhi was originally the first penalty taker of the Chinese national football team, but at this time he took the initiative to give up the penalty opportunity.
Taking a penalty kick is actually a very stressful thing, and it requires a high level of psychological quality from the players.
Zheng Zhi's mental quality is fine, but it was not so good today because he almost ruined a player's career because of a foul not long ago.
This incident had a significant impact on his mentality, causing Zheng Zhi to worry that he would miss a penalty due to psychological pressure.
To be on the safe side, it is better not to take the risk and give the opportunity to someone who is more confident.
Lin Feng is a very good shooter and has excellent psychological quality, which his teammates are all well aware of.
So when everyone saw Zheng Zhi say this, they all agreed.
Dong Fangzhuo on the side actually had the same idea, but seeing that no one mentioned his name, he could only drool in envy.
Lin Feng did not refuse and went to the penalty spot with the ball.
The French team's goalkeeper jumped in front of the goal, trying to disturb Lin Feng.
Lin Feng ignored his little tricks, put the ball in place, took a few steps back, and waited for the referee to blow the whistle.
The referee whistled and Lin Feng started to run.
His first few steps were very fast, but the last step suddenly slowed down. The goalkeeper saw Lin Feng swinging his right leg high and subconsciously pounced to the left side of the goal.
However, Lin Feng waited until he made a move before kicking the ball to the right side of the goal.
Without any suspense, the football flew into the net.
The score became 1:1, and the Chinese national team equalized the score with a penalty kick in the 64th minute of the second half.
But the French protested to the referee the moment the goal was scored, believing that Lin Feng's penalty was a foul.
"His movements were not consistent when he was running up just now. This is a clear violation. This penalty should be ruled invalid!!"
The French were very confident and all agreed that Lin Feng's penalty kick was a foul.
The referee was also a little hesitant. There was indeed an obvious pause in Lin Feng's movements just now, as if they were indeed incoherent?
"Referee, I didn't stop from the start to the shot. You can't assume that I committed a foul just because my shot took longer than usual!"
Seeing the French players surrounding the referee to protest, Lin Feng hurried over to explain.
The referee thought about it again and found that there was nothing wrong with Lin Feng's run-up. There was indeed a delay in the final shooting action, but after thinking about it carefully, it seemed that although his shooting action was slow, he did not pause and the overall action was indeed coherent.
Thinking of this, the referee no longer hesitated and pointed to the center circle, indicating that the goal was valid.
The French fans in the stands booed in disappointment, while the Chinese fans present began to cheer collectively.
"Holy crap, it's really tied. Is there any hope for this game?"
"There are less than 30 minutes left in the game. If the Chinese national team can hold on for these minutes, even if we can't win in the end, there is a great chance that we can draw!"
"I dare not even think about it. First we tied with Switzerland, and now we tied with France. To be honest, if the Chinese national football team replaces South Korea and enters the G2, it is possible that they will qualify based on this record!"
"Indeed, we have defended the two strongest opponents in the group. Facing the weakest Togo, the Chinese national football team has a great chance of winning. With one win and two draws, we will definitely qualify, and we may even get first place in the group!"
"It's a pity that the Chinese national football team cannot replace South Korea..."
The goal scored by the Chinese national team boosted the morale of the players on the field and reduced their fear of the French team.
In the past year, the Chinese national football team has faced many top teams.
There was Germany in front and Brazil behind. When facing these teams, the Chinese national football team had both wins and losses, especially the upset victory over Germany away from home, which had a sublime effect on the Chinese national football team.
Since then, the confidence of the Chinese national football players has been boosted a lot, and they are no longer timid and at a loss when facing top teams.
At this time, this goal against the French team also had a disenchanting effect. It turned out that the French team was just like this. Their goal was not impregnable and could be broken by us as well.
In that case, there's nothing to be afraid of. Just go for it and fight them!
So when the game resumed, the Chinese national team took advantage of this momentum and launched a fierce attack on the French team. The French were very uncomfortable with the Chinese national team's massive attack. In their opinion, with the strength of the Chinese team, it is impossible for them to have the courage to launch such an attack.
Therefore, the Chinese national team launched a counterattack in a hurry, which made the French team flustered and the Chinese national team once controlled the situation of the game.
After the teammates had crossed the half court, the Chinese national team frequently broke through the French team's midfield and spread the battle to the French team's penalty area. For a moment, the French team's penalty area became tense.
Lin Feng, Gao Lin, Chen Tao, Dong Fangzhuo and others took turns to attack the French team's penalty area and created many shooting opportunities. Although these shots did not turn into goals, they made the French team's goalkeeper very busy.
This abnormal scene surprised the French fans at the scene, but made the Chinese fans extremely excited.
"Well done to the national football team!"
"Just kick like this, kill the French!"
All the frustration accumulated by Chinese fans in the first half was released at this moment.
Although the French defended very poorly, the good news is that they did not continue to lose the ball.
The Chinese national football team's enthusiasm came and went quickly. In addition, after 70 minutes of the game, the players on the field were approaching their physical bottleneck. The physical limitation made it impossible for the Chinese national football team to continue its offense.
After 75 minutes, the game returned to a balance again.
The French successfully blocked the Chinese national team's crazy attack in this round!
It was the French's turn to attack, but they had no way to deal with the Chinese national team's defense.
Time passed little by little, and soon the game time reached 85 minutes.
After Li Leilei completed a save, he saw that his opponent was standing too far forward. Realizing that this was an opportunity, he jumped up from the ground, rushed to the penalty area with the ball, and threw the ball from a long distance, which was directly initiated by the goalkeeper to launch a counterattack.
After seeing Li Leilei's actions, the Chinese national football players in the frontcourt accelerated and started to sprint. Dong Fangzhuo, who came on as a substitute in the second half, was in better physical condition and rushed to the front.
The French team did not expect the Chinese national team to use this method. Their defense line immediately sounded the alarm and almost everyone accelerated to return to defense.
Li Leilei threw the ball to the midfield. Gao Lin saw that Dong Fangzhuo was running too fast and he could not catch up with him, so he simply stopped running, stuck to his position and fought hard to get the first landing point.
He did not pass the ball directly to Dong Fangzhuo because the distance was a bit far and he was not sure he could pass the ball to him. Instead, he chose to pass the ball to Lin Feng who was coming towards him.
Vieira was right next to Lin Feng, and Lin Feng had no chance to handle the ball, so he chose to raise his leg and complete a long pass over the top without stopping the ball.
Although the accuracy of this ball is not as good as his usual passes, there is no problem in the general direction, and he also gave enough lead time so that Dong Fangzhuo can fully exert his speed.
Dong Fangzhuo took a look at the flight trajectory of the ball and immediately understood what his teammates meant. He gritted his teeth and ran forward with all his might.
Beside him, Thuram, who was defending behind, was also running at full speed and trying to interfere with Dong Fangzhuo with small movements.
But Dong Fangzhuo remained unmoved, his speed increased, and he gradually seemed to be getting rid of Thuram.
As the two were running, the ball landed and bounced up. Dong Fangzhuo lowered his head and headed the ball to the front of his side, so that he could get the ball before Thuram.
At this time, the defender can choose to use tactical fouls to stop the opponent's attack.
But the price is a card, and it may be a red card.
But Thuram can't afford either a yellow card or a red card, because he had just been given a yellow card for protesting against the referee. If he commits a tactical foul now, he will definitely be sent off.
It was precisely because of such concerns that Thuram did not commit a foul at the first opportunity, but tried hard to keep up with Dong Fangzhuo in order to find an opportunity to destroy the ball.
"The other team doesn't dare to commit a foul, good opportunity!"
"Go, Dong Fangzhuo, the hope of the Chinese national football team all depends on you!"
"If you can kick this ball into the goal, you will be the real king from now on!"
Seeing that Dong Fangzhuo was half a body length ahead of the opponent's defender, all the fans could no longer sit still. They stood up subconsciously and wanted to get closer to the TV to see it more clearly.
Dong Fangzhuo ran faster and faster and finally got the ball before Thuram and the goalkeeper.
Watching the goal getting closer and closer, Dong Fangzhuo was overjoyed, as if he could already hear countless fans standing up and cheering for him!
However, just as Dong Fangzhuo was dribbling the ball near the penalty area and was about to enter the penalty area, Thuram, who had been following closely, finally took action!
He was not affected at all by the previous foul in the penalty area. He took advantage of the opportunity when Dong Fangzhuo slowed down as he was about to enter the penalty area and prepare for a shot, and made a decisive tackle!
As Dong Fangzhuo was half a body length ahead of Thuram when he made the tackle, Dong Fangzhuo did not notice his opponent's action at the first time. He was tripped by the opponent and fell into the penalty area.
Wow!
The scene was in an uproar!
Countless French fans were shocked and stood up nervously, their eyes moving back and forth between the Chinese striker who fell in the penalty area and the referee who was rushing to the scene.
Isn't it another penalty?
French fans couldn't help but feel nervous, as Thuram's tackle was really too extreme.
It felt like he was right on the penalty area line, and I didn't know whether he touched the ball or the person first.
If the ball is touched first, then the tackle is a good one.
But if you are unlucky enough to hit someone first, it depends on where the referee thinks the foul is.
Thinking of this, some French fans subconsciously looked at the time. There were only a few minutes left before the end of the game.
If the French team was really awarded another penalty, they might not be able to recover.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the referee did not call a foul but instead gave the Chinese national team a corner kick.
Thuram's tackle just now destroyed the ball out of the baseline, and the referee's corner kick meant that it was a good goal.
Coincidentally, the big screen at the scene also started to replay Thuram's tackle. The slow-motion replay showed that Thuram did touch the ball first, and then brought down Dong Fangzhuo, and the tackle took place outside the penalty area.
There is nothing wrong with the referee's decision.
Thuram suddenly turned from a sinner of the French team into a hero of the French team. To be honest, he was really brave to dare to make a tackle in such a situation!
Dong Fangzhuo was extremely depressed. He had an opportunity to be a hero, but he didn't seize it and let the cooked duck fly away.
He didn't know how long he would regret not going in.
Lin Feng patted his shoulder and comforted him.
The Chinese team had another corner kick opportunity, and Dong Fangzhuo's header was good, so there was still hope.
However, after the corner kick was taken, Zidane cleared the ball with a header, and the Chinese national team really had no chance.
However, France's attack in the final stage also failed to score a goal. In the end, the score was fixed at 1:1 and the two sides shook hands and made peace.
(End of this chapter)
