Chapter 295 The National Olympic Team’s killer move!
"The Olympic team played well in the first half. They used active running and pressing to curb the opponent's attack and prevented Marseille, who played at home, from scoring the first goal!"
During the half-time break, two commentators in the CCTV studio were commenting on the first half of the game.
"Yes, the young players of the National Olympic Team played very tenaciously. The opponent actually created many opportunities in the first half, but they were all resolved by the National Olympic Team.
It’s just that the high-intensity defense in the first half was based on squeezing the players’ physical strength, but this has planted hidden dangers for the team. In the second half, when the physical strength of these players on the field declines, whether the National Olympic Team can maintain the current defensive level will be a question mark! ”
Although both commentators felt that the National Olympic Team had hidden dangers, the fans were very optimistic.
"Did you notice that Lin Feng returned to defense less often in the first half? This is quite different from when he was in the club and the national team!"
"Yes, yes, I noticed that too. What's the reason?"
"I think the head coach must have specifically asked for this. Otherwise, according to Lin Feng's playing habits, he would definitely actively return to defense, especially when the National Olympic Team is under such great defensive pressure!"
"Could it be that the National Olympic Team is preparing a big move?"
"It is very likely that the National Olympic Team will not be able to gain an advantage in scrambling and confrontation. It is difficult for them to hold the ball in the midfield and organize an attack calmly, so they can only rely on counterattacks to find opportunities. In counterattacks, Lin Feng, who can hold the ball and has the advantage of speed, is the National Olympic Team's biggest hope. Perhaps it is precisely because of this that Krauchen made this arrangement, right?"
In fact, after watching the first half of the game, the fans were aware of the gap in hard power between the two teams and no longer had much hope of winning the game.
But this killer move hidden by Krauchen rekindled the hope in their hearts.
"We must hold on in the second half. If our goal is breached before the Olympic team uses their killer move, then this move will be in vain!"
"Yes, so I still hope that the National Olympic Team can continue to cheer, show the same momentum as in the first half, and fight the opponent to the end!"
……
After the half-time break, the two sides changed sides and continued the game.
Neither side made any substitutions, but their playing styles were different.
After realizing that the wing attack tactics were not very successful in the first half, the Marseille coach adjusted the team's offensive tactics during the half-time break.
First of all, on Ribery's side, the National Olympic Team defended very tightly against his shot after breaking through the wing, but did not do much to restrict his attack from the bottom.
So the head coach arranged for Ribery to play more supporting and cooperating roles, changing his role from a scorer to an assister.
After the start of the second half, Ribery's number of low crosses and the number of passes and penetrations with his teammates in the middle in a small area increased significantly.
In this way, it would be difficult for the Olympic team's midfielder and full-back to double-team him, which instead made Ribery's threat more prominent.
On the other hand, Nasri was the complete opposite of Ribery. He began to move more towards the middle, using his excellent vision and passing ability to feed the ball to his teammates in the flank area.
Shortly after the start of the second half, Marseille almost scored a goal.
Nasri's straight pass in the middle broke through the Olympic team's defense, but fortunately Niang's start was a little bit faster and was ruled offside by the linesman.
After missing this opportunity, Ribery's crosses from the wing continued to create chaos in the Olympic team's penalty area, making the team's goalkeeper nervous.
Seeing the opponents attacking the National Olympic Team left and right, launching round after round of attacks, the Chinese fans, whether they were at the scene or watching the game at home, couldn't sit still!
"No, I don't dare to watch it anymore. The pressure is too great!"
"Oh, it's another corner kick from the opponent. They've had several consecutive corner kicks. When our players are clearing the ball, don't keep pushing it outside the baseline. Even if they kick it to the front court and give the ball to the opponent, it's better than giving them a corner kick!"
"We can't just passively take the beating like this. The National Olympic Team must launch an effective counterattack. The opponent's defenders have all crossed the half court. If we don't teach them a lesson, they will become even more reckless!"
"Yes, it's too passive to play like this. Our defense is about to be crushed by the opponent. Except for the fight inside the penalty area, once we are out of the penalty area, it is almost all the opponent's people. The three lines are almost pressed into one line. The defensive formation has completely lost its flexibility. If it continues like this, it is only a matter of time before we lose the ball!"
How could Krauchen not see the problem if the fans could see it?
However, he was very patient and waited patiently for a few minutes before starting to change his formation.
In the 52nd minute, the National Olympic Team used up a substitution.
Krauschen replaced Dong Fangzhuo, who did not get many opportunities in the frontcourt, with Zhao Ming, who is meters tall.
Dong Fangzhuo played rather frustratingly in this match. The opponent attacked fiercely and the National Olympic Team could not find any good offensive opportunities. The limited counterattacks were all made by Lin Feng relying on his personal ability and had little to do with him.
He and Gao Lin are more like central midfielders than forwards. They have been doing defensive work all the time, like two troublemakers, constantly oppressing and interfering with the opponent's players with the ball in the backcourt.
This kind of work is very tiring, because the space in the front court is very large, and even if the two run desperately, they cannot cover such a large space, so after halftime, the two are already exhausted.
But even so, Dong Fangzhuo still felt a little depressed when he saw the head coach substituted him.
In fact, he was the first among this group of national Olympic players to go abroad, and he joined a top club like Manchester United.
But unfortunately, as a player of the Red Devils, Dong Fangzhuo has never played for Manchester United in a regular match.
After joining Manchester United in 2004, he was loaned out by the club.
In the past three years, he has only played four times on behalf of the team in friendly matches during the summer transfer window of Manchester United, but the opponents in these four games were not worth mentioning, so even if he started and scored in these games, it would not cause any splash in the country.
Those Chinese fans who were extremely excited about his arrival in the Premier League have already found new loves over the years.
Lin Feng from Serie A, Chen Tao from the Bundesliga, and even players like Gao Lin and Feng Xiaoting who were not able to play as starters and only occasionally came on as substitutes, have begun to surpass him in the number of domestic fans.
This is very obvious at the national team level. In Zhu Guanghu's national football team, Lin Feng and Chen Tao are the unshakable main players. Even players like Gao Lin and Feng Xiaoting are also favored by Zhu and often play for the international team.
On the other hand, although Dong Fangzhuo was also called up to the national team, his number of appearances, especially starts, was far less than those of these people.
Just like in this game, he and Gao Lin are both forwards and did almost exactly the same thing on the court, but he was substituted off and Gao Lin was left behind.
This made Dong Fangzhuo feel very uncomfortable. A huge sense of crisis enveloped his heart, making him want to improve more urgently! Seeing the substitution of the National Olympic Team, the two commentators were not too surprised:
"Klauchen's decision to make this substitution is wise. The National Olympic Team is under great defensive pressure now, especially in defending high balls. Letting a tall central defender like Zhao Ming play can effectively help the National Olympic Team reduce the defensive pressure in the penalty area!"
"That's right. Although the five-defender formation doesn't sound good, the enemy is strong and we are weak. When the opponent strengthens the attack, we can't expect the National Olympic Team, which is at a disadvantage, to confront the opponent openly. That's no different from seeking death!"
Marseille coach Eamonn's expression did not change much regarding Krauchen's substitution.
Although a bit conservative, the five-man defense is really effective when defending against wing attacks.
The five defenders stretched the length of the back line, preventing the opponent from kicking high balls at will. In addition, the increase in the number of people in the penalty area also made it more difficult for the opponent's forwards to attack.
The space in the penalty area is already small, and now there is one more person, so there is even less space and opportunities to seize!
But for Marseille, these are not problems.
A team can only field 11 players at most. If the opponent chooses to add more people on the back line, it will inevitably weaken the strength in other places.
The Olympic National Team's replacement of a striker will inevitably weaken their offensive power and further reduce the pressure on Marseille's defense.
This in turn will allow Marseille to commit more manpower to the attack!
Coach Eamon was not in a hurry to change the offensive tactics. Instead, he waited for a while and made sure that after the opponent put in five defenders, it would be difficult for his team to open up the situation by attacking from the flanks. Then he changed the offensive strategy again: they began to attack the middle!
Although Ligue 1 is the last of the five major leagues, its level is still very high.
Ligue 1 teams can also play the kind of gorgeous offensive coordination similar to that of La Liga, especially when facing opponents who are weaker than themselves, they can make full use of ground penetration and short passes.
From the 60th minute, Marseille continued to launch strong attacks from the middle.
Their offensive fulcrum is still the two flanks, with Ribery and Navas constantly launching attacks from the flank areas.
However, they did not rush blindly into the crowded penalty area. Instead, they sought cooperation with their teammates, using passing and cutting to tear open the Olympic team's defense and passing the ball to the forwards in the penalty area for them to shoot.
If you can't break through the defense, then pass the ball to your teammates on the front line, and have them turn their backs and pass the ball to the players in the middle who are making forward runs, allowing them to create threats with long shots without any interference!
Under Marseille's tactics, the pace of the game was quickly increased.
The National Olympic players, who had already played for more than 60 minutes and whose physical strength had begun to decline, seemed very uncomfortable with Marseille's suddenly accelerated style of play.
In just a few minutes, the Olympic team's defense made a series of mistakes, creating several opportunities for the opponent.
Fortunately, Wang Dalei performed very well and blocked all the opponent's shots with high catches.
After making a wonderful save, he kept shouting and roaring to boost morale. When he saw his teammates' form declining or their defense was out of position, he would give loud reminders, just like the commander of the back line!
"The opponent's goalkeeper is pretty good!"
"He is really good. His awareness, positioning and reaction speed are all excellent. His mental attributes are also very good. As for his basic skills, I can't see anything too outstanding. But he seems to be only 18 years old this year. He can practice these slowly!"
Since the predecessor of this National Olympic Team was the champion of the World Youth Championship, and many young Chinese players have joined the five major leagues in the past few years.
Therefore, the match between the National Olympic Team and Marseille also attracted some European scouts to watch the game on site, intending to screen the National Olympic Team again to see if there are any good talents that have been missed.
Since the National Olympic Team was not as strong as its opponents, the offensive players in the frontcourt had almost no highlight moments in this game. Even the likes of Lin Feng and Chen Tao were overwhelmed by the opponent's overwhelming attack.
In contrast, the defensive players shined.
Needless to say, the backbone of the defense, Feng Xiaoting, has excellent defensive awareness and overall view. He not only performs well in defense, but also performs well in offense, which makes many people feel that he has a promising future.
But he is a Barcelona player. If Barcelona is unwilling to let him go, other clubs will not want to waste the money.
But except for Feng Xiaoting, the level of other players in the National Olympic Team's defense is obviously lower than his. These scouts looked left and right and were not very satisfied.
Instead, it was goalkeeper Wang Dalei's stable and outstanding performance from beginning to end that aroused their strong interest.
In fact, for a goalkeeper, Wang Dalei is a bit short.
For the goalkeeper position, even if you are not required to be taller than meters, you must be at least meters tall, right?
If you are too short, you will be at a disadvantage when dealing with high-altitude balls, because your arm span will naturally be shorter than those of big players, and your control area will be much smaller.
But considering that the other party is only eighteen years old and may continue to grow in the future, this height is not so fatal.
Of course, there are many goalkeepers of the same level as Wang Dalei in Europe.
His talent may be considered outstanding in Asia, but in Europe, although it is not common, it is at least not too rare.
If it were just an ordinary team, they might consider signing him, but for wealthy clubs or teams ranked high in the league, most of them would not be interested in a goalkeeper of his level.
Several scouts discussed Wang Dalei's worth, and everyone felt that based on his current strength and the talent he showed in the game, his worth was estimated to be only 30 Euros.
The goalkeeper position requires a lot of talent and game experience, and being young is actually a disadvantage, so this price may seem very low, but it is actually quite good.
Just when the scouts were getting drowsy about this one-sided situation, the situation on the court suddenly changed.
In the 67th minute of the second half, Lin Feng took the initiative to retreat.
But he didn't come back to participate in defense, but retreated to receive the ball!
The National Olympic Team had just blocked a crazy attack from Marseille, but Marseille immediately launched a crazy on-the-spot pressing, trying to get the ball back and continue the attack.
Since the Olympic Team had hardly launched any threatening attacks during this period, the defensive pressure on Marseille was greatly reduced, and a large number of manpower was invested in the counter-attack.
But in this way, all their players are concentrated in the frontcourt, leaving the backcourt extremely empty!
The Chinese team's long-awaited opportunity to end the game finally appeared!
(End of this chapter)
