Chapter 563 The younger generation is the strongest in the world
The players of the Argentine Olympic team, led by their captain Juan Sosa, walked towards the players of the Chinese Olympic team and performed one of the fixed pre-match rituals - shaking hands with the opposing players.
After shaking hands, the players from both sides will take their respective positions, leaving only the captains of the two teams to exchange team flags and pick sides, and then the game will begin.
For the Argentine players, they are eager for the game to start quickly.
As long as they win against the Chinese team, they will get the right to qualify.
But just winning against the Chinese team is not enough, because they also have to compete with Belgium for first place in the group. They don't want to finish second in the group and then go up against the host country Spain, which is first in Group A - all the group matches in Group A ended yesterday. The host country, the Spanish Olympic team, is also the favorite to win the gold medal with three wins from three games. Scored ten goals without conceding a single goal and won first place in the group.
According to the rules of engagement of the Olympic men's football event, the first team in Group A will meet the second team in Group B in the knockout round.
Neither Belgium nor Argentina want to be second in this unlucky group.
The two teams are currently tied with four points, and whether it is the goal difference or the total number of goals, or the relationship between the wins and losses, the goal difference between the games... they are exactly the same.
The key to deciding who can get first place in the group lies in this final round of the group stage.
Belgium not only have to beat Nigeria but also have as much goal difference as possible.
In comparison, Argentina's situation is better than theirs, because Argentina's opponent in the last round of the group stage is the Chinese team, which is recognized as the weakest in this group.
It will not be a problem for them to defeat the Chinese team, and the difficulty of winning a goal difference against the Chinese team will definitely be much lower than that for Belgium to gain a goal difference against Nigeria.
So despite sharing the same points with Belgium, Argentina's media and fans were still very optimistic before the game.
As long as it can appear first in the group, with the strength of the Argentine Olympic team, it is likely to reach the finals all the way.
After reaching the finals, even if they meet the host Spain, they are not afraid. If they fight hard, they will be the Olympic champions!
The players of the Argentine Olympic team shook hands with the players of the Chinese Olympic team one by one.
Because they are not familiar with each other, this kind of handshake is really just a formality. The two parties shake hands quickly, and their fingertips lightly touch each other's palms and then separate. There was neither a pat on the shoulder nor a greeting—we didn’t understand the language, so what was there to say?
But when Mellie Banega got hold of Hulay, an accident happened.
According to his habit, Melly wanted to separate from the other party with a gentle shake, but he was unable to pull his hand back - his hand was held tightly by the other party.
He looked down at the other person's hand, then raised his head to look at the other person with surprised eyes, and saw the other person saying to him with a smile: "Hello, Meili, I am Hu Lai."
He actually spoke...Spanish!
Melly's eyes widened, and he forgot to speak for a moment, and pumped his hands outwards reflexively.
His strange behavior attracted the attention of his teammates behind him - it was difficult not to attract attention. Everyone shook hands with each other, shaking hands like a dragonfly doing something, and left without stopping at all. As a result, Melli was delayed, and the teammate behind him almost didn't stop the car and crashed into him.
"What's the matter, Melly?" Ramon Cantero, who was standing alone, asked.
Melly felt the other party let go of his hand, he quickly took it back, and then said to his friend: "It's nothing..."
After saying that, he continued to walk forward, and at the same time looked back at Hu Lai with some suspicion, but the other person still kept smiling.
Do you just want to say hello to yourself?
He handed his hand out and separated from the next Chinese team player with a light touch.
The next one also separated with a light touch. No one held his hand as passionately as Hu Lai.
Mellie Banega has played many games and has shaken hands with countless people before the game.
I have never been held tightly by someone...
When Ramon Cantero shook hands with Julay, he looked at him and said in Spanish: "You are lucky, boy. You have the honor to compete with Mellie Banega. This is enough for you to brag about for a year." .”
He didn't expect Hu Lai to understand, so he let go and left.
But he failed because his hand was also firmly grasped by Hu Lai.
It was like a dog that wanted to run out but was tied up by a rope. Its body crooked and the rope was stretched straight.
But the rope was replaced by his hand.
Cantero looked back at Hulay in surprise.
The bastard who he thought was lucky looked at him with a smile: "And you are very unlucky, because your opponent is me."
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After the game started, just as the guest commentator Zhang Rang predicted, Argentina directly launched a fierce offensive against the Chinese Olympic team's goal without any probing.
In the final round of the group stage, the two games were played simultaneously.
They don't know what will happen in another stadium, they can only do their best to do their own things first.
So they have to try to score goals as soon as possible.
The players of the Chinese Olympic team followed head coach Shi Wuyin's pre-match arrangements, contracting like a fist to defend.
Seeing this scene, Shi Wuyuan, who was in the audience, let out a breath and said to Li Zhifei: "Old Li, I was right this time."
Li Zhifei smiled.
Although the Chinese team drew with Nigeria in the first game and received a lot of praise from the outside world, he knew that Shi Wuyin had always felt guilty and blamed himself.
Because if he hadn't been careless and misjudged Nigeria's reaction, the Chinese team might have had a chance to win that game.
And if the Chinese team can win and get three points, then it can now face Argentina much more calmly.
Neither coach allowed their joy to linger too long as they saw Argentina's No. 10 player, number one star, ace and "Eagle" Meli Banega receiving the ball.
Deafening screams and cheers erupted from the stands at Santa Lucia Stadium.
He Feng, the CCTV commentator at the scene, raised his voice and shouted: "Meili is here!"
Melly pulled to the right wing to receive the ball and began to take it diagonally towards the penalty area.
"Mine!" Gao Ruimin shouted and pressed forward.
Then he was easily passed by Merry.
The remaining Du Wanqing was a little embarrassed...
Can't get on?
Come on, what if Merry passes behind me? And the coach asked me to protect the space in front of the back line...
If you don't go up and leave the opponent unmarked like this, what if he kicks and shoots?
Fortunately, captain Guo Junfu returned to defense in time and stuck up. At the same time, he shouted to Du Wanqing: "Keep your position!"
Only then did Du Wanqing not easily lose his position and attack Melli.
After Guo Junfu posted on Meili, Gao Ruimin, who had been passed, quickly returned to defense and posted on him again.
The two men flanked Melli on the left and right, but they were unable to break the football from Melli's feet. It looked as if they were escorting Melli to the Chinese team's penalty area.
In the past, I had only seen videos of Melli playing football on TV and on the Internet. After competing with him for the first time, both Guo Junfu and Gao Ruimin found that Melli's touch on the ball was really good. Every step he took to the ball, the distance between the football and him was kept just right, making it impossible for defensive players to make a move. If you must try to steal, you are likely to foul.
But in his current position, the Chinese team players don’t even dare to commit a foul...
Meili brought the ball and approached the Chinese team's penalty area.
In addition to the two Chinese team players beside him, there is also a Chinese team midfielder Du Wanqing in front of him.
Seeing that he had attracted three people to his side, he planned to pass the ball.
But he took the time to observe and found that there was no good passing opportunity - the Chinese team did not really focus all their defensive attention on him. They also reserved some troops to defend other Argentina. players.
There are no big holes in the overall defense that he can exploit.
In desperation, Melli suddenly moved the football sideways, opened the angle with Du Wanqing, who was guarding him, and forced a shot with his left foot.
Lin Zhiyuan dived horizontally but failed to touch the ball.
Because after the football drew an arc, it flew far around the goal and flew out of the baseline.
"The shot missed! Merry missed the shot!" He Feng announced happily.
Shi Wuyuan and Li Zhifei in front of the coaching bench let out a sigh of relief almost at the same time, and then looked at each other.
"Our tactical arrangements worked." Li Zhifei said.
Shi Wuyin nodded: "Although it's a bit thrilling..."
"After all, it's Meili, and her personal ability is the strongest among her age group." Li Zhifei said. "The important thing is that our defense line is not in chaos. Whether it is a central defender or a full-back, they are all in their own positions. It is right to let Du Wanqing stay in front of the back line for protection, lest Melli directly face our central defender, then it is over. .”
In front of the substitute Argentine coach's bench, head coach Rosas put his head in his hands and regretted that Melli missed this opportunity.
But soon he put his hands down, clapped his hands hard, and yelled from the sidelines for the team to continue playing like this.
He believes that as long as they continue to put pressure on the Chinese Olympic team's defense, they will definitely not be able to maintain their performance in this defense, and there will definitely be loopholes in a certain defense.
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"Oh..." Xie Lan patted his heart with his hand and sighed with lingering fear, "Isn't this Meili too powerful? Even three people can't stop him..."
"After all, he is recognized as the strongest young player in the world. He has good ball skills, good feel for the ball, quick feet, and quick start. Apart from being able to only use his left foot and being short in height, he has almost no weaknesses as an attacker." Hu Lixin explained from the side.
"If you are so powerful, how can we play against others? Shouldn't we just let others in?"
"That's not what I'm saying... Look, the Olympic team's defense was very good this time. Although they sent three people up to surround Melli, no one in the frontal back line moved. They all stayed on their own. Because of his position, there was no opportunity for others in Argentina to take advantage of the situation, so Melli had no choice but to take the kick himself. In fact, he was already at the end of his strength," Hu Lixin explained patiently to his wife.
In the past, he didn't like to explain too much to his wife when watching games, but since he decided to take the coaching certificate, he used explaining to his wife while watching games as a kind of training to train his football thinking.
After hearing her husband's explanation, Xie Lan became optimistic again: "In short, we are not as weak as we thought! So can we win? If we win, maybe we can qualify?"
Hu Lixin rubbed his temples: "You jumped too fast... Every player on the back line of the Olympic team needs to tighten their nerves at all times to be able to defend an attack. Do you think they can maintain this state? How long? In short, don’t worry about the final result. As long as Hu Lai scores, you should be satisfied.”
"Then can our son score a goal?"
Hu Lixin thought for a while and then said: "If the opponent's defense makes a mistake, there is still a chance..."
"Okay!" Xie Lan slapped her face hard, "Then wait for the other party to make a mistake!"
Hu Lixin rolled his eyes at his wife and said that if he makes a mistake, he will make a mistake? Is this mistake so easy to make?
He felt that he and this woman simply couldn't make sense. As long as his son was involved, his IQ would plummet...
He stopped saying anything and pretended to be focused on watching the game to avoid his wife coming to ask him questions again.
Beside him, Xie Lan stopped talking and watched the game on the TV screen equally seriously.
Argentina launched another attack.
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PS, the third update will start tomorrow, for three days in a row, so that everyone can enjoy it!
In addition, there will be a double at the end of the month. If you have a monthly ticket, you can save it for the double time and vote. Thank you everyone! (End of chapter)