Chapter 859 I don’t want to owe you a favor
Limited by his overall strength, Curtin, who has been famous in European football for many years, has been unable to participate in the World Cup finals. This is considered by many fans and media to be a major loss for the World Cup.
Before every World Cup, the media will select the "strongest lineups" that have missed the World Cup. Vitali Curtin will definitely be missing from the front line.
Curtin is considered an "alien" in the current Ukrainian national team, which plays a rough and direct style.
He is only 1.75 meters tall. Although he is not the shortest in the current Ukrainian national team, he can still be classified as "short".
Although he does not have advantages in height and strength, he is extremely good at his feet, which seems to be somewhat incompatible with the current style of the Ukrainian national team.
However, under the guidance of the Ukrainian national team coach Viktor Yarmolenko, he integrated well into the team and became the team's offensive engine with his excellent skills.
At Eger in Paris, Courtien is the striker. In the Ukrainian national team, he is more like an attacking midfielder.
The priority of organizing offense is higher than his own shooting.
But that doesn't mean he can't score.
After all, there is a difference between not having a sword in your hand and having a sword but not using it.
When the team cannot open a situation, he will also try to use his personal abilities to solve the problem.
Just like now.
※※※
"Kotien made a beautiful turn and wiped away Gao Ruimin's defense. He entered the penalty area... and shot——!"
Following He Feng's exclamation, Lin Zhiyuan dived sideways and saved Ketien's shot from the bottom line.
After completing the save, he rolled on the ground, turned over, and then clapped his hands hard and shouted at his teammates to boost their morale.
He only played thirty minutes in the last game and still conceded one goal.
He conceded another goal in this game.
However, at this time, he obviously no longer cared about whether there were scouts from Germany's Westin Sporting in the stands observing his performance, nor did he worry about the loss because he lost the ball.
Now he is concentrating on his current performance in the game.
Whether he can be noticed by Westin Athletic and whether he can have the opportunity to play abroad is not something he considers.
After Ketien's outstanding performance, Yao Huasheng and Wang Guangwei strengthened their defense against Ketien. As a result, the latter immediately passed the football to his teammates, who completed the shot, forcing Lin Zhiyuan to make another save and block the football from the bottom line. A corner kick was given to Ukraine.
Curtien's ability to pass and shoot made it particularly difficult for the Chinese team players to defend.
Although he is only one person, he can contain the entire defense line of the Chinese team.
He is not fast, but he is very good with his feet, so he is not afraid of the Chinese team shrinking its defense line and engaging in positional warfare.
Unlike his PSG forward partner Mendy Payet, he doesn't need a lot of space or sprinting distance.
As long as the ball is at his feet, whether he is passing the ball or shooting, he can create a huge threat.
Even if he is holding the ball on the spot, he can make the defensive players around him afraid to act rashly.
That's the great thing about Vitaly Curtin.
※※※
"Kurtien!"
"Kurtien! Be careful..."
"Oh, so dangerous——! It's Kirtien again!"
During this time, CCTV commentator He Feng and guest commentator Yan Kang frequently mentioned Vitaly Cortin's name.
It seemed like he was the brightest kid in the room.
Of course, Lin Zhiyuan's name was also mentioned.
Although Lin Zhiyuan performed well, the defense was always passive.
In the 58th minute of the game, Curtin made a move to pass the ball to his teammates at the front of the penalty area. After deceiving Wang Guangwei to stretch his foot to intercept the pass, his right foot was wrapped around the football and he suddenly turned to the other side. , a wonderful spoon turn!
After getting rid of Wang Guangwei, Curtien dribbled the ball into the penalty area. Facing the attacking goalkeeper Lin Zhiyuan, he chose to kick and shoot into the far corner.
The football was drawn into a very exaggerated arc by him, bypassing Lin Zhiyuan's fingers, and was about to fly out of the outside of the goal post, but it turned back again!
Get into the upper back corner of the Chinese team’s goal!
"Oops——!" He Feng and Yan Kanglu sighed in unison, "We still lost the ball! Ketian's personal ability is really outstanding - the movement he made when he pretended to pass the ball just now was very large. Generally speaking, the ball will definitely pass in that direction, Wang Guangwei had no problem guarding his pass, but who would have thought that he could pull back his movements even when his center of gravity was severely tilted... I have to say that this is Ukraine's only superstar Vitaly Koti. En’s ability!”
After scoring the goal, Curtien waved his fist to his teammates and asked them to keep up the good work.
The live broadcast shouted affectionately: "The goal is scored!! Ukraine leads China 2:1, and the goal is Vitali——"
The fans in the audience shouted in unison: "——Kurtien!!!"
Although he has never been able to lead the national team to the World Cup finals, Vitaly Curtin still enjoys a very high status in the hearts of Ukrainian fans.
※※※
"This is not a problem of our tactics, this is a victory of personal heroism." Shi Wuyin said to Li Zhifei off the court. "Even the French team's defense would have been hard-pressed to prevent Curtien's ball just now."
During the halftime break against France, Shi Wuyin made significant adjustments to the lineup. And he didn't even change anyone at halftime of this game.
It can also be seen from this point that Shi Wuyin's attitude towards the second warm-up match was more serious than the first. Different from the purpose of feeling the atmosphere in the first game, in the second game he seriously wanted to test his team's tactics in front of Ukraine.
Therefore, he maintained the integrity of the lineup to the greatest extent, instead of making frequent substitutions and letting the players go on the field like a revolving door to feel the atmosphere of the game for ten or dozens of minutes.
※※※
After Curtin's goal, Ukraine continued to attack the Chinese team's goal.
In response to this situation, Shi Wuyin adjusted his tactics and asked the Chinese team to shrink and defend against counterattacks.
In fact, defensive counterattack will be the standard tactic developed by Shi Wuyin for the Chinese team in the World Cup.
After all, the Chinese team is weak, and opponents will basically press forward to attack, so it is natural to defend and counterattack.
Seizing this opportunity to practice the team's defensive counterattack tactics is also part of Shi Wuyin's plan.
He didn't feel sorry for the team's loss.
The defensive counterattack tactics are tailor-made for Chen Xingyi and Luo Kai, two fast players with strong individual combat capabilities. It is perfect.
Luo Kai, who scored the goal, has been in good condition in today's game. Now that the tactics are suitable, he is more active.
※※※
Wang Guangwei jumped up in the penalty area and used his head to head the Ukrainian cross. Hu Lai quickly ran to the second landing point and passed the football back with his feet before the Ukrainian player.
It was given to Zhang Qinghuan who rushed out of the penalty area and adjusted his direction.
After Zhang Qinghuan received the ball, he passed the ball with his feet and he whipped the football to the left.
Luo Kai's activity caused Ukraine's defensive focus to tilt slightly towards Luo Kai's right wing. In comparison, Chen Xingyi on the left suffered much less defensive pressure.
It was for this reason that Zhang Qinghuan passed the football to Chen Xingyi instead of Luo Kai.
He did not pass the football to Chen Xingyi's feet, but kicked it as far away as possible, allowing Chen Xingyi to give full play to his speed advantage and race the opponent's full-back in a 100-meter race.
"Chen Xingyi is so fast!"
With He Feng's praise, Chen Xingyi gradually surpassed the Ukrainian full-back Gennady Sergechuk who was on par with him. This speed advantage visible to the naked eye made people's blood rush.
The Ukrainian fans in the stands screamed, stimulating Chen Xingyi's feet to move faster.
He caught up with the football first, then swung his left foot as if he was going to cross the ball directly.
Sergechuk quickly threw his entire body weight away and intercepted his cross with a flying leg.
But Chen Xingyi just feinted a shot. Although the swing of his kick was very large, it definitely couldn't be a feint. He still took it back forcefully, just like Cotien did just now!
He took his left foot back and dunked the football in the opposite direction!
At the same time, he was almost lying on the ground, using his hands to help support him, and he stopped the car without slipping to the ground.
But Sergechuk did not have such good luck. He fell to the ground and slid past Chen Xingyi...
“Beautiful!”
Chen Xingyi supported his body with his hands, got up and caught up with the football, pushed the ball inside, and headed towards the Ukrainian penalty area!
At the same time, he looked up and looked inside.
Luo Kai, who was previously active on the right wing, has now moved to the middle of the penalty area and turned into a center!
He looked at Chen Xingyi, who also saw him and passed the football.
Just as Chen Xingyi passed the ball, Luo Kai suddenly increased his speed and sprinted forward.
This brought with him the Ukrainian centre-back Andrei Arzhanov who was following him.
Roman Sergei, who was guarding the inside, took a look at Hulay first and found that he was in the space in the ribs, still far away, and did not follow up.
He confirmed that the ball was passed to Luo Kai, and then he also pounced on it, forming a double insurance with Arzhanov. The former interfered with Luo Kai, while he blocked the opponent's shooting route.
Luo Kai rushed forward and shot the football with his feet... No!
He only made half of the action of shooting. He swung his foot but did not continue to swing his leg. Instead, he let the football pass between his legs!
"Luo Kai - missed it?!"
He Feng was surprised, not to mention the two Ukrainian central defenders who were so close. They were caught off guard.
Roman Sergey's eyes followed the football, and then he saw Hu Lai swinging his foot towards the football!
"Hu——Lai——!!"
Shoot directly without stopping the ball!
Goalkeeper Kotyarov was also shaken by Luo Kai's shooting action. Now it was too late to adjust his focus and return to save. He could only watch the football flying into his goal with his body tilted!
※※※
After Hu Lai finished his signature celebration, he hugged and celebrated with his teammates who came up to celebrate.
He hugged Chen Xingyi, Zhang Qinghuan, Gao Ruimin... and even Wang Guangwei one by one.
Then he saw Luo Kai standing in front of him.
Hu Lai was stunned for a moment, not expecting Luo Kai to come up and hug him...
But he soon realized that he was thinking too much. Luo Kai was not here to hug him and celebrate.
He said to Hu Lai with a half-smile: "I have half of the credit for your goal, and now we are even!"
Hu Lai retorted: "You haven't even touched the ball, what's the matter with you!"
Luo Kai snorted: "Then you didn't touch the goal I just scored."
Hu Lai didn't expect Luo Kai to be waiting for him here. He grinned: "Be careful!"
"I don't want to owe any favors." After Luo Kai said this, he turned around and ran away.
Hu Lai said behind him: "You will have no friends if you do this..."
Luo Kai turned his head and glanced at him: "No, I just don't want to owe you a favor." Hearing his words, Hu Laimo rubbed his chin and wondered, does that mean that every time the national team competes in the future, I just need to let this kid owe me first If I show favor, he will assist me no matter what in the game?
(End of chapter)