Chapter 939 Behind the Lead
Every Russian player who entered the locker room sat in silence in his seat.
In fact, before Luo Kai scored, they were not playing badly and could threaten the Chinese team's goal.
But when the goal appeared, the morale of the Chinese team soared, and the Russian players inevitably panicked and were suppressed by the opponent on the scene.
We were almost 0:2 behind, if the opponent's No. 9 hadn't been offside...
And to be honest, if there was no video referee now, that ball might have been considered a goal. After all, even the Russian players themselves did not realize that Luo Kai was in an offside position when Zhang Qinghuan passed the ball.
If there is no video referee and the linesman does not see it clearly, does the goal also go in if it is scored?
The Chinese team is now leading by two goals.
That was a fatal blow to Russia - even if the game ended in a draw and the game was not lost, for Russia, which wanted to compete for the group stage, it meant that they had to fight Algeria in the last game. But the Chinese team is so difficult to beat, how can Algeria obey? After all, the first game between these two teams was tied 2:2.
Russia was clearly the stronger side, but ended up falling behind.
This feeling is terrible!
Head coach Mashaninov walked in, closed the door, and scanned the audience.
Most of the players were upset by the loss.
So he said: "To be honest, our defense made a little mistake in the first half, but it was not a big problem. We paid too much attention to Hu's threat and ignored other players of the Chinese team. I don't think this is an unforgivable Mistake. So even in the second half, I will not allow you to let go of Hu and defend others. I still firmly believe that Hu is the most threatening player in the Chinese team. Hu Yi is defending near the penalty area. Of course, it is the highest priority goal, followed by other players of the Chinese team. Therefore, in the second half, while focusing on defending Hu, we must focus on limiting their No. 10 in midfield defense. Offensive engine! Freezing him is equivalent to cutting off their offensive opportunities... In addition, our defensive formation must be kept intact at all times and cannot be easily ripped apart by the opponent!
"We are only behind by one goal, not by two goals or three goals. As long as you don't panic, the initiative in the second half will definitely fall into our hands. I am not saying this to comfort you. In fact, you may not be able to Notice how much the Chinese team paid just to be able to play back and forth with us.”
When Mashaninov said this, the players in the locker room raised their heads and cast their gazes over.
"The Chinese team's tactics are very simple. They use flexible movement and faster passing and receiving to deal with us. This is indeed effective. But it requires a lot of running ability of the whole team. They are like high-speed machines. , every gear mesh must be accurate, otherwise it may malfunction, so you can see. In the first half, they often moved closer together between three or four players, and the same was true in the defense. The attacking players had to retreat quickly and return to the defensive area... They did this throughout the first half. Do you think they can keep playing like this?"
After everyone looked at each other, someone shook his head: "No, their physical fitness will not be able to hold it up first..."
"That's right!" said Mashaninov. "Their physical fitness will be finished first! I don't believe that the Chinese team is a group of robots that can't run to death. When they played Algeria in the last game, they had physical problems early. If it weren't for Hu's super world wave goal, they would have forced It boosted the morale of the team, and they might have collapsed a long time ago. And similarly, if it weren't for physical problems, they might really be able to defeat Algeria in the last game."
Speaking of which, Mashaninov used magnetic chess pieces to place the positions of the Chinese team players on the tactical board, and then moved the chess pieces to tell everyone how the Chinese team played in the first half.
This is what he observed in the first half, and then wrote it down and used it during the halftime adjustment.
Through this intuitive way, it is easier for players to understand how the Chinese team operates.
"When they attack, several players in the frontcourt are often very close to each other, which makes it easier for them to pass and cut quickly and move each other. In addition, the success rate of passing at close range is also higher, and it is less likely to make mistakes... But this means that they Once an offense occurs, all players involved in the offense must keep running and changing positions, which requires a lot of physical fitness.
"We can push the football into their backcourt through a very simple long pass, but their players have to withdraw from the front, even Hu is no exception and must participate in the defense. So in the second half we can continue Use long balls to play behind them. We only need two or three people to mobilize most of their team. There is nothing more cost-effective than this. We don't care about the success rate. It doesn't matter if they are guarded. Their physical fitness will eventually. They are exhausted in this up and down movement! Moreover, if they want to compete with us, they will need to exert more strength, which will further increase their physical energy consumption. Don't worry, don't fall behind! Enter their rhythm. No matter how they run or pass, we must tighten our own fence. Finally, please remember that no weak team can reach the World Cup, not Algeria, nor the Chinese team!”
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"Boys, you performed very well in the first half!" Shi Wuyin praised the team's performance. "After the second half begins, we have to grab the start and try to score another goal!"
After the first half, Shi Wuyin now has ambitions.
After all, we are already one goal ahead of Russia, why can't we give it another try and turn our bicycles into motorcycles?
If another goal is scored, the pressure on the Chinese team will not be so great.
Although Shi Wuyin praised his players verbally, he was always worried in his heart.
Because he knows where the vitality of his tactics lies.
That's physical fitness.
He initially decided to use this tactic to deal with Russia because his performance against the Chinese team in Algeria inspired him.
He found that the Chinese team's passing and running coordination was very tacit and the integrity was very good - even better than what was shown in training.
Although he didn't quite understand why this happened, he thought maybe we could use the overall pass-and-run combination to deal with Russia.
It's like a boxer who is thin but agile and has to fight in the ring with a boxer who is strong but heavy. Rush up and fight the opponent head-on, fearing that the opponent will get knocked out with just one punch.
But if we give full play to our advantages of speed, flexibility and agility, and compete with each other in circles, maybe we can win by points...
The only problem is fitness.
Physical fitness is the basis of this tactical concept.
Without physical ability, all designs are just words on paper.
But is the Chinese team's physical fitness good?
It may be okay in Asia, but in the World Cup... it's actually not enough to watch. After all, playing in the World Cup requires more physical energy than playing in Asia.
He saw it last game against Algeria.
The Chinese team played really well at the beginning of the last game. This was good because the players were not nervous, but excited.
But excitement also means that physical energy consumption is greatly accelerated.
Therefore, the Chinese team suffered from physical exhaustion after conceding the second goal.
Later, it was entirely because Hu Lai's goal was so beautiful, which greatly boosted the team's morale. It was like giving the whole team a shot of chicken blood. Everyone relied on the excitement brought by the surge of adrenaline to hold on until the end of the game. All game.
The same goes for the game against Russia.
Why Shi Wuyin wants to grab the start is because it allows the Chinese team to have a two-goal lead as a buffer after their physical fitness declines, so as not to be defeated by the opponent.
Even if a goal is conceded in the second half, the players will feel that they are still one goal ahead. The mentality is completely different from being tied.
Of course, Shi Wuyin will make substitution adjustments in the second half to minimize the impact of declining physical fitness.
But the overall trend is difficult to change. As the Chinese team's physical fitness declines, it will no longer be able to adhere to this tactic. At that time, it will have to shrink its defense and fight a positional war with Russia.
That was the biggest test for the Chinese team.
Shi Wuyuan knew the advantages and disadvantages of his tactics, but he had no choice. He could only stick to this "drinking poison to quench thirst" tactics.
At least with this tactic, the Chinese team not only did not fall behind on the field, but also led Russia by one goal.
So he didn't tell the team his concerns, he just kept praising them and continued to cheer up the players, allowing them to maintain this excitement on the court to deal with Russia.
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"The second half of the game has begun, and neither side has made any substitutions. After the fifteen-minute intermission, let's see what the Chinese team's boys can bring to us... Oh!!"
Before He Feng could finish his words, he saw the Chinese team advancing the attack into the frontcourt after the kick-off, and Hu Lai took a high-quality long shot from outside the penalty area.
The ball speed is not fast and the angle is very tricky.
He completely bypassed Russian goalkeeper Altin's hand, but because he was pursuing an angle, he missed the outside of the goalpost and flew out of the baseline...
"Hu Lai! What a pity! It seems that the Chinese team has continued the strategy of the first half and actively attacked instead of shrinking the defense after leading by one goal!"
"Because Director Shi also knows that facing Russia, which is best at positional warfare, it is useless to shrink the defense."
When the Russian head coach Mashaninov saw this scene on the sidelines, he did not get excited. Instead, he gestured to the Russian players on the court, telling them to "be patient" and "don't panic."
The Chinese team players who failed to score in this attack did not stay in front. Taking advantage of the opponent's goalkeeper Altin's opportunity to release the ball in preparation for the opening kick, they all retreated to their own half.
This was exactly the same defensive strategy they used in the first half.
Against Russia, we will never consider launching a siege in the frontcourt.
Because Russia will not waste time in the backcourt at all. They always kick directly from the back to the frontcourt to find Ivan Romanov.
It was the same this time. Goalkeeper Altin kicked the ball out, looking for Romanov.
This scene also appeared repeatedly in the first half, so much so that people couldn't help but wonder whether there was a special long-passing training for goalkeepers in the Russian team. The only requirement and purpose of the training was to pass the football to Romanov, and No matter where he is.
Sure enough, this time Romanov ran to the wing and the football flew over.
Romanov then used his body advantage to jump up and head the ball.
Although Luo Kai came back to defend here, he was completely defeated in the fight with Romanov for the top.
He couldn't even get close to the football. As soon as he jumped up, he was carried away by Romanov.
However, although Romanov won the first spot, the ball he passed to his teammates was blocked by the Chinese team's midfielder Jiang Wanqing.
After competing with the opposing player, the football was pushed aside and fell to Xia Xiaoyu's feet.
When Xia Xiaoyu caught the ball, he turned around to block the Russian player behind him, and then quickly passed the ball back to Wang Guangwei.
As soon as he passed the football out, he was knocked away by a Russian player. As long as he handles the ball a little slower, the ball may be lost to him.
But today's Xia Xiaoyu is no longer the Xia Xiaoyu who was so nervous when he debuted in the last game that he even forgot his last name.
Facing the fierce pressing of the Russian players, he behaved calmly and handled the ball methodically. This is due to the fact that he always sees the positioning of his teammates and opponents around him before catching the ball, and keeps it in mind.
As a young player brought to the World Cup by Shi Wuyin, he has grown rapidly in the game.
This fully proves the correctness of Shi Wuyuan’s words.
Young players still need to go to the world's highest level stage to train themselves before they can grow into big trees.
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The Russian offensive ended so quickly.
The television broadcast took time to give the two head coaches a close-up shot each.
Shi Wuyin, the head coach of the leading Chinese team, frowned slightly and looked a little nervous.
The Russian head coach Mashaninov had no expression on his face. Seeing that the attack was not successful, he turned around and returned to the coaching bench, unscrewed a bottle of water and drank half of the bottle in one breath.
The score is still 1:0, and the Chinese team is temporarily in the lead.
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PS, there are five updates today, at eight o'clock, ten o'clock, thirteen o'clock, fifteen o'clock and eighteen o'clock.
Asking for a monthly ticket! ! (End of chapter)