Chapter 1933 Live the way you want
After Caesar came on the scene, all eyes and cameras were trained on him.
The "Flying Cat" camera hovering over the court even landed next to him and took a 360-degree "sweeping" aerial photo of him.
Even though Caesar actually did nothing at this time.
Now, this is called "top superstar".
Hu Lai's performance in the past two seasons can also be called a superstar.
But in terms of player personal aura, he is still far behind compared to older generation superstars like Caesar.
Some people may think that this is the reason for Hu Lai's special personal temperament.
But that's not the case.
Melli and Kabangka of the same generation can also be regarded as well-known top stars.
There are also many championship honors.
But in front of the established "Four Heavenly Kings", they all feel "short".
Among the "Four Kings", Selius Caesar, the most powerful one, really has the "air of a king".
Just like his name.
But in fact, Selius Caesar was not originally called Caesar.
His real name is Serius Marcelo Palazino.
When he came of age, he added "Caesar" to his name because he admired the historical Caesar the Great, so his full name became Serius Caesar Marcello Palazzi. promise.
He chose to print only "Caesar" on his jersey, so that everyone would call him "Caesar".
At first, his actions aroused everyone's ridicule and confusion.
But at the age of eighteen, he withstood all pressure from the outside world and used actual performance to practice his beliefs on the court - he wanted to be Caesar on the green court!
With the real Caesar as his idol and the real Caesar as his goal, in the end, Serius Marcello Palazino gradually became what he wanted to live.
No one would mention it anymore, or even remember his real name.
Everyone calls him "Caesar", as if he is really the Roman king reborn on the green field more than two thousand years ago.
However, the ending of Caesar the Great in history did not go well, which seems to coincide with the current plight of Selius Caesar at the end of his career.
After Caesar came on the field, Italy did strengthen its offensive appropriately.
They played a relatively simple offense and wanted to directly find Caesar, the high point in front of the goal.
But after trying it several times, the effect is not very good.
Because the Chinese team also carried out targeted defense against Caesar.
Wang Guangwei followed Caesar closely, not giving him a chance to grab points in the penalty area.
In addition, Caesar's current body motor function has declined significantly and his range of activities has shrunk, making it relatively easy to defend.
Seven or eight minutes into the game, Caesar has not even completed a successful grab or shot.
The game entered eighty minutes, and the score was still 0:0.
"Look, I said it. What are you doing here?" Tang Yuan said, pointing to the close-up of Caesar in the curtain.
"If you want to be more liberal, at least you don't have to take the blame." Mao Xiao comforted Tang Yuan. "Italy didn't win the last game. They said it was because Caesar started the game and wasted the opportunity. This time Caesar didn't start, so the scumbags have nothing to say, right?"
"You're overthinking, Mao Xiao. How could you be speechless? The gangsters can always find an angle. They didn't start the game, but they came on the bench. If they didn't perform on the bench, doesn't it mean a substitution was wasted?" Maybe if someone else comes up, they can win?”
Tang Xiuyuan couldn't help but asked: "Why do you feel that you are looking forward to the Italian team winning?"
Tang Yuan quickly explained: "Of course not, I know Italy can't win, so I don't think it is necessary to replace Caesar with the dying struggle, and give the gangsters a handle. They are going to lose anyway, so why replace Caesar? No Just taking the blame for the coach..."
Chu Yifan shook his head: "Who said Italy can't win? Football is round. Don't act as if the Chinese team is certain to win."
"It may be difficult for the Chinese team to win, but a draw should be no problem." Tang Yuan said, and then sighed, "Caesar is really in trouble... Sigh!"
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As Italy stepped up its offensive, the Chinese team stepped up its counterattack.
In the counterattack, Hulay was heavily marked by the Italian defender and it was difficult to get a chance. So he used his running position to give his teammates opportunities to shoot.
The Chinese team took advantage of the gaps and opportunities created by his running.
But to be honest, even attackers like Zhou Zijing and Chen Xingyi are still far from being able to compare with Hulai in terms of offensive efficiency.
It can't even compare with the top level in Europe.
Zhou Zijing is good at playing ball, but his scoring ability is poor.
Chen Xingyi can lead, break and pass, but his scoring ability is relatively weak.
Their ability to be the main players in their respective clubs does not rely on scoring one goal after another.
This is why the Italian team would rather let Hulay create space for his teammates and create opportunities, but also continue to keep an eye on Hulay.
They know very well who is the most threatening player of the Chinese team.
Other Chinese team players, including those who have already made a name for themselves in Europe, in the eyes of the Italian team, they are at European level at best, but they are not yet at the top level in Europe, let alone the top.
They often see opponents like this. They have rich experience in dealing with them and know what to do. In fact, it is not difficult.
Only Hulay is completely special.
He is an opponent that gives all Italian players a huge headache, and is different from all the players they have encountered before.
Even when Caesar was young, he was not as difficult to deal with as Hu Lai. He was so cunning that he didn't even dare to lose his focus for a second.
Even though Mattioli has defended Hu Lai and hasn't even scored a goal in this game, Mattioli won't feel that he has won. As long as the referee didn't blow the final whistle, he didn't dare to relax, and he had to hold on to Hu Lai for only one breath.
So he was actually in a very awkward situation, and had to rely on other teammates on the team to fill the space behind him.
In the past, he was wiping other people's butts, but now the whole team is wiping his butts.
All this is because of Hu Lai.
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Not long after Luo Kai was replaced, Zhang Qinghuan was also replaced.
However, Dillon did not replace Zhang Qinghuan with Guo Junfu for a matchup substitution.
Instead, Gao Ruimin was replaced and he and Ou Yangjin formed the middle of two defensive midfielders.
The two of them, plus Xia Xiaoyu, lined up three midfielders in the middle of the midfield.
This is obviously an adjustment to be on the safe side.
Unable to attack for a long time, and worried about being attacked by Italy, Dillon slowed down the Chinese team's pace.
After all, for the Chinese team, even if this game is a draw, it is completely acceptable.
One win and one draw earns four points, Italy earns two points from two draws. The Spanish game has not yet started, so we don’t know the result, but even if Spain wins and gets three points, they will have to fight with Italy in the end.
As a result, it will be very difficult for Italy to surpass the Chinese team in points by defeating Spain.
No matter what the situation is, the Chinese team can qualify from this group as long as they do not lose to Nigeria by a large score.
So there was absolutely no need for Dillon to risk trying to beat Italy.
Although he is Spanish, he has coached in Italy for a long time and knows Italian football very well. In his opinion, the Italians are very good at playing in stalemate situations because they can hold on. So even if it looks like the Italian team is not playing well, being beaten and so on... but in the end they can often win.
The performance of the Italian team in this World Cup European qualifier is a good proof of this point.
If you watch their game process, most of them are unconvincing.
I feel that from the perspective of the scene and the process, Italy should not have won.
But they won in the end.
This Italian team rarely has a hearty victory, and the victory or defeat is between one or two goals.
They are particularly good at dragging their opponents into the quagmire, and then hugging each other and rolling into a ball. The scene looks ugly, and it is not even possible to see that they can win. But they must be the ones crawling out of the quagmire panting in the end, while their opponents are already lying in the quagmire dying...
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"The Chinese team has slowed down."
"This is right, this is right. A tie is completely acceptable..."
The match between the Chinese team and the Italian team was only an hour away from the last match between Sweden and South Korea, and the entire England team also gathered to watch.
They don't watch every World Cup game, but they must pay attention to the games of opponents in this group and the games of opponents in the quarter-finals.
Seeing Dillon making adjustments, the England internationals commented one after another.
The subsequent games also proved everyone's judgment. Because the Chinese team shrank its defense and slowed down, it withstood Italy's offensive. They even had a counterattack that could threaten Italy's goal.
"If the Chinese team and Italy draw in this game, then they may have a high chance of winning first place..."
Jay Adams said to Pete Williams next to him.
Pete nodded and said nothing.
If England and China both finish first in their respective groups, they will not be able to reach the quarter-finals.
You have to wait until the semi-finals... (Note 1)
But if he waits until the semifinals... there will be too many variables, and Peter doesn't know if he can realize his wish to meet Hu Lai and Zhou Zijing.
It's not because he has no confidence in the Chinese team. In fact, he doesn't have that much confidence in the England team and believes that the team can definitely reach the semi-finals.
There are too many obstacles in the middle.
Argentina, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain... these may all become threats to England.
It may also become a threat to the Chinese team...
Moreover, competitions such as the World Cup are the most likely to be upset.
The two hosts of this World Cup both lost in their first games, which shows the unexpected nature of the World Cup.
Just when everyone thought that the game was likely to end in a draw, the Chinese team got a chance to counterattack.
Caesar lost the battle with Wang Guangwei in the frontcourt. Italy's cross from the wing allowed Wang Guangwei to head it out.
The Chinese team took advantage of the situation and launched a counterattack.
Although a draw is completely acceptable, it does not mean that the Chinese team will remain indifferent when there is a chance to win.
Wouldn't it be better if we could win against Italy and qualify for the group stage one round ahead of schedule?
At that time, more substitute players can come on the stage to get training opportunities and feel the atmosphere of the World Cup, which can also make the atmosphere within the team more harmonious.
However, the Chinese team's counterattack was also unsuccessful.
As soon as they advanced to the thirty-meter area, they were guarded by Italy.
Italy then tried to fight back.
In order to prevent the Chinese team from counterattacking, Gao Ruimin, who came on as a substitute in the second half, committed a tactical foul on the Italian midfielder Marco Rossini who was holding the ball near the center circle of the front court.
Delayed Italy's counterattack.
"Good shot! Gao Ruimin's tactical foul was very smart and timely!"
The Chinese commentator here was boasting, and Rossini got up from the ground and saw Gao Ruimin and other Chinese players retreating.
Most of them, like Gao Ruimin, were walking back.
But instead of walking backwards, he turned around and walked back.
He suddenly realized that this was an opportunity to fight back!
So his eyes quickly roamed around the frontcourt and found that the one at the front was Caesar.
The latter originally rushed forward, but when he turned around and saw that Italy's counterattack had not started, he turned back to defend. Then halfway back to defense, the Chinese team's counterattack failed. When Italy had the opportunity to counterattack again, he turned around and ran forward again. After running a few steps, he heard the whistle, then looked back and saw that Marco Rossini was pulled to the ground by a tactical foul and Italy's counterattack could not succeed. He stopped and walked back slowly.
However, although he walked back slowly, his eyes were always observing the situation behind him. As he walked, he saw the scene in front of him and saw Marco Rossini getting up and looking forward.
Caesar reacted immediately. He quickened his pace and ran back two more steps to reintegrate himself into the Chinese team's defense.
Then at this moment, Rossini kicked the football directly over!
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Wang Guangwei is the only player on the Chinese team's defense who walks backwards so that he can observe the opponent's movements.
He did observe and react to Rossini's movements.
But there is a problem with walking backwards, that is... you need to turn around to catch up!
When he turned around, the football had already passed by him against the turf!
In front of him was Italy's No. 11, Serius Caesar!
Wang Guangwei doesn't know whether Caesar was offside or not. According to the current rules, the game will not be stopped immediately. He has to wait until the end of an attack to tell you whether it was offside or not.
So you can't stop and raise your hands to complain to the referee for offside.
He could only continue to chase back.
The only good news... this is a thirty-eight-year-old Caesar, not a twenty-eight-year-old, so he can still catch up!
"Rossini free kick quickly! Danger!"
"Italy's chance to counterattack!"
The scene was once again filled with cheers and boos.
It's just that this time who was cheering and who was booing...it's hard to say!
Wang Guangwei accelerated and chased back.
Although I played for almost 90 minutes and consumed a lot of physical energy, I still have to hold on with gritted teeth and must not let go!
He saw Caesar running ahead and felt that he was getting closer and closer...
Finally, when he was about to enter the penalty area, he caught up with Caesar.
But they both also broke into the penalty area together.
At this time, Wang Guangwei could only stick up and squeeze the opponent with his own body to interfere with him getting the ball.
Judging from Caesar's performance this season, his physical confrontation ability has also declined a lot.
Therefore, Wang Guangwei is still confident that he can squeeze out Caesar.
But just as he squeezed in, Caesar, who was on the outside, suddenly took the football one step further outside, and then kicked off!
Lin Zhiyuan, who originally cooperated with Wang Guangwei in attacking, planned to block Caesar's shooting angle, but he did not expect Caesar's shot to be so decisive and sudden... He just pushed the football away with his front foot, caught up with his back foot and shot directly!
Lin Zhiyuan fell to the ground in a hurry and made a save, but did not touch the ball!
The football flew over his body and went straight into the goal behind him!
No one expected that Italy would counterattack and Caesar would take the lead!
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Note 1: The setting of the upper and lower halves of the World Cup in the book is calculated according to the group, without crossover, which is different from the setting of the World Cup in Qatar in the real world.
That is, the qualifying teams from the four groups A, B, C, and D will automatically enter the top half. The qualifying teams from the four groups E, F, G and H have entered the lower half.
This is done for simplicity and convenience so that I don’t make mistakes when writing. (End of chapter)