Chapter 2122 Breaking the Deadlock
"Salomon...shoot!"
In the live TV broadcast, Burkina Faso's captain Julian Salomon took a shot in the penalty area.
The goalkeeper of the Chinese team, Lin Zhiyuan, leaned over and took the football that was running against the turf into his arms and pressed it under him.
The shouts of the Burkina Faso fans in the stands suddenly stopped and were replaced by Chinese fans cheering.
"FUCK!"
Darren Hunter cursed when he saw this, and then said:
"The Chinese team won't be eliminated by this 'non-weight loss center', right?"
A teammate corrected him: "It's Burkina Faso, Darren."
"Whatever it is... who said that the host country has an advantage before the game? Since the opponent is so weak, why hasn't the Chinese team scored a goal so far? Damn it, it's garbage!"
Darren Hunter scolded him so fiercely that people who didn't know the inside story might have thought he was a die-hard fan of the Chinese team.
But what Darren Hunter said next will make people who don’t know the inside story even more confused.
"It's okay, if we are asked to play in the quarter-finals like this, 'regardless of which team we are sent to', it means that we are sent to the semi-finals. Say thank you to the Chinese team, thank you!"
Hearing Hunter's endless rants, Jay Adams and Pete Williams looked at each other, and then smiled helplessly.
From the beginning of the first half, the conference room was filled with Hunter's noisy voice.
He was on an emotional roller coaster.
At the beginning, I kept cheering for the Chinese team.
Later, after seeing that the Chinese team was unable to score Burkina Faso's goal, he started cursing again.
Every time the Chinese team failed to attack, he would provoke his bitter ridicule.
Some people found it so funny that they took out their mobile phones to film Darren Hunter's reaction to watching the game. At least it was more interesting than the live game...
Hunter also knew that his teammates were filming him, but he didn't care. He still didn't change his style in front of the camera of his mobile phone, and even... got even crazier.
After the start of the second half, Burkina Faso stepped up its attack. After changing the practice of setting up buses in the first half, Hunter simply turned into a fan of Burkina Faso, even though he couldn't even spell the name of the country correctly... …
Pete Williams and Jay Adams are actually anxious for the Chinese team, and they also hope that the Chinese team can reach the quarterfinals.
It’s just that they won’t be as crazy as Hunter.
At least they don't want Burkina Faso to eliminate the Chinese team.
※※※
Burkina Faso had more opportunities to attack, and their number of shots was finally no longer the "0" number in the first half.
While strengthening its offense, it does not mean that Burkina Faso has completely relaxed its defense.
Especially against Hu Lai, they still defended with high intensity.
The Chinese team attacks. Chen Xingyi passed the ball to Hu Lai.
As a result, Hulay did not catch the ball at all under the personal interference and defense of two Burkina Faso players.
Two strong black players flanked him on the left and right, like a black sandwich.
It's not enough for Hu Lai to fight with one person, he has to fight with two people.
That's basically how he was defended throughout the first half.
In the first half, the Chinese team blasted fifteen shots, of which Hu Lai had only four shots.
Most of the time he was surrounded by so many enemies that he didn't even have a chance to kick off.
The teammates of the Chinese team saw him being targeted by Burkina Faso defenders and did not always pass the ball to him, which resulted in him not taking many shots.
However, knowing that he was trapped in a tight siege, Hu Lai frequently asked his teammates for the ball during the offense in the second half.
For example, Chen Xingyi's pass just now was actually requested by Hu Lai.
It’s just that he didn’t receive it at all...
Although he didn't even touch the ball, Hu Lai gave Chen Xingyi a thumbs up to indicate that he passed the ball well.
Burkina Faso's main center back Ayekme Oladapo looked at Hulay and then at Chen Xingyi.
He had to admit that Chen Xingyi passed the ball really well.
If I hadn't been sticking to Hu Lai and constantly confronting him physically, I might have let him hit the ball.
So he won't think that Hu Lai's praise for his teammates is pretentious behavior.
At this moment, Oladapo noticed that Hu Lai turned to look at him, so he closed his mouth and forced himself to slow down his breathing.
He didn't want Hu Lai to think that he was easy to deal with, otherwise he would definitely be regarded as a breakthrough by Hu Lai.
Although he has never played against Hulay, Hulay's name is familiar to him even if he is in the Eredivisie.
Ajekeme Oladapo, who plays for the Eredivisie mid-table team Ein Krent, is the core of Burkina Faso's defense.
Therefore, when he was injured in the last game against the South Korean team, he did not come off the field immediately. Instead, he persisted for another fifteen minutes before being replaced.
Before this quarter-finals, his injury was not completely healed.
However, considering his importance to the team, head coach Lenormand still let him play with injury.
He himself also took the initiative to ask for a fight.
I don't want to miss such an important game due to injury.
In the first half of the game, Oladapo, who played in a closed position, performed very tenaciously, using his advantage in physical strength to constantly press Hulay's space for movement, and teamed up with his teammates to contain the world's number one forward.
The success prevented Hu Lai from scoring a single goal in the first half.
However, Oladapo was not happy with his performance. He even frowned all the time and looked worried.
Because every time he confronted Hu Lai, he could feel the panic of his heart racing.
He doesn't know if he will lose the ball this time or next time when he defends.
Oladapo once saw the top defenders talking about the feeling of defending Hu Lai in a TV interview. One word to describe it was "tired".
Now he finally experienced firsthand what it was like to be "tired".
The body is not actually tired, the main reason is that the mind is tired.
During the halftime break, head coach Lenormand asked Oladapo privately how he felt when defending Hulay.
In order not to disappoint and worry the coach, he gave him a relaxed answer.
However, judging from the head coach’s adjustments during the halftime break, it is obvious that he did not believe in his pretense of ease...
The counterattack plan was advanced to the beginning of the second half.
Now he can only do his best to organize the defense to withstand the Chinese team's offensive, and prevent the Chinese team from scoring before Salomon and the others score.
He doesn't know if he can do it. He hopes that through his own efforts, even if it makes China's forwards impatient.
However, seeing Hu Lai give Chen Xingyi a thumbs up as usual, his mentality did not seem to be affected by the delay in scoring...
Oladapo closed his lips tightly, but his nostrils expanded with every deep breath, making them a little bigger than usual.
※※※
Burkina Faso tried to counterattack, but just as it advanced to midfield, it was stopped by the Chinese team.
Ou Yangjin and Xia Xiaoyu defended with a closed door, but they couldn't pass the ball!
Austin O'Connell staggered and fell out, but the football stayed at Ou Yangjin's feet.
O'Connell, who fell to the ground, waved his arms and tried to complain to the referee about the Chinese team's defensive foul.
However, the referee ignored him and turned around and followed the football towards the Burkina Faso half.
Upon seeing this, O'Connell shot up from the ground like a spring and quickly chased after him.
Xia Xiaoyu has passed the football to Zhou Zijing.
Zhou Zijing received the ball with his back to the attacking direction, used his body to temporarily resist the intrusion of Burkina Faso's midfielder, and then passed the football to Luo Kai on the wing.
After passing the ball, he quickly turned around and ran towards the Burkina Faso penalty area.
Before him, Hu Lai had already moved forward diagonally.
While running, he raised his hand and asked Luo Kai for the ball.
Oladapo is still with him, and there is also a Burkina Faso central defender Ola Djiga not far behind them.
"The Chinese team's attack!"
The Chinese fans in the stands cheered loudly again.
Although they were disappointed with the team's performance in the first half, the fans did not express their dissatisfaction with boos. When the Chinese team had an offensive opportunity, they would still cheer for the team.
Amid the cheers of Chinese fans, Luo Kai dribbled the ball towards Burkina Faso's penalty area, but not very fast.
At the same time, the Chinese team's right back Yuan Da was also advancing at high speed, preparing to cooperate with Luo Kai in a "shingled" manner.
Although it was Burkina Faso's attack just now, because they did not invest many troops in the attack, Burkina Faso's defensive formation was not disrupted and remained intact.
It is impossible for the Chinese team to simply and crudely penetrate Burkina Faso's defense through counterattacks.
When Yuan Da was about to run, he shouted to Luo Kai: "Brother Kai!"
Luo Kai, who was slowly dribbling the ball just now, suppressing Burkina Faso left back Nasser Abbas, heard this sound, suddenly started, and first used the outside instep of his right foot to move the football straight towards the baseline, deceiving him to block him. Abbas in front stepped back.
He immediately used the inside of his right foot to dunk the football toward the center!
He himself followed suit and turned around.
Cut inside!
Abbas saw this and rushed forward again.
But at this moment, Luo Kai turned around and kicked the football to the right with his left foot!
There, Yuan Da happened to hit the horse and kill him!
The main right back of Berlin-Gössen United faced the ball from Luo Kai and walked directly into the penalty area!
Burkina Faso's left back Nasser Abbas immediately dropped Luo Kai and went to attack Yuan Da.
Then he saw Yuan Da swinging his right leg, trying to make a direct pass.
He quickly raised his legs to block.
But Yuan Da was just a feint. His raised right leg did not pass the football to the middle. Instead, he moved the ball further towards the baseline!
Because Abbas raised his leg to block, he could no longer start chasing at this time, and could only watch Yuan Da rush to the bottom line.
When Yuan Da broke through, Hu Lai also accelerated from the big penalty area to the small penalty area, making a response.
Beside him, there were two Burkina Faso defenders following him closely, never leaving. One is Oladapo and the other is Jiga.
Hu Lai ran towards Yuan Da and made a gesture to pass the ball to him.
Yuan Da did indeed pass the ball - if he didn't pass the ball, he would have taken out the bottom line...
The football is passed to Hu Lai!
Oladapo struggled to squeeze Hulay out of the ball path, and Hulay tilted his body to confront him.
Another Burkina Faso defender, Djiga, overtook from the inside and tried to destroy the football before Hulay.
Seeing this, Hu Lai accelerated and rushed forward diagonally, blocking half of his body.
At the same time football arrived.
It’s just that Hu Lai, caught in this kind of attack, has almost no room to shoot...
He has been under Burkina Faso's high-pressure defense. Doesn't he know this?
Then why did he ask Yuan Da for the ball?
Because he wants the ball not so that he can shoot, but...
Create opportunities for teammates!
Just after the football rolled over, Hulay raised his arm to resist Oladapo, and at the same time blocked half of the body of another Burkina Faso central defender Djiga, and then did nothing and allowed the football to pass from his side. It rolled between the legs!
"Hu Lai... missed it!"
"What a ball!"
Because of Hulay's movement and posture, he attracted almost all Burkina Faso's defensive attention.
Even goalkeeper Yaya Traore went to the front post to block the near corner.
So when Zhou Zijing came from the middle, he faced not only the rolling football, but also a huge empty goal!
"Zhou Zi Jing——!!"
He Feng roared until his voice broke at the end.
He knows very well what this ball means to the Chinese team!
He was even worried that Zhou Zijing wasted this opportunity that "my grandma can do it even if she goes up there"...
After all, Zhou Zijing's feeling in front of goal is not good this season. If he hadn't scored a goal against London Bridge in the penultimate round, the pressure might have been so great that he could be crushed by now.
And so far in this World Cup, hasn’t he still not scored a goal?
He Feng's heart was in his throat.
But this time Zhou Zijing did not disappoint.
Facing the rolling football, he stabilized his center of gravity and swept his legs across the ball!
Nothing can stop...this ball anymore!
The football flew into the goal, and Burkina Faso goalkeeper Yaya Traore rushed back, but it didn't help and could only grab a ball of air...
"The ball... the ball has gone in! The ball has gone in!! Zhou Zijing! He broke the deadlock for the Chinese team!! The Chinese team leads Burkina Faso 1:0!!" (End of Chapter)