Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 622 Ya Ya, I'm sorry
Both teams coincidentally fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation.

On the Ivory Coast side, Drogba was on the bench, and apart from him, the team fielded almost all of its key players.

Since the start of the African qualifiers, Drogba, feeling that he was getting old and finding it difficult to maintain his form, voluntarily requested to sit on the bench for the sake of the team.

Therefore, Drogba sat on the bench for this match, just like he always has.

In defense, Aurier, Zokora, Suleiman, and Boca are the four key players. The two defensive midfielders are Tiote and Die. The three midfielders are Yaya Toure in the center, Gervinho and Kalou on the left, and Bony as the lone striker.

The Chinese national team's 4-2-3-1 formation is actually more like a 4-5-1, with the three midfielders positioned quite far back.

On the defensive line, there are Wu Xi, Li Weifeng, Du Wei, and Sun Xiang.

This defense is actually quite weak; even relying on Li Weifeng and Du Wei to defend against the tall Swansea striker Bony would be very difficult.

However, there wasn't much else to do. This was the best lineup Gao Hongbo could field, and it had been tested in the World Cup qualifiers.

Among the five midfielders, Huang Bowen and Zheng Zhi were positioned very far back, almost like defenders. Due to their lack of strength, Gao Hongbo could only hope that the number of players could make up for it.

The team consists of three forwards, or rather, three midfielders, with Chen Tao in the center, flanked by Yu Hanchao and Gao Lin.

The three forwards were positioned extremely far back, almost like a three-man defensive midfield.

Only Shan Yongzhuo remained, standing alone and helpless at the front, looking rather forlorn.

So when the match started, the Chinese national football team's lineup and positioning completely shocked the world.

"We can see that the Chinese national team's positioning is very deep, with most of the players clustered near the penalty area. Coach Gao Hongbo chose a solid defensive strategy from the start."

"This was the right choice."

Domestic commentators could only reluctantly agree with the 9-0-1 formation.

However, commentators from other countries were somewhat speechless.

The Chinese team's blatant parking of the bus is truly shameless.

However, it must be said that this is also the best choice.

From the start of the match, Ivory Coast launched a fierce attack on the Chinese national team without hesitation.

The Ivorian players are all very strong, and they started pressing the Chinese team from the start. The Chinese team responded decisively, abandoning the battle in the front and midfield and parking the bus in their own half.

Ivory Coast was thus able to launch its attack with confidence and boldness.

However, like other African teams, Ivory Coast, despite being better tactically than most African teams, still has only limited advantages.

"I dribble, I beat my opponent, I pass the ball..."

"Huh? All that effort seems to have been for nothing!"

"It's okay, if one round doesn't work, let's do another!"

Ivory Coast's attack perfectly embodies the typical characteristics of African teams: straightforward attacks with almost no elaborate tactics, relying entirely on individual ability.

Therefore, with the exception of a few North African teams, African teams have consistently performed poorly in the World Cup.

The attack looks exciting, but there's nothing worth exploring. The goals are either spectacular long-range strikes or headers; there's not much tactical coordination involved in scoring.

Their defense is also prone to making erratic mistakes, often resulting in inexplicable goals conceded due to players' lapses in concentration.

A lack of team spirit, players prioritizing individual performance and frequently missing opportunities, and intermittent defensive lapses – these are common problems for almost all African teams outside of North Africa.

This has led to the fact that the quarterfinals seem to be the limit for African teams in every World Cup. Before they can improve their teamwork, it is very difficult for them to break through the quarterfinals.

While Ivory Coast is slightly better than other African teams in this respect due to the presence of Yaya Toure, the improvement is still limited overall.

This resulted in Ivory Coast completely dominating the Chinese team in the first 10 minutes of the game, but their attacks were generally more bark than bite.

Especially their winger Gervinho, an eager player who kept dribbling and breaking through, looked passionate and threatening, but in reality, he didn't really make many threatening attacks into the heart of the Chinese team's penalty area.

After the initial discomfort,

Veteran players Zheng Zhi and Li Weifeng also shouldered some responsibility, constantly encouraging their teammates through several successful defensive plays utilizing their numerical advantage.

This also made the other players less nervous than at the beginning of the game.

However, counterattacks don't seem to have any effect yet.

In the first ten minutes, the Chinese team attempted to launch counter-attacks three times by sending long passes to Shan Yongzhuo, but only one pass reached Shan Yongzhuo's feet, and Yaya Toure seized the ball while Shan Yongzhuo was still unsteady on his feet.

From the very beginning, Shan Yongzhuo noticed that Yaya Toure had sacrificed his responsibility of organizing the attack, staying close to him and taking on the heavy burden of marking him closely.

Despite his teammates' somewhat blind arrogance, Yaya Toure was not.

Having been teammates for three years, he knew how terrifying Shan Yongzhuo was. Yaya Toure didn't trust Shan, who was a bit arrogant and prone to intermittent erratic behavior.

The World Cup is a crucial competition, and he took on the heavy responsibility of closely marking and defending against Shan Yongzhuo.

Yaya Touré is the midfield maestro of this Ivory Coast team, and now he has to closely mark Shan Yongzhuo. This will inevitably affect the overall quality of Ivory Coast's attack.

This is the main reason why, despite looking very strong in the opening minutes, Ivory Coast's attacking quality was generally not high.

Yaya Touré preferred to trade pieces rather than risk losing to Shan Yongzhuo.

However, China's own goal still faced several close calls in the first ten minutes of the game.

In the 6th minute, full-back Aurier crossed from the wing, and Bony outjumped Li Weifeng and Du Wei to complete a high-quality header, ultimately saving the Chinese national team from defeat by hitting the crossbar.

In the 9th minute, Gervinho made a run down the wing and unleashed a high-quality shot that was narrowly saved by Zeng Cheng.

In the 13th minute, Kalou played a through ball from outside the penalty area, and Bony once again used his physical advantage to win the ball. Fortunately, his final shot on the turn went wide of the goal.

However, in the 17th minute of the match, Ivory Coast's attack became somewhat lax.

This is also a common problem for African teams: their attacks come in segments, and by this point, not only does their offense slow down, but their overall performance becomes somewhat lax.

This was the opportunity that Shan Yongzhuo had been waiting for.

"Ya Ya, I'm sorry."

Seizing the opportunity, Shan Yongzhuo accelerated at full speed, shaking off Yaya Toure, and charged toward the ball that Feng Xiaoting had long-passed.

"shit!"

Yaya Toure was startled and immediately tried to follow, but he couldn't keep up.

(End of this chapter)