African Nationhood

Chapter 196 Sports Meeting ()
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The opening game of the sports ceremony is football. At this time, football games have become popular in many countries, and the most orthodox one is naturally the United Kingdom.

At the beginning of the 19th century, football became popular in Europe, especially the United Kingdom, and some Latin American countries. However, the rules of football at that time were varied.

In 1848, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom formulated a series of rules for football matches. The first written rules in the history of football, the "Cambridge Rules", were born.

Among them, because the competition between Cambridge University and Oxford University was based on dormitories, there were 10 students and 1 teacher living in each dormitory in the school at that time, so the number of participants for each team was 11.

Therefore, the number of people on the football field is officially set at 11 people in the "Cambridge Rules".

In 1857 and 1862, amateur football teams Sheffield Football Club and Notts County Football Club were established in the UK.

In 1863, the Football Association of England was established, and then England and Scotland established their own Football Associations.

In 1870, the two major football associations (England and Scotland) began to officially compete against each other.

In 1882, the four major football associations in the Commonwealth (England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales) began to compete against each other.

Last year (1885) the Football Association officially recognized professional football as legal, and football players began to become a formal profession.

As for the subsequent football development, it is a matter of course. Now let’s take a look at the official game.

Due to the small number of teams in the competition, the competition adopts a points system. The person with the highest points will win the first prize, the person with the second highest points will win the second prize, and the person with the third highest points will win the third prize.

At this time, football rules were not yet perfect, and many concepts in later generations had not yet appeared, such as penalty areas, penalty kicks, offsides, etc.

The goal consists of two vertical poles and a crossbar, but there is no net, and the referee cannot go on the court to enforce the law and can only observe from the boundary. There is also no red and yellow card system.

At this time, the referee only has the whistle to play a role, and he only has two powers to warn and verbally expel athletes.

After being expelled, there is no substitute to fill in. At this time, the game is played with one lineup until the end. This rule limits the players' desire to foul.

The first players to play were Cape Colony and Natal Colony. The match between these two orthodox British teams was full of excitement.

Both sides adopt the classic British "tower" (1+2+3+5) formation, but there is also a third brother in the Natal representative team who acts as a defender.

The whistle blows and the game officially begins.

The Cape team guessed the coin and won the kick-off, so their forward passed the ball directly with a cross.

It is easy to pass the ball to each other to break through the opponent's half, but it tests the tacit understanding and skills between the players. Therefore, the Cape team had just passed the ball 7 or 8 meters to each other, and the Natal team intercepted the passing attack.

The offense and defense are reversed, and the team fights for each other. At this time, the team's competition is more pure, and the fighting is also more direct and fierce.

No one fouled intentionally, and the referee was constantly running off the field, following the football and watching the movements of the players on the field.

The referee adopts the suspicion avoidance mode, and the referee of the team involved cannot go on the court to enforce the law. However, the referee level at this time is uneven, so the referee of the Transvaal team is not active in running and the law enforcement is not accurate.

On the contrary, the coach and referee of the South China team, Baker Hilfa, was the most active in running and making penalty decisions.

At this time, there was no mention of the national team in football matches, because it was more about the love of the sport.

In 1900, the second Paris Olympic Games added football as an official event.

However, most of the team members form their own teams, and there is no nationality as a criterion.

It was not until the fourth London Olympics in 1908 that participation in football competitions as a national team was truly established.

Soon the first half ended with a goalless draw between the two teams, with neither team able to break through the other's goal.

On the contrary, several players were warned because of the large range and danger of their movements. This kind of warning has little power. As long as they are not expelled on the spot, they can still continue to play.

In the second half, both sides played with more energy and their moves became more and more dangerous. In the end, the Cape team was the better team and scored twice in succession.

第二场是南华队和德兰士瓦队比赛，双方的阵型不一样，德兰士瓦沿用经典1+2+3+5的“塔型”阵容，而南华队采用了1+3+3+4“梯形”阵型。

This formation puts more emphasis on both offense and defense, and is more scientific and reasonable than the "tower type".

The reason why the Nanhua team was so bold was naturally due to the guidance from Shi Jintang. After watching the game in the athletes village, he had an in-depth talk with the coach and shared his insights, new formation and personnel configuration of each department.

After trying it, Baker Hilfa felt that this formation was very good, so he continued to try new formations according to Boss Shi's suggestion. This kind of attempt is beneficial and can be regarded as an increase in soft power.

But the game requires more on-the-spot performance from the players. Among the four participating teams, the Transvaal team is the weakest.

After all, the Boers are keen on hunting and riding horses, but are not keen on football.

The Transvaal team were all Boers, while the goalkeeper of the South China team was Chinese, and the three defenders on defense were all Chinese, while the others were white.

Generally speaking, the strength of the two teams is inconsistent. The game ended with Nanhua team scoring 1 point and accumulating 1 point.

In the afternoon, opponents were exchanged. The South China team played against the Natal team. The new formation continued to make achievements. Near the end, the South China team made a breakthrough and accumulated another 1 point.

The Cape team scored 3 points against Transvaal and accumulated 1 point.

The second round is over.

In addition to the football game on the first day, there was also a track and field team competition.

Nanhua team's Xiao Mang won the first prize in the 1500 meters, the second prize in the 800 meters, and was not ranked in the 100 meters.

The next day, the third round of the football match officially started.

Last night, Shi Jintang gained insights after watching two games of the Cape team. He called Baker Hilfa overnight.

The two discussed a new strategy for facing the enemy and continued to implement the Nanhua team's "active defense" strategy.

This time the South China team changed their formation again against the strong Cape team and adopted a new formation of 1+5+3+2.

The whole team retreats, strengthens the defense of the defenders, and takes into account the midfield. Only two wingers are placed in the forward position.

This kind of formation is common in later generations, where a weak team faces a strong team.

At the same time, coach Baker Hilfa put in killer left and right wingers Berryman and Hiltz.

These two young Englishmen are very explosive in short distance running.

The team's scoring strategy is to look for scoring opportunities based on the forward's rapid bursts. After scoring, they give up the offense and defend with all their strength to prevent the opponent from scoring.

The strategy was very successful. The five forwards of the Cape team were exhausted very quickly due to their continuous running.

The two wingers of the South China team usually stay behind to recharge their batteries, leaving the defense to the midfielder and five defenders.

Wait until the midfielder gets the ball and pass it to the winger in the distance.

The overly exhausted Cape crew. There was no way he could keep up with the explosive South China winger.

The end result was that the South China team got a fast break opportunity and scored in the 79th minute of the second half.

The whole team then shrunk and became more conservative. The Cape team's forwards were already exhausted, and coupled with the desire to win, Turner, the core of the team, finally broke through the defense and cursed the South China team's turtle strategy.

Core Turner was sent off, demoralizing the Cape team and ultimately losing the game.

This game was a victory of strategic flow, and also a victory of the collaborative efforts of all members of the Nanhua team. After the game, everyone hugged each other tightly to celebrate the victory.

As the leader, Shi Jintang came off the field quickly, shook hands with the football players and encouraged them enthusiastically.

The final result was naturally that the Nanhua team’s football project won the first prize.

The Cape team won second place and the Natal team won third place.

A large part of the credit for the South China team's victory came from Shi Jintang, whose insights beyond the times brought victory to the team.

This victory is also an ideological impact, bringing a fresh trend of thought to the development of football around the world and having a far-reaching impact.

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  (End of this chapter)