Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

"Judging from the situation on the field in the first ten minutes alone, Nigeria's attacking threat was still there."

"Yes, their advancement to the semi-finals was no fluke. They were a very strong opponent. Fortunately, the Chinese team had the experienced coach Klaus Toppmöller at the helm. He quickly made tactical adjustments to counter the opponent's sharp attacks down the flanks, and these adjustments proved effective."

The two commentators were now in awe of Klaus Toppmöller's decision to move Lin Feng to the defensive midfield position. If it weren't for Lin Feng blocking the opponent's midfielders' forward runs, it would have been a huge relief.

Nigeria's tactics of crossing the ball from the flanks and then rushing into the middle might have succeeded!

"We are currently in the lead and have temporarily taken the initiative. Now it depends on how the Nigerian team will adjust their strategy."

The Nigerian coach is in a real bind. While players like Mikel are strong, the opponent has placed a world-class defensive midfielder in midfield, which immediately exposes the weaknesses of players like Mikel who can only be substitutes at top clubs.

More importantly, the Chinese team has more than just Lin Feng as a defensive midfielder; another player named Zheng Zhi is also outstanding and in no way inferior to their midfielders.

Facing the double defensive midfield system of Zheng Zhi and Lin Feng, Nigeria really couldn't gain an advantage in midfield.

Although the opposing team also sacrificed some of its attacking power due to this arrangement, China still has Chen Tao in the frontcourt, which can still pose a threat to Nigeria's defense.

The Nigerian team did not ignore the threat he posed and assigned players to contain him.

However, judging from the results, it seems that the effect is not very good.

The ball we just lost was because he passed it to Lin Feng, who was in a better position, after he had control of the ball, which allowed Lin Feng to make an assist.

Actually, if the defenders hadn't pressed so hard, Chen Tao could have passed the ball himself.

Given the lack of smooth transition between the midfield and the flanks in attack, the Nigerian coach made an adjustment, having Mikel try to move closer to the flanks and operate in the half-spaces.

This makes the connection between the flanks and the midfield closer, and makes it easier to create breakthroughs by taking advantage of numerical superiority in local areas.

This tactic had some effect; the Nigerian team's forwards are still quite capable.

With support from their teammates in the middle, they are able to stir up trouble on the flanks and create problems for the Chinese team's defense.

In the 23rd minute, Nigeria's breakthrough on the wing drew a foul from the Chinese defense, giving Nigeria a free kick opportunity in the attacking third.

Odemwingie opted for a direct shot from the free kick, but Wang Dalei tipped the ball away with one hand.

The corner kick was taken, and Isak got to the ball first, but his header went wide under pressure from the defenders.

In the 25th minute, Nigeria completed a one-two pass on the right wing and then crossed the ball, but Odemwingie's header in the middle of the penalty area went over the crossbar again.

In the 27th minute, Nigeria broke through on the wing and passed the ball back in a triangular fashion, allowing Isak to unleash a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area.

The ball deflected off a defender inside the penalty area and went just wide of the goal.

During this period, the Nigerian team once again launched a mini-offensive surge.

Especially on the flank of Odemwenji, Sun Jihai actually struggled a bit when facing him, and couldn't keep up with his speed and rhythm.

In the 29th minute, Odemwynji received the ball on the left wing, got rid of Sun Jihai's defense, and took a long-range shot, but the ball went wide of the goal.

This guy's gotten too confident; he's even daring to shoot directly from this position.

On the sidelines, Klaus Toppmöller was getting a little restless.

Although the opponent has not yet scored, the Nigerian players' confidence and morale have clearly improved.

If they keep playing like this, the opponent might score on their next attack.

The pressure on Odemwingie's side is too great; he has to be completely shut down.

Thinking of this, he beckoned Hao Junmin, the right wingman, and whispered some instructions to him.

Hao Junmin nodded repeatedly after hearing this. After returning to the field, he took the initiative to retreat and began to cooperate with Sun Jihai on the wing to block the opponent's space.

This move was quite effective; after losing his space to maneuver, Odemwingie's performance was not as impressive as before.

After withstanding the pressure, the Chinese team seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

In the 31st minute, after passing the ball around the field from the back, the Chinese team pushed the attack into the opponent's half.

After receiving the ball, Lin Feng returned to his familiar position. Seeing an opening in the opponent's defense on the left flank, he dribbled in without hesitation, forcing the opponent to foul him to stop him.

The referee gave the opposing team a verbal warning and awarded the Chinese team a free kick in the attacking third.

The ball was in a good position, and after taking a look, Lin Feng decided to shoot directly.

The opposing goalkeeper clearly realized what was going to happen, so he yelled at his teammates who were forming a wall in the penalty area, instructing them to block Lin Feng's shooting angles as much as possible, while he himself chose to stand on the other side of the goal to block the positions that the wall could not cover.

Seeing that the goalkeeper was positioned to the right, Lin Feng adjusted his position, moving from the lower right side of the ball to the left side.

Upon seeing this, the opposing goalkeeper quickly directed the wall of players to move, and he himself changed direction as well.

This action amused the fans both at the stadium and watching on television.
[Haha, just how intimidating is Lin Feng's free kick? Look how scared the opposing goalkeeper is!]

[Haha, Lin Feng only scores about seven, eight, or ten goals a year from free kicks. The Nigerians have no need to be afraid; he's not dead, so don't worry!]

Including league, cup, and national team matches, Lin Feng's total number of free kicks last year definitely exceeded ten. Any goalkeeper would be terrified!

Is this ball likely to go in? It looks like it's in a good position.

[It's not that easy. Lin Feng takes at least fifty or sixty free kicks a year. Even if he scores ten, that's only a scoring efficiency of around ten percent, less than twenty percent.]

[Twenty percent is already terrifying, okay? Juninho, who is recognized as a free-kick master in the football world, only has a direct free-kick conversion rate of 14.3%. If you convert it to the number of shots, it takes about 7 shots to score a goal. Another free-kick master, Beckham, has an even lower efficiency, with a direct free-kick conversion rate of only 9.8%, which is less than 10%.]

Compared to Juninho, Lin Feng's free-kick scoring rate is one-third higher, almost twice that of Beckham. Isn't that terrifying?

Simply stating the numbers might not give people a clear picture, and they might even think that a 20% score rate is too low.

However, once the data of other top free-kick masters is compared, people will realize just how terrifying Lin Feng's free-kick technique is.

A free kick is not a penalty kick; most players have a 30% chance of missing a penalty kick.

Even from further away, and with a wall of defenders blocking the way, Lin Feng's direct scoring rate reached an astonishing 20%—what terrifying efficiency!

So it's no wonder the Nigerian goalkeeper was so nervous. With one in five chance of the opponent scoring from a free kick, how could he not be nervous?

Seeing that the opposing goalkeeper and the wall of players had changed positions because of him, Lin Feng was both amused and exasperated.

However, he didn't change positions again. Instead, after confirming the goalkeeper's position one last time, he took a shot directly. Because he was close to the wall, a free-kick was definitely not an option.

Lin Feng used a curved blade that he learned from Beckham.

Beckham's shots almost always went towards the corner under the crossbar, at very tricky angles. Even if the goalkeeper anticipated the position correctly, it was difficult to save them.

It is precisely because of this that Beckham became the second-best free-kick taker in football after Juninho, and his more than sixty free-kick goals in his career are enough to demonstrate his greatness.

The football soared over the wall of players and flew straight into the top corner of the goal.

Although the goalkeeper jumped immediately, he realized with despair that he could not reach the ball while still in mid-air.

However, just as he was falling into despair, he heard a muffled thud as the football hit the crossbar and bounced away.

The Nigerian goalkeeper, who had survived the ordeal, was overjoyed; God was indeed on our side.

Inside the penalty area, the Nigerian players were equally jubilant, rushing up to hug their goalkeeper as if they had won a great victory.

"Oh dear, what a pity about that goal!"

The Sky Sports commentator couldn't help but feel sorry for Lin Feng after seeing the ball miss.

"The angle and power of that shot were impeccable, but it just lacked a little bit of luck!"

"Lin Feng's free kick reminded me of a free kick in a match against West Ham United when Beckham was still at Manchester United eight years ago."

The same position, the same angle, even the free-kick technique used by the penalty taker was exactly the same. Beckham's free kick also hit the crossbar, but he was luckier; the ball struck the inside of the crossbar, bounced off the ground, and went into the goal.

"Hehe, it seems that Lin Feng hasn't quite mastered the free-kick skills he learned from Beckham yet!"

"Beckham is one of England's top free-kick masters; his signature skills are not so easy to learn."

However, Beckham, who was far away in North America, scoffed at the commentator's words.

He remembers that free kick from eight years ago very clearly. The free kick was taken from the edge of the penalty area, directly in front of the goal. The distance and angle were perfect, but even so, he almost kicked the ball wide.

Lin Feng's free kick, however, was on the left side of the arc and closer in distance, making it much more difficult.

Controlling the angle and power of the ball while ensuring it isn't blocked by the wall is incredibly difficult.

His free kicks are difficult to defend against not only because of their tricky angles, but also because of their speed.

When taking a penalty kick, if you apply slightly less force, the ball's flight speed will be much slower, and the goalkeeper will find it much easier to save when the ball reaches the goal.

To increase the difficulty for the goalkeeper to make a save, you have to exert a lot of force and increase the speed of the ball.

However, this makes it difficult to control the angle, especially at such a close distance. The fact that the opponent was able to hit the crossbeam instead of flying out directly is enough to show that the opponent's skill level is higher than his own.

"This guy might break my and Juninho's free-kick scoring records in the future!"

Beckham only saw the head; even he thought Lin Feng's free kicks were insane.

Someone once said that his right foot was worth $10 billion, which was obviously an exaggeration, but it felt quite fitting when applied to Lin Feng.

With an average of 10+ free kicks per season, isn't that golden right leg worth 10 billion?

……

Although Lin Feng's free kick didn't go in, it served as a wake-up call for the Nigerian team, making them hesitant to commit fouls near the penalty area.

Similar to Cameroon, Nigerian players also possess excellent physical attributes.

They have the advantage in physical confrontations.

But once they dare not foul and kick with restraint, that advantage disappears.

In the 35th minute, the Chinese team launched another offensive.

After Lin Feng successfully broke through on the right wing, he passed the ball to Chen Tao, whose follow-up shot went wide of the goal.

In the 37th minute, the Chinese team intercepted the ball in midfield and launched a counter-attack. Lin Feng sent a long pass to the edge of the penalty area.

Dong Fangzhuo used his explosive power to shake off two defenders and attempted a chip shot from outside the penalty area.

You picked a good one, don't be so picky next time!
His chip shot, though it bypassed the goalkeeper's interception, went over the goalpost and landed in the net behind it.

Frustrated at missing a second chance to score, Dong Fangzhuo lay on the lawn and pounded the grass in frustration.

He was so close, so very close, to overtaking Italy to acquire Rossi and claim the second spot on the top scorer list.

Even after scoring this goal, he was only one goal behind Lin Feng, who was at the top of the leaderboard!
Sighs echoed from the stands as everyone lamented Dong Fangzhuo's missed opportunity.

[That was such a pity! If they had scored, China's advancement to the final would have been practically guaranteed!]

The Nigerian goalkeeper performed admirably; had he not rushed out in time to block Dong Fangzhuo's shooting angle, Dong Fangzhuo wouldn't have had to risk a chip shot!

Take your time, there's no rush. We're still in the lead, time is on our side, they're the ones who should be anxious!

When the Nigerian team was besieging the Chinese team's goal, many fans were a little anxious.

But now that it's the Chinese team's turn to besiege the opponent's goal, they're really not in a hurry at all.

As long as the opponent can't contain Lin Feng, and if they continue playing like this, the Chinese team will eventually score a second goal.

Seemingly to prove their point, in the 41st minute, Lin Feng went down in the penalty area after making physical contact with an opponent.

Tens of thousands of fans at the stadium were chanting for a penalty, but the referee ruled that there was no foul and signaled for the game to continue.

This sparked strong dissatisfaction among fans, who booed the referee loudly to vent their anger.

[Was the dog referee here on a mission?]

[The opposing defender clearly tripped Lin Feng, but he actually thinks there was no foul. Does he even have eyes?]

There is no VAR in this era; otherwise, the Video Assistant Referee would most likely have alerted the referee that there was a foul in the penalty area.

But in this era, referees can only rely on their own eyes to observe and judge, and wrong calls and missed calls are common. It's not necessarily that the opposing team is deliberately targeting the Chinese team. (End of Chapter)