Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Upon seeing Lin Feng appear before him, Messi was not afraid at all; on the contrary, he became even more excited.

He had long wanted to get past Lin Feng in a match to prove that he was the strongest player in the world today, but he just couldn't find the opportunity. Now the opportunity has come, and Messi is fully prepared to teach his opponent a lesson.

He bent his knees slightly and swayed his body to the right, making a move as if he was about to break through Lin Feng's left side.

If a defender shifts their weight to intercept his breakthrough, Messi will immediately use the same foot to quickly cut the ball back and break through from another direction.

Many people know this trick, but other people's feints are either too fake or too obvious, and the actual effect is not as good as Messi's.

The advantage of Messi's move is that he can switch between the two states at any time and can counterattack based on the opponent's reaction.

However, Messi clearly underestimated Lin Feng's understanding of him. When he saw Messi make this move, Lin Feng neither stretched out his foot to intercept nor turned around. Instead, he took a step back, which on the surface made room for Messi, but in reality, he firmly blocked Messi's path of advancement, forcing Messi to move laterally.

Messi did the same, and was then pushed out of the dangerous zone where he could have attacked the goal.

He even dribbled into another defender's area, which led to Messi being double-teamed by several Chinese players and almost losing possession of the ball.

Staggered by the tackle, Messi had no choice but to pass the ball back.

Riquelme received the ball and quickly moved it to the other side, allowing Aguero to take a shot.

It appears that Messi drew the defenders' attention with his individual dribbling, creating a shooting opportunity for his teammate on the weak side.

However, only Messi himself knew that he had been stopped by Lin Feng.

But Messi wasn't convinced. What if he hadn't dribbled sideways and had instead charged straight into the penalty area? Would the outcome have been better?
Unfortunately, the three minutes were quickly up, and the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, giving Messi no chance to test his ideas.

Although they only played one half, the Chinese team members all felt extremely tired. On their way back to the locker room, they didn't even have the strength to respond to the applause from the fans in the stands.

"Sit down and rest!"

Klaus Toppmöller knew that the players were very tired. The intensity of the final far exceeded any of the matches they had played before, especially under the opponent's high-frequency and high-intensity continuous attacks. The Chinese players on the field were losing energy faster than expected!
The starting players slumped in their chairs or even on the floor, while team doctors, assistant coaches, and even substitutes all stepped in to massage their thigh muscles, helping them relieve muscle fatigue and accelerate their physical recovery.

At this point, any recovery is valuable, because the second half will only become more intense and brutal.

"You played exceptionally well in the first half, especially in defense. Your performance was truly remarkable, and I am very proud of you!"

Klaus Toppmöller knew when to say what. To avoid dampening the team's morale, he could only start by praising the players before analyzing the shortcomings of the first half.

It would be a bit too nitpicky to start by criticizing the players, especially since their opponents are the formidable defending champions.

Everyone was clearly pleased with Klaus Toppmöller's previous praise, and they all stood tall and proud, like a victorious rooster.

"In the second half, we must continue to carry forward the fighting spirit of the first half, focus on defense, and seize opportunities to launch counterattacks against the opponent. When counterattacking, we must pay attention to the position of our teammates. Although speed is important, quality is also very important."

"We can't sacrifice quality for speed in our counterattacks, Zhou. When Lin Feng pushes forward, be sure to move inwards towards the middle to fill the gap behind him and prevent the opponent from launching a counterattack."

Zhou Haibin nodded. He was currently in a state of high spirits, having just received special praise from Klaus Toppmöller.

He is very grateful to Klaus Toppmöller for giving him the opportunity to prove himself on the final stage, so he will resolutely carry out the coach's arrangements without any compromise.

"Gao Lin, when you're attacking, if you can't find a shooting opportunity, then act as a pivot and pass the ball back to the players making forward runs. Don't shoot blindly, as that will only easily hand over possession to the opponent."

Argentina's attack is very sharp. We need to slow down the pace of the game as much as possible and reduce their attacking opportunities so that we have a chance to drag the game into the second half!

Although the Chinese team is currently in the lead, Klaus Toppmöller is very clear-headed and has not been blinded by the temporary lead.

He clearly saw the gap in strength between the two teams and knew that going head-to-head with the opponent would be a dead end.

If the Chinese team wants to defeat such a strong opponent, the only way is to defend and counterattack.

Although the Chinese team scored in the first half, the goal did not come from a counter-attack.

In fact, apart from that goal, the Chinese team's overall offensive efforts in the first half were lackluster and failed to put enough pressure on their opponents.

This caused Argentina's two full-backs to frequently push out to participate in the attack, and even the opposing center-backs spent most of their time in China's half.

This is enough to show how bad the situation was for the Chinese team in the first half!
According to official statistics, the Chinese team only had 25% possession and 3 shots on goal in the first half.

On the other hand, Argentina had a possession rate of 75% and completed 11 shots in the first half, 4 of which were on target.

If it weren't for Wang Dalei's outstanding performance, repeatedly defusing dangerous situations on the goal line, the Chinese team would have fallen behind long ago.

But just because you survived the first half doesn't mean you can survive the second half.

Especially given that the Chinese team's physical exertion is significantly greater than that of their opponents, the Olympic team players' physical plateau will definitely arrive before their opponents.

Once the players' stamina fails them, the quality of China's defense will be greatly reduced, and the opponent will definitely seize this opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to China.

Therefore, Klaus Toppmöller hoped to curb the opponent's offensive by increasing the threat of counterattacks, or at least prevent the opponent from acting so recklessly.

Besides the physical issues that were giving him a headache, the excessive number of yellow cards his teammates had received also worried Klaus Toppmöller.

Zheng Zhi, Li Weifeng, Sun Jihai and others are all key players in crucial positions, and there is simply no one on the bench who can replace them.

Replacing them hastily would significantly weaken the Chinese team.

But if they aren't substituted and are kept on the field, their yellow cards are like time bombs that could explode at any moment.

Unlike the atmosphere in the Chinese team's locker room, the atmosphere in the Argentine team's locker room was much more somber.

Argentina's coach was very dissatisfied with the team's performance in the first half, especially the goal conceded.

With so many people, didn't anyone expect the other side to throw the ball into the penalty area?

It was a disgrace for the defenders to watch helplessly as the opponent headed the ball into the goal without any interference.

The defenders, criticized by the coach, all lowered their heads in shame.

To be honest, Argentina's defense is really not bad.

Romero, Zabaleta, Demichelis, and Garay—this was the starting lineup for the Argentine national team at the 2014 World Cup. Although they were a bit inexperienced at that time, lacking extensive match experience.

But given their talent and foundation, they shouldn't have made such a basic mistake.

But then again, doesn't the head coach bear any responsibility?
Why didn't we anticipate that the opponent would use throw-ins when we were formulating our defensive tactics before the game?
Therefore, many members of the Argentine team disagreed with the head coach's criticism.

Some of them are already well-known stars, while head coach Batista is not a big-name star and has no notable coaching achievements.

This has led to many players not respecting him:

You're not Maradona, so why are you lecturing us like that?

Batista, oblivious to his players' discontent, continued his rant:
"In the second half, we need to continue to strengthen our attack. Messi and Di Maria, you two need to take advantage of the fact that the opponent's key defensive players have cards and find a breakthrough point from them."

The two players who were called out nodded in agreement. Di Maria had even started to think about how to use a natural dive to trick the referee into issuing a card to the defensive player.

The Chinese team can still grit their teeth and persevere for now, but once they lose a player and the fragile balance is broken, they will definitely collapse quickly.

Messi didn't intend to use a dive to get a card, but he couldn't help but think of his duel with Lin Feng during stoppage time in the first half.

If given the chance in the second half, Messi was determined to get revenge on his opponent.

After a short halftime break, both teams returned to the field.

After switching sides, the Argentine team continued their aggressive attack on the Chinese team, showing no intention of testing them.

They already fully understood the strength of the Chinese team in the first half, so there was no need to waste time testing them.

In their view, the other side had no ability to break through their gates except by resorting to underhanded tactics and sneak attacks.

Moreover, under the extremely pressing pressure of the Argentine team's midfield, even if the opponent gains possession of the ball, it is difficult for them to organize an effective attack.

In the first few minutes of the second half, the opposing team was constantly pushed back into the Chinese team's half, and even hovered in the Chinese team's 30-meter danger zone at one point.

Under this rhythm, Riquelme's talent was fully utilized.

Every time he slowly receives, observes, and passes the ball, he poses a huge threat to the Chinese team's defense.

There was nothing the Chinese team could do but continue to send Lin Feng up to target him.

After Riquelme was marked closely by Lin Feng, his threat level dropped sharply, and he was no longer able to deliver the same threatening passes with ease.

But once Lin Feng left, Argentina's attacking line became somewhat unstoppable again.

In the 51st minute, Messi dribbled past several players and broke into the penalty area, but his shot, aimed too high, hit the post.

His shot sent chills down the spines of the fans in the stadium. Many people instinctively closed their eyes when they saw Wang Dalei miss the ball, unable to bear watching the final result.

Fortunately, Lady Luck was on China's side, and the goalposts at the Bird's Nest Stadium made a great contribution!

[Thank goodness, that was close! My heart almost jumped out of my chest!]

[Guards, step up your game! Stop with these thrilling scenarios, my heart can't take it!]

Is Messi even human? Three Chinese players couldn't stop him; he not only inspected the entire defense but also almost scored a goal?

Why do you think the outside world praises Messi so much? Even Henry said that Messi can dribble past the entire team during training!

This is insane! Even if the Chinese team loses to an opponent like this, it would still be a glorious defeat!

Although the Chinese team is still in the lead, after seeing Argentina's relentless attacks, no one thinks the Chinese team's defense can hold out.

Conceding a goal is only a matter of time; the only suspense is how many goals the Chinese team will concede.

But the players on the field didn't see it that way. Despite facing both mental and physical torment, they were all gritting their teeth and persevering.

Seeing that Messi was being too active, Lin Feng had no choice but to abandon Riquelme and stand in front of Messi again.

Well done!
Messi's eyes lit up when he saw Lin Feng step forward.

This time, he wanted to test the effects of choices he hadn't made before!

Because he had expended a lot of energy on both offense and defense, Lin Feng's physical strength had also declined significantly.

When Messi sped up, he couldn't keep up with the opponent's pace.

Since we can't keep up, let's not keep up. Let's deal with him in the simplest and most brutal way!
As Messi attempted to advance, Lin Feng suddenly made a sliding tackle from the side.

The opponent's movement was too sudden. Even Messi, who is known for his agility and quick thinking, did not have time to lift the ball. He could only watch helplessly as Lin Feng picked up the ball and destroyed it. He also tripped over Lin Feng's leg and fell to the ground because he could not dodge in time.

The scene erupted in uproar; no one seemed to have expected Lin Feng to release the shovel under such circumstances.

However, after seeing the referee's decision clearly, a burst of enthusiastic applause erupted from the stands.

The referee ruled that Lin Feng's tackle was a valid play and not a foul, and signaled for play to continue.

Messi fell in a very awkward manner, and was equally surprised.

Many players attempted to tackle him, but most of them failed to touch the ball at his feet. In fact, many of these tackles were aimed at other players, with the goal of forcing him to give up possession of the ball and thus abandon the attack.

But Lin Feng's tackle just now was different. The opponent was aiming for the ball at his feet. The move was fierce yet elegant, precise yet deadly, reminding him of someone—AC Milan's main center-back Alessandro Nesta!

This guy's tackle... it's kind of like Nesta's!
Just as Messi was questioning his existence, a hand reached out in front of him.

Seeing that the other person had fallen to the ground and had not gotten up, Lin Feng, who was the first to get up, took the initiative to reach out and help Messi up.

Messi took the hand offered by the man and stood up smoothly, bumping the man's shoulder with his own and praising, "Great tackle!"

Lin Feng replied, "Great breakthrough!" (End of Chapter)