Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Even before joining Real Madrid, Mascherano had already proven his ability in the defensive midfield position.

After joining Real Madrid, his fame and influence increased significantly thanks to the club's platform and the resulting exposure.

At this point, he was even considered by many fans to be a strong contender for the title of the world's best defensive midfielder!

Even Lin Feng dared not be careless in the face of such a world-class defensive midfielder.

With a flick and a dunk, Lin Feng shook off the slightly weaker defender, Gago, and moved towards the wing to create space for passing and draw the opposing defenders to continue leaning towards him.

Mascherano saw through Lin Feng's plan and quickly called for his teammates on the flanks to double-team Lin Feng and cut off the source of China's counterattack.

He also called on his teammates to cover the gap behind him to prevent the Chinese team from finding an opportunity for Lin Feng to pass the ball out.

Positionally, the only players who can cover for him are either center-backs or attacking midfielders.

But Argentina's attacking midfielder is Riquelme...

Riquelme: You want me to cover for you in defense?
Since Riquelme couldn't cover, the center-backs had to step up.

But at this moment, the Chinese team was launching a rapid counterattack, and neither Demichelis nor Garay dared to leave their positions easily.

Everyone knows that Lin Feng's passes are unpredictable. Even with two players double-teaming Gao Lin, they might not be able to stop him from passing the ball to them. If one of them leaves, the defensive success rate will be greatly reduced.

So, in the one or two seconds after Mascherano left, a huge gap appeared in the area between the Argentine defenders and defensive midfielders.

Where there is an opening, there will be an opportunity. Although he hadn't seen any of his teammates appear here yet, Lin Feng chose to pass the ball the moment he spotted the opening.

He was dribbling the ball to the left when he suddenly stopped, flicked the ball with his left foot and passed it to his right foot, then flicked the ball outwards with his right foot.

Although Xiao Ma tried to brake immediately after Lin Feng spiked the ball, the huge inertia still caused a brief misalignment between him and Lin Feng.

This amount of space wasn't enough for Lin Feng to get past him, but it was enough for him to pass the ball out.

Seeing the ball being passed out, Mascherano's heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong.

Turning around, I found that there was such a big gap behind me, and Riquelme, who was supposed to cover, was just strolling around leisurely.

On the contrary, Messi, who was positioned further forward, had already overtaken him and retreated to midfield.

But expecting Messi, a striker, to fill in the gaps is unrealistic.

Before Messi and the other Argentine defenders could cover the gap, China's right winger Hao Junmin had already received Lin Feng's pass.

At this point, the significance of Klaus Toppmöller's choice of Gao Lin as a starter became apparent.

When Gao Lin, who was making a run, saw Hao Junmin get the ball, he immediately stopped and even made a run in the opposite direction, creating distance between himself and the two opposing defenders before receiving Hao Junmin's pass and completing a two-on-two pass with the opposing team.

When Hao Junmin, who had cut in from the flank, received the ball again, he was already in a one-on-one situation.

Argentina's two defenders hurriedly turned around to block Hao Junmin, but it was too late.

Hao Junmin calmly controlled his footwork and rhythm, glanced at the goalkeeper's position, and then calmly completed the shot!
The pressure instantly fell on Argentina's goalkeeper Romero. If he couldn't save that shot, Argentina, trailing 0-2, would be completely eliminated.

At the crucial moment, Romero demonstrated his ability as a top goalkeeper, quickly diving to block the ball.

However, because the ball was too fast and too powerful, the ball he blocked slipped out of his control and he was unable to regain control of it immediately.

Both Garay and Demichelis tried to rush over to clear the ball, but someone was faster than them. After passing the ball, Gao Lin rushed straight into the penalty area like an arrow, and with a sliding tackle, he slid into the opponent's goal along with the ball.

Upon confirming the goal, Gao Lin scrambled to his feet from inside the opponent's net, excitedly took off his jersey, and sprinted along the baseline while waving it around.

he made it!

He stepped up when the team needed him most!
Gao Lin scored a crucial goal in his first start since returning from injury, and in the most important final!
This may be the most valuable goal he has scored in this Olympics, or even in his entire career so far!
Just like Gao Lin, the entire Bird's Nest Stadium and millions of Chinese fans watching the game live on television were also caught up in the jubilation!

For the first 20 minutes or so, the opponent's suffocating attack had already put their hearts in their throats.

Every shot from the opponent felt like a sharp tug at their hearts.

Some fans even desperately began to mentally prepare themselves and the team for the loss, because they simply couldn't believe that the Chinese team could withstand such a frenzied attack from their opponents.

In this atmosphere of widespread pessimism and even despair, Gao Lin's goal was like a pair of giant hands that lifted the clouds that had been hanging over their heads, allowing the sun to shine on the earth and dispelling all the despair in everyone's hearts!
2: 0!

With less than 25 minutes remaining in regulation time, China's lead has extended to two goals!
The Olympic gold medal is no longer a distant dream, but a goal that is about to be achieved!

How could such an important goal not send the Chinese people into a frenzy?

Gao Lin is awesome!

[Scoring in his first start, who is the best striker in Chinese football? (Leans back tactically)]

Haha, Gao Feiji is here!

You used to call me "Gao the Airplane" in the league, and I didn't care. But this is the Olympics, what should you call me now?

[Gao Linsman!]

Gao Nardo!

[Gao nuclear warhead!]

……

What Gao Lin didn't know was that because of his goal, his status and image among fans instantly rose significantly.

In their excitement, fans even started making memes.

Gao Lin was compared to China's Klinsmann, Ronaldo, and Shevchenko.

Although Gao Lin is still far from being a world-class striker, at only 22 years old, he has a lot of room for growth and development in the future.

Even if he doesn't reach the heights of his predecessors, given his current performance and rate of growth, it seems only a matter of time before he becomes the greatest striker in Chinese football history.

"Well done, Big Head!"

"That slide tackle was too violent!"

"You bet! It's almost worn through the net!"

"Haha, that's where he pierced through, wasn't it!"

Gao Lin's goal ignited the team's morale, and his teammates excitedly surged over from all directions, even the goalkeeper, who was furthest away, ran over.

Everyone present knew what this goal meant.

Previously, when they were only one goal ahead, the Chinese team held an advantage, but it was very fragile and could be wiped out at any moment. But now, with a two-goal lead, they have one foot on the podium. If they can just hold on a little longer and hold on for these final few minutes, the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics will be theirs!
"Everyone, don't get too excited. Conserve your energy. The enemy will definitely launch a fierce counterattack!"

"Simply defending is too passive. It would be better to replicate the counterattacks we just did a few more times. If we succeed, it will add another weight to the scales of victory. Even if we fail, it will deter the opponent and prevent them from launching a full-scale attack!"

"This tactic might work when we're down by one goal, but it probably won't work now. The opponent is already down by two goals, so they'll definitely go all out and launch a fierce attack on us at all costs. For them, if they don't score, then no matter how good their defense is, it's useless!"

"That's right, so we should focus more on defense. Of course, if there's an opportunity to counterattack, we must seize it!"

With everyone offering their opinions, the next tactic was quickly decided.

However, everyone was being too idealistic. The kind of counterattack opportunity we just had doesn't come so easily!

The questions the players are pondering are also being considered by the Chinese team's coaching staff.

Although Gao Lin's goal excited Klaus Toppmöller and others, the game was not over yet. Including stoppage time, Argentina had about 30 minutes to attack before the referee blew the final whistle.

For a top team like Argentina, which boasts star players like Messi and Riquelme, scoring two goals within 30 minutes is not a pipe dream.

Moreover, as physical fitness declines, the quality of the Chinese team's defense will inevitably decrease as well.

In other words, the difficulty of Argentina's attack is actually decreasing.

Therefore, after his initial excitement, Klaus Toppmöller quickly calmed down and began to consider the issue of replacing him.

Among the four forwards, Gao Lin, Zhou Haibin, Hao Junmin, and Lin Feng seem to have plenty of energy, so we can leave them as is for the time being.

However, the situation in the midfield and defense is not so optimistic. Zheng Zhi, Zhao Xuri, Sun Jihai, Li Weifeng and others are all carrying cards, and they have been under the most pressure and have also consumed the most energy in the previous games.

By this point in the game, they had reached their physical limit and were about to give up.

"Let the substitutes go out and warm up!"

Who should go out to warm up?

"Everyone, go warm up!"

Klaus Toppmöller hasn't decided who to substitute first, because he only has two substitution slots available and can't afford to waste any.

Therefore, he plans to observe first to see where Argentina's attack will focus next, and then make targeted adjustments.

As expected, China's second goal thoroughly enraged the Argentine team.

Argentina made the first substitution, with Gago, whose stamina was declining, being replaced by Higuain.

The substitution of a defensive midfielder for a striker sends a very clear signal.

Wow, another striker has come on. Argentina's really going all out!

Can someone explain to me how strong Higuain really is?

[He's a striker Real Madrid bought for a hefty sum, supposedly to succeed Van Nistelrooy and Raul. Wouldn't you say he's strong?]

How does he compare to Aguero?

Although Higuain is only a substitute at Real Madrid, I think he's better than Aguero!

[You're talking nonsense! What were Aguero's stats last season? What were Higuain's stats? Match reports might lie, but the results on the field won't. I support Aguero; I think Aguero is stronger!]

Debating whether Higuain or Aguero is better would likely take two or three days without reaching a conclusion.

But as Higuain's teammate, Lin Feng was very clear about Higuain's abilities.

He is not fast, not strong, and his through balls and dribbling skills are average, but his sense of smell and shooting skills are top-notch even among the best strikers.

When facing a striker like this, never give him a chance to shoot, otherwise you can only hope that he makes a mistake.

but!

Higuain seems to be an unlucky guy; I don't recall him ever having a particularly outstanding performance in the final.

Since the 2014 World Cup, Higuain and the Argentine team have reached the finals of international tournaments three times in three years.

However, Spicy Barrel missed three one-on-one chances in these three matches and also missed a penalty in the final...

After the World Cup, Higuain became public enemy number one in Argentina, and he himself was even afraid to return home for a time.

However, at this time, most Chinese fans were unaware of these events that had not yet occurred. When they saw Argentina bring on a striker who could rival Aguero, they instinctively felt a little panicked.

With an additional attacking option up front, Argentina's offensive approach has changed.

In the 67th minute, Messi initiated an attack in the attacking third, dribbled past a defender and attempted a through pass into the penalty area, but Feng Xiaoting intercepted the pass.

Two minutes later, it was Messi again. This time, he dribbled past two players on the left wing and made a cutback pass near the byline.

But the Chinese team players were highly focused, and Zheng Zhi suddenly rushed out from behind and cleared the ball out of bounds before Higuain could reach it.

These attacks initiated by Messi were more threatening than before.

But Gao Lin's goal just now greatly encouraged the Chinese players on the field. Stimulated by the boost, the Chinese team's performance on the defensive end was impeccable, and the Argentine team couldn't find a good way to break through for a while.

But the effects of the pep talk eventually wear off, especially with many Chinese players carrying yellow cards.

Various unfavorable factors quickly emerged in the following minutes.

In the 73rd minute, Di Maria executed a one-two pass with his teammate on the wing, getting past Sun Jihai, who was running out of energy.

He then dribbled inside and charged towards the Chinese team's goal.

After being repeatedly attacked by Messi, Di Maria, and others, the 31-year-old Sun Jihai was already starting to feel the strain.

But even after being beaten, he gritted his teeth and persevered, relentlessly chasing after him.

During the chase, Sun Jihai subconsciously used his defensive habits from the Premier League, reaching out to grab Di Maria.

But before he could even put any force into it, Di Maria screamed and fell into the penalty area.

This left him utterly bewildered. Was this guy faking a fall to trick people out of points?

However, the referee ignored Sun Jihai's protests, showed him a second yellow card, then pulled out a red card to send him off, and awarded Argentina a penalty kick.

The suspense that had seemed to have been resolved has resurfaced. (End of Chapter)