Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

The series of goals conceded severely damaged the morale of the Japanese team, greatly diminishing the effectiveness of their pre-match tactics.

Feeling no threat, the Chinese national football team has committed more and more players to attack, and their attacks down the flanks have become increasingly threatening.

In the 22nd minute of the first half, Lin Feng moved to the wing and completed a one-two pass with his teammate. After dribbling the ball to the edge of the penalty area, he cleverly chipped the ball over the head of the defender and delivered it to Han Peng.

Han Peng didn't even need to jump; with a gentle nudge, he changed the ball's trajectory, sending it flying towards the Japanese goal.

Kawaguchi Yoshikatsu finally made a contribution this time, making a brilliant save by making a very dangerous save immediately after Han Peng took the shot.

But the Japanese goalkeeper, who made the save, was furious and yelled at his teammates inside the penalty area:

"Damn it, focus! Don't let their number 9 contest the header again!"

In just over ten minutes, Han Peng completed three headers inside the penalty area, which would have been unbearable even for the best-tempered goalkeeper.

After all, headers are the hardest to save for goalkeepers, especially close-range headers. Because there is no leg swing before the shot, and the direction of the shot can be completely different depending on the position of the ball, it is difficult for goalkeepers to predict and they can only rely on their reaction speed to make the save.

Therefore, if a header from close range hits the target area, the probability of scoring is very high.

However, defending against headers is relatively easy for defenders. By blocking the position and not giving the opposing striker a chance to jump and contest the header, or by anticipating the landing point of the opponent's cross and jumping in advance to intercept the ball, they can effectively neutralize the opponent's attack.

However, the Japanese team's defenders performed very poorly in this aspect during the match.

Han Peng isn't very tall, but the Japanese defenders just can't get the ball to him.

It's fair to say that defending against headers is a major weakness for the Japanese team!

Actually, the Japanese team does have tall center-backs. Marcus Tulio, who was naturalized from Brazil, is a tall center-back with strong individual abilities.

But the Japanese player was incredibly unlucky; the naturalized defender got injured in a J-League match and missed this national team game.

If he were on the field, the Japanese team's air defense capabilities might be significantly improved.

Strike while the iron is hot. The Chinese team doesn't care if you're short-handed or not; they'll just keep playing like their life depends on it.

With their morale soaring and cheered on by their home fans, the Chinese national football team launched a relentless and unstoppable attack on the Japanese team.

Short passes and penetration, attacks from both wings, powerful free kicks in front of the penalty area, and Lin Feng's occasional threatening free kicks...

The Chinese national football team employed a variety of attacking tactics, leaving the Japanese team with no chance to retaliate.

Throughout the first half, the Chinese team had a possession rate of 70% and took 12 shots on goal.

The Japanese team barely got to touch the ball, and even when they did manage to get it, they couldn't hold onto it due to China's relentless pressing and would quickly lose possession.

Keisuke Honda had been hoping for a lucky break, thinking he could stay in the attacking third and wait for an opportunity to counter-attack against the Chinese team.

Although they are behind, the situation will change dramatically once they score a goal.

However, he soon realized that his ideas were somewhat unrealistic. His teammates in the midfield and backfield simply couldn't withstand the opponent's relentless pressing. They couldn't even control possession of the ball, let alone pass it to the forwards.

Without the support of the midfielders and defenders, there is absolutely no point in these players continuing to stay in the attacking third.

As a result, Keisuke Honda had no choice but to retreat to join the defense, and once he retreated, he could never go back.

As his teammates gradually returned to defense, Keiji Tamada was left all alone in the frontcourt.

He was waiting for a pass from his teammate, but the pass was slow to come.

In the 35th minute, the Chinese team executed a brilliant combination play in the right flank area, with Hao Junmin delivering a triangular back pass from near the byline.

Lin Feng met the ball on the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot that flew straight into the top left corner of the goal. Kawaguchi Yoshikatsu tried his best but still couldn't stop his goal from being breached again.

The score is now 3-0!

[Good shot! Keep kicking like that, beat them to a pulp!]

[Haha, that felt great, so damn great!]

The Chinese national football team is in top form; they're playing exceptionally well no matter what they do!

[Didn't the Japanese fans say the Japanese team was very strong? It seems like they played even more easily than they did against Bahrain and Uzbekistan.]

[Haha, with the Chinese national football team in this form today, no Asian team can help them; they're all destined to get thrashed!]

Indeed, even as a loyal fan of the Chinese national football team, I still feel somewhat unfamiliar with their performance today!

However, on the other hand, only the Japanese team in all of Asia can inspire the Chinese national team to play at this level. Other teams don't have any deep-seated animosity towards China, so the Chinese players don't need to play so hard against them!

If the opponent on the field were another team, the fans might feel a little embarrassed while they are happy.

After all, winning by too much is a bit too humiliating, but fans generally don't have that kind of psychological burden when it comes to the Japanese team.

What does 3-0 mean?
Even if the Chinese national football team scores ten or even a hundred goals in this match, no one will sympathize with the Japanese team; they will only cheer loudly for the Chinese team!

The players on the field and the fans were thinking the same thing. After scoring, Lin Feng did not celebrate wildly. Instead, after a brief celebration, he quickly returned to the field and seized the time to launch the next attack.

Under the relentless onslaught of the Chinese team, the Japanese players grew increasingly desperate.

After nearly forty minutes of play, the Chinese players' speed and physical strength showed no signs of decreasing; in fact, they became even stronger.

This made the Japanese team members question their existence:
Is the other party livestock?

How come I don't feel tired at all?

The referee blew his whistle, and the long first half finally came to an end. The Japanese players collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

With his head drooping and covered in sweat, he was panting heavily, looking as if he had just survived a disaster.

The thought of a second half waiting for them made their steps heavy.

On the other hand, despite the fierce competition in the first half, the Chinese team did not seem tired at all.

On the contrary, they felt that time went by too fast, and the first half ended before they had even had enough of the game.

"I think the opposing players are about to give up. Let's keep up the pace in the second half and try to completely break them down as soon as possible. Then we can score seven, eight, or even ten goals against them!"

"Won't the opposing team get angry and commit malicious fouls against us after scoring like that?"

"He wouldn't dare! Doesn't he know whose home ground this is? If the Japanese dare to foul here, do you believe the fans would tear them to pieces?" Glancing at the frenzied fans in the stands, everyone was convinced of this statement.

Back in the locker room, Zhu Guanghu didn't immediately arrange tactics for the second half. Instead, he quickly had the team doctor and substitutes massage and relax the starting players.

Although they themselves do not feel tired, that is because they are too excited, which does not mean that physical fatigue does not exist.

Once the initial excitement subsides, they will soon feel tired.

"We played very well in the first half, and our opponents were completely suppressed by our attack. But we must be careful of their counterattacks. We cannot underestimate them because of their performance in the first half. After all, they are a top team in Asia and their strength is greater than the opponents we have faced before."

Despite having a large lead, Lao Zhu was overly cautious.

However, Zhu Guanghu was not entirely conservative. He also emphasized that the team should continue to adopt offensive tactics in the second half and keep putting pressure on the opponent.

No matter how many goals they score, it won't help the Chinese team increase their score from three points to a higher level.

But this can effectively damage the morale of competitors!

If the Japanese team suffers a crushing defeat in this crucial match, then the team will definitely face a major upheaval when they return home.

At that time, not only will Takeshi Okada's position as head coach be insecure, but the confidence of the Japanese players will also be severely damaged.

This chaotic situation could very well lead to their defeat in the next game, and consequently, the loss of points.

Based on the first four rounds of the group stage, only Australia and Japan are currently keeping pace with China in the standings.

If the Japanese team falters, the Chinese team will qualify early without having to wait until the very end.

This is very important for the national team, which relies heavily on players playing abroad. If it drags on until April or May next year, not to mention the other players, Lin Feng's Real Madrid will face a dense schedule of three major competitions: the league, cup and the Champions League, all of which are in the final sprint stage.

He will likely find it difficult to return to China to participate in the competition. Even if he does return, the high intensity of the matches and the constant travel will likely leave him without rest, which could seriously affect the strength of the national team.

Moreover, Lao Zhu has always been worried about the mental resilience of the national football players. He has seen the national football team falter too many times in the final stages of the World Cup qualifiers.

Therefore, he was unwilling to drag things out and wanted to secure a spot in the World Cup as soon as possible!
……

After halftime, the players from both teams returned to the field.

It's unclear what the Japanese players went through in the locker room, but compared to their dejected appearance at the end of the first half, their morale seems to have been boosted.

It's likely that their head coach gave them a powerful boost of energy in the locker room.

But the Chinese team didn't care about any of that and launched a fierce attack on their opponents right at the start of the second half.

In the 47th minute, the Chinese team launched an attack through the middle. Lin Feng received the ball, cut across and changed direction, causing the opponent's defense to move. He then seized the opportunity to pass the ball straight into the left side of the penalty area.

Qu Bo made a diagonal run into the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot, but unfortunately it was saved by Japanese goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi.

The ball, saved by the goalkeeper, landed outside the box. Zhao Xuri followed up and unleashed a powerful shot, but the ball hit a Japanese defender and bounced out of bounds. Japan escaped a close call.

Zhao Yijiao's kick was quite powerful; the Japanese player who was hit lay on the grass for several minutes, clutching his stomach, before recovering.

Although the opponent looked to be in great pain, many fans suspected that the opponent deliberately lay on the grass to delay the game, because the Chinese national team's offensive was worn down by the opponent's delay.

After the game restarted, Lin Feng took a corner kick from the left.

Learning from their first-half experience, the Japanese team deployed two players to double-team Han Peng, preventing him from reaching the top of the court.

Unfortunately, Lin Feng's pass wasn't aimed at Han Peng at all.

After the corner kick was taken, Chinese national team captain Li Weifeng suddenly rushed out from behind and headed the ball in front of the goal, but unfortunately it went wide of the right post, and the Japanese team escaped again.

After that, the Japanese players tried to use their skillful footwork to pass the ball around in the midfield and backfield to wear down the opponent's momentum.

But the Chinese team's formation was pushed very far forward, and several players immediately rushed over to press them.

"It's now!"

Seeing the Chinese team press forward, Takeshi Okada roared, and the players on the field, like robots obeying orders, made a long pass to move the ball to the frontcourt.

"Ok?"

Zhu Guanghu stood up instinctively. The opposing coach was so excited. Could it be that he had devised some counter-attack tactic during halftime?
Japan's striker, Keiji Tamada, is the type of striker who is relatively short but very fast.

The instant his teammate completed the long pass, he suddenly exerted his strength like a cheetah and rushed out at lightning speed.

Upon seeing this, the fans at the scene couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

If this guy manages to get the ball, with his speed, it's almost impossible for any of the Chinese team's guards to catch him. They won't even have time to commit a tactical foul.

The Japanese fans, who had been frustrated all game, finally found an opportunity to vent their emotions, shouting loudly to cheer on their players.

"Charge, Yutian! Show the Chinese people what we're made of!"

"Man like a cheetah, conquer your opponents with your speed!"

However, their cheers soon came to an abrupt end.

Just as the opposing striker was making a desperate sprint, Feng Xiaoting accurately predicted the ball's trajectory, calmly jumped, and headed the ball towards his teammate.

What era are we living in? Still using this tactic of long balls from the back to find the forwards? Do they really not respect us defenders at all?

Besides, if you're really going to do this, you should at least field a tall striker who can win headers!
A short guy who's just over 1.7 meters tall wants to compete for a header with a defender like me who's 1.88 meters tall? What kind of international joke is that?
Feng Xiaoting racked his brains but couldn't understand why the Japanese were so agitated.

You didn't even catch the ball, and you're already popping champagne? You're getting a little too carried away!
When Feng Xiaoting calmly intercepted the opponent's counterattack, enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.

As the leading young players in the national team's defense, the partnership between Feng Xiaoting and Li Weifeng is becoming increasingly reassuring.

It's a pity that Li Weifeng is getting old. In a few years, when he retires, the national team will face a severe test in the center-back position.

Currently, among the post-80s generation of young players, none can reach the level of Li Weifeng.

Dewey is no good, and Zhao Peng is even less so.

This could become a major hidden danger for the Chinese team in the future! (End of Chapter)