Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 190 Scored twice
The stands were filled with wild cheers, and the Chinese fans erupted with astonishing shouts, making the entire stadium erupt like a volcano, plunging it into a frenzied atmosphere.

The score became 1-0.

Scoring the first goal in a match is absolutely fantastic news, especially in the final.

The Chinese players felt relaxed, and after a brief celebration, they ended the ceremony.

In their view, Shan Yongzhuo scoring from a corner kick was perfectly normal.

The Japanese team, on the other hand, was somewhat frustrated.

They thought they had completely shut down Shan Yongzhuo with this ball, and that he had no way to stop him.

Unexpectedly, Shan Yongzhuo kicked the ball directly to Konno Yasuyuki's foot, resulting in a corner kick. Despite Yoshida Maya's warning to his teammates, they were still unable to stop the ball.

Among the Japanese team, the most frustrated were goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima and defender Yasuyuki Konno.

Eiji Kawashima failed to anticipate the ball's trajectory, directly losing his chance to make a save, while Yasuyuki Konno directly caused the corner kick.

When the two teams returned to the field, the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of the match.

The Japanese team continued their offensive.

The goal conceded earlier frustrated the Japanese team, but it didn't significantly affect their fighting spirit. Even though the Chinese team scored first, they still had plenty of time to score.

Japan's attack was very strong. They relied on their control of the midfield to keep the ball firmly under their feet and constantly threatened China's penalty area through passing.

However, Japan's attacks can only be accomplished through footwork; they have no advantage in high balls.

China's two center-backs, Feng Xiaoting and Zhang Linpeng, are both tall and physically strong defenders with outstanding physical attributes. Although they are a bit clumsy with their feet, they have a great advantage in defending high balls and physical confrontations.

Japan's star striker, Ryoichi Maeda, was unable to gain a significant advantage against these two defenders, which resulted in a very one-dimensional attack for Japan, which could only rely on passing the ball around to find weaknesses.

The Chinese team, united as one, set up a defensive formation and resolutely launched a counter-attacking strategy.

There are two best ways to break through a tight defense.

One approach is to launch a high ball, utilizing the support capabilities of the tall center forward to launch an attack.

Clearly, this style of attack is not suitable for the Japanese team.

Another option is to have a fast, technically skilled attacking player who can break through the opponent's defensive formation.

This is why Messi is so important to Barcelona.

The Japanese team's overall tactics are based on Barcelona's passing and possession style, but Barcelona has attacking players like Messi.

When normal passing and control fails to break through the opponent's dense defense, Messi can rely on his superb individual dribbling ability to disrupt the opponent's defensive formation with powerful breakthroughs.

Defense is never something that can be done well simply by piling up players in the backfield. When the defending team's formation is disrupted, weaknesses will naturally be revealed.

Barcelona became powerful by using this tactic: passing and possession combined with Messi's dribbling.

Spain largely employs this tactic as well, controlling the tempo of the game through a strong midfield and then using the attacking prowess of players like Iniesta, Torres, and Villa to break down the defense.

Therefore, when the side controlling the pace of the game wants to seize an opportunity to strike a fatal blow, offensive players are indispensable.

However, the Japanese team didn't have such a player in this match. They originally had a player like Shinji Kagawa who could both dribble and pass, but with Kagawa injured, they lacked such a forward. This was Japan's biggest problem in this match.

Their three forwards, with Keisuke Honda being the absolute core.

However, Keisuke Honda is not a player who excels at dribbling. He is indeed a technical player, but his strengths lie in his stamina and excellent footwork. He is not fast, so it is difficult for him to take on the role of a striker.

Therefore, in response to Keisuke Honda's defense, Gao Hongbo only assigned Zhao Xuri to mark Honda's sudden forward runs.

Japan's other two midfielders, Jungo Fujimoto and Shinji Okazaki, are also team-oriented players. Their strengths lie in tireless running, teamwork, and tackling. However, it is a bit too much to ask of them to be attacking players.

The lack of a decisive attacking player is Japan's biggest weakness.

Therefore, although the Japanese team launched continuous attacks, they clearly did not have a good solution against the dense defense.

On the contrary, the Chinese team's counter-attacks were quite impressive, with each counter-attack posing a greater threat than the Japanese team's attacks.

Among China's three midfielders, Yu Hai is fast and his quick attacks after receiving the ball are quite threatening. Deng Zhuoxiang and Zhou Haibin both have a good long pass. When they get the ball, a long pass can always find Yu Hai who is advancing forward and Shan Yongzhuo who is always in the Japanese team's half.

They played back and forth like this for another 15 minutes, and then the game came to the 32nd minute.

China intercepted the ball in their own half, and Zhao Xuri passed it to Deng Zhuoxiang. Deng Zhuoxiang swept the ball across the field and immediately launched a long pass. The ball crossed halfway and landed in the center of the field.

Dan Yongzhuo charged forward, while Yoshida Maya kept moving and preparing to steal the ball; he had already sprinted forward.

However, Shan Yongzhuo was faster. He left Yoshida Maya behind in just a few steps, leaving Yoshida Maya in disbelief.

"How can this be?"

In previous encounters, Yoshida Maya could sense that Shan Yongzhuo's strength and speed were average, and he was no match for her.

But this time, the opponent was as fast as light, and he couldn't catch up at all.

Shan Yongzhuo got the ball, and Yoshida Maya caught up.

But just as Yoshida was about to make a tackle, he felt a gust of wind pass by him. By the time he reacted, he saw that Shan Yongzhuo had already rushed to the edge of the penalty area and was facing the goalkeeper Kawashima Eiji who had come out to intercept.

"How can he be so fast!"

Maya Yoshida was completely stunned. Shan Yongzhuo's sudden burst of speed only took 3 seconds, but from starting to receiving the ball to breaking through, it was all done in one go, as if it were done in an instant.

That kind of explosive power is terrifying.

At this moment, Kawashima Eiji was already cursing. Yoshida Maya had broken through so easily, and only he could stop Shan Yongzhuo.

But is it possible to stop it?
Shan Yongzhuo has never missed a shot with his single knife; the only time he missed was apparently when he deliberately lost it.

Faced with such an opponent, Eiji Kawashima could only do his best to make the save.

However, he still failed.

Shan Yongzhuo pressed down on the edge of the penalty area and took a shot directly without giving Kawashima Eiji a chance to rush over.

The soccer ball soared high, passing Eiji Kawashima. Although it wasn't particularly fast, it bounced off the ground in front of the goal and into the net.

(End of this chapter)