Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 449 The Playmaking Defender

As the team buses drove onto the stadium, the starting lineups for both teams were announced.

The Australian team fielded their strongest lineup, while the Chinese team also went all out, fielding their current best possible team.

Gao Hongbo did not use his favorite 4-2-3-1 formation, but instead fielded a 4-4-2 lineup, with Deng Zhuoxiang and Feng Xiaoting, who had played abroad, starting in the lineup, while Gao Lin partnered with Shan Yongzhuo to form the forward line.

Gao Lin is arguably the strongest striker in China besides Shan Yongzhuo. By pairing him with Shan Yongzhuo, Gao Hongbo naturally hopes to help Shan Yongzhuo draw some defensive pressure.

As for Shan Yongzhuo, everyone sees him as omnipotent, and whether or not he can defeat Australia depends entirely on his individual performance.

As for the others, their job is to focus on defense and coordinate well with Shan Yongzhuo.

However, despite the media and fans being very satisfied with the starting lineup, things did not turn out as they had expected.

After the match started, the away team, China, was at a disadvantage in the head-to-head confrontation with Australia. Their midfield was completely suppressed. Although they launched two attacks, they did not pose a real threat to Australia's goal.

On the contrary, the home team Australia showed a do-or-die spirit and played very actively. In just five minutes, they forced Zeng Cheng to make two very dangerous saves, which made Chinese fans break out in a cold sweat.

Subsequently, Australia took control of the game.

The Chinese team could only defend most of the time, and the midfield duo of Zheng Zhi and Deng Zhuoxiang was completely suppressed. Australia, on the other hand, intensified their attack, putting the Chinese goal in danger for a time.

As for Shan Yongzhuo, he didn't get any good opportunities in the first seven or eight minutes of the game. Apart from his initial shot which went high, he didn't get any other chances to shoot.

This is unavoidable; his teammates have a very hard time getting the ball through the midfield, which means that Shan Yongzhuo, who is positioned up front, hardly gets any passes.

This situation left Chinese media and fans feeling somewhat uneasy.

Since the World Cup qualifiers, the Chinese team has basically had a smooth run, and has almost never been suppressed like this before. They have always crushed their opponents from the start of the game and won by a large margin.

Such a severe suppression has basically never occurred.

Now, the Chinese team is completely on the defensive, which is hard to accept.

The camera then focused on Gao Hongbo on the sidelines, who appeared completely unconcerned.

In fact, this situation was within Gao Hongbo's expectations.

The Chinese team had a smooth run in previous matches, which led many people to underestimate their true level.

Among the opponents they had faced before, the strongest were only Jordan and Iraq, whose strength was only comparable to that of the Chinese team, while the other teams were far inferior.

Under such circumstances, the Chinese team was able to play with comparable strength, and with Shan Yongzhuo being a breakout player who far exceeded their level, a resounding victory was actually quite reasonable.

Currently, the overall strength of the Chinese team is actually a level below that of Australia, and even with Shan Yongzhuo, it is difficult to bridge this gap in overall strength.

Gao Hongbo remained clear-headed and did not become arrogant due to a series of big wins.

Therefore, Gao Hongbo's role for the team is very clear: to stick to the defensive counter-attacking strategy without wavering.

Apart from Shan Yongzhuo, everyone else, even Gao Lin who partners with him on the front line, needs to track back and participate in defense. Shan Yongzhuo is well aware of this; the team's overall strength is inferior to Australia's, and this is something that he or a few others like Deng Zhuoxiang cannot compensate for.

He did indeed feel the pressure that Australia put on his teammates.

However, the Chinese team's defense was also quite good, without making any major mistakes. Zheng Zhi anchored the central midfield, positioning himself as a defensive midfielder, diligently running and sweeping, and aggressively and fiercely tackling.

Although Li Weifeng, who started the game, seemed a bit overwhelmed by the Japanese team's attacks due to his age, Feng Xiaoting's starting appearance made the Chinese team's defense relatively solid.

In the summer, Feng Xiaoting joined Shan Yongzhuo's Granada team and became a La Liga defender.

As a player who could be considered to have gotten in through connections, Feng Xiaoting also got some playing time in La Liga. In addition, Feng Xiaoting was quite popular with his teammates. In team training, he not only had top players like Mane tormenting him, but also experienced veterans like Forlán tormenting him.

And he himself has lived up to expectations.

La Liga is a league that places great emphasis on attack, making it a good league for defenders to hone their defensive skills.

Feng Xiaoting has been able to get a lot of playing time, so his growth rate is obvious as he partners with Van Dijk.

In this match, he appeared in key positions on the defensive line many times, and Cahill made no impact at all during the entire ten minutes under his defense.

Cahill was completely shut down, which actually weakened Australia's attack.

This is why, despite the passive situation, Gao Hongbo was still relatively satisfied with the situation on the field.

The core of Gao Hongbo's confidence lies in the central axis of Shan Yongzhuo, Zheng Zhi, and Feng Xiaoting.

As the game continued, after 12 minutes of relentless attack, Australia's offensive gradually showed signs of fatigue.

This is what is meant by "one effort, then a decline, and finally exhaustion."

And this is often the most dangerous time.

At this moment, the Chinese team's counterattack also revealed its fangs.

In the 14th minute, another shot from Australia was saved by Zeng Cheng. After receiving the ball outside the penalty area, Feng Xiaoting looked at the position in the attacking third and instead of passing the ball to his teammate, he launched a long pass forward, initiating a counter-attack from the backfield near the penalty area.

The football soared high, directly over the midfield, heading towards Shan Yongzhuo, who was 40 meters from the goal.

"Danger!"

At that moment, almost everyone realized something.

Feng Xiaoting's pass was very sudden, a kind of surprise attack that launched an attack directly from the backfield.

At this moment, Australia had not yet had time to return to defense, and behind Shan Yongzhuo was only one defender, Wilkshire.

(End of this chapter)