Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

After successfully defending against Portugal's attack, the Chinese team took advantage of the fact that the opposing players were all in the attacking third. The goalkeeper threw the ball to the wingers to launch a quick counter-attack. After a few passes between the full-backs, attacking midfielders, and forwards, they quickly reached the attacking third.

This kind of fast-paced counter-attack was unimaginable for the Chinese team in the past, but because this national team has a large number of excellent passers in midfield, as long as Portugal misses one player, the Chinese team can launch a quick counter-attack!
For example, in this instance, Wang Dalei threw the ball to Sun Xiang, who took a few steps, found the passing line, and quickly passed the ball to Chen Tao.

Before Chen Tao received the ball, Lin Feng had already retreated to draw attention away from him, giving Chen Tao a relatively spacious space to pass and receive the ball.

Chen Tao's pass found Gao Lin, who received the ball and pretended to break into the penalty area, but suddenly stopped when the opposing defender stepped back. Using the space created by the feint, he passed the ball to Han Peng.

This pass was beautiful; it almost broke through the opponent's defense, allowing Han Peng to receive the ball and shoot directly.

However, the opposing goalkeeper stepped up once again, using his leg to block Han Peng's close-range shot.

Han Peng, having missed a golden opportunity, clutched his head and stared in disbelief at the goal.

When he shot, he was only 7 meters from the goal, and he didn't adjust after receiving the ball before shooting.

At such close range and in such a short time, the opposing goalkeeper was able to react and save the ball.

Is this some kind of cheat code?
Holy crap, someone's using a cheat!

Who is Portugal's goalkeeper? How can he be so phenomenal?!

I'd never heard of this person before, but they seem to be in really good shape!

[It's not just that he's in good form, his performance has been phenomenal! From Gao Lin's shot to Hao Junmin and Lin Feng's shots, and now Han Peng's shot, how many shots has he saved from the Chinese team?]

Although this match features two superstars, Lin Feng and Cristiano Ronaldo, the player who has been in the spotlight so far is actually the Portuguese goalkeeper.

The opponent's outstanding saves, which kept the goal intact, made countless people remember the name Edwardt!
Fortunately, Wang Dalei's performance on the national team side was also quite impressive.

After China's attack failed, Portugal also tried to launch a quick counterattack from the flanks.

Wang Dalei first saved Ronaldo's long-range shot, and then saved Almeida's follow-up shot.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been repeatedly turned away by Wang Dalei, couldn't help but sigh with his hands on his hips after seeing the opponent complete two consecutive attacks.

Why does it feel like the Chinese team's goalkeeper is even more difficult to deal with than the Chilean team in the last match?

Time ticked by, and the score remained 0-0.

Thirty minutes into the game, both sides slowed down their offensive pace due to fatigue.

However, the slowdown in the pace of the attack does not mean a reduction in physical confrontation between the two sides.

On the contrary, due to the increase in positional warfare, the number of physical contacts and fouls on both sides began to increase.

As a result, there were more and more free kicks on the field.

In the 32nd minute, Pepe tackled Lin Feng while defending and was shown a yellow card by the referee.

The Chinese team was awarded a free kick in the attacking third. The ball was quite far from the goal, more than 35 meters away.

At this distance, most players might forgo shooting and choose to coordinate with their teammates instead.

But for Lin Feng, this distance was well within his firing range.

Portugal's goalkeeper, Edouard, clearly understood this, so he was very careful when directing his teammates to form the wall and when choosing his position in front of the goal.

Even though he was prepared, he was still caught off guard when the ball flew over the wall and landed on his head.

Lin Feng's free kick was powerful and heavy, with unexpected force, causing the Portuguese goalkeeper to fumble it while making the save.

Gao Lin attempted a follow-up shot, but it was blocked by a defender's leg.

The ball, blocked out of the penalty area, landed right at Lin Feng's feet. After receiving the ball, Lin Feng didn't even look at the Portuguese player rushing towards him, nor did he have time to aim. Relying on his instincts, he took a powerful shot in the general direction of the goal.

At this moment, the Portuguese goalkeeper had already gotten up from the ground and was about to make a save when he saw, to his despair, that the ball, in its flight, had collided with someone's thigh and deflected.

The goalkeeper, caught off guard, had no chance against the ball and could only watch helplessly as it flew past him and plunged into the net.

The score became 1-0, and the deadlock on the field was finally broken!

Goal!

"Goal! Lin Feng has done a great job!"

"The great Chinese captain, he has inherited the glorious tradition of the Chinese team!"

"At this moment, he is not fighting alone; behind him stand 1.3 billion people of China!"

"Peach blossoms fall like flying swords, Lin Feng's free kick missed, but he pierced the opponent's goal with a long shot!"

"This is China's first goal in the World Cup quarterfinals. The moment the net trembled represents not only a goal, but also the resonance of a nation's heartbeat!"

"At this moment, I believe countless fans and spectators across the country are just as excited as we are, as excited as the audience here!"

"Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night, but I believe everyone will have a good dream!"

The CCTV commentators were even more excited than the fans in the stadium.

On the field, after confirming that the ball had hit the net, Lin Feng shook off his rushing teammates, turned around and sprinted to the sidelines, leaping high to complete his signature celebration!

'Siu!'

The fans who were celebrating at the scene all stopped shouting the moment he landed and made a unified sound.

Numerous reporters at the scene snapped photos, capturing the moment in their images.

The cameras broadcasting the game transmitted the passion of the fans at the stadium to the world.

Holy crap!

Goal!

[Lin Huang is awesome!]

[Isn't Portugal's goalkeeper already pretty awesome? Try scoring another one!]

[Haha, finally a goal! China is going to make it to the semi-finals!]

Brothers, we can't be opening champagne at halftime! The game isn't over yet; we need to hold onto this lead until the final whistle to advance!

Chinese fans were ecstatic when they saw the Chinese national football team finally score a goal.

This goal puts China just 60 minutes away from the World Cup semi-finals!

If the Chinese team can maintain this score until the end of the match, they will set a new team record and equal the best result ever achieved by an Asian team in the World Cup.

However, compared to the underhanded tactics used by the South Korean team in the 2002 Japan-Korea World Cup, the Chinese team's performance in this World Cup was very clean, without any trickery or fraud!

……

Looking at Lin Feng in the distance, celebrating a goal with his teammates, Ronaldo felt a long-lost sense of familiarity.

His feelings at this moment were exactly the same as when he was at Manchester United, twice falling to this opponent in the Champions League final. There was a deep sense of powerlessness and despair, as if no matter how hard he tried, he could not defeat the person in front of him.

Cristiano Ronaldo shook his head vigorously, desperately trying to drive these negative thoughts out of his mind.

The game isn't over yet, he can't give up so easily.

……

With the referee's prompting, the Chinese team quickly ended their celebration, and the game continued.

Trailing in the score, Portugal launched a furious counterattack against China after the restart, attempting to equalize the score before the end of the first half.

In the 35th minute, Meireles crossed from the left, and Almeida headed the ball wide from 8 yards out.

Two minutes later, Ronaldo shook off the defender and headed the ball from a corner kick, but Wang Dalei caught it again.

In the 40th minute, his teammates passed the ball around on the outside for several minutes but were unable to break through the Chinese team's defense.

Cristiano Ronaldo reached out for the ball and, after receiving it, immediately attempted a long-range shot from outside the box.

Unfortunately, he was a bit too hasty and didn't control the angle properly, firing the anti-aircraft gun instead.

As time ticked away and the first half was about to end, the Portuguese players on the field grew increasingly impatient, wishing they could all rush into the Chinese team's half to join the attack.

In the 42nd minute, the Chinese team intercepted the ball and launched a counter-attack. Zheng Zhi looked up and saw that the opponent's backfield was so empty, so he directly sent a long pass to the front field.

Gao Lin and Han Peng were both sprinting desperately, but the Portuguese goalkeeper was faster and kicked the ball back into the Chinese half before Gao Lin could reach it.

China's counter-attack immediately turned into Portugal's counter-attack!
Coentrao crossed from the left, and Ronaldo's powerful header from 10 yards out struck the crossbar with a 'bang'.

A gasp and sighs erupted from the stands. Chinese fans were quite startled, while Portuguese fans were filled with regret.

But soon, both sets of fans held their breath again, because the rebounded ball landed right at the feet of Lin Feng, who had returned to defend his own half.

Lin Feng received the ball with his back to the goal, dodging Pepe's attempt to steal it from behind as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

After getting past Pepe, Lin Feng only had time to glance at his teammates' positions before passing the ball out.

The ball had barely left his feet when Thiago brought him down.

But at this moment, everyone's attention was no longer on Lin Feng, but focused on Gao Lin, who had a one-on-one opportunity after receiving the ball.

The Portuguese goalkeeper had just rushed out and hadn't had time to retreat back to his own penalty area when he saw the Chinese team create a one-on-one opportunity. He lowered his center of gravity and lunged towards Gao Lin.

Behind Gao Lin, Portugal's left-back Coentrao was also chasing at a very fast pace.

Seeing that he could no longer delay, Gao Lin gritted his teeth and took a shot directly from just outside the penalty area.

The football passed the goalkeeper's outstretched fingers, but failed to clear the goalpost.

With a muffled thud, the familiar voice rang out again.

The crowd erupted in uproar. Chinese fans in the stands clutched their heads, staring in disbelief at the ball that had been bounced away.

In just over ten seconds, both sides hit the goalposts twice in a row?

Including the previous one, the two sides have hit the woodwork three times in this match!
[Guys, am I seeing things? Is this definitely football and not basketball?]

[Yeah, what's wrong with both teams today? Why are they shooting so badly?]

[Gao Lin's luck is just too bad! He hit the woodwork twice in one game. Even Zhao Junzhe would be impressed!]

This is absolutely outrageous! It feels like they've gone from being a lucky charm for the national football team to a jinx!

[How about we skip the next game and let Dong Fangzhuo try? Maybe that will change his luck?]

Amid the fans' teasing, the Portuguese goalkeeper quickly grabbed a football from the ball boy and kicked the goal kick out.

The rapid succession of offensive and defensive transitions within a short period of time caused both teams to struggle to keep up, resulting in some disarray in their formations.

Before the Chinese team could even fully retreat to their own half, the opponent launched a long ball over.

Cristiano Ronaldo aimed precisely at the ball's trajectory and leaped with all his might, attempting to control its landing point.

Li Weifeng, already somewhat out of breath, also jumped at the same time, but he was completely outmatched in the contest with Ronaldo.

The high intensity of the competition was a bit too much for a veteran like him.

But his good partner Feng Xiaoting immediately marked Almeida and intercepted the ball before Ronaldo could pass it to him.

Feng Xiaoting, who intercepted the ball, was pulled down by Almeida, who was rushing to attack from behind, before he could even regain his footing.

The referee then blew his whistle.

Seeing his teammates panting and struggling to catch their breath, Lin Feng didn't rush to take the penalty kick. Instead, he calmly positioned the ball and instructed his teammates to move closer to the opponent's penalty area, creating the illusion that he was preparing to pass the ball into the penalty area for his teammates to contest for a header.

However, after the opponent set up their wall, Lin Feng feinted and passed the ball back to Feng Xiaoting behind him.

Realizing they had been tricked, the Portuguese players immediately rushed out and pressed forward into the Chinese team's half of the field.

Seeing this, Feng Xiaoting passed the ball back to the goalkeeper. Wang Dalei waited until Ronaldo was close to the penalty area before kicking the ball forward with a long pass, the direction of which was exactly where Lin Feng was.

Lin Feng won the header contest against Pepe and passed the ball to Hao Junmin on the side.

Hao Junmin had just received the ball when it was intercepted from behind and kicked out of bounds.

So Lin Feng leisurely walked to the sidelines, preparing to ask the ball boy for a new soccer ball to throw in.

When Almeida committed the foul, the game had already reached the 44th minute.

With the Chinese team stalling for time like this, the first half was almost over.

Just as Lin Feng recognized the ball out of bounds, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

For the Chinese national football team, the whistle was like a divine pardon.

The intense, fast-paced offensive and defensive transitions of the past few minutes almost pushed their physical limits to the limit.

He sprinted back and forth between his own half and the opponent's half several times. Even if he had just come on the field, let alone after playing for more than 40 minutes, it would be unbearable for anyone to do this kind of sprinting several times in a short period of time.

"Quickly, take a break and let the team doctor massage your muscles to relax them!"

Old Zhu clearly noticed that the team's physical condition was problematic, so he returned to the locker room early to let the team doctors prepare.

To help his team members relax, he even personally massaged them.

However, Lao Zhu's massage skills were really not good, and the team members repeatedly refused, not wanting his service.

"We're tired, and so are they. We also have three substitutions left. If anyone can't hold on in the second half, let me know in advance, and I'll take you off!" (End of Chapter)