Football: I am only 16 years old, and you want me to retire and make a comeback?

Chapter 896 Semifinals, Opponent is the Defending Champion

"Ta-da! Ta ...

"Ta-da! Ta-da!"

【66666】

[The Chinese national football team is awesome! Keep it up!]

[Referee, could you please provide a WeChat payment QR code? Alipay is also acceptable.]

[It's up to me, Eriksson, how to handle Dembele and Mbappe? It seems like this is going to be a tough situation...]

[Always support the Chinese national football team, always with tears in our eyes!]

“Beep!!!!”

"Okay, the game begins!"

"Now I will introduce the starting lineups for both sides. First, the home team, the Chinese men's national football team, wearing red jerseys..."

The Chinese national team made significant changes to its starting lineup, with Deng Hanwen replacing Zhang Linpeng, who was suspended due to a red card, and Jiang Guangtai also becoming a substitute.

Starting Deng Hanwen is understandable, as is Jiang Guangtai's substitution...

Is Escriva planning to skip the semi-final and go straight to the third-place match?

"Then it's the away team, France!"

France (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Lloris

Defenders: Koundé, Varane, Konaté, Theo Hernandez

Midfielders: Choameli, Griezmann, Youssef Fofana

Forwards: Dembele, Giroud, Mbappe
Head Coach: Deschamps
France is one of the few teams in this World Cup whose starting lineup has a total value exceeding that of the Chinese national team. The defending champions' starting lineup is worth a staggering 6.4 million euros, with Dembele and Mbappe being the most extravagant, both valued at around 2 million euros.

"Allez! (Go for it!)"

"Allez Les Bleus! (Go Blues!)"

The Lusail Stadium truly lives up to its reputation as the venue for the final; the atmosphere created by its 8-seat stands is simply unmatched by the Bay Stadium.

"Theo Hernandez receives a pass from Fofana."

"He pulled it on the wing!"

"Oh, Hernandez is probably trying to coordinate with Mbappe here!"

As Hernandez dribbled forward, the entire French attacking line moved quickly forward.

Even though the match has only been going on for a short time, the Chinese national football team players already seem to be on high alert.

Deng Hanwen and Wu Xi are retiring.

"Don't go there! Don't go there!"

Tang Ye signaled to his teammates to give up on intercepting Hernandez.

Having received the signal, Wu Xi became much more conservative in his actions, leaving Hernandez with a wide-open space.

Hernandez showed no mercy to his opponent, striding forward to secure his position.

"Watch the middle lane!"

Snapped!
Tang Ye had barely finished speaking when Hernandez delivered the cross.

Chi Zhongguo and Griezmann are standing close together.

Griezmann nudged the defender next to him and then quickly passed the ball to Dembele.

Apply pressure to the left flank!

A one-on-one duel between Wang Shenchao and Dembele!
clap clap!

With alternating footwork, Dembele approached Wang Shenchao at an astonishing speed. The French striker's constantly changing rhythm made it difficult for Wang Shenchao to seize the opportunity to win the ball.

Snapped!
The ball was delivered in a cutback pass and received by Choameni at the edge of the penalty area.

With a slight adjustment, Chuameni is ready.

boom!
Tang Ye slid in and used his body to block Chuameni's long-range shot.

"Beautiful! Tang Ye!"

"Zhu Chenjie, come up here!"

"Oh!!!!"

A gasp rippled through the crowd as Zhu Chenjie intercepted the ball before Fofana could react.

"Take care of it yourself!"

Tang Ye turned and stepped forward, preparing to launch a counterattack.

As a result, Zhu Chenjie had only run a few steps when Hernandez intercepted the ball with a single kick.

"I rely on!"

Tang Ye immediately stopped and turned to defend, until France finally took a shot, and Giroud knocked the ball into the stands.

"Take a look when you're dribbling the ball!"

Tang Ye shouted to Zhu Chenjie, "Isn't he right in front of you? When you see him, come up and protect the ball, or just pass it to the right!"

Wu Lei ran over and clapped hands with Tang Ye: "Calm down, calm down, just stay calm."

Tang Ye often gets anxious when playing against strong teams, which is not a good thing for the team as a whole.

Escriva stood on the sidelines, hands in his pockets, eyes slightly narrowed, completely motionless, as if frozen in place. Meanwhile, Matti, sitting down, kept shaking his leg, the laptop on his lap moving with it; it was unclear whether he could even focus on the words on the screen with that kind of gaze.

Snapped!
Wang Dalei made a long pass.

Wei Shihao, who was waiting on the left wing, received the ball.

The Chinese national team winger stretched out his leg to stop the ball, but he misjudged the landing point, and the ball ended up hitting the grass.

Wei Shihao was about to get the ball, but Varane didn't give him a chance at all, blocking him with his body and kicking the ball out of bounds.

"Wow!"

"...It seems like the Chinese team is having a hard time finding good attacking opportunities."

"Currently, every player on the French team is in very good form. And most importantly, the French team clearly places great emphasis on their defense on all three lanes."

One major reason why the Chinese national football team was able to beat Spain and the Netherlands was that their opponents underestimated them.

The series of upsets has made France take China, its rival, very seriously.

All we can say is that in the eyes of the current French team, China is a strong and evenly matched opponent, and they must go all out to have a chance of winning!
This view was quickly proven true.

"Tang Ye, you handle the flanks yourself!"

"Fofana's position is very good, Hernandez is right next to him."

Facing both Fofana and Hernandez, Tang Ye simply couldn't find an opportunity to get the ball out of play for the time being.

Just as he was about to seize the opening Hernandez made, a hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder.

Mbappe positioned himself on the side, and with the help of two teammates, easily finished off Tang Ye.

"..."

"Grass!"

Sitting on the ground, Tang Ye was utterly speechless.

This is the first time France and China have faced off in the World Cup. France knows absolutely nothing about the Chinese national football team.

But they understand Tang Ye!

In team fights, prioritize finding the carry; without the carry, the team is doomed. This saying always applies to the Chinese team.

Live Match Report: In the 26th minute, Tang Ye took a free kick from the backfield and found Zhang Yuning, but Konaté easily cleared the ball.

Live match report: Giroud's header hits the post.

Just three minutes after Giroud's header hit the post, France found another excellent attacking opportunity, this time originating from Dembele on the right wing. "Wow!!!"

"Get past him! Get past him!"

"Dembele! Hurry up!"

"You can cross it now!"

Dembele dribbled close to Wang Shenchao with the outside of his foot, executing several stepovers, making it seem like he was about to forcefully dribble past him.

Once Wang Shenchao's center of gravity shifted, Dembele suddenly cut the ball into the middle, and possession was taken by Chuameni, who rushed up from the middle. Chuameni accelerated past the defense and sent a through ball into the penalty area.

Giroud stopped the ball with a tread, and Zhu Chenjie and Deng Hanwen had just taken a defensive stance when Giroud's shot came out the next second.

Wang Dalei stood on the goal line looking to his lower left, and Giroud's shot went into the net right before his eyes.

"..."

"GOOOO-AAAAA-LLLL!!!"

The ball went in!
In the 33rd minute of the first half, a goal was scored by the French striker!
1: 0!

"Roar--!!!"

Giroud and Mbappe ran off together, and the French players quickly gathered on the sidelines, leaving only the dejected Chinese players on the field.

"hiss……"

Pooh!
The opponent only scored a goal in the 33rd minute, which seemed to be beyond expectations, but Tang Ye felt very unwilling.

“Roar!!”

Giroud shouted into the camera.

"Was that ball offside...?"

"It seems there was no offside."

"Let's watch the replay..."

The commentator seemed somewhat unwilling to accept it, but after watching the replay and confirming that the goal was not offside, he finally gave up.

Okay, it's 0-1 now. Giroud's close-range finish led to the first goal of the match.

The camera pans to Deschamps, who celebrates Giroud's goal by clenching his fists and hugging the French players on the bench.

Seeing this scene, Chinese fans felt quite uncomfortable.

France is already so strong on paper, Deschamps, why did you design a tactic specifically for the Chinese team?

France played too steadily!
……

"Dembele, move towards the center!"

"Mbappe is on his way too. Should the ball be passed to Griezmann or Mbappe?"

"It's for Mbappe!"

Dembele and Mbappe made a cross-run in the middle, drawing the attention of the defenders. Dembele then quickly passed the ball to Hernandez, who was on the byline.

Hernandez adjusted his position, aimed, and then launched a long pass.

Wow!!!

Mbappe is heading towards the right byline.

Extend your right foot!
Stop the ball!

perfect!

Mbappe controlled the ball to his side and quickly began his maneuver.

He pulls the ball inside, pretends to cross, but actually moves towards the post.

"Look at the right foot!"

Tang Ye pointed out that Mbappe is unlikely to use his left foot to curl the ball, so his right foot should be the focus of the defense.

Seeing no shooting opportunity, Mbappe seemed a bit anxious. He accelerated to try and create space for himself, but was forced off the field by Feng Xiaoting.

"Beep!"

It's out of bounds!
"Awesome, Brother Ting! Awesome!"

Wang Shenchao raised both hands and gave Feng Xiaoting a high five, while Mbappe stood by the advertising board and pouted helplessly.

"You can give it to me!"

Griezmann shrugged at Mbappe, pointing to the spot where he had just been standing: "If you had given it to me, I would have just shot it in, wouldn't I?"

Mbappe tilted his head, looking somewhat sad, but still gave Griezmann a thumbs up.

"come on! Come on!"

Tang Ye raised both hands: "There's a chance!"

Mbappe wasn't in good form today, not as good as my Dirk Nowitzki. Now that he sees a chance to upset his older brother, he's playing more aggressively than anyone else.

[666666, I suggest France give Mbappe more possession and stop Dembele from getting the ball. Why are his crosses from the byline so accurate?]

[Tang Ye, you're asking if the pass was accurate or not; if it wasn't, that would be problematic.]

[Zhu Chenjie is really bad. Why didn't they bring on Jiang Guangtai? Is he injured? After two rounds of knockout matches, aren't many of us exhausted?]

[Tang, the King of Football, we're counting on you, Tang, the King of Football!!!]

Forget about calling him "King of Football," the entire French team was on point, they didn't give us any chances at all. Their number 22 (Hernandez) hasn't made a single mistake today.

China launched a counter-attack, and Wang Dalei delivered a precise throw to Wu Lei, who was coming back to receive the pass.

Wu Lei dribbled forward, just about to pass the ball to Zhang Yuning, but Konaté came up and stole the ball away the next second.

"My grass!"

At this point, many Chinese national team players realized something was wrong. Tang Ye suddenly accelerated and rushed towards Konaté.

boom!
Tang Ye and Konaté collided, and the two of them kept pushing against each other, neither willing to give the other a chance.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Ye had no choice but to slam his shoulder into Konaté and knock him down.

"Beep!"

"The Chinese team committed a tactical foul here, and France has a set piece."

"..."

Tang Ye's face was already a little red. He didn't expect that he, an attacking midfielder, would have to commit such a tactical foul.

Fortunately, the referee didn't give a card, which was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

"Hernandez".

"The cross is going to the far post!"

"Dembele!"

Header!

boom!
Dembele's header hit the grass in the six-yard box, bounced out, and landed right in front of Mbappe.

Mbappe isn't good at headers, but to be honest, the ball was in such a good position.

Snapped!
"GOOOO-AAAA-LLLL!!!!"

“Kylian Mbappé!”

"2:0!"

"It's 2-0 now!"

"Holy shit!"

"Holy fucking shit!"

……

(End of this chapter)