Chapter 436 The knockout round begins!

Chapter 436 The knockout round begins!
Zhao Jinge nodded and took a few steps back, but did not choose a free throw at the first opportunity.

After he scored six consecutive penalty kicks, almost all the teammates who were watching sided with Neuer, which made him feel like a villain, but this feeling also made him more serious.

Neuer had been observing Zhao Jinge's movements, and he suddenly felt that Zhao Jinge seemed different from before.

The whole person seemed to have murderous intent, making people afraid to look directly at him!
He steeled himself, dispelled the strange thoughts in his head, paid careful attention to Zhao Jinge's every move, and then predicted the opponent's intention to hit the ball on the right side of the goal based on the opponent's support and kick on the ground.

Neuer moved ahead of schedule!
This time he started faster than before. If he judged the direction correctly, he should be able to save the ball this time!

However, his hands touched nothing. The football did not fly from the lower right corner, but flew into the goal from the upper right corner!
"I rely on!"

"Dead corner!"

"Is this a cover-up?"

After the onlookers of the German team saw this goal, none of them calmed down.

The reason is simple. The direction of Zhao Jinge's penalty is the absolute blind spot of the goal.

There are two blind corners of the goal. Unless the goalkeeper is standing underneath, it is impossible to save a shot aimed at this position.

However, pursuing an absolute blind spot when taking a penalty kick is extremely risky.

No matter how good a player is with his footwork, there is a risk of overturning in this position.

It's just that this is a training session within the team and has nothing to do with victory or defeat, so it's not too unexpected that Zhao Jin, a master of singing skills, dares to shoot in this way.

With his footwork, it is not difficult to kick such a shot.

Although Neuer suffered some blows, he did not appear too desperate.

"Come again!"

He still hasn't given up!
He admitted that Zhao Jinge's footwork was excellent, but he always made mistakes from dead ends.

I just need to wait patiently for him to make a mistake!
However, one ball after another, Zhao Jinge has taken ten penalty kicks and even exceeded several, but he is still extremely stable and has not made any mistakes.

Neuer was hit hard, and the opponent took penalty shots every time. He didn't even bother to save.

The goalkeeper who can save penalty kicks aimed at blind spots on both sides has not yet been born!
Anyway, Neuer thought he couldn't do it!

"No more playing, no more playing, I give up!"

Neuer was deeply hit and did not want to continue.

In just this moment, all the confidence he had accumulated before was lost, and he even began to doubt whether he would ever save a penalty kick.

"Uh, Zhao, don't give in on penalty kicks in the future. If there are any penalty kicks, you can take them all. It's safer that way!"

Royce, who was given up a penalty kick by Zhao Jinge, said to Zhao Jinge in a serious way after watching the entire showdown between Zhao Jinge and Neuer.

Several other players who are qualified to take penalty kicks also nodded. If a person who can hit the absolute blind spot time and time again doesn't take penalty kicks, then who will take penalty kicks?

I wonder if Zhao Jinge will use this trick during the game!
If he uses this move, I really look forward to seeing the shocked expression on the opponent's goalkeeper's face!

After staying in Moscow for a while, on June 30, all members of the German team took a flight one day in advance and flew to the venue of their next game—Russia’s second largest city, St. Petersburg!

On match day, the St. Petersburg Stadium became a sea of ​​joy for German fans.

When the situation in the group stage became clear, the German team was determined to qualify first in the group.

A large number of German fans began to order air tickets and game tickets to St. Petersburg before the group stage was over, hoping to give their team a home-court advantage as much as possible in the next knockout round!
So a large number of German fans grabbed tickets for this game, and the entire St. Petersburg Stadium was filled with red and black colors!

As for the German team's opponent, the Swiss national team is a traditional European strong team. The Swiss team's strength can definitely be ranked in the upper and middle reaches of the teams that advance to the top 16.

Since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Swiss national team has never missed the World Cup finals. In addition, except for the 2006 World Cup in South Africa, until the 2022 World Cup before Zhao Jinge time traveled, the Swiss national team has participated in five World Cups. Breaking out of the group stage four times and advancing to the top 16!
And in the only one that didn't break out in 2000, the Swiss team also suffered a big upset. They were the only team in the World Cup that defeated Spain, the final world champion!

Although their best result is only the top 16, if a team can reach the top 16 every year, then in the World Cup where there are so many strong players, it will be a pretty good result. You must know that if there is no Zhao Jinge, even a team as strong as Germany would not make it out of the group stage for two consecutive World Cups!
From this aspect, the Swiss national team definitely has something to offer. Even if the fans of the German team are quite optimistic about the German team, facing such an opponent, the players of the German team must not be as optimistic and naive as the fans. You should always maintain the utmost respect and caution for your opponents!

In recent years, in the World Series, there have been endless incidents of gift packages turning into bombs. The German team had better be careful!

Compared with the large number of German fans who were either happy or worried, the smaller number of Swiss fans were trying to stay calm, or trying their best to suppress the fear in their hearts.

Since qualifying was not confirmed until the last round of the group stage, many Swiss fans did not get tickets and could only cheer for their home team outside the stadium!
But from their cheers, one can still hear a hint of unconfidence rooted in their hearts.

Of course, there is nothing that can be done about this. Facing such a German team that killed so many corpses in the group stage,
If they were fans from other major football countries, they might still be able to maintain their mentality.
But as a small football country, it is difficult for Swiss fans to maintain a normal mind.

The gap between the two is really big. As long as the German team performs normally, it will be difficult for Switzerland to have a chance to come back.

Looking back, the joy and worry of the German fans are justified. As the head coach of the national team, Loew made a more balanced lineup after thinking twice.

The main reason is that we really need to be prepared to deal with the schedule of the subsequent knockout rounds.

As for targeted tactics, Loew did not make any more arrangements. He just used his strength to play normally. He still has great trust in these players under him.

In addition to reminding Zhao Jinge with statistics, the opponent's goalkeeper Sommer has a very strong reaction ability and can perform very well when faced with long shots that are too fast or have a tricky angle and need to be dealt with carefully. Loew There were no other arrangements made, just let nature take its course.

The other stronger opponents behind him will be his headache!
Goalkeeper: Neuer.

Defenders: Kimmich, Boateng, Hummels, Hector.

Midfielder: Gundogan, Kroos, Brandt, Sane, Thomas Muller. Forward: Zhao Jinge.

Most of the veterans and young people sat on the bench, and Loew tried his best to send out a group of players with high levels of experience and athletic ability under his command.

On the other side, Switzerland deployed a 4,23, offensive and defensive formation.

Goalkeeper: Sommer.

Defenders: Ricardo, Akanji, Djurou, Michael.

Double midfielder: Xhaka, Behrami.

Three attacking midfielders: Shaqiri, Djemayli, and Jubeir.

Forward: Delmic.

Zhao Jinge glanced at the Swiss lineup. Apart from goalkeeper Sommer, Arsenal's Djurou and Xhaka, and Shaqiri and Akanji who will play for Liverpool and Manchester City in the future, there are no other familiar stars.

After the opening ceremony that reflected Russian history and culture, the two teams quickly set up their formations.

With the referee's whistle, the two teams immediately entered a state of concentration on the game.

The World Cup knockout match between Switzerland and Germany has officially begun, with the German team taking the lead.

In the highlights that Loew showed to the team in the pre-match preparation meeting, Switzerland gave the impression that the players have good physical fitness, a tough style of play and strong impact.

But compared with Sweden and Norway in Northern Europe, their skills are not rough and they have good skills. They are a team without many shortcomings except for a superstar who can make the final decision.

From the first second of the game, a fierce battle occupied every inch of the court.

The huge cheers from countless fans throughout the stadium covered up the loud scolding of the Swiss head coach on the sidelines, and Zhao Jinge, who was in the center position, also swung up and down as the team's formation saw back and forth.

After Tony and Gundogan, the two core midfielders of the German team, came on the field at the same time, the German team showed its strong control of the game from the beginning of the game!
On the other hand, due to formation problems, Switzerland did not choose a simple and practical intensive defense, but adopted a tactic of focusing on marking Zhao Jinge and other core German players.

The entire team launched active man-to-man defense directly in the midfield and frontcourt, trying to contain the German offensive organization with unremitting running and active counter-attacks.

In the third minute of the game, Sane went down the left wing. Switzerland's original defense line immediately shrank its formation, and at the same time, they were alert to Sane's pass to the bottom line.

But the picture they expected did not appear. Sane cut the ball inside, met the opponent's full-back Michael and knocked the ball horizontally. After Zhao Jinge received the ball in front of Zhu Lu, who had played against him many times, he immediately moved the ball to the left. distance from the other party.

Then, from nearly twenty-five yards away, he suddenly took a shot!
The football flew directly to the upper right corner of the opponent's goal. Not only was the angle particularly tricky, but the ball's speed was much faster than the opponent's goalkeeper expected.

Swiss goalkeeper Sommer flew to make a save, but his raised palm touched the football, causing the football to fly out of the bottom line with a slight arc, grazing the upper right corner of the goal.

Although he saved the football, Sommer broke into a cold sweat and couldn't help but draw a cross on his chest!

God bless, fortunately the guy on the opposite side missed the shot a little bit, otherwise no one would be able to withstand the pace of conceding the ball at the beginning!

Zhao Jinge subconsciously glanced at Sane after shooting, and the latter gave him a look of affirmation. Zhao Jinge also gave him his first like today.

But to be honest, the opponent's goalkeeper reacted really quickly.

But there is absolutely no problem with the German team's current offensive cooperation. If the arc of the ball hadn't been a little wider just now, Sommer might not have been able to defend this shot!

Since it’s useful, let’s do it again!

In the eighth minute of the game, Switzerland organized a threatening counterattack.

When Shaqiri received Behrami's pass on the right side of the frontcourt, he encountered Hector's defense when he broke into the German team's penalty area.

Knowing that he was unable to move forward, he passed the ball across the penalty area line back to the right side of the German team's penalty area.

Shaqiri followed up to stop the ball and then fired a heavy shot.

The play was a bit positive, Neuer moved one step and held the ball firmly.

The German team's passing, controlling, and suppressing style of play is still working.

In the 13th minute of the game, Thomas Muller seemed to be on the right to meet Zhao Jinge, who was holding the ball. Shaqiri kept guarding beside him.

As a result, when Behrami was defending Zhao Jinge, Zhao Jinge diverted the ball and cut inward to get rid of him.

Behrami chased Zhao Jinge from behind, and when he was about to stretch his legs to steal the ball, Zhao Jinge took the lead and knocked the ball horizontally to Sane.

After the ball was released, Zhao Jinge ran diagonally and rushed in front of Zhu Lu.

Djurou just ran to the left of the center, trying to cooperate with the full-back to block Sane's forward dribbling route.

When Sane passes the ball diagonally to Zhao Jinge, even if Zhao Jinge has already reached the middle of the penalty area, it is not too late for Zhu Lu to come back. After all, there is another central defender Akanji in front of Zhao Jinge and another behind him. Behrami follows closely!
But no one expected that Zhao Jinge would suddenly take a shot thirty meters away from the goal!

The football blasted by his right foot flew straight to the upper left corner of the Swiss goal!
Because he was too keen on the angle before and missed the shot, Zhao Jinge's angle for this shot was not very tricky. He was heading towards the upper left corner to see if he could pay off without deliberately looking for an angle. As you wish!
But in this save, Sommer still touched the football with his left hand, and the football flew out against the door frame. It can only be said that Sommer is in really good condition today, and he is definitely not a charlatan despite his great reputation!
However, after the tenth minute of the first half, the game became a half-time offensive and defensive drill for the German team, and Switzerland completely gave up its attack.

However, more and more people gathered around their penalty area. Looking down from the high-rise stands, densely packed players from both sides occupied all the space near the top of the penalty area and the penalty spot.

The football has been slowly but resolutely rolling over the German team's right wing towards the Swiss team's goal.

(End of this chapter)