Chapter 296 The knockout round begins, a brutal penalty shootout!
"Have it?"
De Gea was confused by Lin Quan's question, and he didn't even realize that he had this problem.
Lin Quan nodded seriously: "Not only yes, but it's quite serious!"
In order to confirm his guess, Lin Quan found a camera and took 10 more penalty kicks.
After recording the entire process of De Gea's save, his guess was proven right.
De Gea always habitually dives to his left side, and his penalty kick action is very awkward, as if he is a player who has just woken up, highlighting his listlessness.
After scoring 10 penalty kicks again, Lin was not happy anymore.
This penalty does not improve at all, but it easily affects one's mentality.
"David, you need to train your ability to save points in a targeted manner!"
The assistant coach also discovered De Gea's weakness in penalty kicks, so he approached him seriously and said to him.
De Gea is Spain's second goalkeeper. If Casillas is injured or suspended, he will have the opportunity to represent the Spanish team.
Considering his shortcomings in penalty kicks, if Spain is really dragged into a penalty shootout in the end, it will probably be a disaster.
De Gea was a little frustrated, but he still nodded and said that he would seriously strengthen training in this area.
For a goalkeeper, 24 years old is definitely very young.
The goalkeeper position requires a lot of game experience to complete the transformation. De Gea still has a long way to go in the future, and there is enough time to adjust slowly.
Spain's main goalkeeper Casillas is 33 years old and may not be able to make it to the next World Cup.
Therefore, De Gea needs to grow up as soon as possible. Spain's national goal is likely to be guarded by him in the future.
Compared with De Gea, Spain's other substitute goalkeeper Reina is much better at saving points.
Facing the goal guarded by Reina, at least 3 out of 10 penalty kicks taken by Spain's forwards will be saved.
The most unlucky person is Torres. He took 10 penalty kicks but had 5 saved!
No wonder Torres doesn't take penalty kicks at Chelsea. Chelsea's penalty kicks are almost always taken by Lampard.
This hit rate is indeed a bit bleak!
However, Lin Quan felt that Torres's penalty kick skills were not bad, and the power, speed and angle of the ball he kicked were acceptable.
But Reina was able to make incredible saves and save the penalty kick!
To be honest, this shocked Lin Quan a little.
He never thought that a goalkeeper's ability to save points could be as strong as this!
"Haha, you don't know this, right? Reina is a man who has won the Premier League Golden Glove, and he also created a clean sheet record in Liverpool's history!"
Torres and Reina have worked together at Liverpool for several years and are very familiar with the strength of this teammate.
After hearing Torres' words, Lin Quan understood.
No wonder Reina saved Torres' penalty kick so well. It turned out that the two had been teammates before, and he should know Torres's playing habits very well.
Thinking of this, Lin Quan was a little eager to try:
"I'll try!"
Reina smiled and waved to Lin Quan:
"Come on horseback!"
Although when Lin Quan joined Manchester City, he had already been loaned out by Liverpool, so he was not able to play against Lin Quan in the league.
But for his teammates in the national team, Reina has long paid attention to Lin Quan's extremely high penalty shooting rate in the league and cup.
From the beginning of the Werder Bremen period to the present, Lin Quan has hit all the penalty kicks he has taken and has never missed a penalty.
Of course, this is related to the fact that he takes fewer penalty kicks.
But the 100% hit rate is still quite terrifying!
Generally speaking, a penalty kicker is considered to be excellent if his shooting percentage is over 80%, and a very stable penalty kicker is considered to be over 85%.
There are very few people who can make 100% hits, and most of them are players who take relatively few free throws.
For example, Lin Quan's teammate Yaya Toure, his current penalty kick percentage is 100%, but he only took 11 penalty kicks, which is too few.
Lin Quan positioned the football, took a few steps back and looked at the goal.
Reina braced himself, bent his knees slightly, and was ready to make a save at any time.
He planned to judge the direction of the opponent's shot by observing Lin Quan's steps and rhythm. This is the experience accumulated by experienced goalkeepers through a large number of games. It is very effective and very simple.
Reina judged the right direction for the first goal, but Lin Quan's penalty kick was too fast.
Before he could complete the downward pressure of his body, the football rolled from his armpit into the net.
"Great fight, come again!"
Reina was a little excited. Lin Quan's shot hit the lower left corner of the goal, which is the safest free throw position that most players would choose.
He was close to saving the ball. If he had reacted faster, he might have been able to save it successfully!
For the second ball, Lin Quan still hit the lower left corner, but in a different direction.
This time Reina also judged the right direction, but his movements were still a little slow when making the save.
His reaction speed is already very fast, but when a person makes a save, his body has to fly out first, and then he presses down. The time consumed during this period is completely enough for some players to throw the ball in at a faster speed.
Therefore, if you want to complete the save, you need to predict in advance!
For the third goal, Reina predicted in advance that Lin Quan would hit the lower left corner and made the save first.
However, after he made the save, he realized that he had judged the wrong direction. Lin Quan's shot was towards the lower right corner of the goal.
"Come again!"
Reina was not discouraged, but became more courageous with each defeat.
He felt that he was very close to making a successful save!
Lin Quan nodded and continued to shoot the fourth free throw with an expressionless face.
Reina once again predicted in advance and judged the right direction.
However, this ball was not hit close to the ground, but a half-high ball.
As soon as Reina hit the ground, the football flew over his body.
Seeing Lin Quan's free throw, Reina's face changed slightly.
The half-high kick is the best penalty kick to save, and taking such a penalty kick is very risky.
Based on his understanding of Lin Quan, the opponent does not seem to be the kind of person who likes to take risks. In other words, his shot was taken with absolute certainty.
In other words, the other party guessed what he was thinking!
"Are you coming again?"
The 10-ball penalty had not yet been completed, but Lin Quan saw that Reina did not shout the word "again", so he stopped and asked.
"Come!"
Reina gritted his teeth and chose to continue the challenge!
The duel between the two made a lot of noise. At this time, the players who were practicing set-pieces ended their training, so they came over curiously to watch.
"What's going on?"
"Hey, Reina and Lin Quan are having a 1V1!"
"Oh, how's the battle going?"
"All 4 free throws were made, Reina didn't take any advantage!"
With the players watching and discussing, Lin Quan took the fifth penalty kick.
It was still the lower left corner. This time, Reina did not predict in advance. He only made the save after observing the opponent's shooting action. Of course, the result was half a step too late.
"What a pity this goal is. I could have saved it if I had been faster!"
Villa said with some fear.
Casillas on the side shook his head:
"It's difficult to save. Lin's penalty kick is too fast. It's difficult to save such a penalty just by relying on the body's reaction speed."
As a goalkeeper, he understands the dilemma of goalkeepers when saving penalty kicks.
"How do you save a penalty like this?"
Torres asked curiously.
Only the goalkeeper knows the goalkeeper best. He plans to learn from Cassie and he will have the opportunity to use this knowledge when he takes penalty kicks in the future.
"By gambling!"
"bet?"
Everyone looked at Casillas in surprise.
"Well, to put it nicely, it's prediction, to put it badly, it's a bet, betting on which direction the other party will hit next time!"
"Oh! No wonder I always see the goalkeeper's direction of throwing the ball and the direction of the shot being completely different. When this happens, it must be that the goalkeeper's prediction is wrong?"
"Well, that's right!"
Reiner actually heard everyone's discussion, but he had trouble saying it.
It’s not like he hasn’t tried this method of predicting before, and it doesn’t work!
Both prediction saves failed, and one of them was hit with a half-high ball, which shows that the opponent understood his thoughts and found a solution.
If you continue to predict, the probability of success is very low.
However, if you don't predict it, every save will be a little bit closer, which is really uncomfortable!
So, he thought again and again and decided to continue betting!
For the sixth goal, Reina predicted it in advance and judged the right direction.
His finger successfully touched the football, but Lin Quan's shot was so powerful and heavy that he failed to shoot the ball, only slightly changing the flight direction of the football.
With a bang, the football hit the inside of the post and bounced into the goal.
"What a pity!"
"Just a little bit!"
There was a sound of regret at the scene, and the Spanish players watching all felt sorry for Reina.
After watching it for so long, this time is the best chance to save it!
Although Reina was a little regretful, he actually touched the ball, which doubled his confidence.
"Come again!"
Lin Quan nodded and took a few steps back, but did not choose a free throw at the first opportunity.
After he scored 6 consecutive penalty kicks, almost all the teammates who were watching sided with Reina, which made him feel like the villain and boss.
Haha, this feeling seems not bad?
Since he is a big villain, he must have the ultimate killing move that only a big villain can have!
Then just use that trick this time!
Reina had been observing Lin Quan's movements, and he suddenly felt that Lin Quan seemed to be 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 Lin Quan's every move, and then predicted that the opponent would hit the right side of the goal based on the opponent's support and kicking action.
Reina moved ahead of time!
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!
"Holy shit!"
"Dead corner!"
"Is this a cover-up?"
After seeing this goal, the Spanish players who were watching were not calm anymore.
The reason is very simple. The direction of Lin Quan'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.
The most typical example is the 1994 World Cup final between Italy and Brazil.
Roberto Baggio wanted to take a penalty, but he kicked the ball away. The sad sight of his back became a pain in the hearts of many people.
Of course, there are also successes in the penalty area, but the probability of failure is very high, so many players dare not use it easily!
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 Lin Quanyi dared to shoot in this way.
With his footwork, it is not difficult to kick such a shot.
Although Reina suffered some blows, he did not appear too desperate.
"Come again!"
He still hasn't given up!
He admitted that Lin Quan'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, Lin Quan has taken 10 penalty kicks, and even exceeded several, but he is still very stable and has not made any mistakes.
Reina was hit hard, and the opponent was punished 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, Reina thought he couldn't do it!
"No more playing, no more playing, I give up!"
Reina was deeply shocked 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, Lin, don't give in on penalty kicks in the future. If there are any penalty kicks, just leave them all to you. That's safer!"
Xavi, who was denied a penalty kick by Lin Quan, said to Lin Quan in a serious voice after watching the entire showdown between Lin Quan and Reina.
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 Lin Quan 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 a few days of rest, the knockout rounds officially began.
The first game to start was the match between the host country Brazil and the Netherlands.
It was a close matchup, and both teams played very well.
Only 18 minutes into the game, Neymar took a corner kick. Thiago Silva rubbed his head and passed the ball to the back point. David Luiz used his thigh to sweep the ball into the goal.
Brazil leads the Netherlands 1:0!
The Dutch team quickly retaliated. In the 28th minute, Robben cut inside and then faked a shot and passed the ball, assisting Sneijder to score a long shot from outside the penalty area.
The score became 1:1.
After scoring each other, both teams played very cautiously and defended with great intensity.
This made it extremely difficult for both sides to score goals, and the 1:1 score remained until the final whistle sounded.
The game entered overtime!
However, in the overtime period, both sides missed opportunities to score goals one after another due to declining physical fitness, and the score remained 1:1 until the end of overtime.
The game entered a brutal penalty shootout!
Seeing that the first game of the knockout round entered a brutal penalty shootout, the fans at the scene stood up anxiously and nervously, praying in their hearts.
The Spanish players who were watching the game now admired Bosque's foresight.
Sure enough, it is right to practice more penalty kicks!
Before the penalty shootout started, Van Gaal made a bold decision. He replaced Cillessen, who performed well, and replaced him with substitute goalkeeper Krul.
Obviously, this substitution was for the penalty shootout!
The first player of the Brazilian team to play was a bit unexpected. Everyone thought that Neymar was the first to play, but unexpectedly it was the Brazilian team's central defender David Luiz who stepped forward.
Luis has good footwork and a stable mentality. After his approach, he hit a powerful and heavy shot to help the team score the first point.
Krul pounced in the right direction, but his movements were a little slow.
The Dutch team's first player was their striker Van Persie. Van Persie hit a shot that hit the ground. The angle of the ball was very tricky, but the ball speed was too slow. Cesar reacted quickly, fell to the ground in time to complete the save, and saved the ball. Pounced out!
Van Persie held his head in annoyance, with a look of disbelief on his face.
Tens of thousands of Brazilian fans at the scene fell into carnival. The Dutch team's first penalty kick was saved. As long as the Brazilian team scores all the remaining four goals, they will advance to the next round!
However, the Brazilians' joy did not last for half a minute.
William, who came on the scene for the second time, made an extremely outrageous shot. The ball didn't even hit the goal frame and went directly over the baseline!
This time, it was Dutch fans cheering and celebrating.
Half a minute ago, they all thought that their team was going to hell, but unexpectedly, the goddess of fate played a joke on them.
The second player of the Dutch team was Robben. He deceived Cesar and helped the Netherlands equalize the score with a powerful and heavy shot.
The two sides are back on the same starting line!
It's Brazil's turn again, and the third player to appear is Marcelo.
He chose to hit the ball towards the middle and hit a half-high ball.
Krul misjudged the direction. Although he reacted quickly and held it up with his hand, he was unable to prevent the ball from flying into the goal.
2:1, Brazil temporarily takes the lead.
The third player of the Dutch team was Sneijder, who steadily put the ball into the goal.
At 2:2, the two teams returned to the same starting line again.
The fourth player in the Brazilian team is Hulk!
Krul correctly judged the direction and saved his shot!
The Brazilian fans at the scene hugged their heads one after another, with disbelief written all over their faces.
This ball was actually missed!
As long as the opponent's next player can score a penalty, the Dutch team will take the lead!
The pressure is on Brazilian goalkeeper Cesar. If he cannot save one of the last two penalty kicks, Brazil will stop in the top 16.
The fourth member of the Dutch team was Kuyt, who was both a little excited and a little nervous.
Cesar is experienced and can see the opponent's nervousness, so he jumps on the goal line to disturb the opponent's mentality.
This trick worked as expected. Kuyt's mentality was affected. He was not decisive enough when taking the free throw. Cesar predicted and saved it in the right direction!
Cesar used his outstanding performance to save the Brazilian team from the abyss.
Neymar was the last one to appear. He took a deep breath and touched the lawn of the stadium.
Neymar did not take a free throw directly, but suddenly used the change of rhythm during the run-up to shake the goalkeeper before kicking the ball out.
Krul did not expect this move from his opponent. After being shaken for a while, he was unable to adjust in time and could only watch the football fly into his own goal.
So far, the Brazilian team has taken all five penalty kicks, scoring 3 goals and missing 2 goals.
The pressure is on the Dutch team. If the last player to play cannot make a free throw, the Dutch team will be eliminated!
The last player to appear for the Dutch team was their defender Vlaar.
Perhaps because he is a defender, the quality of this penalty was very poor. He used the arch of his foot to push the shot. He had no power at all, and the angle was not tricky.
Such a shot was obviously not a problem for Cesar. He accurately judged the direction and saved the ball!
3:2!
The Brazilian team defeated the Netherlands in a penalty shootout, avenging the defeat four years ago and advancing to the top 8 first.
The Brazilians are one step closer to their sixth World Cup title!
Just three more wins and they'll be on the podium!
However, the next three steps are destined to be very, very difficult!
After the match between Brazil and the Netherlands, it was Spain's turn against Mexico.
Perhaps influenced by the previous game, Spain got a penalty kick just 5 minutes into the game.
Seeing Lin Quan standing at the penalty spot, the Spanish players were looking forward to it.
