Chapter 287

After the third match against Brazil in the group stage, everyone thought that the Chinese team had finally returned to its "normal level".

Unexpectedly, when entering the knockout stage and facing the world champion team Italy, the Chinese team returned to the state of the first and second games of the group stage. From the beginning of the game, they were in great shape and blocked Italy's first wave of attack.

Although Italy is famous for its defense, that only means that Italy is better at defense than offense, not that Italy's offense is not good.

When facing an Asian team like China, Italy's offense should still have an absolute advantage.

For example, in the second match of the group stage, Italy VS South Korea, South Korea was beaten 3-0 by Italy. What's more, the strength of the Chinese team is not as good as that of the South Korean team.

But the situation after the start of today's game surprised everyone.

The Chinese team relied on tacit overall positioning and individual defense to force Italy's first wave of attack to retreat before it even hit the front court.

This is too surprising.

Of course, the Italian players and fans were dumbfounded, while the Chinese fans and spectators were surprised.

Everyone was surprised and delighted that the Chinese team showed such a good competitive state at the beginning.

"Damn, the Olympic team is in such a good state today, there is hope!"

"I seem to see the Olympic team's state in the first and second group matches."

"Not seem, it's exactly the same. Look at the state and fighting spirit of the Olympic players, as well as the positioning and coordination. Even if it can't be said to be impeccable, it is much better than the third group match."

"This is the result of the whole team's bursting state."

"I'm a little excited! Is it possible that our Chinese team will be upset today?"

"Don't worry, cheer up!"

"Yes, cheer for the team!"

Then, the excited fans began to cheer for the Chinese team loudly.

And with the cheers of tens of thousands of fans at home, the Chinese team players who were in full state became more and more energetic, and in the opening stage, they actually reversed the Italian team's offensive for a while.

In the 2nd minute, Italy made a mistake in passing and was intercepted by the Chinese team in the midfield.

Wing forward Cui Peng switched positions with attacking midfielder Wang Yongbai, played a two-on-one match with Zhou Haibing in the middle and then rushed to the Italian penalty area.

Italian midfielder Montolivo rushed forward to intercept. Cui Peng, who had average personal skills, boldly made a fake pass in front of Montolivo, shook Montolivo to one side, and broke through from the other side.

"Wow..." There was an uproar in the stands, and the Chinese fans applauded and screamed excitedly while discussing loudly.

"Damn, he is really in great shape!"

"Cui Peng dared to make a fake move in front of the Italian."

"And he really broke through."

"So cool!"

"There's a chance!"

Because the Italians underestimated the enemy, the attacking midfielders, forwards, etc. were all waiting in the front court for their teammates to pass the ball to participate in the attack, so in fact the number of defensive players in the back court was not sufficient.

In addition, there were players on the wing who were involved in the Italian defensive players. After Cui Peng's sudden breakthrough, the front was suddenly bright, and only the two central defenders on the penalty area were left.

Central defender Bocchetti had to step forward to intercept Cui Peng's continued breakthrough, and another central defender Criscito nervously followed Jiang Xiaolin who rushed into the penalty area to prevent Cui Peng from passing the ball to Jiang Xiaolin.

For a while, the Italian penalty area was threatened by Cui Peng's breakthrough.

However, Cui Peng did not try to break through the opponent's central defender Bocchetti again.

It was obviously a lot of luck to break through Montolivo, which was the result of Cui Peng's sudden attack on the opponent.

Now Bocchetti knew that Cui Peng had the ability to break through Montolivo, and he must be very careful.

Facing the Italian-level central defender, it was almost impossible for Cui Peng to break through and shoot again!

Unless he had Jiang Xiaolin's dribbling ability.

Unfortunately, he didn't.

Confidence does not mean arrogance.

Although in good shape, Cui Peng was not so arrogant as to break through the opponent's entire central axis.

Seeing Bocchetti rushing to grab the ball, Cui Peng did not continue to break through, but passed the ball to the right.

The timely forward Hao Junmin received Cui Peng's cross pass outside the penalty area, and without stopping, he directly kicked the ball towards the Italian goal.

Because there were also Italian players around Hao Junmin who interfered with the defense, if he stopped for a while, the opportunity might be lost.

Therefore, Hao Junmin did not make any adjustments after receiving the ball, and shot the goal quite resolutely.

Fortunately, with the blessing of the full value of the state, Hao JunminThis shot successfully hit the goal frame, and the angle was good, looking very threatening.

Many Chinese fans in the stands have already stood up, their hearts in their throats, ready to celebrate.

Unfortunately, Italy still has a goalkeeper, and a Serie A-level goalkeeper.

Goalkeeper Viviano made a wonderful save, blocking Hao Junmin's shot from the bottom line, saving Italy's goal.

There was a sigh in the stands, and countless fans regretted that this shot in the first 2 minutes of the game could not be kicked in.

If the Chinese team scored a goal in the first 2 minutes, coupled with the defensive counterattack tactics of Jiang Xiaolin and the double defensive midfielders, the Chinese team might not have the possibility of defeating Italy unexpectedly and advancing to the semi-finals!

Unfortunately, Hao Junmin's shot was not as sharp as Jiang Xiaolin's, which was really going straight to the theoretical blind spot, and was still blocked by the goalkeeper.

Fortunately, the Chinese team got another corner kick.

Hao Junmin, who missed the chance to score, ran to the corner kick area and took the corner kick himself.

Jiang Xiaolin, Li Weifeng, Zheng Zhi and other taller players of the Chinese team all stood in the penalty area to compete for headers, which made the Italians a little nervous.

When Hao Junmin's corner kick came out, the Italian players and fans became even more nervous.

Because Hao Junmin was in full on-the-spot state, this corner kick was very good, just landing near Jiang Xiaolin, and it was still far from the goal. Goalkeeper Viviano did not dare to attack the ball, giving the Chinese team a good chance to head the ball.

Jiang Xiaolin lived up to expectations. With the confidence of the three bottles of healing potions in the package, he collided with Italian central defender Bocchetti without hesitation at the landing point of the ball, and knocked Bocchetti crooked with his strong physique and balance, and successfully jumped up to grab the first point and headed for the goal.

Unfortunately, this header was affected by Bocchetti's collision and missed the target, and finally went slightly above the crossbar.

The Italian players were still protesting that Jiang Xiaolin had fouled Bocchetti when he was competing for the header, but the referee ignored them and let them take the goal kick.

It is normal for one or two people to fall down when competing for the header in the penalty area. Bocchetti can only blame himself for not being as strong as Jiang Xiaolin and not having as good balance as Jiang Xiaolin.

If Jiang Xiaolin had headed the ball in, it would have been a good goal.

Unfortunately, it didn't go in, and the referee would have been even less likely to call Jiang Xiaolin a foul.

Hao Junmin's long shot outside the penalty area and Jiang Xiaolin's header from the corner kick, this wave of continuous attacks made the Chinese fans at the scene and in front of the TV climax.

Although there was no goal, everyone was still very excited.

No one expected that the Chinese team would be beaten by Italy, but the Chinese team actually showed such a good on-the-spot state and took the lead in launching continuous threatening attacks on the Italian goal.

Fans sang and shouted slogans in the stands excitedly, cheering for the Chinese team with all their might, hoping that the Olympic team would create a bigger miracle.

After all, even though everyone knew that Italy was strong, everyone still had some expectations of an upset.

Perhaps they were angered by the continuous attacks of the Chinese team, or perhaps their pride was finally broken. In the next game, Italy's offensive coordination was much stronger and tighter, and the Chinese team was forced to retreat and shrink its defense, making it difficult to launch a collective attack to Italy's backcourt.

This is the normal game in everyone's mind.

Although Italy gives people the impression of a defensive team, after all, the opponent it faces is not Brazil or the Netherlands, but the Chinese team in Asia.

If Italy had to play traditional defensive counterattacks and dare not attack against the Chinese team, all the coaches and players in Italy would be dead.

On the contrary, the Chinese team had been playing in a 4231 defensive counterattack formation. Facing a world-class team like Italy, defense is what they should do.

Like the continuous attack just now, the gap left by the opponent in the backcourt is actually very large and very dangerous.

The fact that the Italians did not catch it can only be said that the Chinese team was lucky.

A normal game should be like this now. The Chinese team relies on the advantage of numbers and good competitive state to concentrate on shrinking defense, and then rely on Jiang Xiaolin's speed and personal ability to wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

However, although the game has resumed the state of Italy using its strong overall strength to suppress the Chinese team, the Chinese fans were not disappointed and did not seem too nervous.

Because the state and overall game strength shown by the Chinese team really make people not afraid.

Although Italy can maintain the offense in the Chinese team's half, it is difficult to get the offense into the penalty area.

The Chinese players areEven if the individual strength is insufficient, they can also use the advantage of numbers and the tacit cooperation of the whole team to resolve the Italian attack, and rarely let the opponent threaten their own goal.

The on-the-spot state that is added to the full value, the players are in the best state both mentally and physically, and will not make major mistakes due to nervousness or excitement.

Even if they are occasionally broken through by Italian players, it is only because of the lack of personal strength.

In this case, Italy pressed the Chinese team for several minutes, and only got a threatening shot on the penalty area line in the 6th minute.

This time, the forward Acquafresca shot within the range of the goal frame, and the angle was not tricky, and it was easily saved by goalkeeper Qiu Shengjiong.

It didn't even save the bottom line to give Italy a corner kick, but saved it to the full-back Yuan Weiwei, and then Yuan Weiwei kicked the ball to the midfield to clear the siege.

As the game progressed, the faces of Italian players and coaches became more and more heavy, while the Chinese became more and more excited.

Everyone can see that although the individual strength of the Italian players is indeed better than that of the Chinese team, the Chinese team can block most of Italy's attacks with the excellent performance of the team as a whole.

Before the game started, the scene that everyone expected, Italy to bloody the Chinese team and easily advance to the semi-finals, did not appear.

Moreover, with the solid defense of the Chinese team and the occasional counterattack, it even made people feel that Italy's goal was not so safe.

Although Italy is famous for its defense, after all, the stadium is so big that no team can be watertight.

Moreover, Jiang Xiaolin's body, speed, and technology can not be completely defended. If you are not careful, Jiang Xiaolin will find a gap to use.

In the 9th minute, Jiang Xiaolin successfully countered the offside and almost received Zheng Zhi's long pass from the backcourt to form a single knife.

Fortunately, goalkeeper Viviano acted decisively and attacked in time. He shoveled the ball out of the sideline before Jiang Xiaolin in the penalty area.

Otherwise, with this quick counterattack, the Italian goal might have been broken by Jiang Xiaolin.

After being scared by Jiang Xiaolin this time, the Italian midfielders and backcourt players became more cautious and dared not rush to participate in the attack.

As a result, the Chinese team faced less pressure in the backcourt and the defense became more stable.

For a while, the Chinese Olympic team was in a stalemate with the world's top Italian Olympic team.

After the Chinese team easily lost to the Brazilian team in the third group match, no one even thought of such a situation.

No one expected that the Chinese team would have such a good on-the-spot state in this game, and they could really fight hard with Italy, and they did not easily break through the defense line and lose the ball early.

Whether at the scene or in front of the TV, countless Chinese fans and spectators watched nervously and talked about it:

"Damn, this game made me so nervous."

"Yeah! I originally came to watch the only world championship knockout match of the Chinese team with the mentality of participating. Unexpectedly, it seems that we still have a chance to advance to the semi-finals!"

"Just now, when Jiang Xiaolin was offside and chased Zheng Zhi's pass, my heart almost jumped out! Unfortunately, Zheng Zhi's pass was a little too far, and Jiang Xiaolin didn't catch up in the end."

"Don't expect too much, Zheng Zhi's pass is already very good, in general It was not kicked directly out of the sideline. "

"Yes. Today's performance of the Chinese team reminded me of the same scene as the first and second games of the group stage. Even if the opponent is Italy, which is world-famous for its defense, I feel that we still have hope. "

"Yes! As long as the back line can withstand Italy's attack, and Jiang Xiaolin occasionally sneaks in and kills, we really have a chance to eliminate Italy and advance to the semi-finals!"

"If that really happens, I will not have watched football in vain in my life."

"Yes!"

"Everyone keep shouting, cheer for the Olympic team!"

"Good!"