After Caesar came on the stage, all eyes and cameras were focused on him.
The "Flying Cat" camera flying above the stadium even landed next to him and took a 360-degree "sweeping" aerial photo of him.
Even though Caesar actually did nothing at this time.
Now, this is called "top superstar".
Hu Lai's performance in the past two seasons can also be called a superstar.
But in terms of personal aura as a player, he is still far behind compared to older generation superstars like Caesar.
Some people may think that this is the reason for Hu Lai's special personal temperament.
But that's not the case.
At the same time, Melli and Kabangka can also be regarded as well-known top stars.
He also won many championship honors.
But in front of the established "Four Heavenly Kings", they all feel "short".
Among the "Four Kings", Selius Caesar, the most powerful one, really has the "air of a king".
Just like his name.
But in fact, Selius Caesar was not originally called Caesar.
His real name is Serius Marcelo Palazino.
After he became an adult, he added "Caesar" to his name because he admired the historical Caesar the Great, so his full name became Serius Caesar Marcello Palazzi.
promise.
He chose to print only "Caesar" on his jersey, so that everyone would call him "Caesar".
At first, his actions aroused everyone's ridicule and confusion.
But at the age of eighteen, he withstood all pressure from the outside world and used actual performance to practice his beliefs on the court - he wanted to be Caesar on the green court!
With the real Julius Caesar as his idol and the real Julius Caesar as his goal, Serius Marcello Palazino finally lived the life he wanted step by step.
No one would mention it anymore, or even remember his real name.
Everyone calls him "Caesar", as if he is really the Roman king reborn on the green field more than two thousand years ago.
However, the ending of Caesar the Great in history did not go well, which seems to coincide with the current plight of Selius Caesar at the end of his career.
After Caesar came on the field, Italy indeed strengthened its offensive appropriately.
They played a relatively simple offense and wanted to directly find Caesar, the high point in front of the goal.
But after trying it several times, the effect is not very good.
Because the Chinese team also carried out targeted defense against Caesar.
Wang Guangwei followed Caesar every step of the way, not giving him a chance to grab points in the penalty area.
In addition, Caesar's current body motor function has declined significantly and his range of activities has been reduced, making it relatively easy to defend.
After playing for seven or eight minutes, Caesar has not even completed a successful grab or shot.
The game entered eighty minutes, and the score was still 0:0.
"Look, I told you. What are you doing here?" Tang Yuan said, pointing to the close-up of Caesar in the curtain.
"If you want to be more open, at least you don't have to take the blame." Mao Xiao comforted Tang Yuan. "In the last game, Italy didn't win. They said it was because Caesar started the game, which wasted the opportunity. This time Caesar didn't start, you guys.
You have nothing to say, right?"
"You're overthinking, Mao Xiao. How could you be speechless? The gangsters can always find an angle. They didn't start the game, but they came on the bench. If they didn't perform on the bench, doesn't it mean a substitution was wasted?"
Maybe if someone else comes up, they can win?"
Tang Xiuyuan couldn't help but asked: "Why do you feel that you are looking forward to the Italian team winning?"
Tang Yuan quickly explained: "Of course not, I know Italy can't win, so I don't think it is necessary to replace Caesar with the dying struggle, and give the gangsters a handle. They are going to lose anyway, so why replace Caesar? No
Just taking the blame for the coach..."
Chu Yifan shook his head: "Who said Italy can't win? Football is round. Don't act as if the Chinese team is certain to win."
"It may be difficult for the Chinese team to win, but a draw should be no problem." Tang Yuan said, and then sighed, "Caesar is really in trouble... ugh!"
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Italy stepped up its offensive, and the Chinese team stepped up its counterattack.
During the counterattack, it was difficult for Hulay to get a chance because he was heavily marked by the Italian defender. So he used his running position to give his teammates a chance to shoot.
The Chinese team took advantage of the gaps and opportunities created by his running.
But to be honest, even attackers like Zhou Zijing and Chen Xingyi are still far from being able to compare with Hu Lai in terms of offensive efficiency.
It can't even compare with the top level in Europe.
Zhou Zijing is good at playing ball, but his scoring ability is poor.
Chen Xingyi can lead and pass, but his scoring ability is relatively weak.
Their ability to become the main force in their respective clubs does not rely on scoring goals one after another.
This is why the Italian team would rather let Hulay create space for his teammates and create opportunities, but also continue to keep an eye on Hulay.
They know very well who is the most threatening player of the Chinese team.
In the eyes of the Italian team, other Chinese team players, including those who have already made a name for themselves in Europe, are at European level at best, but they are not yet at the top level in Europe, let alone the top.
They often see such opponents, and they have rich experience in dealing with them. They know what to do, so it is actually not difficult.
Only Hu Lai is completely special.
He is an opponent that gives all Italian players a huge headache, and is different from all the players they have encountered before.
Even when Caesar was young, he was not as difficult to deal with as Hu Lai. He was so cunning that he didn't dare to lose his mind for a second.
Even though Mattioli defended Hu Lai in this game and didn't even score a goal, Mattioli didn't feel that he had won. As long as the referee didn't blow the final whistle, he didn't dare to relax.
You have to hold on to Hu Lai for as long as you have one breath left.
So he was actually in a very awkward situation, and had to rely on the rest of the team to fill the space behind him.
In the past, he was wiping other people's butts, but now the whole team is wiping his butts.
All this is because of Hu Lai.
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Not long after Luo Kai was replaced, Zhang Qinghuan was also replaced.
However, Dillon did not replace Zhang Qinghuan with Guo Junfu and made a matchup substitution.
Instead, he replaced Gao Ruimin and formed two defensive midfielders with Ou Yangjin in the middle.
The two of them, plus Xia Xiaoyu, lined up three midfielders in the middle of the midfield.
This is obviously an adjustment to be on the safe side.
Unable to attack for a long time, and worried about being attacked by Italy, Dillon slowed down the Chinese team's pace.
After all, for the Chinese team, even if this game is a draw, it is completely acceptable.
One win and one draw will earn four points, Italy will gain two points from two draws. Spain's game has not been played yet, so we don't know the result, but even if Spain wins and gets three points, they will have to fight Italy in the end.
As a result, it will be very difficult for Italy to surpass the Chinese team in points by defeating Spain.
No matter what the situation is, as long as the Chinese team does not lose to Nigeria by a large score, they can qualify from this group.
So there was absolutely no need for Dillon to risk trying to beat Italy.
Although he is a Spaniard, he has coached in Italy for a long time and knows Italian football very well. In his opinion, Italians are very good at playing in stalemate situations because they can hold on. So even if the Italian team does not seem to be playing well on the scene,
It’s not good, they were beaten and so on... but in the end they often win.
The performance of the Italian team in this World Cup European qualifier is a good proof of this point.
If you watch the process of their games, most of them are unconvincing.
I feel that from the perspective of the scene and the process, Italy should not have won.
But they won in the end.
This Italian team rarely has a hearty victory, and the victory or defeat is between one or two goals.
They are particularly good at dragging their opponents into the quagmire, and then hugging each other and rolling into a ball. The scene looks ugly, and it is not even possible to see that they can win. But in the end, they must be the ones crawling out of the quagmire panting.
And their opponents are already lying in the quagmire dying...
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"The Chinese team has slowed down."
"This is right, this is right. A tie is completely acceptable..."
The match between the Chinese team and the Italian team was only an hour away from the last match between Sweden and South Korea, and the entire England team also gathered together to watch.
They don't watch every World Cup game, but they must pay attention to the games of opponents in this group and the games of opponents in the quarter-finals.
Seeing Dillon making adjustments, the England internationals commented one after another.
The subsequent games also proved everyone's judgment. Because the Chinese team shrunk their defense and slowed down, they withstood Italy's offensive. They even had counterattacks that could threaten Italy's goal.
"If the Chinese team and Italy draw in this game, then they may have a high chance of winning the first place..."
Jay Adams to Pete Williams next to him.
Pete nodded and said nothing.
If England and China both finish first in their respective groups, they will not reach the quarter-finals.
You have to wait until the semi-finals...(Note 1)
But if he waits until the semifinals... there will be too many variables, and Peter doesn't know if he can realize his wish to meet Hu Lai and Zhou Zijing.
It's not because he has no confidence in the Chinese team. In fact, he doesn't have that much confidence in the England team and believes that the team can definitely reach the semi-finals.
There are too many obstacles in the middle.
Argentina, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain... these may all become threats to England.
It may also become a threat to the Chinese team...
Moreover, tournament-based competitions such as the World Cup are the most likely to be upset.
The two hosts of this World Cup both lost in their first games, which shows the unexpectedness of the World Cup.
Just when everyone thought that the game was likely to end in a draw, the Chinese team got a chance to counterattack.
Caesar lost the battle with Wang Guangwei in the frontcourt. Italy's cross from the wing allowed Wang Guangwei to head it out.
The Chinese team took advantage of the situation and launched a counterattack.
Although a draw is completely acceptable, it does not mean that the Chinese team will remain indifferent when there is a chance to win.
Wouldn't it be better if we could win against Italy and qualify for the group stage one round ahead of schedule?
At that time, more substitute players can come on stage to get training opportunities and feel the atmosphere of the World Cup, which can also make the atmosphere within the team more harmonious.
However, the Chinese team's counterattack was not successful this time.
As soon as they advanced to the thirty-meter area, they were blocked by Italy.
Italy then tried to fight back.
In order to prevent the Chinese team from counterattacking, Gao Ruimin, who came on as a substitute in the second half, committed a tactical foul on the Italian midfielder Marco Rossini who was holding the ball near the center circle of the frontcourt.
Delayed Italy's counterattack.
"Good shot! Gao Ruimin's tactical foul was very smart and timely!"
The Chinese commentator here was boasting, and Rossini got up from the ground and saw Gao Ruimin and other Chinese players retreating.
Most of them, like Gao Ruimin, were walking back.
But instead of walking backwards, he turned around and walked back.
He suddenly realized that this was an opportunity to fight back!
So his eyes quickly roamed around the front court, and he found that the one at the front was Caesar.
The latter originally rushed forward, but when he turned around and saw that Italy's counterattack had not started, he turned around and went back to defense. Then halfway through the defense, the Chinese team's counterattack failed. Italy had the opportunity to counterattack again, so he turned around and ran back.
He ran a few steps forward and heard the whistle. He looked back and saw that Marco Rossini was pulled to the ground by a tactical foul and Italy's counterattack could not succeed. He stopped and walked back slowly.
However, although he walked back slowly, his eyes were always observing the situation behind him. As he walked, he saw the scene in front of him and saw Marco Rossini getting up and looking forward.
Caesar reacted immediately. He quickened his pace and ran back two more steps to reintegrate himself into the Chinese team's defense.
Then at this moment, Rossini kicked the football directly over!
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Wang Guangwei is the only player on the Chinese team's defense who walks backwards so that he can observe the opponent's movements.
He did observe Rossini's movements and reacted to them.
But there is a problem with walking backwards, that is... you need to turn around to catch up!
When he turned around, the football had already passed by him against the turf!
In front of him was Italy's number 11, Serius Caesar!
Wang Guangwei doesn't know whether Caesar was offside or not. According to the current rules, the game will not be stopped immediately. He has to wait until the end of an attack to tell you whether it was offside or not.
So you can't stop and raise your hands to complain to the referee for offside.
He could only continue to chase back.
The only good news... this is a thirty-eight-year-old Caesar, not a twenty-eight-year-old, so he can still catch up!
"Rossini free kick quick! Danger!"
"Italy's chance to counterattack!"
The scene was once again filled with cheers and boos.
It’s just that this time who was cheering and who was booing...it’s hard to say!
Wang Guangwei sped up and chased back.
Although I played for almost 90 minutes and consumed a lot of physical energy, I still have to hold on with gritted teeth and must not let my guard down!
He saw Caesar running ahead, and felt that he was getting closer and closer...
Finally, when he was about to enter the penalty area, he caught up with Caesar.
But they both also broke into the penalty area together.
At this time, Wang Guangwei could only stick up and squeeze the opponent with his own body to interfere with him getting the ball.
Judging from Caesar's performance this season, his physical confrontation ability has also declined a lot.
Therefore, Wang Guangwei is still confident that he can squeeze out Caesar.
But just as he squeezed in, Caesar, who was on the outside, suddenly took the football one step further outside, and then kicked off!
Lin Zhiyuan, who originally cooperated with Wang Guangwei in attacking, planned to block Caesar's shooting angle, but he did not expect Caesar's shot to be so decisive and sudden... He just pushed the football away with his front foot, caught up with his back foot and shot directly!
Lin Zhiyuan fell to the ground in a hurry and made a save, but did not touch the ball!
The football flew over his body and went straight into the goal behind him!
No one expected that Italy would counterattack and Caesar would take the lead!
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Note 1: The settings for the upper and lower halves of this World Cup in the book are calculated according to groups, without crossover, which is different from the setting of the World Cup in Qatar in the real world.
That is, the qualifying teams of the four groups A, B, C, and D will automatically enter the upper half. The qualifying teams of the four groups E, F, G, and H will automatically enter the bottom half.
This is done for simplicity and convenience so that I don’t make mistakes when writing.