"Ha! Hu really didn't choose to shoot directly from the center circle!"
The match between the Chinese team and the Icelandic team has begun, and Hu Lai, who is responsible for the kick-off, passes the football back to the back.
This unremarkable scene made many commentators from various countries in the commentary box laugh - except for the Spanish commentator.
Spanish commentator Alvarez Sanchezti didn't even mention this, and just said, "The Chinese team kicks off, and the game begins!"
The game had just started. Although the Chinese team got the kick-off right, they did not immediately hit the ball into the 30-meter area of the Icelandic team. Instead, they passed the ball back and then tipped the ball in the backcourt.
"...The Chinese team didn't rush to attack after the opening, they played very steadily..."
There are still many fans in front of the TV with their eyes wide open, trying to discern clues from some details so that they can guess the development trend of this game.
The Chinese team played steadily, and the Icelandic team also seemed very cautious.
After all, this is the opening game of this World Cup, and they are facing the host country.
And this is no ordinary host.
If the Chinese team from more than ten years ago was really the host, the Icelandic team would not be afraid and would just go ahead and be done with it.
The Chinese team is now ranked 20th in FIFA, 19 places higher than Iceland - Iceland is the lowest ranked team among all European qualifying teams this time, and is not very strong, otherwise it would not be ranked "third".
As a "fourth-level team", they were assigned to this group.
After the Chinese team passed the ball back and forth, they found that the Icelandic team still had not been pulled out, and they could not keep playing in the backcourt, so they still fought.
Seeing the Chinese team's offensive, the Icelandic team immediately recovered and built three lines of defense in front of its own penalty area.
Faced with such an obvious shrinkage, the Chinese team had no good solution for a while.
In the end, Luo Kai cut inside and shot a long shot, completing the Chinese team's first shot in this World Cup.
However, the quality of this shot was not very high. Under the interference of Icelandic players, it failed to make any effort and was easily caught by Icelandic goalkeeper Indli Smarassen.
After getting the ball, Iceland did not take the opportunity to make a big push into the Chinese team's half, but continued to pass the ball cautiously in the midfield and backfield.
“Why is Iceland so cowardly?”
"What can I do if I'm not a coward? They are all a group of amateur players. The gap in strength is too big!"
"Another victim of unscrupulous marketing accounts has appeared... What amateur players? All the Icelandic national team are professional players. Captain Thorgrimsson even plays the main force in the traditional strong team of the Premier League, Warship Port!"
"Actually, Iceland is not bad. The FIFA ranking of 39th is also very high, okay? I don't know if Iceland is too cautious, or if our Chinese team is really that strong. It can make Iceland so cautious..."
"Speaking of which, they are just kicking back in the backcourt like this. Aren't they afraid that we will directly threaten their goal after stealing the ball?"
"Perhaps they just hope that the Chinese team will come forward to grab us? Then Iceland will be able to fight back against us."
"European teams actually want to attack our defensive counterattack... Phew, it's been a long time coming!"
…
Just a few minutes after the game started, the Internet was already filled with heated discussions among Chinese fans.
On the one hand, of course, it is because Chinese fans are very enthusiastic about this Chinese team's first game in this World Cup.
On the other hand, it was also because the pace was very slow after the game started and there were no exciting scenes.
Only then did everyone have time to type online.
Not only the fans, but the commentators also took this opportunity to re-broadcast the starting lineups of both sides based on what they observed.
After all, the starting lineup given by FIFA before the game is often different from the one in the actual game. Therefore, experienced commentators will not simply repeat the list given by FIFA, they will base it on the actual situation on the field.
Calibrate again.
FIFA reported 343 in Iceland, but in fact after the game started, the commentators observed 541 based on the actual situation. The difference is still very big.
The Chinese team has the same starting lineup as FIFA - 442.
Starting goalkeeper Lin Zhiyuan, starting center backs Wang Guangwei and Qin Qi, starting left back Peng Weijun, starting right back Yuan Da.
The four midfielders Ou Yangjin and Xia Xiaoyu are in the middle. Both of them are positioned as defensive midfielders in the starting lineup, but there are still some differences.
Ou Yangjin is indeed a defensive midfielder, but Xia Xiaoyu is more like a central midfielder - neither an attacking midfielder nor a defensive midfielder.
On the right side of the midfield is Luo Kai, and on the left side is Chen Xingyi.
Both of them actually play wingers in their respective clubs, but in the national team they are still mainly wingers.
This is because the Chinese team already has two high-level forwards and is not suitable to use the previous 433 formation.
The starting strikers are naturally Hu Lai and Zhou Zijing.
This starting lineup is composed entirely of overseas players, with no domestic players at all. It can be said to be the strongest lineup of the Chinese team today.
Before this World Cup, what Jorge Dillon left to the national team was the 352 formation and corresponding supporting tactics that everyone is already familiar with.
With this formation and tactics, the Chinese team defeated Japan in the Asian Cup and won the first Asian Cup championship in history.
This formation is very mature and the actual effect is very good.
However, due to the injury to the original midfield core Zhang Qinghuan, Qin Lin's Chinese team changed to the current 442 more often in the past year.
Because there is no Zhang Qinghuan who is responsible for the final pass, Xia Xiaoyu's position in the current formation must be further forward, so he changed from a defensive midfielder to a central midfielder.
At the same time, the role of Zhou Zijing's tactical fulcrum will be more prominent.
As many people have speculated before, although Zhang Qinghuan was successfully selected into the final roster of the national team, it does not mean that he can still be the main starter in this World Cup.
After all, he barely played well in the past season.
And now there is no place for him in the national team's starting tactics...
Except for Zhang Qinghuan's fans who may be a little unhappy after seeing this starting list, other Chinese fans still understand.
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"The tactics used by Iceland in this game should be defensive counterattacks. They took the initiative to give up possession of the ball and adopted the strategy of shrinking the defense in the thirty-meter area... Most of the players on the Icelandic team are very strong and tall.
Big horses, they are huddled in their own 30-meter area, and there is basically not much space inside and outside the penalty area..."
The commentator He Feng frowned.
"Their defensive formation is maintained very well. It is not easy for the Chinese team to create openings."
Yan Kang added: "And Iceland has made targeted arrangements for several of our main offensive points. Their head coach Hermansson has done a very detailed job. It is no wonder that they have taken over the Iceland team only two years ago.
Led this team to reach the World Cup finals again after 16 years..."
When Yan Kang said this, the TV broadcast also gave the Iceland coach a close-up shot.
In the camera, Jon Hermansson is standing on the sidelines, looking at the court with a solemn expression.
If you just look at this expression, many people may think that Iceland has fallen behind.
But those who know Hermansson will know that this is his classic expression when coaching.
It’s just that as a head coach who had little reputation before and had been coaching in the Icelandic domestic league, not many people knew him well...
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Hu Lai originally rushed forward in a straight line, but then suddenly pulled away laterally.
It was at this time that the message from Zhou Zijing came.
The ball has to be passed into the open space, and people have to run into the open space!
Seeing this, the Chinese fans and commentators in the stands became excited.
"Zhou Zijing's diagonal biography...opportunity!"
But Hu Lai didn't win the chance to shoot, he didn't even touch the ball.
The football was poked away by Iceland left-back Olav Brynjolfsson who suddenly came up from behind him!
He pushed the football towards the bottom line. Goalkeeper Indli Smarassen was not even willing to give the Chinese team a corner kick. He came out quickly and before the football rolled out of the bottom line, he made a flying tackle and kicked the ball out of the sideline.
"Ouch! This ball!"
"Brynjolfsson's recovery speed is very fast and his reaction is even faster!"
"Brynjolfsson is Hu Lai's teammate at Madrid Pirates. He must be very familiar with Hu Lai."
Yan Kang was right. As Hu Lai's teammate in the club, he was indeed very familiar with Hu Lai.
Olaf Brynjolfsson is indeed Hu Lai's club teammate. He was a substitute for Yon Martinez at Madrid Pirates.
In the Chinese team's recent offensive, although the football was being passed to Zhou Zijing by Xia Xiaoyu, even Zhou Zijing had not yet received the ball. Brynjolfsson turned his attention to Hu Lai and locked it firmly on him.
.
He knew very well that Hu Lai would be the finisher of this attack.
As long as we can guard against Hu Lai, we can guard against the Chinese team's attack.
He guessed right.
As expected, Zhou Zijing passed the football into the space in front of Hu Lai.
Before Zhou Zijing passed the ball, Brynjolfsson moved ahead and pounced on the space.
After completing this defense, other Icelandic players came over to high-five Brynjolfsson.
Facing the praise and encouragement from his teammates, Brynjolfsson chose to look at Hu Lai.
He completed a beautiful defense, and he wanted to see Hu Lai's reaction to it.
Hu Lai, who originally raised his head and felt sorry for missing this opportunity, noticed Brynjolfsson's gaze and looked over, with a smile on his face.
If he hadn't played in the same club as Hu Lai, Brynjolfsson would have thought that Hu Lai's smile was to cover up his regrets and to maintain composure in front of his opponent.
But precisely because he and Hu Lai had worked together for many years, Brynjolfsson knew very well that Hu Lai was definitely not pretending.
His mentality was not affected. His defense this time was just to prevent Hu Lai's attack.
In this game, Hu Lai will definitely have many opportunities to get the ball like this.
The test he faces has just begun... a>vas>div>Scan the QR code to download Red Sleeves and Xiaoxiang to receive benefits. Newcomers can read for free for a limited time div>div>div>