"We lost 0:2 in the first round, so we have been pushed to a dead end." In the home team's locker room, Uzbekistan captain Faruk Namozov was speaking to his own players.
Even coach Rasulov stood aside and gave center stage to the national hero of Uzbek football.
Namozov once led the Uzbekistan national team to the Asian Cup runner-up, which was also the best result of the Uzbekistan national team in international competitions.
It was precisely with this performance that Namozov was elected the Asian Footballer of the Year.
That was the most glorious time of Namozov's career, and now that his career is coming to an end, he hopes to fulfill his dream in the final stage and lead Uzbekistan to a historic appearance on the World Cup stage.
Looking at it now, hope is a bit slim.
After losing two goals in the first round, the national team returned to Uzbekistan and was scolded badly by the local media and fans.
Among them, head coach Rasulov is under tremendous pressure.
Uzbek media and fans all believed that Rasulov's choice when trailing by two goals was too conservative. He should not choose to defend, but should actively attack and strive to score an away goal.
If we can return to the home court with a score of 1:2, the second round will be much easier to play.
The current score really makes many Uzbek fans feel desperate.
"That's okay, guys. We don't have to think about what is and isn't. We will devote all our energy to this game and try our best to win. Stay focused..." Namozov put his hands on his temples, "
It is very important to stay focused during the game because concentration allows us to explode with stronger fighting power!"
Namozov waved his fist and spoke sonorously.
In the last round, he also failed to perform to his own level and was still under tremendous pressure.
He had no complaints about this. When he returned to Tashkent, facing reporters at the airport, he took the initiative to take all the responsibility for the loss on himself.
At the same time, he also made a promise to fans across the country: "I will definitely score in the second round! We will definitely go to the World Cup!"
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"Although we defeated Uzbekistan 2:0 in the first round, to be honest, a two-goal lead is not a very safe score. As long as Uzbekistan can score from the beginning, the wind will immediately turn in their favor. So the country
The boys on the team must not be arrogant and underestimate the enemy just because they are ahead by two goals and let down their guard..."
When He Feng said this, the second round of the game between the two sides had already begun.
Uzbekistan, playing at home, changed its tactics of shrinking defense in the first round and took the initiative to attack and be aggressive.
With the cheers of nearly 70,000 fans in the audience, they launched a violent attack on the Chinese team’s goal.
Every Chinese fan who watched it was frightened.
Will the Chinese team relax after 2:0 in the first round and lose a good game?
There are many such precedents in the history of Chinese football. This is one of the important reasons why Chinese football has such a bad reputation. Everyone knows that you cannot trip over the same stone twice. Chinese football does not always get tripped by the same stone.
I am addicted to tripping over rocks.
How many people can hold back the anger when Chinese football is on display?
Although as the reform of Chinese football has deepened in recent years, many inherent impressions have been gradually reversed.
But there is something that goes deep into the bone marrow, and that is Chinese fans’ distrust of Chinese football.
At some critical moments, the "tragedy" scenes in history can always awaken everyone's memory, allowing them to combine the game in front of them with those painful memories.
To put it bluntly, the tragedies in the past have made Chinese fans have a very strong "pessimistic mood". They always want to lose but dare not think about winning.
Even those who were a little bolder in the past will eventually be slapped in the face by the cruel reality and will never dare to be arrogant again.
This is just like that joke:
Every time the Chinese team plays, I bet on losing. If the Chinese team wins, I will be happy even though I have lost money. If the Chinese team loses, I will be just as happy as winning. In the end, I make money by betting on the Chinese team to lose.
I bought a new house with the money...
Changing this deep-rooted impression of Chinese football cannot be achieved overnight.
But change must have a beginning, otherwise change will never happen.
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“The Chinese team withstood Uzbekistan’s offensive and tried to counterattack...”
When He Feng said this, he felt a little relieved.
Uzbekistan's stormy offensive just now really made him very nervous, and he couldn't help but be surprised when he was commentating on the game.
In any case, we still withstood it. Now we can take a breath and prepare ourselves for the next wave of offensive...
On the pitch, the Chinese team launched an attack through the left wing.
Different from the first round, this time Uzbekistan did not retreat neatly into its own penalty area to defend when the Chinese team attacked. Instead, it started to press in the midfield and frontcourt, hoping to directly counterattack and launch on the spot.
Fight back.
This is of course because their tactical goals are different from those in the first round.
However, this also resulted in more gaps in their defense.
Luo Kai received a long diagonal pass from the backcourt on the right wing and rushed forward with the ball.
Uzbekistan full-back Edor Otagulov came up to defend him. He glanced at the space behind the opponent, without any fancy and unnecessary movements, directly pushed the football forward, and then relied on his own speed to force the overtake.
!
“Luo Kai...beautiful!! He ate Otaguluf alive with his speed!”
Luo Kai, who succeeded in overtaking, did not continue to dribble the ball, but after catching up with the football, he started to pass.
The football drew an arc and flew into the penalty area.
Hulai rushed over and shot the ball without stopping!
Uzbekistan goalkeeper Hassan Abramov came out to block the shot with his body.
The football hit his leg and bounced back. Hu Lai, who had already completed the shot, immediately reacted when he saw this. At that time, his body rushed forward, and it was too late to make other adjustments. He simply took advantage of the situation and pounced forward.
Jump to the top!
Before Hamlayev made a clearance, he pushed the football into the Uzbekistan goal!
The manic storm over the Tashkent Stadium suddenly stopped.
None of the Uzbek fans expected that the goal would come without any warning, and the one who scored the goal was...the Chinese team!
"Hu Lai!! Ah ha ha ha ha!!" He Feng laughed loudly, and he relaxed all of a sudden. "Beautiful! Beautiful! With a clean attack, Hu Lai scored! The Chinese team not only scored in the total
The score is 3:0 ahead of Uzbekistan, and there is also an away goal! Well done Hulay! Well done Rokai!"
After scoring the goal, Hulay ran to do his signature celebration. Luo Kai did not join in the fun. He just shook his fist at the place where he completed the cross and celebrated alone.
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Looking at the Chinese players rushing to Hulay to celebrate the goal, Namozov kept taking deep breaths to force himself to calm down.
Just now, when he saw Hu Lai tipping the football into the goal with a supplementary shot, his heart seemed to be tightly grasped by some terrible force, unable to beat at all.
At that moment he seemed to be knocked down.
But in the end he was still standing on the court.
He knew he could not fail.
Uzbek football has reached its most dangerous moment, and he cannot afford to fall.
“Pass the ball to me more.” After calming down, Namozov turned to his teammates and said.
Everyone looked at him with confused eyes at first, and then realized what their captain meant by saying this, and their fighting spirit regained their expressions.
A real leader doesn’t need long speeches to boost morale, he just needs to tell the people around him to pass the ball to him.
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After the game restarted, Uzbekistan, which was forced into a desperate situation, burst out with huge energy.
Both the head coach Rasulov on the sidelines and the players on the field, there is no need to hesitate like in the first round.
Everyone knows what to do next. Apart from attacking and attacking with all their strength, there is nothing they can do!
Uzbek fans in the stands of the Tashkent Stadium used the loudest shouts to cheer for the team and make a last-ditch effort for Uzbek football’s journey to the World Cup.
Amid their cheers, Uzbekistan's offensive became more and more fierce.
The Chinese players on the court have been beaten for a long time and cannot make it past halftime.
Hu Laidu changed from a center to a defensive midfielder and returned to the front of the penalty area to assist in defense. Although he can't do much...
Even though the Uzbekistan defense was completely empty, the Chinese team was unable to pass the football. Neither Chen Xingyi nor Luo Kai had the chance to use their speed to take the football out.
Uzbekistan’s continuous offensive was really like a dark cloud pressing down on the situation. It brought huge psychological pressure to the Chinese team players who were caught in the storm.
The Chinese team won the first round relatively easily. Because of Uzbekistan’s head coach Rasulov’s conservative tactics, it can be said that Uzbekistan was subdued without much resistance.
Many people may have forgotten that in history, the Chinese team has played against Uzbekistan many times, and they actually lost more and won less.
Finally before the end of the first half, Uzbekistan used rounds of bombing to force the Chinese team's defense to make a fatal mistake. When Namozov got the ball at the front of the Chinese team's penalty area, no Chinese team player came up to restrict it.
he.
Namozov took a long shot without any hesitation!
The football roared into the Chinese team’s penalty area like a cannonball and hit the dead center of the goal!
Although goalkeeper Hao De fought hard to save, he was still out of reach and could only watch the ball and sigh...
"Oops!" He Feng in the studio behind held his head in his hands and yelled with regret and pain. "Namozov's shot was of very high quality! But why didn't any of us defend him before he shot?
What about him? You know, Namozov is famous for his long-range shots!"
Yan Kang comforted him and also comforted the Chinese fans in front of the TV: "Although we lost a goal, don't panic or be confused. We are still two goals ahead in the total score, and we also have an away goal advantage...
So as long as we don’t mess up our position, we can still win!”
After scoring the goal, Namozov did not celebrate. He just greeted his forward teammates in the penalty area and told them to quickly go to the goal to get the ball. Then he took the time to put it in the center circle, asking the Chinese team to kick off quickly and the game to continue as soon as possible.
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Uzbekistan is still two goals behind in the total score, because the Chinese team already has an away goal advantage, so even if Uzbekistan scores two more goals, it will still be eliminated.
But this is not the reason for Namozov to give up. He will not give up himself, nor will he allow his teammates to give up.