The Hill Stadium in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, is the home stadium of the Paraguay national team. It is a stadium with a capacity of 80,000 people. Stadiums with a capacity of 80,000 people are rare in Europe, but in South American football, they are only common.
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South Americans seem to like to use big balls to increase the intimidation of the court.
Because a stadium is big enough to accommodate enough fans, and the momentum created by enough fans will be astonishing and terrifying enough.
Now in the stands of the Hill Stadium, 75,000 Paraguayan fans have created an overwhelming momentum. It makes people feel that this is not a land stadium, but a dragon palace in the sea. The huge shouts are continuous, as if the sea water is pouring in.
momentum!
“This is the game with the highest home attendance in this World Cup qualifying match!” the commentator of Paraguay TV announced proudly and excitedly.
He was right, this was indeed Paraguay’s home game with the largest audience in this World Cup qualifying match.
On the one hand, this is because this game is related to whether Paraguay can go to the World Cup. On the other hand, it is because before the game, there was news that Sosa Espinola and Paulo Arce shook hands and made peace, which was very exciting.
It increased the fans' confidence and attention in this game.
That’s why 75,000 people flocked to the Hillside Stadium during the game. This is because enough safety areas must be left, otherwise there will only be more people.
With so many people crowded together, even if everyone just sighs, after being magnified 75,000 times, it turns into a storm.
Not to mention that these Paraguayan fans kept making noise and commotion in the stands.
They were standing side by side in the stands, holding hands and beating rhythmically. From a distance, they looked like waves that were constantly rising and falling.
The real-time score of this game is displayed on the big screen of the stadium in the distance of "Waves".
The game has been going on for fifty minutes, the score is 1:0, and the Paraguay national team playing at home is in the lead.
And this goal was scored by their top scorer Sousa Espinola!
The TV broadcast kept switching between close-ups between Paraguay captain Arce and the team's top scorer Sosa. The director used this method to tell everyone that these two people were the key figures in Paraguay's two-goal lead in this game.
Needless to say, Sosa, who has goals and assists, Arce also performed very well in this game. He successfully restricted Hulay's performance, allowing Hulay to hit only two shots so far.
Within the goal frame, there was basically no pressure on his goalkeeper teammate Angel Almiron.
Compared with the carnival-like Paraguayan fans, the few Chinese fans in the stands were much quieter. They wore red T-shirts, with national flag paint on their faces, and held small five-star red flags in their hands.
He sat or stood in his seat, looking at the stadium listlessly.
There are very few people who specially flew from China to Paraguay to watch the game. The vast majority of them are overseas Chinese and employees of Chinese-funded companies in Paraguay or the three surrounding countries of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
Many people may not watch football at all, let alone be fans. The only reason why they come to the stadium to watch a Chinese team game is that this team represents the motherland.
They are not here to cheer for the Chinese team, but to cheer for China.
They have been very active since the game started...
But now they are all silent in their positions, and some people have their heads in their hands, frowning, and their expressions are very solemn.
They are not acting like this because the team is currently lagging behind. Although the Chinese team is lagging behind in terms of score, the overall performance of the players is still very good, and there is no such feeling of weakness as before.
Even the Chinese team was not completely at a disadvantage in the situation. It was able to play back and forth with Paraguay, which really surprised many people.
There is another reason why they are so frustrated, for the same reason Paraguay fans are so excited:
If you look carefully, you will find that all Chinese fans are looking in the same direction, which is... in the penalty area of the Chinese national team, in front of the goal.
There were several people gathered around, and the referee was making a gesture to the audience to let the stretcher come on.
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"This is really too bad..." He Feng looked at the crowd gathered in front of the door in the studio behind and sighed. "When Hao De intercepted the pass, he sprained his foot when he landed, and it seemed that he could no longer hold on.
In the game...the Chinese team was originally in a good position, but now they are forced to use up one substitution quota and change the goalkeeper..."
"Lin Zhiyuan ran back from the warm-up area after a simple warm-up. Shi Wuyuan once again chose a young player he was more familiar with at a critical moment. Lin Zhiyuan once served as the main goalkeeper of the Chinese Olympic team and participated in the Olympic Games with the team.
He has performed outstandingly. Now in the Chinese Super League, he is already the main goalkeeper of the South China Tigers. It can be said that he is a talented player at the goalkeeper position in Chinese football... But whether it is the Olympics, the Chinese Super League, or the key battles of the World Cup qualifiers
In comparison, I'm afraid it's still different. Can Lin Zhiyuan withstand the pressure and perform at a normal level in this life-and-death situation?"
In front of the Chinese team's coaching bench and bench, the atmosphere was a little tense and the situation was a little chaotic.
When Lin Zhiyuan ran back from the warm-up area, assistant coach Li Zhifei turned around and shouted Lin Zhiyuan's name. Before he finished speaking, he saw Lin Zhiyuan standing in front of him, which shocked him.
“What are you doing? You didn’t say anything when you came back!” Li Zhifei’s tone was very bad.
The situation was going well at first, but then the main goalkeeper was injured and unable to continue the game. Even the best-tempered person will have a drastic change in temperament.
Of course, Li Zhifei didn’t really have any objections to Lin Zhiyuan. After complaining casually, he pulled Lin Zhiyuan aside, handed him his participation card, and pushed him to the fourth official on the sidelines.
The substitute goalkeeper basically comes on without any tactical instructions and has nothing to explain, just let him play.
Lin Zhiyuan ran past the coach's bench with his participation certificate in one hand and the goalkeeper's glove in the other.
When passing by Shi Wuyuan, the latter stretched out his hand to him. Upon seeing this, Lin Zhiyuan quickly put the competition certificate in his mouth and freed his hand to give Shi Wuyuan a high-five.
He heard Shi Wuyuan say to him: "You are crazy, this is your national team debut, a big occasion!"
Lin Zhiyuan bit his participation certificate, grinned at Director Shi, turned around and ran away.
Looking at his back, Li Zhifei said to Shi Wuyuan: "I hope he can really make people crazy..."
The biggest fear for young people when they suddenly come on as a substitute in this game is that they will be too nervous, causing the whole person to be in a state of confusion.
Players in other positions are actually fine even if they are confused, but the goalkeeper position is particularly special. If he does not perform well, he may jeopardize the whole team.
Although we have worked together on the Olympic team, the Olympic team is completely different from the national team, and the pressure of the Olympics is definitely not as great as today's game.
Because they had prepared in advance, everything was under control. The Chinese team performed very well in the away game, allowing Paraguay to score only one goal, and they were able to play back and forth with the opponent.
But Hao De’s accidental injury gave the Chinese team a sap.
This can understand why Paraguay fans are so excited that the main goalkeeper of the Chinese team is injured! A big plus!
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Listening to the singing and cheering of the Paraguayan fans in the stands, Lin Zhiyuan ran onto the field.
The injured Hao De has been carried off on a stretcher. He ran straight to the door of the Chinese team, put on his gloves, patted hard, opened his arms and shouted loudly: "Get in position!!"
Many people are worried about whether young goalkeeper Lin Zhiyuan will be replaced at this critical moment and whether he can live up to expectations.
Lin Zhiyuan’s mind was boiling over this matter.
Accepting orders in times of crisis?
Sir, what I want is to take orders in times of crisis!
This scene has played out in my mind countless times...
This script is almost tailor-made for me!
What are you doing standing around? Let the game begin!
I want to be the savior of the team!
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Paraguay is very good at seizing opportunities. They took advantage of the fact that the Chinese team had just changed their goalkeeper. After the game resumed, they launched a fierce attack on the Chinese team's goal.
Just hope to expand the lead.
The game lasted for almost an hour, and Paraguay only took the lead by one goal. Logically speaking, this is not safe. In this kind of two-round game, we must try to end the suspense in the first round. Otherwise, the second round will be played away from home, who knows what will happen.
What will happen when...
When Paraguay stepped up their offensive, Lin Zhiyuan in front of the goal was extremely excited.
Because this is exactly what he expected and it is also a perfect opportunity for him to perform!
His first save after coming on the field, he jumped into the air, flew sideways, and knocked the football out of the baseline with one palm!
“Oh beautiful!” He Feng exhaled and cheered loudly, “Lin Zhiyuan’s first save was very successful! It seems that he is in good condition today!”
“That’s right, He Feng. For a goalkeeper, the effect of the first save is very important. If successful, the confidence of the players will be greatly improved..."
After landing, Lin Zhiyuan rolled around on the ground to relieve his strength, and then stood up directly. The whole set of movements was extremely graceful.
After getting up, he did not forget to wag his finger in the direction of the Paraguayan players.
It can be said to be very pretentious...
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Paraguay’s offensive continues, and it did not end because of Lin Zhiyuan’s wonderful save.
After they got the corner kick, they did not send the football directly to the goal. Instead, they made a change and took a tactical corner kick.
After passing the ball from the wing, the football is suddenly passed through.
The Paraguayan captain and center back Arce, who had been ambushing in the middle, leaped high and headed the ball before Yao Huasheng!
But he didn’t push the football directly towards the Chinese team’s goal!
Instead... click backwards!
Yao Huasheng and Wang Guangwei both missed.
He also shook Lin Zhiyuan. His whole body was like a spring compressed to the extreme, ready to pounce on Alsay...
As a result, the football flew to the back point!
He didn’t even bother to check what was going on behind him. His feet were faster than his eyes and he kicked off!
The person is like a racing car that is revved to 7,200 rpm and is ejected backwards!
When his whole body was in the air, he could clearly see the situation at the back. Paraguay's leading shooter, Sousa Espinola, who was 1.88 meters tall, rushed towards the goal from behind, facing the man who was being rubbed.
Football hits the target!
“Hey, be careful!!” He Feng and Yan Kang almost exclaimed at the same time.
He hit the football in the middle of his forehead, and the ball flew towards the goal that was just around the corner!
Lin Zhiyuan’s hand also rushed towards him, but he was still a step too late when the football flew over the goal line. He only caught a ball of flowing air...
“Oops!” the two commentators looked up to the sky and sighed.
The cheering decibels in the hill stadium reached a new high, like an insurmountable peak...