At 9:45 pm on June 13th, Beijing time, amidst all kinds of noisy noises, in the eighth round of Group A of the top 12 Asian qualifying matches for the 2018 Russian World Cup, China’s away game against Syria officially started.
Several media outlets responsible for broadcasting this game have sent out their strongest commentary lineups. For example, the central five team members are He Wei and Xu Yang, while pptv is very powerful, with Su Dongjia, Huang Jianxiang, and Lou Yi.
Also joining Liu Yue is the cross talk duo of Li Xin and Dong Lu.
All the commentators, including all the fans, thought that the Chinese team would counterattack because Syria was eager to score. As a result, the Chinese team pressed forward from the beginning of the game, and the formation was still 4-3-3.
Attack lineup.
The goalkeeper position of the Chinese team’s starting lineup for this game is Zengcheng, who is also the most stable and experienced goalkeeper of the national team; the four defenders from left to right are Jiang Zhipeng, Li Yun, Feng Xiaoting, and Zhang Linpeng; the midfielder is Wu
Xi, Xu Mingyu, and Qin Minghao are lined up on the left and right; the order on the front line is Ding Huaiyi, Nie Jiang and Wu Lei.
It can be said that the Chinese team has put forward its strongest starting lineup.
"Our frontcourt press is very active." Huang Jianxiang said, "Similar to the first game, coach Lippi's tactics are very consistent, which is to strengthen the press at the beginning, pay attention to physical confrontation, and do not give Syria this opportunity.
The opportunity to pass the ball easily."
"This should be the mainstream of football now." Su Dong has always commented on the Premier League and Champions League, and is very familiar with this method of European teams. "In modern football, because the defense is more integrated, I want to relax in the frontcourt.
It is too difficult to advance the position, so it has become a regular configuration to maintain at least one player with the ability to play the ball on the back line. Correspondingly, the opponent team's restrictions on the ball release point have long been developed by Europe's top clubs to the depth of the opponent's defenders.
Already."
While talking, Wu Lei on the right, Nie Jiang in the center, and Qin Minghao came over to intercept the passing line. The three of them formed a siege on the Syrian ball-holding fullback on the left.
As Syria's left back, Ajan was forced to have no choice but to take the ball out of the sideline and gave the Chinese team a frontcourt foul ball.
In fact, Ajan is young and has good physical fitness. In past games, he often pressed forward and acted more like a full-back than a full-back. On the contrary, their main full-back Sabbagh was transformed from a left-back.
Come on, the replacement is relatively deep, and the defensive area is large.
Syria's left-wing combination has always been their main direction of attack. The full-backs cover the side and the full-forwards cover the defense. It can be said that the offense can be retreated or defended.
However, in order to win today, Syria's coach Hakim also went all out. The main full-back Sabbagh, who has better defense, was not used, but Yusuf was used. The latter is a very typical attacking full-back.
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They increased their offensive firepower on the left to the extreme.
Historically, Syria relied on a sudden attack from the left. Yusuf broke into the penalty area and caused a coordination error between the Chinese team's goalkeeper Zengcheng and the defender, resulting in a penalty kick.
Today is different.
The right wing composed of Zhang Linpeng, Qin Minghao and Wu Lei is far stronger than the Syrian side, as evidenced by the fact that they forced a frontcourt free kick in the third minute.
When your full-backs can't play the ball and the full-midfielders need to come back to participate in defense, it's a bit fanciful for the team to want to rely on the wide-midfielders to break into the opponent's penalty area to create penalty kicks.
To say that Syria does not know how to handle this situation is to underestimate them.
At this stage of the top 12, although Syria only has 5 points and is ranked second from the bottom, it has not conceded many goals. The five goals they have conceded now are even more than South Korea and Uzbekistan who are ahead of them.
Want less.
It should be said that Syria's head coach Hakim is very talented.
Since the team was pressed on the left in the opening game, he has been thinking about how to solve this problem, because he must solve the offensive problem on the left.
Syria has conceded fewer goals than South Korea and Uzbekistan, but is ranked lower. The reason is very simple. The offense is not smooth, as if it has been holding urine for a long time and cannot be urinated at all. So far, they have only scored in seven games.
Got a ball.
Originally, this offense was painful because it was held back and unable to be vented. Now the Chinese team has suppressed their only offensive threat all the way. If Hakeem does not respond in a targeted manner, he might as well lie down and take the hammer.
After observing the situation on the right side of the Chinese team for a few minutes, he found that the main problem still lies with Qin Minghao.
Regardless of whether he is attacking or organizing the attack, Qin Minghao has the most possession of the ball on the right side of the Chinese team, and he is basically used as a midfielder by Lippi.
The adjustment Hakim made was to let Yusuf cling to Qin Minghao, while midfielder Zaher Midani and Ajan guarded Qin Minghao's passing route. After guarding Qin Minghao to death, he then tried to fight for it.
Hit the gap behind Zhang Linpeng's pressure and get a chance to threaten the attack.
This idea is very good, but the problem is that the strength of Syrian players does not support him to do this.
Syria's good defense does not rely on how strong the defensive players are, nor how impeccable the defensive tactics are. Their defense mainly relies on brutal encirclement and clearing the siege at the first opportunity.
Data shows that in the statistical analysis of the top 12 matches so far, Syria has averaged 31 clearances per game, ranking first in the top 12.
This kind of fighting is fierce, but players are prone to fouls and cards, and their physical energy is consumed faster. For this reason, pretending to be injured, lying on the grass, and leaving the goalkeeper lying dead have become their usual tricks, for no other reason than to delay
Time and pause to recuperate.
More than 20 minutes into the first half, Syria's left wing, which was under the greatest pressure, actually held on.
Just listen to the boos from the Chinese fans in the stadium and you will know how they held on.
The fans who created a home atmosphere for the Chinese team not only booed the Syrian players for their constant fouls, but also booed the referee.
The chief referee of this game is the international referee Aljanebbi from the United Arab Emirates. Speaking of him, Chinese fans, especially Luneng fans, have tears in their eyes.
So far in the top 12 matches, this is the first time Aljanebbi has participated in law enforcement, and it is also the first time that the Chinese team has encountered him. However, in the previous AFC Champions League, he has caused trouble for the Chinese Super League teams.
In the 2015 AFC Champions League group game, he awarded Kashima Antlers a penalty kick in the match between Evergrande and Kashima Antlers, causing Evergrande to lose the game 1-2.
Evergrande wants to say that he feels bitter, but that's not the case. Luneng fans probably want to beat him.
Aljanebi has officiated four Luneng AFC Champions League games. He has shown a total of ten yellow cards and two penalty kicks to Luneng players, and these two penalty kicks occurred in the same game.
As a referee who likes to play cards, he seemed to have forgotten to bring his cards in this game. No matter how the Syrian players violated Qin Minghao, he always kept a straight face and gave the Chinese team a painless front.
Free kick.
How could the fans watching the game let him go? The boos in the stadium were deafening.
Huang Jianxiang started shouting: "This is a foul.", "Another foul.", "This is a foul."
Later, the experienced man stopped talking about it and started to discuss the situation of the group. Anyway, the Chinese team had the absolute advantage on the field now: "In the earlier game, Iran defeated Uzbekistan 2:0 at home. They are now
It has already accumulated 20 points. If nothing happens, Iran should have no problem qualifying."
"In this top 12 tournament, Iran's performance is dominant." Su Dong also lamented the strength of the qualifying competitors, "So far, they haven't conceded a single goal. It's so stable."
Just when the commentator was introducing this, the situation on the field changed, because Syria's left wing finally got a card.
In the 30th minute of the first half, Qin Minghao received the ball from Xu Mingyu. This time he did something fancy. After cooperating with Xu Mingyu to hit the wall, he went straight up the middle.
The Syrian side did not expect that the Chinese team suddenly changed the direction of attack and forced penetration in the middle. Including Yousuf, who had been following Qin Minghao, and midfielder Zaher Midani, Syria quickly surrounded and attacked in the middle.
Qin Minghao actually wanted this effect. When he reached just past the center circle, he gave the ball to Nie Jiang, who came back to assist. Nie Jiang didn't even think about it and directly knocked the ball to Zhang Linpeng who came in from the right.
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The Syrian left wing, which had been tense for more than thirty minutes, was completely empty after this arrangement.
Zhang Linpeng, who received the ball, was completely unguarded. He strode towards the penalty area with rapid strides. Azhan rushed over to defend, but was eaten alive by Zhang Linpeng's backward swing. The latter was so anxious that he had no choice but to take action.
It was such an obvious tactical foul that Aljanebi did not dare not call it, so he could only come over and take out the yellow card and show it to Ajan.
In addition to causing Syria to get a card, the Chinese team also got a well-positioned free kick in the frontcourt this time.
Standing in front of the ball are Qin Minghao and Xu Mingyu, two masters of free kicks.
"What are the two overseas players in Europe discussing?" Huang Jianxiang was also curious, "But both of them are talented people. Let's see if the Chinese team can seize this opportunity."
"The position is a bit to the right. Xu Mingyu is a left-footed player, and Qin Minghao can be left- or right-footed. It depends on who comes." Su Dong obviously pays more attention to details.
"Xu Mingyu, run. Qin Minghao is here, header...the ball is scored!!!" Su Dong's iconic roar rang out, "The Chinese team scored, Nie Jiang's header."
"It's so beautiful. This goal was a standard center forward's header." Huang Jianxiang was also extremely excited. "Nie Jiang has not only improved his skills in the past few seasons, but his body has also improved. This
The toughness, in the penalty area against the tall Syrian center back, is totally worth it."
"Looking at Nie Jiang's running position, his judgment of the landing point is so smart." Looking at the replayed goal, Su Dong praised, "Like many European and American centers, he has both flexibility and strength. China has
A talented player like Nie Jiang is really a blessing for Chinese fans."
"With a 1:0 lead, this goal is easy to hit." Huang Jianxiang's words were full of pride. "Syria must attack. The more opportunities we have, the more opportunities we have."
"It can be said that this is the favorite rhythm of the Chinese team." Su Dong was very happy, "This goal is also Nie Jiang's sixth goal in the World Cup qualifying stage. It further widens the distance from the previous record.
"
With a 1:0 lead, the Chinese team played more casually. When the ball was at their feet, the players in the midfield and backcourt kept kicking the ball out, luring the Syrian players to come over and stretch their defense vertically.
distance, and once the attack fails and the ball goes to Syria's feet, they can counterattack on the spot and use the three-man encirclement and pressure at any time.
"This Chinese team is very mature." Seeing that the first half was about to end, Huang Jianxiang began his halftime review, "It's not that the players are older or mature, but that their ability to read the game on the court is very good.
Old man. In the past, no matter whether the Chinese team was leading or lagging behind, to be honest, I was always in doubt. In the past two years, it is obvious that the Chinese team has given people a more solid impression."
"Actually, when it comes to age, the Chinese team on the field now has a very reasonable mix." Su Dong took over, "The four defenders plus the goalkeeper are all between 25 and 31 years old. This is defense.
The golden age of players is that they have good health, experience, and can be stable; as for the midfielders and frontcourt players, except for Wu Xi, who is 28 years old, the other offensive players are between 19 and 25 years old, so their impact
Strength and vitality are also at their peak."
"Then I have to thank the Longteng team for training these players. They now account for the absolute majority of the Chinese team." Huang Jianxiang sincerely thanked the Longteng team.
When Syria made another long pass from the backcourt and Li Yun tipped the ball to his teammate, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
At the beginning of the second half, Syria rushed very fiercely. At one point, all the players except the two defenders were overwhelmed by the half, and they laid siege to the Chinese team.
Among them, there are three players who pose the greatest threat to the Chinese team. Their No. 10 captain is also the team's core midfielder Al Hussein. In addition to constantly receiving and distributing the ball, he also uses tireless running to fill the gap.
There is a gap in defense, but the real core of offense is No. 9 Almavas. As long as the Syrian team attacks, they think of giving the ball to him. Finally, it is the 20-year-old No. 19 Ma on the front line.
Dikian, Syria, whose ground attack is basically unable to advance, most of the time sends high balls to this high forward, letting him fight for it, and then creates opportunities for his teammates to compete for the second spot.
Lippi was obviously well aware of these situations, harassing Alhussein's pass, watching Almavas' catch, and at the same time cutting off his passing route, intensifying his physical confrontation with Madikian, with a series of moves.
The threat of a Syrian offensive has been greatly reduced.
Al Hussein was uncomfortable passing the ball, Almawas was uncomfortable receiving the ball, and Madikian's header was suppressed. Syria seemed to be attacking aggressively, but the actual threat to the Chinese team's goal was only average.
