Seeing the football being headed into the goal by Juan Vega, He Feng sighed and still lost the ball.
Before this corner kick, he had a very dangerous premonition.
He originally hoped that his worries were unfounded, but unexpectedly, his words came true.
After the goal, the Mexican players celebrated heartily, and the shouts in the stands of the Provincial Sports Center were much quieter than before. Many Chinese fans closed their mouths in disappointment and pain when they saw the ball lost, and could not make any sound.
In front of the Mexican coaching bench on the sidelines, head coach Alfonso Ledes rushed out of the coaching bench and cheered, celebrating the goal passionately.
As a head coach, it is really an achievement to see your adjustments take effect so quickly.
In front of the Chinese team's coaching bench, head coach Jorge Dillon covered his mouth and seemed to be talking to assistant coach Kili Sequeiros next to him.
In fact, it was Sequeiros who said to Dillon: "Mexico's high-post press is very thorough..."
Dillon shook his head slightly: "There is no way, we have just started to take over this team, and the training has just begun..."
He's not making excuses to shirk responsibility, there really is nothing he can do.
Everything that needs to be done has been done, but football training is a long process. It is impossible to say that only one week of training can transform the team and achieve the effect of a year of training. That is not scientific.
The Chinese team has shown changes in this China Cup, and this is the most important thing.
It proves that the new tactics and ideas designed by Dillon for the Chinese team are correct. After clarifying this point, just continue in this direction.
The saying that everything is difficult at the beginning actually means that I don’t know if I’m starting well.
If you go in the wrong direction, the harder you try, the more likely you will fail.
For Dillon’s coach Xu, the China Cup is a good opportunity to verify the direction.
Through the semifinals against South Africa and the first half of the final against Mexico, Dillon actually got the answer he wanted.
Although he said "there is no way", Dillon immediately asked Yu Jintao to go to the sidelines to speak to the frustrated Chinese team players.
"Don't panic! Think about training! Why do we train so hard! Isn't it just to cope with this kind of situation?!"
Almost all of the Chinese team's ball training incorporates confrontational elements.
Don’t you just hope that the players of the Chinese team can remain calm and perform normally when they encounter such a pressing situation during the game?
Although the training time is still relatively short, changes have already occurred. The Chinese team is not as helpless and powerless in the face of pressing as before...
After Yu Jintao finished shouting, he returned to the coaching bench, drank some saliva for himself, and then took a throat lozenge to protect his throat.
This is already a basic operation for him, and it cannot be more familiar to him.
When Dillon was coaching at Dashun Golden Arrow, he had to double as an assistant coach as a translator, that is, he would go to the sidelines and yell at the sidelines to convey the coach Dillon's intentions to the players on the court.
So being a football coach's translator is not just as simple as being a translator.
At the very least, it takes more time on your voice than ordinary translation...
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After Mexico equalized the score, of course they would take advantage of the situation and launch a fierce attack on the Chinese team's goal, hoping to score another victory in a short time.
After all, they scored a goal after only three minutes in the second half. There are still seven minutes left of the ten minutes the coach said, so why can't we score another goal in these seven minutes?
Now this goal has shaken their confidence. Another goal will completely destroy their fighting spirit!
However, the scene they imagined did not happen.
After the Mexican players tasted the benefits of pressing high, they continued to press like this.
They thought they could force the Chinese team to make another mistake.
Unexpectedly, the Chinese team withstood the challenge this time.
Although still a little embarrassed...
For example, when facing Mexico's high press at the beginning, the Chinese team could only kick forward and try to keep the football as far away from the penalty area as possible.
Although this prevented Mexico from directly stealing the ball in the frontcourt, the Chinese team actually had no way to counterattack and was still beaten by Mexico.
Fortunately, the Chinese team has two players with good skills in the midfield, Zhang Qinghuan and Xia Xiaoyu.
Especially Zhang Qinghuan, he can still rely on his skills with his feet to deal with Mexican midfielder Juan Vega.
You won't be completely passive and beaten.
During this time, the Chinese fans and commentators He Feng and Yan Kang in the stands were also very nervous.
Yan Kang kept repeating: "We must withstand it, we must withstand it! Mexico's high-position pressing cannot continue forever! Their physical fitness can't stand it either!"
Yan Kang echoed: "That's right! The brave will win when we meet on a narrow road! If you can withstand it at this time, you will clear the clouds and see the sun!"
The Chinese team finally withstood.
Mexico's crazy high press didn't last long, not even ten minutes.
After all, they have already played half the game and their physical fitness is not that good.
If it was the first half, they might have been able to press high for twenty minutes.
Now they have to save some energy for the next game.
Seeing that the team's high-position press was unsustainable, and the Chinese team used passing and cutting movements to open up the gap, and even hit the 30-meter area, the head coach Alfonso Ledez waved his hand, and the entire Mexican team was like
It usually goes back when the tide goes out.
The stone that was weighing on everyone's hearts was removed, making people feel lighter all over.
"They have withstood the test." Translator Yu Jintao said to Dilong upon seeing this.
Dillon had no expression on his face, or said calmly: "This is just the beginning, Yu."
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Dillon was right.
The two sides entered a stalemate in the next game.
After recovering, the Chinese team continued to attack Mexico, just like they did in the first half.
But the Mexican players who equalized the score had a stable mentality. The most important thing is that they knew that high-post pressing was effective against the Chinese team, so they were not in a hurry.
After they have had a good rest, they may press again from a high position, and maybe they can win another victory...
With this idea in mind, Mexico played very calmly.
In addition, the overall strength is already higher than that of the Chinese team, and the Chinese team's offense can't do anything to them for a while.
There are some opportunities for both parties to come and go, but they are not particularly good opportunities.
As the game time passed, the score did not change and was still tied at 1:1.
Alvarez was very active and wanted to score, but he was on the right, and his opponent happened to be Wang Guangwei.
This is a difficult role.
Wang Guangwei, who is 1.86 meters tall, is not so short that he completely loses his air defense advantage, but he is also so tall that it affects his speed and flexibility.
Facing the flexible Alvarez at his feet, he was calm and calm, and did not take shots easily. Instead, he stayed close to the opponent and used his advantage in physical strength to constantly squeeze closer to the opponent, making it difficult for him to control the ball.
But when he judged that he needed to intercept, his movements were steady and firm, never hesitant or sloppy.
Alvarez, a forward who scored seven goals in the Europa League and ranked first among the scorers, was temporarily muted in front of Wang Guangwei.
This surprised even him.
Occasionally, he would successfully get rid of Wang Guangwei, but he would soon be blocked by other Chinese team players, and Wang Guangwei could come back to organize the defense.
The overall defense of the Chinese team was better than Alvarez imagined. They were not fighting independently, but were closely connected.
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Dillon raised his wrist on the sidelines to check the time. It was the 68th minute of the game.
The score is still 1:1.
Since the first high press, Mexico has not pressed again high.
But Dillon knew that within a few minutes, Ledes would let Mexico press again.
By then, the Chinese team will be in great danger.
Because of physical fitness.
The high-intensity training made the Chinese team players generally tired. After playing in the semifinals, their physical fitness problems became more serious.
So in the remaining twenty minutes, he must make substitutions and adjustments to stabilize the Chinese team's physical fitness.
Otherwise, it may be taken away by Mexico in a wave and completely destroyed.
But if there are substitutions... it means that it will be difficult for the Chinese team to create any more opportunities on offense. After all, the lineup on the court now is the strongest lineup of the Chinese team.
Whoever you replace will have an impact on your strength.
The substitution adjustment means that the Chinese team will strive to maintain a 1:1 tie in the 90 minutes, and then both sides will directly take penalty kicks.
Whether you can still win the championship depends on luck...
Jorge Dillon did not think about the gains and losses for too long before making the decision to make substitutions.
Although the offense will be affected after the substitution, there is still a chance to drag the game into a penalty shootout.
But if there are no substitutions, it is very likely that we will not be able to survive the penalty shootout at all...
He asked translator Yu Jintao to call back Bai Di, the right back who was warming up.
Judging from this selection, he is preparing to replace Luo Kai.
The formation remained unchanged, still 352, but the wing-back Luo Kai was replaced by a full-back who is better at defense to strengthen the defense and maintain the 1:1 draw.
In the coaching bench next door, Mexico head coach Alfonso Ledes stood up from his seat again and walked to the sideline.
He was ready to give orders to the Mexican players on the field, asking them to press high again.
Taking advantage of the critical moment when the Chinese team's physical fitness is declining... kill them!