Although after the start of the second half, the offensive created by the Iceland team by taking advantage of the kick-off opportunity did not result in a shot.
However, this did not affect the determination of the entire Icelandic team to resolutely implement this simple and crude tactic.
As soon as the Chinese team's attack ends, Iceland will immediately make a long pass to the high center forward Orli Helgason.
Then use his header to win the first point.
In terms of heading the ball, Helgason does have an advantage. This has little to do with his height, but mainly because of his outstanding heading ability.
Heading ability and height cannot be simply equated.
Some players who are not very tall are also good at heading the ball. On the one hand, this is because of their excellent bounce, and on the other hand, they have good grasp of the landing point of the football and the timing of the jump.
Helgason's judgment of where the football will land is relatively accurate, plus he has certain physical advantages.
He has scored fifteen goals in Valero this season and is the top scorer in the Valero team. Eight of the goals were headers.
This shows his header ability.
Facing him, who was more experienced, Qin Qi looked a little embarrassed.
Qin Qi is less experienced. After all, he is only 24 years old. For the position of central defender, he can be regarded as "immature".
In addition, although Qin Qi is tall enough, his body is slightly thin.
Strictly speaking, the two central defenders of the Chinese team are not very strong - Wang Guangwei has never been able to gain a foothold in European football with the quality of being "strong".
Head coach Qin Lin is also very aware of this, so he asked the players to pay more attention to controlling the second landing point during the halftime break. He knows that it is difficult to control the first landing point and the cost-effectiveness is too low.
Anyway, as long as it's not in front of the goal, the second landing point is definitely more important than the first landing point.
Qin Qi entangled Helgason, even if he couldn't fight to the top, he would still make it impossible for Helgason to sail comfortably.
Wang Guangwei, on the other hand, stared at Iceland's other forward Thor Borgasson, trying not to let him control the second goal.
In addition, there are other Chinese team players and Icelandic players participating in the competition for the first and second landing spots.
Although Iceland's play seems very simple and crude, with no technical content.
But let’s not say it’s really effective.
At least compared to the first half, the goal guarded by Lin Zhiyuan was indeed threatened.
He was also able to appear in a televised featurette.
"Lin Zhiyuan! Beautiful!"
Amidst the cheers of the commentators, Lin Zhiyuan got up from the ground.
He just dived sideways and saved Iceland captain Aaron Thorgrimsson's long shot from the bottom line.
After getting up, Lin Zhiyuan shouted loudly, calling his teammates to come to the goal to defend the corner kick.
Corner kicks in the frontcourt are also an important means of scoring for Iceland. They have gone through many repeated set-piece drills before the game.
If the Chinese team does not respond well, Iceland may really score a corner kick...
Sure enough, when the Icelandic team's center back Biaqui Gudbergsson saw the team get a corner kick, he ran straight up from behind and stood on the line of the Chinese team's small penalty area.
Gudbergsson, who is 1.98 meters tall, is the "highest altitude" among the players on both sides of the game.
Weighing 94 kilograms, he stood in front of the Chinese team's goal and was a presence that could not be ignored.
As long as he opens his arms slightly, he can carve out a "no man's land" of nearly two meters in radius around him.
Facing this "super big catfish" that entered the penalty area of the Chinese team, Wang Guangwei and Ou Yangjin both attacked.
The Chinese fans in the stands and in front of the TV also became nervous.
After witnessing Iceland's aggressive play in the second half, they actually missed the Iceland that was unable to get out of its own penalty area in the first half...
Anyway, the Chinese team is now leading by one goal, and they really want the Icelandic team to shrink in front of their goal until the end of the game.
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Lin Zhiyuan shouted to Wang Guangwei: "Old Wang, squeeze him out and squeeze him as hard as you can! There's no need to fight with him for the top position. I'll be responsible for the air!"
"Okay." Wang Guangwei replied, lowering his center of gravity, exerting force with his feet, and using his shoulders to push Gudbergson outward.
When the whistle sounded, Thorgrim lowered his raised arms and took a running approach to kick the ball.
The football drew an arc, flew towards the penalty area of the Chinese team, and indeed went straight to Gudbergson!
"Get out of my way!!"
Lin Zhiyuan shouted and jumped out of the door, stretching out his arms at the same time.
Before Gudbergsson and Helgason took off, his hands were like a pair of iron pincers, firmly clamping the ball in the air.
Then he quickly collected his chest and turned around to respond to the impact from the Icelandic player with the back of his body.
When he landed, his body remained stable and the ball was firmly held in his body without letting go.
Then he gave Wang Guangwei a thumbs up and thanked him for his work in this defense - if Wang Guangwei hadn't struggled to squeeze Gudberg away, he would have had to jump to save the ball from the opponent, which would have easily been interfered with.
, and it might even lead to a withdrawal.
Then he threw the football forward with force and threw it to Chen Xingyi who had already started!
"The Chinese team launches a counterattack!"
Amid cheers from the stands, the Icelandic players retreated like a tide.
You have to take such a risk when attacking with set pieces in the frontcourt. If the opponent succeeds in sneak attack, it will be difficult to play the game.
According to coach Hermansson's plan, even if they are behind by two goals in the first half, the game can still be played.
But if we fall behind by two goals in the second half, that would be a problem... because there is not much time left for Iceland.
Therefore, Iceland's task in the second half is actually quite heavy. On the one hand, it needs to score goals, and on the other hand, it has to prevent the Chinese team from scoring.
Hermansson did not think that the host country would definitely lose in the opening game. The task he assigned to the team before this game was not even a "draw", but a "win".
He wants to win the game against the Chinese team and get all three points.
Only in this way can the team have the chance to qualify for the group stage.
And the Chinese team is indeed a suitable opponent.
Because this is an opening match.
There is actually a lot of pressure on the host country to play such a game.
Look at Portugal four years ago. Didn’t the host country lose to Norway in the first game?
At that time, Norway's ranking was not high, ranking 36th. And the host Portugal ranked ninth.
The ranking gap between their two teams is even wider than the ranking gap between Iceland and China today.
In the end, Norway still won.
If Norway can do it, why can't Iceland?
At the very least, you need to give it a try.
The Chinese team's attack failed to threaten the Icelandic team's goal.
After Iceland regained the ball, Hermansson walked to the sidelines, waved his arms to remind the team to speed up the offensive rhythm, and passed the ball directly forward.
This style of play doesn’t look good, has little technical content, and is completely out of step with the times.
But it is indeed the most suitable for Iceland today.
In comparison, the Chinese team has technical advantages and their playing style is delicate.
If the Icelandic and Chinese teams competed for the ball and midfield control, they would undoubtedly lose.
However, the physically strong "Vikings" just wielded three axes and smashed the Chinese team's city gate without any rules. Maybe they could break open the closed door.
Icelandic defender Daniel Bodson passed the ball directly from the backcourt, and the football flew half the stadium and came to the Chinese team's 30-meter line.
Helgason and Ou Yangjin jumped up and competed for the top spot here.
Although he hit the ball, he didn't hit the ball well due to Ou Yangjin's interference.
Football fell within Xia Xiaoyu's control.
But as soon as Xia Xiaoyu received the ball, Iceland captain Thorgrimsson came up to him and hit Xia Xiaoyu's arm hard with his shoulder.
The collision caused Xia Xiaoyu to almost lose his balance and fall to the ground, and he almost lost possession of the ball.
Fortunately, when Xia Xiaoyu was knocked out, he hooked the football to his side and barely maintained control of the ball. This prevented Thorgrimsson from successfully stealing the ball.
Thorgrimsson's offensive did not end there. He continued to collide with Xia Xiaoyu and supplemented it with steals at his feet.
On the one hand, Xia Xiaoyu is not given the opportunity to launch an attack, and on the other hand, he also wants to counterattack on the spot.
Xia Xiaoyu had no choice but to pass the football back to Luo Kai, who responded to him.
However, Luo Kai's side was also pressed by Icelandic players.
So after Xia Xiaoyu passed the ball, he immediately pointed his finger to the other side and shouted: "Long pass transfer!"
Luo Kai used his hand to separate Icelandic left midfielder Halder Hofting, who was attacking, and passed the football long with his left foot.
Xie Lan sighed: "This game was really ugly... I could see the football flying around in the sky..."
Her husband Hu Lixin did not refute her statement, but nodded in agreement: "You are right, it is indeed ugly."
This surprised Xie Lan herself, and she turned to look at her husband with wide eyes.
Hu Lixin asked her strangely: "What is your expression?"
"I thought you would give me a technical and tactical analysis and then prove that I was talking nonsense..."
Hu Lixin couldn't laugh or cry: "But you are right this time. The game was not good to watch, and it was not what the Chinese team wanted. Falling into Iceland's rhythm, fighting them physically and competing for headers would not be good for the Chinese team.
"
Li Ziqiang continued from the side: "Qin Lin should be adjusting soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Qin Lin, the head coach of the Chinese team who was sitting on the coaching bench, getting up from his seat and walking to the sidelines.
He made a hand-down gesture.
Steady, slow down.
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"Qin signaled his players to slow down and be steady. This shows that our strategy is right!"
the Iceland assistant coach told Hermansson excitedly.
Hermansson still had his trademark expression and a "hmm", but he was not as happy as his assistant.
Then he said to his assistant: "Let our people strengthen their physical confrontation, and they can foul when necessary. We cannot let the Chinese team enter the game they are accustomed to."
The assistant coach came to the sidelines excitedly and conveyed the coach's instructions to all the players through their special internal gestures.
So far, everything is actually according to Hermansson's plan.
Including Qin Lin’s response.
This gives him confidence for the next game.
Maybe we can actually win?
Even the worst...should still gain a point.
If they can draw with Portugal in the next game, they really have hope of qualifying for the group - as long as they can defeat Peru in the final round of the group stage.
We want to give the loudest "war cry" in the World Cup!
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Slow down and be steady, the Chinese team is no longer rushing to pass the football forward when attacking.
This will only allow the ball to fall to Iceland very quickly.
Although the Icelandic team had pressed the Chinese players in the frontcourt before, it was only to compete for the second spot.
Once the football has completely fallen into the control of the Chinese team, they quickly "ebb", retreat to their own half, and shrink their defense.
Don't give the Chinese team a chance to counterattack.
The Chinese team slowly pushed forward and could only fight a positional battle with Iceland.
After some passing, the football came to Chen Xingyi’s feet.
He led diagonally in from the sideline.
After luring Iceland's right-back Fanar Svensson towards him, he moved the ball wide.
Behind him is the Chinese team's left back Peng Weijun, who is advancing at high speed!
After scoring a goal, Peng Weijun was in excellent condition and full of confidence.
Facing the ball from Chen Xingyi, he directly put the football into the penalty area without slowing down!
Svensson turned around and pounced on him again.
At the same time, Iceland's center back Daniel Bodson also rushed from the middle to cover up the defense, because the day lilies were already cold waiting for Svensson to turn around...
Peng Weijun dribbled the ball to the bottom line. Facing Bodson's interception, he sent a cross.
But it's not a cross that passes the ball in front of the goal, but an inverted triangle cross!
He passed the football back to Chen Xingyi!
After Chen Xingyi passed the ball, he continued to insert into the penalty area, and now he just happened to receive the pass from his teammate in the space!
"Peng Weijun... passed the ball in an inverted triangle! Good ball! Chen Xingyi——!!!"
Amid He Feng's roar, Chen Xingyi shot with his left foot!
Iceland goalkeeper Smarassen reacted quickly and got off the ground immediately!
Because Chen Xingyi's shot was a ground ball, he shot the football to the back spot!
Smarassen fell to the ground and threw himself sideways, successfully knocking the football out!
Chinese fans and Icelandic fans cheered one after another in the stands.
But the cheers from Icelandic fans soon turned into exclamations.
And the Chinese fans cheered again.
The football that was saved by Icelandic goalkeeper Smarassen bounced back to the goal. Zhou Zijing and Gudbergsson rushed forward at the same time, then ran past together, intersecting with the football, and could only look back to watch the football rolling behind them...
Behind them, Iceland left-back Olaf Brynjolfsson raised his legs and prepared to turn around and make a clearance.
But before he could complete the rescue action, a black shadow suddenly appeared in front of him!
"Hulai——!!"
"HUUUUUU!!"
In the commentary box, commentators from all over the world exclaimed.
The Chinese commentator's voice was full of excitement and expectation, while the Icelandic commentator's tone was full of panic.
Hu Lai seemed to appear from behind Brynjolfsson, stretched out a kick from his side, and stabbed the football before the latter!
Without any suspense, amidst growing cheers, the football crossed the goal line and rolled into the net!
"Ah ha ha ha!" He Feng looked up to the sky and laughed, "Hu Lai scored a goal! The Chinese team leads Iceland by two goals! What is supposed to come has come!!"