The problem Gary Smith was worried about did not happen, or it did not happen in a short period of time.
The Chinese team's offensive is very fierce, but after all, they are a team composed of people from the earth, and they cannot break through the rules of physics.
Under continuous fast-paced attacks, the physical fitness of the Chinese team players will also decline, and they need to slow down and take a breath.
Moreover, they are already leading by two goals, which is safer than leading by one goal at the beginning. Therefore, they are qualified to slow down the pace and deal with England slowly.
Therefore, after the 30th minute of the first half, the Chinese team obviously slowed down. Instead of continuing to provide intensity to England, they retreated, gave up the ball, and allowed England to attack.
Because England was able to control the ball, they were finally able to regain the feeling of the game after being beaten twice by the Chinese team.
At any rate, we can organize a normal attack. If we perform well and are lucky, we can also threaten the Chinese team's goal.
Darren Hunter had a good quality shot, but it was blocked by Lin Zhiyuan in the end.
When attacking, the England team tried many offensive methods, including long shots, crosses from the side, outflanking in the middle, etc.
But they failed to break the Chinese team's goal.
Morale was still affected - in the first 13 minutes, the Chinese team scored two goals in a row, which was like two heavy hammers hitting the hearts of every English player.
The superficial impact may have faded, but the inner agitation is still spreading.
Ryan Jackson has also seen this situation.
It's probably useless for him to "dance" and yell on the sidelines.
We still have to wait until the halftime break to have a good talk with the players and make some adjustments.
I looked at the game time and found that when it reached the 40th minute, Ryan Jackson made adjustments on the sidelines and signaled the team to pay attention to defense.
He knew that after ten minutes of rest, the Chinese team was about to attack again.
Listen to the shouts of the Chinese fans in the stands.
The Chinese team has to do something to respond to their fans...
At this time, Ryan Jackson no longer fantasized about the England team taking advantage of the Chinese team's attack, hitting them behind and succeeding in a sneak attack.
He knew that this England team would not be able to execute such tactics before he adjusted at halftime.
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"Peng Weijun! The Chinese team's attack is coming again!"
As the commentator shouted, the Chinese team's left back Peng Weijun accelerated from the wing.
As Ryan Jackson expected, the Chinese team stepped up its offensive once the first half entered 40 minutes.
When Peng Weijun accelerated and rushed forward, Hu Lai was passing the football to the left wing.
But it looked like there was something wrong with his pass - the ball rolled wide, but closer to England right-back Lewis Bishop.
It looks like Bishop will receive the ball one step ahead of Peng Weijun.
Hu Lai, who passed the ball, did not apologize for his mistake in passing the ball. He even turned around and ran into the penalty area without hesitation.
Seeing him sprinting into the penalty area, England center back and captain Scott Wilson's attention was immediately taken away by Hulay.
No matter what the situation is with Peng Weijun and Bishop over there, Wilson knows very well that he must first keep an eye on Hu Lai!
Hu Lai, who has already opened his goal account, is even more terrifying. He is not the kind who is satisfied with just scoring one goal in a game...
At the same time, on the wing, England right back Lewis Bishop stretched out his foot to destroy the pass, but Peng Weijun beat him and poked the football away!
In terms of speed, Peng Weijun is better!
Although he was further away from the football when Hu Lai passed the ball, he touched the ball first in the end!
While Peng Weijun walked away from the football, he also left Bishop behind.
Then he caught up with the football and made a pass directly!
Hulay's advance in the middle attracted the attention of Scott Wilson, and Zhou Zijing held up another England center back, Alistair Makama, at the front.
In addition, Luo Kai also shrank from the side to the center to participate in grabbing points.
The Chinese team fired three arrows in front of England's goal!
England's defensive players were compressed very close to the goal by the three of them. As a result, a short gap appeared near the penalty spot.
Xia Xiaoyu rushed here, and using the momentum of his previous sprint, he jumped out directly, facing the flying football and diving towards the top!
Although England goalkeeper Shim Dickinson made a save, he did not touch the ball at all!
Because Xia Xiaoyu's power when reaching the top was so great that the football was like a cannonball!
His reaction speed is nothing compared to football. When he waved his hand, the football had already flown past!
Sim Dickinson was startled, and then heard a crisp sound from behind him!
When he was falling from the air, he turned around and saw that the crossbar was shaking, but the football...the football was not in the goal!
"Ouch! Crossbar!"
He Feng put his head in his hands and lay on the commentary table.
Xia Xiaoyu's leap to the top can be said to be very sudden. Not to mention the defensive players, even He Feng, who has a certain "God's perspective" in the commentary box, did not expect Xia Xiaoyu to do this.
When Peng Weijun passed the ball, he just caught a glimpse of Xia Xiaoyu rushing into the penalty area. He thought that Xia Xiaoyu would stop the ball.
Who would have thought that he would shoot directly over the top?
England was caught off guard.
I could say that I did everything perfectly, but was turned away by the crossbar of England's goal!
The Chinese team almost took a three-goal lead!
If they lead by three goals in the first half, it can basically be said that most of the Chinese team is already in the semifinals!
pity……
How powerful is Xia Xiaoyu's header this time?
The football hit the crossbar and bounced back, but did not land in the penalty area, but flew straight out of the penalty area and towards the midfield!
Xia Xiaoyu stood up from the ground with his head in his hands, also feeling very sorry for missing this opportunity.
However, he didn't feel sorry for himself for too long and quickly turned around and got into the game.
After all, we haven't entered the dead ball stage yet.
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Xia Xiaoyu, who was standing in the corner flag area, lowered his arms and prepared to run.
After a series of previous attacks, the Chinese team now got a corner kick.
This moment is the 49th minute of the first half and the last ten seconds of injury time.
If nothing else, this should be the Chinese team’s last offensive opportunity in the first half.
The TV broadcast camera panned in front of the England goal. Every England player looked solemn and tried their best to prevent the Chinese team players from getting close to the goal.
England head coach Ryan Jackson squatted on the sidelines and stared nervously at the court.
I am afraid that the Chinese team will take advantage of this corner kick opportunity to score.
After the whistle sounded, Xia Xiaoyu put down his arm and kicked the football towards the goal!
Hu Lai, Wang Guangwei, Luo Kai and Qin Qi moved between each other in the penalty area, attracting England's defensive attention.
It was Wang Guangwei who finally jumped up to head the ball!
"Wang Guangwei...header!!! Oops!"
He Feng reflected three different emotions in one sentence...
Wang Guangwei hit the ball before everyone else, but the ball he hit didn't hit the goal frame.
But slightly higher than the beam!
England goalkeeper Shim Dickinson faced Wang Guangwei's header and made a save, but he was a step too late.
By the time he waved his hand upward, the football had already flown over the crossbar...
As the football flew over the crossbar, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
England fans also breathed a sigh of relief.
Then they quickly cheered up again, jumping up and down in the stands, singing loudly, and cheering for the team.
It has to be said that although English fans have a bad reputation among fan groups in other countries, they are still very loyal to their own team, especially in international competitions.
"Oh God...this first half is finally over! It's like a nightmare!"
"Isn't the Chinese team too fierce?"
"Damn, I almost thought we would go home after the first half..."
"0:2 is actually not bad. It's not the end of the world. During the halftime break, as long as we adjust properly, we still have a chance!"
"Yes, losing only two goals in the first half is already a good result!"
Another advantage of English fans is that they are particularly good at comforting themselves.
It's obviously a bad thing, but if it's turned around in their mouth, it seems to be a good thing.
This ability to celebrate funerals is still outstanding.
The whistle had just blown at the end of the first half, and England fans were already looking forward to the wonderful show that after the half-time adjustment, the England team launched a desperate counterattack in the second half and finally chased three goals in a row to complete a shocking comeback.
Based on this mentality, they gave warm applause and songs to the England players who came off the pitch dejected.
Of course, they were soon drowned in the even louder applause and cheers from the Chinese fans.
Although Wang Guangwei's header slipped out of the goal at the last moment and the Chinese team failed to seal the victory in the first half, Chinese fans were still very satisfied with the first half.
The Chinese players themselves seemed quite satisfied with the first half. Each of them smiled when they came off the field, and some waved to the fans in the stands, very relaxed.
But when they all returned to the locker room, head coach Qin Lin closed the door, turned around, and said to all the Chinese team players with a straight face: