Hulay did not get the first shot of the game until the 20th minute, which shows how much the Brazilian team "cares" about him during the game.
As long as Hulay enters the 30-meter area, there will definitely be Brazilian players around him, regardless of whether he shoots and takes the ball.
The Brazilian team is even willing to take risks elsewhere in order to defend Jule.
This is also something that can't be helped.
Could they not know that taking Hu Lai too seriously would lead to vulnerabilities elsewhere?
of course I know.
But what can you do if you know?
Oh, in order not to expose flaws elsewhere, we let Hu Lai go?
I'm afraid no football coach in the world would make such an arrangement.
We can only "choose the lesser of two evils".
Hulay has already scored nine goals in this World Cup, and now he is two goals short of the single-game scoring record in World Cup history - the single-game scoring record in World Cup history belongs to "French Cannon" Celine Mon
Thierry, he once set a record of eleven goals in the 1982 World Cup. Unfortunately, even if he scored eleven goals, the French team could not win that World Cup...
Now Hulay has great hope of threatening Montiel's record.
And Montiel has also publicly stated that he is happy for Hulay to break his record.
Facing such a historical shooter, how could the Brazilian team use ordinary defensive strategies to restrict Hulay?
If the rules allowed it, they would have liked to send three more players on the field and form a "siege" to surround Hu Lai.
Under such tight defense, Hu Lai only got one shot opportunity.
But even if he only had one chance, he threatened the Brazilian team's goal.
The Brazilian players also knew it very well, so they increased their enthusiasm in "taking care of" Hulay.
In fact, compared with the previous two World Cups, the Chinese team in this World Cup has greatly improved the diversity of its offensive firepower - so far, six members of this Chinese team have scored goals in this World Cup.
.Among them, Luo Kai also scored two goals.
In the last term, four people scored goals, and except for Hu Lai, everyone else only scored one goal.
The last term was even worse, with only Hu Lai and Luo Kai scoring goals.
It can be seen that the overall level of the Chinese team has improved significantly.
But even so, in the minds of Brazilian players, Hulay's threat level still ranks first. No matter what the situation, priority must be given to defending Hulay.
When the Chinese team launched an attack, Hu Lai made a diagonal run.
Xia Xiaoyu passed the football towards his diagonal path.
Just before Hulay received the ball, Brazilian defensive player Neto Leila slammed into him from the side, stabbing the football away first and knocking Hulay down at the same time.
Seeing Hu Lai rolling sideways and falling out, the Chinese fans in the stands greeted Netolela's family with the warmest voices.
Amidst the huge boos, the referee did not call Torreira a foul, but crossed his arms to indicate that the ball was not a foul.
So the Chinese fans in the stands once again warmly greeted the referee and his relatives.
Although judging from the subsequent slow-motion replays from multiple angles, Nettorella did indeed tackle the ball first, so there is no problem in not calling a foul.
In fact, Hu Lai did not suffer any serious injuries - most of the force caused by the collision was removed by his continuous rolling on the turf.
He quickly got up from the ground and got into the game.
Xie Lan in the stands retracted the arm that he had just stretched out to "accuse" Netorella. She was part of the wave of boos and curses just now.
Of course she knew Netolella didn't commit a foul, but so what?
As a mother, can’t I protect my son without thinking?!
If you "invade" my son on the court, then you are not giving me face!
Since you don't give me face, don't blame me for scolding you badly!
Hu Lixin and Li Ziqiang, who accompany her to watch football matches, are used to Xie Lan's way of venting her emotions.
They did not join in scolding Netorela because as coaches, they always have to look at the game from a professional perspective and pay attention to issues that ordinary fans may not pay attention to.
It's obvious that Hulay has been targeted by the Brazilian team, so the Chinese team shouldn't really pin all their hopes of scoring on Hulay, right?
Qin Lin will definitely arrange for others to take over Hu Lai's scoring task.
Now Hulay no longer just stays in the middle, he frequently appears in other areas, obviously pulling on the Brazilian team's defense.
After he opens the space, someone has to appear in the space and seize the opportunity to shoot and score.
So who is this candidate?
Zhou Zi Jing?
Luo Kai?
Or... Chen Xingyi, who has not scored a goal in this World Cup so far?
※※※
However, before Li Ziqiang and Hu Lixin can think of who the candidate is, the Chinese team must first withstand the Brazilian team's attack.
The game lasted for 26 minutes. The host country played very aggressively at the beginning, but they were unable to suppress the Brazilian team.
On the other hand, the Brazilian team, which has a stronger overall strength, also cannot control the rhythm of the game.
The two teams were going back and forth like this, with everyone trying to control the game.
And the only way to control the game is to score goals.
Whoever scores first will have the upper hand and take the initiative.
Gonsalves passed the ball forward from the backcourt, looking for Kabangca.
Kabangka receives the ball with his back to the attacking direction.
Ou Yangjin immediately came up from behind.
However, when the football was passed over, Kabangka used his right foot to push the football directly from under him. The football not only penetrated his own crotch, but also penetrated the crotch of Ou Yangjin who was close to him...
Before Ou Yangjin could react, Kabangka had already turned around and passed by Ou Yangjin!
“Kabanka!!”
"careful!"
When Xia Xiaoyu saw that Ou Yangjin had been wiped, he immediately stepped forward to defend himself.
Kabangka completely ignored him, accelerated the ball, and rushed towards the Chinese team's penalty area!
"Go up and force him!"
Wang Guangwei commanded loudly, but Qin Qi decisively stepped forward to interfere.
Kabangka shoots directly!
"Bang!"
With a muffled sound, the football flew towards the Chinese team’s goal!
Lin Zhiyuan jumped into the air, rubbed his fingertips, then hit the crossbar, and then the bottom line popped out.
"Lin Zhiyuan! Beautiful! He saved Kabangka's long shot with his fingertips! Extreme save!"
After completing the save, Lin Zhiyuan jumped up from the ground and waved his fist vigorously.
The Chinese fans in the stands gave him warm applause and cheers.
Kabangka turned a blind eye to Lin Zhiyuan's celebration and ran to prepare for a corner kick.
However, this time the Brazilian team's corner kick did not threaten the Chinese team's goal.
The ball he kicked in front of the goal was pushed out by Wang Guangwei first.
Then the Chinese team launched a wave of counterattacks, but they did not finally threaten the Brazilian team's goal.
Seeing that the first half was about to last half an hour, it was different from what the neutral commentators had hoped. The two teams did not enter a goal battle, and the score was still 0:0. Both sides seemed to have opportunities, but neither was able to seize them.
.
※※※
Qin Lin looked at the time. Thirty minutes into the first half, it was still a deadlock.
He can no longer sit in the dugout and watch the game.
So he got up and walked to the sidelines, shouting Xia Xiaoyu's name, asking him to move forward more actively and not be afraid of losing the ball.
Why should Xia Xiaoyu not be afraid of losing the ball?
Because Xia Xiaoyu does not press forward alone. He is the "eye of the needle" of the Chinese team. If he wants to press forward, it means that the Chinese team as a whole must press forward. This can ensure that the distance between each player is appropriate and the pass can be maintained.
accuracy.
Otherwise, if he goes up, will Ou Yangjin follow?
If he doesn't follow, how can he act as a bodyguard when Xia Xiaoyu is pressed?
If he followed, if he failed to protect Xia Xiaoyu and was intercepted by the Brazilian team to counterattack, then who would protect the huge space in front of the Chinese team's back line?
In order to keep the defensive formation compact and complete, the Chinese team's back line must also follow suit.
Of course, there are risks when it comes to pressure, and the risks are not small.
That's a huge gap behind the defense.
For this reason, even goalkeeper Lin Zhiyuan had to press forward, not only coming out of the goal area, but also coming out of the penalty area.
Of course, even so, there will still be great hidden dangers in the Chinese team's defense.
This is also the reason why Xia Xiaoyu was not active enough in pressure before - between being safe and taking risks, he preferred to be safe.
As the midfield organizer of the Chinese team, his choice will also affect the performance of the entire team.
When Qin Lin saw this, he took the initiative to help Xia Xiaoyu make a choice.
When Xia Xiaoyu presses forward, he will get closer to the Brazilian team's defense, changing from a defensive midfielder to an attacking midfielder.
He also changed from facing the offensive direction to facing away from the offensive direction, which posed a challenge to his ability to hold the ball.
But at the same time, he is closer to his forward teammates and can create more opportunities.
In the 34th minute, the Chinese team attacked in the frontcourt. Chen Xingyi took the ball from the wing, but the Brazilian team's midfielder Gonçalves shoveled the ball out of the sideline.
The Chinese team received a foul ball.
Peng Weijun came up for a throw-in, and Chen Xingyi ran forward to meet him on the sideline.
As a result, the Brazilian team's right back Gazal was taken away.
Xia Xiaoyu came up to respond.
There was also Gonsalves with him.
But Xia Xiaoyu still firmly shouted to Peng Weijun: "Give me the ball!"
Peng Weijun threw the ball to Xia Xiaoyu.
Facing Gonçalves' interference and pressing, Xia Xiaoyu used his body to temporarily push the opponent behind him and stop the ball first.
Then he passed it to Peng Weijun who was running forward.
Peng Weijun was not able to get rid of the Brazilian team's defense. When he received the ball, there was Lesinho beside him.
The Brazilian team's right winger can also become a right back when defending, so that the original right back Gazal can concentrate on defending Chen Xingyi.
Peng Weijun originally wanted to compete with Lecinho for speed.
But Xia Xiaoyu reminded him loudly: "Pass it back!"
Hearing this, Peng Weijun gave up the idea of competing with Lesinho in terms of speed. Indeed, he was already within 30 meters of the Brazilian team. There were so many people in front of him that there was actually no room for speed.
After slowing down, Peng Weijun turned around to protect the football, blocked Lecinho behind him, and then passed the ball back to find Xia Xiaoyu.
While Xia Xiaoyu was catching the ball, he used his right foot to pull the football back to his side and got out of the way of Netolella.
Then he immediately turned around and dribbled the ball diagonally towards the penalty area.
Netolera came back and started to interfere.
Xia Xiaoyu pushed the football forward and passed it to Chen Xingyi, who had been waiting in front.
When the football was passed to Chen Xingyi, Hu Lai, who was originally outside the penalty area, immediately rushed towards the goal.
Kaa followed Hu Lai back to the defense.
But he was only halfway through when he saw Hu Lai change his line and move forward again!
He could only follow the change of direction and run to grab the front point, never leaving Hu Lai.
That is, when Hu Lai stepped forward, Chen Xingyi made the pass.
Before he passed the ball, he raised his head and glanced forward, obviously looking for Hu Lai.
As expected, Hu Lai sped up and ran toward the football, and Kaa chose to follow him.
At the same time, Zhou Zijing was at the front, struggling with Amorim, another central defender of the Brazilian team.
"Chen Xingyi! Cross from the inverted triangle!"
"Hu--!"
Hu Lai, who ran towards the football, adjusted his steps and seemed to be about to shoot directly!
Brazil goalkeeper Lemos moved closer. He lowered his center of gravity and his body was like a compressed spring. He was ready to attack Hulay's shot!
At the same time, Kao, who was defending Hulay, pressed his entire body towards Hulay, trying to interfere with Hulay's shot.
While Hu Lai was fighting with Kaao, he... crossed over the football!
He missed the football!
"Hu Lai... missed it! Hey!" He Feng almost flashed his tongue.
Li Qingqing exclaimed: "The leak is beautiful!"
Behind Hu Lai, there is a medium-sized space!
What appears there now is...
"Xia Xiaoyu!" He Feng shouted immediately.
After passing the ball to Chen Xingyi, Xia Xiaoyu did not stay where he was, but followed the attack and pressed forward.
Seeing Brother Hu running towards the football, it stands to reason that this should be an opportunity for Brother Hu to shoot directly.
But Xia Xiaoyu continued to run in under strange circumstances.
Until he saw Hu Lai jump up and pass the football under his crotch, he accelerated sharply, adjusted his body at the same time, and swung his right leg to face the football flying towards him...
Give it a gentle push!
The football flew into the goal past Lemos who was lying on the ground!
"Ah?! Ah! Ahhhh!" He Feng reacted and exclaimed repeatedly, "Xia Xiaoyu pushed! The ball went in!! Thirty-five minutes! The Chinese team took the lead! The Chinese team won the semifinals