Hu Lai stood in the center circle with a football under his feet. There was no one around him, just himself - now there is no need for two players to stand in the center circle when a football match kicks off, just one person.
He looked around and saw that Chen Xingyi was on his left, standing close to the junction of the center line and the center circle.
Luo Kai is on his right, much further away, almost approaching the right sideline.
Directly behind him, Guo Junfu stood outside the center circle, and behind him were the forward line and the back line.
He looked all the way over and could see Lin Zhiyuan standing in front of the goal, lowering his head and playing with his gloves.
This is the last moment before the game against Oman.
He is waiting for the referee's whistle.
The fans in the stands gradually became quiet, and he didn't have to worry about not hearing the referee's whistle.
Just as Coach Li said, it's very cold today, minus five degrees Celsius, and the breath turns to frost - when he opened his mouth, a puff of white smoke came out.
Even though I was wearing a long-sleeved jersey, a tights underneath, and gloves, I still felt cold.
But on such a cold night, the stands at Ocean Stadium were still mostly occupied.
They are all Chinese fans wearing red jerseys.
This is a U23 Asian Cup match, not a senior Asian Cup, nor a World Cup qualifier, but Dashun fans still gave this match a very high courtesy.
Because this is related to whether the Olympic team can participate in this summer's Olympic Games.
Hu Lai thought of the previous session where players from both sides stood on the field and played the national anthem.
The scene of all the fans singing "March of the Volunteers" in unison was spectacular and heart-warming.
From his perspective, wherever there were people in the stands, a vast white mist rose, rising and falling to the rhythm of the national anthem.
The last time he wore this jersey to participate in the East Asian Cup, because the game was in South Korea, which is their territory, it would be polite if the Korean fans did not boo them when the national anthem was played. There was no such scene at all.
In the previous warm-up match of the Olympic team, there was no such spectacular scene at all due to the different nature of the match.
White mist was rising from the stands with a red background, as if there were flames burning in the vast snowfield. Seeing this scene, Hu Lai deeply understood the weight of the four words "win glory for the country".
That's definitely not a slogan painted on the walls of a gymnasium.
Just then, he heard a crisp whistle.
"CCTV, CCTV! Good evening, viewers. What you are watching now is the opening match of the 2024 U23 Asian Cup. The host Chinese Olympic team will face the Oman Olympic team... accompanied by a whistle from the referee from Japan.
Ring, the game begins!"
In front of the TV, Li Qingqing straightened her body and sat upright on the sofa.
Next to her, Li Ziqiang put down the mobile phone in his hand and focused his eyes on the TV screen.
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Because of the cold weather, neither side immediately entered the game state when the game just started.
However, at this point, the performance of the Chinese team is still better. On the one hand, it is natural that they warmed up well.
On the other hand, the players of the Oman Olympic team seemed very unsuited to such cold weather.
After all, countries from the subtropical and tropical regions of the Middle East probably don’t have such low temperatures throughout the year...
Before the start of this U23 Asian Cup, some Chinese fans posted on the Internet that the Chinese Football Association had specially arranged for this U23 Asian Cup to be held in the Northeast, where the climate is colder.
Because there are two Middle Eastern teams in the same group as the Chinese team, they are obviously not used to such cold weather.
But this is a rumor. Because the decision on where to hold the U23 Asian Cup has been made long ago. At that time, the U23 Asian Cup had not drawn lots yet. How did the Football Association know which teams the Olympic team would compete with?
Are the teams together?
It can only be said that the current situation is a mistake.
In the cold weather, the players of the Chinese team adapted quickly, and they began to attack Oman's goal according to the tactics arranged by Shi.
Oman knew its disadvantages and responded with intensive defense.
In response, the Chinese team frequently took advantage of the two wide spaces behind Oman's intensive defense to launch attacks and played proactively.
In the 12th minute of the game, the Chinese team almost scored.
At that time, the Omani players didn't know whether they had not recovered from being frozen. When they returned the ball, they were too weak and were intercepted by Luo Kai.
After Luo Kai intercepted the ball, he made a move to pass the football to Hu Lai in the middle. After deceiving Oman's defense to quickly adjust there, he suddenly changed direction and dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
This hit caught the Oman team defender off guard. At that time, the Oman players were ready to prevent him from passing the ball, but he suddenly cut inside and let him go immediately...
The first wave of cheers broke out in the stands.
Luo Kai, who entered the penalty area, did not continue to dribble, but after adjusting, he shot directly!
It's a pity that the football he shot was blocked by the Omani central defender who arrived in time with his leg...
"Ah! Luo Kai! What a pity!" the commentator He Feng shouted looking up to the sky in the studio behind.
"It doesn't matter, He Feng, it doesn't matter. At present, the players of the Olympic team are obviously more adaptable to the weather and venue than their opponents... This should be related to their previous training camp at Hongmaple Ridge. The morale of the players is high.
It doesn’t matter if we don’t score a goal in this attack. I believe that if we keep playing like this, a goal will definitely appear!” Yan Kang comforted He Feng and was also reassuring the audience and friends in front of the TV.
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"Ah, this ball... wouldn't it be better if Luo Kai cuts in and passes the football across to Hu Lai?" Li Qingqing pointed to the TV screen and said to his father.
Just after Luo Kai cut inside, Hu Lai quickly turned around and inserted into the penalty area. The central defender who was originally stuck on his side was forced to cover Luo Kai. In fact, there was no one around him to mark, and Hu Lai also moved toward him.
Luo Kai made a passing gesture.
But Luo Kai didn't even raise his head and shot directly.
Li Ziqiang said with a straight face: "There is no problem with Luo Kai's handling. As a forward, he is basically facing the goalkeeper alone. It is reasonable to choose to shoot directly. I can only say that the Oman center back reacted quickly enough. If it had been a little later,
Luo Kai's ball went to the far corner of the goal. Although Hu Lai is the core of the Olympic team, it does not mean that every ball must be passed to Hu Lai. Otherwise, as long as the opponent defends Hu Lai, the Olympic team will not
Can’t score a goal?”
"Well, Dad, what you said makes sense." Li Qingqing nodded obediently in agreement.
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Luo Kai, who failed to shoot, then looked up and saw Hu Lai in the middle. He made a gesture to Hu Lai, indicating that he didn't mean not to pass the ball, but he really didn't see it.
Hu Lai didn't care about this either.
As both forwards, of course we all know that when an opportunity arises, there must be only one thought in mind, and that is to shoot.
This is not independence, but the instinct of a striker.
It has nothing to do with personal relationships.
He and Luo Kai are indeed not good friends, but there is no reason to deliberately not pass the ball to each other during the game.
On the sidelines, the head coach of the Olympic team, Shi Wuyuan, came out of the coaching bench and applauded the team's attack.
As the head coach, this was his way of protecting his players - he didn't think it was a big deal that Luo Kai didn't pass the ball to Hu Lai, so he stood up to applaud Luo Kai's attack and blocked some people's attacks in advance.
The mouth also calms the player's heart.
Although Luo Kai missed the goal, it still greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese Olympic team.
Facing the team recognized as the weakest in this group, the Olympic team continued to launch attacks. They also carried out a high-level press on the intensively defensive Omani players, directly surrounding their players on the ball at the front of their penalty area, forcing them to appear like what they just did.
Mistakes.
The fans of the Chinese team in the stands created a huge momentum to put psychological pressure on the Omani players who were not accustomed to the weather.
Under this trinity of offensives, Oman is really struggling to cope with it, and it has a tendency to be unable to withstand it...
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In the 20th minute, after Chen Xingyi got the ball from the left wing, he played a one-two with Guo Junfu who came up to meet him and hit the wall.
Guo Junfu passed the football from behind the Oman right back who was guarding Chen Xingyi. When the latter turned around, Chen Xingyi had already used his speed to get behind him. After catching up with the football, he took one step and made a pass!
He didn't pass the football directly, but rolled it close to the turf towards the goal.
When Luo Kai saw Chen Xingyi's pass, he immediately accelerated and sprinted in a diagonal direction, rushing past Hu Lai towards the front point.
Hu Lai did not follow him, but dragged behind him and took a step to the outside.
As a result, when Luo Kai rushed to the front point, he found that Chen Xingyi's pass was an inverted triangle and rolled right past his feet.
He originally wanted to stretch his legs, try hard to hook the football back, and then shoot.
But when he was about to do this, he thought that Hu Lai should be behind him, so he stopped his feet and let the football roll past his feet instead of trying to reach the ball.
Sure enough, after he passed the football, Hulay ran to the penalty spot, first raised his left foot, and pretended to shoot directly. After the Oman defender who came up to cover the ball turned around and tried to block the shot with his body, he feinted a shot.
, move the rolling football to your right foot, then swing your foot and shoot!
"Hulai——!!"
Amidst He Feng's prolonged shouting, Hu Lai shot the football into the back corner of the goal.
The Omani goalkeeper, who turned over from the front and rushed back, was powerless against such a kick. Although he made a save, it seemed more like a routine...
"The ball is in! The ball is in! The Chinese Olympic team played a wonderful frontcourt cooperation, and finally Chen Xingyi assisted Hu Lai to complete their first goal in this U23 Asian Cup!!
"
"Aha! This is the tacit understanding between the two young people from Flashing Star!" Yan Kang said with a smile from the side. "The two of them had such wonderful cooperation many times in the Chinese League One last season, and now they
Move your connection from the club to the Olympic team!"
"Hey!!" Li Qingqing was sitting on the sofa, but raised her arms and cheered. "Beautiful!!"
The deafening cheers of the fans at the scene came from the TV. Such momentum stirred up the white mist floating in the stands, as if the sound waves had materialized.
Hu Lai, who scored the goal, turned around and ran to the corner flag area on the other side. In that deserted open space, under the focus of everyone's attention, he jumped up, waved his arms, and turned around.
"Hu Lai made his signature celebration! We hope to see more of his celebrations in this U23 Asian Cup, just like last season's Chinese League One and Football Association Cup!"
Yan Kang smiled and added: "Like the East Asian Cup!"
Last year in the East Asian Cup, Hu Lai scored five goals and was awarded the top scorer in that East Asian Cup.
But the most important thing is that in that East Asian Cup, the Chinese Olympic team won the championship!