Grass roots glory

Chapter 176
During the FIFA window at the end of May, the Chinese team actually didn't have much training time.The local internationals who played in the domestic Chinese Super League only concentrated for five days.It was two days before the game that Zhou Tiancheng arrived at the national team to report.The coaching staff considered that he had to travel continuously after the season just ended, and Gao Hongbo specially approved him to rest alone for half a day.

That is to say, in fact, Zhou Tiancheng only participated in two training sessions in the afternoon and evening of the first day of the competition, and only had to run in with his teammates twice before rushing into battle.

Although the time is tight, the effect of the training has generally met the expectations of the coaching staff.A very important reason is that the midfield combination of the national team is stronger than it was in the Asian Cup qualifiers at the beginning of the year.

The most media-focused change in the national team training list is the return of Zheng Zhi, the captain of the national team who played for Charlton in the Premier League. The previous main midfielder of the national team, Shao Jiayi, was eliminated by Gao Hongbo without injury. Not on the training list.

The media generally believe that this is the beginning of Gao Hongbo's formal reconstruction of the national team.The call-up of Zhou Tiancheng at the beginning of the year and the abandonment of many veterans in the goalkeeper and defense positions this time indicate that the national team is accelerating out of the transition period when the new coach takes office.

After these few days of training, the media also found that the best midfield combination in Gao Hongbo's mind is Zheng Zhi and Zhou Tiancheng.Judging from the training effect, although the two are partners for the first time, their on-court awareness is indeed the most prominent.Moreover, both of them are all-round midfielders with a wide range of running and excellent offense and defense.The awareness of mutual attack and defense is very strong.Zhou Tiancheng is still used to the way he played in Schalke 04. If he gets the ball, if he has a chance, he will choose to insert it immediately, and Zheng Zhi directly stands in the space left by Zhou Tiancheng to protect himself from counterattacks.Conversely, the two sometimes switched roles, and Zhou Tiancheng also did a good job.

In fact, since the beginning of the year, the media has been looking forward to the scene where the two are combined in midfield.Now, together, this first step seems to be working out well.

The media and fans are even more looking forward to testing the quality of the duo in the game. Zhou Tiancheng is not at a disadvantage against these German internationals in the Bundesliga. If he is replaced by a partner who plays in the Premier League, will the result be the same?
……

Compared with the attention of the home team, the research focus of the German coach Joachim Loew is only Zhou Tiancheng.Before the game, he explained to the players of the German team that there was only one key point - to mobilize Zhou Tiancheng: "I know that Zhou puts a lot of pressure on you, but this is the national team's arena. No matter how strong he is, he is still alone. The other players in the Chinese team gave him The support must be limited, so what we have to do is to press, mobilize, and let the ball run. Zhou has always been very active in defending on the field, so we should move him away from the middle. Naturally, there will be opportunities!"

Loew's arrangement is highly targeted, and of course, it also benefits from the presence of Kuranyi and Neuer, two teammates who get along with Zhou Tiancheng day and night.

……

The match between the Chinese team and the German team was held at the 8-person stadium in Shanghai. The appeal of the stars of the two teams made it rare for the national team's game to be full in first-tier cities in China.

When the players from both sides came out, Zhou Tiancheng smiled slightly, greeted Kuranyi on the bench, and then went to the starting goalkeeper Neuer of the German team to say hello: "Manuel, play against me, Surprised or not, is it unexpected?"

Neuer nodded: "Well... It's really surprising. I thought I would never meet the Chinese team in this life, ha!"

Zhou Tiancheng sneered, and easily saw through Neuer's trick: "Hmph, you want to stimulate me? Based on what you know about me, do you think it will work?"

"It's impossible for you to have a chance. Could it be that you plan to single out our entire team?"

"The other ten players of the Chinese team are all puppets. You really think so, right? Hehe..." Zhou Tiancheng's two evil smiles sounded very conspiratorial, and Neuer felt a little nervous.

CCTV commentator He Wei saw this scene, smiled on his face, and said, "What is Neuer saying to Zhou Tiancheng? Haha, this should be very interesting. During normal training, he should be scored by Zhou Tiancheng a lot. Could it be that he Do you want Zhou Tiancheng to be merciful? After all, we are all teammates, so we should stay on the front line and see each other in the future."

Although this kind of thinking is very flirtatious, but the target is Zhou Tiancheng, most fans will only feel better.

Today, Gao Hongbo is not very conservative in formation because the German team is much stronger. He still chooses a 4-2-3-1 formation based on a balanced offense and defense, and Gao Hongbo dares to boldly use young people. Gao Lin and Feng Xiaoting born in 1985, Hao Junmin and Jiang Ning born in 1986, Yu Hanchao born in 1987, and Zhou Tiancheng born in 1989, the oldest is only 24 years old, the starting lineup of the Chinese team The average age has dropped a lot all of a sudden, and we no longer rely on old arms and legs to dominate the world.

And Loew's starting 4-4-2 formation in this game, the main force is out, goalkeeper Neuer, central defender Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Huth (Middlesbrough), left back Ram ( Bayern), right back Schaefer (Wolfsburg); midfielders Schweinsteiger (Bayern), Gentner (Stuttgart), Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart), Trohoofs Key (Bremen); striker Mario Gomez (Stuttgart) partner Podolski (Bayern).

Also sitting on the bench were Kuranyi and Stuttgart striker Kakao.In terms of strength on paper, both sides have two dimensions.

But the Chinese team gave full play to the specialty of wing attack at the beginning.At the beginning of the game, Hao Junmin received a pass from Zhou Tiancheng on the right side, and directly put into gear to accelerate and charge. Lahm did not expect Hao Junmin's breakthrough to be so determined. The first step really did not keep up with the starting speed, but he As a world-class full-back, the speed of chasing back is still very fast. He turned around and took two steps, and went around to Hao Junmin's side to destroy the ball out of the sideline.

"A good goal! The Chinese team started with a lot of momentum, and we like the appearance of daring to fight and fight."

Through this attack, it is obvious that Hao Junmin is in good condition, but the German team is still somewhat slow. Perhaps in the eyes of the superstars of the German team, if it is not for the special existence of Zhou Tiancheng, the Chinese team will not be able to enter them at all. eyes!

But the most taboo thing on the football field is self-esteem.Taking advantage of this corner kick opportunity, there was an eye contact between right back Cao Yang and Hao Junmin.The Chinese team threw the ball directly to the penalty area on the right side of the German team. Hao Junmin understood it, turned around and accelerated to get rid of Lahm's entanglement, quickly inserted, grabbed the ball before the German team's central defender Huth, and used the opponent's center of gravity to press forward to prepare to steal the ball He passed the opportunity directly, cut to the bottom line at a zero angle, glanced at Friedrich, who was rushing up from the other side, and aimed a half-high ball with his right foot at the far end. Fly into the goal with a swipe at the left post.

After the goal, Hao Junmin ran to the sidelines to enjoy the cheers of the fans. At this moment, the atmosphere of the audience reached its peak.

No one would have expected this opening before the game, but it was precisely because of this that this surprise caught everyone off guard.He Wei excitedly called Hao Junmin's name twice: "Hao Junmin! Hao Junmin opened the scoring first! Haha! What a surprise player of the Chinese team. The German players probably focused all their attention on Zhou Tiancheng. Hao Junmin started the game. At this moment, the two defensive midfielders were defending Zhou Tiancheng. They were probably full of thoughts about how Zhou Tiancheng would use a long shot, a set kick, or a header to score. But this goal proved once again that football is very important. A movement of one man. Ignoring any one of them will pay dearly."

Xu Yang added: "Hao Junmin is not an ordinary player. When he was 17 years old, he got the attention of the Chelsea youth training camp twice. His ability is beyond doubt. Of course, Lahm obviously forgot the World Youth Championship four years ago. The Chinese team that almost capsized them...otherwise Hao Junmin wouldn’t be so careless when he started.”

As for Neuer, who lost the goal in 4 minutes, his eyes looked like they were about to spew fire at any time, but Zhou Tiancheng added fuel to the fire at this time. When he picked the ball out of the goal, he glanced at him and asked with a smile: "Manuel, how is it? I'm not the only one who can score in the Chinese team, right?"

Just as Neuer was about to explode, Zhou Tiancheng already turned his back to him and walked towards his teammates quickly.He could only yell at the defender: "Bitch! Guard him, aren't you awake?"

Ram looked back at this junior who had just been selected for the national team, a trace of displeasure flashed across his face.But Neuer didn't pay attention at all, and he was quite annoyed.I just said that the Chinese team has nothing to fear except Zhou Tiancheng, and the speed of this slap is too fast.

And this goal also made the fans on the Internet boil.It's not that the Chinese team has scored against the world's top teams, but they can only rely on set kicks.It is indeed the first time in the world to break through the barriers with personal ability in such a sports battle.

"Wow! Three people in a row, scoring at a zero-degree angle... Is this the operation of the national football team? I'm sorry, have I not watched the national football team for a long time? I am here for the German team!"

"Hao Junmin is awesome, TEDA is awesome!" This is a Tianjin fan.

"I am proud of Wuhan!" Wuhan fans quickly followed the formation.

"Hahaha! Look at Neuer's expression [GIF]... Could it be that what I've been hearing is the fake Chinese team?"

"The summer window is about to open, Bundesliga teams look over, look over!"

……

Love had already walked from the coach's bench to the sidelines, without saying anything, and lightly picked his nostrils.

Well-known coaches around the world have their own signature moves. The little move of Loew picking his nose is as familiar as Lippi smoking cigars and Ferguson chewing gum.And everyone knows that Love only makes this action when the score is behind. In the media's interpretation, Love's action is characterized as anxious.

But for the German players, Loew's action has a deeper meaning.

The score is behind, and the head coach is anxious and dissatisfied, so what should he do next?
attack!

This is the signal to fight back!
The kick-off was resumed in the middle circle, and the German team pressed on with an extremely violent attack, specifically bypassing Zhou Tiancheng's defense zone and shifting the focus to Zheng Zhi's side. Schweinsteiger directly took advantage of the confrontation to carry Zheng Zhi's lead. The ball advances.Although the Premier League confrontation experienced by Zheng Zhi at Charlton was stronger than that of the Bundesliga, Schweinsteiger has skills at his feet and has experienced countless top confrontations. One-on-one Zheng Zhi is obviously at a disadvantage.

Schweinsteiger dribbled the ball forward for nearly five meters. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Zhou Tiancheng was no more than two or three steps away from him. He immediately made a cross, and the goal was clearly passed to the 1.8-meter-[-] high center forward Mario Gomez. over his head.Although central defender Feng Xiaoting got stuck in his position early and shook his head to clear the ball.But this did not end the German offensive.

He Wei's tone immediately became more tense: "Steady during this period! The German team will have a wave of counterattacks. This is a normal trend that can be expected. Zhou Tiancheng and Zheng Zhi can cooperate to protect the defense at this time."

He Wei has actually pointed out the direction, but unfortunately only the fans can hear, and just after he finished speaking, Schweinsteiger passed a through ball while running outside the penalty area, and Podolski turned offside and single-handedly pushed Shot to tie the score at 1:1.

The Chinese team led by only 3 minutes, and the German team responded.

Those fans who were ecstatic on the Internet just now all showed expressions of "it is so" - the first conceded goal was definitely just the German team's slow progress. .

According to the script they designed, the German team may have a second goal, a third goal, and a fourth goal...

It can't be said that the fans are deliberately self-defeating. It is indeed compared with normal strength. No one will be surprised by such a development.

However, the tenacity of the Chinese team is beyond everyone's expectations—maybe everyone is not used to the word tenacity when it is used with the national team, but to be honest, the Chinese team's anti-reverse strategy today is indeed very successful.

Everything comes from the toughness of the midfield.

Being equalized by lightning prompted Gao Hongbo to make up his mind to defend against counterattacks. Zhou Tiancheng and Zheng Zhi retreated to build a barrier in front of the defenders at the same time. Whether it was a high-altitude or ground attack, the intensive defense of the Chinese team in the middle made the German team helpless, even walking on thin ice. .Zhou Tiancheng has a high success rate of intercepting the ball in the middle, and once the ball is intercepted, Zhou Tiancheng has a strong offensive and defensive conversion ability, which is his ultimate move in the Bundesliga!
The midfielders of the German team have all experienced it well, so naturally they dare not neglect.

The fans were even more pleasantly surprised: at least for this national team, counterattacking does not mean taking chances.

And facing the German team, several counterattacks passed the ground ball from the midfield to the hinterland of the German team's penalty area. Yu Hanchao also performed a 807v[-] in the No.[-] minute that looked like Hao Junmin's goal in the first half Breakthrough, but it's a pity that the kick was instantly destroyed by Huth's defense.

At the moment when the referee blew the final whistle, He Wei said excitedly: "A surprising result! More importantly, this game has verified that Zhou Tiancheng and Zheng Zhi are indeed the strongest midfielders in the country. It is an inevitable trend that the player in the field wins the world. If the midfielder is strong, no matter what kind of opponent he faces, he will not suffer a big loss."

And after the game, some fans joked with self-deprecation: This result, to be honest, is normal!
The national football team and the warm-up match are always awesome...

(End of this chapter)