Grassroots Glory

Regarding the Lebanese team, in fact, the Chinese team does not know much about it, and the coaching staff only have videos of their recent games, but it does not matter. The only requirement for Gao Hongbo in this game is to control the ball under his feet and try to control it situation.

Facing opponents with equal or stronger strength, full video analysis is useful, but against opponents like Lebanon, the Chinese team is fully capable of suppressing them from the first minute...Maybe it was not possible before, but with these few more Returnees, especially with Zhou Tiancheng in the midfield, at least in the midfield, are obviously better than Lebanon by a large margin.

Well, in a game like this where there is an obvious opportunity to completely control the initiative at your feet, the impact of less information on the opponent will not be too great. The opponent's team is full of players who have played in the Gulf League, and there are no world-class defenders. Press down. The training after the Chinese team arrived in Lebanon was mainly aimed at attacking the midfield. Gao Hongbo tried to strengthen the confidence of all the players: the opponent is not strong, if we continue to put pressure on them, we can always score goals!

The whole team has such confidence, not to mention Zhou Tiancheng, but after the training session the morning before the game, Gao Hongbo suddenly called him to the sidelines. Through these few days of training, he had some ideas, Communicate with Zhou Tiancheng.

Xiao Zhou, you mainly play as a defensive midfielder in the club. I was thinking, how about you try a proper attacking midfielder position in the national team in the future?

Zhou Tiancheng was stunned for a moment: Director Gao, what do you mean by proper attempt?

It depends on the opponent. For example, for opponents like Lebanon, we focus on offense and score as many goals as possible. Then you play the midfielder. If we meet Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, or stronger players European and American teams, when they need to defend and counterattack, you partner with Zheng Zhi as a defensive midfielder. In short, what is the biggest need of the team, you can play in whatever position. If you want to participate in the offense at the club, you have to step in and play. If you play as an attacking midfielder, you can attack with confidence.

Director Gao, it seems that you have watched my games a lot, ha! Zhou Tiancheng joked, Gao Hongbo has no airs, as long as he doesn't affect the team, he is a very talkative person.

Know yourself and know your enemy and you can fight a hundred battles. I don't even know what to do with my own players. I also watched your performance and found Jiang Hao by the way. Of course, if you find it difficult...

I have no problem, Director Gao, you just need to assign tasks, I will obey the team's arrangements.

Gao Hongbo smiled with satisfaction: That's good, Jintong really is different when he speaks!

Perhaps it was because this opponent was not under too much pressure, Gao Hongbo was still in the mood to joke. Zhou Tiancheng did not feel much difference within the team because of winning a golden boy. His teammates have always been very enthusiastic. Although Captain Zheng Zhi has expressed envy, in fact Zhou Tiancheng thinks this is very good. He does not want to Because of the honor, the distance between these teammates is getting more and more distant, and a team that is as close as a family can exert its maximum combat effectiveness—— Zhou Tiancheng thinks so, although he is not sure if there are other emotions in everyone's heart. It was revealed, but it didn't affect the daily training, so he didn't think much about it.

However, on the day of the game, unfortunately, the rain in Beirut suddenly increased. It was only light rain when the team trained two days ago, but it started to rain heavily from noon on the day of the game.

This kind of weather made Gao Hongbo more worried. Not only was the pre-match warm-up forced to be postponed, but also the Beirut Municipal Stadium, where the game was played, was severely flooded, and there were many uneven pits in front of the two goals. In short, it looks almost like a vegetable field.

Wow, this venue, are you sure it's not for a joke? It feels like I'm back to the field field of elementary school. Jiang Hao saw the field in front of him, and a confrontation between national teams on such a field is completely incompatible with him. cognition.

In fact, Jiang Hao's standard is a bit too high.

For Lebanon, it is not easy to be able to play an international game in the country. The past two decades have been in a state of civil war turmoil, and the sports hardware facilities are naturally unable to keep up. Even the stadiums in China are completely incomparable, let alone the European five-star Schalke stadium, Zhou Tiancheng He Jiang Hao has never played in a stadium with serious flooding, but how could the stadium in front of him have Schalke's advanced and complete drainage system?

Zhou Tiancheng also had a wry smile, but he accepted it more easily than Jiang Hao: It must be incomparable with Aofu Schalke. This is the Middle East. If the venue is bad, it will be bad. Anyway, there are a bunch of rough guys on the opposite side. We are skilled. People can still beat them.

Before the game, Gao Hongbo gave everyone more tactical freedom in response to such weather conditions: Although the field is terrible, I hope everyone can try to control the ball under their feet. Of course, if it is difficult to pass the ball in some areas Pushing forward, you can properly hit the high ball, the central defender must pay attention to protecting the back, the opponent's big kick and direct impact must be the main style of play today.

The starting central defender combination Feng Xiaoting and Dewey nodded at the same time.

Before the game, all the Chinese media paid close attention to the starting list. The official result announced by the AFC two hours before the game was that Jiang Hao and Chen Pengfei entered the starting lineup at the same time.

Gao Hongbo was not too aggressive today. The Chinese team still uses the traditional 4-2-3-1 formation. The starting goalkeeper is Yang Zhi from Beijing Guoan. When Gao Hongbo took over the national team, he used his predecessor Zhu Guanghu for a while. Song Zhenyu admired him, but as Beijing Guoan won the 2009 Chinese Super League, its main goalkeeper Yang Zhi began to rely on his stable performance in the league to enter Gao Hongbo's sight and guard the goal of the national team. The next four defenders are Feng Xiaoting, Du Wei, Rong Hao who played for Jiangsu Sainty, and Zhao Peng of Henan Jianye. The vanguards are Chen Pengfei and Hao Junmin. The national team's tactical system does not have a winger, but Chen Pengfei's role in this game is similar to that of a pure winger. The overall formation is high pressure, and the left back Rong Hao is very close to him, which can immediately contain the opponent's counterattack from the side.

In the middle of the frontcourt, Zhou Tiancheng hits the front midfielder, and Gao Hongbo has another consideration: he is closer to Jiang Hao, hoping to use the tacit understanding of the two to improve offensive efficiency.

...

The rebroadcast shot swept from Jiang Hao, who was wearing the No. 15 jersey of the Chinese team, the host of CCTV, and also the standing commentator of the national team, Liu Jianhong said: This is Jiang Hao's personal debut in the national team. He is in Schalke 04. He was so hot, he was trusted by Gao Hongbo immediately when he came to the national team, and he got the chance to start. Even Gao Lin, who had been the main striker in the national team for four years, was squeezed into the bench by him when he first arrived. Perhaps this can really prove The benefits of studying abroad, if there is a chance, I hope more local players will have the courage to go out and have a look. Among other things, look at the number of overseas players from our neighbors Japan and South Korea...

Liu Jianhong began to show his unique commentary style again, and began to worry that there were not enough local players studying abroad.

His style is different from those of CCTV's two famous mouthpieces, He Wei and Duan Xuan. He really loves deeply Chinese football, and he often expresses his worries about the status quo of the national team in his commentary, probably because of this reason. Therefore, whenever the national team plays a major game, you can often see him sitting in front of the commentary seat. In the past, the national team lost a lot. Roaring passionate commentary and He Wei's poetic commentary full of beauty are difficult to come in handy when the Chinese team is playing.

But it turns out that if CCTV arranged for Duan Xuan to explain this event, it would be more appropriate...

Only seven minutes into the game, the Chinese team scored a goal!

Zheng Zhi made a long pass to find Jiang Hao in the penalty area. The Lebanese defender made a header to clear the siege but it was not far away. The ball just landed in front of Zhou Tiancheng. Zhou Tiancheng directly raised his leg and took two steps in front of the top of the penalty area. He stretched his arms and tried to touch the ball, but Jiang Hao had already opened his arms. With such a fast shot to the dead corner, even Neuer had to try his luck in Schalke training. Unless it's a lucky hit on a beam or a column.

But the opponent's goalkeeper obviously did not have such luck. The ball passed his hand and flew into the top corner of the goal.

It was raining heavily today, and there were not many fans at the scene. There were only a few hundred people sitting sparsely. The fans of the home team were not even as many as the local overseas Chinese who came to cheer for the national team. But after the Chinese team scored a goal, these fans burst into cheers and drums in an instant, and the momentum was not small.

Strike! The ball is coming in!!!! Liu Jianhong said seven going words in a row. How difficult it is for the team to score a goal!

But now we scored in seven minutes!

Guest commentator Xu Yang also excitedly said: Golden boy, this is the golden boy! In just seven minutes, Zhou Tiancheng opened the door to victory for the Chinese team. Now it is meaningless for the opponent to continue to defend. The first two consecutive losses to After defeating Vietnam and Syria, we will be on the brink of elimination if we lose any more. So sooner or later, the opponents will rush to attack, and the Chinese team needs to be steady! We definitely have no shortage of opportunities in this game.”

Liu Jianhong nodded: That's true. Director Gao moved Zhou Tiancheng from the back to the front today. He must have thought in advance that such a situation was most likely to happen.

Lebanese coach Theo Booker, with a livid face, walked to the sidelines and roared into the field. The stupid defensive misplacement of the midfielder completely messed up his overall plan. His team cannot accept losing, but he dares now Let the team press up and attack?

He is very clear that the Chinese team has a few more players playing in the Bundesliga, and it is no longer the original 50-50 team. He is not absolutely sure that the Chinese team will rush in during the rising period of the Chinese team. If the offense fails and is counterattacked, the consequences for the defense will be disastrous.

So he thinks to be more pragmatic and start with defense first, but the midfield defensive strategy needs to be changed, from zone defense to man marking. He signaled to his captain: never leave Zhou Tiancheng!

Soon, when Zhou Tiancheng was catching the ball, Lebanon's captain, wearing the No. 8 jersey, came forward aggressively.

Zhou Tiancheng also has the same number in the Chinese team, so this is a duel between two No. 8s.

Coincidentally, the number 8 on the opposite side is also an acquaintance in the Chinese Super League.

Shandong Luneng's foreign aid midfielder Antal, he completely stuck to Zhou Tiancheng, but the ball was still under Zhou Tiancheng's control. He tried to squeeze Zhou Tiancheng... Ha, this is not easy!

But Antal is very confident. Before coming to the Chinese Super League, he also had a successful Bundesliga experience. In the 2006-07 season, he helped Cologne to return to the Bundesliga. As a defensive midfielder, he participated in a total of 82 Bundesliga games and scored 12 goals. Goal, and he was the first Asian player to score a hat-trick in the Bundesliga. After getting older and richer in experience, his defensive ability began to strengthen, and he began to transform from an attacking midfielder to an all-around midfielder.

But soon the facts told him how big the gap was between the former Bundesliga player and the European golden boy. Zhou Tiancheng stepped on the ball to the side, and Antal just took half a step. Zhou Tiancheng quickly turned to the outside in the opposite direction. Get rid of his entanglement.

Beautiful! Cruyff turned around! This is another chance, the opponent's midfield is empty!

The classic turn created by the Dutch superstar Johan Cruyff has been dubbed by the media as fooling the whole world. Although Zhou Tiancheng's move is not as fast as Cruyff's, it is very easy to pass Antares .

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Tiancheng did not shoot for merit, but directly aimed at Jiang Hao's position and gave the ball behind him. Jiang Hao ran a single chance, but the final shot was too angled. The goalkeeper had already surrendered, but it missed the baseline .

The Chinese team missed the opportunity to completely seal the victory in the first 20 minutes. Jiang Hao was even more annoyed, he was only a little short of the national team's first goal!

But he quickly returned to normal and gave Zhou Tiancheng a thumbs up.

...

That time just now was also the only time that Antares really entangled with Zhou Tiancheng in the confrontation. He could clearly feel the oppression of the opponent is strengthening. Now he is the attacking midfielder and the team's offensive brain, so he feels that he should keep Running, you can't stop your brain or paralyze it.

Zhou Tiancheng kept running horizontally to catch the ball, and at the same time distributed the ball more evenly to the two sides. In this respect, Zhou Tiancheng still pays attention to balance. Given the same opportunity, basically one left and one right, there is no All concentrated on Xiang Chen Pengfei.

This not only makes teammates feel comfortable on the field, but also disperses the focus of attack. The possibility of attacking from the left and the right is equal.

It's really pleasing to the eye. Zhou Tiancheng is simply a first-class midfield metronome. It has been a long time since I saw such a suppressive Chinese team in an away game in West Asia.

In fact, it is not only about organizing the offense, Zhou Tiancheng consciously oppresses the defender at the first moment when the offense is cut off. Lebanon is completely unable to pass through the midfield through conduction. !