"I believe everyone has seen that in today's game, we want to win, and Uzbekistan also wants three points."
In front of the tactical board, Pan Yi glanced at the players in the locker room.
"Obviously, Uzbekistan will also attack aggressively in the second half, and what we have to do is to defend their attack while looking for opportunities to score their goal."
"And our strategy in the second half also needs to make some changes, that is, we will no longer attack them, but use the defensive counterattack we are better at."
"I hope everyone still remembers how they used defensive counterattacks to defeat South Korea and Iran. You shouldn't forget it, right?"
There was a burst of laughter in the locker room.
It is precisely because of the successive defeats of South Korea and Iran that the current situation of the Dragon Country team is stronger than that of its opponent Uzbekistan.
Regardless of the result of the match between Iran and South Korea, as long as the Dragon Country does not lose to Uzbekistan in this match, it can always suppress them in terms of points.
Even if they are overtaken by South Korea in the end, the Dragon Kingdom will at least finish third in the group and still have a chance to participate in the World Cup, but Uzbekistan will be directly eliminated.
So from the current mentality, the Dragon Country team has the confidence to play defensive counterattack, at least according to the perception of the Uzbek people.
"Since it is a defensive counterattack, each of us must have enough patience and must wait patiently for the opponent to make mistakes."
"The opponent must think that one point is acceptable to us. This is our psychological advantage. Especially when the situation is close, we must stay calm."
"Of course, you all know that I never like to really ask for a draw, especially at this critical moment. What I have to do is to suppress South Korea and qualify directly from the group!"
"If Koreans are unhappy, then we will be happy, right?"
Everyone laughed again.
Longguo football has been suppressed by Korean football for so many years. This time it finally has the opportunity to suppress them. As a national football player, it must be proud and proud.
So, this game is all about winning!
Pan Yi also made it very clear that the defensive posture is just to confuse the opponent and expose more vulnerabilities of the opponent, not really to defend for the sake of defense.
Uzbekistan's offense mainly focuses on the two wings, focusing on attacking the opponent's wings and ribs. This strategy ensured that they could win in previous matches against Syria and Qatar, but the offensive routine was a bit too simple and lacked effective changes.
In the second round of the match against Qatar, Uzbekistan was defeated by the opponent's targeted defense, and none of its twelve passes were successful;
In the third round against the Iranian team, the latter also adopted the same blocking tactics, resulting in Uzbekistan's sixteen crosses not being successful.
In other words, as long as you can prevent the opponent's cross tactics, there won't be a big problem.
This point not only requires the two central defenders Feng Xiaoting and Deng Hanwen to pay special attention to the fight for the first point in the middle, but also requires the three midfielders to retreat slightly to protect the wings and ribs.
After all, compared to Iran and South Korea, Uzbekistan is indeed not that strong and has its advantages, but its shortcomings are also obvious.
Pan Yi firmly believes that as long as the team can strictly implement his tactics and as long as the national players do not make mistakes, there will be no problem holding on to the second half.
"What I want to tell you is that I, like you, feel very sorry that we failed to score in the first half."
"But as long as we can keep the goal in the second half, I guarantee that Uzbekistan will make mistakes. Then we can catch their mistakes and defeat them in one fell swoop!"
At the end of the sentence, Pan Yi clenched his right hand and swung it hard. Following this punching action, all the national football players jumped up from their chairs and rushed out of the locker room excitedly! ——
In the second half, just as Pan Yi expected, Uzbekistan pressed forward aggressively.
However, at this time, the Long Guo team's defensive formation consisting of four defenders and three midfielders made it difficult for the opponent to take advantage.
After all, after Lippi coached the national team, the first thing to be reformed was the defense, instilling Italian defensive concepts into the brains of the national football players;
And Pan Yi passed on all his experience in the club to everyone.
This is obviously very useful. After all, when York City faces strong teams like Arsenal and Chelsea, if it does not defend well, it is impossible to have a chance to defeat the opponent!
This kind of guidance also allowed the Dragon Kingdom team to firmly defend the goal when facing attacks from South Korea and Iran.
This time facing Uzbekistan, whose overall strength is not as good as South Korea and Iran, the players are of course even more confident.
This made the Dragon Country team appear to be at a comprehensive disadvantage after the second half, but it was very stable and did not give Uzbekistan a good chance.
After 60 minutes, Lippi also replaced Wu Xi for Hao Junmin, and replaced Zhang Xizhe with Huang Bowen. This further strengthened the defense and running of the midfield, and the team's defensive hardness was improved to a certain extent.
Led by Zheng Zhi and Feng Xiaoting, both the midfield and the defense organized the defense in an orderly manner and maintained a good distance.
In addition, the three offensive players in the frontcourt were always at the forefront, interfering with the opponent's defenders, and Wu Lei and Lin Liangming frequently dropped back to participate in midfield defense. It was difficult for Uzbekistan to create a threat.
However, the Longguo team's counterattack also failed to produce results.
The most threatening incident occurred in the 70th minute. The Long Guo team launched a long pass. Zhang Yuning grabbed the first shot in the penalty area, but there were no teammates around to respond. The opponent made a hasty clearance and pushed the ball out of the penalty area.
But at this time, Wu Xi, who was inserted in the back row, suddenly appeared outside the penalty area and hit the ball with a long shot.
Wu Xi has just come on the field, and attacking from behind is also his specialty. He made this shot very well, from a very tricky angle, and went straight to the lower left corner.
But the opponent's goalkeeper reacted very quickly, falling down to save the ball, and then quickly got up and chased after it. Before Wu Lei missed the missed shot, he blocked all shooting angles and blocked Wu Lei's shot from the baseline.
Two consecutive very threatening shots failed to score a goal, and everyone in the Long Guo team was quite depressed.
However, Uzbekistan seemed to be annoyed, and soon made substitutions to further strengthen the frontcourt attack. This immediately put the Dragon Country team's defense line under huge pressure again, and the scene became even more passive.
Lippi, who was standing outside the court, also had a solemn look on his face.
At this point in the game, as the head coach of the national team, there is really not much he can do but rely on the performance of the players on the court.
If they can withstand the pressure, they will naturally have a chance, but if the goal is breached by Uzbekistan before the opportunity arises, it will all be in vain.
It can be said that both sides have basically exhausted all their trump cards at this point, and it will be up to them to see who can survive better.
Pan Yi, on the other hand, seemed more calm. He just stood on the sidelines and shouted and gestured to the players, asking them to continue to be patient.
Pan Yi could see that by this time, the Uzbek players had begun to become impatient.
At this time, the news from another stadium is that the South Korean team and the Iranian team are also inseparable. Just like this game, the score is still 0:0.
And if this result is maintained until the end, then the points and rankings of these four teams will not change in any way.
Uzbekistan, ranked fourth, is obviously the most passive.
They will have a head-to-head matchup with South Korea in the final round, when they must defeat their opponents to have a chance of squeezing out their opponents and entering the top three.
The last round opponent of the Dragon Kingdom is Qatar, which has already been eliminated. Obviously, the Dragon Kingdom has a higher winning rate.
Therefore, if Uzbekistan wants to fight for the top two in the group, in addition to fighting South Korea in the last round, it must also win today's game!
Therefore, after more than 70 minutes of play, the Uzbek players' desire to attack became stronger, and even the fouls on the field became larger.
But this is also an opportunity for the Dragon Country team.
As long as they become impatient, the probability of making a mistake will also increase. That will be the opportunity for the Dragon Country team to counterattack!
The current Dragon Country team still has a chance to make substitutions, but Pan Yi also suggested that Lippi put it in his hands for the time being.
The reason is simple. This is the last substitution. Whether it is to prevent players on the field from having physical problems or injuries, or to deal the final blow after seeing the opponent's flaws, such a card is needed.
If you replace them all now, it will be difficult to deal with emergencies later.
——
Time passed bit by bit, Uzbekistan was unable to attack for a long time, and the players became more and more anxious.
This kind of anxiety is not only reflected in the increase in fouls.
As the game progressed, they gradually exposed more problems, especially after entering the 80th minute, errors in offensive coordination in the midfield and frontcourt began to increase.
Pan Yi was not surprised by this situation.
In the final analysis, Uzbekistan's players are not much better than the players of Dragon Kingdom, but now the points situation of the entire group forces Uzbekistan to win the Dragon Kingdom team.
Sometimes, the more anxious you are, the easier it is to make fatal mistakes.
"They are a little bit out of control. We can consider replacing them."
Standing next to Lippi, Pan Yi suddenly said.
It has been more than eighty minutes now, but the score of the two games is still 0:0.
Although Uzbekistan is a little anxious, why doesn't the Dragon Kingdom want to win these three points?
Although it would be beneficial to the Dragon Kingdom team if both sides were tied, after all, there were still ten minutes left in the game. It would still be too uneasy to leave the fate to another game like this.
Who knows whether the South Korean team will take advantage of the home court to bombard them in the final stage, and then score against Iran?
If the Korean team overtakes the score at the last moment, it will really fall short.
Therefore, now that the opponent is a little impetuous and is pressing forward desperately to expose more holes in the defense, it is time to pull out his last trump card.
And this trump card is-Huang Zichang!
After Lippi nodded, Pan Yi immediately started asking Huang Zichang to warm up.
In other words, Huang Zichang's first time playing for the country was at such a critical moment!
Although Lippi does not know this player, Pan Yi does.
It is precisely because of his trust in Pan Yi that Lippi now also trusts Huang Zichang - just like Lippi believed in Pan Yi and recruited Lin Liangming into the national team.
As for the player Huang Zichang, he not only has outstanding speed, technology and breakthrough ability, but also has strong self-confidence, which has always been valued by Pan Yi.
Although he is young, he has a general demeanor on the court. When he was at York City, he often came on as a substitute without any stage fright. Now Pan Yi also believes that he will maintain such a normal mind when playing for the national team.
"Their full-backs are very tired and it is difficult to get back into position when attacking. When you go up, just rush him and pass or shoot when you have the chance. Don't hesitate!"
After Huang Zichang finished warming up, Pan Yi gave him his final instructions.
Pan Yi is talking about Uzbekistan's right back Denisov. His side is the main direction of Uzbekistan's attack, so it is particularly hard for him to go up and down.
In addition, the right back is already a veteran in his thirties, and his physical recovery is even slower.
When Huang Zichang came up, he replaced Lin Liangming and played the left winger position, and then he rushed Denisov!
This is the opportunity Pan Yi has been waiting for.
Soon, Huang Zichang came on the court and stood on the left.
At this time, the Uzbeks didn't care who came up - besides, they really didn't know Huang Zichang very well - they were just waiting anxiously for the Dragon Country team to complete the substitutions, and immediately started another attack. wave offensive.
However, this time the ball entered the 30-meter area of the Dragon State team. Under the interference of Zheng Zhi and Wu Xi, Uzbekistan made a passing and receiving error, and the ball was intercepted midway by Feng Xiaoting.
What's even more terrible is that Uzbekistan's frontcourt pressure, which was supposed to be pressing step by step, actually made a mistake at this time, leaving Feng Xiaoting in an unmarked state.
The vice-captain of the Dragon Kingdom national team was obviously a little surprised by this, but he quickly reacted and immediately strode forward with the ball.
Feng Xiaoting has the ability to dribble the ball forward!
"There was an oversight in Uzbekistan's defense, and no one immediately stepped forward to grab Feng Xiaoting."
"Feng Xiaoting rushed forward with the ball by himself, very fast."
"Uzbekistan's defense is retreating rapidly. We see Dragon Kingdom center Zhang Yuning in the frontcourt sticking to the opponent's defense, while Huang Zichang and Wu Lei on both wings are also rushing forward quickly."
"Everyone knows that Wu Lei is fast. We are not very familiar with this Huang Zichang, but despite his short stature, judging from the moment he starts up, he should be extremely fast!"
"From the left, Feng Xiaoting passed the ball to the left and to Huang Zichang's feet!"
"The opponent's right back Denisov just pressed up to attack, and there was a gap on their right side."
"Now that Huang Zichang has the ball, Denisov rushes back to defend, but out of breath, he is knocked to the ground by a feint from Huang Zichang!"
"Huang Zichang dribbled the ball forward for another five or six meters, then looked up and passed directly into the penalty area..."
"The Dragon Kingdom team has a chance..."
"Wu Lei also stepped in at this time... He caught up with the ball, he went in, and he shot!"
"The ball goes in!!!! The ball goes in!!!!"
"In the 88th minute, in the 88th minute, the Dragon Country team finally took advantage of a counterattack opportunity and knocked on the Uzbekistan team's goal!"
"York City youngster Huang Zichang, who just came on as a substitute, assisted Wu Lei and scored the only goal of the game so far."
"What a brilliant comeback!"
"The Dragon Kingdom team finally broke the deadlock on the court! We are in the lead!"
After Wu Lei scored, he was so excited that he rushed out of the stadium quickly, ran all the way to the fans' stands at Tianhe Sports Center, and slid directly to the bottom of the stands with a beautiful slide.
Behind him, the international football players rushed up quickly and surrounded him one by one. Everyone was forgetting everything and reveling.
Not far away, the members of the coaching staff were also huddled together.
Lippi lost his usual elegant style. He grabbed Pan Yi's shoulders tightly with both hands and shook him: "We scored! You are right again, right!!!"
Pan Yi calmed down quickly, and he immediately shouted to the national players celebrating on the sidelines, asking them to come closer.
"We must be calm at this time. Uzbekistan will definitely counterattack wildly. We must do our best to stabilize the position, just like our previous defense, understand?" Pan Yi shouted forcefully.
The international players shouted in unison: "Understood!"
——
After the game restarted, Uzbekistan, which was one goal behind, launched a crazy offensive.
They couldn't accept even one point, let alone zero points? ?
This is an absolutely unacceptable outcome for Uzbekistan.
Babayan quickly made the last substitution and brought on a forward, obviously to further strengthen the offensive attack in the frontcourt.
However, everyone in the Dragon Country team followed Pan Yi's arrangements and retreated, not giving Uzbekistan the slightest chance.
The game time passed minute by minute, and Uzbekistan seemed to have the upper hand, but it never found an opportunity to effectively send the ball into the penalty area, let alone create a threat.
The three minutes of injury time passed quickly.
After Uzbekistan's Ahmedov took an outrageous long shot, the referee also blew the final whistle!
In the end, with Wu Lei's goal, the Dragon Country team defeated Uzbekistan 1:0 at home and gained a valuable three points!
Almost at the same time, the other two games also ended.
Syria defeated Qatar 3:1, which left Syria ranked fifth in Group A with 3 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses and 11 points, while Qatar ranked bottom with 2 wins, 7 losses and only 6 points.
After 90 minutes of fierce battle between South Korea and Iran at home, they still could not score each other's goals. In the end, it was a goalless draw 0:0.
As a result, the Iranian team's results became 5 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss, and 18 points, still ranking first, while the Dragon Kingdom team, which won this round, still ranked second with 5 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses, and 16 points.
The Korean team ranked third with 14 points with 4 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses, and was opened up by 2 points by the Dragon Kingdom team.
Uzbekistan, which lost to the Dragon Kingdom team, still has 12 points with 4 wins and 4 losses, ranking fourth.
Since there is already a 4-point difference between the Iranian team, which is first in the group, and the South Korean team, which is third, it is impossible to be kicked to the third position with only one game left in the game. Therefore, the Iranian team got what it wanted and advanced ahead of schedule. A successful round of hitting the line!
Another direct qualifying spot will be between the Dragon Kingdom team and the South Korean team.
But it is obvious that the balance of victory is now tilted to the Dragon Kingdom team to a great extent.
First of all, the Dragon Country team has secured the third position in the group and can at least participate in the play-offs.
But because the last opponent of the Dragon Kingdom is Qatar, and this team that has lost consecutive games has lost the qualification to qualify early, they are now at the bottom, I am afraid they have little morale, and they have no ability to compete with the current fierce momentum and win consecutive games. The Dragon Kingdom team competed.
Therefore, the chances of the Dragon Kingdom team finishing second in the group are infinitely higher!
South Korea’s last opponent is Uzbekistan.
Considering that Uzbekistan is only 2 points behind South Korea, if they can defeat South Korea, they can overtake their opponents and get third in the group, so they will definitely try their best.
No matter what the result of this game is, there must be at least one team with more than 15 points, which is a score that Syria cannot reach anyway. Therefore, Syria has also been eliminated early. Their last round match with Iran is just a friendly match. That’s all.
Therefore, before the last game of Group A on September 5, the situation of this group has been basically determined.
That is, the Iranian team qualified early, while the Dragon Kingdom team and the South Korean team competed for the last spot to directly qualify. In addition, Uzbekistan is also competing with South Korea for the third place in the group's play-off spot!
