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Chapter 133 You Are Still So Young

After the end of this round of the league, local fans and media in Qingdao who supported Qingdao Haifeng were all lamenting that it would be a disaster if they lost eight rounds in a Chinese League One with only [-] rounds. Xiangjiang is likely to widen the gap again.

Two consecutive away games are a severe test for Qingdao Haifeng. It is a double match in a week, and two consecutive away games, coupled with the pressure of continuous invincibility, and the suspension of the main midfielder Li Erlong... Looking around, there is all bad news, and there is no good news.

In Cai Sheng’s opinion, it’s okay to have a double match a week. Although a lot of physical strength is consumed on the road, the physical fitness of the main players has always been good. The pressure of continuous victory, just win the next game. Li Erlong suspended and let Huang Zhenghong play. It doesn’t matter if the opponent is strong, just fight.

Whether to let Long Bisheng play or not, Cai Sheng was a little confused.

The opponents in the No.20 round are indeed very strong. Although Changchun Asia-Pacific is a Chinese League One team, it has four or five members of the Chinese Olympic team in last year's Olympic Games. If he wants to rely on his height and impact to score points later, if his poor performance in this game affects his performance in the next game, Cai Sheng would rather give up this game.

The situation of Long Bisheng and Huang Zhenghong is different. Huang Zhenghong is a midfielder. As long as he performs normally after playing, no one will criticize him for his poor performance. As a forward, as the most likely position on the court, if his performance is not good, he will be immediately magnified by people with a magnifying glass. What's more, Long Bisheng is still a super rookie with no professional game experience.

So in the match three days later, Cai Sheng sent Huang Zhenghong to replace Li Erlong, and the rest of the team remained the same, with Long Bisheng still sitting on the bench.

"Cai Sheng was a good player when he played football before, but he may not be a good coach now..." The host of Changchun TV station who was in charge of broadcasting the game said with a smile after seeing Cai Sheng's unchanging main lineup: "His main lineup is actually Qingdao Haifeng's main lineup this season, except for the 17-year-old Huang Zhenghong who appeared on the field to fill in for the suspended Li Erlong... With this lineup, he scored two points in three games. Will Qingdao Sea Breeze be reduced to where it is today? You must know that they ranked one place higher than us in the standings last year."

"After 35 rounds of the league, Qingdao Haifeng conceded 21 goals. For a team deep in the relegation zone, this is not too much, but they only scored [-] goals...their defense is not a big problem, the main problem is offense. If Fengfeng had a striker who could score goals or have an impact, their situation might be much better. This foreign striker is really not good. Qingdao Haifeng’s signings this year can be said to have failed. Unfortunately, they failed to introduce a striker during the mid-season transfer. Cai Sheng took office too hastily.” The guests on the side also said with a smile.

"It's not like they haven't brought in a striker... just a week ago, they introduced a 17-year-old striker Long Bisheng from Yunjiatianyu..." the host flipped through the information and said, and then he laughed with the guests - 17 years old, what can you do?This can be regarded as urgent medical treatment.

"This game, if nothing unexpected, we will definitely be able to win. Xiamen was tied in yesterday's game. This is our first good chance to surpass them and become the first!"

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The host and guests seemed to be right. At the beginning of the game, Changchun Asia-Pacific took advantage of its strong offense and home court advantage to completely suppress Qingdao Haifeng within the half-court. Du Zhenyu, the former main player of the Olympic team in the midfield, and foreign aid Sabic firmly controlled the midfield. The two forwards Cao Liang and Wan Rui, one high and one fast, continued to create threats in Qingdao Haifeng’s restricted area.

Qingdao Haifeng firmly withstood the opponent's pressure. The two tall central defenders played very well in the defensive situation. Lu Dashan constantly used headers to destroy the opponent's defense, while Wu Jize kept filling for him. Huang Zhenghong quickly entered the role after adapting at the beginning.

The first half was zero to zero. The home team shot 3 times, with an average of one shot every [-] minutes. Qingdao Haifeng only took two shots, but they withstood the opponent's attack and kept the goal tenaciously.

During the intermission, Cai Sheng praised the team's performance, emphasizing that they should continue to defend like this in the second half, and at the same time let Lu Baozi use his personal dribbling ability to create trouble for the opponent's defense line when he gained possession, and strive to create free kick opportunities. Even if he can't win, taking a point from Changchun is still a victory.

Long Bisheng was listening to Cai Sheng's tactics. He felt that something was wrong. After all, if there was only one striker in the frontcourt, the containment of the opponent's defense would be limited, and it would only make the opponent attack more recklessly. It's not a secret that Qingdao Haifeng always scored goals with free kicks. Could it be that the opponent won't deal with their free kicks?
He thought like this, but he couldn't say it out. After all, he didn't know if what he thought was correct. Besides, the coach would naturally have his own considerations.

Thinking of this, Long Bisheng felt relieved, although he vaguely felt that if he was on the field, then his counterattack would be much easier - just open the high ball to clear the siege. As long as he can grab most of the headers, he will definitely contain a considerable part of the opponent's defensive strength, thus reducing the pressure on the defense - the foreign striker seemed to disappear in the first half.

The second half began. Changchun Asia-Pacific, which felt dull because it failed to score a goal in the first half, launched a more violent attack. The midfield attack composed of former Olympic team players and foreign aid was more threatening than the first half, threatening Qingdao Haifeng's gate time and time again.

"The pressure is too much..." Cai Sheng kept saying in his heart, hoping that the players on the field could control the ball, but they couldn't control it at all. Changchun Asia-Pacific immediately counterattacked the frontcourt after losing the ball. Their technical and tactical cooperation, which was superior to Qingdao Haifeng, made it easy for them to accomplish this.

Finally, Qingdao Haifeng's midfielder finally successfully sent the ball to Lu Baozi's feet once. Lu Baozi dribbled the ball across the midfield, and still tenaciously brought the ball within 30 meters of the opponent despite two defenders pinching.

Finally waiting for this opportunity, several players with good headers from Qingdao Haifeng rushed into Changchun Asia-Pacific's half to grab points.

Liu Ziyan came up and lobbed the ball into the penalty area, but the opponent's central defender Zhang Baofeng, a former Olympic team player, made a beautiful header to clear the siege!
"Return to defense!" Cai Sheng smelled the danger at this time, but it was too late!
The foreign aid Sabic who took the ball beautifully handed the ball to Du Zhenyu near the middle circle. The former main winger of the Olympic team used a beautiful pull to turn around and get rid of Huang Zhenghong who was desperately rushing to defend, and then quickly dribbled the ball across the half court!

Xie Hui, who came to defend, was also passed by Du Zhenyu, and then Du Zhenyu passed the ball to Cao Liang, who was unguarded before Wu Jize came up to defend. Cao Liang succeeded in a low shot against Han Feng who was attacking. One to zero, Changchun Asia-Pacific finally took the lead!

Amidst the cheers of the Changchun fans, the head coach Cheng Jingang stood up, slapped his hands, and then sat down. He knew that Qingdao Haifeng was not easy to deal with. After all, the team’s defense was really good, and he also noticed that Qingdao’s big scoring weapon was their free kicks.

Now that they are in the lead, the next game will be easy. If Qingdao does not attack, it will maintain its advantage. If Qingdao attacks, then there will be more loopholes in the defense, and Cheng Jingang doesn't think there is any way to take the defense with Qingdao's offense.

Cai Sheng, you are not bad as a player, but as a coach... you are still very young!
(End of this chapter)