super storm

Chapter 1192 Veterans Don't Die
Before the third round of the group stage, the situation in Group C was generally clear.

Colombia has basically advanced with two consecutive victories, Côte d'Ivoire has basically been eliminated with two consecutive losses, and the rest is the second place in the group.

Both China and Greece have one win and one loss. According to the World Cup promotion rules, since Greece lost [-]-[-] to Colombia in the first round, it is behind the Chinese team in terms of goal difference, so Greece is at a disadvantage in terms of qualifying for the group stage.

In the final round, Greece can only advance if it beats China.

For China, a draw will qualify.

This should have been extremely good news, but for China, for Chinese players and fans, this is a worrying situation, because in the past few decades, the Chinese team has always proved one point time and time again, that is, a draw can advance, which is tantamount to failure.

In recent years, with the emergence of a group of players such as Yang Yang, the overall strength of the Chinese team has improved a lot, but this nightmare still hangs over the head of Chinese football, because it has brought too many painful nightmares.

More importantly, the Asian teams in this World Cup are still as sluggish as ever.

Australia has three games and three losses, and the group is at the bottom, but considering that they are in the death group with the Netherlands, Chile and Spain, and even Spain failed to qualify for the group, it is understandable that Australia is at the bottom.

But South Korea and Japan are also at the bottom of the points, and these two teams have one draw and two losses, without a win.

Only the Chinese team won a victory against Côte d'Ivoire. This is also the only victory for an Asian team in this World Cup. People have to admit that the Chinese team is indeed the strongest team in Asia.

Of course, according to some foreign media, this is the Chinese team with Yang Yang.

Under such circumstances, the focus battle between China and Greece is undoubtedly even more eye-catching.

One is an upstart in Asia, or even the hegemony of Asia, and the other is Greece, which won the European Cup ten years ago as a dark horse. The two teams competed for the second place in the group, attracting strong attention from Asian and European fans.

……

When it comes to Greece, one has to mention the European Cup in [-].

The head coach of the Chinese national team, Queiroz, mentioned the Greek team ten years ago many times before the World Cup. At that time, Yang Yang was also playing for Ajax in the Netherlands, so he knew that before the European Cup in [-], Greece was just a team that could be slaughtered.

This team is unremarkable in Europe where there are so many strong players. Even if they enter the official European Cup, no one will pay attention to this team. The only impression is that their defense is not bad.

But in the end, it was such a team that was not seen by anyone at all and did not have even a single number one player. In the end, they won the European Cup for six consecutive victories. With an almost impossible miracle, they created another dark horse miracle in the history of the European Cup.

Otto the Great Rehhagel, this is a famous coach who can't get rid of it anyway when he misses European football.

Many people remember him because of the miracle of Greece winning the championship, but that was not the first time he created a miracle. As early as the late 90s, he led Kaiserslautern to create a miracle of newly promoted teams winning the Bundesliga. This is also an extremely rare legend in world football.

One legend can be said to be accidental and luck, but if legends are created twice, there must be a reason.

Queiroz believes that Rehhagel's success in Kaiserslautern and Greece is the success of football as a whole.

In fact, almost all European football nowadays emphasizes integrity.

The overall level of Chinese players is not high. If you want to gain a firm foothold and grab a place in the World Cup where strong players gather, you must rely on the whole, which requires every player to go all out.

Greece is what the Chinese team should learn from!
This is also the direction that Queiroz has been working hard for the past four years.

Today's Greece is no longer as brave as it was ten years ago, but they are not the big team of the year, and even if they are reduced to the third tier in Europe, they are still not something that Asian teams can underestimate.

Despite having a top scorer like Yang Yang, facing Greece, the Chinese team still assumed the stance of a weakling.

Greece also attaches great importance to Yang Yang. They are in European football, and naturally they all know how strong this Real Madrid superstar is, so they dare not be careless.

The first half of the game was very dull, the two sides scored [-]-[-], and the pressure was very high.

The Chinese team has an advantage in qualifying and is more patient.

But in the second half, after changing sides and fighting again, Greece stepped up its offense, but the Chinese team was still tenaciously defending, and even Yang Yang often retreated to the front of the penalty area to participate in the defense.

But in the No.709 minute, when a counterattack was intercepted in midfield, Greece quickly launched an offensive.

Captain Zheng Zhi returned to the front of the penalty area in time to assist in the defense. When facing the opponent's right-handed pass, he had no choice but to take a tactical pull foul behind him, pulling the Greek striker to the top of the penalty area, without giving the opponent a chance to single-handedly.

But because of this foul, Zheng Zhi was sent off with a red card.

The foul was obvious, the intention was clear, and there was no need for an excuse.

Zheng Zhi didn't give any explanation for himself. After seeing the referee holding up the red card, he turned around silently and walked forward.

As he walked, he tore off the captain's armband on his arm, and gradually his eyes turned red.

He will be 34 years old soon. As early as three years ago, he could not stay in Europe and return to China. He is still able to maintain his form and participate in the World Cup all because of his strength.

Now, he does his best.

"The next thing is up to you!" Zheng Zhi came to Yang Yang, put on the captain's armband for him, patted the national emblem on his chest vigorously, hugged him, turned and left.

At this moment, Yang Yang felt the weight of the captain's armband on his arm.

None of the other players in the national team had any objections, because if it wasn't for Zheng Zhi, Yang Yang would have been the captain of the national team long ago.

As for Zheng Zhi's red card at this time, the international players are more moved and regretful.

I was moved because of Zheng Zhi's contribution, because this was a red card in the final stage of the game, which was a tactical foul, and regret was because they made a mistake just now, which led Zheng Zhi to use this tactical foul to make up for it.

Veterans don't die, they just fade away.

……

After Zheng Zhi was sent off with a red card, the Chinese team made a substitution, replacing Wu Lei with Zhao Xuri.

Zhao Xuri played in the Russian Super League. He performed well and had a strong defensive ability, but he was a little edgy, but no one will forget his world wave in the World Youth Championship.

Missing a good scoring opportunity, Greece further strengthened its offense, and it can even be said that it was going all out.

For them, there is no other way to go but to win this game.

Greece's crazy offensive created huge defensive pressure on the Chinese team. Even after 10 minutes, they created two very threatening attacks, but they were both firmly defended by the Chinese team.

The wind in the penalty area is turbulent, the front of the goal is precarious, and there is one less person on the court...

Under such circumstances, the situation of the Chinese team can be described as precarious, and it may be overwhelmed at any time.

No.808 minutes, Yang Yang once again returned to the front of the penalty area to participate in the defense.

Zhao Xuri intercepted the ball with a fierce but precise interception, and quickly passed it to Chen Tao.

Chen Tao passed to Yang Yang again, Yang Yang took the ball with his back, knocked it back to Zhou Haibin, and pointed behind him.

Zhou Haibin has cooperated with Yang Yang for many years. After seeing his gestures, he immediately understood. When he saw the Greek defense line pressing up, Yang Yang turned around and sprinted forward.

The opponent's two central defenders dragged at the back, and Yang Yang retreated deeper. If the pass passed to the middle, he would definitely not be able to catch it.

Yang Yang sprinted forward at the fastest speed, which made the fans on the scene excited. Even the commentator couldn't help but admire: "In the final stage of the game, he still has the physical strength to maintain such a fast sprint. In this regard, Yang Yang is really worthy of our admiration, and it is worth learning from all professional players."

But Yang Yang on the court didn't take this into consideration, he just focused on the ball.

Sure enough, after Zhou Haibin was assigned to the left, Yang Yang stopped the ball before the Greek defender Papastathopoulos.

As soon as he stopped, Papastathopoulos leaned over.

One on one!

Yang Yang hardly gave the opponent any time to react. He started the car as soon as he stopped, and immediately swayed his body, making a gesture to cut inward, which scared the Greek central defender on the opposite side to quickly block it.

But Yang Yang dunked the ball with his right foot to the bottom line.

The Greek central defender played for Dortmund and has a lot of experience. He immediately adjusted his body weight and kept up with Yang Yang.

But as soon as he adjusted his center of gravity, Yang Yang kicked the ball back to the right with his left foot.

This continuous change of direction caused Papastathopoulos to lose his balance, and a gap appeared in the defense. Yang Yang accurately dribbled the ball inward, blocked the Greek central defender with his body, and cut inward horizontally.

The central defender Manolas and the defensive midfielder Maniatis also returned to the front of the penalty area at the same time. The two of them, one inside and one outside, were like a net, and they were covering Yang Yang at the same time, trying to net him in the middle.

But Yang Yang didn't wait for the opponent to approach. After breaking through Papastathopoulos, he dribbled the ball horizontally and adjusted a step. He shot with his right foot directly, without giving the opponent any chance to think.

The ball was like a cannonball. From the left side of the penalty area 21 meters away from the goal, it directly scored the upper right corner of the goal, piercing the goal of the Greek team, one to zero!

"The ball went in!!!"

"The ball went in!!!"

"Yang Yang! Yang Yang! Another world wave!!!"

"Long shot from 21 meters away!
"It's another world wave, and the Yang Yang area has worked again!"

"At the critical moment in the final stage of the game, Yang Yang played tricks on the Greek defenders in the area he is most familiar with. He hit a volley with his right foot and opened the door to victory for the Chinese team, one to zero!"

"Greece is doomed!"

"The Chinese team will advance to the top [-] again!"

"Long live Yang Yang! Long live the Chinese team! Long live Chinese football!"

(End of this chapter)