Stop the ball ten meters away, the goal depends on Meng

Chapter 376 The final battle of life and death

"In the past, we always encountered the situation of 'defeating if we draw', but now in the World Cup, we can only advance if we strive to win."

June 6rd finally arrived.

He Wei looked at the starting lists of both sides in his hands and said worriedly:

"Although Su Changwei got rid of his injury, according to first-line reports, his body is still in a very weak state and he cannot support him in the starting lineup and can only serve as a substitute.

As for Croatia, they are doing their best! "

His partner Xu Yang also frowned:
“In the first round, the Chinese team relied on their tenacious willpower to draw with Cameroon 1:1; and in the second round, Croatia almost swept Cameroon 4:0 with a crushing advantage.

With their strength, it is entirely possible to gain a sufficient lead in the first half..."

His voice became softer and softer, and finally he stopped on his own initiative.

This is the final battle of life and death. He doesn't want to make others more ambitious and destroy his own prestige!
-
Croatia put up a 442 formation:

The goalkeeper is the 35-year-old veteran national goalkeeper Pletikosa.

The four defenders are Srna, Lovren, Joel Luka and Vrsaljko.

The midfielders are obviously more familiar: Perisic, Modric, Rakitic, Kovacic.

On the front line is the partnership of Mandzukic and Olic.

On the bench, there are also a large number of well-known stars such as Planic, Rebic, Jelavic, Vukojevic, Brozovic, etc., ready to go into battle at any time.

Head coach Niko Kovac is only 43 years old and is a leader among the new generation of coaches.

He glanced at the bench opposite and said to the assistant coach with a slightly relaxed expression:
"Although it's a little unfair to that kid, this is competitive football!"

"We will eliminate the suspense before he appears!"

The assistant coach fully agreed:

"The Chinese team without Suave would, at best, be at the level of Cameroon!"

"The advantage lies entirely on our side!"
-
[beep~~~]

Su Changwei, who was sitting on the bench, did not sit still and wait for death, but directly activated the plug-in function.

Since he gave 20 points of luck to goalkeeper Wang Dalei in the first round of the group stage, this time he could only give the same 20 points of luck to the current core player Zheng Zhi.

He does not expect these starting players to defeat Croatia. As long as they can maintain the 0:0 score, even if these teammates have overfulfilled their tasks!

In fact, Su Changwei was mentally prepared to concede the ball in the first half!
As long as the formation is not chaotic and no one receives a red card, even if Croatia scores one or two goals... there is still hope for a comeback! -
Croatia, which scored 3 points in the first two games, did not have much sense of crisis in the final round.

After all, in another game, Brazil had no reason to lose to Cameroon even for the host country's sake...

It would be best to defeat the Chinese team, but they can also accept the outcome of shaking hands with the Chinese team!

But the young head coach Kovac did not choose conservative tactics, but let the team launch a strong attack!
As soon as the game started, Modric sent an overhead pass, hoping to penetrate the opponent's defense by surprise!
However, the Chinese team's defender Zhang Linpeng predicted the trajectory of his passing and headed the ball to clear the ball before Olic. Zheng Zhi squeezed Modric away and sent a pass to the ground. Yu Hanchao used his speed to beat Fu Ersaliko was intercepted cleanly by the latter and pushed the ball out of bounds.

Yu Hanchao fell to the ground and clapped his hands on the ground in displeasure, but there was nothing he could do.

Kovac rubbed his chin, quite satisfied with this defense:
"Their counterattack speed is very fast, but their dribbling skills are too rough!"

Sure enough, in the 16th minute, the Chinese team once again got a chance to counterattack. This time Zheng Zhi changed direction and ripped apart Croatia's two lines of defense with a through ball, accurately finding Wu Lei who successfully countered offside!
Wu Lei's explosive power was quite good and he almost left Lovren behind. However, when he caught up with the ball, his speed with the ball plummeted. By the time he was about to enter the penalty area, Lovren was already completely parallel to him. , a sliding tackle ended his offensive opportunity!
Wu Lei had no choice but to resort to the trick, hanging his left leg on his leg, rolling forward and falling into the penalty area... The Brazilian fans in the stands booed:
"Our Neymar was given a yellow card for such a realistic dive. Can you compare to Neymar?"

Of course Wu Lei couldn't understand the Brazilian's bird language, but he saw the yellow card in the referee's hand and immediately blushed.

He wanted to explain a few words to the other party, but he remembered that he had been imprisoned in the Chongming Island Youth Training Base by Xu Genbao since he was a child, and all his cultural classes were given to the teacher. He was a true nine-year compulsory fish who slipped through the net...

Fortunately, his teammate Qin Sheng stepped forward and negotiated with the opponent in proficient English:

"Normal contact, not diving, no yellow card!"

After listening to his poor English, the referee nodded in a friendly manner, and then wrote down Wu Lei's number behind the yellow card.

Qin Sheng, who failed to get the referee to take back the yellow card, could only shrug his shoulders:

"The referee is a German and his English skills are not good."

Zheng Zhi patted him on the shoulder:

"It doesn't matter, you've been stalling for 20 seconds!"

After receiving the affirmation, Qin Sheng immediately became more motivated. After Croatia took the free kick in the backcourt, he actually stole the ball from Modric through active running and pressing!
Modric, who was sitting on the ground, watched Qin Sheng kick to the right. Hao Junmin stumbled and broke through Vrsaljko's defense, and then sent a pass into the penalty area!

Wu Lei used his explosive power to get rid of Lovren by half, and wanted to volley and shoot, but Lovren bumped his shoulder from behind. Wu Lei lost his balance and kicked the ball into the stands. …

Wasted opportunities will be punished.

Croatia, which had escaped the disaster, quickly retaliated. In the 24th minute, Modric sent a long pass from the midfielder. Mandzukic headed the ball back. Perisic cut inside and blasted a shot. Zeng Cheng used his finger. The tip pushed the ball out of the baseline.

Magic Flute then took a corner kick, Mandzukic nodded forward, and Lovren, who inserted in the back row, completed a header!

Croatia takes the lead, 1:0!

Kovac finally showed a relaxed smile on the sidelines.

But he did not get carried away. Instead, he told his assistant coach:

"Remind them not to let their guard down!"

"A one-goal lead is the most dangerous score!"
-
Most of the Croatian players are perseverant, and each one becomes calmer than the last after being reminded by the coach.

When the game restarted, they were not satisfied with the 1:0 score, but continued to strengthen their offensive.

In the 32nd minute, Modric broke through Qin Sheng's defense and sent another through ball. Perisic cut in from the wing again and shot a long shot with his foot!
Fortunately, this time Zhang Linpeng blocked the ball in time and kept the ball out of the penalty area!
Feng Xiaoting suddenly felt blessed. He dribbled the ball all the way to the center circle before passing it to Hao Junmin on the right. The latter took two steps forward and passed the ball to the front of Croatia's penalty area!
Wu Lei fought hard to get the ball, but was blocked by Lovren. He could only watch the opponent's goalkeeper clear the ball away, missing an excellent opportunity again.

His speed is indeed very fast, but his physical confrontation is no match for the Croatian defender!
Croatia was about to press hard and expand the score again, but this time the counterattack was destroyed by the Chinese team's immediate counterattack!

Zheng Zhi, Qin Sheng, and Zhao Xuri, the three defensive midfielders formed a defensive chain in the center circle. Zheng Zhi personally took the step and completed the steal from Kovacic!

Zheng Zhi, who was excited to fight, then used a fierce look in his eyes to scare Modric away, and then blasted a shot from the front of the penalty area!
It's a pity that Lovren stretched out his foot to block the ball regardless of his body, and the ball rubbed against him and missed the goal frame!

Su Changwei shook his head regretfully:

"The luck of these teammates... is really bad!"

(End of this chapter)