Football: Don’t talk about feelings, I’m just an AI

Chapter 246 We cannot lose Xia Qi just as the West cannot lose Jerusalem (Transitional text)

Hodgson suddenly became smart and made quick adjustments, replacing Xia Qi with Lampard.

Xia Qi not only played tricks on Van Persie on the field, but also cleverly made him receive a yellow card.

As we all know, Van Persie is a player with a hot temper. Hodgson is worried that he will retaliate against Xia Qi, which may cause Xia Qi to be injured or receive a card.

That would be a disadvantage!
These World Cup games made Hodgson clearly realize that England's best tactic was to give the ball to Xia Qi.

That’s right, it’s Kobe’s tactics in the NBA!

Therefore, he had to ensure that Xia Qi could appear in the next game in good health. Considering that the team was already three goals ahead and there were 15 minutes left, he decided to switch to defensive mode and the whole team tried its best to maintain this advantage.

After Lampard came on, Hodgson was not at ease and replaced Walcott with Baines, leaving only Rooney and Sterling as forwards on the field.

Rooney's position was adjusted to forward, and England's tactics shifted to defensive counterattacks.

The course of the game proved that Hodgson's judgment was correct.

Although the Dutch team's morale improved after Xia Qi left the field and they attacked fiercely for five minutes, England's defense remained solid under their fierce attack.

Of course, the England team could not just defend. In the 76th minute, they changed their strategy and started to attack against the Netherlands team.

Although the "Double Germany" midfield combination failed to play a smooth attack, their "destructive" defense was exceptionally outstanding.

Baines's appearance proved to be a brilliant move, as he not only strengthened the defence and successfully stopped Robben's breakthrough, but also increased the number of defenders in the penalty area, causing great trouble for Van Persie.

England's strategy was clear: in the remaining 15 minutes, keep the ball clean and look for opportunities for quick counterattacks.

As the commander on the field, Lampard showed extremely high tactical qualities.

He is not as eager to prove himself as some substitute players. Instead, he strictly abides by tactical discipline. He would rather give up offensive opportunities than lose possession of the ball easily. He has grasped the essence of "the way of hiding".

The Dutch team encountered a "cowardly" midfield commander like him, and they had no chance to attack. They did get three free kick opportunities, but they were unable to convert them into goals.

During this time, commentator Huang Jianxiang said the most: "I owe Mr. Hodgson an apology. I always thought he was the shortest board in the England team. Now I know I was wrong."

In the last five minutes of the regular season, Van Gaal decided to take a gamble and replaced a central defender with a forward, but the attack still did not improve.

In the injury time, the Netherlands team got a penalty kick, and Van Persie scored the penalty, changing the score to 5:3!

But the goal came too late to change the final outcome of the game.

When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, the English fans shouted in unison: "Thank you, Robin!"

At first, Huang Jianxiang thought that it was Dutch fans comforting Van Persie, but upon closer inspection, he realized that they were English fans.

This is a bit laughable, it's a bit like "Sha Ren Zhu Xin".

They are laughing at Van Persie's titleless body! (After writing this, I suddenly feel worried about the European Cup in the early morning of the 15th - I hope Kane can break the mystery of the titleless body, but I also hope that this mystery will continue. I am so entangled, what should I do?)

"Dear audience, the game is over. England defeated the Netherlands with a score of 5:3! They have successfully entered the semi-finals of the World Cup."

Huang Jianxiang continued his commentary: “There are still two games left until the World Cup final.

They will play Argentina in the semi-finals in Sao Paulo in the early morning of July 7, and the winner will face off in Belo Horizonte for the championship. We wish Xia Qi another victory in the match against Messi. "

"Dear viewers, thank you for watching tonight's game. See you at the next game."

After the game, the Dutch players stood there in a daze, their eyes involuntarily turned to the "number nine" player who rushed into the field from the bench to celebrate.

They may feel a little unwilling in their hearts, but they are more filled with sincere admiration.

Van Persie watched Xia Qi jump onto Lampard's back, punching and roaring, but there was not a single bit of hatred in his heart.

If there is any emotion, it is more like envy. After all, who doesn't want to be like Xia Qi... either winning or on the way to winning, who doesn't want to have such a physique!
...

...

At the post-match press conference, Hodgson talked about Xia Qi's yellow card and letting Xia Qi leave the field early.

"Robin is a great player, but diving is not a good habit or a good idea."

"Xia Qi's yellow card was a misjudgment, which had a huge impact on the game. Fortunately, Xia Qi left us with a three-goal advantage before leaving the field."

"Whether it is necessary to replace Xia Qi in advance is not up for discussion. Xia Qi had a yellow card at the time, and we were leading by a large margin, so there was no need to take risks."

"If I have to give a reason, it is: we can't lose Xia Qi just like the West can't lose Jerusalem... We are different from the Dutch team. We still have two games to play and we have to look further ahead."

When talking about the two games left, his tone was full of helplessness, like a 996 employee forced by his boss to work overtime.

In an instant, the stench of fish from Versailles filled the entire press conference hall. Some Dutch reporters could not stand it anymore and rushed out of the hall with "envy, jealousy and hatred".

Dutch head coach Van Gaal answered reporters' questions with a wry smile:

"The first few games made me mistakenly think that Xia Qi was just an excellent midfield commander, until tonight he revealed his killer nature. He is an unstoppable goal machine. Fortunately, after tonight, the one who will have a headache will be the Argentine."

Van Gaal specifically mentioned Xia Qi's defensive ability: "He is also very good at defending. He can cut off the opponent's passing route in time and successfully block our attack many times."

Van Gaal also predicted: "The match between Chelsea and Messi will be the most exciting match in the World Cup, no doubt about it, although saying this may offend Brazil and Germany."

He also excused Van Persie's diving behavior: "Please stop criticizing Robin. Facing Xia Qi's defense, he had no choice but to resort to this. I think he didn't want this either."

Of course, Van Persie could not escape the reporters' questioning.

"Diving? Yes, Xia Qi didn't tackle me. But if it happened again, I would still give him a card. You also saw that Xia Qi was substituted because of the yellow card.

After he left the field, we actually created many opportunities. If we had seized them, my dive would have become an eternal memory of the World Cup like the 'Hand of God', but unfortunately we failed. "

"The Koi attribute is nonsense! There is no way he can get past Messi. I'm rooting for Messi and Argentina!"

You can smell Van Persie's pickled cabbage through the screen.

So the English fans decided to stab them again. On the subway to the airport, a large group of Dutch fans returning home filled the carriage. Outside the carriage were English fans who came to "see them off". They shouted: "There is no orange in Sao Paulo!"

Suddenly, the Dutch missed the Russians very much.
(End of this chapter)