As soon as Qin Xiong's voice fell, the stadium quickly quieted down. His appeal and influence were particularly obvious at this moment.
The fans applauded Qin Xiong and also realized that excessive behavior would tarnish the country's image. They reminded each other, took the initiative to maintain order, and watched the China team board the bus amidst cheers.
The China team set off for Pretoria.
In the next three days, they would begin to prepare for the World Cup.
Paraguay was a South American team. They had the innate genes of South American teams. The team's overall technical ability was strong, but in terms of overall technical and tactical ability, they were not as strict and orderly as the European teams.
The China team deployed before the game according to Paraguay's technical style. Everyone on the team listened attentively to the analysis of the coaching staff and thought about it repeatedly in their minds.
June 25, Loftus Stadium, Pretoria.
The China team and the Paraguay team walked into the stadium amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the fans. The players of the two teams held their heads high and were majestic. They had already prepared everything for a big battle.
In addition to the neutral South African fans in the stands, the fans of the two teams created a shocking momentum in the stands. Among them, the fans of the China team were simply overflowing with arrogance!
"Come on, China team! Come on, China team! "
The uniform cheers echoed in the stadium for a long time. Coupled with the uniform of the China team, the stands on one side were simply dyed into a sea of red.
The China team looked extremely solemn during the playing of the national anthem. On the stage of the World Cup knockout stage, the national anthem of China could be heard on the field and spread all over the world. At this moment, every minute and every second would become an eternal memory for the China players and fans.
"CCTV, CCTV, this is the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria. I believe that all the audience watching this game know that today is a historic game for the China team.
One of the World Cup's 18 finals is about to begin. The China team will face the South American team, Paraguay.
For the first time in history, the China team has reached the top 16 of the World Cup and won the praise of China sports. However, the China team has not reached the end of the road. We hope that the China team can continue to work hard and go as far as possible!
Paraguay performed well in this World Cup group stage. They teamed up with Slovakia to eliminate Italy in the group stage, creating an upset in Group F and showing that Paraguay's strength could not be underestimated.
The China team seems to have met all their opponents in the World Cup. We are all weak teams, and we are not favored!
However, in football, the winner is strong, not the strong will definitely win!
The China team had already created history. Perhaps they would create new glory today.
Alright, let's take a look at the starting lineup of both sides.
China's starting lineup: 442.
Goalkeeper: Yang Zhi
Defenders: Sun Jihai, Li Weifeng, Feng Xiaoting, Sun Xiang.
In the midfield: Zhao Junzhe, Zheng Zhi, Liu Yi, Huang Bowen.
Forwards: Qin Xiong, Han Peng.
Paraguay started with 4321 players.
Goalkeeper: Pilar.
Defenders: Bonet, Da Silva, Alcaraz, Morrell.
Midfielders: Santa Cruz, Otiguesa, Riveros, Vela, Benítez.
Forward: Barios.
The game is about to start, and the China team will kick off first. "
After the referee's whistle, Han Peng kicked the ball to Qin Xiong.
Qin Xiong stepped on the football and looked at Paraguay's half of the field. At this time, he had completely entered the game state. In terms of mental awareness!
He was able to put all the messy factors behind him and devote himself to the game. After years of fighting in the top league, he knew how to adjust himself in such a situation.
Barios was the first to rush up. Qin Xiong's eyes looked past Barios and still stared at Paraguay's goal, as if Barios was invisible.
But when Barios rushed up and was about to snatch the ball, Qin Xiong suddenly moved. He kicked the ball diagonally with his right foot and rushed forward!
Barios only felt a gust of wind pass by him. He was instantly broken through by Qin Xiong!
Qin Xiong dribbled the ball forward. Santa Cruz and Benítez could not react in time. The two of them stood towards the side. They did not expect Qin Xiong to be so stubborn and come alone after the kickoff. The two of them did not have time to stop Qin Xiong.
Qin Xiong dribbled the ball in front of Riveros. He kicked the ball sideways with his left foot and looked like he was going to do a long shot. Riveros had just stretched out his foot when he instantly realized that he had been deceived!
Because Qin Xiong's preferred foot was his right foot, and he was about 40 yards away from the goal. It was unlikely that he would shoot with his left foot!
Sure enough, Qin Xiong's left foot hooked the ball from behind to the right side, and then his right foot controlled the ball to dribble.
Before Vela and Otegesa joined forces to block, Qin Xiong chose to shoot!
The long shot was powerful and heavy. The entire Paraguay team knew that Qin Xiong had the ability to shoot from a hundred paces away, so naturally, they did not take it lightly.
The goalkeeper, Pilar, moved sideways to the right post of the goal. After the football fell, he made a horizontal save and directly hugged the ball in his arms!
He was well prepared. In addition, Qin Xiong's shot was far from the goal. He did not make a low-level mistake and was able to easily resolve Qin Xiong's long shot.
But in any case, Qin Xiong's long shot still rang the alarm bell for the Paraguay team.
There could be no mistakes in this game!
The same went for the China team.
The Paraguay team began to organize the offense. They specifically studied the game between the Netherlands and China team.
Therefore, the offense was carried out step by step according to their self-consistent style, but the defense was divided into two parts.
One part was to partially block Qin Xiong and strictly mark him.
The other part was to focus on stifling the passing organization of the China team when they changed from defense to offense.
In this way, the Paraguay team quickly created an advantage after the start of the game.
They achieved a very similar effect to the Netherlands team. They actively fought for the ball in the middle and front field, blocking the China team's transition between offense and defense. The offense was to raise high and hit quickly and decisively, trying to wear down the China team with a fast pace.
In the 11th minute of the game, Vela carried out a pass and the football fell in the penalty area. Feng Xiaoting broke the siege and hit the ball on Santa Cruz, which rebounded toward the goal.
Yang Zhi could not react in time. He turned his head and saw the football hit the post and rebounded into the penalty area.
Barios immediately rushed to the point. Fortunately, Sun Xiang returned to the defensive position and took the lead to clear the ball out.
The China team's counterattack was difficult to play. Most of the reason was that the transition between offense and defense was not handled well enough.
Either it became a positional play, or they kicked the ball to the front field and returned the ball to the opponent.
This was also what Arihan repeatedly ordered during training.
Even if they kicked the ball out, they could not be intercepted in the middle and back field!
Because once the opponent intercepted the ball, the consequences would be disastrous.
The China team began to enter a stalemate with the Paraguay team.
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