"The Paraguayan team has put a lot of pressure on the China team. Thirty minutes into the first half, the Paraguayan team has already shot six times, while the China team only has two. Our counterattack is completely unable to achieve the desired effect. Most of the time, the Qin team is fighting alone. Not only does he have to face the opponent's encirclement, he also has to be wary of the opponent's foul tactics to avoid injury. We are aware that this will be a fierce battle, but we really did not expect it to be so difficult."
In the 32nd minute of the game, the Paraguayan team once again posed a threat.
After Benítez cut inside from the flank, he received Vela's pass. He and Santa Cruz did a wall kick and then cut into the penalty area.
After the football rolled in front of him, Yang Zhi abandoned the goal to block his shooting angle. Benítez pretended to shoot and then moved the ball back. After shaking off Yang Zhi, he chose to shoot at the far corner of the goal to avoid Li Weifeng.
Seeing that the football was about to roll into the China team's goal, at the crucial moment, Sun Xiang shoveled the ball to the flank in front of the goal line.
The China fans in the stands of the Loftus Stadium immediately applauded Sun Xiang after a burst of exclamations and praised him for doing a good job!
Two minutes later, Qin Xiong got the ball on the flank of the midfield. He dribbled the ball forward at a moderate speed to attack.
Han Peng could not play a role in this game at all. Because of the performance of the China team in the past three group games, the opponents paid attention to a certain extent. They focused on cutting off the connection between Han Peng and Qin Xiong in the defense. This approach was effective, so that Qin Xiong could only rely on himself to break through the opponent's defensive line.
When Qin Xiong had just crossed half the field, Bella came to snatch him away. Qin Xiong's dribbling rhythm suddenly changed, and he instantly increased his speed to shake off Bella. However, when Bonnett and Otegesa came to surround him at the same time, Qin Xiong found it difficult to fight against four hands.
Qin Xiong tried his best to fully display his technical ability. When Otegesa tried to steal the ball, his right foot kicked the ball to his left foot, and his left foot kicked the ball diagonally behind Otegesa. His actions were smooth, and both of them were moving forward diagonally at the same time. However, Bonnett came up and secretly used his hand to pull Qin Xiong's arm. With a pull, Qin Xiong's explosive acceleration was restrained. Then, Bonnett went to intercept the ball.
Qin Xiong stopped and complained to the referee. The referee was not blind. He saw Bonnett's action and blew the whistle, awarding China a free kick.
Paraguay used foul tactics to win the chance for the team to rearrange their defense.
"Paraguay has once again restrained Qin Xiong's play by fouling. This is obviously a tactic that the opponent has set up before the game. It's hard to say what's wrong with this, but as people who support China, of course we don't want to see the opponent play in this way."
If it was purely a competition of skills, Qin Xiong might really have a chance to complete a direct attack. Unfortunately, there was no team on the football field that was stupid enough to not foul when they knew that they could not defend.
In the 38th minute of the first half, Paraguay did a long shot from the periphery. Santa Cruz's long shot hit Liu Yi's body and caused a deflection.
The direction of the football's deflection happened to be where Barrios was.
Due to Santa Cruz's long shot, the defenders' attention was slightly distracted.
Barrios stopped the ball in front of the penalty area and flicked the ball horizontally to shake off Li Weifeng. He then shot at the penalty area line!
The football flew straight to the bottom right corner of the goal. This time, Yang Zhi made an amazing save.
He saved horizontally and blocked the ball out of the end line with a single palm!
The China players were relieved. The scene was very thrilling. It was naturally good to be able to turn danger into safety.
Paraguay's attack from the corner also threatened. Morrell's header in the middle of the penalty area was slightly higher than the crossbar. It shocked the China fans and players into a cold sweat.
The Paraguay players were very annoyed and angry that they could not break the goal for a long time!
They always felt that they were lacking a little bit of luck!
Before the end of the first half, Qin Xiong moved horizontally to the middle. He received a diagonal pass from Sun Jihai on the flank, then he picked the ball forward and broke through Vela's defense.
Vela chased closely from behind. Qin Xiong had just stepped into the area 40 yards away from the goal when he was knocked to the ground by Otegesa.
This time, the referee not only whistled to signal that Otegesa had fouled, but also took out a yellow card to warn him.
Qin Xiong was very helpless. He did not know how many times he had been fouled by the opponent, not to mention the opponent's little tricks when he closed in on him.
Seeing that the first half was about to end, Qin Xiong turned back and gestured to his teammates.
It was time to come up and play a set piece attack.
The players in the backfield rushed forward and poured into Paraguay's penalty area.
The Paraguay team was even more nervous. The China team did not play a decent offense in the first half and did not have many people in each attack.
But with so many people suddenly rushing in for this set piece attack, who dared to say that the China team would not play an offensive that would catch them off guard?
Qin Xiong stood in front of the football and looked at the crowded penalty area. He hooked the ball into the penalty area and then saw Li Weifeng leaping high in the penalty area and swinging his head to attack the goal!
This might be the most threatening offensive of the China team since the start of the game!
Li Weifeng's header hit the crossbar directly and bounced out!
The China fans in the stands were extremely disappointed. Many of them gritted their teeth and stomped their feet. They could not wait to tear down the crossbar!
The football that bounced out was directly kicked by Huang Bowen in the air.
"The China team missed a great opportunity to score. Big Head Li Weifeng's header almost broke through Paraguay's goal!
What a pity! What a pity! "
The Paraguay team narrowly escaped death once, which allowed them to not launch a threatening offensive for more than a minute before the end of the first half. Perhaps they also needed to calm down and compose themselves.
The first half of the game ended.
The China team and the Paraguay team were temporarily tied at 0: 0.
Throughout the first 45 minutes, the situation of the game was that the Paraguay team attacked, the Paraguay team fouled, the China team defended, and the China team wanted to fight back but was fouled.
After walking into the locker room, Arihan applauded all the players.
He wanted to praise the team's performance and then said, "I'm very happy that we did not concede a goal in the first half. This gives us the foundation to fight for victory in the second half. The strength gap between our opponent and us is obvious. The Paraguay team is very strong. They have the advantage on the field, but we do not have no chance. According to our plan, the second half will be more difficult, but I hope everyone will stay focused and not relax!"
The players on the team collectively agreed, and then Arihan began to fine-tune the tactics for the second half of the game.
In terms of macro strategy, the China team had not deviated. At least in terms of the score and situation, they were all expected.
It was not a pity that they did not score.
Just as the opponent did not score, the China team should not rejoice.
Otherwise, this game would be completely based on luck.
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