In the second half, the two teams switched sides and fought again.
The fans of both teams in the stands began to feel anxious.
China was seen as the dark horse of this World Cup. It was absolutely unexpected that they could reach the knockout stage.
Qin Xiong's individual ability was too strong. He was like a dazzling sun on the field. Even if Paraguay's overall strength was stronger, they did not dare to underestimate China!
In the second half, Paraguay became more cautious. It was probably because China's few attacks in the first half made them hesitate.
They were afraid that if they gave China a chance, it might ruin the whole game.
In the 53rd minute of the game, Barios' long shot from outside the penalty area missed the goal.
In the 58th minute, Qin Xiong got the ball from the left wing and entered the dribbling track.
He shook off Otegesa. Because Otegesa had a yellow card, his defensive actions began to be careful.
After shaking off him, Qin Xiong immediately kicked the ball forward and began to accelerate.
Just after he took two steps, someone came from behind and directly tripped his calf.
This made Qin Xiong fall to the ground again.
When Qin Xiong heard the whistle, he slowly got up. His body felt very uncomfortable.
It was not because of the pain, but because of the hot weather in South Africa. After sweating, the sweat stuck to the body. In addition, after falling on the ground, there was dirt and dust, which made it even more uncomfortable.
He even wanted to run to the side of the field to change his jersey.
The referee showed a yellow card to Vela. This was the third Paraguay player to get a yellow card. Santa Cruz was booked in the first half because he knocked down Huang Bowen during a counter-steal.
This free kick was not of much help to China because Paraguay's whole team had returned to the defensive position. They were further away from the goal and could not easily risk letting the midfielders go forward to attack.
The game was still in a stalemate.
Paraguay found it difficult to create excellent scoring opportunities in the penalty area.
They began to use Benítez's individual breakthrough ability, but it was still ineffective.
In the 62nd minute of the game, Benítez cut inside from the side to break through. He broke through Zhao Junzhe, but the ball was intercepted by Sun Jihai's defense.
In any case, Sun Jihai was also a valiant player who had fought in the Premier League. He did a good job in the defensive position of the joint attack.
When the 69th minute of the game arrived, the China team was ready to make a substitution. At this time, Qin Xiong was dribbling the ball slowly on the field.
Perhaps because Han Peng had been invisible for a long time, Paraguay's defense against him had dropped.
Qin Xiong seized the opportunity and directly raised his leg to pass the ball into the penalty area.
Han Peng ran diagonally behind Da Silva. Without anyone marking him, Han Peng stopped the ball with his back to the goal. Then, he pulled the ball and turned around to prepare to shoot. At this time, Da Silva, who had returned to the penalty area, tackled the ball head-on.
Han Peng poked the ball forward and was tackled to the ground by Da Silva!
After Han Peng fell, he immediately raised his hands and shouted at the referee.
"Foul! He's fouled!"
But the referee ignored him, which made the China fans in the stands explode. They frantically denounced the referee together to put pressure on him.
"Han Peng fell in the penalty area. He was touched by Da Silva, but the referee did not give us a penalty. Maybe it was because the football was out of Han Peng's control. But in any case, this is definitely a controversial decision."
In the dead ball state, Qin Xiong ran to the referee to reason. He was very imposing, but the referee was not persuaded. He exchanged a few words with Qin Xiong and took the initiative to walk away.
Qin Xiong, as the team captain, naturally had to stand up at this time, but he could not change anything.
Ali Khan also communicated with the fourth official on the sidelines, which caused the dissatisfaction of the Paraguay coaching team. The two sides even quarreled on the sidelines.
The referee had to blow the whistle to stop the game and come to the sidelines to settle the matter. He gave each side a warning before the game resumed.
The China team made a substitution.
Zhang Pengfei came on to replace Zhao Junzhe.
Shao Jiayi came on to replace Huang Bowen!
The China team brought on two players at one time, and both of them stepped up their offense.
In the first 70 minutes, the China team's consumption of Paraguay was part of the strategy.
It was also a set tactic to start exerting force in the 70th minute.
On the basis of a draw, the China team was now playing their real trump card.
An all-out attack was about to break out.
The Paraguay team really felt a little powerless in the second half.
Especially after Qin Xiong sent the threatening ball to Han Peng, they began to become timid.
The China team's offense gradually increased, and Qin Xiong came to the middle to play as the attacking midfielder.
In the 73rd minute of the game, the Paraguay team's offense in the front field was intercepted by Liu Yi. Santa Cruz's cut inside was directly intercepted by Liu Yi, and then Liu Yi passed the ball straight to the front field.
Qin Xiong had Vela and Riveros behind him to press. Qin Xiong did not stop the ball and directly swept the ball to the side. The football was at Zhang Pengfei's feet, and he immediately began to dribble wildly.
The China team's offense suddenly showed a new change.
The flank attack momentum was up!
Zhang Pengfei pushed the offense to the front and back of the penalty area and did a double pass with Han Peng. He dribbled the ball inside the penalty area and directly kicked the goal regardless of the angle of the shot.
This ball scared the Paraguay team out of their wits, because just listening to the sound of Zhang Pengfei's kick to the goal, it felt like he was going to hit a world class ball!
Unfortunately, the football eventually hit the net by the goal.
"Zhang Pengfei, who just came on, is full of energy. Although he completed a shot, this choice is debatable. Maybe he should have passed the ball or adjusted it. In the case of a very small angle, the ball hitting the side net is not surprising."
The Paraguay team's offensive after two minutes came to an end, and they made a mistake in their own pass!
Benítez's split pass after the breakthrough was not received by anyone and directly rolled out of the sideline.
The China team kicked out a sideline ball, and Zheng Zhi diagonally passed the ball to the front in the middle, and Qin Xiong retreated to receive it.
Vela closed in from behind, and Qin Xiong agilely kicked the ball horizontally, turned around, and dribbled the ball forward, directly shaking off Vela.
In the process of moving forward, the China team's two wingers, Zhang Pengfei and Shao Jiayi, were also running. It seemed that Zhang Pengfei was closer to Qin Xiong, but Shao Jiayi's position was to cut inside!
When Shao Jiayi's position came to the front of the penalty area, Qin Xiong accurately kicked a straight ball that rolled between Otiguesa and Riveros. The two men looked back at the same time and saw Shao Jiayi take a step horizontally in front of the penalty area, swinging out of the shooting angle!
Shao Jiayi did not give the Paraguay team's defenders a chance to come up and block. He directly shot from the penalty area line!
He shot a low shot, and the football flew to the bottom left corner of the goal.
The goalkeeper, Pilar, made a wonderful save. He saved horizontally and blocked the ball with his palm, and then Bonet rushed over and kicked the ball out of the sideline.
The Paraguay team began to tremble a little!
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