The China team entered the quarterfinals of the AFC Asian Cup without any mishap.
The China media breathed a sigh of relief and immediately changed their tone. Gao Hongbo's bold decision to put Qin Xiong on the substitutes' bench was a kind of trust in his players. It was killing several birds with one stone!
On the one hand, it achieved the goal of training the team and improving the players' ability to withstand pressure.
On the other hand, it allowed Qin Xiong to have a better rest to prepare for the knockout stage!
On January 21st, the AFC Asian Cup 14 finals kicked off.
Qin Xiong finally entered the starting lineup!
He had not appeared in the China team's lineup for almost half a year.
But when Qin Xiong put on the captain's armband and led the team on the field, no one felt that Qin Xiong was incompatible with the China team. There was an inexplicable sense of unity condensing around Qin Xiong!
The China team's opponent in the AFC Asian Cup 14 finals was Iran, which was an old opponent of the China team. Qin Xiong had played against Iran in the three AFC Asian Cups that he had participated in!
Gao Hongbo stood on the sidelines with a serious face.
The group stage was indeed a training exercise. They observed some players' performance on the field on the big stage and evaluated the players' psychological ability to withstand pressure. After Qin Xiong came on the field, the China team had to show their true ability!
Gao Hongbo's technical and tactical playstyle was slightly different from Ali Khan's.
Ali Khan defined Qin Xiong as a free man in the front field. But Gao Hongbo believed that with the midfield defensive player Liu Yi establishing himself in the Bundesliga and reaching his peak age, Zhang Pengfei, who had also entered the German football world a few years ago and steadily become the main force of the middle and lower tier teams, also reaching his peak age, the team's playstyle needed to be changed.
The tactical core of defensive counterattack could not be changed!
If it was changed, then the China team was simply arrogant and had their tail wagging in the sky!
But in terms of the means of counterattack, the China team had changed under Gao Hongbo's coaching.
The formation changed from the front 4-4-2 to 4-4-1, or 4-4-3.
Yang Zhi's recent form was not very good. Zeng Cheng's performance was more stable and became the main goalkeeper in this AFC Asian Cup.
In the rear defensive line, Zhang Linpeng, Feng Xiaoting, Du Wei, and Sun Xiang formed the strongest defensive line in China.
In the midfield were Zhang Pengfei, Zheng Zhi, Liu Yi, Zhao Xusheng, and Qin Xiong.
The defense of the midfield would be the responsibility of the three defensive midfielders!
Zheng Zhi, Liu Yi, and Zhao Xuyuan's comprehensive strength in confrontation and interception would become a more reassuring barrier in front of the defensive line!
The reason why Huang Bowen and Hao Junmin could only be substitutes was very simple. When competing against the world's top teams, physical ability was a condition that could not be ignored.
In this regard, Zheng Zhi and Zhao Xushuang naturally held the main positions firmly. There was no doubt about Liu Yi. He had been selected as the best team of the month in the Bundesliga. Although he was lacking in speed, his defensive ability was almost at the top level in Europe.
Because of this, he had Zheng Zhi and Zhao Xuyi around him to make up for his slow speed and small coverage area.
As for Zhang Pengfei and Qin Xiong, naturally, they would counterattack the fast horses in the middle and flanks, to ensure that China could play with speed!
Zheng Zhi and Zhao Xuyi would become the pivot of offense and defense in the counterattack. In the past, it was almost always Qin Xiong who carried out the counterattack. Now Zhang Pengfei had to take on more tasks. In this way, he shared the task of Qin Xiong's counterattack, and could also stimulate Qin Xiong's finishing ability!
The first choice of center forward was still Han Peng. Perhaps his scoring efficiency in the national team was not high, but he had height and defensive ability to become the fulcrum of the front field. He did not need too much. As long as he could pass the ball in the front field, just one pass, it would be enough.
The reason why Gao Lin and Yang Xu were substitutes was that their defensive ability was very likely to make them unable to protect the ball in the dangerous areas in the front field!
The premise of passing the ball was that you could stop the ball and control it well!
Then you could pass the ball out.
There was no problem with Gao Hongbo's overall technical and tactical thinking. He had also privately communicated with Qin Xiong on this point.
When it came to technical and tactical knowledge, Gao Hongbo did not think that he would know more than Qin Xiong as a coach!
Qin Xiong had been in the European football world for seven years. Not only had he been taught by famous teachers when he debuted, but he had also been influenced by Louis Van Gaal. He had also played under Wenger, Capello, Bosque, and now Comain.
These coaches were all famous and had rich technical and tactical knowledge. In addition, Qin Xiong himself was a player, and a player who liked to use his brain.
If Gao Hongbo's knowledge was more of an armchair strategist, then Qin Xiong had been through hundreds of battles and thousands of sails.
Therefore, there was no problem for Gao Hongbo to communicate with Qin Xiong about the technical and tactical design of the team.
If it were a top coach in Europe, he would definitely have his own reservations and dignity to maintain. But if Gao Hongbo could not even figure out who had the higher authority in the Chinese team, then he would not be honest, he would be stupid!
In this game against the Iranian team, the China team played particularly seriously.
The Iranian team had lost to the China team many times, so their attitude in today's game was quite cautious.
The China team did not dare to invest too many players in the positional game, especially the three defensive midfielders in the midfield. They would not easily assist in the front field, which was another design idea of the China team.
The two-sided offensive coordination!
Sun Xiang and Qin Xiong attacked from the left side. Once Sun Xiang assisted in the front field, Qin Xiong could cut into the free space in the middle or directly into the penalty area.
Zhang Linpeng and Zhang Pengfei attacked from the right side. Once Zhang Linpeng assisted in the front field, then Zhang Pengfei would not cut into the middle. He would decisively kill into the penalty area!
Then when the full backs assisted in the attack, the defensive midfielders in the backfield needed to assist in defending the flanks. The configuration of three defensive midfielders to a large extent was considered in this way.
Therefore, the China team's current technical and tactical design combined with the characteristics of the lineup was more comprehensive. Gao Hongbo also painstakingly designed it.
The China team's lineup created a lot of offensive pressure on the Iranian team today.
It was often seen that when the football was at the feet of the China team, either the left side's offensive momentum was shocking!
Qin Xiong was like a fierce tiger coming down the mountain, unstoppable!
The Iranian team gradually began to panic because of the fierce tiger's appearance.
After the offense moved to the right side, Zhang Linpeng assisted in the attack, and Zhang Pengfei would cut into the penalty area and then receive the pass from the side.
The offense was colorful, but it only bloomed and did not bear fruit.
The Iranian team put their main energy into defense. They had to invest at least three players to defend against Qin Xiong!
The two players combined defense could not stop Qin Xiong at all!
This made them unable to invest in the offense at all.
The China team waited until the 65th minute of the second half, when Qin Xiong's free kick created chaos in the Iranian team's penalty area. Zhang Pengfei picked up the ball in the penalty area and sent the ball into the Iranian team's goal!
The Chinese team finally got what they wished for after a series of indiscriminate attacks.
The Iranian team tried to counterattack after losing the ball, but the China team immediately counterattacked after the midfield steal in the 81st minute of the game.
Liu Yi intercepted the ball and Zheng Zhi sent a straight pass forward. Han Peng cooperated and passed the ball across. Qin Xiong, who quickly plugged in, directly rushed into the penalty area and shot the ball into the top right corner of the goal!
The China team locked in the victory and advanced to the semi-finals!
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