Chapter 97 Breaking the Stalemate
Due to Gao Jun's level being significantly higher than any other national youth team member, although he was younger, no one dared to covet his position in the team since the Tournoi de France. However, after Klauder took office and deeply valued Feng Xiaoting, who almost replaced Gao Jun as the captain of the national youth team, a little competitive mind was born in her heart.
Especially in the warm-up match before Gao Lin returned to the team, the national youth team led by Feng Xiaoting unexpectedly tied 2-2 with the German youth team. Feng Xiaoting, who was the team captain on the field, scored a goal after dribbling past four players and shooting into the penalty area, which caused a sensation among local media. This outstanding performance greatly boosted Feng Xiaoting's confidence and made him somewhat unwilling to continue being a supporting actor in his subconscious mind. In a sense, this shot today was also a reflection of his subtle mentality.
However, Gao Jun's casual praise made Feng Xiaoting's face flush with embarrassment, and his nonchalant attitude made him feel like a child trying to prove himself in front of adults, utterly ridiculous. From then on, he completely suppressed the little thoughts that he couldn't express...
Gao Jun also knew that his age was a major disadvantage as the team leader, so establishing prestige relied more on performance on the field. Now that the team has been attacking for a long time without scoring, he must stand out and open the door to victory. However, the Swiss team is generally tall and strong, and a few people are enough to guarantee the safety of the top three routes in set-piece defense. Then, three burly men surrounded Gao Jun, who wanted to fish in troubled waters, not giving him any chance...
Upon seeing this, Huang Jianxiang couldn't help but sigh and say, "The header team really has no future after all. Even if they can bully Southeast Asia, which has an average height that is not enough, or even Japan, when it comes to facing South Korea and Iran, who do not have a disadvantage in terms of height, they are useless. And on the world stage, they are even more meaningless, as there are many countries that are better at headers than us..."
Guest Tao Wei seemed more professional, "Actually, it can't be said that way. Having an advantage in heading is better than not having one. Even if it's not enough to break through the opponent's defense during offense, it still has its use during defense. Moreover, Swiss players are considered to have a significant aerial advantage globally, and European teams' heading ability isn't necessarily all better than ours..."
When defending, the Swiss team can pile up numbers to not give Gong Xiangyu space to play, but in the mobile war, due to Feng Shao Ting's activity, the Swiss team's tight defense system has already appeared a big problem, and their high error rate after playing more than 30 minutes of the game further amplifies the safety hazard on the back line.
In the 39th minute, the Chinese youth team intercepted the ball and launched a counterattack. However, midfielder Zhou Huaikai was slightly impatient and made a long pass with his big foot, sending the ball flying towards the corner of the Swiss penalty area. A Swiss defender immediately jumped up to head the ball away, but unexpectedly headed it too far! Meanwhile, Gao Jun, who was squeezed behind the tall defender, easily received the ball and formed a one-on-one situation. Since he was pushed behind the defender after Zhou Huaikai passed the ball, although there was only the Swiss goalkeeper in front of him now, Gao Jun did not commit offside.
"The referee didn't blow the whistle, no offside! But the angle was bad, passed the ball, Gao Jun's triangle pass back, Yu Hai, who suddenly filled in the middle road, welcomed the ball and shot it, scored! The ball finally went in! Hit the inside of the post and bounced into the net! China broke the deadlock after pressing Switzerland for almost 40 minutes, now leading 1-0! Huang Jianxiang clenched his fists, tense and excited, staring at the broadcast screen, as soon as China's hard-won goal was scored, Huang Jianxiang instantly released his long-suppressed passion with his signature hoarse voice..."
"Now the Swiss team must come out and attack, our frontcourt players Gao Jun, Yu Hai and Ge Lin are all very fast and have good ball-handling skills, their counter-attack power is absolutely world-class at this age. Even Tao Wei, a guest known for his professionalism, seemed extremely confident after the score changed."
But possibly with not much time left in the first half, although the Swiss players wanted to counter-attack, under the coach's instructions they could only continue to hold on to their defensive line. The Chinese youth team was thus unable to change the score again in the first half. It must be admitted that this Swiss youth team, although seemingly not very strong, had a pretty solid defense...
In the locker room, German old man Krauchen motivated his teammates while adjusting the lineup on the field. "The first half was great, although Switzerland calmed down in the last few minutes, they will definitely launch a big attack in the second half. We must seize this opportunity to counterattack. Mao, you'll replace Hao's position in the second half..."
"What?", Xiao Jianmin was naturally unhappy after hearing this, but Yu Jianying's speed and shooting skills were better than his own. In the second half of the game, which mainly used counterattack tactics, he had nothing to say. However, with Yu Jianying's sloppy attitude all day, he unexpectedly gained the coach's favor, leaving Xiao Jianmin feeling somewhat unfair.
At this time, Gao Jun thought of the experience of "injuring Zhong Yong" in history. "Xiao Mao's talent is indeed very outstanding, speed, explosive power, strength, flexibility, balance, height bounce and other physical qualities are all excellent, and his sense of door and plate technology are also very good, kicking the ball is also very imaginative, just from the perspective of talent, it is indeed more talented than Xiao Huo. Unfortunately, his self-discipline is too poor! If this U20 World Cup can play well, I don't know if he has the opportunity to play in Europe, whether the environment can force him to change those unprofessional habits, just like Li Datou's performance after playing in South Korea...
In the second half, the Swiss team launched a big counterattack as expected by Klaeten. Although this was a helpless move, it objectively made the game completely enter the rhythm that the Chinese youth team is most accustomed to. Only 3 minutes after the start of the second half, Gao Jun took advantage of an opportunity to make a sudden forward insertion and received Yu Hai's pre-emptive pass to form a single-handed attack, and unexpectedly sent it into the Swiss goal.
"Huang Jianxiang on the TV screen immediately praised, "Beautiful cooperation, Yu Haitao's timing of passing and Gao Jun's insertion are both amazing. The quality of this pass is also very high, obviously they have practiced repeatedly before. In my impression, the Japanese team seems to be able to play out such cooperation (this kind of cooperation is a routine, the other is the reverse triangle rolling ball passing, these two routines can make up for the lack of height and bounce of the Japanese team's frontcourt players to a large extent). Now our team can also kick it out, really dazzling."
