Chapter 114: The Lucky Ball
In fact, the European giants who have shown interest in Gao Lin are not just Arsenal and Bayern Munich. It's just that these two clubs started paying attention to him earlier and therefore attach more importance to it, and also made a move faster. However, when it comes to buying players, being the first to make a move does not necessarily mean success......
Regardless, the final of this World Youth Cup has undoubtedly become the most watched match in a decade. However, what surprised many European media and fans was that after the game started, the Chinese team, which they didn't think highly of, dared to fight for midfield against Argentina. Due to the proactive assists from the two full-backs and the support from the defensive midfielder, China had as many as 7 players in midfield at one point, with their numerical and tactical advantage greatly increasing the team's pressing power. Less than a minute into the game, they successfully intercepted the ball and created a counter-attacking opportunity...
Due to the arrangement of the TV station, Huang Jianxiang hosted and commented on the Chinese team's matches in this World Youth Championship, but none of them were more worth his full investment than today's match. The intense scene after the start of the game also made him quickly enter the state. "Lulin is very fast, Argentina obviously underestimates him a bit, and only when he brings the ball to the penalty area does someone come up to intercept him. Beautiful! Lulin shook off his opponent with one move, bringing the ball into the penalty area... Ah, the opponent stretched out his hand and pulled him down... The referee gave China a free kick in a good position and also gave Argentina's right-back Baroso a yellow card for fouling. It seems that this referee is quite strict, and Chinese players should be more careful..."
"This free kick is close to the goal, but the position is too biased. Directly shooting would be very difficult, and he should have chosen to pass...Hao Hengming started his run-up, and he directly shot! It's going in! Unfortunately, the ball was touched by the goalkeeper's hand a little bit, and it flew out of bounds after hitting the far post. China got a corner kick opportunity. That free kick just now is really unfortunate, I almost thought I saw Beckham's 'bend', but Argentina's goalkeeper Ustari performed too well..." Huang Jianxiang exclaimed with excitement and regret.
"Hao Jiamin's free kick is indeed excellent, and as a right-footed player, he should be able to rank among the top three in the country. His corner kick technique is also very good." Guest Tao Wei said this while Hao Jiamin had already taken out the corner kick from the right side of the penalty area. Because it was an outer spin ball, it was suitable for a header attack, but due to Yu Hai's absence in this match, China lost a main high point in the competition for the top, and Ai Kesen was unable to win the header under the squeeze of two opposing players, and the ball was headed out by Argentina's defender...
This destruction originally had no problem, the ball had already flown over the arc top of the penalty area and should have been out of danger. However, Zhang Chenglin, the right-back of the Chinese team, who was more than 40 yards away from the goal, saw the ball flying towards him and unexpectedly rushed up to meet it, making a powerful shot. The ball suddenly became like a cannonball, whizzing towards the goal.
Originally, Zhang Chenglin's calf burst of power was not a threat at this distance, in fact he kicked this ball just to try his luck by colliding with the opponent's goalkeeper. However, what no one expected was that the Argentine goalkeeper was highly concentrated, but this shot changed direction after hitting an Argentine player in the penalty area, and the Argentine goalkeeper reacted too slowly, unable to do anything but watch as the ball flew into the net...
"The ball is in, this is a wonderful world wave, the Chinese team has a good start! Huang Jianxiang loudly praised without blushing, "I remember that Zhang Chenglin had a similar goal in the World Youth Championship, he was relatively low-key in this World Youth Championship, I didn't expect him to burst out in this final match, this goal is really worth thousands of dollars!"
"Actually, this goal should be an own goal, right?" thought Tao Wei, a former excellent player, but he didn't say it out loud to avoid ruining the festive atmosphere. However, the goal was ultimately determined as an own goal by Argentina, despite many Chinese fans feeling sorry for Zhang Chenglin...
Argentina's morale was not affected by the loss of a lucky ball, and they immediately launched a fierce counterattack. The one who led Argentina to sound the counterattack horn was naturally their attacking core Messi. Less than 2 minutes after China scored, Messi created a killing opportunity in midfield. He used his skilled footwork and incredible movement frequency to unbelievably shake off four people and form a single-handed attack. If Zeng Cheng hadn't made a heroic save on Messi's shot, the score would have been tied.
Although he was startled, Klinsmann's face showed a relaxed expression, and he immediately sat back down on the bench, no longer standing by the field. Before this game, Klinsmann had only been worried about two things: first, the Chinese team's goalkeeper was not in good condition, because even the main goalkeeper Zeng Cheng's current state was still fluctuating greatly, while Argentina's attacking power was too strong, if the goalkeeper did not perform well, it would be impossible to hold on with just the defense; second, Argentina had collectively put on shooting boots, scoring a goal with every shot (note 1), and China would definitely lose no matter what, after all, in terms of overall strength, China was still much weaker, and their ability to create chances could not surpass Argentina's. But from this one ball just now, it seemed that neither of these two points were worth worrying about, and Klinsmann had never worried about China's scoring ability, so in his view, the victory in this game was already a sure thing...
The coach's relaxed performance on the sidelines quickly calmed down the slightly panicked mentality of the Chinese team, and China's advantage in midfield numbers gradually emerged. Although China's ball control ability was not strong, Klinsmann's temporary abandonment of the midfielder with stronger passing ability, Zhou Hua Kai, and the deployment of a double defensive midfielder combination greatly hindered Argentina's offense.
Note 1: As long as it is a world-class shooter, when dealing with teams of the same level or weaker than oneself, if the state is hot enough, it is possible to shoot N goals in one game, such as Thomas Müller's performance at the recent World Cup in Brazil.
So in a sense, what's most impressive about Gao Lin is not his incredibly high shooting percentage, but rather that no matter when or who the opponent is, as long as he has the opportunity to shoot, his accuracy rate remains very high. Therefore, in a single match, Gao Lin's number of goals may not necessarily be unbeatable, but over a relatively long period of time, the cumulative number of goals he scores is truly terrifying.
