Chapter 327 Then Let’s Do It

June 28th, Utrecht Koningin Julianapark.

The FIFA U-20 World Cup semi-final, China versus Brazil.

It was a match that captured the world’s attention—the dark horse of the FIFA U-20 World Cup against a traditional powerhouse.

In the twenty-third minute of the match, the Brazil Team was awarded a set piece in the attacking half. The 1.86-meter-tall midfielder, Brazil Team captain Renato, broke through the Chinese Team’s goal with a header.

The sudden goal left the Chinese players on the field stunned.

Goalkeeper Yang Cheng pounded the grass in frustration, while the midfielders and defenders who were supposed to be marking their men were filled with regret.

The Brazilian players, meanwhile, swarmed together and sprinted off in a wild celebration.

The many Brazil Team fans in the stadium also erupted in crazed cheers and shouts.

...

"Our defensive line made a mistake again!"

"This has been a long-standing problem. You could say that our defense has been a major concern since the very first match of this FIFA U-20 World Cup. Although we had that brilliant performance of shutting out the Germany Team, we’ve also conceded some inexplicable goals at other times."

The National Television commentator was clearly baffled by the National Youth Team’s sudden goal concession.

"Looking at the slow-motion replay, Feng Xiaoting’s job was to cover the near post, but our defender at the far post failed to mark his man. That’s a mistake that absolutely shouldn’t have happened. To see an error like this in such an important match is truly hard to accept."

"But that’s football."

"I hope the boys on our National Youth Team can quickly regain their confidence. There’s no need to rush; there’s still plenty of time left in the match. The most important thing now is to steady themselves and not fall into disarray."

...

On the sidelines, head coach Klauen was also deeply frustrated by the sudden goal.

Defending set pieces was something he had been drilling into them, yet they had still conceded a goal.

There were some things he really couldn’t control.

Of course, he believed the players had done their best.

But in a brutal cup competition, results are all that matter, and someone has to take responsibility for mistakes.

"It’s okay, it’s okay! Get your heads up! We still have time! Keep your defense steady!"

Klauen’s shouts from the sidelines were quickly relayed onto the pitch by the translator.

...

When the Brazil Team took the free kick, Yang Yang had stayed upfield, waiting for a chance to counter-attack. But seeing them score, he shook his head in disappointment.

’This is really depressing!’

But Yang Yang quickly composed himself. Especially after hearing Klauen’s shouts from the sidelines, he took a deep breath, adjusted his mood, and clapped his hands loudly toward his teammates.

"It’s alright! We’ve still got an hour! Let’s take our time, no need to rush!"

Yang Yang quickly jogged back to his own half.

"Let’s reorganize the defense! Feng Xiaoting, you take charge. They’ll be attacking again soon."

After hearing this, Feng Xiaoting nodded firmly and immediately called over several of his fellow defenders to give them another round of instructions.

They had already conceded a goal; this was no time for panic. Panicking would only lead to conceding another.

Yang Yang also made a point to reassure Zhao Xuri and Cui Peng, signaling for them to hold their ground.

"You two have to protect the back line at all costs," Yang Yang said in a low voice.

...

...

Although both China and Brazil had played their quarter-final matches on the same day, their circumstances were completely different.

The Chinese Team had finished off Spain within ninety minutes, while Brazil had played for a full one hundred and twenty minutes.

With two days of rest in between, the Chinese Team held a slight advantage in terms of stamina.

For this match, Klauen had also changed from his previous offensive style, opting for a balanced 4-4-2 formation instead.

He had Hao Junmin on the left side of the midfield, a combination of Cui Peng and Zhao Xuri in the center, and Chen Tao on the right. Up front, Gao Lin and Yang Yang were partnered, while Zhou Haibin was absent due to suspension.

From Klauen’s lineup, it was easy to see that the Chinese Team intended to play more cautiously in this match.

And from the very start of the match, the Chinese Team had proactively dropped back, pulling all three lines into their own half and heavily fortifying the midfield and defense.

This was unavoidable, as the individual skill of the Brazil Team was indeed superior to that of the Chinese Team.

Under these circumstances, the Chinese Team’s only chance was to emphasize coordinated team play and rely on the players’ teamwork.

And in fact, in the twenty-plus minutes since the match began, the Brazil Team hadn’t managed to create any good opportunities.

From Yang Yang’s perspective, the Brazil Team was simply playing too slowly.

It was that leisurely style of controlling and passing the ball, building up the play layer by layer. Although their passing and receiving were very fluid and their individual skills were strong, they hadn’t injected any speed or changes in rhythm, which had made it not too difficult for the Chinese Team to defend against them.

In contrast, the Chinese Team, with the more cohesive and faster system of coordinated play that Klauen introduced, had been very effective, and it was showing results.

The Chinese Team’s speed wasn’t about any single player being fast, but about the whole team’s rapid transitions between offense and defense.

With Zhou Haibin suspended, the Chinese Team’s strategy was to defend and counter-attack.

But unexpectedly, after defending for over twenty minutes, just when it seemed Brazil’s ground attacks couldn’t break through the Chinese Team’s defense, they scored from a free kick. The thought was quite frustrating.

As Yang Yang reflected on the goal they had just conceded, he realized the foul that led to the free kick had occurred too deep in their own half.

This meant that both the Chinese Team’s midfield and defensive lines had dropped back too far.

With this in mind, before the kickoff and as the Brazil Team was just returning from their celebration, Yang Yang ran over to Zhao Xuri and Cui Peng, calling Feng Xiaoting over as well to share his thoughts.

As they were all playing on the same pitch, his teammates immediately understood what he meant as soon as he pointed it out.

Thinking it over, they realized they had indeed been positioned too far back.

Even though they were playing a defensive counter-attacking style that required them to fall back, they still needed to leave some buffer space. Otherwise, there was no flexibility. Once pinned back, the lack of protection for the penalty area could be fatal.

"We need to push up a bit."

Returning to the center circle to restart the match, Yang Yang gave Gao Lin a slight smile.

"You up for it?"

Gao Lin grinned. "Don’t know if I am or not. Let’s just start running and find out."

"Then let’s do it!"

...

...

After the match restarted, the Brazil Team began to notice that the Chinese Team was playing more aggressively.

The two forwards, led by Yang Yang and Gao Lin, pressed the Brazil Team’s back line directly. The four midfielders also pushed forward in unison, positioning themselves roughly between the thirty-meter area and the halfway line, and the defensive line followed suit, pushing up as well.

The three lines maintained a tight, orderly formation, making it very difficult for the Brazil Team to penetrate with their passes.

Lacking speed and changes in rhythm, the Brazil Team’s possession rate was close to sixty percent, but it was useless. Even when they occasionally created a chance, they were always intercepted by the Chinese Team’s players.

The Chinese Team’s strategy was more simple and direct: high-intensity pressing.

As soon as they lost the ball, they were to immediately counter-press to win it back—this was something Klauen had always demanded.

This aggressive pressing made it difficult for the Brazil Team to build up any speed. Compounded by their natural tendency to control the ball leisurely and build up play slowly, by the time they advanced into the final thirty meters, the Chinese Team had already set up their defensive line.

But the moment the Brazil Team made a mistake and was caught by the Chinese Team, they would immediately launch a counter-attack, playing the ball directly in behind the defense.

In the thirty-second minute, this strategy brought the Chinese Team an excellent counter-attacking opportunity.

After Cui Peng won the ball, Hao Junmin sent a diagonal pass in behind the defense. Yang Yang quickly latched onto it and was about to be through on goal for a one-on-one, but the Swiss referee blew his whistle, signaling for offside.

Yang Yang was extremely unhappy with the call. When he made his run, he had clearly used his God’s Vision and seen that he was onside; one of the Brazil Team’s defenders was playing him on. But the linesman had raised his flag, and the referee stuck with the original call.

"That was certainly a controversial call."

"Looking at the slow-motion replay, Yang Yang appears to be level with the Brazil defender when he started his run. But the linesman’s view might have been obstructed, leading him to believe it was an offside."

"The Chinese Team has missed a golden one-on-one opportunity."

Yang Yang let out a deep breath and quickly headed back, not forgetting to give Hao Junmin a thumbs-up.

"Don’t worry! If we found one chance, we can definitely find another!"

Yang Yang clapped his hands forcefully. "Take it easy, guys! Let’s lock down our defense again and wait for another chance!"

"Yeah!" came the unified response from the Chinese players scattered across the pitch.

...

...

The Brazil Team quickly took the free kick.

They showed no intention of changing their game plan, still trying to control the ball and work it into the Chinese Team’s penalty area through slow, methodical passing.

The Chinese Team, on the other hand, committed to tireless running and coverage to maintain their high press.

It wasn’t just the midfielders and defenders; even the forwards, Yang Yang and Gao Lin, were giving it their all, constantly harassing and pressuring the Brazil Team’s back line. This made it quite difficult for Brazil to maintain their passing and possession game.

In terms of possession, the Chinese Team was at a clear disadvantage, but just looking at the run of play, both sides were evenly matched. The game was deadlocked, with neither team able to create any clear-cut chances.

The match clock ticked away, second by second.

Yang Yang periodically glanced at the time on the scoreboard, silently calculating in his mind.

’My gut tells me I have to try to score in the first half and equalize. That way, we’ll go into the second half with more confidence and resolve.’

’The Chinese players’ mental fortitude is generally weaker. If we go into halftime trailing one-nil, some guys might already be deflated. It’s hard to say what level they’d be able to play at in the second half.’

’Sometimes, it’s not really a question of effort. It’s that when you feel deflated, when you feel like nothing you do can change the situation, you can’t even muster the strength you have.’

’And the only way to avoid that is to do whatever it takes to equalize.’

’But how am I supposed to win the ball back from the Brazil Team?’

Yang Yang felt like he was back at his club, playing a game of rondo with his teammates.

The way the Brazil Team was slowly and leisurely passing the ball around was just like his teammates forming the circle, while he and Gao Lin were like the two "monkeys" in the middle trying to win the ball.

After two years of training with rondos, Yang Yang had long since developed a knack for the game.

He quickly locked onto a target.

The right-back, Raphinha!