Chapter 202: The World Cup, so close yet so far away
Just now, countless thoughts flashed through Gu Qiao Hengwu's mind.
The kid from the Red Country made a “1” gesture. What the hell does that mean?
This must be Roma's tactical signal, telling the Brazilian goalkeeper where to dive.
The question is which side does "1" refer to?
The left in the left-center-right? The right in the right-center-left?
Oh! No! He then gave the goalkeeper a thumbs up!
This seemingly meaningless gesture of encouragement must be part of the secret code!
Thumbs up, could it be the upper corner?
No, no, no, such an obvious gesture definitely cannot have such a direct meaning!
That's the lower corner?
Yes, it must be the lower corner!
What about "1"? Is it left or right?
Could it be in the middle?
impossible!
How could there be such a straightforward code? Is this still called a code?
Yes! Just like the thumb pointing upwards is a deceptive gesture, pointing to the middle is definitely a way to tell people not to defend the middle!
In less than 0.5 seconds, Gu Qiao Hengwu's brain was like a small village that had just been connected to the Internet, with an explosion of information pouring in, and then he made a "logically rigorous" judgment.
And Fuzato, who was standing opposite him, was also overwhelmed by his intelligence.
Chen Xiaoliang pointed at me. What does that mean?
Logically, he has never participated in goalkeeping training, so he shouldn't know the hand gestures we usually use to ask for the ball during training...
But there is no such gesture in training...
Is he reminding me of his positioning when saving the penalty against Atlanta in the last game?
The first one?
The first one he jumped to the left, the second one also to the left, and the third one to the middle.
He asked me to jump to the left?
wrong!
He missed the ball on the left. At such a critical moment, he didn't use a failed example to remind me!
That’s the third one!
Yes, it turns out that this “1” refers to the last one!
He asked me to bet on the middle!
Thinking of this, Fuzato felt determined.
The locker room leader has given the order, so what burden does he still have?
He is a substitute for eternity. He earns one point for every save he makes, double the amount for every two saves he makes, and it doesn't matter if he fails to save any. Everyone knows that after Patricio recovers from his injury, he will still be the number one goalkeeper.
In front of Fuzato, Furuhashi Kengo had already started to move forward and was ready to shoot!
The Brazilian goalkeeper pretended to dive sideways and shook his body twice!
Gu Qiao Hengwu thought that his guess was correct, and his confidence became even stronger!
At the moment your foot is about to touch the ball, lock your ankle and push hard with the arch of your foot!
"this……"
In the live broadcast room, Zhan Jun and Liu Yue were both dumbfounded.
The entire Celtic Park stadium also erupted in groans.
Many fans couldn't believe what was happening before their eyes. They opened their eyes wide and looked at each other to confirm whether other fans around them were as shocked as they were!
"Guqiao Hengwu! You are so skilled and so bold! He actually chose to push the ball directly into the middle when he could have equalized the score before the end of the first half!"
"But Fuzato didn't have any anticipated reaction!"
"Many fans were stunned."
Liu Yue: "Yes, at first glance I thought it was our defender passing the ball back to the goalkeeper. Fuzato squatted down and hugged the ball without any effort."
Gu Qiaohengwu covered his face with his hands, and a hundred thousand Pikachus and Squirrels were running through his mind.
But what he was thinking was not "Why am I so stupid?!" but "Why was the code from that Red Country kid so stupid? I actually overthought it!"
After Fuzato caught the ball, he lay down and pressed it tightly.
He could already feel his teammates rushing over to pat him on the back, praising him and cheering and encouraging him. At this moment, he finally felt the brief, heroic honor!
I have been a thousand-year-old iron bench, but there will also be a moment when the iron tree blooms!
No, no, Chen Xiaoliang is really awesome. He can actually guess what that Japanese guy is thinking. This is incredible!
If he hadn't reminded me, I would have definitely jumped to the right or left, and then been pushed in the middle by the Japanese in an humiliating way. Then I would have looked at their humiliating eyes and the disappointed eyes of my teammates, and the score would have been tied to 1:1.
Sure enough, geniuses are all connected! No wonder the head coach thinks so highly of this red countryman!
Chen Xiaoliang shouted "good" twice, but since there was no dead ball, he immediately called on his teammates to return to their positions as soon as possible.
While running, I was secretly frightened.
This Fuzato... is really brave, he actually just sits there and waits for the rabbit to come...
But he didn't expect that the Japanese were even braver than him, pushing the middle lane for no reason...
Unlike other people in the stadium who were feeling shocked, surprised, bewildered, helpless, etc., Japan national team coach Moriyasu, who was sitting in the VIP area of the south stand, had a grim and solemn look on his face.
The Japanese team stumbled all the way through the Asian 12-team tournament and made it to the Qatar World Cup. Moriyasu Kazue has been under tremendous pressure from the Japanese Football Association and fans.
In the past four years, more and more Japanese players have traveled to Europe and made a name for themselves. In addition, the total number of Japanese players in Europe has exceeded the total of other Asian countries. In the last World Cup, Japan defeated the South American powerhouse Colombia and qualified as the second in the group. It also fought with Belgium until the last minute and lost 3-2 after being counterattacked and scored a winning goal.
Japan's goal for this World Cup is to reach the quarterfinals, and Moriyasu Hajime has vowed to the people that he will achieve this goal.
Recently he has been traveling around Europe, observing the performance of the players.
Especially tonight, although the Scottish Premier League is not one of the top five leagues, Roma's excellent ranking in Serie A makes this game very "valuable to observe".
With four potential candidates, Moriyasu Hajime came here with full confidence.
But the goal just now by Furuhashi Kengo, as well as the fact that the three previous Japanese players were not decisive and did not choose to shoot directly in the penalty area, disappointed Moriyasu.
If we miss such a good opportunity in the European Cup, there may not be another one, let alone the World Cup.
Not only did Moriyasu in the stands think so, but Celtics head coach Postecoglu also realized that his starting lineup was too idealistic.
Sending three agile forwards at the same time did make them seem at ease in terms of ball control and transmission, but facing Roma's three central defenders who had a clear advantage in confrontation, it was extremely difficult to tear through the defense by passing and controlling the ball without a fulcrum in the penalty area.
The Celtics, like the Japanese national team, need a "post" in the penalty area who can fight with the opponent's central defender, create space for the other two forwards, and distract the defense.
Furuhashi Kengo didn't know yet, but in Moriyasu Hajime's heart, he had already been removed from the World Cup roster.
It is no wonder that among the midfielders and forwards playing in Japan's top five leagues, such as Takumi Minamino who transferred from Liverpool to Monaco, Jun'ya Ito who is also in Ligue 1, Ritsu Doan of Freiburg, Takefusa Kubo of Real Sociedad, Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton, and Wataru Endo of Stuttgart, almost all of them are 175cm tall and weigh around 68kg.
Relying solely on this group of people, no matter how their skills and abilities improve, it will be difficult for them to achieve a breakthrough in the competition with European powerhouses as they are at a disadvantage in physical confrontation. What's more, the European powerhouses are also making great progress.
In terms of technology, Belgium has Lukaku in the frontcourt, and Spain has Ferran Torres and Morata in the frontcourt, especially Morata. No matter how much doubt there is about him, Enrique is determined to choose him, not for anything else, but because he is 189cm tall and weighs 85kg among a group of "small bodies".
Not to mention the French team, which is almost dominated by blacks . No matter whether it is the 192cm veteran Giroud, or the 192cm tall Marcus Thuram of Borussia Mönchengladbach, or the 187cm tall Muani of Frankfurt, these days, once the situation cannot be opened up, everyone needs two tall guys to tear up space in the penalty area.
Even Brazil, the originator of technology, is said to be bringing Pedro, a little-known striker from Fiorentina, because his height of 186cm makes him stand out among the Brazilian forwards.
The first half ended quickly and the score of 0-1 remained unchanged.
"They are not Atalanta or Juventus. They are not playing passing and controlling the ball. They are playing a very strange and meaningless kind of football!"
In the locker room, Mourinho explained loudly to the players.
"Passing the ball just for the sake of passing it is meaningless! We managed to keep almost all of their shots out of the box, but we still made a mistake. Although there was only one time, the only time, they hesitated and didn't shoot, but the referee still awarded a penalty!"
Mourinho looked at Fuzato and said, "Very well done!"
Then he went on to say: "Their coach is very experienced, otherwise they wouldn't be leading the Scottish Premier League by so much and are about to win the championship in advance!"
"They will definitely change in the second half."
As he spoke, Mourinho slapped a "7" on the Celtics' forward line on the tactical board.
"We mentioned this man many times yesterday, the Greek Gigolo Magis, he will definitely play!"
"Just like when we used Cesco, after he came on the pitch, you would see a lot of high balls coming directly from Celtic 's midfield and both wings into our penalty area!"
“At that time, the two people beside him, whether it is the flexible Portuguese or the short Japanese, will reveal their real threat!”
Then he pointed at Zalewski and said, “The defense just now was very good, but you can’t just watch the ball!”
"Once the opponent attacks, the wingbacks must move inwards! On the wing, as long as the opponent is willing, they can always use more people to defeat fewer people in a certain area. You can't defend against two opponents alone!"
"Pull back and compress their passing space, especially let their full-backs press forward and make them pass more high balls, so that we will have more opportunities to counterattack!"
Time flies and the second half begins.
Although Mourinho called Celtic head coach Postecoglu "very experienced", it turns out that Postecoglu is far behind Mourinho.
As Mourinho predicted, Kento Furuhashi was substituted and center forward Kiko Magis took over.
Furuhashi Kengo naturally knew that Moriyasu Hajime was sitting in the stands, and he also knew that in the Japanese team that was full of talented players, especially with many competitors in the top five leagues, his performance today basically meant he had said goodbye to the World Cup that he had been dreaming of.
Although it is only his second season in the Scottish Premier League, Kento Furuhashi is actually 27 years old.
Like the vast majority of Asian players in Europe, he was spotted by scouts and agencies only after he had made a name for himself in his home country's league, and then went to mid-level European leagues to test the waters.
Players who can really make it to the top five leagues, or even the Premier League and La Liga, are rare. Many people’s careers are coming to an end before they even make it to that day.
Players like Ito Yoki, who was spotted by the five major leagues after playing in Japan's second-tier professional league for two years and became an absolute main player of Stuttgart at the age of 22, are like "miracles" in Japan and Asia.
Chen Xiaoliang?
Furuhashi Tomogo is not jealous of Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda, who are older than him and have achieved brilliant results. He is not jealous of Hiroki Ito and Takefusa Kubo, who are younger than him but have already been successful in the top five leagues. He is even less jealous of Son Heung-min, who has become an Asian superstar after countless trials and tribulations.
But when he thinks of Chen Xiaoliang, Guqiao Hengwu always curses "Baga".
Why?
Why?
It’s as if he has the aura of the protagonist of this world. Except for the few superstars standing at the top of the football pyramid, other players are like supporting roles surrounding him.
Guqiao Hengwu was very unconvinced. He covered his face with a sweat towel and sat with his head raised in silence.
The most regrettable thing in this world is that I could have done it, but I didn’t;
The most helpless thing is that I really want to do it, but I just can't do it.
Wu Lei, who was sitting on the bench at the other end and had not played for several games, actually felt this more deeply.
The 27-year-old Furuhashi Kengo still has time to strive for a better future, but Wu Lei, who is about to turn 31, has not started his European career for long and is already nearing the end.
In today's football world where more and more football powers are recruiting players under the age of 20 into the World Cup rosters, and where fame is becoming earlier and earlier, a 30-year-old player who has not yet made a name for himself is basically sentenced to death.
On the field, just as Mourinho expected, after Kildare Magistrates came on, the Celtics added the long pass tactics to their intensive short pass style of play.
The Greek center forward, like Harry Kane, frequently retreated, taking advantage of the vacuum left by Veretout's defense of Callum, bypassing Matic to receive the high ball, and then passing it to Dairan Maeda and Horta on the flanks.
However, this meant that the Celtics moved forward more often, but the increase in long passes also led to a decrease in the success rate of their passes.
In the 54th minute, Horta received a pass from Kigo Magis and cut in from the left. Seeing that left-back Taylor was about to make a run in, Zalewski did not choose to continue defending, but instead retreated to his own defensive zone.
Matic and Mancini surrounded Horta from the front and right respectively. Horta shook his right foot and kicked the ball to Kilgore Magis who was running in the middle of the lane!
The Greek center forward jumped directly to meet the ball. Smalling had no time to grab the ball and block his shooting angle in front of him, but unexpectedly, Kiko Magis headed the ball to Maeda Dairan on the right!
Fuzato cursed in his heart: What's wrong with this team? A bunch of grown men don't like to shoot in the penalty area, they just pass the ball back and forth!
He thought as he moved towards the left goal post.
Maeda Dairan volleyed the ball, the shot was very tricky!
"Ouch! Good shot!"
Zhan Jun and Liu Yue exclaimed at the same time!
"Fozzato, Fozzato, just the two saves today are enough to prove to Mourinho that he is also capable of becoming the team's number one goalkeeper!"
"The penalty kick just now gave him a lot of confidence. This kind of psychological hint will help the goalkeeper's flexibility and stretching ability."
Liu Yue: "Yes, sometimes you will encounter such a goalkeeper. The opponent hasn't shot for a long time, and your body is cold standing there. Suddenly, a cold shot comes and it goes in unexpectedly. And often after being suppressed for a while at the beginning of the game, after making a few high tackles and saves, you will be completely excited and in surprisingly good condition."
Fuzzato roared, getting excited himself.
Maeda Dairan felt helpless as he watched his tricky shot being blocked by his father and went out of bounds.
At this time, the referee blew the whistle, and Matic was seen sitting on the ground, calling for the team doctor to come in.
After entering the field to check, the Roma team helped Matic walk off the field slowly.
It didn't seem to be anything serious, just like he sprained his ankle when he was blocking it just now.
The Celtics were preparing to take a corner kick, and Chen Xiaoliang immediately retreated to the penalty area.
Before the head coach makes a substitution decision, the team will be playing with one less player and he must return to the defensive midfielder position to assist in defense.
Callum's corner kick was completely threatening; the ball was too low and was kicked into the stands by Chen Xiaoliang.
Mourinho looked back at the bench and made a gesture to Wu Lei to go on the field.
According to the preset plan, Forti quickly took the tactical board and told Wu Lei to play as right winger. The team will change to 5-2-3.
After taking off his warm coat and standing on the sidelines waiting for a dead ball, Mourinho put his right hand on Wu Lei's back and said to him: "I decided to send you on the field because I believe that you can help the team at this moment, but I don't want you to be nervous."
"You performed very well in this season's Europa League. Although you don't have many opportunities in the league, I still believe in you."
"Don't think about your age, your past, your own national team, or other people's national teams."
"When you get on the field, all you have to do is give it your all."
"You are Roma's number 14, you are now ranked second in Serie A. In my eyes, you are better than those Japanese players in front of you."
"Go up and prove yourself. A player's life is short. It's not about surpassing everyone, but about leaving no regrets!"
