Chapter 327

Perhaps because of Zhou Yi's words, the Qatari players played very fiercely in the match between Qatar and China.

The Chinese team was once pinned back in their own half.

On the field, Qatar had a clear advantage. The Qatari fans in the stands cheered and rooted for their team.

Under such circumstances, the Chinese commentator Liu Hong was also worried about the team.

Thinking about it this way, perhaps Zhou Yi's pre-match remarks were too unwise. Angering the opponent wouldn't do the Chinese team any good when playing away, would it?

Faced with Qatar's fierce attack, the Chinese team tightened their defense. They had hardly any decent attacks in the first half, but they didn't allow Qatar to score either.

At halftime, the score was still 0-0 between China and Qatar.

However, most people favored Qatar to take down the Chinese team at home, because it was impossible for the Chinese team to defend like this forever. Even the most solid defense can't prevent conceding goals for an entire match.

For the same reason, Chinese fans were worried about their team.

In the media box, Chinese reporters were a little worried about the Chinese team's prospects. They gathered together and whispered.

The Qatari reporter with the big beard, who had previously provoked the argument, was also in the media box at this time. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw the Chinese reporters gathered together discussing.

What were they discussing?

Tactics?

Qatar had a clear advantage on the field, so what was there to discuss? Qatar would definitely take the lead in the second half and eventually win the match!

After the group draw came out, the Chinese media frantically dug up old scores to mock him.

But he still insisted on his original point of view. He didn't think that Qatar and the Chinese team being in the same group was a slap in the face for him.

Unless Qatar lost to the Chinese team, it would be considered a slap in the face. If the Chinese team lost to Qatar, then it was obviously the Chinese team that was getting slapped.

Now the bearded reporter felt more and more that the Chinese team was about to get slapped… When the time came, he would write a long article in his media, laughing at the Chinese team based on the historical record of both sides.

You should know that Qatar had a lot of dark history with Chinese football, and he had plenty of material and ammunition in his hands.

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Although everyone outside was worried about the Chinese team, Gao Hongbo praised the team's performance during the halftime break.

Considering that this away game was very difficult to play, Gao Hongbo changed the team's tactics, temporarily abandoning the passing and controlling style of play and playing a defensive counterattack. Because he knew that Qatar would definitely focus on attacking at home, and if the Chinese team pressed out to attack, there would be certain risks.

It's just that he didn't expect Qatar's offensive in this match to be more fierce than he had anticipated. Could it really be because they were angered by Zhou Yi?

Thinking of this, Gao Hongbo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He didn't know what was wrong with Zhou Yi. Anyway, he was determined to go against Qatar. This wasn't the first time he had provoked Qatar…

Fortunately, the Chinese team managed to hold on against Qatar's strengthened offensive.

They should look for opportunities to counterattack in the second half!

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In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again. Qatar's offensive remained undiminished, and even became more intense just after the start of the second half.

It looked like they would break through the Chinese team's goal at any moment.

But at this moment, it was the Chinese team who scored first!

In the fifty-sixth minute, Zhou Yi sent a long pass from the backcourt, accurately finding Gao Lin, who then laid the ball off to Hao Junmin, who had surged forward. The latter unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area, and the ball bypassed Qatari goalkeeper Hamid's fingers and flew into the goal!

"Goal!!!" Liu Hong shouted excitedly, waving his fist. "Goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal!! Hao Junmin! What a beautiful goal, the Chinese team's defensive counterattack was so smooth!"

Those Qatari fans who had been jumping up and down in the stands suddenly couldn't make a sound, as if light bulbs had been stuffed into their mouths.

Chinese fans in front of the TV, thousands of miles away, could clearly hear the cheers from the Chinese players on the field.

They cheered and raised their arms together.

When the Chinese team was under pressure in the first half, they were also worried, fearing that the team would lose the ball. Although the mental outlook of the Chinese team has changed a lot in the past two years, the psychological shadow they left on Chinese fans before has not disappeared so easily, and it will reappear whenever there is a chance.

Now that the Chinese team has taken the lead, they are also very happy.

The TV was replaying the Chinese team's goal just now, from Zhou Yi's long pass to Hao Junmin's successful shot. The Chinese team's counterattack was very fast, and there was no sign of it before. Liu Hong began to praise Zhou Yi, the core of the Chinese team: "... The key to this goal is that Zhou Yi didn't hesitate at all when switching from defense to attack. He passed the ball directly, and he passed it very accurately. If he had hesitated a little after getting the ball in the backcourt, there would definitely have been a Qatari defender next to Gao Lin, and it would have been impossible for him to calmly stop the ball with his chest…"

This was not nauseating flattery, but the truth. Zhou Yi's long pass was indeed very sudden. He didn't even look up to observe the situation in front. After receiving the ball, he directly kicked it long. It was so fast that the Qatari players didn't even react.

While celebrating the goal, the TV broadcast gave more shots to Zhou Yi, implying that this person was the core of the Chinese team and the most critical link in this goal.

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The Chinese reporters in the media box jumped up and cheered like fans the moment Hao Junmin scored.

After cheering, some of these people turned their heads and waved to the bearded reporter behind them: "Hey, did you see that? We told you, pray you don't run into us!"

The bearded reporter behind them was a little embarrassed.

He really didn't expect Qatar to concede a goal to the Chinese team first when they had a clear advantage...

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After the match restarted, the Chinese team, after taking the lead, did not choose to press their advantage, but continued to shrink their defense, as if they hadn't scored.

Under Zhou Yi's leadership and command, the Chinese players had a unified idea.

And Qatar, after conceding the goal, saw that the Chinese team had shrunk back, and thought that the Chinese team wanted to rely on this one-goal lead after a sneak attack.

So they launched a fierce attack on the Chinese team's goal in a rage.

Zhou Yi's remarks before the match were already enough to make them unhappy. Now they were behind at home, which was simply adding fuel to the fire. They couldn't allow their opponents to provoke them before the match and then defeat them.

Want to score a goal and run?

You can't run away!

Qatar's attack came wave after wave, even more fierce than in the first half.

In this process, the bearded reporter in the media box also seemed very excited, constantly cheering for his team.

But both the Qatari players and the bearded reporter misjudged the Chinese team's intentions.

The Chinese team never thought of scoring a goal and running away, relying on this one-goal advantage to win.

Their retreat was actually a way to lure the enemy in, in order to make Qatar press even further forward.

And the enraged Qatar did just that. Anger made them lose their minds and completely disregard the pressure behind them, resulting in huge gaps behind their defense.

Faced with such gaps, the Chinese team naturally accepted it with a smile...

In the seventy-sixth minute, Zhou Yi directly assisted Gao Lin to score, and the Chinese team led Qatar 2-0 away from home.

When the Chinese team players were celebrating wildly on the field, the bearded reporter opened his mouth in astonishment at this scene.

This wasn't how the script was written!

This is our home ground!

How could this happen?!

This is impossible! How could we be two goals behind at home!?

A voice roared in the bearded reporter's heart.

No matter how much he refused to accept it, the reality was cruel. The latest score had been updated on the big screen of the stadium. Qatar 0:2 China. The red score numbers were like blood written on it, shocking.

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"It's stable! We won!" Although there were still more than ten minutes left in the match, Liu Hong had already come to this conclusion. He didn't believe that with the current morale performance of both sides, Qatar could still score two goals in a row in the remaining time to tie the score.

In fact, this was the case. The Chinese team, after scoring the second goal, once again retreated to defend, making it clear that they would continue to counterattack defensively.

Faced with this tactic, Qatar had no choice - if they continued to press forward to attack, they might concede another goal. But if they didn't attack, they could only accept defeat.

They were caught in a dilemma.

The Chinese team had no such worries at all. They leisurely passed the ball back and forth in their own half, waiting for Qatar to press up. If Qatar didn't press up, Zhou Yi wasn't in a hurry to pass the ball forward, but continued to pass it horizontally and back.

In the past, the Chinese team passing the ball back and forth in their own half was considered a backward and amateurish style of play, and they had been criticized by fans and the media for this. But now, passing the ball has become a passing and controlling tactic, and has suddenly become a world trend.

Finally, when the match ended, the Chinese team defeated Qatar 2-0 away from home. Liu Hong said excitedly: "Successful swipe! Does this mean we have a chance to go to Brazil!? But anyway, I hope this is a good sign!"

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ps, I've updated tomorrow's scheduled update directly, so consider it two updates today...