Chapter 71 The Mad Dog Tactics of South Korea

During halftime, in the South Korean Olympic team's locker room, Ji Dong-won tearfully apologized to the entire team, almost kneeling down and offering to cut off his finger.

He knew that his expulsion would put the team in a difficult situation.

His teammates comforted him, saying it wasn't his fault, but that the Chinese players were too cunning, especially the goalkeeper, who was a despicable and shameless villain, using fake falls and theatrics to deceive the referee.

Then, the South Korean Olympic team players began to denounce Sun Pan, and from denouncing Sun Pan, they expanded to denouncing the entire Chinese Olympic team, believing that the Chinese players were despicable, shameless, cunning, and unscrupulous, completely violating the spirit of sportsmanship in their pursuit of victory.

Their denunciation ended when their coach, Hong Myung-bo, appeared in the locker room with a livid face.

"Is shifting all the blame to your opponents your path to victory?" Hong Myung-bo asked with an unpleasant expression.

As a legend in South Korean football, Hong Myung-bo held a high position in the hearts of these young players, and his prestige in the team was also very high.

After his words, the young men of the South Korean Olympic team fell silent.

"Does belittling your opponents do you any good?" Hong Myung-bo rebuked. "If we can win games just by attacking our opponents in the locker room, I'm willing to let you curse for fifteen minutes. Are you sure you want to do that?"

The captain, Ki Sung-yueng, stood up and apologized to the coach on behalf of the entire team: "Sorry, Coach, we were wrong..."

Hong Myung-bo snorted, accepting Ki Sung-yueng's apology, and then said: "Now everyone forget about those controversial scenes in the first half, and put all your energy into the game. The team in front of you is not one that can be easily defeated. Do you think those players from the Chinese team who play overseas are only able to play because of sponsorship fees? They are all core players in their respective teams! If we don't pay a high enough price, we can't even think about making a comeback!"

"From now on, correct your attitude. The Chinese team is good at passing and controlling the ball. Once they get the ball moving, it will be very troublesome. But that doesn't mean we don't have countermeasures. If they start passing the ball around, you have to keep running, to steal the ball from their feet, and interfere with their passes! Run like mad dogs, and the hope of victory lies beneath your feet!"

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When the second half of the game started, Zhou Yi found that the South Korean players were running even more, as if none of them felt tired at all.

The South Koreans' mad dog-like running did cause some trouble for the Chinese team.

The South Koreans' running ability is well-known. There are many rumors in the world of football about how exceptionally capable South Koreans are at running. There was once a rumor that at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, when the South Korean team met the German team, the South Korean players' excellent physical fitness and tenacious will surprised even the Germans, who were known for their physical and mental strength.

It was a World Cup group stage match, and the German team was already leading 3-0 in the first half. The game seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

As a result, the South Korean team scored two consecutive goals in the second half, almost tying the score and scaring the Germans into a cold sweat.

And in that game, the person who started as a forward for the South Korean team was Hong Myung-bo.

However, the Chinese Olympic team was also prepared for the reactions the South Korean team might make in the second half.

During the halftime break, Branko Ivanković warned his players that the South Korean team would not give up easily. Although they were one player down, their excellent running ability could make up for the disadvantage in numbers to some extent.

Faced with the South Koreans' pressing, the Chinese team only needed to do one thing well, and that was passing and receiving the ball.

But it was not easy to pass and receive the ball well under the opponent's aggressive pressing. This was the trouble the South Koreans caused the Chinese team.

Although it was a bit of a hassle, Zhou Yi still tried his best to maintain the situation and keep the initiative on the Chinese team's side as much as possible.

To maintain the situation, he couldn't just rely on passing.

He could quickly pass the ball away before the South Korean player who was coming to tackle him could reach him. He could totally do that, but he didn't plan to do so now. Because in the current situation, what he would be passing away was not the football, but the responsibility.

He could accurately send the ball to his teammate's feet, and then the following events would be irrelevant to him. Even if his teammate was intercepted by the opponent after stopping the ball, it would be because the teammate didn't handle it well, and it would have nothing to do with him. No one would blame Zhou Yi, and he wouldn't be the one making the mistake.

If Zhou Yi only wanted to protect himself on the field, he would not last long or do well in the position of central midfielder.

So he didn't think that the football would have nothing to do with him after it was passed out.

Now the South Korean team had obviously strengthened their pressing on him in the second half. As long as he got the ball, Ki Sung-yueng would always stick to him, and there would also be one or two other South Korean players surrounding him.

Under such circumstances, ordinary players would quickly pass the ball away, but Zhou Yi insisted on doing the opposite.

When his teammate passed the ball to him, he made a feint to pass the ball to the other side, deceiving Ki Sung-yueng, who was following him, to turn towards that side. Then, he suddenly pulled the ball in the opposite direction, pretending to break through from this side.

Seeing that Zhou Yi didn't pass the ball away immediately, another South Korean player who was originally on the outside immediately rushed up, wanting to steal the ball from Zhou Yi.

Facing the South Korean player who pounced on him, Zhou Yi turned around and shielded the ball in front of him, isolating the opponent behind him.

But this turn also made him face away from the direction of the attack, which seemed to be an even worse choice.

It looked as if he had hesitated for a moment, resulting in him being stuck by his opponent, and losing the opportunity to attack in order to protect the ball.

But at this moment, Zhou Yi, facing away from the front, used his heel to forcefully kick the ball behind him!

The ball rolled through the legs of the unsuspecting South Korean defender and landed at the feet of He Ying, who had retreated to support him.

He Ying's retreat to support him happened at the same time as Zhou Yi turned to protect the ball. At that time, Zhou Yi's attention should have been focused on how to protect the ball, and he shouldn't have been able to see He Ying's movements.

But Zhou Yi didn't observe before passing the ball, but directly passed the ball over, as if he was very sure that He Ying would be behind him to support him.

In fact, He Ying was indeed behind him.

After passing the ball, Zhou Yi turned around and bypassed the South Korean player who was sticking to him, and accelerated forward.

He passed by He Ying, without even pausing. It seemed that whether He Ying got the ball or not, and what he would do with the ball, had nothing to do with him.

He just ran forward like that.

And He Ying didn't pass the ball to him either. He turned around and dribbled the ball forward. The Chinese team's attack had reached a point where it could be considered a threat. He Ying dribbled the ball towards the South Korean team's penalty area, and the South Korean players had to come up to defend him. In this way, the defensive forces in other areas were stretched thin.

He Ying, who had the ball, had a lot of choices, and his freedom of action was very high.

Of course, the South Korean players could also choose not to defend He Ying, who had the ball, and continue to maintain the integrity of their defense. But probably no team's defense would make such a stupid mistake.

When they came up to defend He Ying, He Ying passed the ball to Zhou Yi, who had already cut in front of him.

This time, Zhou Yi didn't let the ball stay at his feet for even half a second. He directly pushed the ball diagonally in front of Wu Lei.

Wu Lei quickly cut in and, when he received the ball, was already on the edge of the penalty area. Then he shot, and the ball went slightly high.

The South Korean fans in the stands and in front of the TV were startled into a cold sweat.

It wasn't until the ball flew over the crossbar that they could be sure that the ball wouldn't go in. Because from the moment Zhou Yi suddenly passed the ball with his heel, to that series of passes, the South Korean team's defense seemed to have many loopholes, making the South Korean fans worried that their goal would be breached at any time...

And the Chinese fans regretted that the ball didn't go in, and some emotionally excited fans even cursed Wu Lei for wasting the opportunity.

In the TV footage, Wu Lei also held his head in his hands, feeling annoyed that he had missed the opportunity.

However, in a place that the TV camera didn't capture, Zhou Yi gave Wu Lei a thumbs up, indicating that he had shot well.

Zhou Yi himself didn't feel sorry that the ball didn't go in.

He was calm inside, and he didn't think that the South Korean team's mad dog tactics would bring him any great trouble.

He believed that he and his teammates would be able to control the situation.

To put it bluntly, he had already seen the South Korean team's adjustment plan in virtual matches, and it wasn't a big deal...