After the warm-up match with Jordan, the Chinese team continued their training camp. Gao Hongbo adjusted the training content. Previously, they had been focusing on offensive training, mainly tactical drills.

However, after the previous few days of training and three warm-up matches, he found that such training was of little significance for Zhou Yi. The most urgent thing had become... improving the players' shooting ability.

So shooting training was put on the agenda.

Now Zhou Yi could lead the midfield to create shooting opportunities, but if the forwards couldn't seize the opportunities and score goals, it would be useless.

Therefore, shooting training needed to be strengthened.

During this process, the Chinese Football Association also coordinated and communicated with Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund agreed to let Zhou Yi participate in the Asian Cup qualifier against Syria, but hoped that China could allow Zhou Yi to not participate in the subsequent qualifier against Vietnam.

The Chinese Football Association also agreed to this. After all, Vietnam's strength was weak, and even without Zhou Yi, the Chinese team had a high chance of winning. The most important thing was the match against Syria. As long as Zhou Yi could participate in the match against Syria, that would be enough.

The two parties reached an agreement.

Zhou Yi would only participate in the qualifier against Syria, and then he would immediately return to Germany to participate in preparations for the league.

※※※

On January 6th, the Chinese team played against Syria at home.

This was the second-to-last match in the Asian Cup qualifiers.

Before this match, Gao Hongbo was under tremendous pressure.

Because the Chinese team had performed poorly in the two matches against Lebanon, although they had won both, they won narrowly and did not show the Chinese team's advantage in strength over Lebanon.

Therefore, before the match against Syria, Gao Hongbo shouted the slogan that the Chinese team would advance to the Asian Cup finals as the top team in the group.

This meant that they had to defeat Syria at home; a draw would not be enough.

For this reason, he urgently recruited Zhou Yi, who had emerged in the Bundesliga, into the national team.

Fortunately, Zhou Yi did not show any discomfort in the national team, but quickly integrated into the team and became the team's organizing core.

Through the warm-up match against Jordan, Zhou Yi's performance made many people feel gratified.

With the addition of Zhou Yi, the Chinese team's chances of defeating Syria at home were even greater.

In the match against Syria, because of his outstanding performance in the previous match, Zhou Yi no longer appeared on the bench, but started the game!

Gao Hongbo did not play any unexpected games this time.

Syria also strengthened their defense against Zhou Yi, and they arranged for someone to specifically mark Zhou Yi.

However, Zhou Yi was not surprised by this.

In virtual matches, he had already enjoyed such treatment.

After all, the Syrian coach had watched the Chinese team's warm-up match against Jordan.

Zhou Yi also had his own way of dealing with this kind of defense.

Or rather, he didn't have to think too much about how to get rid of this defense.

He just needed to run.

Originally, Zhou Yi's range of movement when playing football was very large. After the range increased, it was difficult for the players marking him to always maintain pressure on him.

Zhou Yi would even retreat to in front of the defensive line to handle the ball. The Syrian players marking him couldn't possibly follow him up there, could they?

If they did, they would have fewer people in their own backfield.

Even if Zhou Yi entered the frontcourt, he wouldn't stay in one place. He would move back and forth from left to right, running non-stop.

This made the Syrian player responsible for marking him a little dizzy.

Because he didn't know what the purpose of Zhou Yi's running was, it looked as if it was aimless.

Many times, Zhou Yi wouldn't receive the ball after running past, would pause slightly, and then turn around and run in the completely opposite direction.

The Syrian player responsible for marking him had no choice but to follow him and run again, and it was very likely that it would all be for nothing in the end.

The Syrian player who had been asked to mark Zhou Yi before the match began to feel that he was completely wasting his time.

He was here to play football, not to jog!

He finally waited until Zhou Yi received the ball, and he rushed up like he had been injected with chicken blood. As a result, Zhou Yi immediately passed the ball away and began to move to the next place.

And so began what seemed like an endless jog...

The Syrian player responsible for marking Zhou Yi kept his eyes almost always on Zhou Yi and was not sensitive to the overall situation of the match. But if he could pull himself away, he would find that his team had actually been suppressed by the Chinese team in terms of possession.

But he didn't know how they were suppressed.

In fact, it was in the process of him constantly running after Zhou Yi that the Chinese team passed the ball back and forth, gradually building up their advantage.

The Chinese fans in the stands would cheer from time to time. These cheers were not all because of the Chinese team's shots. More often, they were cheering for the Chinese team's wonderful passing.

"Passing the ball back" was not a pleasant term in the past, and would always remind Chinese fans of the national team's passive style of play in the backcourt.

But now, it has become a synonym for technical style.

With Barcelona as the representative, passing the ball back and forth between the various players of the football team, thereby controlling the rhythm and initiative of the match, has become a tactical trend highly respected in the football world.

How long a team can pass the ball continuously is a true reflection of their level of ball control.

Before Zhou Yi came, Gao Hongbo's Chinese team found it difficult to pass the ball continuously many times when encountering stronger opponents. They might lose the ball after three or five passes, especially when attacking into the opponent's thirty-meter area.

But now, the Chinese team could pass the ball continuously for a long time, using this passing to mobilize their opponents and achieve the effect of controlling the situation.

With the advantage in ball control, the Chinese team broke the deadlock in the thirtieth minute.

Yu Hai, who was the starting center forward in this match, received a pass from Deng Zhuoxiang and scored the first goal for the Chinese team.

The cheers in the stadium reached the first peak of the match.

Although this goal was not assisted by Zhou Yi, Deng Zhuoxiang only crossed the ball after receiving a pass from Zhou Yi.

"Beautiful header! Yu Hai! After a series of continuous passes, the Chinese team has converted their advantage in ball control into a goal!"

※※※

After losing the ball, Syria was eager to equalize the score. After they kicked off, they launched a fierce offensive into the Chinese team's half.

In this situation, Zhou Yi seized on their weakness of pressing forward to attack, leaving their defensive line relatively empty. In the thirty-third minute, he made a decisive through ball, catching Syria offside!

"Zhou Yi! A decisive through ball! Yu Hai! He received the ball! This is a counterattack!" Duan Xin, the commentator in the commentary box, shouted excitedly.

The Chinese team fans in the stands were even more excited than him, and the cheers were deafening.

Amidst the deafening cheers, Yu Hai ran wildly with the ball, giving full play to his speed advantage, shaking off all the pursuers and breaking into Syria's penalty area. Facing the Syrian goalkeeper who came out to intercept, he made a feint to shoot and then flicked the ball horizontally, changing direction and shaking off the goalkeeper, and then made a push shot!

The football flew into the empty net!

"2:0! 2:0!! Good goal! The Chinese team scored two goals in three minutes, confirming their two-goal lead! This time it's Zhou Yi's assist! In the transition from defense to offense, his pass was very decisive and accurate! Zhou Yi! This is his first assist in the national team!"

After scoring the goal, Yu Hai ran towards the corner flag area, while pointing at Zhou Yi, asking Zhou Yi to come up and celebrate with him.

Zhou Yi ran over, and the two hugged in front of the corner flag, and were then drowned by the teammates who swarmed over.

In the stands, there were deafening cheers from the Chinese fans!

A year ago, after the Chinese team lost to Syria 2:3 away from home, they were suppressed by their opponents in the group.

And now, Chinese team fans finally had a sense of exultation of "turning over to be the masters."

※※※

In the first half, the Chinese team maintained their two-goal lead.

After the halftime break, the two sides changed sides and fought again. The Chinese team relied on passing to firmly control the situation.

Although the score did not increase, they still had the advantage on the field.

Duan Xin sighed in the commentary: "How long has it been since we played so reassuringly when we are in the lead?"

It has indeed been a very, very long time. Even the most senior Chinese fans would probably have to think carefully about this question.

Perhaps... it has never happened before?

※※※

Starting from the sixtieth minute, Zhou Yi's stamina began to decline rapidly. He ran less on the field, and the opponent's success rate in defending him increased.

Gao Hongbo on the sidelines knew it was time to substitute Zhou Yi.

After all, Zhou Yi's stamina was a problem, and he couldn't last the entire match.

So he made a substitution adjustment.

In the sixty-fifth minute, Zhou Yi was substituted off.

Zhou Yi, who was leaving the field, walked very slowly and looked very tired.

And all the Chinese fans in the stands stood up and applauded Zhou Yi, sending him off.

"Zhou Yi has received applause from all the fans! This is what he deserves. His performance in the match has been obvious to all! It can be said that he has directly improved the level of the Chinese team's performance! When Zhou Yi came to report to the national team, we were all worried that he would not be able to integrate with this team in a short period of time. I didn't expect Zhou Yi to complete the integration at a speed faster than light. Watching his performance on the field, it really makes people think that he has been playing for this team for a year..."

"After playing only four professional league matches, he was selected into the national team and quickly became the core of the national team. This would have been absolutely impossible before the crackdown on corruption. Now, thanks to the country's crackdown on corruption in football, we have regained our confidence in Chinese football..."

"Now, Zhou Yi will not participate in the Chinese team's away match against Vietnam. His Asian Cup qualifying journey has come to an end. Let us look forward to his performance in the Asian Cup! In addition, we don't have to wait too long to see his wonderful performance in the Bundesliga league on January 18th!"

In the continuous applause, Zhou Yi finally walked off the field, completing his Asian Cup qualifying journey.

Chapter 148 Small Tactics