Super Marshal

On the evening of March 23, Changsha, China.

The sixth round of Group A of the top 12 Asian qualifiers for the Russian World Cup is in full swing.

The Chinese team wearing red jerseys focused on defense from the beginning of the game, while the Korean team wearing white jerseys launched a fierce attack on the Chinese team's defense from the first minute.

In the stands, 40,000 Chinese fans turned the entire stadium into a sea of ​​red. "Battle for Changsha" became the theme of this game. The Battle of Changsha also became the slogan of the fans on the stadium, and the game inside the stadium also Like the theme and slogan, it is very intense.

Gao Han and the visiting team's head coach Stillik were both standing in the coaching area from the first minute. Both of them observed the game solemnly, but their moods were completely different.

When the game reached the 11th minute, the Chinese team quickly counterattacked. After Zhang Xizhe and Huang Bowen formed a cooperation on the right, Zhang Linfan quickly came up from the wing. After receiving the ball, he went to the baseline and passed a very high-quality kick. High cross.

Zhang Yuning quickly grabbed the first spot in the middle of the penalty area, jumped towards the top, and hit the ball. Unfortunately, the ball hit the post and bounced back into the penalty area, where it was cleared by the South Korean team's defender.

After the clearance, the Korean team pressed hard again and quickly launched a counterattack.

Gao Han quickly walked to the sidelines and applauded vigorously, affirming the players' performance in the counterattack just now, and also signaled the players to calm down and not be anxious.

"Don't retreat too deep, keep your distance, try to push the defense out, and the midfielder must hold up."

"Zhang Yuning, Wu Lei and Zhang Xizhe continued to press and press in the frontcourt, blocking their attacks from both ribs and wings."

"The distance between the three lines is maintained well. Keep playing like this, control the rhythm, don't mess up, and pay attention to assisting and protecting."

"Everyone, please cheer me up and start running. Remember what I said before the game, the arrival rate! The arrival rate! The arrival rate!"

As Gao Han shouted, the players on the field also received instructions, and the game quickly restarted.

When walking back, Gao Han turned his head and glanced at Stillik. The German coach seemed a little out of control, especially after seeing such a threatening counterattack by the Chinese team just now. If it hadn't been for the goalkeeper, Zhu, they were already behind.

From Gao Han's perspective, the most important thing to do at this time is to stay calm.

But both Stillik and the Korean players on the court were obviously starting to become a little impatient.

"Their mentality is about to die." Gao Han said with a faint smile.

He had anticipated this situation before the game.

Many people always have the impression of the Korean team that this Tai Chi Tigers have a very strong will and the players are high-spirited. However, no one knows that any team will have moments of restlessness. The key is to see how the head coach adjusts.

Sometimes, handling the player's mentality is more important than any technical and tactical issues.

In the first round of the match between the two sides, the Chinese team caught South Korea off guard in Seoul and won 3-1. This made everyone in South Korea feel ashamed, because they have looked down upon Chinese football the most for decades.

But who would have thought that after the five games of the first round, although the Chinese team played very hard in every group match, they performed very steadily. Gao Han and the team almost did not make too fatal mistakes. With a steady and steady strategy, they ranked first in the group with five wins from five games.

But what about the Korean team?

Losing points continuously, it was not until the last round that Uzbekistan counterattacked and finished third in the group.

This is simply unacceptable to South Korea, which has always boasted itself as the strongest team in Asia. Head coach Stillik and the team's international players are under great pressure, and domestic public opinion has flooded into the national team.

The first game of the second cycle is an away game against China. Whether it is to defend its decades-old record advantage or to qualify for the top 12, South Korea must win. Stillik also needs a victory in order to consolidate his position as coach.

Therefore, the Korean team was very impatient from the beginning of this game and made huge bets.

High center forward Jin Xinyu, who is nearly two meters tall, starts the game!

The starting of this Korean high center forward almost exposed the emotions of everyone on the Korean team.

They want to eat China in one bite right from the start.

On the other hand, Gao Han deliberately decompressed before the game. In the opening stage, after giving Jin Xinyu a chance to score a header, he made decisive adjustments and the team's defense began to press forward. This has two benefits. One is Try to force Jin Xinyu as far away from the goal as possible.

The South Korean team has always been characterized by passing and controlling, but with Jin Xinyu's appearance, although he occupies a commanding height in the penalty area, the team's style of play has changed to crosses from the wing, which is obviously inconsistent, and Gao Han made Jin Xinyu leave. The goal is further away, and Feng Xiaoting and Zhao Jun are flanked on both sides, making it difficult for the Korean team to create a threat from crosses from the wing.

The second benefit is that the defense line presses forward and back, and the three lines remain compact, always putting defensive pressure on South Korea. At the same time, the defense line will be more flexible. As long as the players maintain a good positioning rate, it will be difficult for South Korea to break through.

It should be said that Gao Han's adjustments were very targeted. The Korean team's subsequent attack seemed to be very powerful, but it was difficult to threaten. Instead, they made repeated mistakes. The more they made, the more impatient they became and the less calm they became.

On the other hand, Gao Han kept calling on the players to calm down. He knew that the Korean team was eager to counterattack and score goals, so he concentrated on defense.

The game has reached this point, and there is no need to say more about who is better between Gao Han and Stillik.

…………

…………

"There were too many mistakes on our end."

In the visiting team's coaching booth, the assistant coach also took the initiative to report to Stillik the situation analysis and data on the court.

"If it weren't for the Chinese players' inability to seize opportunities and pass and receive the ball, we would be even more ugly than we are now."

Stillik's face was extremely ugly. Of course he knew that the current situation was unfavorable. He even began to regret that he should not have allowed Jin Xinyu to start before.

Arranging for the high center forward to start, Stillik's strategy was to occupy a commanding height in the penalty area and suppress the Chinese team's defense. This also had a certain effect at the beginning. But what he didn't expect was that as soon as Gao Han adjusted, the Chinese team With the defense line pressing forward and behind, coupled with the flanking attacks of Feng Xiaoting and Zhao Jun, Jin Xinyu lost his role in the frontcourt.

Not only that, the Korean team completely forgot how to attack.

This is not surprising. Some players want to cross, but some players feel that the cross is ineffective and want to go back to pass control. As a result, the players' thinking is not unified, and mistakes naturally begin to increase.

"Damn it!" Stillik cursed angrily.

Facing Gao Han, he really felt like he had no choice but to do anything. It was as if he had taken off his clothes and stood in front of him, without any reservations or secrets.

Is this the world's top coach?

"Their mentality is so good. From the first round of the top 12, Gao Han has attached great importance to cultivating this mentality. In the six games now, the progress has been very obvious in each game. Of course, technique and tactics are one aspect. But the most important thing is the players’ mentality and on-the-spot performance.” The assistant coach also sighed with conviction.

It can be said that after these few games, Gao Han has completely demonstrated the coaching ability of the world's top coach.

On the other hand, the South Korean team did not perform well in the first round of the group stage, and the team did not adjust well afterwards, which directly led to consecutive losses in the first two rounds, which put the team into an unfavorable situation.

The arrogant Koreans will not accept the fact that they are inferior to the Chinese no matter what. Whether it is the team or domestic public opinion, they are like a pair of invisible pushing hands, forcing the Korean team to be more active in grabbing points.

Being aggressive is a good thing, but being overly aggressive is not.

Anyone who has watched this game will not doubt that Korean players surpass the Chinese team in terms of personal ability and overall strength. International players such as Son Heung-min, Ki Sung-yong, Nam Tae-hee, and Koo Ja-cheol are even more outstanding.

But facing China, which is firmly holding its own half, this has no effect at all.

"The young central defender named Zhao Jun performed very well in this game. Is Gao Han going to officially promote him to the main lineup?" Stillik frowned.

The South Korean team has a very obvious advantage in the midfield and frontcourt, and Gao Han's technical midfield three of Hao Junmin, Zheng Zhi and Huang Bowen was under great pressure, and sometimes it was difficult to withstand it. But at the critical moment, Feng Xiaoting and Zhao Jun Frequent pressure strengthened the defensive thickness and intensity of the midfield.

This move not only restricted Jin Xinyu, but also strengthened the midfield defense, which can be said to be very bright.

It is also worth noting that the starting goalkeeper of the Chinese team. After missing three games due to injury, Zeng Cheng returned to the starting lineup and performed very steadily, even better than before the injury. This shows that he feels the pressure of competition.

It has been almost 20 minutes since the start of this game, and the Chinese team has played too steadily.

The defense was very solid, the players were active in running and pressing, and their positioning rate was very high. After stealing the ball, they quickly counterattacked and switched offense and defense very quickly, forcing the Korean team to quickly return to defense, which was very troublesome.

South Korea is now full of depression and wants to kill China, but its opponent avoids fighting, leaving South Korea with no way to start. It even strikes back and teases from time to time, which undoubtedly further stimulates the anger of South Korea. .

Stillik also has a headache now. If he pulls the players, it will undoubtedly cause the players' mentality to collapse. It will be difficult to organize such an offensive again. But if they continue to be allowed to develop like this, as long as they cannot break the Chinese team's defense , the situation will only become more and more unfavorable to the Korean team.

Besides, if the game gets to this point, the players may not listen to him.

With him in a situation where he could be fired at any time, he has no idea how much weight he still has in the eyes of the South Korean international.

Just when Stillik was struggling, the South Korean team made a threatening attack from the left. Sun Heung-min cut in to the middle. After receiving the pass from his teammate, he volleyed directly from a long distance without being marked.

As a result, the shot went higher than the goal and became a goal kick for the Chinese team.

Stillik looked straight at the sidelines and patted his head. He saw that Jin Xinyu in the penalty area had already run into his position. Sun Xingmin could pass it to him. If not, he could also take the ball and force it towards the Chinese team's defense. After his teammates came up, Creating opportunities again is more reliable than hastily shooting from a long distance by yourself, right?

Mentality! It’s still the mentality!

In contrast, the Chinese team's goal kick was quickly sent to the frontcourt.

After Zhang Yuning grabbed the first goal, the midfielder quickly planned an attack. After Wu Lei retreated to respond, he dribbled the ball quickly along the left rib. Hao Junmin stepped up and pulled the defensive player away, but Wu Lei Suddenly he went inside and passed a low pass to the penalty area with his right foot. Zhang Yuning grabbed the point from close range in the penalty area.

"Danger!" Stillik was startled and shouted.

At this time, more than 40,000 Chinese fans in the audience also exclaimed, as if they saw the birth of the goal.