Chapter 297 Damn it, he pretended!
Mexico's goalkeeper Ochoa looked at Lin Quan, who was more than ten meters away, with a nervous look on his face.
He really didn't have the energy to complain, the penalty came too quickly and too suddenly.
A man's reputation is like a tree's shadow. Lin Quan is so famous that the Mexican coach repeatedly emphasized his threat to the players before the game.
This caused his teammates to be too nervous. Just now when Lin Quan dribbled into the penalty area, Rodriguez could have trusted his teammates to defend after being overtaken, but he subconsciously pulled down the opponent, and while receiving a yellow card, he also conceded an undisputed penalty.
The Mexican players had nothing to say about the penalty decision.
But a penalty was given to the powerful Spain just five minutes into the game, which made them a little desperate.
Fortunately, he still has a chance to save the team. As long as he saves this penalty, Mexico still has hope of advancing!
Come on, let me see your strength!
Ochoa took a deep breath, perked up, and stared intently at Lin Quan's every move, as if he wanted to see through him.
Seeing that both sides were ready, the referee blew the whistle to indicate that Lin Quan could shoot.
Lin Quan took a deep breath, glanced in the direction of the goal, and started to accelerate.
One step, two steps, three steps...
His pace became faster and faster, and Ochoa accurately judged that Lin Quan would shoot with his right foot! In other words, he would shoot from the left side!
After making the judgment, he did not hesitate at all and immediately rushed to the left side of the goal.
The spectators at the scene held their breath. Both the Spanish and Mexican fans opened their eyes wide and stared at the goal, not daring to even blink, for fear of missing this most crucial moment.
Ochoa judged the direction correctly and the ball did fly towards the left side of the goal.
But it was a little different from what he thought. The ball did not go to the lower left corner of the goal, but went straight to the blind spot in the upper left corner.
His wonderful save did not have any effect, but instead became the best foil for Lin Quan's almost unstoppable shot.
Lin Quan's goal made the stadium quiet for a moment, and then it broke out into thunderous cheers and applause.
"You actually used this trick in the game!"
“This ball was played beautifully!”
"Damn it, you've got it right!"
"Haha, the coaches must be pretty scared seeing you take the penalty in this way!"
When teammates rushed up to celebrate, they did not forget to make a few jokes.
Lin Quan glanced in the direction of the coaching seats. Bosque was clearly very happy. Looking at his excited expression as he punched the air, he didn't seem to be scared at all!
On the sidelines, after Bosque celebrated with a fist pump, he felt a little scared: "Lin Quan is so bold. He actually dared to use this method in the game. If he misses the penalty, he will be scolded to death by the fans, right?"
But the result was good, the ball went in.
Wait until he misses a penalty kick and suffers a loss, then persuade him to change his ways!
After losing the ball, the Mexican players looked very frustrated.
In this game they were prepared to use defensive counterattack tactics against the powerful Spain, but they fell behind at the start, making it impossible for them to carry out their tactics.
With such a hasty adjustment, the Mexican players had no idea how much fighting power they could exert.
Wait until the Spanish players finish celebrating and the game resumes.
Even Mexican fans could see that their team was struggling.
"Alas, this lineup is prepared for defensive counterattacks and is not suitable for positional warfare. If we don't make substitutions in a few key positions, the positional warfare will definitely not be effective!"
But the game had just begun. If they made substitutions now, what would they do if there were any injuries in the second half and they had used up all their substitution quotas? Even if they really had to make substitutions, they had to wait until the first half was over.
Only by making tactical and personnel adjustments at the same time during the half-time break can the greatest effect be achieved.
But this also means that the first half will be very difficult for the Mexican team!
Their opponents won't give them any time to breathe!
After curbing Mexico's counterattack, the situation of the game quickly returned to Spain's control.
In this game, Spain played their familiar passing and controlling tactics. Under the control of a group of top midfield masters, Spain's offense was extremely oppressive.
The football was passed back and forth between their feet, tearing apart the Mexican defense with each pass.
The Mexican players had to be extremely alert and carefully respond to every pass from the opponent.
Because if you are not careful, loopholes may appear, giving your opponent an opportunity to take advantage.
This tense state made the Mexican players feel very tired.
It was only the first half, and many players were already gasping for breath.
The physical consumption is secondary; the main problem is that the mental consumption is too great.
They didn't know how long they could maintain this level of concentration, but they were extremely certain that once their concentration dropped, they would lose the ball again.
On the sidelines, Mexico's head coach Herrera was extremely anxious. He kept looking at his watch, wishing he could turn the hour hand to speed up time! This damn first half should end soon. Mexico's counterattack was not threatening at all, and the defense was in jeopardy. If they continued playing, he was really worried that they would lose the ball.
Compared to the Mexican head coach, the Spanish coaching staff is much more comfortable.
“Can we score in the first half?”
“I don’t know. It depends on whether the opponent gives us a chance or not. But there is not much time left in the first half. If the opponent doesn’t make a mistake, we may not score a goal!”
Bosque looked at the game time. It was already the 37th minute and the first half would be over in 8 minutes.
This time is enough for the Spanish players to complete several attacks, but it is hard to say whether these attacks can score goals when the opponent defends with all their strength.
Fortunately, Mexico did not make any random adjustments after conceding the goal, otherwise their defense might not have been able to withstand Spain's fierce attack for dozens of minutes.
But just like a string, if it is stretched too tight, it will easily break!
In the 44th minute, seeing that the first half of the game was about to end, the Spanish players began to control the tempo of the game, kicking their feet back in the backcourt, seemingly not intending to continue attacking.
This made the Mexican players breathe a sigh of relief!
After being suppressed for half the game, they were already a little out of breath.
This suffocating feeling of tension has finally ended. I hope the coach can make some adjustments during the halftime break so that they can regain some initiative in the second half and no longer be so passive!
However, just as their first half of the game was about to end, Spain suddenly accelerated.
Pique took the ball away from his defensive position, rushed towards the midfield a few steps, and passed the ball to Xavi.
Xavi passed the ball to David Silva before the Mexican players could press.
David Silva quickly transferred the ball to Lin Quan, who passed it directly to Torres.
Torres then passed the ball to Iniesta on the other side, and Iniesta passed it to Lin Quan who had reached the front of the penalty area.
These passes were almost all made with one kick. In just a few seconds, the ball went from the front of the Spanish penalty area to the outer edge of the Mexican penalty area.
This extremely fast offensive rhythm made it impossible for the Mexican players to keep up.
When Lin Quan received the ball again at the front of the penalty area, there were only two defensive players in front of him.
The Mexican defenders were a little nervous. The opponent's attack was too fast and their midfield was penetrated without any interception.
There are now three Spanish players around their penalty area, while they only have two.
If they rush towards Lin Quan with the ball, the opponent will most likely pass the ball to a teammate in an open position.
However, it is not possible to just leave Lin Quan alone at this time, because this guy is the most threatening player in the Spanish team.
There was no choice, Mexican defender Moreno had to rush towards Lin Quan to block and interfere with the opponent's shot.
In order to prevent himself from being passed by Lin Quan, he did not rush too far forward and always kept a proper distance from his teammates. In this way, if Lin Quan forced his way past him, he would most likely be intercepted by his teammates who came to defend after passing him.
However, Lin Quan is not a reckless man. Why would he act recklessly when he is clearly outnumbered?
After attracting Moreno's interception, Lin Quan quickly passed the ball to Iniesta who came in from the side of the penalty area.
Iniesta dribbled the ball into the penalty area without hesitation and pretended to shoot.
In the penalty area, even the last Mexican defender had to step forward to block the shot.
However, like Lin Quan, Iniesta also chose to pass the ball.
Instead of passing the ball to Torres who was in an offside position, he passed the ball to David Silva who broke into the penalty area from the other side.
David Silva did not waste the wonderful pass from his teammate. He received the ball and shot it into the far corner, helping Spain extend its lead to 2 goals! This goal was lost at the wrong time. The first half would have been over in a few dozen seconds.
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By then, Mexico can return to the locker room and calmly arrange tactics and prepare for the counterattack in the second half.
But the goal they lost before the half-time whistle completely ruined their plans.
Being behind by one goal and being behind by two goals bring completely different pressures to the players and coaches.
If they had only conceded one goal, they could have equalized the score with a successful counterattack in the second half. If they had scored one more goal, they could have even reversed the situation against Spain.
But now they are two goals behind, which makes it much more difficult for them to equalize the score.
As for advancing directly to the quarterfinals, that was almost impossible! Scoring three goals against Spain in half a game? The Mexicans didn't even dare to think about it! So when the halftime whistle sounded, their players were all worried and concerned about the team's advancement situation.
In addition to the Mexicans who were anxious about the score on the field, several other teams in the lower half that might face Spain were also very worried.
Spain is in really good shape. They have been on a winning streak from the group stage till now, and have won every game very easily.
It would be fine if Spain achieved such results by beating weak opponents, but the problem is that the opponents they defeated were not weak at all.
The Netherlands, Chile and Mexico in this game are all strong teams in the World Cup, and some even have the strength to win the championship.
But they all fell at the feet of Spain, without even the strength to fight back.
"Who can stop this Spain?"
The Costa Rican coach sighed, thinking that their good luck had ended and no longer had any hope of the team advancing to the semi-finals.
But for them, making it all the way to the knockout stage and even having a great chance of advancing to the quarterfinals is already enough.
After all, Costa Rica's best result in team history was only the round of 16, so reaching the quarterfinals is already a history-making achievement for them.
The open-minded attitude of the Costa Rican coach is obviously not something that everyone can have.
The head coaches of Belgium and Argentina, who were also in the lower half of the group, also had worries written all over their faces after seeing the score in the first half.
They will not face Spain in the quarter-finals, but if they advance to the semi-finals, they will most likely face Spain in the semi-finals.
Judging from the situation of this game and the opponents Spain may face next, their chances of advancing to the semi-finals are very high.
Unless Spain makes a huge mistake or their opponents put in a god-level performance, no one can change this result.
The head coaches of Belgium and Argentina felt nervous at the thought that they might face Spain in the next round. It seemed necessary to start collecting information about Spain in advance and study how to deal with them.
Bosque praised the players in the locker room without making any tactical or personnel adjustments.
On the contrary, Mexico went all out and directly replaced two players, showing an attitude of fighting to the death.
In response, Spain expressed its willingness to join in.
After the start of the second half, the Mexican players played very actively and proactively.
They knew very well that if they didn't want their World Cup journey to end, they had to fight for their lives.
Mexico's head coach Herrera made some adjustments to the team's offensive and defensive tactics during the half-time break.
The main thing is to increase the intensity of the fight in the midfield, trying to curb Spain's attack by restricting Spain's midfield.
Spain's midfield lineup is so luxurious that it can be said to be second to none among the 32 teams participating in the World Cup.
It is for this reason that he feels that if he can limit and disrupt the smooth operation of the Spanish midfield, he can regain the initiative in the game and resolve the huge defensive pressure they face.
Moreover, in addition to disrupting the opponent's attack, fighting in the midfield has another advantage. Once they steal the ball in the midfield, they can launch a counterattack against Spain on the spot.
This is much closer to the opponent's goal than launching a counterattack from their own half, and the threat of the counterattack is much greater.
If it were Spain four years ago, they would definitely not be afraid of the Mexicans' tactics.
But that's no longer the case. Their midfield is a bit old. Xavi is 34 years old, and his physical function and fitness are far worse than they were four years ago.
So under the fierce pressure from the Mexican players, his performance declined significantly.
When Xavi was young, he had great ball-protecting skills, but as he got older, he can no longer perform many moves.
It’s not that his skills are gone, but he doesn’t have enough physical strength to support him to complete these movements, especially under fierce physical confrontation.
This led to several consecutive mistakes by Xavi after the start of the second half.
Mexico took advantage of his mistakes and tried to organize several counterattacks, but their counterattacks were strangled in the cradle by Busquets before they even started.
Professor Bu plays football with his brain. He is very clear about Xavi's situation, so he consciously approaches him to provide him with support and protection.
This choice played a big role in these defenses!
On the sidelines, the Mexican coach saw that his team's counterattack was once again resolved, and he pulled his hair in frustration.
Damn Busquets, why does he always show up so timely?
If this guy hadn't been in the way, Mexico might have succeeded in one of these counterattacks! Right now, their morale is still low, and they urgently need a goal to boost their morale.
As long as they can score one goal, the morale of the players will be completely different. At that time, the Mexican players may be able to make a concerted effort and score two goals in a short period of time to equalize the score!
It’s a pity that his opponent was not a wooden stake and could only take the beating without fighting back.
Bosque keenly perceived the opponent's intention, and it seemed that the opponent was planning to force Xavi at this point.
Xavi is getting older and his competitive state has declined significantly. Bosque has known this for a long time.
He already had a plan for this, which was to replace Xavi when his physical condition declined in the second half.
However, after taking a look at the bench, Bosque was a little troubled.
Who should I replace?
There are too many backup candidates! Forget it, let's play it safe and replace it with a more solid defensive player! Thinking of this, Bosque called Koke's name and asked him to get up and warm up.
Koke is much younger than Xabi Alonso, which gives him more physical strength to deal with Mexico's midfield stranglehold.
Moreover, under Simeone's training, Koke not only has excellent offensive ability, but his defensive ability has also greatly improved.
Young, able to run, and with a positive defensive attitude, these are what the current Spanish team needs.
The reason why Bosque gave up Cazorla and brought Koke on was to use the World Cup as a major competition stage to train these young players and lay the foundation for the next generation of matadors!
(End of this chapter)