Chapter 82: The Battle of New and Old World Champions
After the opening, Spain didn't rush to attack but instead controlled possession, slowly probing the French defense.
The French team deployed three defensive midfielders today, with strong sweeping capabilities in the backfield.
From the initial movements and interceptions, it seemed that the midfield battle between the two sides would be intense.
Five minutes into the game, Spain firmly held the advantage in ball possession.
After probing the opponent's defensive line, Spain began to accelerate.
In the 7th minute, Lin Quan dribbled the ball on the right side of the penalty area.
But just as he passed the defending player and was about to enter the penalty area, he was tripped from behind.
Spain was awarded a free kick in the opponent's half.
The ball was very close to the penalty area line, and a direct shot would be blocked by the wall, so the position wasn't particularly good.
After discussing with his teammates, Lin Quan took a tactical free kick, passing the ball back to set up a shot for his teammate.
Initially positioned behind Lin Quan, Pique suddenly moved aside as the ball approached, giving the shooting opportunity to his teammate.
Spain's center-back Ramos unexpectedly appeared from behind and took a powerful shot towards the goal.
The French players were caught off guard by Pique's move and didn't expect the final shot to come from their own center-back.
Goalkeeper Lloris stood still and didn't react to the shot.
However, Ramos's shot went over the crossbar, relieving the French players.
Seeing the ball fly into the stands, Ramos couldn't help but smile.
Letting a defender take a long shot was a bit unreliable, after all, they were usually accustomed to clearing the ball with long kicks.
In the 11th minute, Lin Quan dropped back to receive the ball, and Iniesta overlapped on the wing, showcasing brilliant cooperation!
But just as they were about to enter the penalty area, the ball was cleared by the opponent's defenders and went out of bounds.
In these few minutes, Spain's attacking intensity was not small, but it was difficult for them to break through the French defense.
The opponent's defensive midfielders had a wide range of coverage, high defensive intensity, and impressive physical qualities, making it difficult for the Spanish players to gain an advantage in physical confrontations.
However, most of the French team's energy was focused on defense, with few players in the forward line. Several counterattacks were thwarted by Spanish players in their own half due to lack of support.
As time passed, it seemed that neither side could find a solution to the other.
Lin Quan noticed that the defense in the penalty area was very tight, and the midfield battle was intense, so he voluntarily withdrew and formed a diamond formation with Iniesta and others.
This approach had the benefit of bringing the forward and midfield teammates closer together, reducing the passing distance and the risk of interception.
Moreover, after he dropped back, his position actually became a midfielder, effectively adding one more player to the midfield.
As a result, the Spanish team gradually gained the upper hand in the midfield battle, and their ability to create threatening passes improved.
On the sidelines, Bosque saw Lin Quan's decision and nodded in satisfaction.
He had just noticed this problem and was about to remind the players on the field.
Unexpectedly, the opponent had already discovered this and made timely adjustments.
This kid has strong match reading abilities!
In the 18th minute, Iniesta's breakthrough on the left side of the penalty area was intercepted, and he passed the ball back to his teammate.
Xavi passed it to Lin Quan, who then moved laterally and took a shot from the right side of the penalty arc with his right foot.
The quality of this shot was extremely high, but because it was too angled, it hit the goalpost.
The over fifty thousand fans at the Calderon Stadium sighed in unison; a slight deviation would have resulted in a goal!
The French team was startled and quickly strengthened their defense against long shots.
Seeing the opponent strengthening the defense near the penalty arc, Lin Quan decisively ran to the sidelines and began to launch attacks from both sides of the penalty area.
In the 22nd minute, Lin Quan broke through on the right side and passed the ball to Pedro after attracting the attention of the defenders.
Pedro feinted a shot and then passed the ball directly to David Silva on the other side.
Silva received the ball on the left side of the penalty area and took a low shot with his right foot, but it was easily saved by goalkeeper Lloris.
It was a good opportunity and a good shot, but unfortunately, it didn't get past the goalkeeper's hands.
Three minutes later, Lin Quan once again dribbled the ball down the line and passed it to the front near the goal line.
It was a low cross, and Iniesta, David Silva, and Pedro all dove to shoot in unison. If any one of them touched the ball, it would have been a goal.
But all three of them were relatively short players, with Iniesta being the tallest at only 1.71 meters.
Their legs were just a bit too short, missing the ball by just a few centimeters, and the ball slid past the goal.
The Calderon Stadium let out another sigh; Iniesta and the others, who missed the chance, looked at each other and couldn't help but smile.
There was nothing they could do about their natural height; what could they do?
The French team breathed a sigh of relief; if a tall striker like Giroud had been there, it might have been a goal.
They couldn't let this kid continue to recklessly cross from the sides; who knew if they would be as lucky next time?
The pressure on the French team's defense was immense, with even forwards like Benzema dropping back to participate in defense.
However, this seemed to have little effect. Instead, their retreat reduced the pressure on the Spanish defense, allowing more troops to be deployed in the attack.
In the 25th minute, Lin Quan once again dribbled down the sideline, and the French full-back Debuchy immediately rushed up to stop his cross.
Debuchy used to play as a winger and was later converted into a full-back at Lille.
He was an offensive-minded player, and after recalling the opponent's characteristics in his mind, Lin Quan made a decision.
Instead of passing, he dribbled towards the penalty area.
Debuchy stood in front of him, sidestepping and retreating while blocking his path, trying to push him towards the goal line.
Lin Quan bent his right knee and made a forward breakthrough motion.
Based on his defensive experience, Debuchy judged that the opponent intended to break through from his right side, so he immediately moved his feet to defend on the right side.
But just as he adjusted his balance, he found out that it was a fake move.
As he moved, Lin Quan quickly touched the ball with his left foot, flicking it towards the goal line, then circled around from outside the goal line, completing an overtaking maneuver.
Debuchy was dumbfounded; could he play like this?
Benzema, the prince of the goal line, was also dumbfounded; was he copying me?
From the perspective of the French fans behind the goal, it looked like the ball had gone out of bounds.
So they booed Lin Quan and pressured the referee, loudly claiming that the ball was out of bounds and demanding the whistle.
The sideline referee stared at the ball, ready to blow the whistle if it went out of bounds.
But the ball only grazed the goal line and never went out.
After passing Debuchy, before the French players could catch up for a block, Lin Quan took the ball and accelerated, entering the penalty area.
After getting past Debuchy, Lin Quan entered the penalty area again, and the right side of the French penalty area became tense.
They hadn't forgotten the coach's instructions before the game:
The most threatening player in the Spanish team is that number 30!
In the last game, this kid scored three goals. If they relaxed their defense against him, he might score again.
Without much thought, both Koscielny and Sako instinctively rushed towards Lin Quan.
Seeing the two of them rushing fiercely, Lin Quan wasn't confident that he could get past them and then shoot in a short time.
He glanced at the goalkeeper's position and found that the goalkeeper was standing near the goal, blocking his shooting angle.
This position meant that more than half of the French goal was empty!
As long as he could pass the ball, it would be a chance to score an open goal.
So he flicked the ball, as if preparing to shoot.
Koscielny immediately raised his leg to interfere, and Sako also hurriedly stepped forward to block.
Lin Quan was waiting for this moment; he saw Koscielny lift his foot, and immediately passed the ball to the open space in the middle of the penalty area.
If his teammates were cooperative enough, someone should be making a run to shoot at this moment.
Sure enough, as he passed the ball, a red figure wearing the number 6 jersey rushed out from behind and caught up with the ball, diving to shoot, and scored a goal.
In the 26th minute, Lin Quan assisted Iniesta in scoring, and Spain led 1-0 against France for the time being.
Sorry for the bad update these days; I kept getting the update time wrong. I originally intended to update this chapter at 6 pm today, but somehow it got set to 6 pm tomorrow, and I didn't even notice it myself. If it weren't for your reminder, it would have caused a problem again...
(End of this chapter)