Chapter 152: The Victory Led by Lin Quan, Spain Crushes Uruguay 5-1!
Seeing Uruguay receive three goals from Spain in less than half an hour made the expressions of the Brazilian players watching from the edge of the field serious. Being both South American teams, Brazil has competed a lot against Uruguay. Therefore, they know Uruguay's strength well. Currently, Uruguay is among the top three in South America, only behind Brazil and Argentina. And when facing these two teams, Uruguay does not lack strength.
Two years ago, in the Copa America, Uruguay eliminated Argentina and reached the final, winning it. But now, this South American champion team is being outplayed by Spain on the field. This greatly surprised the Brazilian players:
How strong is Spain really?
Gulp!
It is unknown who, nervously, swallowed saliva, seeming to feel the pressure Spain was putting on them, even without being on the field.
With three goals against, the Uruguayan players are on the verge of collapse. Their mood becomes impatient, even their actions on the field are more intense than before. The Japanese main referee, Yuichi Nishimura, seems to feel sympathy for Uruguay being three goals down, showing some favoritism in some penalty decisions.
In the 35th minute, Alba was brought down by Rodríguez, but the main referee did not signal a foul. Uruguay continued attacking, and an angry Ramos brought down Ramírez. This time, the Japanese referee did not ignore the foul and showed a yellow card to the Real Madrid defender. An angry Ramos waved his fists, apparently wanting to argue with the referee, but his teammates held him back to avoid being sent off.
However, Busquets, Xavi, and others still "amicably" argued with the main referee. The main referee stood by his decision, considering the yellow card unquestionable, but avoided talking about the previous fouls by the Uruguayan team.
Uruguay got a free kick in a good position, and while Spain and the referee were arguing, it was Suárez who took it. Suárez has good technique, lofting the ball into the area and precisely finding another Uruguayan forward, Cavani. Cavani tried to head the ball from about 7 meters from the goal, but it was intercepted by a well-focused Casillas.
Just as the first half was about to end, it started raining. The players from both teams had to struggle under the rain, but fortunately, it didn't rain too heavily, and there were no puddles on the field, so its impact wasn't that significant.
During the break, the rain gradually increased. When the second half started, there were already some puddles on the field. The puddles affected Spain's ground attack play. Uruguay, on the other hand, took the opportunity to counterattack and change the score. Unlike Spain's technical playing style, they don't rely on ground play; if it doesn't work, they opt to send long passes and crosses into the area.
In the 64th minute, a long pass from Uruguay's defense found Suárez. Facing Piqué, who was marking him, Suárez tricked him with a dribble. When he was about to enter the area, Piqué grabbed him from behind and brought him down outside the area. The referee showed Piqué a yellow card and gave Uruguay a free kick in a very good position.
Suárez had already taken a free kick from a similar position in the first half, opting to cross to find a teammate. This time, after observing Casillas' position, he decided to shoot directly. The shot was of great quality, with the ball tracing a beautiful curve in the air, heading straight for the top right corner of the goal. Casillas, being short in stature, couldn't reach the ball, only watching it enter the net.
Uruguay took advantage of the free kick, with Suárez reducing the gap to one goal. The score was now 3-1. After the goal, Suárez showed his satisfaction to Piqué, flashing his white teeth, as if responding to the pre-match provocations. In this match, he resisted the urge to bite someone and instead, using his excellent skill, taught his opponent a lesson, which made Suárez feel very satisfied.
"Keep it up!"
"Uruguay still has hope!"
"Yes, Spain plays the passing game, the rain affects them more than Uruguay."
The Brazilian players, who initially thought Uruguay was already finished, were very encouraged by this goal. They believed they had found a weakness in Spain, which excited them a lot.
"It's a pity we can't control the weather. If we could, it would be great if it rained when we played against Spain."
The Brazilian players thought Uruguay could turn the game around by taking advantage of the rain, and the Uruguayans thought the same. Now, the rain was falling harder, and there were more puddles on the field. Spain's passing errors began to increase, and even with their great technical skill, they couldn't showcase it in this situation.
So the more complex the tactic, the less effective it became. On the contrary, their tactic of long passes and crosses from the wings proved simpler and more effective. Therefore, from the moment they scored the goal, Uruguay's attack became fiercer, even managing to frequently threaten Spain's goal.
Seeing that the situation was becoming increasingly complicated and the team was making mistakes due to the puddles on the field, they could even concede a goal from the other team. Lin Quan knew he had to intervene. He retreated back to the defensive area to join the defense.
With his leadership, other Spanish players also fell back, reducing Uruguay's attacking space. When the number of defenders inside and outside Spain's area increased, Uruguay's offensive trio also had difficulties. Cavani and Suárez were not like Drogba, they didn't have as much physical strength, and their ability to fight in the area wasn't as strong. Especially when Spain's tall defensive midfielder, Martínez, often retreated to defend in the area, it was difficult for them to win in one-on-one duels.
After Cavani was neutralized, Suárez's threat increased. Compared to Cavani, Suárez was a bit slower in speed and explosiveness. But he had excellent awareness and instinct, and his technical and physical abilities were very good. This guy always found clever ways to send the ball to the goal reasonably or not.
Suárez in 2013 was not yet the strongest Suárez. It was when he moved to Barcelona and formed the MSN trio with Messi and Neymar that people could really see his terrifying performance. In the 69th minute of the match, Suárez got past Jordi Alba, and his shot went slightly wide of the post.
In the 73rd minute, he received a pass from a teammate at the top of the penalty area. When everyone thought he would control the ball with his chest and then look for a shooting opportunity, Suárez decided to slightly crouch and head the ball directly instead.
This was an unconventional choice. When he headed the ball, he was about 20 meters from the goal, making it very unusual to head the ball from that distance. But precisely because of this, this header was so sudden that goalkeepers couldn't react in time. Casillas' reaction was already quick, almost at the moment Suárez headed the ball, he tried to save it. But even so, he was too slow and didn't even touch the ball.
Suárez and the Uruguayan fans were almost ready to celebrate, but suddenly, the ball hit the crossbar and bounced out. There was a sigh of disappointment in the stadium, and the Uruguayan fans felt extremely disappointed.
The Spaniards were lucky!
Lin Quan realized the team was in danger and that Suárez was in good form. If they let him continue like this without restrictions, he could score at any moment. Moreover, Diego Forlán on the bench was already warming up to enter the field. Once Forlán was also on the field, forming an offensive trio with the Uruguayans would make Spain's defense even more difficult.
Therefore, he began to demand the ball more and to keep it under his control. His teammates trusted him. After Casillas cleared the ball, Alba immediately passed it to Lin Quan. Lin Quan advanced from his own half with the ball, and Suárez appeared in front of him. With Suárez growing more confident, his self-esteem was at its peak at this moment. He seemed to want to steal the ball from Lin Quan and then shoot at goal.
Lin Quan noticed that Suárez was eager to intercept him, probably hoping he would make a mistake and offer an opportunity. Suárez, who was quite naive, didn't know his opponent's intentions. He thought Lin Quan had made an error and decided to attack decisively to take the ball away from him. However, after he kicked the ball, Suárez realized something was wrong:
"Huh? Where's the ball?"
Lin Quan turned the ball and got past Suárez, quickly running towards Uruguay's field. Before Lin Quan initiated the attack, he had already signaled to his teammates. Spain's forwards and midfielders were accelerating towards Uruguay's field. The Uruguayan players saw Spain's determination and felt the danger.
"Stop him!"
Two players immediately ran towards Lin Quan, but before they could double-team him, Lin Quan had already passed the ball to a teammate. The player marking Fábregas went after Lin Quan, leaving Fábregas free, with no one close to defend him. Lin Quan's pass was perfect, and Fábregas controlled the ball effortlessly.
What a good pass!
Fábregas comfortably received Lin Quan's pass, admiring it in his mind. Being able to make such a precise pass amid the rain and waterlogged field shows his passing skill. Thanks to Lin Quan's excellent pass, Fábregas could easily control the ball and had time to observe the positions of his teammates and the opposing defenders.
Pedro seemed to be in an offside position, and if he passed the ball to him, he might fall into the opposing team's offside trap. Iniesta was in a slightly worse position, but he had no defenders within two meters, so he could try to pass the ball to him. The time to act was fleeting, and as he thought about it, Fábregas was already striking the ball firmly.
The ball crossed Uruguay's midfield and reached the edge of the opponent's area, just where Iniesta was running. Iniesta advanced with the ball, made a beautiful dribble, leaving the opposing defender behind, and found himself alone against Uruguay's goalkeeper. Facing the Uruguayan goalkeeper, Iniesta chose to shoot to the far corner. The shot was very precise, and Juan extended his hands as much as he could to try to block it, but still couldn't touch the ball.
With a dull sound, the ball hit the post, but it struck the inner post and bounced into the net. The score on the field became 4-1. Uruguay, which had just recovered a goal, thought they could reduce the gap, but did not expect the other team to surprise them again. After this goal, Uruguay really had no chance.
When Spain finished celebrating, the time on the field had already reached the 77th minute. They didn't have much time left! After the goal, Spain decided to make changes. Mata replaced Pedro, and Cazorla replaced Xavi. Xavi, at his age, had played more than seventy minutes, which was a bit more than usual. For a veteran like him, he needed more time to rest after a tough match against Uruguay. Fortunately, after this tough match against Uruguay, the next two matches would be easier. Xavi would have enough time to recover!
After the changes, Del Bosque sat back on the bench, humming a tune and leaning back in his chair, watching the game with admiration. With a three-goal lead and Lin Quan still on the field, and only about fifteen minutes left, could this victory slip away? The rain continued to fall harder, and there was more water accumulated on the field. This greatly limited Spain's ground penetration play. So in the last ten minutes of the match, Lin Quan consciously started sending more crosses into the area, allowing his teammates to try to head inside the area.
Ramos, who almost scored a hat-trick of headers in a previous match with the national team, was eager to try. Every time there was a set piece, he ran towards the opponent's area, actively looking for the opportunity to head the ball into the goal. Seeing how active Ramos was, Lin Quan didn't want him to leave empty-handed. In the 83rd minute, Spain had a corner kick. Piqué and Martínez acted as decoys for Ramos, who was stationed at the penalty spot, intentionally running forward. The two were the tallest players in Spain, and the Uruguayan defenders were closely marking them. Seeing the two move forward, the Uruguayan defenders thought the ball would be sent to the near post, so they also moved in that direction. This opened up a lot of space in the area.
Now is the time!
Lin Quan immediately sent the ball to the far post, Ramos broke free from the defender's mark, jumped, and headed the ball towards Uruguay's goal.
5-1!
After the goal, Ramos was excited and instinctively wanted to take off his shirt but then remembered he already had a yellow card... So he decided to go ahead and run towards Lin Quan, signaling for a chest bump celebration. This goal had merit for Lin Quan too. Lin Quan didn't think much about it and launched himself strongly, and both bumped in the air. With a dull sound, Ramos ended up sitting on the ground. He looked at Lin Quan in astonishment:
"Wow, you have quite some strength, kid!"
"I wouldn't have guessed, your body hides a lot of strength!"
Even other Spanish teammates, like Piqué, who had played at Manchester United for a while, helped Ramos up and commented:
"Yes, with my physique, I could also play in the Premier League, so Lin Quan shouldn't have any problems!"
(End of chapter)
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