thefictionvixens Chapter 14: Defense or Offense?
Chapter 14: Defense or Offense?
The Chinese team's four-day preparation was like a long period of hibernation, with little communication with the outside world.
In stark contrast, discussions among domestic fans about the match were like a tidal wave.
These discussions were mostly characterized by tolerance and expectation.
"It would be best if we could qualify, but even if we lose to Türkiye, we can't blame the Chinese national team players."
This is the opinion of many people.
After all, everyone has witnessed the strength of the Turks.
First of all, this team is really strong; many of its players come from teams in the top five European leagues.
Players from Serie A include Hakan Suker of Parma, Emre and Okan of Inter Milan, and Davala of AC Milan.
In addition, there are Van Sarr, Alpay, and Izet from the Premier League, Bastürk from the Bundesliga, and Nihat from La Liga...
This includes renowned players who play for top clubs in Turkey, such as goalkeeper Rustu, forwards Ilhan and Hassan Sas, and so on.
Secondly, in the first round of Group C against Brazil, although Türkiye ultimately lost, they were not easily defeated.
They even scored the first goal against Brazil, and after Ronaldo equalized, the game went on until the very last moment when Rivaldo scored a penalty, resulting in a narrow defeat.
It can be said that in this match, the Turkish team and the Brazilian team fought back and forth, which is quite different from the Chinese team being completely passive and on the defensive.
Comparing the two, although Chinese fans still secretly hope that the Chinese team can pull off another upset, they have calmed down.
Forcing a draw against Brazil was already a miracle; if they could also draw against Türkiye, they would have exceeded expectations!
Domestic sports media have been flooded with previews of the China-Turkey match for days, all filled with caution.
The Chinese national football team, led by the "Crescent Moon" team, possesses formidable strength and needs to play cautiously and steadily.
"Acknowledge the gap in strength; a draw is a victory."
Sports commentators repeatedly analyzed the Turkish team's lineup, frankly stating that "Hakan Suker's aerial advantage and Bastürk's midfield link-up play pose a huge test for the Chinese national team's defense."
It's fair to say that the media didn't even dare to hope that the Chinese national football team could defeat their opponents; they only hoped to secure a draw and end their first World Cup journey with dignity.
On major online forums, the hottest topic is not "whether the Chinese national football team can qualify", but "whether Ye Xian can use his magical tactics again to hold on to a draw".
"We're already quite satisfied with a draw against Brazil. Türkiye is better at physical confrontations than Brazil, so a draw is good enough, as long as they don't get injured."
"I have faith in Ye Xian. His defensive tactics are amazing. As long as we stick to the 5-4-1 formation, we'll definitely be able to withstand Türkiye's fierce attack!"
"Our best players, Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai, are still recovering from injuries. It's only Ye Xian who can use this depleted squad to defend against Brazil and Turkey."
"Coach Ye is handsome and charismatic; even if we lose, we'll still support him!"
Foreign media, on the other hand, expressed more disdain.
Sports Weekly reprinted a report from Turkish media: "China's draw against Brazil was just an accident. Although their defensive tactics were well-organized, they were ultimately no match for Turkey's high-pressure attack."
The Guardian bluntly stated: "The Chinese team can only retreat to a defensive posture in order to have a chance to drag Türkiye down with them and be eliminated from the group stage."
To everyone, the script for this match was already written – China would field a 5-4-1 defensive formation, Turkey would launch a full-scale attack, and either Türkiye would win by a narrow margin or the two sides would draw.
This "draw is a victory" mentality also reached the national football team's training camp.
During the only open interview day, a reporter asked Yang Chen about his expectations for the match. Yang Chen simply smiled and said, "We will do our best, and no matter the result, we will have no regrets."
When pressed by reporters about whether the defensive tactics used against Brazil would be used again, Yang Chen did not give a direct answer. Instead, he looked at Ye Xian, who was instructing training not far away, with a mysterious certainty in his eyes.
Ye Xian remained indifferent to this throughout.
He did not give any interviews, but instead led his team in tactical drills every day, refining every detail repeatedly.
In any case, all the mysteries will be revealed on the day of the competition...
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Finally, the day of the competition arrived.
The Seoul World Cup Stadium, which can hold more than 60,000 people, was already enveloped in a sea of red.
Both the Chinese and Turkish teams are predominantly red, but the two sides are still clearly distinguishable.
Turkish fans waved their flags with the crescent and star and shouted "Türkiye will win!"
Chinese fans waved the five-star red flag, and the words "Go China Football Team!" on the banners were particularly eye-catching.
Inside the stadium, both teams are warming up.
The Turkish players looked relaxed, occasionally joking with each other, clearly full of confidence for the match.
Güneš stood by the coaching bench, talking quietly with assistant coach Kolak, his eyes full of certainty, as if he had already foreseen the outcome of the match.
The Chinese national football team players were focused, and they took every movement during warm-up very seriously.
Milutinovic and Ye Xian chatted occasionally on the sidelines, but they seemed quite calm.
The two seemed to be just chatting casually, rather than discussing the match...
Soon, the starting 11 for the Turkish team was displayed on the television screen.
It was indeed a 3-5-2 formation.
Goalkeeper: Rustu.
Defenders: Korkmaz, Akael, Ozalan.
Midfielders: Okan, Emre, Bastürk, Yunsar, Ilhan.
Forwards: Hassan Sas, Hakan Sukur.
"The Turkish team is going all out, they've brought on a lot of attacking players."
"We are very familiar with Inter Milan's Okan and Emre; we often see them during Serie A broadcasts."
"Bastürk is the attacking linchpin of Leverkusen; he just helped the team win three runner-up titles in the Bundesliga, the German Cup, and the Champions League..."
"The handsome Ilhan also impressed us in the first two games. He even did a rainbow flick over Carlos once, which was very amazing."
"Hassan Sas scored a goal against Brazil, while captain Hakan Sukur is the most famous player in the Turkish team and also the country's all-time top scorer, with outstanding aerial ability."
"Facing the formidable Turkish team, the defensive pressure on our Chinese team this time will definitely not be less than when we played against Brazil."
「好的，现在屏幕中出现了中国队的首发阵容，让我们看看今天的这套5-4-1会有什幺变……嗯？不是5-4-1？」
"My God, this is a set..."
"A 4-3-3 formation???"
Amid Huang Jianxiang's exclamation, all the Chinese fans finally saw each name on the television screen.
That's right, it is indeed a 4-3-3 attacking formation.
Goalkeeper: Jiang Jin.
Defenders: Wu Chengying, Li Weifeng, Du Wei, Xu Yunlong.
Midfielders: Li Tie, Zhao Junzhe, Shao Jiayi.
Forwards: Yang Chen, Su Maozhen, Qu Bo.
The fans watching on TV stared wide-eyed.
This is something no one expected!
在面对土耳其这种强队时，中国队竟然并没有使用之前已经验证成功过的5-4-1阵型，而是直接拿出4-3-3？
There are really three forwards here!
Is this preparation for a direct confrontation with Türkiye?
This is so unexpected!
The Turkish coaching staff also didn't expect this.
When Güneš received the starting lineup for the Chinese team, his brows furrowed deeply.
In the television broadcast, he was turning his head and whispering something to his assistant coach, Corak, with an expression of disbelief.
他们精心準备了针对5-4-1大巴阵的战术，可中国队，竟然用了4-3-3！
When Ye Xian turned to look at the next room, he seemed to be glancing in their direction, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
His young and handsome face seemed to exude a sense of mystery, yet also a hint of confidence.
Regardless, Junesh had absolutely no idea what Ye Xian was thinking.
"It looks like today's match won't be easy," Güneš thought to himself.