Ultimate Demon Sword

Chapter 30 Kuka's Tactics

On February 2015, 2, the Super Cup, which symbolizes the "king of kings" in domestic football, kicked off in Hangzhou Huanglong Sports Center, which also means that the new season of domestic competitions officially kicked off.

This game is between last season's league champion Guangzhou Evergrande and the FA Cup champion Shandong Luneng.For this powerful dialogue, major domestic media have paid close attention to it.

Guangzhou Evergrande has just achieved four consecutive championships in the Chinese Super League last season, and has the top honor of the AFC Champions League. It is already the undisputed top giant in China.Shandong Luneng is also a veteran team in domestic football. It has won four league championships in team history, which should not be underestimated.

The head coaches of both sides are one of the focuses of this game.Cannavaro, as a former World Cup champion defender, is widely expected by the outside world to see what kind of report card he will hand over in his first coaching game.On the other hand, the head coach of Shandong Luneng, the Brazilian Kuka led Atletico Mineiro to beat Evergrande in the 2013 Club World Cup third and fourth place competition.Whether leading Shandong Luneng this time can replicate such a performance has also aroused everyone's expectations.

Of course, there is another unavoidable focus in this game, and that is Wen Zhihao's debut on behalf of Evergrande.Various media have given their predictions about how Wen Zhihao will recover after returning from a serious injury.

In the pre-match press conference, Kuka said that defeating Evergrande is the only goal, and his team will always pursue victory.These remarks reached Wen Zhihao's ears, and Wen Zhihao unexpectedly only said: "See you on the field!" without expressing too many opinions.

Before the focus of the match, the "fighting skills" of the coaches of the two sides are often the biggest uncertain factor in the game.

To everyone's surprise, the highly anticipated Brazilian MVP Goulart did not appear in the starting lineup.The media generally believed that this was Cannavaro's effort to save for the AFC Champions League group match three days later.After all, the AFC front is crucial to Evergrande, which aims to regain the top of Asia.

And because the Europa League Golden Boot Alan was injured during training, he was reimbursed in advance before he played in the season, which added difficulty to Cannavaro's formation.

Finally, in the starting list announced by Evergrande, the media and fans were pleasantly surprised to find that Wen Zhihao's name was on the list.

In the Luneng locker room, Kuka explained the offensive and defensive tactics to the players on the tactical board. On the defensive end, the point he emphasized the most was: limit Wen Zhihao!
Kuka said to the team members: "We must not give too much space to the opponent's No. 15 player. Dai, your task in this game is not to let the opponent's No. 15 player rush up, and you can stop the opponent's breakthrough with a fierce shovel! OK?"

Dai Lin's ferocity on the defensive end has long been known in the Chinese Super League, and was even listed as one of the five villains by the media.Obviously, Kuka wanted to use Dai Lin's fierceness to suppress Wen Zhihao in momentum.

In this game, Wen Zhihao appeared in the position of the right midfielder in the 4-2-3-1 formation, and was in charge of Evergrande's right assault.

Dai Lin, who was in charge of marking Wen Zhihao, was a central defender. He occasionally played as a midfielder, so he was at a disadvantage against Wen Zhihao at the left back position.But Dai Lin kept in mind the head coach's arrangement, as soon as Wen Zhihao got the ball, he didn't hesitate to shovel it immediately, even if he even swiped with the ball.

I have to say this trick really works.Since Wen Zhihao had just recovered from a broken leg, he felt somewhat psychologically shadowed. When he saw the opponent's shovel, he instinctively chose to dodge it, instead of using his skills to outwit his opponent as he did before the injury.For a while, Evergrande's right-sided offense stalled.

The referee Hei Xiaohu's penalty scale was relatively loose, and Wen Zhihao did not respond to several large-scale violations in a row.This made the Evergrande players feel suffocated and played very uselessly.

No. 40 minutes, Evergrande hit the wall in the frontcourt. Wen Zhihao received a through pass from teammate Huang Bowen and was about to enter the penalty area. Dai Lin, who was behind him, saw that the situation was not good and even pulled and shoveled Wen Zhihao to the line of the penalty area.

Wen Zhihao, who couldn't stand it for a long time, walked towards Dai Lin, pushed him angrily, and cursed: "Can you fucking know how to play football! You idiot who can only put shovels, get out as soon as possible! Come back to your mother's womb to practice in 100 years!"

Of course, the Luneng players couldn't tolerate their brothers being bullied, and they gathered around Wen Zhihao to teach Wen Zhihao how to behave.Evergrande players quit.Wen Zhihao is the youngest player on the field, the younger brother is in trouble, can the big brother bear it?

On Evergrande's side, captain Zheng Zhi, Zhang Linpeng and other hot-tempered players rushed over to help Wen Zhihao.As players and staff from both sides rushed to the scene of the incident, the situation was almost out of control, and it was about to turn into a gang fight.On-site commentator He Wei said bluntly: "We hope that both sides remain calm. Such a high-profile game should not be robbed by factors other than football. I hope the players will turn their attention back to the field as soon as possible."

In the end, the referee team and the calm players from both sides worked together to control the conflict.Wen Zhihao and Dai Lin who were directly involved received a yellow card each, and the other players received verbal warnings from Hei Xiaohu.
At the end of the 45th minute of the first half, the referee Hei Xiaohu didn't give a second of stoppage time, and blew the halftime whistle on time.In view of the situation in the first half, players on both sides urgently need to return to the locker room to calm down.

In the midfield locker room, Cannavaro knew he had to make changes.Under the opponent's aggressive defense in the first half, the team's offense was almost completely cut into pieces.Especially Wen Zhihao, whom he had placed high hopes on, made almost no contribution.But Cannavaro also knows that Wen Zhihao's downturn is more of a psychological obstacle after breaking his leg.

Wen Zhihao was also very upset about his performance in the first half. Not only was there no bright spot, but it actually dragged down the team.The high desire for victory made Wen Zhihao bow his head in sadness.

Cannavaro noticed that Wen Zhihao was depressed, walked over and patted Wen Zhihao on the shoulder, showed a warm smile, and encouraged: "Wen, don't be sad, there is still half time, let's work hard!"

Wen Zhihao just nodded slightly, still in a bad mood.

Cannavaro paused for a few seconds, raised Wen Zhihao's head, looked straight into his eyes and said, "Wen! Do you remember what I said to you on the podium last year? In my eyes, you may become a great player! I know you have just experienced a major injury, but what's the matter? Messi has also experienced it, but he is still the best player on the planet! Football is a man's sport, show your courage! Our goal is to win five championships! This is your determination to pursue the championship? There is still half time, I want to see the best Wen!"

Cannavaro, who has always been polite and gentlemanly, got angry for the first time and roared loudly.Wen Zhihao saw endless expectations in his eyes.At this moment, Wen Zhihao felt his father standing in front of him in a trance, with the disappointment of hating iron but deep expectation.

Wen Zhihao slowly recovered from his disappointment.Is this me who is eager to win the championship?Now that it's gone, what else can I get?
No!I can't lose!In the second half, I will let everyone see the real me!

PS: The second update!
(End of this chapter)