Chapter 164: Completely Killing the Game!
"Could this... Could this also be my fault, right?"
Pelé muttered to himself as he watched Neymar miss the penalty from the suite.
The feelings of Brazilian fans in the stadium were very complex.
Disappointment, frustration, sadness, anger; a variety of emotions passed through their minds.
If they hadn't seen the hope of equalizing the score, their feelings wouldn't be so complex.
But Neymar created hope for them with his own hands, and then kicked it away with one blow.
Brazilian fans found it hard to accept!
A penalty! It was a penalty!
The probability of a penalty being saved is even less than 20%, and you kicked it out!
In the hearts of Brazilian fans, it seemed like ten thousand mud horses were running wild.
But can we blame Neymar for missing this goal?
It doesn't seem like we can blame him because he created this opportunity himself.
We can only say that Neymar failed to seize the opportunity, failed to step forward and save the team in difficult times.
To become the leader of the Brazilian team, he still has a long way to go.
The failure in this penalty greatly affected Neymar's mentality.
During the following minutes, it seemed like he was sleepwalking, although he continued to work hard with his teammates.
But his sharpness and creativity seemed to have disappeared, playing quite ordinary, nothing remarkable.
Neymar is the most dangerous point within the Brazilian team, but by losing his sharpness, it's a mortal blow to the Brazilian attack.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Spain's attack remained very threatening.
In the 64th minute of the match, Spain launched another fluid attack like mercury.
They continued passing and moving in the forward field, once again tearing apart the Brazilian defense.
Iniesta finally sent a deadly pass, passing behind Thiago Silva, giving Lín Quán a chance in front of the goalkeeper.
But this time, the attention of Brazil's goalkeeper, César, was very focused. When Iniesta was about to pass, he felt the danger and rushed out, taking the ball from Lín Quán before he could reach it.
Brazilian fans collectively sighed with relief in the stadium.
When Spain began cutting and combining quickly in the second half, their hearts had tightened.
Finally, when they saw the Spanish players repeatedly passing the ball and taking it to their own area, the hearts of Brazilian fans almost jumped out of their throats.
Finally, when their goalkeeper caught the ball, they let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness César intervened, otherwise Brazil would have been two goals down at this point.
In the 65th minute, Spain began to change tactics.
Xavi's position advanced from midfield to the offensive midfield along with the little genius Iniesta, directing and coordinating the team's attack.
Meanwhile, Lín Quán moved to the right side of the field, constantly attacking Brazil's left flank.
Brazil's left-back is Marcelo, and Marcelo has a characteristic: he is strong in attack but weak in defense.
There's a joke in the football world that says one Marcelo can beat three Marcelos.
This means that Marcelo, when attacking, can't even stop himself.
Lín Quán's attacking ability is even greater than Marcelo's, and besides being able to pass and dribble, he also has a great ability to score goals.
Faced with Lín Quán's attack from the right side, Marcelo couldn't resist, being overtaken several times by the opponent.
On the sidelines, Brazil's head coach, Scolari, seeing this tactical change from Spain, felt uneasy.
Marcelo and Neymar are on the same side, and Brazil's threatening attack on the left side is due to the great offensive ability of these two.
But once Lín Quán appears on this side and completely suppresses Marcelo, Marcelo no longer dares to move up to support the attack.
At this point, Neymar upfront receives no support, his threat decreases significantly, and he hardly has any chances to stand out upfront.
What a clever move!
Bosque, I really underestimated you!
Because Lín Quán has been a free player in previous matches, he hasn't been fixed on the right side.
So, after Scolari considered him as Spain's main forward, although he's not the traditional forward, at least he's a number nine and a half player.
But once this impression became fixed, it made Scolari almost forget that Lín Quán played as a right winger at Werder Bremen.
Not only did Scolari not expect this adjustment from Bosque, in the commentary at the stadium, commentators from major TV networks were also surprised by this change from Spain.
"Bosque has really set Spain's attacking core on the right side, this adjustment is really bold!"
Martín Taylor was impressed with Spain's tactics, while also admiring Bosque's audacity.
Lín Quán has always been the core of Spain's attack, playing in the position of a false nine, assuming part of the responsibilities of a forward and midfielder.
But if you fix him on the wing, then he becomes a sharp knife, putting aside organizing work and focusing entirely on using the knife to cut through the enemy's defensive lines. It is predictable that after this adjustment by Spain, their attack will be very active in the next period.
In the Chelsea office, Mourinho frowned upon seeing this adjustment by Bosque. In his opinion, using Lín Quán in this way was a wasted opportunity. If a player like Lín Quán were in his hands, he would have ten thousand ways to maximize his potential. On the other hand, Guardiola, upon seeing Bosque's lineup, laughed. Isn't this style of play the same as when he coached Barcelona? However, Spain does not have a center forward like Eto'o.
By playing this way, all the responsibility of the attack falls on Lín Quán. If Bosque knew what people were thinking, he would probably laugh. Everyone thinks I'm planning a big attack, but in reality this is an active defense. No matter if Lín Quán scores or not, the important thing is to suppress Brazil's left side.
Putting Lín Quán on the right side is like replacing him with Marcelo and Neymar, no matter how you look at it, it's a good deal. Seeing Lín Quán heading to the right side, Brazil's two central defenders finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At least they don't have to face this tough guy! Their days have become easier, but the days of Marcelo on the left flank are difficult. From the 65th minute, Spain launched continuous attacks from the right side, and although Marcelo tried hard to keep up with Lín Quán, the opponent's feints were too unreasonable, and his one-on-one attempts ended in failure most of the time.
Fortunately, his teammates could defend him in time and resolve the situation. Without his advance, Neymar upfront was even more isolated and often marked by Spanish players, his already low state now freezing.
So, as time passed, the fans in the stadium noticed something strange. Why has Spain been attacking all this time? Where is Brazil's counterattack? In fact, Brazil has also organized counterattacks.
But their counterattacks mainly focus on the right side, where Hulk plays. Although Hulk is physically strong, his technical ability is much lower than Neymar's. It's fine to use him as a finisher, but he's not as good at assisting his teammates.
So, Brazil's attacks are not threatening, making it seem like they're not counterattacking but being beaten all the time. In the 77th minute, Lín Quán dribbled the ball down the right flank, and Marcelo, though reluctant, had to defend him. Fortunately, his good friend Gustavo came to help, and they both surrounded him. "Are you surrounding us, kid? You can't defeat me and my brother.
" Lín Quán glanced at Gustavo and then made a quick turn to the left, leaving behind Marcelo. Marcelo tried to block him with all his might, but Lín Quán's real intention was not to get past him from the sideline.
With a feint, he headed directly towards Gustavo. Gustavo had seen Lín Quán's skill when he was at Bayern. Seeing Lín Quán coming towards him with the ball, he prepared to intercept it. Lín Quán dribbled the ball left and right twice as he moved, evading his interception attempts and also dodging Marcelo's extended foot.
Lín Quán broke free from the double marking. Thiago Silva cursed under his breath and had to go cover him. If he didn't, Lín Quán might have shot directly at the goal. Faced with the world's best defender, Thiago Silva, Lín Quán didn't attempt a direct confrontation. He chose to pass the ball to a teammate. Xavi received the ball in front of the penalty area, and David Luiz rushed towards him fiercely.
Xavi didn't have an angle to shoot, so he passed the ball directly to where David Luiz had left space after coming out. Iniesta appeared here, received the ball, controlled it, and immediately shot. César made another world-class save, flying to deflect the ball. But the ball didn't go far, and it fell to the feet of a Spanish player.
Pedro received the ball and, facing his club teammate Alves, attempted a feint but failed, and immediately chose to pass the ball to another teammate.
At this moment, there are many people in the penalty area, Pedro chose not to pass the ball into the penalty area, but to return it to the edge of the large area.
Martínez, who had just arrived at this position, observed the situation inside the penalty area. Almost all the Spanish players in the penalty area are short, while the defenders of the other team are tall and strong. If he kicks the ball into the area, it will probably be in vain.
As for ground penetration, there are now too many people in the penalty area, so it simply cannot be passed.
So, Martínez decided to do it himself!
With a loud sound, he took a strong shot with his leg, deforming the ball, which made a buzzing sound as it flew towards Brazil's goal.
The ball was so fast that César couldn't see where it was coming from, he could only instinctively dive in one direction to try to stop it.
He was unlucky, although he dove in the right direction, the ball passed under his arm and hit the net.
In the 78th minute of the match, the Spanish midfielder Martínez scored another goal, widening the lead to 3-1.
With Spain leading by two goals, you can already see how the championship is calling out to them!
Martínez's goal basically sealed the fate of the Brazilian team.
Hoping for them to score two more goals in less than 20 minutes? Even the Brazilian fans themselves have difficulty believing it!
If they really had such powerful offensive power, they wouldn't have only scored one goal so far.
And that goal was the result of an early game attack. After Spain established their formation and got into the rhythm of the game, they couldn't break through the opponent's defense.
Thinking about this, countless Brazilian fans were filled with tears.
It's hard to accept their team's defeat at home and lose the championship, but football is cruel like that.
There's only one champion's cup, but there are plenty of teams fighting for it.
The winners are destined to be few, the losers are the majority.
Seeing his team widen their lead on the scoreboard, Bosque breathed a sigh of relief.
He began to make changes to the team.
Cazorla came on, replacing the veteran Xavi.
The Spanish fans present in the stadium stood up and warmly applauded Xavi, thanking him for his contribution to the team.
Xavi ran off while waving to the fans in the stadium, thanking them for their support.
After Cazorla came on, Spain continued their attack, focusing on the left side of the Brazilian team.
The Brazilian team's left flank was completely blocked, with no chance of initiating an attack from that side.
And the attacks from the right side, where Hulk was, didn't pose a threat.
Scolari had to make adjustments to the team, taking out Hulk and putting in Lucas.
Lucas can play as a winger or as an attacking midfielder. Although he's not tall, standing at only 1.72 meters, he has incredible speed, he's the typical wing sprinter.
Clearly, Scolari wanted to leverage his speed and organizational skills to change the game.
This change had some effect. After Lucas came on, he created several threats and even forced Piqué to commit a foul and receive a yellow card.
But the Brazilian team still couldn't turn their attacks into goals, and the time of the match was running out.
In the final phase of the match, Lín Quán, after receiving the ball, no longer continued to attack aggressively.
After Xavi went off, Cazorla played for a while as an attacking midfielder, but then returned to his defensive midfielder position.
Lín Quán returned to his false nine position, taking on the responsibility of organizing the game in the opponent's field.
At this moment, for Spain, who led on the scoreboard, openly attacking against an opposing team was unfavorable. They needed to control the pace of the game and slowly consume the time.
Therefore, after receiving the ball, Lín Quán consciously slowed down the pace of the game, passing the ball to his teammates and patiently looking for opportunities.
Brazilian fans saw their team improve in attack after Lucas entered the field and eagerly hoped that the team would change the scoreboard or even create a miracle.
But what they saw was the Spanish veterans playing with the ball on the field.
This infuriated them, and boos and curses flew towards the Spanish players.
But the Spanish players were unfazed.
You boo, I keep playing.
Each in their position, everything's fine, everything's fine.
The head coach of the Brazilian team, Scolari, glared angrily at Bosque, as if questioning: how can they be so shameless?
Bosque shrugged:
Shameless? Please, we're not passing in our own area, we're just passing in the center of the field. They can come pressure us if they want, no one's stopping them.
Pressure is necessary! The time of the match is coming to an end, and if we don't press and allow them to waste time like this, then Brazil will have already lost.
Anyway, they're already two goals down, so we have nothing to lose.
So, Scolari waved his hand and ordered the players to all go forward, go for them!
Lín Quán was calmly passing the ball with his teammates when he saw the opponents, with red eyes and furious momentum, rushing towards him. He immediately signaled to speed up the passing pace.
Spain's passing speed suddenly increased.
Lín Quán coordinated from the center, making the most of the width of the field, passing the ball to the defensive midfielder sometimes, and other times to the winger.
Anyway, he had a level two physical resistance, so at this moment he still had plenty of energy, he could run a little more without any problems.
But the players of the Brazilian team couldn't do the same!
They chased after the ball everywhere, while the opposing team passed it from one side of the field to the other, they couldn't even steal the ball!
So, furiously, they brought down Lin Quan, who was coordinating from the center.
Whistle!
The main referee immediately blew the whistle, showed Oscar a yellow card for the foul, and awarded Spain a free kick.
Lin Quan didn't stay on the ground wasting time, although many Spanish fans hoped he would.
He sat on the grass, rubbed his ankle, thinking that Oscar had really kicked him hard.
With the damage reduction effect of his injury talent, he still felt a stabbing pain.
If he didn't have that injury talent, he could have been seriously injured by this foul.
"Should we call for a stretcher?"
Iniesta and Silva approached concerned.
"Not necessary."
Lin Quan shook his head, got up with the help of his teammates, took a few steps, and felt pain in the ankle where he had been hit.
But the pain was subsiding, with a little ice after returning, he should be fine.
Seeing Lin Quan getting up again, the Spanish fans sighed in relief.
They were already about to win, and if their star player got injured, the price of this victory would be too high.
Bosque on the bench was even more nervous than the Spanish fans, he called Torres and had him prepare to enter.
But Lin Quan on the field gestured to him, indicating to wait for this free kick before making the change.
This free kick was near the center circle, very far from the goal, basically impossible to attack directly.
But Spain insisted on hanging it in the penalty area, so the Brazilian players had to run back to form a wall.
Although it was unlikely that the opponent would score directly from the free kick, if they placed the ball in the penalty area for a header, the threat would be significant.
The players of Spain fought with those of Brazil in the penalty area, and the referee ran over there to warn them to be careful with their actions.
Whistle!
Boos were heard in the stadium. The match had already reached the 86th minute, and this free kick from Spain was going to consume at least 2 minutes!
It was clearly a time-wasting tactic!
So despicable, so brazen!
Lin Quan ignored the boos from the fans and gestured to his teammates, indicating that he would go to the penalty spot.
The ball was kicked, and the players of Spain ran towards the penalty spot.
The players of Brazil, seeing them run towards the penalty spot, also ran after them.
But the ball dropped into the six-yard box instead of the penalty spot.
Piqué caught the ball, but instead of shooting directly, he passed it to an unmarked teammate.
Cazorla received the ball at the edge of the penalty area, feigned a shot, and the players of Brazil rushed towards him to block his shot.
But Cazorla didn't shoot, instead, unexpectedly passed the ball into the gap on the left side of the Brazilian team.
There, a red figure came running quickly, received the ball, and made his way into the penalty area. Before the goalkeeper could close the angle, he pushed the ball into the net.
4-1!
Lin Quan scored his third personal goal in the match.
And with his hat-trick, he also completely sealed the match.
Counting the added time for injuries, there were less than 6 minutes left in the match.
The Brazilian team had no chance of a comeback!
(End of chapter)
Thanks for all the support friends. Go to my Patreon to read the chapters in