On the evening of July 22, the Asian Cup quarterfinals knockout round, China vs. South Korea.

Alihan once again lined up the 433 formation, and the goalkeeper was still Li Leilei, the defense line was Sun Xiang, Feng Xiaoting, Li Weifeng and Sun Jihai, the three midfielders were Shao Jiayi, Zheng Zhi and Zhou Haibin, and Yang Yang, Gao Lin and Chen Tao in the front court.

At the beginning of this game, both sides fought a fast-paced offensive and defensive battle.

The Chinese team formed a shot in just two minutes of the opening game, and Gao Lin headed the ball high.

Just three minutes later, the South Korean team also used the middle to break through to form a free kick, and Li Tianxiu shot directly and shot high.

Then both sides were pointed at Mai Mang, and neither of them gave in and no one wanted to bow their heads easily.

In the past few years, a group of Chinese players led by Yang Yang have been shining, first winning the Asian Cup, then winning the World Youth Championship, followed by very well in the World Cup, and won unanimous praise.

In contrast, as the mortal enemy of East Asia, the South Korean team is a little inferior, especially the years of shattering of Korean fear, which has made South Korea have high hopes for this game. They hope that the Korean internationals can show strong enough strength to suppress the Chinese team and use a victory to prove that the shattering of Korean fear has not been shattered.

In fact, the Korean team did play like this after the start of the game.

The Chinese team also showed their determination to win. The two wings led by Yang Yang and Chen Tao frequently put pressure on the South Korean team's defense line, forcing the Koreans to defend passively.

The strong offensive advantage in the frontcourt, especially Yang Yang's powerful attack power on the left, made the Korean team feel as if they were facing a big enemy.

With the suppression of the frontcourt, the midfield can naturally control the situation. Shao Jiayi, Zheng Zhi and Zhou Haibin firmly control the ball, and frequently plan attacks to create opportunities.

In the 29th minute, the midfielder passed one beautifully, tearing the South Korean team's defense and sending it to Yang Yang's feet.

Yang Yang suddenly cut inside on the left, got rid of it, sprinted, stopped the ball, passed by, shot...

The whole process was completed in one go, and the shooting was very beautiful, with extremely high quality, and it directly hit the blind spot of the Korean team's goal.

One to zero!

This is also Yang Yang's fifth goal in this Asian Cup, allowing him to lead the Asian Cup scorer list!

...

After breaking the deadlock on the court, the Chinese team began to play more patiently.

The South Korean team is behind, but they dare not be too impatient because they know very well that Yang Yang is ahead, and as long as they are a little reckless, they may concede goals anytime and anywhere.

There is still a chance to concede one goal, but if you concede another one, it would be really hopeless.

The two teams began to fall into a stalemate.

The more patient Chinese team once played a very beautiful pass and cooperation, starting from Feng Xiaoting's backcourt to Zheng Zhi, midfielder.

Zhou Haibin and Shao Jiayi, and then Gao Lin and Yang Yang in the front court, the whole process from behind to front was passed on in one stroke.

The fourteen-foot pass was passed, which was wonderfully tore open the Korean team's defense line and Yang Yang passed the back point of the penalty area.

But unfortunately, Chen Tao's speed of inserting in the back row was slightly slower by half a beat, and was decisively attacked by the Korean goalkeeper to save the ball.

Such a wonderful transmission and cooperation, but failed to create a goal, is indeed a pity.

However, whether it is the players on the court, the audience on the sidelines, or the fans and TV commentators in front of the TV, they all praised the cooperation of the national team this time, believing that this represents a major change in the Chinese national team.

...

"In the local Asian Cup in 2004, the Chinese team played very well. Alihan always hoped that the Chinese team could play out the 433 formation he thought, but the team's offense was weak at that time and could not play the effect he wanted."

"After three years, the young player Yang Yang, who was just starting out, has grown into a world's top star. Now he is not only the leading attacker in Asia, but also the top scorer in the world."

"With a top scorer like Yang Yang being supported in the front, the Chinese team's midfield and backcourt pressure will be much less."

"In addition, in the past two or three years, a group of international players studying abroad, led by Zheng Zhi, Shao Jiayi, Zhao Junzhe and Zhou Haibin, have made appearances in the European League. Especially Zhou Haibin, who has basically played as the main player in Benfica and has performed quite well."

"It can be said that the current Chinese team has very outstanding strength, even in Asia, it is very competitive. It should be noted that a group of players such as Zhou Haibin, Chen Tao, Feng Xiaoting are all in their early twenties, and Yang Yang is only twenty years old. These players will be the backbone of Chinese football in the next ten years."

The live TV camera gave Yang Yang a big close-up to running back on the court. He was obviously smiling and complaining that his teammate Chen Tao was hesitating while sprinting, which led to his failure to catch up in time. Otherwise, this might even be the most exciting goal in this Asian Cup, but he was wrong like this.

This scene also made the commentator of the state TV station particularly sigh.

"Three years ago, he was just a 17-year-old young player who just debuted, but he had already helped Ajax win the Champions League in Europe. He then helped the Chinese team to the end in the Asian Cup, won the local championship, and won the best scorer and best player."

"Now, he is already a top European superstar, a well-known superstar all over the world, a double golden boot for the Premier League and the Champions League. Some media even revealed that Chelsea is willing to pay him a super sky-high price of 60 million pounds, which will inevitably break the world's first sky-high transfer fee set by Zidane that year."

"Yang Yang is already the veritable banner of Chinese football and the hope of our Chinese football!"

...

While the state TV commentator was feeling, the game on the court was still continuing.

On the domestic Internet, portals, forums and QQ groups, and major fan gathering places, they are all discussing the performance of the national team in Southeast Asia, especially Yang Yang's role in this Chinese team.

Everyone believes that Yang Yang is the most indispensable member of the Chinese team.

And everyone also believes that as long as Yang Yang is there, the Chinese team will be invincible!

...

The first half ended with a score of 1-0. After the change of sides, the South Korean team took the lead in making substitution adjustments, took the initiative to launch a rush attack, and launched a wave of offensives at the beginning of the second half.

But the Chinese team played steadily and responded with defensive counterattacks, playing very patiently, especially the central defender combination of Feng Xiaoting and Li Weifeng, who performed very well.

When the game reached the 60th minute, Alihan made another substitution, and Zhao Junzhe replaced Shao Jiayi.

This is obviously a signal to further strengthen the defense, and it also shows the Chinese team's strategy of defending and counterattacking after scoring.

Then, in the 68th minute, the Chinese team played a quick counterattack.

Feng Xiaoting made a long pass from the backcourt, Yang Yang counterattacked quickly, dribbled the ball and drove straight in. He met the Korean goalkeeper who was attacking at the front of the penalty area. He decisively shot the back point, but the strength was slightly lighter. The Korean player who was returned to defense in time successfully cleared the ball in front of the goal line.

Although he failed to score, the morale of the South Korean team also dropped sharply.

On the one hand, they want to attack, strive for equalization, or even reverse, and reverse the embarrassing situation of China's failure in the past two or three years. But on the other hand, the South Korean team is also very afraid of the Chinese team's counterattack, especially Yang Yang's personal ability and speed.

This dilemma continued until the final stage of the game, and the Korean team never threatened again.

But the Chinese team once again fought back six times in the 84th minute.

Chen Tao passed the ball low on the right, Gao Lin headed the ball to the first landing point, and flew to the back point. Yang Yang easily pushed the ball in front of the goal, further expanding the score, 2-0.

This goal also completely destroyed the hope of the South Korean team!

The Korean fear of South Korea has long been shattered, but the South Korean team seems to have begun to usher in the tertiary fear of the middle, especially in recent years, the strength of Chinese football and the gradual gain of a group of players led by Yang Yang have caused great panic in the European League.

...

The China-South Korea showdown in the quarter-finals ended with the Chinese team defeating the South Korean team 2-0.

The Chinese team continues its victory against the South Korean team in the past two or three years, and also uses a targeted tactical victory to give domestic fans hope.

Alihan did a very good job in the arrangement and targeted tactics in this game, which was satisfactory.

Yang Yang scored twice, so that everyone could see his condition.

Domestic fans also celebrated the team's advance to the semi-finals. They all praised Yang Yang's outstanding performance, believing that Yang Yang was like an iron man. He had just performed well in the European League and shined again after returning to China.

However, some media forwarded Yang Yang's remarks about interviews with the media after the game, saying that Yang Yang was not in his best condition.

"It's obvious that for a player of Yang Yang's level, the Asian Cup can no longer satisfy him."

"For him, the Asian Cup is just like a warm-up event at best. He is more of a game to use the game to adjust his form and prepare for the next new season."

...

In the other three games of the quarterfinals knockout stage, Japan drew Australia one-to-one, and finally won the penalty kick.

Iraq defeated the host Vietnam team 2-0 and successfully advanced to the semi-finals.

Saudi Arabia defeated Iran 2-1 and advanced to the semi-finals.

Looking at this Asian Cup, Iraq is an absolute dark horse team. No one expected that this country, which was deeply involved in war, would be able to play so well in the Asian Cup and make it to the semi-finals all the way.

In the subsequent draw, Iraq drew Saudi Arabia, and two teams from the Middle East lined up by chance, while the Chinese team drew another arch-rival team in East Asia, Japan.

In this way, no matter what the outcome of the semi-finals wins and losses, the East Asian team will eventually be against the West Asian team.

When the lottery results were passed back to China, all fans were both expectant and somewhat worried.

After all, the Japanese team has always been the victim of the Chinese team.

But more fans still hope that Yang Yang, who is far away in Southeast Asia, can continue to work hard and lead the Chinese team to defeat Japan and enter the finals.

Japanese head coach Osim said that the team has made all preparations.
Chapter completed!