Immediately afterwards, the referee and two linesmen called over the German captain Lahm and the Real Madrid captain Aaron to flip a coin to decide which side would kick off.
The players from both sides began to shake hands.
When it was Gao Jianfei and Feng Haoyu's turn to shake hands, a tense standoff ensued. They clasped hands, their gazes fixed on each other with a menacing intensity. The muscles around their eyes twitched.
"Gao Jianfei, let's see how you beat me this time!" Feng Haoyu said viciously.
"Heh, the first two times, you threatened and looked down on me, and you still lost. I'm not afraid of you." Gao Jianfei didn't hold back at all and retorted sarcastically.
Coincidentally, this scene, filled with the smell of gunpowder, was captured in close-up by the camera and immediately appeared on televisions for viewers all over the world!
However, the two players in the limelight of this football match aren't necessarily Gao Jianfei and Feng Haoyu. Messi and Ronaldo, as the world's number one and number two football stars, are both wildly popular and worshipped. Moreover, what excites the audience is that Messi and Ronaldo would never normally be teammates... they are from different nationalities, and their respective clubs consider them non-transferable.
However, today's match witnessed a historic moment, perhaps an unprecedented one... Ronaldo and Messi teamed up!
After shaking hands, the captains of both teams determined the field and the team that would kick off by flipping a coin.
The referee for this match was Collina, the renowned Italian referee with a bald head, who had previously retired from football. However, he was invited back for this match! The audience at the stadium and those watching on television felt both nostalgic and excited to see the long-absent bald referee. The atmosphere was incredibly heated!
Both teams' players took their positions and prepared to kick off! Real Madrid were the first to kick off.
Off the field, in the coaching benches of both teams, Real Madrid's manager Mourinho, wearing a long black trench coat, chewed gum, his eyes sharp as an eagle as he watched the game. Mourinho was taking this match extremely seriously; he wasn't treating it as a mere commercial exhibition match. His level of importance for this game was no less than that of the Spanish El Clásico!
Mourinho is arguably one of the most outstanding football coaches in the world. His lineup today was extremely risky… fielding only one playmaker, Aaron, leaving the midfield and attack completely undefended! This is a formation that prioritizes attack over defense!
Logically speaking, although Real Madrid's lineup is stronger than the German national team, it is far from strong enough to toy with the German team like this, with no defense in midfield and attacking instead of defending!
However, Mourinho took a gamble and deliberately showed contempt for the German team.
Mourinho is not a blindly overconfident coach. In fact, he is quite cautious. He carefully reviewed Gao Jianfei's information and confirmed that Gao Jianfei was not even a registered professional player. He wasn't even an amateur! After receiving this information, Mourinho naturally regarded Gao Jianfei as a weak link in the German national team, a major weakness and loophole! Mourinho analyzed that Gao Jianfei would definitely disrupt the German national team's usual tactical routine, lower the team's level, and drag them down! Therefore, Mourinho dared to field this purely attacking formation.
At this moment, Mourinho was chewing gum frantically, intently watching the 22 players on both sides of the field.
Meanwhile, Germany's national team coach Joachim Löw, dressed in a suit and wrapped in a wool scarf, looked very gentlemanly. He held a notebook and used a pen to continuously draw formations and arrows.
"Löw, Mourinho's formation is a complete slap on our wrist! Aaron playing as a lone defensive midfielder? That's absurd!" Bierhoff muttered in dissatisfaction.
“He must be trying to exploit this loophole, but he doesn’t know that the loophole has become our weapon. Today, let’s blow up this luxurious galactic battleship!” Love raised his head.
Just then, Collina blew the whistle to start the match.
"Bang!" In the center circle, Benzema kicked off, passed the ball back, and it fell to Messi's feet. Messi looked around and gently passed the ball to Feng Haoyu.
Feng Haoyu got the ball, and Germany's striker Gomez rushed over to steal it. Feng Haoyu deftly cut past Gomez, then passed the ball to Luo, and charged towards Germany's half...
Inside the stadium, the commentator from Old Trafford, representing the English Premier League, began his frantic commentary… “K, now it’s Real Madrid’s Feng with the ball, he’s one of the key players in this match, he passed the ball to Ronaldo, and Ronaldo starts dribbling…”
Inside the VIP room.
"Real Madrid's formation today... is a bit hard to understand." Wenger smiled and shook his head.
"With this formation, Real Madrid has no answer in attack. However, they mustn't let Germany launch a counter-attack... Hey! Ronaldo has gotten past Khedira and Schweinsteiger and passed the ball to Feng Haoyu! Great ball! Feng Haoyu is in the upper left corner of the penalty area, ready to take down the charging Lahm..."
On the field, Real Madrid had already gotten the ball to the edge of the German penalty area through exquisite passing and movement. At this moment, Feng Haoyu received the ball and was facing close marking from German national team captain Lahm!
Chapter 442 The Passer!
Chapter 442 The Passer!
The 100,000-seat Beijing Stadium! The third match of the World Talent Challenge! A football match!
This is one of the most prestigious matches in world football today! It's packed with star power!
At the start of the match, Real Madrid, through a series of dazzling passes, put the ball in the top left corner of the German national team's penalty area! Lahm rushed up to block Feng Haoyu!
Lahm is very small, but his footwork is extremely fast, and he is exceptional at winning the ball!
"Oh! From the very start of the match, Real Madrid didn't even bother with probing! They went straight into the heart of the German team's territory with a sharp attack! And look, it's Kaka with the ball! Facing the pressure from German captain Lahm, what will he choose? Will he get past Lahm, or pass the ball to Messi on the left, or Ronaldo on the right? Oh, Kaka is behind the ball! Real Madrid has too many options! I have a feeling that Germany is in big danger!"
On-site, a renowned commentator from the English Premier League and Old Trafford Stadium used a fast-paced tone and a comprehensive view of the game to explain the situation to the audience!
Just as the commentator described, Real Madrid had many attacking options, and all their attacking players were in position! The German goal was under siege, with only a few defenders left to mark the position as Lahm pressed hard!
Feng Haoyu made several feints, but Lahm, with his rich experience, wasn't fooled. However, Lahm also failed to steal the ball from Feng Haoyu. The other defenders didn't dare to rush forward because they had to mark Messi, Ronaldo, Benzema, and others who had already reached excellent positions.
"Wind!" At that moment, Messi raised his hand towards the wind and rain, asking for the ball!
Feng Haoyu gently pulled the ball back, feigning a pass to Messi. Lahm's attention was drawn to him. Suddenly! Feng Haoyu cut inside, a fake pass that bypassed Lahm!
As soon as Feng Haoyu got past Lahm, he immediately created an opening. He was now about 16 or 17 meters away from the goal, which was within his shooting range!
"Alright, let's make it 1-0! From this angle, from this distance, my shot is a sure thing!" Feng Haoyu glanced at the position of German goalkeeper Neuer.
"Oh my god! The wind tricked Lahm! Lahm fell flat! The wind is facing the goal! The distance is 17 meters! Back when the wind was at Real Madrid, they often scored from this distance and in this position! This area is also habitually called... the wind zone! Neuer! It's your turn to shine!" the commentator shouted.
The entire stadium held its breath, knowing that in the next moment, Feng Haoyu would take the shot! This would be a one-on-one duel between him and German goalkeeper Neuer!
In fact, although the above description is redundant, on the scene, it was only a split second. Just as Feng Haoyu was about to raise his foot to shoot, suddenly! A figure darted out from behind, it was Germany's number 77 player! He was incredibly fast! When Feng Haoyu passed Lahm, he seemed to be more than ten meters away from Feng Haoyu, seemingly unable to catch up in time! However, as everyone's eyes were tensely focused on Feng Haoyu, he appeared like a divine soldier, rushing in from behind and gently poking the ball away from behind just as Feng Haoyu raised his foot to shoot!
It's Gao Jianfei!
Gao Jianfei took the initiative to participate in the defensive retreat!
After the ball was poked out, German center-back Mertesacker rushed up very alertly and kicked the ball out!
Feng Haoyu was about to touch the ball and take a shot when, unexpectedly, his shot was interrupted! This gave him a very unpleasant feeling. He turned around and saw that it was Gao Jianfei!
"Hmm?" Feng Haoyu's eye twitched!
"Hehe, sorry, I ruined your attack!" Gao Jianfei smiled slightly, then charged forward. "Now, it's our turn to attack!"
The transition between attack and defense was incredibly fast! Mertesacker's clearance went to Real Madrid's side of the field, and right there, it was caught by Germany's Thomas Müller! Müller quickly orchestrated an attack! Gao Jianfei charged up from his own half!
"Oh? No way? Real Madrid's attack was completely dismantled in an instant? The German defenders are really aggressive! Now, it's Germany's turn to attack! Ah... if I'm not mistaken, the one who just cleared the ball for Germany was Gao! Gao, who has no professional playing experience! How did he appear? He's so fast! Is Gao playing as a defender in this match? Uh? But, judging from the starting lineups I got before the match, Gao should be playing as a midfielder, so why is he in his own half participating in defense? God! Okay, let's see how Germany attacks!"
Inside the VIP room.
A group of football legends, professionally speaking, started taking notes or offering commentary.
Zidane shook his head slightly... "Just now, if Feng had passed the ball to Messi, or Ronaldo, or even Kaka in the back row, the situation would have been very different. Maybe they could have broken through the German team's goal! That opportunity was very good, but Feng chose to shoot himself! However, Gao intercepted the ball."
Maradona, puffing on his cigar, said, "Could it be interpreted this way: in the first direct confrontation between Feng and Gao, Feng was defeated by Gao?"
“No,” Pelé shook his head. “Both teams’ players had just received the ball and their touch wasn’t quite there yet. It’s understandable that their first attack didn’t go well.”
"However, I must say that Gao is extremely fast and has excellent running ability. Next, we'll have to see how he performs once he gets the ball," said Wenger, the "football expert," while taking notes.
On the field.
Mourinho raised an eyebrow and then started yelling... "Retreat! Retreat! Defenders push forward!" His all-attack lineup was designed to counter the German team's counter-attacks.
Meanwhile, Löw and Bierhoff, both sitting on the coaching bench, were not very excited; they were conducting rational tactical analysis and discussion.
At this moment, Müller passed the ball to Reus, who dribbled past the onrushing Ramos and then passed the ball across to the middle!
Müller gets the ball again!
This is a classic two-on-one situation!
Because Real Madrid's attacking line was pushed far forward, leaving only a few defenders behind, Müller received the ball just outside Real Madrid's penalty area! Only Puyol and Pique remained as the two defenders in front of him. Gomez roamed to Müller's left, preparing to charge into Real Madrid's penalty area!
At that moment, Puyol charged towards Müller! Pique was tasked with marking Gomez, who was likely to break into the penalty area!
"Müller!"
Gao Jianfei had already rushed up behind Muller and shouted loudly!
Müller had great faith in Gao Jianfei's skills, and he himself was not good at dribbling. Facing Puyol who rushed up, Müller was not confident that he could get past him. Therefore, he passed the ball back to Gao Jianfei!
"He's got the ball high! No professional player has ever gotten the ball high like that!" the commentator yelled. "Let's see what he does!"
After Gao Jianfei received the ball, Real Madrid's only defensive midfielder, Aaron, tried to rush over to steal it!
At this moment, Gao Jianfei made a direct pass! He sent the ball into the penalty area!
Gomez understood perfectly, made a forward run, and received the ball just in time, creating a one-on-one opportunity!
Gao Jianfei's pass was incredibly skillful; his use of power, technique, and angle was masterful!
"Oh! Damn it!" The only defender behind him, Pique, has already been beaten by Gomez! Gomez is about to shoot! He's only about 7 meters from the goal! Gomez is the Bundesliga's top scorer this season, and Casillas absolutely cannot stop a shot from this distance!
"My God! A magnificent through pass! Gao is an exceptionally skilled passer! A one-on-one opportunity!" The commentator was also excited! Although he wasn't a player, after so many years as a commentator, he could basically judge a player's level just by watching them kick the ball once... "Oh! A brilliant through pass! Gao reminds me of Bergkamp, the Ice Prince of Highbury! A surgical pass? Yes, a surgically precise pass!"
The fans at the stadium were on tenterhooks... This match was incredible! Just moments ago, Germany's goal was in danger, and now, it's Real Madrid's goal under siege!
In the blink of an eye, just as Gomez was about to lift his foot to shoot, Pique rushed up from behind and made contact with Gomez. Gomez's shot suddenly lost its accuracy, and he not only fell to the ground, but the ball was also kicked directly out of bounds.
"call!"
The entire audience gasped in surprise!
"Foul! Penalty!" Müller and Reus both shouted.
The bald referee, Collina, shook his head blankly and warned Müller and Reus to shut up.
Gao Jianfei rushed over and signaled his teammates to calm down.
Gomez got up from the ground and shook his head dejectedly.
Of course, in this kind of situation inside the penalty area, the referee won't easily call a foul on the defending side. Besides, when Pique bumped into Gomez, he didn't actually tackle him; it was just a physical contact that affected Gomez's shooting motion.
This kind of play is optional.
If you blow the whistle too hard, it's a penalty kick; if you blow it too loosely, it's disallowed.
The German players were already used to this kind of ruling and didn't argue with the referee too much, but instead focused on the game again.
Gomez rushed over and gave Gao Jianfei a thumbs up. "Man, that pass was fantastic! It felt so good to have the ball! Too bad! Pique bumped into me!"
Gao Jianfei smiled nonchalantly, "We still have many opportunities!"
Feng Haoyu didn't participate in the defensive recovery, but he did see Gao Jianfei's through ball, and his heart skipped a beat... "That was a great pass! Damn, that kid Gao Jianfei is actually a passer! I... I underestimated him!"
However, Feng Haoyu knew that all three referees on site had been bribed, and Real Madrid would always have the upper hand as the game progressed. Furthermore, Gao Jianfei's excellent passing skills didn't necessarily mean he was also a skilled dribbler and shooter!
Unafraid of wind and rain.
The game continued. Casillas took the goal kick and passed the ball to Puyol. Puyol looked at the front of the field and then made a precise long pass, sending the ball to Messi's feet!
Messi dribbled quickly, dodging Khedira, and headed straight for the heart of the German defense!
The pace of offense and defense is too fast!
Your side attacks, then our side takes the stage! This is a truly exciting match!
In particular, after witnessing Gao Jianfei's through pass, virtually no football fan would still consider Gao Jianfei a football novice!
Chapter 443 Keep an eye on him!