Chapter 972: Chen and Ronaldo Meet Again

Compared to Portugal’s wings, when it comes to speed and breakthroughs, they surely can’t match up to Leao, but in terms of passing and organization, Silva can outshine.

The midfield is also under pressure.

Zhang Wenxuan:

28 years old, playing for Wolves, the main rotation player for a mid-tier team, a cornerstone of China’s midfield and the strongest B2B aside from Chen Zhong. Though often called the perpetual motion machine or the octagonal warrior.

In Asia, you can say he is technically versatile, can pass, control, steal, and shoot.

But in Europe, he merely has strong tactical execution capabilities, nothing outstanding anywhere, considered a jack-of-all-trades, a player rewarded for hard work.

If in the earlier years, China had a player like Zhang Wenxuan, he might have been called the hope of the entire village, after all, having just one player abroad who can make any impact on the field.

But now, with China’s opponents not limited to Asia, facing top-tier world teams on the World Cup stage, Zhang Wenxuan is somewhat lacking.

Another player, Li Ji:

Currently playing for Chelsea, called the “Great Wall” and “Iron Gate” in the Chinese team, but at Chelsea, only a rotation player. His characteristics are evident: tall and robust (188cm), with a huge coverage range and impressive running ability.

Defensive positioning precise, tackles fierce yet clean, an insurmountable barrier before the team’s defensive line.

Has excellent anticipation and interception abilities, adept at disrupting the opponent’s offensive rhythm.

But his ball-playing ability from the back is somewhat indescribable. If it were a decade ago, he might have kept up with the game, but now, lacking ball-playing skills, a pure worker has no market.

Zhao Mingzhe:

The young player at Dortmund needs no introduction. If it were earlier when the “King of Soccer Style” was prevalent, he could become a star, but now, the 19-year-old “Spirit Fox” in Europe is somewhat lacking, mainly due to his height not even reaching 170CM, his confrontation ability on the field is too weak and not comprehensive enough.

Though his dribbling ability is outstanding, his escape skills in tight spaces are good, and he has decent match-reading ability, but still, he’s already past version.

The defense is even less worth mentioning, without Chen Zhong sitting at the helm, China’s defense at the World Cup would be considered third-rate at best.

Time quickly moved to match day, Cristiano Ronaldo seemed somewhat complacent, having just won the European Cup, which is also dubbed as a mini World Cup, they were undeniably the “world’s number one” and Portugal now has revived the fame of the “golden generation”.

Pre-match, Portugal’s team list had already been announced.

Leao, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neto

Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Neves

Nuno Mendes, Ruben Dias, Inacio, Cancelo

Diogo Costa

This match showed Portugal’s strong desire to attack, with Silva, Fernandes, Neto, Leao, and Cristiano Ronaldo posing the biggest threat to China’s defense.

China still lined up with a 4231 formation:

Hao Chen

Sun Fei, Zhao Mingzhe, Rooney

Li Ji, Zhang Wenxuan

Shi Hai, Chen Zhong, Ding Li, Xu Ping

Wang Xiaolei

With Wang Xiaolei’s excellent performance in the first match at the defense line, and Manchester City player Shi Hai, they will be key, while right-back Xu Ping might become the weak link, notably in this match, Ding Li starts and pairs with Chen Zhong in the center-back duo.

Common lineup against luxury top-tier.

When China and Portugal clash, even though it wasn’t the first time, it still gives the fans a sense of tragedy.

The roar inside the stadium seemed to want to lift the roof.

With the referee’s whistle, the match officially began.

As expected, Portugal showed strong control from the start.

Bruno Fernandes dispatched the ball skillfully in the midfield.

Their passing was fast and accurate, giving China’s midfield, Li Ji and Zhang Wenxuan, almost no chance for close pressing.

China followed the pre-match plan, quickly retracting the overall formation, building two defensive lines in the middle and back field, trying to compress Portugal’s attacking space.

However, Portugal’s attack was too layered.

Bernardo Silva, like a ghost, drifted between the right and center, each touch posing a threat.

In the 8th minute, at the edge of China’s box, he performed a brilliant wall pass with Fernandes, instantly penetrating Li Ji and Zhang Wenxuan’s double defense, then a covert through ball attempting to penetrate the gap between Chen Zhong and Ding Li.

Rafael Leao started diagonally like a red lightning bolt! Ding Li reacted a fraction late, with Leao about to get clear!

In the nick of time, a steady figure blocked the deadly position—Chen Zhong!

He didn’t blindly tackle but relied on top-level anticipation and experience, precisely blocking Leao’s path, protecting the ball with his body while leaning on Leao, forcing the Milan speedster to lose balance and fall.

The referee indicated no foul, the match continued.

Chen Zhong calmly passed the ball to Shi Hai on the flank, defusing the danger.

The Chinese fans on the stands erupted in surviving cheers, while Chen Zhong only patted Ding Li’s shoulder, with determined eyes, signaling him to stay focused.