章節 117: National Team Match Impresses
Time flies, and before we know it, it's already February.
On February 2nd, Werder Bremen played Hannover 96 at home. Lin scored one goal and assisted another, helping his team to a comfortable win and securing two consecutive victories.
After this match, the FIFA international match day arrived.
Lin flew directly to Doha, the capital of Qatar. There, Spain was set to play a friendly match against the strong South American team, Uruguay.
Originally, Spain wanted to invite Argentina, but since Argentina had already scheduled a match with Sweden, Spain had to abandon that plan.
Since Uruguay was one of the participants in this year's Confederations Cup, Spain hadn't planned to invite them at first.
Typically, teams participating in major tournaments avoid playing friendlies against each other before the tournament starts.
However, after tentatively extending an invitation, to their surprise, Uruguay accepted.
Uruguay had initially scheduled a match with France, but when France canceled, leaving them without a match, the invitation from Spain came just in time. Seeing that the match in Spain was backed by Middle Eastern sponsors offering over two million euros in sponsorship money, they happily accepted the lucrative offer.
Given that the opponent was one of the participants in the Confederations Cup and a traditional powerhouse from South America, Spain took this match very seriously. Coach Bosque used it as an opportunity to train and gauge the opponent, fielding a lineup of mostly starters with a few substitutes.
Chelsea's Mata replaced David Silva, Arsenal's Cazorla replaced Xavi, and Barcelona's Valdes took Casillas's place, with the veteran Puyol returning to find his form after recovering from an injury.
However, Lin's starting position was secure; Coach Bosque did not rotate his role as the free-roaming forward.
In fact, Spain's lineup lacked such a rotational player.
As the match began, Spain played cautiously and did not launch into attacks right away.
On the other hand, Uruguay was eager to play and pressed high during Spain's possession, attempting to intercept and counterattack in Spain's half.
This tactic might work against other teams, but it was less effective against Spain.
Seeing Uruguay's three forwards charging, Spain's defensive masters began to showcase their passing skills.
Cazorla, ambidextrous and balanced, commanded the midfield, distributing the ball efficiently and making the opposing forwards run back and forth without touching the ball.
Frustrated by their inability to gain possession and feeling like they were being taken for a walk, Suarez's eyes reddened! He fixated on Cazorla's shoulders and licked his lips.
Having experienced Cazorla's prowess at Arsenal, Cazorla shivered, and Cavani stole the ball from him.
After Cavani intercepted the ball, he quickly passed it to Rodriguez and sprinted toward Spain's box.
Rodriguez, receiving the ball and planning to sprint down the wing, encountered Spain's number 30.
Seeing that it was Lin coming to defend, Rodriguez was dismissive.
Having been trained under Simeone at Atletico Madrid, he was well-versed in defense.
He thought Lin's defensive move was amateurish and just needed a simple maneuver to get past.
Rodriguez thought so and acted accordingly.
"Watch me go!" he chuckled.
But then—wait, where's the ball?
Rodriguez got past, but the ball was gone.
Looking back, he saw that somehow, the opponent had stolen the ball and was now speeding toward their half!
"Stop him!"
Uruguay's coach, Oscar Tabarez, seeing Spain's number 30 snatch the ball, jumped up from his seat in panic.
The biggest threat in the opposing team was this number 30, and letting him easily take the ball was dangerous for Uruguay.
Tabarez's shout was drowned out by the cheers of tens of thousands of spectators; the players did not hear him.
But even without the coach's warning, they knew of Lin's threat.
Their left-back, Pereira from Inter Milan, rushed up immediately.
Pereira, familiar with Lin's reputation, underestimated him because of his youth at 17. He believed Lin's success in the Bundesliga was due to the lack of defensive skills in German teams, thinking it would be easy to defend against him, having come from the defensively tough Serie A.
As Lin moved the ball a bit too far ahead, Pereira saw it as a perfect opportunity.
Without a second thought, he lunged for the ball!
Lin was surprised that Pereira fell for his trick so easily; his move hadn't been effective in the Bundesliga lately since the defenders had gotten wise to it.
As Pereira lunged, Lin tapped the ball ahead to his left foot.
With a gentle flick, he pushed the ball forward.
These smooth, swift moves allowed Lin to speed past Pereira on the right.
Pereira, kicking at air, lost his balance and fell, not understanding how he had been bypassed.
Seeing their left-back fooled so easily, Tabarez facepalmed.
He had warned the defenders to be cautious of Lin's dribbling and feints.
To successfully steal the ball from him, they needed to double-team him or engage physically.
Pereira did neither and simply went for the ball head-on, making it easy for Lin to bypass him.
After getting past Pereira, Lin cut inside. Seeing Muslera come out to block his shot, he feinted a shot but passed instead, tapping the ball to an open Iniesta in the middle.
Iniesta, finding himself unmarked, easily slotted the ball into the net, making it 1-0!
After the goal, Iniesta pointed at Lin, signaling that the credit was largely his.
Lin also gave Iniesta a thumbs-up, appreciating his excellent positioning and timing, without which the pass would have gone to the opponents.
For Lin, playing with the Spanish national team felt entirely different from playing at his club.
At his club, apart from De Bruyne, his teammates generally lacked awareness and skill, often leading to miscoordination.
This forced them to adapt their style to match their teammates.
But in the national team, all his teammates were top-level players.
They didn't need much communication to understand each other's intentions, making their combinations effective and pleasing to watch.
Such matches felt very relaxed.
Lin's teammates also found playing with him to be effortless.
With Lin in the forward line, Spain didn't have to worry about scoring.
Not only were his breaks, dribbles, and shots top-notch, but even if he just focused on shooting, the superb midfielders could feed him until he was full.
The goal was scored effortlessly, and Bosque simply clapped quietly from the sidelines, not showing much excitement.
He wondered to himself:
Is this the level of Uruguay, the third-ranked team in Latin America?
Their strength doesn't seem very impressive.
While Uruguay's forwards like Suarez and Cavani seemed formidable, their midfield was lacking.
And their left-back seemed foolish, making rash decisions against Lin.
Bosque was curious if Pereira would react so hastily against Messi if they played Argentina.
After scoring early, Spain played more relaxed.
Having taken control of midfield, they began to push into the opponent's half.
In the 19th minute, Lin received the ball up front and, after three quick exchanges with Iniesta and Fabregas, he burst into the box.
Facing the charging goalkeeper, he opted for a curling shot to the far post.
The shot, full of flair, curved beautifully around the keeper's outstretched hands toward the left side of the goal.
After kicking, Lin raised his hands, ready to celebrate.
Unexpectedly, clank—the ball hit the near post.
Ah, that...
Watching the ball rebound off the post, Lin was stunned.
Did that really not go in?
Fabregas, seeing the ball fly out, came over and ruffled Lin's hair.
"Heh, that was beautifully played, but the curve was too much. Next time, adjust the point of contact slightly higher when you kick."
Lin nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.
He had aimed for the far post, but the curve had brought the ball back to the near post.
If one shot didn't go in, he'd simply try another.
Five minutes later, Spain attacked again.
Iniesta, spotting Lin's movement, sent a precise through ball his way.
Lin's position for receiving the ball was almost identical to his previous attempt, so he went for another curling shot.
This time, he heeded Fabregas's advice, adjusting his leg swing and using the inner side near his instep for a slower, more curved shot.
The goalkeeper, recognizing the setup, tensed up:
Again?
He reacted quickly, leaping to make a save.
But like before, the ball just missed his fingertips and curved past.
Everyone in the stadium watched with bated breath: Would this ball also go out?
The curve was still significant, but this time it didn't swing back from the near post.
Seeing the ball hit the net, Lin finally relaxed.
If that hadn't gone in, he would've begun questioning his life choices.
Lin didn't end up questioning his life, but the opposing keeper did.
Was curling that hard to catch?
He had made saves against other players' curling shots before. Why did this kid's shots have such peculiar curves?
On the sidelines, Bosque finally smiled as he saw Lin score.
He hugged his colleague Tony:
"It feels like this kid is using Uruguay as a testing ground to practice his technique."
Tony nodded: "It does seem like that. It's probably because the opponent isn't applying enough pressure, so our players are playing more relaxed."
Uruguay wasn't just any team; being scored against twice in 25
minutes was humiliating for them.
They knew they were up against the world champions, but as a proud team, they couldn't let Spain have their way.
After the restart, Uruguay's tackles grew fiercer, and their attacks became more straightforward.
Their midfield might be weak, but their forwards were formidable.
Suarez, Cavani, and Forlan—these superstar forwards were intimidating anywhere.
Instead of intricate plays, Uruguay started launching long balls to their forwards, relying on their individual skills to score.
And surprisingly, this tactic was somewhat effective.
Using their exceptional skills, Suarez and Cavani caused chaos for Spain's defense.
But without midfield support, their solo efforts were easily contained, causing trouble without producing goals.
Bosque saw the forwards' aggressive plays and adjusted his team's strategy, pulling the midfield back to protect the defense and further compressing the space for Uruguay's attacks.
Tabarez noticed Bosque's adjustment and saw it as a great opportunity.
If Spain's technically skilled midfielders were spread out, it would be hard for Uruguay to intercept the ball.
But if they retreated towards their own goal, Uruguay could press harder.
He signaled his players to press forward.
Reducing the space and combining it with tough physical challenges disrupted Spain's rhythm.
The quick and hurried passes Spain made under pressure led to mistakes.
In the 32nd minute, capitalizing on a mistake from Cazorla, Uruguay launched a quick counterattack, with Rodriguez scoring to make it 2-1.
Scoring that goal boosted Uruguay's morale, and they saw a chance to win.
Although it was just a friendly match, beating the world champions was still appealing.
After the restart, Uruguay continued their aggressive play, combining hard tackles and fierce challenges.
The Spanish players, worried about injuries in an unimportant match, played more cautiously.
This fear made them even less effective, giving Uruguay more control over the game.
This couldn't continue.
On the sidelines, Bosque was growing anxious.
He realized his previous adjustments had backfired.
"Alonso, Martinez, warm up. Get ready to come on!"
Before the first half even ended, Bosque was preparing to make substitutions.
The problem was the lack of toughness in midfield. Cazorla, fearing injury, played too timidly.
His lack of physicality meant he couldn't hold onto the ball under pressure.
If this continued, Spain might concede more goals, so Bosque decided to replace him.
Both Javier Martinez and Xabi Alonso were tough and defensively strong.
Bringing them on would solidify Spain's midfield against Uruguay's onslaught.
Regaining control of midfield would simplify Spain's path to victory.
On the field, Lin also noticed the team's issues.
When Cazorla received another pass under pressure, Lin quickly moved to support.
Cazorla, harried by the opponents, passed the ball to Lin like he was a lifeline.
As Lin took the ball, two Uruguayan players rushed to pressure him.
They had become adept at pressing after several minutes of aggressive play.
Expecting the young Spanish player to panic under pressure, they were ready to intimidate and dispossess him.
But contrary to their expectations, Lin handled the pressure with ease.
He adjusted his stance to dodge the first challenger and performed a graceful spin to evade the second.
This elegant move elicited gasps from the crowd.
The spin move, known as "Antonin's turn," was often criticized for being overly flashy without practicality, but in Lin's execution, it was both beautiful and effective.
The Middle Eastern spectators, unfamiliar with the finer points of football, were mesmerized by Lin's dance-like dribbling, which they saw as a graceful prince taming wild beasts.
Moved by this vision, they couldn't help but applaud and cheer for Lin.
In the stadium's VIP box, Mansour, who had invested billions in Manchester City, was thrilled by Lin's performance.
Such an outstanding player—why isn't he with us at Manchester City?
It must be because we're not offering enough money! That must be it!
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