Seven-time Champion

Chapter 19: An unexpected final

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On the morning of October 3, Principal Cai Yusen took all the school team members to No. 1 Middle School on a rented bus to prepare for the finals.

At 9 o'clock, with the referee's whistle, the final of the 2006 Meitan County High School Football Championship officially began, with Meitan County No. 1 High School facing Meijiang High School.

Because this final involved the fight for the championship, there were more than 2,000 spectators, including students from No. 1 Middle School, the cheerleading team from Meijiang Middle School, and citizens who came to watch the fun, standing in a full circle around the stadium.

Some students from No. 1 Middle School couldn't squeeze in and couldn't see, so they ran back to the classroom and moved stools to stand and watch. The balcony of a student dormitory building next to the court was also full of students from No. 1 Middle School.

It seems like this is really a fierce battle for the championship.

However, the development of the game after the start of the game disappointed countless spectators.

Especially the students of No. 1 Middle School, none of them expected that as the host, the No. 1 Middle School team, playing on the field they are very familiar with with the cheers of all the students in the school, would actually launch a defensive counterattack in their home court.

In fact, this is also a helpless choice for the No. 1 Middle School coach.

There is a saying in the football world that there is no final. In order to ensure victory, most teams will first focus on defense and try not to lose the ball.

Even if the game ends in a 0-0 draw, it's better to take a penalty kick than lose in regular time.

In addition, in the first game, Meijiang Middle School defeated the strongest vocational high school in the past 6-3, which really surprised the coaches and players of No. 1 Middle School.

Lu Wenbin's star-level performance in that game, scoring five goals and assisting one goal, left a deep impression on the coaches and players of No. 1 Middle School who were watching the game.

Therefore, they not only adopted the defensive counterattack tactics in today's game, but also specifically practiced defensive counterattacks and penalty kicks in yesterday's training on October 2.

During the game, the coach of No. 1 Middle School sent a fast midfielder to closely guard Lu Wenbin, and asked the defenders to pay attention to assisting defense at all times.

Those who are broken through by Lu Wenbin cannot give up and must chase back immediately and continue to build a defensive line.

In his mind, if he could freeze Lu Wenbin, Meijiang Middle School's offensive capability would be reduced by 90%. If he could drag the game into a penalty shootout, he would win.

As for Meijiang Middle School, Zhang Minghai did not expect that No. 1 Middle School, playing at home, would play so conservatively and adopt an extreme defensive counterattack tactic amid the cheers of thousands of students from the school.

The so-called extreme means that No. 1 Middle School only left one fast forward in the frontcourt to harass the team, while the other nine players and the goalkeeper all defended in the backcourt.

As long as Meijiang Middle School's attack reached the first half of the court, it would be almost impossible to move forward after entering 30 meters.

High school students' vision, off-ball running, passing and receiving skills, dribbling ability, etc. are far from those of professional players.

Even the long-range shots that professional teams usually use when facing dense defenses were not used by Meijiang Middle School.

As a group of amateur high school students no older than 18 years old, asking them to use long-range shots to break through dense defenses would be far from enough in terms of accuracy, not to mention power.

Apart from Lu Wenbin, who had a physique of 12/12 and occasionally shot a long shot with considerable power that could threaten No. 1 Middle School's goal, the long shots from Han Dapeng, Nie Yingkun, Xiang Youming and others were almost threateningless.

Even Lu Wenbin was lost in the huge defense of No. 1 Middle School. His occasional shots were either blocked by the No. 1 Middle School defenders or lost their accuracy due to the opponent's desperate pull.

Meijiang Middle School did not score a single goal in the entire first half.

Of course, although No. 1 Middle School defended with all its might, it also failed to score a single goal, and the two sides remained 0-0.

If the game continues like this, although the scene is a bit ugly, it will undoubtedly be a victory for No. 1 Middle School.

This was undoubtedly a disaster for Meijiang Middle School, whose mentality exploded after the 6-3 victory over the vocational high school. They felt they had 100% chance of winning the championship, did not practice penalty kicks, and were not even mentally prepared for overtime.

Throughout the first half, Zhang Minghai was so anxious that he kept jumping up and down on the sidelines, but there was nothing he could do.

Although the training time is still short, under the influence of Lu Wenbin's superb personal ability and junior leadership aura, the entire Meijiang Middle School team, even coach Zhang Minghai, have become accustomed to relying on Lu Wenbin on the court.

Now the opponent used close marking and the whole team parked the bus to shrink the defense tactics, freezing Lu Wenbin, and Zhang Minghai was helpless.

During the half-time break, Lu Wenbin looked at Coach Zhang with expectation, but Coach Zhang only gave instructions to make more breakthroughs and shoot more.

This is nonsense, and useless nonsense.

In the first half, Lu Wenbin tried his best, but his 10/10 dribbling could not be said to be an overwhelming victory.

It would be fine if it was just one or two people, but almost all of the opposing players were crowded within 30 meters of the goal, leaving no room for Lu Wenbin to break through.

If you break through one person, the ball will be poked away by another person. Even if you break through two people, the first person who was broken through may rush back to join the defense.

There is no end to it.

Occasionally there was a shot, but it lost its accuracy due to the opponent's interference.

The opponent's goalkeeper also performed extremely well. Lu Wenbin's only shot in the first half, which hit the goal frame, was also saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, leaving Lu Wenbin helpless.

Just when Lu Wenbin felt that Coach Zhang’s method was not working, Lu Wenbin suddenly heard his father’s voice.

During the first game on October 1, the son of a leader of the winery got married, and Lu Chongxin and Sun Jiahui had to attend the banquet, so they did not come to watch Lu Wenbin's first game.

Today, Lu Chongxin was free, so he rushed to No. 1 Middle School to watch his son's final and cheer for him.

Before the game started, Lu Wenbin met his father, but there were too many people and they didn't have time to say anything before the game began.

Now, Lu Wenbin saw his father squeezing through the crowd and waving to him.

Lu Wenbin walked up to his father and said frustratedly, "Dad, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I didn't perform well today."

Unexpectedly, Lu Chongxin shook his head and said, "Don't be discouraged, you played very well in the first half. No. 1 Middle School has almost no way to deal with you, and can only rely on the human wave tactics to surround you. You are almost challenging No. 1 Middle School's defense line alone!"

Lu Wenbin shook his head and said, "What's the use? Anyway, I didn't score a single goal."

Lu Chongxin laughed and said, "You are wrong. Victory does not necessarily require you to score a goal yourself."

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