At the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the game continues.
In the following time, Lu Wenbin experienced De Jong's beastly defensive style firsthand.
De Jong's interceptions and steals are not malicious fouls against people. If he only knew how to do that, he would have received countless red and yellow cards in a season, and he would not be able to play as a starter in a top league team or join the Dutch national team.
De Jong's approach is to use small movements to pull, push and interfere when there is a stalemate, and when there is a need to intercept or steal the ball, he will act quickly, fiercely and accurately. He does not hesitate like other players for fear of fouling and giving Lu Wenbin a free kick.
This actually increases the success rate of interceptions and steals.
Of course, this may also be related to the fact that De Jong's vision and judgment are better than other defenders that Lu Wenbin has encountered.
After all, Lu Wenbin's dribbling attribute is not high. As long as he does not shoot at the first time, De Jong's superior intercepting and stealing ability can interfere with and destroy Lu Wenbin's ball possession.
When necessary, De Jong would make a flying tackle with great momentum, looking as if he was going to tackle the opponent off the field.
But in fact, De Jong's tackles were all aimed at the ball, but he had a ferocious aura, which made people who didn't know the truth afraid of being hurt by his tackles and dodge.
That would achieve his goal of stealing the ball.
Of course, sometimes when both sides refused to give in to each other and collisions were inevitable, it was common for someone to be injured by a tackle, kick, elbow, or the like.
That’s why he is labeled as a fierce defender.
Fortunately, Lu Wenbin's physique has been increased to 16/16, and his injury tendency has been reduced to 6. As long as De Jong does not intend to hurt others, Lu Wenbin will not be easily injured even if he confronts him head-on.
In the 14th minute, Lu Wenbin received the ball outside the penalty area, adjusted himself, and completed his first shot. However, just as the ball took off, De Jong fell to the ground and poked it, sending the ball out of the baseline.
In the 22nd minute, Lu Wenbin ran into an open space in the penalty area and Eduardo made a timely pass to send the ball over.
Lu Wenbin was afraid that if he stopped the ball to adjust, it would waste time and be disrupted by the opponent, so he was ready to shoot directly without stopping the ball.
As a result, De Jong made a desperate sliding tackle, and he knocked the ball away after being in the backcourt, and also knocked Lu Wenbin to the ground. The two of them were pressed together and fell heavily.
Not only did Lu Wenbin lose the ball, but De Jong didn't even get a foul, and failed to give Hoffenheim a penalty.
De Jong's judgment and grasp of timing, as well as his decisive kicks and his fearless approach even in the penalty area, did cause considerable trouble to Lu Wenbin, whose dribbling attribute was only 13/13.
Since the start of the game, De Jong's mobile defense against Lu Wenbin can be considered successful.
Lu Wenbin received the ball in the frontcourt quite a few times, but the number of times he actually threatened the goal was pitifully small.
However, Lu Wenbin's 19/19 off-ball running and his physique that has increased to 16/16 also put De Jong under great pressure.
After watching Lu Wenbin's previous game videos before the game, Hamburg head coach and De Jong both agreed that Lu Wenbin's physical confrontation ability was insufficient.
De Jong thought that in this game as long as he stuck to Lu Wenbin and put enough pressure on him, it should be relatively easy to intercept and steal Lu Wenbin's ball.
Unexpectedly, Lu Wenbin's physique was not as weak as he thought. De Jong tried to squeeze Lu Wenbin away to grab the ball but failed.
The most crucial thing is Lu Wenbin's off-ball running, which is too slippery. If De Jong is not paying attention, Lu Wenbin will disappear.
In the 28th minute, Lu Wenbin used his off-ball running to suddenly get rid of De Jong, and received a cross pass from Eduardo near the penalty spot in the penalty area after he passed the Hamburg defender on the wing, and shot successfully.
It was just bad luck that Lu Wenbin's shot this time met with Hamburg goalkeeper Rost who performed particularly well.
Although Lu Wenbin's ball hit the goal frame and went straight to the blind corner, Rost made a world-class save and blocked Lu Wenbin's ball that was heading straight for the lower left corner out of the bottom line, causing sighs from the home fans of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and applause from the away fans of Hamburg.
Then, in the 34th minute, Lu Wenbin used a sudden change of direction in the midfield to get rid of De Jong, successfully made an offside, and after receiving a through pass from Salihovic, he dribbled straight towards the goal.
De Jong, who was a step late, could only chase back desperately.
Fortunately, his speed of running in the air was much faster than Lu Wenbin who was running with the ball, and he caught up with Lu Wenbin at the front of the restricted area.
When Lu Wenbin was about to shoot, De Jong decisively pulled Lu Wenbin down from behind, and then the referee called a foul.
This was an unavoidable tactical foul, as it destroyed Hoffenheim's extremely threatening offensive opportunity. De Jong was naturally shown a yellow card by the referee and was awarded a free kick about 20 meters in front of the goal.
However, De Jong didn't care.
Not to mention whether Lu Wenbin's free kick is so magical, the distance alone is a little too close, and it is not easy to shoot directly from a free kick.
At such a close distance, the ball needs to go around the wall of people, avoid the goalkeeper, and then fall into the goal. The arc required for this free kick is too large. De Jong doesn't believe that Lu Wenbin can do it.
Therefore, De Jong felt somewhat reckless when he pulled Lu Wenbin down.
Of course, he is also resolute and decisive in his character. If he is told to commit a foul, he will commit a foul without even a second's hesitation.
Take it down, Lu Wenbin, at most he will get a yellow card.
But forget it. If Lu Wenbin were to face the attacking goalkeeper one-on-one, then given Lu Wenbin's shooting success rate, Hamburg would almost certainly lose the ball.
As for Lu Wenbin's free kick, De Jong didn't think he could score. De Jong thought his defense was successful and worthwhile.
But he didn't know that Lu Wenbin also had a system plug-in.
Lu Wenbin was not sure that he could score the free kick from such a close distance, but he also had special system skills.
The free kick (primary) penalty range is exactly between 20 meters and 35 meters, and the foul location is still within the highest hit rate range of the system skill.
So, next, Lu Wenbin activated the system skill and kicked the free kick into the blind corner of Hamburg's goal in one go, leaving De Jong, who was ready to watch Lu Wenbin shoot, with a look of surprise on his face.
Lu Wenbin's free kick hit De Jong directly in the face, making the tactical foul for which he was given a yellow card in vain.
The CCTV-5 commentator laughed and explained to the domestic fans: "In the 34th minute, Lu Wenbin scored a direct free kick from close range! Hamburg's No. 8 defensive midfielder De Jong was successful in defending Lu Wenbin's mobile warfare, but he should not have given Lu Wenbin the free kick. Not only did he receive a yellow card, but he also conceded a free kick to Lu Wenbin. It can be said that he lost both the wife and the army!"
(The first update will be on April 5th, please give me your monthly votes!)