A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow. Even though they knew that Lu Wenbin might still have a cold and was in poor condition, no opponent dared to underestimate him.
Therefore, when seeing Lu Wenbin come on the court, Uzbekistan immediately made adjustments, replacing a forward and adding a midfielder to keep a close eye on Lu Wenbin.
They are leading the score now. Even if the Chinese team scores a goal and the game ends in a tie, they can still advance as the first in the group.
Therefore, they chose to park the bus and defend, and even the remaining forward returned to the midfield to help defend, and did not attack at all.
However, Lu Wenbin did feel a little overwhelmed after coming on the court, which was very different from the feeling he had in previous games when he could give full play and feel at ease.
Although he was able to play, the cold that had not yet healed still had a real impact on Lu Wenbin's on-the-spot condition.
The inability to accelerate, decreased dribbling agility, etc., have greatly reduced Lu Wenbin's threat.
The restricted area was crowded with people, making it difficult to break in. Lu Wenbin seemed unable to make long shots outside the restricted area.
Coupled with Uzbekistan's tight defense, Lu Wenbin failed to score a goal after more than ten minutes on the field.
In the 54th minute, a free kick sent out using the system skill hit the goal frame, but was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.
That was the most threatening shot Lu Wenbin had made since he came on the field for more than ten minutes, and it was delivered using a system skill.
In addition, under the opponent's tight defense, Lu Wenbin did not have a single shot within the goal frame.
However, relatively speaking, after Lu Wenbin came on the court, he did attract most of the opponent's defensive attention, and the defense faced by other players on the Chinese team was much more relaxed.
Therefore, when he was in poor form and unable to score goals, Lu Wenbin began to consciously retreat, partnering with Zheng Zhi to form a double attacking midfielder and increasing the number of passes and assists.
When he was at Hoffenheim, Lu Wenbin had not yet fully improved his vision and passing skills, and was unable to perform the job of attacking midfielder.
When he was at Inter Milan, with Sneijder, Stankovic and others in the midfield, there was no need for Lu Wenbin to take on the role of organizing the attack.
He just needs to do his job as a striker and turn the offensive opportunities created by Sneijder and others into goals.
But in the Chinese national team, although Zheng Zhi, Deng Zhuoxiang, Hao Junmin and others are responsible for organizing the offense, their strength is far from that of Sneijder and others, and they rarely make exquisite passes that can penetrate the opponent's defense.
Therefore, Lu Wenbin often has to retreat to get the ball, dribble and shoot by himself.
Now, when I am not in good shape and cannot break through and shoot, I can create more opportunities for my teammates.
In the first game against Kuwait, Lu Wenbin assisted his teammates in scoring 3 goals.
Although his teammates are not as good at shooting, Lu Wenbin's full vision and passing and assisting abilities allow him to create far more opportunities than Zheng Zhi and others.
With more shooting opportunities, even the most reckless striker has a chance to score a goal.
In the 71st minute, Lu Wenbin made a wonderful pass that penetrated Uzbekistan's defense line and passed the ball to the corner of the small penalty area.
Unfortunately, Yang Xu started a little slow, and the ball was shoveled out of the baseline by the opponent's defender, causing sighs from Chinese fans.
In the 75th minute, Lu Wenbin made a sudden diagonal pass from the midfield, but Zheng Zhi did not think the same as Lu Wenbin and failed to start the offside trap in time.
By the time he saw the direction of Lu Wenbin's pass and started again, he had already missed the opportunity to be offside.
With time running out, the Chinese players kept wasting the opportunities created by Lu Wenbin who played despite being ill. Some anxious Chinese fans started cursing.
Of course, there are also many fans who have not given up and have been cheering for the Chinese team, hoping for a miracle to happen.
Lu Wenbin retreated to the midfield to get the ball and organize the attack. He no longer had to accelerate, break through, and shoot despite his illness. The defensive pressure he faced was indeed much less, and he got the ball more often, which also created many opportunities for his teammates.
After wasting a lot of opportunities, finally, in the 82nd minute, Deng Zhuoxiang, who came from the wing, seized an opportunity.
Lu Wenbin and Zheng Zhi cooperated in a two-pass attack to the front of Uzbekistan's penalty area. Then Yang Xu and Hao Junmin rushed into the penalty area and attracted the attention of many opponent defenders, and a fleeting gap appeared on the left.
Lu Wenbin made a fake move to pass the ball to Yang Xu, deceiving the player defending him and revealing his weakness, then he made a diagonal pass to the left side of the penalty area.
Deng Zhuoxiang cut in from the left side into the penalty area and volleyed the ball before the defender could clear the ball. The ball hit the goal frame and went at an angle, heading straight into the lower corner near the goal.
Although goalkeeper Nesterov made a save, he failed to save the shot from the dead corner in the penalty area. He didn't even touch the ball and watched it go into the net.
Seeing the ball go into the net, the anxious Chinese commentator in the commentary booth suddenly jumped up and shouted excitedly:
"The ball goes in! The Chinese team finally scored a goal. Lu Wenbin assisted Deng Zhuoxiang to tie the score!"
"The biggest contributor to this goal was Lu Wenbin. After he came on in the second half, he took over Zheng Zhi's organization work and kept passing the ball to his teammates, which finally paid off!"
"Now that the Chinese team has equalized the score, they still have a chance. As long as they score one more goal, they can surpass Uzbekistan on goal difference with the same points. In that case, no matter how the match between Qatar and Kuwait goes, the Chinese team will definitely qualify and advance to the knockout stage!"
In the stands and in front of the TV, countless Chinese fans also started yelling.
"nice shot!"
“The score is tied!”
“There is still hope!”
“Come on!”
On the field, Deng Zhuoxiang did not celebrate after scoring the goal. Instead, he rushed into the goal, picked up the ball, ran out and lightly shook hands with Lu Wenbin and other teammates along the way, then returned to his own half and waited for the opponent to kick off.
The Chinese team wanted to kick off quickly, but Uzbekistan was slow.
Although there is not much time left, the Chinese team only needs one goal to surpass them in the rankings.
If Qatar wins a big victory over Kuwait, Uzbekistan may even be eliminated due to goal difference even though they have 6 points in two games.
But as long as they draw, they will not only qualify, but also secure first place in the group, and may face weaker opponents in the quarter-finals.
Therefore, everyone in Uzbekistan wanted to delay time and maintain a draw.
However, the Chinese team did not celebrate after scoring the goal, and Uzbekistan naturally could not delay too long and could only reluctantly return to the center circle to prepare for the kick-off.
Less than 20 seconds after the Chinese team scored a goal and tied the score to 2-2, the game started again. (Seeking monthly votes)