Before the game started, when Lu Wenbin led his teammates into the stadium early for warm-up, they aroused warm applause and cheers from all the Chinese fans in the stadium, which completely suppressed the momentum of the Mexican fans.
The so-called Mexican wave will definitely not work in this game.
As the game approached, the starting players who were warming up left the field one after another.
At 14:20, the 22 starting players of the two teams officially lined up to enter the field.
As the captain, Lu Wenbin, wearing the No. 6 jersey and holding the ball boy, led his teammates and followed the referee team onto the court.
After taking photos, playing the national anthem, shaking hands and choosing sides, at 14:30, amid the cheers of all the fans and with the referee's whistle, the first match of the 2012 London Olympic Games Men's Football Group B between the Chinese U23 National Olympic Team and the Mexican U23 National Olympic Team officially kicked off at St. James' Park in Newcastle, England.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese fans at the scene and in front of the TV were waiting for Lu Wenbin to lead the National Olympic Team to win the first victory of the Chinese men's football team in the Olympics.
In this game, the starting lineup of the Chinese team is goalkeeper Zeng Cheng, defenders Jiang Zhipeng, Du Wei, Zhao Peng, Zhou Yun, midfielders Wu Xi, Zhang Linpeng, midfielders Cao Binding, Lu Wenbin, Bali, and forward Wu Lei.
Three over-age players Zeng Cheng, Du Wei and Zhao Peng, and national team members Wu Xi and Zhang Linpeng all appeared in the game, occupying all key positions in the backcourt, including defensive midfielder, central defender, goalkeeper, etc. There were also all-round offensive and defensive player Lu Wenbin and talented new star Wu Lei.
This is almost the strongest main lineup of the Chinese Olympic Team. These players were used as the main lineup in the training matches before the start of the Olympics.
Not only because this is the Chinese team's first game in the Olympics, but also because Mexico is the biggest opponent in Group B, the Chinese team must face it with the strongest lineup.
Even though the Chinese team is the favorite to win the championship and has a world-class superstar like Lu Wenbin who is good at both offense and defense, the Chinese team cannot afford to be careless in facing the powerful opponent Mexico in its first game.
After the start of the game, the Chinese team relied on defense and played steadily, waiting for the Mexican team to attack and then launching a defensive counterattack.
After all, the overall strength of the Chinese team, except for Lu Wenbin, is still far behind the world's powers, especially the real favorite to win the championship like Mexico.
Although Lu Wenbin can lead the Olympic team and the national team to show off their prowess in Asia, it is actually because the overall strength of Asian football is too low.
In the past in Asia, the tiger Lu Wenbin led 10 sheep to compete with another 11 sheep, and they almost always won by a large margin.
Now leaving Asia and coming to the Olympic stage, Lu Wenbin, the tiger, is leading 10 sheep to compete with 11 wolves.
Although Lu Wenbin, the tiger, can fight a few wolves alone, he cannot contain all the wolves. If he is not careful, problems will arise in the backcourt.
Therefore, even Lu Wenbin did not dare to move too forward, but instead used his excellent defensive ability to help with the backcourt defense, and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack.
How big the gap is between the Chinese team with Lu Wenbin and the world's top teams remains to be verified.
However, the Chinese team was cautious, and the Mexican team was also very cautious. Facing an Asian "weak team" like the Chinese team, they did not launch a large-scale attack.
The reason is that he was afraid of being counterattacked by Lu Wenbin.
After all, this is a group stage, and the Mexican team does not need to fight to the death with the Chinese team. If a draw can be achieved, this would be the best outcome.
The result of both teams playing cautiously was that after half an hour, neither side had scored a goal.
Not only did they not score any goals, they didn't even have many shots on goal.
Lu Wenbin once made a quick counterattack with the ball to the front court, but was brought down when he was about to enter the penalty area.
Although he got a free kick opportunity, the free kick flew directly over the crossbar because the distance was too close.
Neutral British fans have even started booing, and some players on the Chinese team can no longer hold back.
Lu Wenbin kept using voice and gestures to signal his teammates to calm down. The Chinese team's task in the group stage was not to defeat Mexico, as long as they could qualify.
Lu Wenbin's strength, status and leadership aura make his words more effective in the team than the coach.
Under Lu Wenbin's restraint, the Chinese team remained motionless, guarding the backcourt and luring the enemy out of their hole, and only launched a quick counterattack when they saw a good opportunity.
But the situation in Mexico is not good enough, because they don’t have a leader like Lu Wenbin.
They are all young people around 23 years old. They can hold back for half an hour, but they can't hold back for longer. After all, Mexico is the favorite to win the championship, not a weak team.
Therefore, after a half-hour stalemate with the Chinese team, some Mexican players could no longer hold back and involuntarily took up their positions and intensified their attack.
Once, twice, three times, when the Chinese team's goal was attacked again and again and the Chinese team did not counterattack easily, the Mexican players became bolder and bolder. The forwards, midfielders, and defensive midfielders all crossed the center line, and even the full-backs stood near the center line, eager to try.
However, Mexico's attack was never able to break through the Chinese team's goal.
The defense line composed of three over-age players, Zeng Cheng, Du Wei and Zhao Peng, and Wu Xi and Zhang Linpeng, plus the assistance of Lu Wenbin and two full-backs, the Mexican team actually had very few opportunities to threaten the Chinese team's goal from close range.
Coupled with the lack of shooting ability, Mexico's shots hit the goal frame very rarely. The two times they did hit the goal frame were not threatening and were easily resolved by Zeng Cheng.
Seeing their team defeating the Chinese team led by the world's top superstar Lu Wenbin, Mexican fans were very excited and cheered at the top of their lungs in the stands, sometimes even louder than the Chinese fans.
Amid the cheers from the fans, the young Mexican players became more and more excited and paid less and less attention to the backcourt defense.
So, near the end of the game, Mexico was punished.
In the 44th minute, when the first half was about to end, Mexico's next attack was resolved by Zhao Peng's tackle.
The ball that Zhao Peng cleared fell to Zhang Linpeng's feet, and Lu Wenbin and Wu Lei immediately started running towards Mexico's half.
As a key member of the national team, Zhang Linpeng has excellent passing skills.
After grabbing the ball that Zhao Peng had cleared out, Zhang Linpeng first dribbled past the opponent's counterattack, and then made a long pass to the front of Lu Wenbin.
Lu Wenbin was naturally the opponent's main target of defense. Two Mexican central defenders and a defensive midfielder all rushed towards Lu Wenbin.
But it was Mexico that was attacking just now, and there were only these few people in the backcourt. They all rushed towards Lu Wenbin, leaving Wu Lei's side empty.
After receiving the pass from Zhang Linpeng while enduring the shoves and pulls of his opponents, Lu Wenbin protected the ball with his excellent ball control ability, adjusted his angle and passed the ball through the crowd to the front of Wu Lei.