The match between France and Germany was supposed to be a clash of two strong teams, but the game was quite dull, with only one goal scored in ninety minutes, leaving people feeling unsatisfied.

Having just finished watching that game, the fans then watched the match between China and Colombia, only to find that it was completely different.

From the very beginning, China and Colombia didn't engage in any tentative probing; they launched into a high-speed, highly combative contest right from the kickoff.

This really surprised the commentators and fans.

They had originally thought that since both teams had made it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, they should be more cautious, because the two teams were evenly matched, and the outcome could depend on a single goal. If they weren't careful and made a mistake that the opponent seized upon, it would all be over.

The cautious way France and Germany played showed what teams of similar strength would do…

But China and Colombia didn't seem to think that much.

In terms of the starting lineup, Yang Hao, who had started every game before, wasn't in the starting lineup this time. Veteran Zheng Zhi replaced him.

Apart from that, the starting lineup in other positions was exactly the same as in the previous game.

The adjustment of Yang Hao's position alone wasn't just to avoid the risk of Yang Hao being suspended due to yellow cards, but for other purposes.

This could perhaps be seen from the fierce attack that the Chinese team launched against Colombia after the start of the game.

Whether it was in Guangzhou Hengyuan or in the national team before Zhou Yi, Zheng Zhi was responsible for controlling and orchestrating the midfield. He wasn't the kind of player who rushed forward and then delivered a deadly through ball to assist his teammates. Of course, he could do that; he had the ability to do so, but he was better at organizing the midfield.

When Zheng Zhi returned to the field, Zhou Yi didn't need to take on too much of the task of organizing the midfield. He could completely hand over this task to Zheng Zhi. And what about Zhou Yi?

Lippi's task for him in this game was to move forward, closer to Colombia's penalty area, and use his vision and ability to deliver more deadly passes. In addition, he could also threaten Colombia's goal with long shots.

From this adjustment, it could be seen that Lippi was thinking about offense, not defense. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let Yang Hao, who was better at defense than Zheng Zhi, sit on the bench.

Lippi wanted to use offense to fight Colombia. He hoped to end the game within ninety minutes this time.

Why?

Because the Chinese team's stamina was now a problem. If they played for another one hundred and twenty minutes, or even a penalty shootout, the Chinese team's stamina would really be exhausted.

By then, even if they got past Colombia and made it to the semifinals, they wouldn't have much strength to resist against Germany.

Considering this, Lippi hoped that the Chinese team could solve the battle in just ninety minutes, so that the Chinese players wouldn't consume so much energy.

After all, the Chinese team didn't have enough bench depth, and the players they could use were limited. The eleven players who started the game were basically the strongest lineup of the Chinese team. This starting lineup was relatively stable, and he could only make minor adjustments in one or two positions in each game. So far, this lineup had played four games, almost all of which were fierce and hard-fought battles. Especially the last round, the round of sixteen against Brazil, they not only played for one hundred and twenty minutes, but also completed five rounds of a penalty shootout.

Although Lippi gave the team a day off the day after the game, this was tantamount to a drop in the bucket for the Chinese players who had been fighting continuously.

It should be known that before the World Cup, only one-third of the Chinese domestic Super League and the AFC Champions League had been played, and the physical energy consumption of the Chinese domestic players was not too great. However, the overseas players who supported the main combat power of this team had experienced an entire European season. Among the six of them, except for Yan Min, who didn't play many games in the first half of the season, the other five were the absolute main players of their respective teams, starting every game and never resting.

The intensity of the European leagues was very high, and the squeezing of players' physical strength was also very extreme. Therefore, every overseas player who returned to the national team was actually in a state of fatigue, and directly invested in the national team's training camp without rest.

Not to mention Zhou Yi and Yan Min. They reached the Champions League final with Dortmund and did not end their club matches until May 25.

Zhou Yi was definitely the most tired person in the team, because he was an indispensable core in Dortmund. Apart from missing more than a month of games due to injury, he participated in all other games. Dortmund suffered frequent injuries this season, and the dependence on Zhou Yi was even greater.

In addition, the injury in the Champions League final prevented him from training normally with the Chinese team.

Don't think that if a player doesn't participate in training and rests at home, he can recover his strength quickly, and he can be in better physical condition than those players who train normally… On the contrary, such a player is in worse physical condition. Because for professional players, physical fitness is definitely not cultivated by rest, but accumulated by scientific, continuous and stable physical training.

Zhou Yi missed the national team's important training due to injury, which made his physical condition worse than that of his teammates.

Lippi didn't want to increase the burden on the team. Instead of conservatively grinding against Colombia, it was better to end the battle quickly, so that he would have more room for maneuver in substitutions.

Why did he think he could end the battle quickly?

Because Lippi didn't believe what the outside media said, that this was an evenly matched game.

He believed that the strength of the Chinese team was above Colombia's.

Although the Chinese team was far behind Colombia in terms of the number of goals scored in this World Cup—the latter has scored eleven goals so far in this World Cup, only one goal less than the Netherlands, ranking second in the World Cup goal list. And the Chinese team has only six goals. However, half of the Chinese team's six goals were scored when Zhou Yi was not on the field. The first two group matches were not the complete form of the Chinese team.

Although the Chinese team may not be able to compete with Colombia in terms of the number and value of stars, the Chinese team has first-class European players in key positions. There are He Ying and Yan Min, the main players of their respective clubs, in the front line, Zhou Yi and Yang Muge in the midfield, Guo Nu in the back, and Sun Pan as the goalkeeper. This is exactly a very excellent central axis.

Lippi firmly believed that his team could definitely defeat Colombia.

※※※

The Chinese team, which was aggressive in attack, launched a fierce attack on Colombia's goal after the start of the game.

In the third minute, Yan Min was brought down by Colombian player Carlos Sanchez when he took the ball inside on the left.

The Spanish referee Velasco ruled that the Colombian player had committed a foul and gave the Chinese team a free kick opportunity in the frontcourt. This free kick was a little in front of the top of the arc, which was a slightly left-leaning angle, but a very good free kick position.

He Ying took the free kick that could be shot directly, and the football he kicked went around the wall, but flew out from the outside of the left goalpost of the Colombian goal.

"Oh! What a pity!" commentator Duan Xin exclaimed. "It almost went in!"

In the sixth minute, the Chinese team launched an attack from the left. When Yan Min took the ball on the left and tried to break into the penalty area, the ball was kicked out of the baseline by a Colombian player.

The Chinese team therefore got a corner kick opportunity.

This set piece was taken by Zhou Yi. He ran to place the ball, and Guo Nu and Feng Xiaoting, the two Chinese team defenders, also entered the Colombian penalty area.

"The Chinese team got a corner kick. This is the first corner kick of this game…" Duan Xin said.

After placing the ball, Zhou Yi took two steps back, preparing to kick the corner kick.

In the penalty area, the players on both sides were also in place.

After a run-up, Zhou Yi kicked the ball towards the goal with his right foot. It was an inswinging ball, and the ball flew towards the front post of the goal.

In this position, He Ying and Guo Nu were both fighting for the header, and the two of them also drove the defensive force of Colombia in front of the goal. As many as four defensive players squeezed around them to defend them.

But neither side touched the ball.

The ball brushed over He Ying's head and flew straight to the back post of the goal!

The ball brushed past the goalkeeper in front of him. Because the speed was too fast, the goalkeeper didn't react at all. He just turned his head to follow the ball and looked at the back post.

There, there should have been a defensive player, but he was also attracted by the scramble for the header at the front post just now and ignored the person next to him.

Feng Xiaoting, another center back of the Chinese team, seized this opportunity to rush out from beside him and happened to appear at the landing point of the ball!

He raised his foot and swept the flying ball towards the goal!

The Colombian goalkeeper Ospina made a save only after seeing Feng Xiaoting shoot, but how could it be in time?

If a person could stand at Colombia's far post when defending the corner kick, he could still block Feng Xiaoting's shot. But this time, Colombia didn't do that, and the ball flew into the goal without any suspense!

"Ah! Feng Xiaoting! Goal!!" Duan Xin shouted excitedly. "The Chinese team took the lead in just seven minutes of the opening! That's great! This start is really great!"