The South Korean players generally possess stronger individual ball control and dribbling skills than the Dragon Country players.

Although Zhao Gang could disrupt the South Korean players and steal the ball from the Dragon Country players, once they gained possession and established a steady offensive rhythm, it was difficult for the Dragon Country players to win it back.

Zhao Gang could intercept individual dribbling attempts, but he struggled to disrupt their passing plays.

After stabilizing their rhythm, South Korea had to think about how to attack. They were currently trailing by one goal. In their previous five World Cup qualifying matches, they had earned ten points. While this seemed like a decent amount, it was insufficient for a top-tier Asian team like South Korea, and they could easily be overtaken by Uzbekistan or even Syria.

Stielike and the South Korean players were under considerable pressure to earn points.

On the other hand, the Dragon Country team, a second-rate Asian team, considered a draw their best acceptable result. Losing the game would lead to immense pressure from domestic media.

Therefore, Stielike constantly directed his team from the sidelines, urging them to attempt an attack.

The South Korean team’s offense was not weak. Their two defensive midfielders included the "Asian Gerrard" and a rising South Korean star. Both wingers also had the potential for explosive plays.

Their lone striker, Lee Tingxie, was considered a top-tier finisher and playmaker in Asia.

Most importantly, the South Korean team displayed exceptional teamwork.

Even with Son Heung-min on the field, the national team didn’t overly rely on the Premier League superstar.

Ki Sung-yueng carried the ball quickly across midfield, observing his teammates' positioning.

Just after breaking through the midfield line, Zhao Gang, who shouldn't have been there, blocked his path.

Yu Dabao was supposed to be in that position, but Zhao Gang took the initiative, and Yu Dabao switched places with him, covering the space behind Zhao Gang.

Ki Sung-yueng possessed excellent long-passing skills. Not seeing a good opportunity, he passed the ball back to a teammate.

He had observed Zhao Gang's defense and knew his tackling ability was strong. More importantly, his speed was exceptional, allowing him to turn and chase even after being bypassed.

At this point in the game, going one-on-one against Zhao Gang would certainly be a disadvantage.

He would wait until the 70th or 80th minute, when Zhao Gang's stamina had decreased, before attempting to take him on.

As Ki Sung-yueng passed the ball away, Zhao Gang didn't follow the ball. Instead, he continued to mark Ki Sung-yueng, who was the engine of the team.

By focusing his defensive efforts on Ki Sung-yueng, Zhao Gang could significantly reduce the South Korean team's midfield control and offensive capabilities.

Similar to how Zhao Gang had marked Qatar's midfield maestro in the previous game, although it would quickly drain his stamina, the benefits would be substantial.

This defensive style was not seen in Manchester City. Zhao Gang might give special attention to a specific player for a period of time, but he mostly appeared in defense as a supporting or covering player.

In the Dragon Country team, his desire to win reached its peak, and he would do everything in his power to win the game.

At that moment, Yu Dabao moved forward to disrupt and press Kim Jin-soo.

Ki Sung-yueng nearly lost his ability to move forward, but his teammates didn't see it as a bad thing. This way, Zhao Gang was also rendered almost useless defensively.

They would let Ki Sung-yueng and Zhao Gang grapple with each other, while they continued their attack from other directions.

The South Korean team tried to create opportunities through both wings, but Zhang Linpeng and Jiang Zhipeng defended excellently. With the support of Zheng Zhi and Huang Bowen in midfield, their defensive line was solid. The South Korean team's attacks had difficulty truly penetrating the penalty area. Even after entering the penalty area, they struggled to find attacking opportunities.

Their space was too limited. One of their defensive midfielders was unable to exert influence, while the other was a forward with insufficient experience playing as a defensive midfielder and lacked vision for passing.

After several unsuccessful attacks, South Korea had no choice but to add more offensive players, with both full-backs joining the attack.

When their short passes failed, they resorted to long balls, resulting in two shots that went wide of the goal.

Faced with a united Dragon Country team, South Korea struggled to find defensive loopholes in a short amount of time.

As Zheng Zhi poked away Koo Ja-cheol’s pass intended to penetrate the penalty area, Zhao Gang, who had been marking Ki Sung-yueng, suddenly turned and ran forward. Ki Sung-yueng subconsciously followed Zhao Gang's movements, even forgetting to cooperate with his teammates to win back the ball.

Huang Bowen, having gained possession, was about to play a long pass to find Zhao Gang when Koo Ja-cheol lunged at him. Full of confidence, Huang Bowen flicked the ball with his foot, shaking off Koo Ja-cheol. By the time Koo Ja-cheol turned around to press again, Huang Bowen had already passed the ball to Zheng Zhi.

"Huang Bowen's move was very confident, and he did shake off Koo Ja-cheol and get the ball out, but he actually missed the best opportunity to attack.

If this were Manchester City, Zhao Gang would have already received the ball and launched a counter-attack. Even if Zheng Zhi could pass the ball to Zhao Gang's feet, the South Korean team's defense would almost be completely in place, and the best time to attack would have already passed.

This is indeed due to some deficiencies in the players' individual abilities.

However, Huang Bowen's handling was already very good."

Zheng Zhi played a long pass, and Zhao Gang, pulled out wide, leaped up and managed to intercept the ball.

The timing of the pass was already late, and the pass itself wasn't perfectly placed. Zhao Gang needed to adjust before he could control the ball.

The counter-attack opportunity was gone. The South Korean players had already retreated into their defensive positions.

Ki Sung-yueng kept pace with Zhao Gang, who dribbled directly forward along the touchline.

He wanted to forcibly cut inside. Kim Jin-soo and Hwang Hee-chan were already in position defensively, preparing to surround Zhao Gang and force him to make a mistake.

Or to steal the ball from Zhao Gang's feet.

Unable to continue forward, and unable to break through into the center, Zhao Gang could only protect the ball and withstand Ki Sung-yueng.

Hwang Hee-chan and Kim Jin-soo saw their chance and immediately went to surround him, but Zhao Gang protected the ball, stopped near the touchline, and directly withstood the two defensive midfielders.

The two of them kept stretching their legs and squeezing him with force, but Zhao Gang, standing his ground, hardly moved. Not to mention being knocked down, he simply wasn't budging!

"That's some physical strength! Immovable as a mountain!"

Kim Jin-soo went around in front of Zhao Gang, went out of bounds, and wanted to kick the ball away, but Zhao Gang took a step and directly blocked Kim Jin-soo. Ki Sung-yueng found an opportunity and was about to clear the ball when Zhao Gang poked the ball away.

Wu Lei, who had been waiting outside for a few seconds, ready to help and receive the ball, immediately charged forward with the ball.

Hwang Hee-chan and Ki Sung-yueng abandoned Zhao Gang and rushed to defend.

Even if Zhao Gang was a threat, at this moment he didn't have the ball and was near the touchline, so he couldn't pose a threat.

"He got it out! He managed to get that ball out! That's incredible individual ability! Three people surrounded him on the touchline in a circle and still couldn't take it away!

Let's watch the Dragon Country team's attack this time, Wu Lei with the ball..."

Wu Lei, carrying the ball, met Kim Tae-hee, who had retreated. In a one-on-one situation, Wu Lei feinted twice, then passed the ball to Yu Dabao.

He wasn't confident that he could successfully dribble past his opponent one-on-one, so he could only look for an opening through teamwork.

In fact, if Wu Lei could break through successfully, it would force the South Korean team to provide cover, which would increase the space for his teammates.

Unfortunately, while he was good at running into position and shooting, he lacked confidence in dribbling with the ball.

And he was already considered a top attacking player in Dragon Country.

This was the embarrassing situation for Dragon Country players. They were passable on the defensive end, but once they encountered defense on the attacking end, not to mention two people, even one person defending, it was difficult to directly break through successfully, let alone dribble the ball while observing teammates' runs.

Therefore, the Dragon Country team's attacks mostly consisted of passing the ball to find open spaces, or directly lobbing the ball into the penalty area to create chaos, or launching quick counter-attacks.

Almost no player could execute a single-player attack, attracting defenders and opening up space.

Yu Dabao dribbled sideways, encountering pressure from the central defender, and passed the ball to Huang Bowen with one touch.

"There's no particularly good opportunity. Wang Yongpo hasn't run into position, so he has to pass it back. Huang Bowen takes the ball forward, and Yu Dabao, Wu Lei, and Zhang Linpeng are also coming up."

Zhao Gang made a reverse run, and the South Korean players subconsciously leaned toward Zhao Gang's direction. Zhang Linpeng seized the opportunity, dribbling fiercely toward the baseline.

Now, there was only Lee Yong marking him, which was already a pretty good opportunity.

After reaching the baseline, Zhang Linpeng didn't have the confidence to quickly change his center of gravity and direction of attack to shake off Lee Yong, so he wholeheartedly accelerated again. He almost reached the baseline without completing the breakthrough, but he did open up an angle.

A cross into the box! Regardless of whether there's a chance, let's fire a shot!

Yu Dabao was in the middle, Wu Lei was at the near post. The ball was passed low, aiming for the near post.

For the sake of stability, Hwang Hee-chan headed the ball out of bounds before Wu Lei could reach it.

If it were an experienced defensive midfielder like Ki Sung-yueng, he would have at least headed the ball out for a throw-in, definitely not giving the Dragon Country team a corner kick.

"Dragon Country team has a corner kick. Let's see if Lippi has made any arrangements for set pieces. Is Wang Yongpo taking the corner?"

Wang Yongpo ran to the vicinity of the corner flag.

"That shows that Lippi really has made specific arrangements. He didn't let Zhao Gang take the corner kick. If Lippi hadn't specifically instructed him, the set pieces and corner kicks should all be taken by Zhao Gang.

Let's look forward to the Dragon Country team's corner kick tactics!"

Wang Yongpo kicked the ball out. Zhao Gang, who was at the near post, was originally positioned very deep. At the moment the corner kick was taken, he suddenly ran towards the outside of the penalty area!

This one run made the South Korean players subconsciously think it was a set play, and two defenders followed Zhao Gang, preparing to intercept him.

The moment the corner kick was taken, a small but significant gap appeared at the entire near post.

At this time, Yu Dabao suddenly appeared. Unmarked, he faced the ball, leaped high, and headed it towards the goal!

The ball speed was extremely fast, and Kwon Sun-tae didn't have time to react. The ball was slammed into the lower right corner of the goal!

"Goal! What a beauty! Yu Dabao scores with a header!"

"This was a very clever set-piece play. Zhao Gang's sudden feint run dragged away the defenders at the near post, while Yu Dabao in the center ran in at the same time, scoring directly at the near post!

Wang Yongpo's pass was aimed very precisely!

This set piece involved passing, screening, running, receiving, and shooting – all smooth and seamless! A very successful tactical execution!

We can see that Lippi is also very pleased and excited. This should be a tactic that they often use in training!

This time, the tactic was executed perfectly!"

"The Dragon Country team is leading two-nil! The Dragon Country team hasn't had such an advantage in a formal match against the South Korean team for nearly twenty years!

For the Dragon Country team, for Dragon Country fans, this is a very exciting and wonderful first half!

In the 38th minute of the match, the Dragon Country team is already leading by two goals!"

"Now, it's the South Korean team, Stielike, who should be having a headache. Stielike's tactics have been very unsuccessful. The two defensive midfielders haven't been able to contain Zhao Gang, and they can't break through on the attacking end. Now he has to find a way to strengthen the attack while stabilizing the defense!"

Stielike's expression was somewhat grave. These players cared too much about Zhao Gang, and they often neglected marking other players because of defending Zhao Gang. If the other Dragon Country players hadn't performed well, containing Zhao Gang would have been a pretty good tactic, but once even one of the other Dragon Country players stepped up, big problems would occur in the defense.

Stielike looked at Hwang Hee-chan. His position was causing too many problems on the defensive end.

This tactic was wrong from the start.

He wasn't Guardiola, and Hwang Hee-chan couldn't be compared to Zhao Gang.

"Aish, Hwang Hee-chan really can't play as a defensive midfielder. He's just following Zhao Gang around, ignoring everyone else."

"Stielike is useless. I've said it before, spending 1.5 billion on him is just wasting our taxpayers' money!"

"Such a simple screen and run, and they left such a large area open?"

"The threat of Zhao Gang is just too great. Our defensive players are under a lot of pressure, especially Hwang Hee-chan. At his age, he desperately wants to prove that he can defend Zhao Gang, and as a result, he created such a big loophole."

"The Dragon Country team used to be easily defeated. Can one Zhao Gang really change this much?"

"Of course, one Zhao Gang won't change this much. The key is that one Zhao Gang has given these Dragon Country players, who were originally a disorganized bunch, hope and united them into a single force."

"Moreover, Lippi can create more tactics based on him. As long as these Dragon Country players have the right attitude, even if the attack isn't great, the defense will improve significantly, and the team's combat power will increase by a large margin!

We're doomed in this game!"

Yu Dabao grinned foolishly, hugging Huang Bowen and Zhao Gang.

He and Zhao Gang were from the same hometown, and his attitude on the field was very good. Zhao Gang had a very positive impression of him.

This time, Yu Dabao didn't miss the opportunity and scored with one strike.

The Dragon Country team was developing and progressing in a promising direction.

Lippi established Zhao Gang as the sole core on the field, and with the support of the old captain Zheng Zhi, at least for the moment, the unity of the Dragon Country team was unprecedented.