Chapter 235 Xia Qi, Addicted to Stealing
Although Sterling saved Greece from a goal-losing crisis, head coach Santos was still furious. He roared at Karagounis and Maniatis:
"Are you two sleepwalking? Keep your eyes on Xia Qi! That's Xia Qi!"
It seems that Xia Qi is as frightening as a flood or a beast!
"Never leave him alone, no matter where or when, even if he doesn't have the ball at his feet."
After seeing Karagounis and Maniatis nodded heavily to indicate that they understood, Greek head coach Santos walked back to the coaching seat, took the towel from the assistant coach and wiped his back.
Xia Qi's header really made him break out in a cold sweat!
If it is 0:3, it is almost equivalent to surrendering!
It is impossible for Santos not to be afraid!
At this moment, the score is 0:2. There is still the law of backlash to look forward to...
If he could really score a goal, he would definitely smack Sterling like Karnezis did!
……
……
Sterling's follow-up shot boosted the morale of the Greek team and they further stepped up their attack.
After Karagounis received the pass from his teammate in the backcourt, he was double-teamed by Rooney and Sterling.
Karagounis was not in a hurry to pass the ball, but instead planned to fight one against two. Haha, Sterling is "one of his own" anyway, so it would be "two against one" then.
Seeing that Karagounis dared not pass the ball, Rooney immediately accelerated and pounced on him.
Karagounis pulled the ball from his left foot to his right foot.
Rooney's kick missed.
Sterling followed closely behind, and he intended to take advantage of Karagounis's pulling of the ball to destroy it before he made the next move.
Unexpectedly, his physical fitness was so different from Karagounis.
Karagounis pulled the ball and turned to rush towards him, and then he "fell down at the first touch". Not only did he fail to destroy the football, but he also gave the passing interface to Karagounis.
"Sterling, we love you!"
The Greek fans' cheers of insult made Sterling feel irritated, but fortunately his skin color did not show any shame.
Karagounis passed the ball calmly and then accelerated forward.
"Sterling's defense is better than nothing!"
"Sterling's physical strength is not his strong point. With his physique, he will definitely be at a disadvantage in a physical fight with Karagounis."
Karagounis received the ball in the frontcourt and continued to break forward.
The Greek fans in the stands also kept cheering and cheering for him.
Everything was going in Greece's favor. As the Greek offensive line got closer and closer to England's goal, the law of backlash was taking effect...
Suddenly!
Xia Qi rushed out from the side and defended from the middle to the side.
With a precise side-flying tackle, the football in front of Karagounis was just right. At the same time, Karagounis tripped over his calf and fell forward!
Greece’s dream of scoring a goal was shattered in an instant!
The cheers in the stands also came to an abrupt end!
Then they shouted angrily: "Foul!" "This is a foul!"
The referee blew the whistle at the same moment, but did not make a penalty decision immediately, saying he wanted to watch the replay.
“That’s a great shot!”
Indeed, the slow-motion replay clearly shows that this was an extremely beautiful defense.
Henderson stepped forward and patted Xia Qi on the butt: "Well done, but I'm about to lose my job."
Xia Qi gave a slightly awkward dry laugh, ignored him, and reached out to pull Karagunis up.
Karagounis fell hard, but he also knew that Xia Qi's flying tackle was not aimed at him.
This was a perfectly normal foul. After the referee watched the replay, he would make the correct decision. There was no need for him to roll on the ground in order to get extra points.
So he did not reject Xia Qi's kindness, took his hand and climbed up.
Xia Qi's tackle was not simply a defensive move, but was like a fire extinguisher that extinguished the fighting spirit of Greece that had just been ignited.
There is nothing worse than killing someone and destroying their heart!
Xia Qi's flying tackle was brilliantly seen by all the Chinese fans, and their singing became louder and louder. On the other hand, the Greek fans, who were already unhappy, became even more angry!
"Fuck, these Chinese are so noisy!"
"This is a war between us and the British. What does it have to do with them? I'm so angry!"
"There are too many of them. We can't defeat them..."
On the field, the game continued. Greece's fighting spirit was not completely extinguished immediately. They and England were in a stalemate for more than five minutes.
As the game time goes by, the possibility of the backlash law happening is gradually decreasing...
On the field, England launched an attack. Xia Qi carried the ball forward. He first glanced at Walcott, who played extremely well tonight. However, at this moment Walcott was double-teamed.
Although Walcott raised his hand to signal Xia Qi to pass the ball to him, he felt that he could "fight two alone".
However, Xia Qi did not take any risks, but passed the ball to Henderson who was at the back post.
In England coach Hodgson's tactics, Henderson rarely makes forward runs from behind. After all, England's central lane is too crowded with talent and does not need his participation.
Therefore, when Henderson broke through, the Greek defense fell into an inexplicable panic, and they didn't know who should defend Henderson.
By the time Holebas stepped forward to defend Henderson, Henderson had already broken through to the top of the arc in front of the Greek penalty area.
Facing Holebas' defense, Henderson did not choose to pass the ball to the side or take a direct long shot. Instead, he gently knocked the ball sideways and kicked it to Xia Qi next to him.
Torosidis immediately moved close to defend Xia Qi's long shot. Xia Qi had a record of scoring from this position before, so Torosidis had to defend.
He maintained a very reasonable distance from Xia Qi, which not only prevented Xia Qi from breaking into the penalty area, but also enabled him to quickly move forward to block Xia Qi's long shots.
Xia Qi pushed the ball to the left, pretending to force it inwards. Torosidis immediately moved to prevent Xia Qi from breaking through.
At the same time, Greek goalkeeper Karnezis shouted: "We still have to defend his pass."
Xia Qi's passes were also extremely lethal. Karnezis felt that even if he had three heads and six arms, it would not be enough, and he urgently needed help from his teammates.
In fact, even if he didn't shout, his teammates would help him defend the England trident. When he shouted, Torosidis, who was defending Xia Qi, couldn't help but glance left and right, and his attention was inevitably distracted.
Xia Qi, who is in the "one-button hang-up" state, is actually controlled by AI.
Torosidis dared to be distracted, and Xia Qi in AI state dared to shoot!
It was a shot that came without any warning, and not only did Torosidis have no reaction, but even goalkeeper Karnezis was caught off guard.
Xia Qi, who was unable to shoot in the previous second, actually kicked the ball in the next second.
On Xia Qi's shooting route, all defensive players did not make any defensive moves.
When the ball hit the net, the Greek players' heads were buzzing: "We were 'stolen' by Xia Qi again? Is he addicted to stealing?"