Chapter 2325 - 591: The Staff Fighter Connects, Flying Hero
The ball soared almost instantly towards the right side.
But both fans were amazed to see that someone was actually chasing the ball!
It’s impossible for a person to catch up with the ball.
After all, no one can run over 100 kilometers per hour, not even Huang Kaiwen.
The retreating Kuyt was soon overtaken by the ball, and Boulahrouz hurried to the drop point.
But Mata’s ball-stopping skills were simply ridiculous.
Under Boulahrouz’s collision, he still managed to turn sideways and lift his foot, effortlessly stopping this over 70-meter long pass right under his foot, without the ball leaving him for even a centimeter!
Mata immediately started.
His burst of speed wasn’t exaggerated.
But his footwork was very nimble, a simple cut directly put him behind Boulahrouz.
De Jong couldn’t catch up with the chase, and Bouma could only quickly shore up the defense on the wing.
At this moment, Mata was already eyeing his teammates’ positions.
Spain was relatively weak at headers.
He was considering whether to pass back to a teammate advancing or to cross directly.
"Careful!!!"
Bosque shouted from the sideline.
Mata hadn’t reacted yet, when a figure came charging in from the diagonal, precisely tackling the ball out of bounds.
"Kuyt did it!"
"Kuyt chased back over 50 meters, successfully disrupting Spain’s counterattack."
"We’ve seen such scenes often in Huang Kaiwen’s matches before, and Kuyt’s performance on both offense and defense really resembles Huang Kaiwen."
"Spain should still focus on teamwork, the Netherlands players have all returned to strengthen the defense."
Huang Kaiwen was watching the field intently.
Watching the players’ performances.
Ironically, it wasn’t as dangerous during counterattacks.
After all, the Spain players wouldn’t all be up front, so there wouldn’t be as many outlets.
But when there are more people up front, they might use passing to maneuver the defense, thus finding gaps.
Ramos didn’t throw it directly into the penalty area.
He passed to Mata who was there to receive.
Mata started passing the ball.
Just as Huang Kaiwen expected, they began using shifts to move the defenders.
But all the Spanish players noticed one problem, the Netherlands not only had more people in certain areas, but even during defense, they were advancing and retreating in an orderly manner, with almost no leaks.
Xavi couldn’t hold it anymore, forcing a through ball towards the penalty area.
Bouma easily cleared the ball.
Seeing this, Bosque’s eyelid twitched.
Today’s Netherlands team is not simple!
The teams on the field kicked off into a counterattack, the most surprising sight to the world.
The previous Netherlands team was possessed by Italy, a disciple of Mourinho.
But in the blink of an eye, they changed.
Especially in such an important final.
Huang Kaiwen watched the field with pockets in hand.
Kuyt could be both a full-back and a defensive midfielder.
The forwards naturally wouldn’t just stick to their positions.
In previous matches under the chain defense, Huang Kaiwen was observing who was commanding the defense on the field.
Some players are good at marking but like to chase the ball, with poor game reading skills, so they need reminders.
And someone needs to coordinate and plan on the defense line too.
The tactics he used today were diametrically opposed to Mourinho’s, yet the central idea was the same.
The Netherlands team relied on Van Bommel, Flaar, and Stekelenburg to coordinate the defense.
Van Bommel was the captain and the commander of the team, directing teammates during the midfield confrontation.
Flaar, being a player who liked to shout, couldn’t cover all positions while playing on the wing.
But Stekelenburg, like his predecessor Van der Sar, liked to command the defense, which could well make up for Flaar’s wing problem.
The defense line was organized strictly.
The forwards had flexible movements with increased freedom.
This was the essence of Mourinho’s tactics.
However, today’s Netherlands defense didn’t have such strong freedom; mainly, at least one player needed to return to the half-court during defense.
It’s because of this system.
That the Netherlands could stand against Spain.
Huang Kaiwen thought of the previous World Cup final and the later World Cup group matches.
He realized while he valued Spain, he had somewhat underestimated the Netherlands.
If the Netherlands team was in good form, they could still split the odds with Spain 46 or 37.
𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
Since there was a chance of winning, he would use tactics and details to increase the probability of winning.
After many matches under chain defense, the Netherlands team’s defensive tacit understanding greatly improved, which was one of his confidences to face Spain.
Just like leveling up in a game before fighting the boss.
It would be even better to score first.
The Netherlands team’s situation would inevitably change with the variation in stamina.
These were all things Huang Kaiwen had considered.
That’s why before the match, Huang Kaiwen told the players.
To play 90 minutes today.
He wasn’t a deity.
After 90 minutes, if players have run 12,000 meters or more, it’s unrealistic to play extra time.
Fortunately, for now, the scene looks good.
A few minutes later, Spain launched yet another attack.
Harun shifted to the right, and Xavi took the ball, making a precise through pass to the area behind Flaar.
David Silva directly formed a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
Unfortunately, his chip shot was quite ridiculous, directly hanging on the side net.
"Pay attention to the defense, use that tactic!!!"
Huang Kaiwen shouted from the sideline.
Apart from the tactics currently shown on the field.
Huang Kaiwen had also arranged other tactics.
To deal with Spain, not preparing enough would be insufficient.
Bouma looked towards the sideline.
Huang Kaiwen nodded.
He partnered the 1.8-meter-tall Bouma with the equally tall Heitinga, for this reason.
Spain’s head ability in positional play wasn’t strong, but if turned into set-pieces, Piqué and Ramos were still very powerful.