Chapter 460 Killing Competition
Belgium had one last substitution adjustment. Although it seemed difficult to catch up with the two-goal deficit, Martinez, as the head coach, decided to try again. He replaced right-back Meunier with Batshuayi to strengthen the forwards in the penalty area.
England head coach Southgate made targeted adjustments, Joe Gomez replaced Sterling, and increased the defensive height in the penalty area.
The adjusted Belgium formation became 334, giving people a sense of life and death. The three central defenders Vertonghen, Kompany and Alderweireld, the midfielders De Bruyne, Witsel, Mertens, and the forwards Hazard, Lukaku, Batshuayi and Carrasco lined up.
England's 343 formation gave people a sense of 631 defense with Sterling leaving the field and Joe Gomez coming on. The wingbacks Milner and Arnold retreated to the back line as full-backs, Dale, Henderson and Harry Kane played in the midfield, and only Li Qing was at the forefront of the defense.
However, England's formation change is highly reversible, and 641 can be changed to 4411 when switching from defense to offense.
The restarted game was no choice for the Belgian players. Time was running out. If they wanted to keep their hopes of advancing to the World Cup final, they had to score two goals in the remaining time, and they had to defend without losing the ball, otherwise they would have no hope of advancing.
Li Qing, who had already scored four goals, had a simple job at the last moment of the game, which was to run and involve the three Belgian central defenders, forcing them to not directly move forward to participate in the attack, which meant that the Belgian attack could only be completed by seven players in the frontcourt.
Time passed by second by second, and soon it was close to the 90th minute of regular time. The fourth official was ready to wait for the time to end and hold up the electronic card for extra time.
Hazard dribbled the ball to his familiar right foot on the left, and Arnold defended well without being shaken. With the help of his club teammate Henderson, Hazard was forced to hand the ball back to the core midfielder De Bruyne.
Harry Kane immediately followed up, not giving De Bruyne the chance to easily handle the ball. De Bruyne frowned. His physical strength had dropped a lot since the game started, and it was definitely not possible to force acceleration. He had to pass the ball horizontally to Witsel who came forward to receive it.
Unexpectedly, Milner, who was used to playing high pressure, had an early prediction and just caught up with the opportunity for De Bruyne to pass the ball horizontally to Witsel. He stretched out his foot while running, and the ball rolled to Li Qing who was ready to receive the ball.
"aoaooaooaooaooooooo——"
The sky above the Luzhniki Stadium was filled with the huge cheers of English fans who subconsciously burst out.
"This is a chance to completely kill the game!"
The voice of He Wei, the commentator of Tianchao Channel 5, suddenly rose eight degrees!
Laura, the commentator of the Belgian National Sports Television, saw the ball rolling towards Li Qing and closed her eyes in pain: "It's over."
At the same time, Vertonghen rushed towards Li Qing with great momentum, but Li Qing seemed to have eyes behind his head. He did not turn around to meet the ball. He pushed the ball back with the arch of his left foot, and the ball rolled along the ground towards the captain Harry Kane who was accelerating forward.
After passing the ball, Li Qing ran back two steps to avoid Vertonghen's foul, and then used his left foot as the axis to complete two clockwise 90-degree turns, facing the direction of attack, and sprinting forward along the right sideline.
Vertonghen wanted to retaliate against Li Qing, but Li Qing was very smart and dodged early. When Vertonghen should have turned around to defend his club teammate Harry Kane, it was too late.
Harry Kane, who was proficient in making the ball, pushed the ball with the arch of his left foot, and he sent the ball diagonally to the space behind Vertonghen.
Alderweireld did not dare to rush Li Qing, and chose to fight and retreat, waiting for his teammates to support.
However... except for captain Kompany next to him, there was no support!
However, this time Alderweireld learned to be smart and chose the middle position. Whether Li Qing wanted to break through from the outside or inside, he could make a judgment in the shortest time. In addition, captain Kompany was in the middle to make up for the defense, so he could give up a little distance and mainly defend Li Qing's outside breakthrough.
The three quickly crossed the center line, and Harry Kane, Vertonghen, Milner who came on as a substitute, and the tireless little steel gun Arnold ran frantically to the front court. Once this ball was scored, the rest of the game would be completely reduced to garbage time!
Li Qing brought the ball to the 40-meter area and slowed down the speed of dribbling forward, but Vertonghen was still a little bit struggling to catch up, after all... the game had already entered the injury time stage.
Just as he crossed the center line, the fourth official raised the electronic card for five minutes of injury time.
"aooaooaooaoaooaoo——"
Accompanied by the huge cheers from the audience, Li Qing brought the ball to the 35-meter area. Alderweireld was a little close to him, fearing that Li Qing would choose a long shot in a flash.
The five-meter distance passed in a flash, and Li Qing's forward speed slowed down to a very slow stage. Vertonghen seemed to see an opportunity to catch up with Li Qing.
Li Qing's feet kept pedaling the bicycle, and the center of gravity changed back and forth greatly, giving Alderweireld a feeling that he could break through at any time.
At this moment, Harry Kane, who was following up at high speed in the middle, passed by Li Qing at high speed on the left. Alderweireld and Kompany's pupils shrank slightly, realizing that the situation was not good.
They finally realized why Li Qing slowed down...
Waiting for Harry Kane's support!
What's the truth?
Li Qing, who had a broad vision, originally wanted to make a one-stop attack, but considering that his teammates should have some presence, he waited for them. However, he was not waiting for Harry Kyle, but... Milner who was running at high speed from the far end!
Harry Kane's forward attack was too targeted, and the pass was likely to be intercepted by Alderweireld and Kompany, who had rich experience in the game.
Li Qing flicked the ball to the left with the outside of his left foot. Everyone thought that Li Qing would pass the ball to Harry Kane, but he used the flexibility of his ankle to gently rub the inside of his left foot, and the ball fell into the space behind Kompany.
To be more precise, the ball flew from the right rib of the attack to the front area of the penalty area of the left rib of the attack.
Vertonghen, who was three or four meters away from Li Qing, stopped desperately and looked at the English players who were following at high speed from the far end.
The broadcast screen quickly caught up, and the commentator of Tianchao Channel 5, He Wei, shouted: "Old comrade Milner!"
Kompany had already turned around and chased Harry Kane who was running forward in the gap behind Alderweireld, but Li Qing's pass flew behind him...
With Li Qing's footwork, it was impossible for him to make a mistake, so... there was only one possibility...
"It's over!"
Milner came on as a substitute in the second half. He had no physical problems. He won the ball and rushed forward with a fast speed. Goalkeeper Courtois had to abandon the goal.
Milner, who received the ball, did not take credit for it. He passed the ball horizontally with the arch of his left foot. Harry Kane, who was running forward, gently pushed the arch of his right foot, and the football rolled along the ground towards the empty goal without being guarded...
In the first minute of injury time, the score on the scoreboard became 5:2!
Everyone knew that the game was over early!
"The ball went in! The ball went in! Harry Kane helped England completely kill the game in the first minute of injury time!"
The commentator of Tianchao Channel 5, He Wei, shouted hysterically.