Chapter 543: Fierce Strangling (Everyday Transition)

The head referee blew the whistle.

The match officially began.

The roar of the crowd at Shengbidebao Stadium surged again.

Croatia had possession.

Mandzukic kicked off, passing back to Rakitic.

Both sides' formations quickly unfolded on the pitch.

The centre forward moved wide.

Perisić stayed central.

Modrić drifted toward the right half.

The ultimate form of the right half?

Rakitic didn't launch a long pass to find the advancing Atlético full-back; instead, he played a low, angled pass that cut through the pressing network formed by Morata and David Silva.

"The Barça midfielder passed the ball to the Real Madrid midfielder."

"Nice."

"Trap it."

"Flick with the outside of the foot!"

"Modrić shook off the pressing Iniesta."

"A rapid advance down the right flank!"

"As everyone knows, over the past two seasons Modrić has played left half for his club, sacrificing himself for the team."

"Only as a right-footed right-half for the national team is his true ultimate form."

"Watch closely, Busquets seems to hesitate between pressing and dropping back."

Croatia's midfield maestro sprinted across the pitch.

His blond hair flowed.

The spectators inadvertently realized: this so-called "Cruyff II" hexagonal midfielder, every touch, step, and posture while running, was utterly unique.

Busquets didn't hesitate long.

Even though he hadn't often faced the "right-half version" of Modrić in La Liga, Barcelona's defensive midfielder remained full of confidence.

He quickly adjusted his defensive positioning.

His brain raced.

"Modrić's attacking direction options in the right half are numerous; his preferred foot is right, but his outside foot"

"He will surely pass the ball."

"His habit, in tight battles, is to always play a safe pass."

"Next, it's all about simplifying the complex."

Accompanied by deafening cheers.

Spanish half.

Modrić and Busquets met.

In a daze.

Shengbidebao seemed to become Camp Nou, the Bernabéu.

In a close-quarters instant.

Busquets found he couldn't press or win the ball.

He couldn't even shrink Modrić's passing space.

Modrić flicked his blond hair.

With the outside of his right foot he lifted the ball away from his centre of gravity.

Against common sense.

Against football's norms.

The man who mastered close-quarters space better than anyone in this era.

"Decelerate, shift sideways, and instantly open up space."

"Masterful poise."

"Huh?"

"How did he get that pass off?"

Smack!

The right half's right-footed instep Ultimate Magic Flute Form.

Before Aspilliqueta could provide cover.

He delivered an exquisitely curling long pass.

Mismatch Bombardment!

An extremely covert attacking shift!

Busquets groaned, wanting to clutch his head—wrong, he had guessed wrong.

The national-team version of Modrić is practically a completely different attacking midfielder from his club self.

The camera sped along the ball's trajectory.

Left flank!

Mandzukic tightly smothered Carvajal.

Carvajal is a rare genius full-back.

When he first started out and served Lewokusen, he could directly resist the "Robben-Ribery" combination, astonishing Europe, overpowering Lahm and Alaba, and won the Bundesliga Best Full-back.

【

He is simply Li Kang in a full-back version.

Even the extreme explosive power of players like Neymar and Hazard would find it hard to gain an edge over him.

Too bad.

Mandžukić on the wing is Carvajal's nemesis.

Suppression.

Strong physical suppression.

Landing spot.

Mandžukić leaned on Carvajal with his back to him.

Utterly unreasonable close-quarters combat.

Beautiful!

Mandžukić traps the ball.

Rakitić makes a forward run.

The checkered team's attacking chain is simple yet not lacking in flair.

Mismatch Bombardment - layoff - forward run - wall pass.

The national team Rakitić and the Barcelona Rakitić are also two different people.

No longer the diligent engineer form.

But rather the imaginative genius teenager from his Schalke 04 and Sevilla days!

He is obviously talented—why would he go shovel dung?

Qiqiqilink.

Consecutive wall-pass combinations.

Croatia tore apart Spain's defense.

Many years later, people's inherent impression of the undying veterans of the checkered team might be: parking the bus.

However, after the 2018 semi-finals, Croatia has become synonymous with attack and flair.

No matter how strong the opponent, they will still attack.

On the sidelines.

Mininano stared wide-eyed.

Bosque involuntarily stood up.

Dalić's expression remained calm, his hands hidden in his pockets trembling nonstop.

Perišić!

Shot!

What is he doing?

Oh dear, this ball could be scored by Lukaku, Sterling, or Bentek.

The football didn't fly toward the goal, but weakly rolled to Ramos's feet.

He didn't clear it with a big kick.

Instead, he wanted to pass to the withdrawing Li Kang.

The distance was very short.

Spain's transition from defense to attack began at this moment.

After Piqué turned his head to observe, he frantically jabbed his fingers, signaling Ramos to pass to the flank.

Modrić is truly everywhere.

He seemed to have guessed that Ramos would pass the ball to Li Kang.

No one knows how the Croatian midfield managed to get close to Li Kang in such a short moment.

Stepping on the ground to change direction.

Attempting to block Li Kang's receiving position.

Li Kang forcefully pushed off the turf, shoved Modrić aside, lifted his right foot high, and easily trapped the ball.

There was no violent physical foul.

The two were like bouncing off each other in a confined space.

Are you guys dancing?

Don't fight anymore!

Li Kang ran a small arc, opened up space, turned, and passed with the outside of his right foot.

It was blocked slightly by Modrić's thigh.

That block was crucial, giving our backline ample time to get into position!

Li Kang still managed to control the ball—this is the advantage of control radius!

V-shaped drag!

Then turn again and pass to Busquets!

Too elegant!

Hey, the incoming Brozović successfully intercepted!

Busquets really seemed a bit distracted.

The strangling tempo was too fast.

A second ago, it was an outside-of-the-foot pass to find David Silva.

In the next second, a V-shaped pull ball, looking for himself?

Short circuit—he didn't expect Li Kang, under Modric's tight interference, could still so calmly find a reasonable route.

As a result, at the moment of receiving the ball, he was heavily headed by Brozovic.

Instinctively, he fell to the ground in 'pain'.

Who would have thought that the main referee, praised as the 'Premier League Four Blind', Clattenburg, would actually have fiery golden eyes on the World Cup stage, upholding his fair and just refereeing principle!

"Brozovic didn't commit a foul."

"Modric's reaction was quick, he opened up the distance with Li Kang."

"Receive the ball."

"A flick with the outside of the left foot, then turn and dribble forward!"

"Li Kang positioned himself precisely, stealing the ball head-on!"

"Modric did a step-over."

"Oh no! The move was too fast, I couldn't see clearly"

"Neither of them could fully control the ball."

"Li Kang gained the advantage in this face-to-face confrontation and passed to Iniesta."

"Wow! Rakitic stopped the ball before Iniesta."

"Another Croatian attack!"

Modric moved laterally, opened up space, and raised his hand to ask Rakitic for the ball.

A brutal local deadlock, without pause.

The forward line pulled at the defensive line.

Midfield versus midfield.

The audience was dumbfounded.

Such intense yet gentle confrontation on the World Cup stage is too rare.

There were no fouls that interrupted the game.

It was entirely a battle of technique and overall vision.

Of course, this all presupposes that neither side's stamina has declined.

Everything happened too quickly.

Bosque was so angry his beard trembled; how come Busquets only just got up now!

Rakitic's diagonal pass slid effortlessly past the side of Barcelona's defensive midfielder and reached Modric's feet.

"Modric dribbled the ball to the right diagonal of Spain's penalty area!"

"Azpilicueta is very experienced, he tucked in early."

"Modric, raising his arms to open his body, is about to shoot!"

"It's a feint!"

"The Chelsea defender was fooled; in his blocking stance he couldn't recover his balance!"

"Modric!"

"A cross to the middle!"

"Wow!"

"Li Kang's divine anticipation! Successfully intercepted the ball!"

"Rakitic's counter-press!"

"Can't win it!"

"A signature long through-ball, Spain's counterattack is coming!"

"."

"Iniesta was again successfully dispossessed by Brozovic who came up from behind."

"You can tell, after receiving the ball he wanted to make a move to shake off his defender, but he's old after all—his change-of-direction step frequency slowed, he can't withstand this level of confrontation."

Live broadcast room.

Danmu flying everywhere.

【Li Kang created several chances to transition attack in a very difficult static environment, but the teammates receiving the ball kept having problems.】

【Brozovic and Rakitic are no novices; using their bodies to suppress the 'old' Iniesta is absolutely no problem!】

【The World Cup version of Modric is truly awesome, super form.】

【If Croatia keeps up this deadlock a few more times, Spain will be worn raw; just now it was too chaotic, with both sides' midfield positions almost randomly rotating.】

All around the stands, the cheers gradually subsided.

All the spectators felt satisfied.

They reminisced about the intense deadlock just now.

Croatia's backline slowed the attacking tempo.

Modric bent over, hands on his knees, gasping heavily.

He held that pose for only a few seconds, then he resumed sprinting on the green field.

Li Kang adjusted his shin guards, then immediately went from a strolling state to a frantic running state.

The spotlights in Saint Petersburg seemed to shine only on the two of them.

(End of chapter)