"Argentina had lost control of the midfield!"
In the stands, an unnamed Arsenal head coach hit the nail on the head, pointing out why Argentina had fallen into a passive position.
"When they devoted so much energy to defending and containing Lin Feng, they naturally lost their ability to suppress China Youth Team's other midfielders."
Wenger looked rather excited. This trip had truly not been in vain.
Quite a few young talents had emerged at this Youth World Cup.
For instance, Fàbregas's teammate David Silva, the Spanish midfielder currently playing for Spanish Segunda División side Eibar; Colombian striker Falcao of Argentine powerhouse River Plate; and Chen Tao of China Youth Team.
All of these players were promising prospects. If Arsenal bought them and developed them properly, they could very well grow into Top Star Players in the future.
And discovering and developing young talent was exactly what Professor Wenger did best.
Even if these players could not ultimately play for Arsenal, he could still make a fortune by developing and selling them. If he made them Arsenal captains before they transferred, perhaps he could earn even more.
Of course, the biggest surprise of Wenger's trip was still his target player—Lin Feng.
He had already found it astonishing when he saw Lin Feng's long dribbling runs on television.
But after arriving in person, he realized that had not even been Lin Feng's limit.
This guy was even stronger than he had expected!
The discovery delighted the professor, and he wished he could sign him immediately.
Unfortunately, the transfer window had not opened yet, so he could not make a move for the time being.
That made Professor Wenger rather worried, because he had already spotted quite a few competitors.
Many of them were probably here for Lin Feng as well!
What Wenger could see at a glance took Argentina's Head Coach several minutes to figure out.
No wonder Wenger could coach a Premier League giant while he could only lead the Argentina Youth Team!
But even after identifying the root of the problem, he could not come up with a good solution right away.
If they did not target Lin Feng, China Youth Team's counterattacks left them trembling in fear.
If they did target Lin Feng, they could not contain the others.
And while he was still struggling with the dilemma, China Youth Team scored!
In the 62nd minute of the second half, the Chinese team won a free kick in the attacking third.
Chen Tao took it himself, sending the ball straight toward the top corner of Argentina's goal.
Even with all his strength, the goalkeeper could not keep it out.
The score became 2:2. Argentina's lead, which had lasted more than twenty minutes, vanished into thin air!
"That was awesome, Brother Chen!"
"You actually scored that!"
"Brother Chen, teach me how to take free kicks! I want to learn too!"
China Youth Team's players rushed over from all directions, competing to hug and high-five Chen Tao.
His teammates' flattery was so blatant that Chen Tao was almost embarrassed.
"Alright, alright, enough. Stop buttering me up. If you want to learn free kicks, go learn from Brother Lu Lin. Brother Lu is much better than me."
"Ahem, don't flatter me. My free kicks aren't better than yours, really!"
Hearing Chen Tao's words, Lu Lin hurriedly explained.
Come on, you've scored three goals from free kicks already. How could I dare brag that I was better than you?
"Beautiful! This is Chen Tao's third goal from a free kick at this Youth World Cup!"
At China Central Television's Commentary Booth, Huang Jianxiang was beside himself with excitement.
The Argentinians thought that targeting Lin Feng would be enough to contain China Youth Team's attack, but they had completely forgotten that even before Lin Feng burst onto the scene, China Youth Team had already been one of the most potent attacking sides at this Youth World Cup.
During the group stage, the National Football Team won all three matches and scored nine goals. Their tally was second only to Spain team's thirteen, and a full three times that of their opponents, Argentina team!
"China Youth Team has too many attacking threats. The Argentinians simply can't contain them all. Everything they did before was wasted effort!"
Huang Jianxiang's voice brimmed with pride!
When had Chinese football ever played such a lavish game?
China Youth Team's lineup was not built around one core, nor even two. It was a multi-core lineup.
Contain Lin Feng, and Chen Tao could step up. Contain Chen Tao, and Zhou Haibin could step up.
No matter how strong Argentina was, they could not mark all three of them out of the game at once.
So it was inevitable that plugging one hole would only create another!
Watching China Youth Team celebrate wildly, Messi clenched his fists tightly.
Because he had expended too much energy in the first half, Messi played much more conservatively in the second, even reducing his running distance considerably.
His inactivity directly affected Argentina's attack, sharply reducing their threat against China Youth Team.
It was precisely because Argentina could not keep up the pressure that China Youth Team dared to gradually push their formation forward, eventually laying siege to Argentina.
Messi looked up at the clock, and his gaze turned resolute.
China Youth Team's celebration lasted a little over a minute. It was not long at all and was completely within the normal range.
Yet Argentina's players repeatedly protested to the referee, demanding that he tell the Chinese team to end their celebration.
They seemed extremely anxious, afraid the match would be dragged into extra time.
The reason was simple: Messi did not have the stamina to last through extra time. They had to settle the match as quickly as possible.
With their celebration interrupted, China Youth Team's players were quite unhappy.
When play resumed, Argentina indeed launched a massive offensive.
But this time, China Youth Team refused to give an inch. Fueled by adrenaline and anger, they went toe-to-toe with Argentina for a while.
The midfield battle was fiercer than ever. Players were fouled and sent tumbling every so often, the referee's whistle rang repeatedly, and the game stopped and started constantly.
To warn the players on both sides to watch their tackles, the referee handed out cards in rapid succession.
Players from both teams received yellow-card warnings.
But it did little good. Neither side was willing to surrender control of the midfield.
The brutal battle continued!
"Isn't this a bit too brutal?"
"These two teams don't have some deep blood feud, do they? Why does it feel like they've run into their fathers' killers? They're playing so viciously!"
Neutral fans could not make sense of it, but both Chinese and Argentine fans had already been whipped into a frenzy.
They loudly cheered for their own players. Even when a player fouled someone and received a card, they still applauded, their applause even more enthusiastic than usual.
In the 77th minute, Argentina finally found an attacking opportunity.
They quickly took a free kick, bypassing the midfield entirely and sending the ball forward to Messi's feet.
Messi dribbled past Cui Peng, then threaded a pass into the penalty area.
The through ball was deadly. It tore straight through China Youth Team's defensive line, giving the onrushing Argentine player a one-on-one chance against the goalkeeper.
Yang Cheng immediately chose to come off his line, while Argentina's striker Oyerman sprinted at full speed.
With a bang, the two collided violently. The ball slowly rolled across the grass toward China Youth Team's goal.
Just as the ball was about to cross the line, a red figure charged in from behind and cleared it away almost on the goal line.
China Youth Team captain Feng Xiaoting saved the team at the crucial moment!
Argentina had nearly taken the lead again!
China Youth Team narrowly escaped disaster!
But it did not come without a price.
On the pitch, China Youth Team goalkeeper Yang Cheng and opposing striker Oyerman, who had collided, both lay on the grass in pain, unable to get up for a long time.
Seeing players injured on the ground, the referee stopped the match.
The medical staff from both sides hurried over with their kits. After examining them, both teams' doctors tacitly signaled for substitutions. Neither injured player could continue.
Klopp cursed under his breath and could only send on substitute goalkeeper Yu Ziqian.
Argentina also brought on substitute forward Agüero.
With their momentum rising, Argentina wanted to press on and continue putting pressure on China Youth Team.
And seeing his close friend come on, Messi became even more active than before.
He confidently carried the ball forward through the middle. After dribbling past several players in succession, Messi reached the edge of the penalty arc.
Seeing Agüero's clever run, Messi was about to pass the ball into the box and set up his close friend, only to discover in shock that the ball at his feet was gone.
Messi spun around and found that the one who had stolen the ball was none other than Lin Feng, who had been quiet for nearly thirty minutes of the second half.
Messi's anger flared at once. Without even thinking, he instinctively chased after Lin Feng!
But he seemed to have overestimated his own speed...
Before you continue