Chapter 627: What Does It Mean to Be a Top Graduate of La Masia Film Academy?
Throughout the first half, Spain completely controlled the pace of the game. They patiently passed the ball around in the Russian half, using the full width of the pitch to pull Russia's defense out of position. Whenever they spotted an opportunity, they would launch a deadly attack.
Russia, prepared for this scenario, conceded possession and pulled their defense back, focusing on forming a tight barrier while waiting for chances to counterattack.
As a result, the match quickly turned into a half-court attack and defense drill.
In the first ten minutes, Spain's possession exceeded 85%, with Russia barely touching the ball. However, Russia defended well, not allowing Spain many clear chances.
In the 11th minute of the first half, Lin Quan was tripped by a Russian player while trying to dribble past him on the left edge of the penalty area. Spain was awarded a free kick.
The position of the free kick made a direct shot difficult, so Lin Quan signaled his teammates, indicating he would cross the ball to the far post.
At that moment, Diego Costa was tussling with Russian center-back Sergei Ignashevich near the right post. Both players were using subtle tricks, pushing and pulling each other. Costa, more experienced in these tactics, noticed Lin Quan's signal and pretended to move toward the center of the box.
Ignashevich wasn't about to let Costa go easily, so he grabbed his arm and pushed him back.
As Lin Quan's cross came in, Costa anticipated the ball's trajectory and used the momentum from Ignashevich's shove to stumble backward on purpose.
Costa's plan was to make Ignashevich fall and create a clear shot for himself. However, when he stepped back, Costa slipped and fell first.
Ignashevich, caught off guard, lost his balance and also fell.
"What the heck? Is this guy trying to draw a penalty?" Ignashevich thought.
But just then, he felt something hit his backside, and the crowd erupted into cheers.
What just happened?
Confused, Ignashevich turned around and saw the ball lying in his own net.
The ball went in?!
Who scored?
He was about to look for the culprit when he noticed his teammates staring at him in disbelief.
Wait, did I score?
Shocked, Ignashevich suddenly remembered the ball that had hit him.
Could that have been the football?
The replay on the stadium's big screen confirmed Ignashevich's worst fear.
Indeed, Spain's first goal had been scored by his own backside!
After sending the ball into the box, Lin Quan had initially been worried when he saw Costa fall, thinking the chance was wasted. But to his surprise, his cross deflected off Ignashevich's body and bounced into the net.
The goalkeeper had no chance to react to the deflection, as it happened too close to goal.
Realizing the ball had gone in, Lin Quan raised his right fist in celebration.
No matter how it happened, a goal was still a goal.
Although Costa hadn't scored it himself, he quickly got up from the ground, not forgetting to mock the bewildered Ignashevich:
"Hey, buddy, that was a beautiful goal!"
"Ever thought about joining the Spanish national team? I could help you with the citizenship process—I'm an expert at that!"
Seeing Costa's smug face, Ignashevich was furious and raised his fist, ready to punch him.
But before he could land the punch, Costa had already fallen to the ground, clutching his face.
The sight left even Sergio Busquets dumbfounded!
Wow, isn't this guy a top graduate of our La Masia Film Academy?
Many of the players hadn't seen what had happened clearly. When they saw Costa suddenly drop to the ground, they assumed a fight had broken out and rushed over to intervene.
The referee was startled and quickly ran over to de-escalate the situation.
If the players started brawling in front of millions of viewers worldwide, it would be a massive embarrassment for FIFA.
"I didn't hit him! He fell on his own!" Ignashevich protested, both angry and frustrated, as he explained to the referee, even trying to pull Costa up from the ground.
But his actions were misinterpreted by the Spanish players.
"Hey! Don't touch him!"
"Back off, man!"
"Are you trying to start a fight?"
To the Spanish players, it didn't matter if they hadn't seen what happened. If Ignashevich was going to manhandle Costa right in front of them, they weren't going to stand idly by.
Russian players saw the Spaniards closing in on Ignashevich and raised their fists, ready to defend their teammate.
The referee, who had been consulting with his assistant about the incident, saw the growing tension and immediately issued a yellow card to Ignashevich.
It didn't matter if he had thrown a punch or not—his behavior had been reckless enough to warrant a warning.
Was it really fair?
Ignashevich felt wronged, almost to the point of tears. He felt as unjustly accused as a character from an ancient Chinese tragedy.
It was Costa who had dived, and he hadn't done anything! So why was he the one getting booked?
Meanwhile, Costa, lying on the ground and groaning in pain, peeked through his fingers. Once he saw that the situation had been handled, he decided to stay down a bit longer.
The referee, seeing Costa still down, called for the medical team to bring out a stretcher.
As Costa was being carried off the field, he continued to groan dramatically, as if he had been seriously injured.
Ignashevich, witnessing Costa's "pain," began to doubt himself.
Wait, did I actually hit him with my punch?
How else could this guy be in so much pain?
Even Ignashevich started to second-guess himself, and the spectators who had initially doubted the situation also believed the yellow card was justified after seeing Costa's apparent agony.
If Costa was hurt so badly that he couldn't even get up, then maybe Ignashevich had deserved that yellow card.
Some fans even thought the punishment was too lenient.
If you can incapacitate an opponent like that with just a yellow card, why not just have every Russian player throw punches to knock out the entire Spanish team?
Bosque, unaware of the situation, rushed over to check on Costa.
Not wanting to take any chances, he even sent a substitute forward to start warming up.
Bosque: "How's he doing? Is the injury serious?"
Team doctor: "Uh…"
Bosque: "It's okay, just tell me the truth—I'm ready."
The doctor, speechless, replied: "Costa doesn't seem to be injured."
Bosque: "Hmm? Then what was…"
Costa: "Ahem… I was faking it!"
Bosque was lost for words. He turned to walk back to the bench, but then realized it would look suspicious if he left too abruptly.
So, he returned to the doctor and Costa and said, "Give him a bit more treatment. Wait about five more minutes before sending him back on."
After giving this instruction, Bosque felt his face heat up with embarrassment. He had a guilty conscience—it was humiliating to resort to such underhanded tactics.
Damn it, Costa! You dragged me down with you!
…
With Costa "injured" and off the field, Spain was forced to play with 10 men for the time being.
Some spectators still harbored doubts about Costa's injury, but as more time passed without him returning, those doubts began to fade.
It seems Costa really was hurt badly.
Five minutes later, Costa limped back onto the pitch, and some fans even gave him a round of applause.
It seemed they were moved by his fighting spirit, returning to play despite his injury.
However, some sharp-eyed fans noticed something strange—wasn't Costa's injury supposed to be to his face? Why was he limping?
Lin Quan was also curious about Costa's limp, but what intrigued him more was the reddish mark on Costa's face.
"What happened to your face?"
Although Lin Quan hadn't seen the scuffle clearly, based on what he knew of Costa, he suspected that Costa hadn't been hit—or at least hadn't been hit successfully.
But Costa's face really was red, as if he had taken a punch.
"Ahem, I rubbed it with my hand," Costa whispered so only the two of them could hear.
Lin Quan was stunned for a moment before giving Costa a silent thumbs-up.
"You really should be in Hollywood, man!"
…
After falling behind, Russia tried to mount a counterattack.
However, Spain wasn't about to let them have an easy time. They pressed aggressively in midfield, winning the ball back quickly and forcing Russia back into their own half.
With a one-goal lead, Spain played even more confidently.
Their possession percentage continued to climb, and by the 30th minute, the stats showed Spain had 90% of the ball.
This was the very definition of possession football, leaving Russia chasing shadows, unable to get near the ball.
In the 37th minute, Russia finally got a great chance to counterattack.
They took advantage of Spain's players being mostly in the Russian half and launched a long pass down the wing, quickly transitioning the ball into Spain's half.
But Spain's defensive recovery was quick, and by the time the Russian winger cut inside into the box, six Spanish players had already returned to defend.
Meanwhile, only three Russian players had made it into the box.
Three against six—scoring in this situation would require perfect teamwork or a major defensive blunder from Spain.
The ball was at the feet of Russia's number 17, Aleksandr Golovin, a 22-year-old attacking midfielder.
Seeing the Spanish defenders closing in fast, Golovin faked a shot, only to pull the ball back to create some space. He then passed it into the middle.
Russia's number 11 took the pass and tried to charge into the box to shoot, but his effort was blocked solidly by a Spanish defender. He nearly lost possession of the ball but managed to pass it back to Golovin just before going down.
Golovin, after making his pass, had smartly retreated out of the box, giving himself some distance from the defenders and creating space to operate.
Receiving the return pass, he used the outside of his foot to flick the ball forward, then curled a shot with the inside of his foot that flew over De Gea and headed for the goal.
It was a beautiful strike.
Russian fans, seeing Golovin's shot, leaped to their feet, eyes locked on the ball.
Come on, go in!
Countless fans mentally willed the ball to fly into Spain's net.
But alas, their hopes were dashed.
The ball curved beautifully through the air, only to fly past the post and out for a goal kick.
Sigh!
A chorus of groans echoed around the stadium.
Russian fans sat back down in their seats, disappointed by how close the shot had come.
It was their best chance of the game so far.
Bosque shared their sentiment.
He stormed up and down the sidelines, furious at his team's defense for allowing such a chance.
Despite having the numbers advantage, his players had been ball-watching, all chasing after the ball like kids in a park, without paying attention to marking their men.
If even one player had stayed on Golovin, he wouldn't have had the space to receive the ball, let alone take such a dangerous shot.
Bosque's outburst left an impression on his players. Normally calm and collected, he rarely got angry, so the stars of Spain's national team—players from some of the biggest clubs in the world—hung their heads like schoolkids who had been caught misbehaving.
"Don't give them another chance like that! Stay focused!"
After his outburst, Bosque quickly adjusted Spain's defensive strategy.
He had noticed that Russia's number 17 was their most dangerous player. Most of Russia's counterattacks had been initiated through him, and he was clearly more talented than his teammates.
Without hesitation, Bosque assigned a player to man-mark Golovin, giving him no space to operate.
"Defend him like you defend Lin!"
Golovin might have been flattered to be given the "superstar" treatment, but he wasn't smiling anymore.
Spain's players might have struggled to stop Lin Quan, but they had no trouble shutting down Golovin.
After enduring Lin's torment during practice, their defensive skills had improved, and dealing with someone like Golovin was easy.
With Golovin neutralized, Russia's most dangerous outlet was gone, and they became even more passive, forced back into their half.
In the 44th minute of the first half, Spain won a corner.
Lin Quan once again signaled that he would aim for the far post, as if trying to replicate the earlier goal.
But Russia had learned from their mistake. This time, in addition to Ignashevich, two other players were stationed around Diego Costa to keep him in check.
As Lin Quan began his run-up and saw Costa surrounded by defenders, he changed his mind and sent the ball to the near post instead.
Piqué, lurking in the middle, read Lin Quan's intentions perfectly. As soon as Lin took the corner, Piqué darted toward the near post, outpacing the defenders and powering a header toward goal.
The ball nearly sailed too high, skimming the underside of the crossbar as it crashed into the back of the net.
The goalkeeper had no chance.
Spain was now up 2-0, and with only a minute left in the half, they had doubled their lead.
Although there was still another half to play, with this scoreline and Spain's overwhelming possession, almost everyone in the stadium believed that Spain had already won.
(End of Chapter)