Chapter 1 Moscow Suburbs

The Monastery of Jerusalem, built in 1656 just outside Moscow, had become quite lively recently.

This was because the heavily guarded French team's base was nearby.

An amusing incident occurred during the World Cup group stage: a high-ranking official of the French Football Federation, Le Graët, was turned away by the base security for forgetting to bring all his credentials.

Inside the base's conference room.

It was dimly lit, with only the glow of the LED screen illuminating Deschamps' facial features.

Deschamps finished watching the first half of the Spain-Argentina match.

He rubbed his temples.

He had a dream last night: he dreamt that France's opponent in the round of 16 was Argentina. Messi had 2 assists, 33 key passes, 6 dangerous area breakthroughs, and 4 successful tackles. Even with Kanté and a world-class ‘fast, tough, tall’ top-tier defense, they couldn't stop the all-powerful Messi. France even fell behind at one point and was in trouble. Fortunately, Messi was exhausted in the second half, and France won the game 4-3.

Thankfully, it was just a dream.

Li Kang and Messi, these two monsters, clashing in the round of 16 was good news for the other teams.

*Clap!*

The black assistant coach turned on the lights.

Rows of small black heads became visible in the seating area.

Pogba crossed his arms in front of his chest, his expression arrogant: "What Li and Messi can do, I can also do."

His voice wasn't loud, but Kanté, sitting next to him, heard it clearly.

Kanté smiled, revealing his white teeth, and nodded vigorously: "Yes, Paul! You're also great!"

Come to think of it, it was true: in today's football world, other top midfielders are good at exploiting space to find weaknesses, but only Li, Messi, and Pogba can create space in a one-on-one situation.

In the corner.

Mbappé, savoring the peak showdown between Li Kang and Messi, couldn't help but feel excited.

Kazan Arena.

Halftime.

Substitute players came onto the field to warm up, drawing cheers from the audience.

Spain's locker room.

Millaño loudly encouraged the team:

"Argentina's defense is very ordinary, it's just Mascherano having a resurgence."

"They won't be able to last much longer in the second half, especially after the 70th minute, Messi's offensive threat will also be greatly reduced."

A moment later.

Del Bosque indirectly praised the performances of Koke, Carvajal, Saúl, and others while reviewing the offensive chain.

Li Kang? Did Li Kang need praise?

As for the defense... the coaching staff was a bit troubled: they didn't expect Sampaoli to suddenly figure things out and use Messi in midfield like Valverde.

Li Kang lay face down on the bench, the team doctor massaging him.

No legendary phantoms appeared in this match.

Argentina's locker room.

Sampaoli spoke with excitement and fervent eyes:

"Argentina will not fall here!"

"You played very well, we tied the score, and we will definitely turn the tide!"

"No matter how the opponent adjusts their defense, they cannot withstand our offensive!"

After finishing his pep talk, he had the assistant coach review the first half while he called Messi aside to communicate.

Few national team coaches have as much power as France's Deschamps.

The Argentine Football Association has been extremely chaotic since Grondona's death. During this World Cup qualifying round, it was exposed by the media that Messi personally paid for the team's security guards! And during the warm-up matches, the media again exposed that Messi paid for the plane tickets and even the compensation for canceling commercial matches!

The fifteen-minute break ended quickly.

The players from both sides returned to the field.

The Kazan Arena was filled with noise again.

"Good evening, viewers, and welcome back!"

"We are now broadcasting the 2018 World Cup Round of 16."

"The second half of Spain versus Argentina."

"The score is currently tied at one to one."

"Del Bosque made the first substitution, Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago replacing Iniesta!"

"This means that Spain's formation is likely to become 4-4-1-1, with Li Kang and Morata at the front, and the rest strengthening the encirclement of Messi and Di Maria!"

"Sampaoli has not made any substitutions for the time being."

With the referee's whistle.

The second half officially began.

Argentina had possession.

Higuaín kicked off and passed it horizontally to Di Maria.

Di Maria, like a child playing FIFA, took a few steps forward and dribbled past Morata who was pressing up.

"Argentina's formation is pressing forward significantly."

"Sampaoli wants to create a complete offensive chain during this period! The longer the stalemate continues, the more detrimental it will be to Argentina's stamina!"

"Beautiful!"

"Di Maria's performance on the left!"

"Watching players of this type play is simply a joy, even Tagliafico, who cuts inside from the side, has been turned into a top full-back."

Messi disappeared?

No.

He changed form again!

Strictly speaking, during this historical period, the 17-18 and 18-19 seasons, during the autonomous offensive phase, his role could switch back and forth between "midfield Messi" and "deep-lying offensive Messi."

During the team's advance, Messi sometimes paused, sometimes strolled, and sometimes accelerated.

His range of activity became fragmented and scattered between the right and center.

Making the Spanish midfield a little troubled.

"Messi receives the ball... one-touch pass to Banega who is cutting in."

"Pay attention to his next run."

"Deep into the space between the lines."

"And then pulls out again."

"Retreat."

"As the Argentina defense presses forward, Messi's position in the formation structure becomes increasingly backward, making it a bit difficult for the opponent."

"Di Maria gets the ball again, he is very steady with the ball, and he has also switched to midfield form at this moment."

"The game is about to enter the positional warfare phase."

Argentina's attacking stance thrilled the audience.

Who said the World Cup is a stage for low-block defense?

Higuaín was at the forefront, chatting with Piqué and Ramos.

Mercado no longer cut inside but transformed into a right forward.

Banega and Mascherano leaned towards the left, strengthening the passing and coordination with Di Maria and Tagliafico.

Even defender Otamendi pushed up to the edge of Zone 14.

"Sampaoli's football philosophy is vividly displayed during this period."

"Aggressive!"

"Reckless offense!"

"Argentina is speeding up!"

"Busquets, no longer watching Messi from a distance, quickly made up for the gap on the right side."

Tagliafico and Di Maria completed a beautiful one-two.

Cutting into the left side of the penalty area, he passed to Di Maria again.

Carvajal's defensive positioning was perfect.

Speaking of the one-on-one strength of the Real Madrid full-back, well, judging from the real objective video data in the past, even Ribéry had to suffer when facing him, whether it was during his time at Leverkusen or Real Madrid.

He once angered Ribéry to the point of slapping him in the game.

But.

Di Maria is even more magical. Throughout his career, he has been able to go toe-to-toe with "world-class full-backs" from different periods!

"Inertial feint!"

"No, it's a double feint!"

"The ball is at his feet."

"I slowed down my pace."

"Angel Wings!"

Carvajal was very calm, his balance control was extremely strong, and he didn't fall for the opponent's change of rhythm.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

The Real Madrid full-back suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Di Maria wasn't trying to get past him.

Instead, he was attracting the defense, indirectly opening up the space at the top of the arc again.

Off-camera.

"Deep-lying Messi" had already started his run early.

Messi's ability to read the defense and capture weaknesses in space had reached perfection.

During his days at La Masia's false-nine phase, he honed his top-notch deep-lying forward-thinking.

Sampaoli on the sidelines was excited.

What football philosophy?

The purpose of the aggressive positional switch and push forward was also to create a local weak side in the opponent's defense, to serve Messi!

"Di Maria failed to get past Carvajal!"

"It's not needed!"

"Double back-body feint!"

"Wow!"

"Explosive outside of the foot!"

"A beautiful pass!"

"Space!"

"Passed to the space in Zone 14!"

"Messi appears in the space in Zone 14!"

"Messi!!!"

"Lionel Messi!!!"

During this historical period, fans who watched the games often had a feeling: once players like Messi and Hazard received the ball in a dangerous area, you would have a premonition that the ball was going in!

This premonition was often accurate.

The opposite was true for those ‘happy’ players like Benteke, Sturridge, Batshuayi, Sterling, Lukaku, Morata, Cavani, Wu Lei, and Gao Lin.

Spanish fans watched Messi's volley and fell into despair!

Del Bosque subconsciously covered his chest.

De Gea felt a lot of pressure.

He was now facing: the man with the most impressive outside-the-box shots in the top five European leagues, Messi!

In a daze.

A black-haired figure stood in front of Messi.

Spain No. 6 vs. Argentina No. 10.

It seemed that all the spotlights in the Kazan Arena were only focused on them.

The breeze from the Kazanka River fluttered their clothes.

"Messi's footwork changes too quickly."

"Fake shot and dribble…"

"Dreamy footwork."

"Left foot, left foot, left foot... right foot!"

"Li Kang's body flexibility and control radius..."

The commentator rattled off a string of words, incoherent, unable to keep up with the movements of the two.

Li Kang ignored Messi's change in cadence.

Close marking.

Force him outside, defend the inside.

Messi's speed didn't slow down at all, he made a diagonal strong breakthrough.

Li Kang pushed off with his left foot, trying to tackle with his right foot.

Messi instantly touched the ball, slightly changing its path.

Li Kang's right foot tackled thin air.

He wasn't beaten outright.

After his right foot tackled thin air, he barely managed to maintain his posture, using his landing right foot as a support foot, pushing off again, and tackling with his left foot!

*Thwack!*

Messi lost control of the ball... and staggered to the ground.

All of this happened in just a few seconds.

Ramos quickly cleared the ball with a long kick.

De Gea, who was closest, was dumbfounded.

Del Bosque was stunned.

Sampaoli was stunned.

The fans all over the world in front of the TV were also stunned.

The commentator stammered out: "This kind of body flexibility..."

The referee quickly waved to the team doctor on the sidelines, he knew that Li Kang was very likely to have pulled a muscle.

Livestream.

The slow-motion replay of the 'Li Kang vs. Messi' moment.

-

[Am I watching a sci-fi movie?]

-

[It's not a sci-fi movie. Back when so-and-so was defending Ronaldo, there was a similar series of tackles. This movement has already been incorporated into Southampton's teaching materials, it's just that ordinary players don't have Li Mingdeng's freakish physique.]

-

[Freakish.]

-

[Awesome.]

-

[A savage and elegant side-body double flying tackle.]

-

[Argentina's offensive chain deployment was very strong this time. Messi's understanding of space is very deep. He drops deep and cuts forward, capturing offensive spaces. It's a pity that Li Mingdeng destroyed the finishing touch at the last moment.]

-

["Deep-lying Messi" vs. "Disruptor Li."]

-

[De Gea stepped forward to care for Li Kang as soon as possible. He must be saying: Li, some responsibilities must be borne by me independently, you don't have to work so hard.]

-

[De Gea: Li! Save me!]

Kazan Arena.

Tens of thousands of spectators couldn't help but raise their hands.

*Clap!*

*Clap clap clap!*

Thunderous applause rang out from all sides of the stands, lasting for a long time.

Messi got up and went to check on Li Kang's injury.

Li Kang felt like his back was about to break, a sharp pain came from his right ankle, and his left thigh also felt a tearing sensation.

In the past, being able to gain an advantage in a matchup with Messi "in space"... either Nesta's phantom descended, or he exhausted several incomplete modules.

A moment later.

He got up again.

Del Bosque and the coaching staff breathed a sigh of relief.

In the stands.

Maradona was worried.

"Of course I hope Argentina can win, but I don't want that black-haired kid to leave the field!"

"It's a very happy thing to have such an opponent!"

"We want to defeat him fairly!"

"Yes, fair, and aboveboard!"

The corners of the mouths of a group of Argentine legends twitched.

In 1990, during the summer in Italy, Argentina vs. Brazil, Brazilian defender Branco drank water handed to him by an Argentine player and then ‘sleepwalked’ throughout the game, turning into a wooden stake.

In 2004, Maradona said in an interview: "Haha, I drugged Brant, and then he became a fool who couldn't even touch the ball!"

As soon as the interview was released, Branco was exonerated: "I was really poisoned, and my teammates still questioned me... with my level, how could I throw the World Cup?"

However.

Most Argentine media believed that Maradona was just talking nonsense for the sake of the show's ratings because this guy was a bit unreliable and had exposed too many false news stories...

The match resumed.

Sampaoli excitedly gestured on the sidelines, telling his disciples to strengthen their running and increase the rate of positional switches again!

He liked players who constantly ran back and forth on the field.

Even if he understood the fighting styles of some players who were good at 'dynamic prediction', he still didn't like those players.

It's like you're working, and your girlfriend knows you're working, but she'll still complain: "Why aren't you spending time with me?"

If the World Cup pressure wasn't so great.

Sampaoli would rather take off a European star and replace him with an Argentine player, Mesa.

Time passed.

Argentina's positional switches became more and more frequent, their stamina gradually declined, and more and more weaknesses were revealed.

Even Mascherano couldn't fill the gaps in time.

In the 64th minute of the match.

Li Kang received the ball in the opponent's half, forty meters from the goal, accelerated again, and easily broke free from Messi and Banega.

"Here it comes!"

"A central breakthrough!"

"Facing the interception of Lo Celso and Mascherano!"

"Continuous steps with his left foot."

"Adjusting his center of gravity!"

"Spinning escape!"

"The Argentine players are using their hands... they really can't hold him!"

Li Kang broke free and created space, sending a curling long pass.

Saúl had been waiting for a long time.

Carvajal cut forward from the side.

When Li Kang attracted most of the defense, the two once again staged a completely overwhelming two-on-one situation on the wing.

Multiple Spanish attacking points widened, attacking the Argentina penalty area.

Del Bosque jumped up and down on the sidelines, signaling to his disciples not to play too complicated, Argentina's defense in this state just needed something hard!

Sampaoli was extremely nervous, there was nothing he could do now.

"The wing has been cleared."

"Saúl still wants to find Li Kang, it's too complicated!"

"Li Kang lets it go."

"Wow! Koke!"

"The connection between the two Atletico stars!"

"Long shot!"

"Beautifully struck!"

"Caballero's great save! Wonderful!"

"He fumbled..."

"Morata!"

*Thwack!*

Morata, before Otamendi, took advantage of the situation and blasted the out-of-control ball into Argentina's net.

2:1!!!