Chapter 461 Must be taken

On the Croatian side, they took the lead right from the start, which head coach Niko Kovac never expected.

After getting excited, Niko Kovac quickly calmed down. He immediately walked to the sidelines and began to call on the Croatian players to shrink their formation for a defensive counterattack.

Niko Kovac knows very well that if we compare the strength, Croatia will definitely not be able to compare with Brazil.

Now that the pie is falling from the sky, we must hold on to this piece of pie and not lose it.

Seeing Croatia's adjustments, Chen Ran immediately felt at ease. This Niko Kovac still lacks coaching experience.

It’s not that there’s a problem with him shrinking his formation for defensive counterattacks, but Modric and Rakitic, who currently play as defensive midfielders in Croatia, are not full-time defensive midfielders.

Needless to say about Modric, Chen Ran has led him for so many years and he knows Modric's technical characteristics very well.

As for Rakitic, even at his peak in his previous life, he was not a defensive midfielder in Barcelona. That position belonged to the actor Busquets.

Although both players have certain defensive abilities, in fact organizing offense and connecting the midfield are their best skills.

Now Niko Kovac wants to rely on these two guys as the last barrier in front of the defense, which is obviously overestimating their defensive capabilities.

Of course, Chen Ran must be happy to see Niko Kovac make mistakes. However, Modric's game may be a bit miserable.

Thinking of Modric running over to greet him before the game, Chen Ran could only say sorry in his heart.

"Little Luca, I'm sorry, don't blame me for being too harsh."

As expected by Chen Ran, less than twenty minutes after Marcelo scored an own goal, goalkeeper Cesar quickly used a powerful hand throw to launch a counterattack after catching Jelavic's header.

After Kaka received the ball, he immediately turned around and dribbled the ball through the middle at high speed.

After attracting Rakitic and Modric to double-team, Kaká did not continue to dribble, but immediately gave the ball to Neymar who came over from the left to meet.

At this time, Croatia's right back Srna followed Neymar into the center.

After taking a few steps, Neymar found that Srna had not been shaken off. So he buckled his right foot and immediately took a long shot with his left foot.

"boom!"

The power of this shot was not great, but the angle was very tricky. The ball bounced against the turf and rolled towards the lower left corner of the Croatian goal.

There seemed to be something wrong with the position of goalkeeper Pletikosa. When he went to the ground to save, he did not touch the ball. He could only watch the ball pass by his hand, first hit the inside of the goal post, and then again.

It bounced into the net.

"GOAL!!!!!"

With Neymar's long-range shot, the Brazilian team evened the score to 1:1.

"Hahahaha, let me just say, with the strength of the Brazilian team, it is only a matter of time before scoring a goal."

"The Brazilian team just broke through the center and scored a goal. I feel that the defensive ability of the Croatian midfielder is a bit weak."

"Can't he be weak? Everyone is familiar with Modric. He is not a defensive midfielder at all. When he was at Crystal Palace, both Chen Ran and Guardiola would have a defensive midfielder next to him.

Help him do the dirty work."

"Yes, Rakitic is also the core of the midfielder responsible for organizing offense in Sevilla. The Croatian head coach asked them to play defensive midfielders. Isn't this nonsense?"

"Oh, this is when the importance of the head coach comes to light. If you encounter a head coach like Croatia and his good cards are poorly played, it will be useless no matter how strong the team is."

Niko Kovac is also aware of Croatia's problems, but he seems to be hesitant on how to adjust.

Obviously, he is reluctant to change whether it is Modric, Rakitic or Kovacic.

However, just when Niko Kovac hesitated, the Brazilian team launched another attack.

Alves on the right passed the ball to Hulk and continued to penetrate at high speed.

This moment took away the defensive attention of Croatian left back Vrsaljko.

After receiving the ball, Hulk used his strong body to carry Rakitic all the way forward. Then he swept the ball into the Croatian penalty area with a sweeping kick.

In the penalty area, Diego Costa used his body to block Croatian center back Lovren behind him, and at the same time he knocked the ball with his heel, trying to make a move to stop and pass.

Diego Costa's move was completely unexpected by Lovren, and the ball passed between his legs.

Then Diego Costa turned around and prepared to bypass Lovren and directly face Croatian goalkeeper Pletikosa.

Lovren knew very well that he was left with goalkeeper Pletikosa behind him. If Diego Costa was allowed to pass, his own goal would be in danger.

So, when Diego Costa turned around, Lovren firmly grabbed Diego Costa's jersey and refused to let go.

Diego Costa was not a good person either. After feeling Lovren tugging on his jersey, he lay down on the ground.

"beep!"

The referee Nishimura Yuichi's whistle sounded decisively. He quickly ran to the spot where the foul was committed. While awarding the Brazilian team a penalty kick, he also showed Lovren a yellow card.

"oh!"

The entire Sao Paulo Arena suddenly burst into excitement.

The Croatian players surrounded the referee Yu Nishimura, trying to explain that Lovren's movements were not enough to make Diego Costa lose his balance.

However, Nishimura Yuichi obviously only believed his own eyes, and there was indeed a pulling movement on Lovren's hand.

This World Cup has not yet introduced the video referee system. In that fleeting moment, no one could tell whether Lovren's action would cause Diego Costa to fall to the ground.

The referee's decision is the final result.

Diego Costa, who scored the penalty kick, held the ball in his arms without hesitation.

After placing the ball, Diego Costa rushed forward and fired a blast.

Diego Costa's shot was not from an awkward angle, and Croatian goalkeeper Pletikosa also judged the direction correctly.

Even Pletikosa's hand had already caught the ball.

However, because Diego Costa's shot was too powerful, even though Pletikosa pounced on the ball, he still could not change the direction of the ball's flight, and could only watch helplessly as the ball flew into his own home.

Net.

"GOAL!!!!!"

With Diego Costa's penalty kick, the Brazilian team had already overtaken Croatia 2:1 before the first half of the game was over.

"Good guy, Croatia's defense is a bit weak. They were overtaken by the Brazilian team so quickly."

"Hahahaha, it's not that Croatia's defensive ability is poor, but that the Brazilian team's offensive power is too strong."

"Actually, Croatia's head coach Niko Kovac was too indecisive. If he had immediately switched to a defensive midfielder after being equalized by Brazil, the second goal would not have been conceded."

"That's right, Rakitic's small body can't handle Hulk at all. Otherwise, Hulk wouldn't have passed the ball to Diego Costa, let alone the subsequent penalty kick."

"It seems that the Brazilian team made a good move by inviting Chen Ran to be the head coach."

Shortly after Diego Costa scored the penalty kick, referee Nishimura Yuichi blew the whistle to end the first half.

During the halftime break, the entire locker room was filled with laughter as the Brazilian team took the lead in the first half.

Marcelo, who scored an own goal, even went to thank Neymar and Diego Costa.

This was Marcelo's first time participating in the World Cup. Unexpectedly, he scored Brazil's first own goal in the history of the World Cup. The child was almost scared to cry.

The game went smoothly, and Chen Ran did not make too many adjustments other than encouraging the players to keep up their efforts in the second half.

On the Croatian side, head coach Niko Kovac now no longer has to worry about who to replace.

Because Croatia is now behind, the main task has changed from defense to offense.

Therefore, he replaced Jelavic with forward Mandzukic, who played for Bayern Munich, and asked the team's entire formation to move forward in an effort to get the score back.

At the beginning of the second half, everyone saw that the Croatian team's formation clearly shifted and launched a ferocious attack on the Brazilian team.

However, the use of Niko Kovac in the midfielder position is completely different.

Chen Ran arranged two defensive heroes, Fernandinho and Ramirez, in the Brazilian team's midfielder position.

One of them is now Manchester City's main defensive midfielder, and the other is Chelsea's main defensive midfielder.

Being able to secure the main defensive midfield position in the two major Premier League teams shows the defensive ability of these two guys.

With them as the last barrier in front of the defense, plus Thiago Silva and David Luiz, the two top central defenders, Croatia's offense may seem powerful, but it is truly threatening.

There aren't many opportunities.

When the game went on for seventy minutes, seeing that the physical fitness of the players on the field was a bit low, Chen Ran replaced Hulk with Oscar and Kaká with Coutinho, preparing to continue the impact with two young players.

Croatia's defense.

The two little guys did not disappoint Chen Ran, less than ten minutes after they came on the field.

Oscar first picked the ball on the right and passed Croatian left back Vrsaljko, and then sent the ball into the penalty area with a pass.

Diego Costa overpowered Croatian center back Joel Luka to seize the spot of the ball and hit the goal with a powerful flick.

Unfortunately, Diego Costa hit the ball a little too far, and was hit out of the penalty area by Croatian goalkeeper Pletikosa with both fists.

Outside the penalty area, Coutinho suddenly rushed out.

Before Modric could make a clearance, he took a tiptoe shot.

This shot was not very powerful, but like Neymar's shot in the first half, it bounced against the turf and rolled towards the lower right corner of the goal.
To be continued...