"You idiots, calm down!" Li Ang shouted from the sidelines. At this time, Sporting Gihon was in a good situation. The ticket to the Bernabéu final was right in front of them and within reach. At this time, if their players were to receive a large number of cards because of the conflict between the players, it would be terrible.
The referee's hurried whistle and a few clear-headed players from both sides desperately tried to dissuade them. In the end, the fight did not break out. Li Ang also breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that Zaragoza would throw caution to the wind now that they had no hope of advancing. If they had the intention to play dirty, then it would have been a disaster.
The referee called out Zapatero, who had committed the foul, and gave him a yellow card.
This caused dissatisfaction among the Sporting de Gijón players — they felt that such a deliberate foul should have been given a red card.
Li Ang sneered on the sidelines. He finally understood that today's referee's ass was crooked.
The referee ignored the complaints of the Sporting de Gijón players.
Sporting de Gijón's midfielder, Samoel, had a good relationship with Carlos. He liked the little guy very much. Samoel was still chattering, dissatisfied that the referee only gave Zapatero a yellow card. He did not expect the referee to wave his hand and show him a yellow card.
Sporting de Gijón's players surrounded the referee and protested. They were furious. The other side had only received a yellow card for a rough foul, while they had only protested a little. They had never seen such an obvious difference in treatment.
In the stands of the El Molinon Stadium, the fans had been booing Zapatero, who had maliciously committed the foul. At this time, Sporting de Gijón's boos changed the target to the referee on duty.
Li Ang sneered on the sidelines as he watched the scene. "Jesús, do they feel that a Segunda División team entering the final is an eyesore?"
Assistant manager Jesús Cotteri sighed. In today's game, the referee's decision was indeed questionable. Everything was not in their favor. No one would believe that the referee was not deliberately biased toward the La Liga team.
*****
The referee dispersed the annoying Sporting de Gijón players who surrounded him like flies. He sternly warned the home team players not to continue to challenge his patience. Otherwise, Samuel's yellow card would be an example.
The sky above the El Molinon stadium was filled with boos.
In the chairman's box, Manuel Arango's face was ashen. Sporting de Gijón was the home team. He did not expect the referee to take care of them at home, but he could at least expect fairness. However, the referee was obviously biased towards the away team. This was too much. No wonder the old Arango was so angry.
Li Ang began to deploy his troops. He used Javier Blanco to replace Samuel, who had been given a yellow card.
Five minutes later, Li Ang made another substitution. The veteran Maiquel Pihra came on as a substitute and replaced Abaz.
The aftereffects of Sporting de Gijón being sent off at the start of the match finally had a huge impact at this moment. The players' stamina dropped rapidly.
Li Ang immediately adjusted his tactics. The whole team retreated and focused on defense. When there was an opportunity, they would go forward and kick. This was also the reason why he brought on Maiquel Pihra. With this veteran, who was already famous for his headers, on the field, it was also a deterrent to Zaragoza.
Zaragoza worked very hard to beat Sporting de Gijón and make a comeback in this away game. When the final whistle sounded, the big screen on the scoreboard showed the final score — 1: 1. Zaragoza equalized the score and avoided the misfortune of being double-killed by Sporting de Gijón. They were also eliminated from the Copa del Rey.
The player who scored the equalizer for Zaragoza was Villa. The former Gijón striker, who had been closely guarded by Carlos today, finally seized an opportunity and scored a beautiful half-turn volley goal.
Seeing the player he was guarding score, Carlos was a little unhappy. Carlos's face was gloomy in the camera.
Li Ang applauded on the sidelines. He was cheering for Carlos. In Li Ang's view, Carlos did quite well. To be able to keep an eye on Villa for almost the entire match and let the opponent only score when it was close to the 90th minute was quite an amazing performance.
In the commentator's box, Dagestino could not help but admire the scene. Li Ang's ability to coach players and his eye for players were indeed good. At this time, the manager's applause was the best praise for the little guy who seemed to be not very satisfied with his performance.
Three minutes later, the referee Ribeiro blew the whistle to end the match!
*****
The whole stadium was in a frenzy!
In fact, in the 80th minute of the match, when the score was still 1: 0, the Sporting de Gijón fans could not wait to celebrate. Even if Villa scored for Zaragoza in the 89th minute of the match, it did not stop the Sporting de Gijón people from celebrating!
If Zaragoza wanted to salvage the defeat, they had to score two goals in the remaining three or four minutes of the match. It was simply impossible!
The referee's final whistle also became the prelude to the celebration of the Sporting de Gijón players. They celebrated reaching the final of the Copa del Rey at the opponent's home ground.
Even though the Copa del Rey was of little value in the eyes of the strong teams in La Liga. Its only purpose was to train the young players and the reserve team. But for Sporting de Gijón, a declining powerhouse who had been struggling in Spain's second-tier league for many years, reaching the final of the Copa del Rey did not just mean that they had a chance to win a title.
More importantly, it allowed people to recall the years that had already passed. In the 1979-1980 season and 1980-1981 season of La Liga, Sporting de Gijón had been runners-up for two consecutive years, suppressing the two powerhouses, Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. And in the 1981-1982 season and 1982-1983 season, Sporting de Gijón had been runners-up in the Copa del Rey twice.
In those years, the red and white teams were daunting teams. The name of the King of the North of the Iberian Peninsula shocked Spain. Time passed, and now the daunting team seemed to have been submerged in the dust of time. Just when the people of Gijón were beginning to helplessly get used to the team's sinking in the Segunda División, they were in the relegation zone this season and might even be relegated to the Segunda División next season. Then, Li Ang, the Chinese man, appeared. He led this reborn team back!
"The match is over! In stark contrast to the crestfallen Real Zaragoza players, Zlatan Ibrahimovic The ecstatic Sporting de Gijón players! They had reached the Copa del Rey final. This was the first time they had reached the final since they were runners-up in 1983! Twenty-one years had passed. Many of the fans who had witnessed the glory of the red and white teams were now gray-haired. Twenty-one years ago, among the starting players of today's Sporting de Gijón, Mata, Carlos, and Márquez were not even born yet! Now, the red and white teams that left a deep impression on people were back! The King of the North that galloped the Iberian Peninsula is back! "Dagestino commented emotionally at the end of the commentary. It made people feel like he was a Sporting de Gijón fan. But in fact, he was an Atlético Madrid supporter.
Some of the older fans were wiping tears. They seemed to see the invincible team through the river of time!
Yes! We're back! Sporting de Gijón is back!
Sporting de Gijón fans who could not go to the stadium to watch the game and could only follow the game in front of the television and radio gave a shout that could be heard all over Spain.
"May 6th! Bernabéu Stadium! Let's look forward to the Copa del Rey final between Sporting de Gijón and Real Madrid! This is a miracle. This team that has sunk into the Segunda División for many years has returned to our sight! On May 6th, Real Madrid welcomes the challenger Sporting de Gijón to their football temple, the Bernabéu Stadium! If the Real Madrid people thought that they could easily win the Copa del Rey! Maybe they will meet an opponent that will surprise them! Everyone, we will see each other at the Bernabéu on May 6th! "
*****
The camera gave a close-up of the El Molinón stadium. The stands were filled with crazy fans. No, to be exact, the entire stadium was filled with crazy fans. The fans had already rushed into the stadium to celebrate with the players. The entire El Molinón stadium was now a boiling sea.
Li Ang was comforting his players. They had eliminated their opponents and advanced to the final. The ones who were crying were the Sporting de Gijón players. The players were crying tears of joy!
As a team that was deep in the relegation circle of the Segunda División, the glory at this moment was something they had never dared to dream of.
The camera followed Li Ang, and dozens of reporters followed him. Wherever he went, there was a flash of light!
A reporter from Spain's national channel 5 asked the China manager to say something.
"May 6th! See you at the Bernabéu! "Li Ang looked calm and said seriously.
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