When the whistle blew at the end of the first half, the fans in the entire El Molinon Stadium stood up and applauded the players' performance!
Standing up and applauding at the end of the first half of the game was rare in football games. When this happened, it could only mean one thing: the team's performance in the first half of an important game was very, very, very, very good!
This was the first round of the semi-finals of the promotion playoffs. Facing Aravis, who were ranked higher than them, they led the opponent by three to nil in the first half of the game. More importantly, Sporting de Gijón dominated the game from beginning to end!
This was naturally a very, very, very good performance. The fans were very, very, very satisfied!
Li Ang stood outside the players' tunnel and high-fived every player who left the field.
Seeing this scene, the fans' great enthusiasm was aroused and cheers rang out.
Sporting de Gijón's people were very satisfied with the first half of the game. For their opponent, the Aravis people, the first half of the game was a nightmare!
When the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, all the Aravis people who were on tenterhooks breathed a sigh of relief — at least for the next fifteen minutes, they were safe. They did not have to worry about losing the ball at any time.
In the home team's locker room at El Molinon Stadium.
Sporting de Gijón's players were full of joy. They played so well in the first half of the game. Sporting de Gijón had faced Aravis four times before this season. Except for the home victory of three to nil after Li Ang took over the team, they lost the other three games, including a fiasco of six to nil!
As the manager, Li Ang may not pay much attention to the team's previous fiasco against Aravis because it had nothing to do with him. It belonged to the former manager, Lacideria.
However, for the team's players, except for Marcos, Carlos, and other young players who were promoted from the B team to the First Team after Li Ang came to the team, the other players had experienced those humiliations. Even Mata had participated in the fiasco of six to nil at home to Aravis.
Therefore, the players were also angry. Now, they were leading Aravis by three to nil in the first half of the game. They were naturally in a good mood and could be said to be elated! Cool!
*****
Li Ang praised the players for their outstanding performance in the first half of the game. As long as the players performed well, he was not stingy with his praise. He was not the kind of old-fashioned man who only knew how to criticize the players with a straight face. When the players did not perform well, he would scold them. However, if they performed well, why not praise them?!
The team performed well and was in good condition. Therefore, there was no need for Li Ang to make any major adjustments.
As for the second half of the game, Li Ang only mentioned one thing, or rather, it was a request and expectation.
"Tell me about the schedule and time of the promotion." Li Ang's expression was serious. "If we eliminate Aravis, we will enter the promotion playoff finals. That means we still have two matches to play. Of course, before that, there is still the second round of the semi-finals. This means that if we want to be promoted to La Liga, including this match, we need to play four matches in nine days! "
"After playing for a long season, in such a high-intensity game, you are the players. It is the hardest. You understand how difficult it is better than I do," Li Ang said.
When they heard him say this, the players nodded. They played on the field and were the actual executors of the game. They knew this best.
"In the first half of the game, we are leading Aravis by three goals to nil," Li Ang said. "This provides us with a possibility!"
"If we can establish a huge score advantage in the first round of the game between us and Aravis in this game, and make the second round of the away game a mere formality!" Li Ang suddenly raised his voice. "Then what does this mean?!"
The players were excited. They looked at their manager.
"This means that we may be able to get a better rest than our opponents in the finals," Li Ang said. He said that they would have a huge advantage in the first round, not that they would have to rotate a lot in the second round. Sporting de Gijón did not have the depth of the bench, and he did not dare to rotate too much in the face of Aravis, who might go all out at home. Li Ang meant that the team would have a greater advantage in the first round. In the second round of the game, they would have their own confidence and would not be so nervous psychologically. In this way, they could obtain a certain degree of relaxation physically and mentally. He believed that the players also understood what he meant.
The players did understand. Their eyes lit up and they began to imagine this possibility.
Even the most cautious players had to admit that the possibility that their manager said existed. In the first half of the game, Aravis had been stunned by them. If they could continue to play in the state of the first half of the game in the second half and suppress their opponents, it was possible to continue to score goals in this game and even win a big victory. This also meant that the manager had laid the foundation for making the second round easier.
*****
"Go! Continue to score in the second half of the game! Completely destroy your opponents with goals! 4: 0, 5: 0, 6: 0 … Would anyone complain that they have scored too many goals? "
Of course, no one would complain that they had scored too many goals.
"The fourth goal is the most important. If we score the fourth goal as soon as possible in the second half of the game, the Aravis' morale will completely collapse. The fighting spirit of the Aravis will completely collapse … Remember, no matter how many goals we are leading by, don't be soft-hearted! "
"I remember that we also lost to the Aravis at home before, by a score of six to zero!" Li Ang decided to add fuel to the fire. "Now you have a chance to wash away the shame of that game!"
"Go! Score goals! Use more goals! Go and wash away that shame! Don't let go of any chance to score! "Li Ang pointed to the door of the locker room and shouted," Go! I want to see the opponents leave this stadium in tears and let this stadium be their eternal nightmare! Let their legs go soft when they hear the name Sporting de Gijón! "
Everyone now felt a fire in their chests. They had not forgotten the humiliation of a score of six to zero caused by Aravis! Now, there was such an opportunity to wash away the shame and at the same time make the opponents kneel down and sing the song of conquest. The fire of fighting spirit in their chests seemed to have been poured with a basin of oil again!
All of a sudden, the fire was thirty thousand feet high!
*****
While Li Ang was encouraging the players in the locker room, Mccarona was encouraging the Aravis players who were stunned by the Sporting de Gijón players in the locker room.
"… A score of three to zero is not the end of the world. Don't forget, in this stadium, we once beat them six to zero! The first half of the game was just an accident. As long as you can strive to score early in the second half, the next game will be easy to play. "
The Aravis goalkeeper, Pablo, opened his mouth and actually wanted to ask, "What if we don't score at the beginning?"
But in the end, he did not ask the question. He was also very depressed in the first half. The opponent scored three goals in the first half of the game. This feeling was really terrible.
"The game with Sporting de Gijón is a two-legged knockout game. A score of three to zero is really not the end of the world. We can score in the second half of the game and try to equalize the score as much as possible. Even if we can't equalize the score, it's also a good thing to get one or two away goals!"
The Aravis defender, Trotta, was in a particularly irritable mood. Every time the manager said a score of three to zero, the anger in his heart suddenly rose. Then, when he finally calmed down, the bald man said 'three to zero' again!
The three goals conceded in the first half of the game, two of them were related to Trotta. Of course, this could not be said to be Trotta's responsibility. But, as a center back, he was indeed beaten up! This put a lot of pressure on the center back.
Mccarona, who was talking with assurance, was completely unaware of the situation. He was instilling the belief in his players over and over again: A score of three to zero is not the end of the world! We still have a chance!
Keep instilling …
Trotta was unusually irritable. He really wanted to use a sock to block the mouth of the bald man who was still talking … He felt that he was going crazy.
PS: Fifth update. In a push, asking for a monthly vote, asking for support.
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