RCD Espanyol's manager, Lautina's face was gloomy and a little angry.
The loss of the goal made RCD Espanyol's situation even more passive.
The score of zero to one was the most delicate. If the trailing side did not attack, they would leave Gijón with defeat. But if they attacked, they might continue to concede the goal. Sporting de Gijón's offense was like a tide in the game, making them hesitate.
RCD Espanyol had a good attacking player like De La Pena. However, in the face of the ferocious Juan Carlos, he did not have a better way. Carlos' rough defense made Lautina want to curse out loud. But on the football field, as long as the referee did not call for a foul, these defensive actions were allowed by the rules.
"Look at De La Pena. He's afraid of confrontation. In the face of Carlos, who is like a little tiger, De La Pena can't do much and seems to be avoiding Carlos's kicks." De La Pena was the core of RCD Espanyol's midfield. In this situation, it would be strange if RCD Espanyol's offense could improve.
"De La Pena is afraid of injury. For a player like him, he already has a psychological shadow of injury. Every injury is double torture for De La Pena, both mentally and physically," González said regretfully. His words seemed to feel sorry for De La Pena.
When he was a fledgling, De La Pena and Raúl were known as the two treasures of Spanish football. If it had not been for the injury, De La Pena might have been famous in history. His understanding of football was no less than that of Harvey, who was now at the peak of his career. But because he was always injured, he only played 25 games in all competitions last season. Two seasons ago, when he was on loan to Lazio from Barcelona, he only played one game a season. Obviously, injuries had become a nightmare for him.
*****
Li Ang sat in the technical area with his legs crossed. On the field, Juan Carlos successfully defended against De La Pena, who had a subconscious fear of confrontation because of his fear of injury. Spain's golden boy, who was as famous as Raúl, was now facing Carlos, trying to avoid Carlos. When he saw Carlos coming, he even had to pass the football out in a hurry. Then, he cut into position and asked for the ball again. Then Carlos came, and De La Pena either passed the football out again or simply took a long shot.
"Except for the two attempts to break through at the start of the game, he did not even have the courage to go past Carlos after he was fiercely tackled by Carlos." González shook his head and lamented.
Many people did not know what to feel when they saw this scene. Even the Sporting de Gijón fans were also fans of the Spanish national team. When the twin stars of De La Pena and Raúl shone, the people of Gijón preferred De La Pena. Now, seeing their Carlos, a 16-year-old little guy, put De La Pena in such a difficult situation, the Gijón fans also sighed.
In the first half, the Sporting de Gijón team had a big advantage. They threatened Espanyol's goal many times and scored a goal to take a temporary one-nil lead.
Hearing the whistle at the end of the half, Benzema and his teammates on the substitutes' bench stood up and happily talked about the half of the game that had just ended. The team was in the lead. They still had the advantage on the field, so everyone was relaxed.
The television broadcast gave a shot to Li Ang and then to the score of 1: 0 on the scoreboard. Then the camera panned to a banner in support of Li Ang that was raised high by the fans in the stands. The camera cut back to Li Ang and followed him until he walked into the players' tunnel.
*****
In the locker room during the halftime interval, the atmosphere on the Sporting de Gijón side was very relaxed. Li Ang was also satisfied with the players' performance in the first half of the game. He did not make any adjustments. A good manager did not have to prove his excellence with adjustments and changes. Knowing when to maintain the original state, knowing when to make adjustments, and knowing how to make targeted adjustments to be effective was the homework of a good manager.
Li Ang was very calm. At this time, his confidence in winning the game was much stronger than before the first half of the game. The main reason was that Carlos had restrained De la Pena well, which was the key to winning the game.
With De la Pena restrained, Espanyol's striker, Tamudo, who was also a strong player in Li Ang's memory, did not get any chances in the first half of the game without midfield support. He posed little threat to Sporting de Gijón's goal.
In the away team's locker room, the Espanyol manager, Lautina, was talking about the tactics during the halftime interval and making adjustments to enhance the team's offensive effect and reverse the unfavorable situation.
While Lautina was still talking, the assistant manager reminded him that the fifteen-minute halftime interval was almost up. Lautina frowned and finally waved his hand, indicating that the players could go to the field to prepare for the second half of the game.
The players left in twos and threes, but Lautina found De la Pena and motioned for him to stay.
"Ivan, I want to see the you I want to see most in the second half of the game!" Lautina said. "The team needs you!"
He did not directly criticize De la Pena, but he believed that with De la Pena's intelligence, he could understand the meaning of these words and the expectation in them.
Lautina glanced at the manager and then nodded. "I know."
Lautina frowned slightly, but he did not say anything. Instead, he patted De la Pena on the shoulder. "Go, you're De la Pena. That 16-year-old boy can't be your obstacle."
Hearing this, De la Pena did not say anything. He just clenched his fists and strode away.
Lottina smiled faintly. Sometimes, provocation worked better than anything else when dealing with such a proud and talented person.
*****
"If there are no accidents, we'll win this game." Before the start of the second half of the game, Li Ang sat in the technical area and turned his head to the assistant manager, Scott Terry.
Scott Terry also nodded. The team was in the lead and the situation was good. The hope of scoring another goal was also very high. It was indeed a good situation.
However, only five minutes later, Li Ang's face sank. He had just said "if there are no accidents," and now, an accident had happened.
Sporting de Gijón's Argentine striker, Diego Milito, fell to the ground in a scramble with the RCD Espanyol defender. After the Argentine got up from the ground, he took two steps and felt that something was wrong. He sat down on the turf. The team's vice-captain, Albertini, ran over to Milito and asked him a few words. He then gestured to the sidelines to make a substitution.
"F * ck!" Li Ang cursed.
He asked the veteran on the bench, Michael Pihra, to hurry up and warm up. At the same time, he looked at the team doctor worriedly.
He was really worried that Milito's injury was serious. Now, the forward combination of Diego Milito and Dinatale was gradually getting better. At this time, if Milito was seriously injured, it would be a huge blow to Sporting de Gijón. Because, in Li Ang's substitute lineup, there was really no one who could replace Milito. Whether it was the veteran Michael Pihra, David Lago, or the young player, Benzema, they were all just substitutes. They could not bear the heavy responsibility.
*****
While Michael Pihra was warming up on the sidelines, the team doctor, Rotalo, after a simple examination of Milito, accompanied Milito out of the field.
Seeing that Milito was slowly walking off the field and not being supported or called for a stretcher, Li Ang finally breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, he also realized that the team's forward lineup was a little thin. It was not that there were no substitutes, but there was no substitute who could bear the heavy responsibility.
"How is it?" Li Ang asked the team doctor, Mr. Rotalo.
"The preliminary diagnosis is a muscle strain," Rotalo said. "If that's the case, it's not a big problem. However, he definitely can't continue playing in today's game."
Li Ang nodded. If it was really confirmed that it was a muscle strain, then it was good. Fortunately, the situation was not too bad.
Then, Li Ang patted Milito on the shoulder and comforted the Argentine, letting him rest on the bench.
*****
At RCD Espanyol's technical area, RCD Espanyol's manager, Lautina, saw that Diego Milito was injured and left the field directly to the substitutes' bench. This meant that he was definitely going to leave the field with an injury. Lautina was happy.
The Argentine, who was a threat to RCD Espanyol's goal, leaving the field was good news for RCD Espanyol. Moreover, this accident of leaving with an injury, was this a turning point for this game?
Lautina held his chin and thought, his eyes flashing.
Not far away, at Sporting de Gijón's substitutes' bench, Michael Pihra returned after a simple warm-up.
"Michael, when you're on the field, tell the others to try to attack from the flanks more. If there's a chance, pass it to you." Li Ang pointed to Michael Pihra's head, meaning to play to his advantage in headers.
This was also something that could not be helped. Michael Pihra's headers were good, but his footwork was indeed very ordinary. Sending him on the field would definitely only be able to aim for Michael Pihra's headers.
Michael Pihra nodded to show that he understood.
Li Ang patted the veteran on the shoulder, then sent him to the sidelines to wait for the substitution.
Michael Pihra ran into the field, then found the team's midfield core, the veteran Italian Albertini, and whispered something to the former AC Milan star. The latter listened while looking at the sidelines. Then, he saw manager Li Ang raise two fingers to show that he understood. Both wings flying!
This was completely going to be both wings flying!
In the 56th minute of the game, Sporting de Gijón made a substitution. The main striker, Diego Milito, left the field with an injury, and the veteran, Michael Pihra, came on as a substitute.
PS: Second update. Asking for a monthly ticket.
Sorry, I was delayed by something. This chapter's update is late.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
