When Sporting Lisbon arrived in Nottingham, in a press conference held in the hotel where they stayed, the manager, José Pesero, said in a very low-key manner, "Nottingham Forest is a strong team. I'm very satisfied to be able to take a point in the away game …"
This low-key was not only in a press conference, but also in other aspects. It seemed that in the eyes of Sporting Lisbon, Nottingham Forest was indeed a dangerous opponent. When they arrived in Nottingham for adaptive training a few days in advance, the Portuguese did not open it to the media. To the people of Nottingham, this cautiousness was a symbol of lack of strength.
Indeed, today's Sporting Lisbon was no longer the Sporting Lisbon of the past. The only time they won the European championship was 40 years ago.
The Round of 16 had just begun when the Forest team brought out the momentum of a home team. Without any probing in the midfield, the Forest team's first attack hit the front of Sporting Lisbon's goal.
For this match, Tang En had sent out the 11 strongest and in the best condition he could.
The goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar. The center backs, Hierro and Matthew Upson. The left and right backs, Leighton Baines and Chimbonda. The defensive midfielders, George Wood and Albertini. The left midfielder, Franck Ribery. The right midfielder, Ashley Young. The two forwards, Freddie Eastwood and Viduka.
When Tang En did not rotate, this was the Forest team's main lineup. It had the youthful vigor of the young and the steadiness of the veterans. It was a perfect combination.
Looking at Sporting Lisbon's lineup, Tang En felt a little unfamiliar. It was not easy for him to match many of the players' names to their faces, let alone understand them in depth. Fortunately, the first leg was at home. Tang En's strategy was to snatch points at home. They had to win, they had to win by a large margin, and they had to concede as few goals as possible.
If they could not achieve these three goals, it would not be considered a victory.
"… Mark Viduka! A beautiful shot! Ricardo made a wonderful save. The Portuguese national goalkeeper had once scored the last penalty kick in the UEFA European Championship game to eliminate England. "
These were all insolent goalkeepers. Tang En had a deep impression of this. In that big game, Ricardo first saved England's penalty kick without wearing gloves. In the end, he personally scored the last goal to eliminate England. Because of this, Ricardo's wonderful save did not win him applause. Instead, he was booed by the England fans.
Ricardo is the captain of Sporting Lisbon and one of the few Portuguese national footballers in the team. With him as the core, Sporting Lisbon's defensive tactics in this match were very obvious.
Pesero wanted to get a point at the Forest team's home ground, and then, if possible, it would be best to score an away goal. Even if they did not get a single point in the end, as long as they scored an away goal and returned to their home ground, everything would be fine.
But Tang En would not let him have his way.
Viduka's forceful attack on the goal kicked off the Forest team's offensive frenzy. Amidst the cheers of the Forest fans, wave after wave attacked Sporting Lisbon's goal.
"… Nottingham Forest is playing very actively on their home ground. The speed at which they get into the game is amazing!"
That was natural. Tang En had prepared for a long time for this game. Recently, the team's daily training revolved around the UEFA Europa League. If they still could not meet Tang En's requirements by the time the game came, he would have led the team in vain.
Viduka's shot did not result in a goal, but the goal came quickly.
In the ninth minute of the first half, the Forest team's continuous offensive finally knocked open Sporting Lisbon's goal.
Viduka attracted the attention of two Sporting Lisbon defenders in front and then passed the ball at his feet to Albertini, who had plugged in. The Italian swung his leg and looked like he was going to shoot directly. The Portuguese defenders did not dare to be negligent. They rushed up to intercept. Although the Italian was old, his long shot was still enough to deter the enemy.
When the opponent jumped up to use his back to block Albertini's shot, Albertini suddenly passed a straight ball!
Eastwood received Albertini's pass at the front of the penalty area. After leaning on Fabio Rochemback, who had come up to defend him, he turned around and hooked the ball into the penalty area. In this way, the Sporting Lisbon players surrounding him did not dare to rashly take a shot. As long as they stretched out their legs to touch Eastwood, there was a 99% chance that the other side would fall to the ground. Compared to a one-on-one shot, a penalty kick was a more stable way to score.
The surrounding Sporting Lisbon defenders were cautious and did not dare to move recklessly. Rochemback, who was leaning on Eastwood's back, could not care less. He only knew that his opponent was in the penalty area and had him outside. Seeing that he was about to shoot, he absolutely could not let his opponent succeed!
He gave Eastwood a push behind his back, hoping that Eastwood, who was preparing to shoot, would lose his balance. But he did not expect Eastwood to take advantage of the situation and turn the push into a flick!
With his body's center of gravity leaning forward, he swung his leg on the spot and lifted his toes up. The football soared into the air and flew over the head of Ricardo, who was blocking Eastwood's shooting angle. Then, amidst the loud cheers of the Forest fans, it fell into the goal behind him!
"1: 0! The game has only started for less than ten minutes and Nottingham Forest has taken the lead! What an exciting start! Look at Tony Twain's excitement … "
He knew very well what it meant to take the lead on home ground in such an important game. It was no wonder that when he saw Eastwood lob the ball into the goal, he was the first to rush from the technical area to the sidelines with his arms raised high. Then, he fiercely swung his fists into the sky so that everyone could see his undisguised emotions.
There was no doubt that Forest would be easier to play after taking the lead.
Now, it all depended on how the Sporting Lisbon manager planned this game. If he thought of losing less as winning, this score was not unacceptable. He could completely continue to defend. But if he wanted to get an away goal and a point, then he had to come out and attack. Although the possibility of scoring a goal was greatly increased, at the same time, there would be more holes in their rear defensive line that could be exploited.
It was insurance and risk.
José Pesero had to make a choice.
"0: 1? That's nothing. " Pesero, who was sitting in the away team's technical area, shrugged and said to his assistant. He was not too upset. "We have to consider everything carefully in an away game. This is all within my plan. There is no need to make any changes now. Continue the game. We have enough time … "He looked up and glanced at the electronic scoreboard in the stands.
※ ※ ※
"The goal scorer is Freddy —"
The live broadcast was loudly announcing the player who had just scored the goal. The fans in the stands responded in unison, "— Eastwood!"
The Romani Gypsy was being celebrated by his teammates on the field.
The Brazilian, Fabio Rochenbach, was still standing at the place where his opponent had just scored the goal. He stared at the crowd with a gloomy face.
He had thought that if he went up to harass him, the seemingly thin and weak kid would lose his balance. He did not expect that he would help him instead, allowing him to shoot another shot that Ricardo could not guard against!
He was afraid that at least one-third of the credit would be given to Rochenbach …
This was what made the Brazilian angry. His defense had become a knife that stabbed his own people. He clenched his fists. This debt would be repaid sooner or later!
※ ※ ※
The game resumed. The morale of Nottingham Forest, who had taken the lead, was high. They continued to launch a fierce attack on Sporting Lisbon amid the loud singing of the fans in the stands. They had no intention of taking a break.
A one-goal lead was not safe. Tang En had already successfully instilled this idea into his players. If they could score two goals, they would never stop after a one-goal lead. Conservatism was also divided into different levels. Conservatism after a one-goal lead was clearly low-level conservatism. Conservatism after a two-goal, three-goal, or more lead was high-level. As for conservatism before even taking the lead, it was clearly the lowest level — a reference to the game between Italy and France in the 1998 World Cup in France …
After the goal, Eastwood was particularly active. He retreated to receive the ball to support his teammates, cruising around Viduka in search of opportunities. If he could not shoot, he would seek to coordinate with Viduka. In any case, he played a very important role on the field.
Tang En watched Eastwood's hard-working performance from below. He wondered if the club's emphasis on Eastwood had stimulated him. The Romani Gypsy did not care about the club's favoritism. He just did not want to lose to George Wood, right?
Even though he was about to become a father of two children, Eastwood was still a young lad in terms of age. The age at which Romani Gypsies married was very young to begin with. They could get married and have children at the age of 14.
Since they were still young, they would be very competitive. Losing to someone they did not like? That was not something Freddie Eastwood could accept.
Tang En knew this mentality of the Romani Gypsies. He had known it for a long time. At that time, he thought it could be controlled and turned into a healthy competition. For Forest Team, it was undoubtedly a good thing. But now, after the media's unscrupulous hype, the healthy competition atmosphere could be broken at any time. There was only a thin line between healthy competition and vicious competition, and the resulting consequences were poles apart.
This game might be a great opportunity for them to get to know each other and bury the hatchet. But it might also make things worse — as long as they lost the game.
At present, the team was in the lead, so Tang En did not need to worry too much.
"Freddy Eastwood is by far the most active player on the field. After scoring a goal, he also threatened Sporting Lisbon's goal several times. He recently completed his first hat-trick of the season in the league tournament. He's in great form. "
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