The Forest team had to make adjustments immediately. Albertini alone in the middle would certainly not be able to withstand Sporting Lisbon's bombardment. José Pesero's reaction was so fast that Tang En even thought he had planned the conflict between Rochenbach and George Wood. Otherwise, why would Sporting Lisbon adjust their tactics as soon as Wood came off the field?
The visiting team, Sporting Lisbon, placed the focus of their offense in the middle of the field. They intended to use their advantage in numbers to storm the Forest team's defense in the middle. The middle of the field was different from the sides. It was the most dangerous but also the most difficult area to break through. Almost all teams would hoard a large number of players in the middle when defending and direct the opponent's offense to the sides.
Compared with the long and narrow sides, the wide middle was more difficult to defend. Once there was a problem, the opponent's attack would directly face their own goal from the best angle and position. The sides were different. The offensive side needed one more procedure — to pass the ball from the sides to the middle.
The reason why the defensive midfielder played such an important role in a team was related to this. The defensive midfielder was the last line of defense in front of the center back and the key to increasing the strategic depth of the defense. If the defensive midfielder was not up to standard, then their goal would be exposed to the opponent's long-range artillery for a long time. It would also make the center back's defense useless. A defense without depth would always be penetrated by a straight ball. Thinking about how miserable Real Madrid was in the game without Makelele, the role of an excellent defensive midfielder could be seen.
That was the role George Wood took on on the field. With him by his side, Albertini could safely assist. Even if it was defense, the pressure on the Italian veteran would not be too great.
Now that there was no Wood, who ran tirelessly and could always appear in the needed position in time, the pressure on Albertini increased. He had to face Sporting Lisbon's repeated attacks in a very short period of time. Even if he was experienced, it was inevitable that there would be loopholes.
Gunnarsson was ordered to replace Ashley Young on the field to strengthen the defense and stabilize the defensive line in the middle of the midfield. And Ribéry moved to the position of the attacking midfielder.
Making such an adjustment, Tang En had made up his mind to defend until the end of the game.
On Sporting Lisbon's side, Pesero also made a substitution after making the adjustment of the main attack. Rochenbach was confirmed to be unable to continue in the game. According to the team doctor's initial diagnosis, his ankle was estimated to have been torn. At the same time as Wood stomped, Rochenbach turned around. The two forces twisted together, and the result was like this …
If Rochenbach hadn't wanted to take Wood down with him and had only jumped up quickly to dodge, perhaps he would have only suffered a scratch or a bruise. But he wanted to play dirty, and was tricked by Wood instead. This was truly a case of going for wool and coming home shorn, suffering a double loss.
Sporting Lisbon did not make a substitution immediately after Rochenbach left the field. Instead, they waited for about three minutes. In these three minutes, they had sacrificed their advantage in numbers to wait for one person.
When the man took off his vest and stood on the sidelines, waiting to go on the field. Only then did Tang En see who he was.
Previously, he felt that this person was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't immediately remember who it was.
The back of the green and white jersey was printed with the name of the player who was about to play: Nani.
Nani.
Nani?!
Twain was shocked.
Why would he appear here? Why did he appear here at this time?
Any FM player would probably know the name "Nani." But his impression of Nani should not have appeared in Sporting Lisbon's First Team so early … Could it be that Nani's debut was brought forward because of his arrival?
Sporting Lisbon's manager, Pesero, had sent Nani out of helplessness. Rochenbach's departure from the field with an injury and a two-goal deficit in the away game made him simply decide to stake it all on one throw and go all out. Nani's performance in the youth team was very, very outstanding, but he had no experience representing the First Team. Sending him on at this time was also in the hope that his drive could bring an unexpected surprise to the team.
Forest had now given up on the flanks and planned to defend the middle. Sporting Lisbon had sent a young lad who could carry out attacks on the left and right flanks. He had excellent skills and could break through even if he was deep in the encirclement to disrupt the situation.
When Nani first touched the ball on the field, Tang En firmly believed that the person in front of him was Nani. His impressive dribbling left the Forest team's defensive line full of holes. Without George Wood, it was not as simple as losing one player. Perhaps the Forest team was missing two players.
Pesero's task for Nani was simple. He was to go to the left and right flanks where there were opportunities and gaps. After getting the ball, he would resolutely break through and disrupt Forest's defense. Then he would wait for an opportunity to pass the ball or shoot.
This arrangement posed a great threat to Nottingham Forest and was very targeted.
Even if Gunnarsson were to go on, there would not be much improvement to the defense. After all, on the one hand, Gunnarsson had too few opportunities to play and could not maintain his form. Furthermore, he was playing in a hurry. On the other hand, it was because his strength was far from his current level in the game. Replacing him was also a helpless move.
Before the end of the first half, they had already used up two substitutions. Tang En was also helpless in this situation. He could only sit off the field and continue to see where the game would go.
He could not possibly use up all three substitutions now. He had to keep one in hand just in case …
※ ※ ※
The cheers of the Sporting Lisbon fans in the stands suddenly grew louder. As long as Nani had the ball, the away fans from afar would become very excited. Nani did not let them down. His incisive breakthroughs again and again left Forest's rear defensive line in a particularly difficult position.
Albertini watched Nani's activity on the two flanks, but he had no way to stop him.
Forest's defense was in a constant state of emergency.
Tang En looked at the game time. There were seven minutes left before the end of the first half. As long as he persisted until halftime, he believed he would eventually find a way to deal with this situation.
But the problem was, would Sporting Lisbon, who frantically wanted to seize this opportunity to close the gap in the score, give him the chance to wait until halftime to adjust?
Time passed by minute by minute. Tang En stood on the sidelines, feeling a little uneasy as he waited for the whistle to sound to end the half.
Nani received the ball passed to him by his teammates again.
Faced with Leighton Baines' defense, Nani appeared full of confidence. He seemed to be a player born to see the big scenes. At present, his team was two goals behind in the away game. Not only did it not dishearten him, but it also stimulated his fighting spirit.
His upper body swayed to the left, and Leighton Baines followed suit. At the same time, Nani poked the ball to the right. He's going to break through!
How can I let you get what you want?
Baines struggled to change his center of gravity and turned back to pounce on Nani. He saw Nani lift his leg to pass, so he desperately flew to block the path of the pass. This time, he had no way to stop Nani's back-up move …
Nani saw Baines fly out to block his pass, and immediately changed the pass into a spike, smashing the football into the penalty area!
"Nani! He's broken through! "
When one point was broken through, the impact spread to the entire area.
When Baines' point was broken through, the Forest team's defensive line had to make a chain reaction. Hierro went to replace Baines' position, Matthew Upson went to replace Hierro's position, Chimbonda moved into the penalty area to be the center back, and Albertini had to retreat back into the penalty area to help defend.
Hierro and Gunnarsson rushed up from two different directions to defend against Nani, but Nani passed the football out before the encirclement closed. His goal was not the Brazilian striker, Ledson, who was waiting for the pass in front of the goalkeeper, but suddenly to the empty space behind a group of people — inside the penalty area, near the penalty spot.
Everyone's attention was attracted by Nani's breakthrough. They only paid attention to the front of the goal, but no one paid attention to what was behind them. Now, the loophole was seized by Nani, and it was also grasped by Hugo Viana, who plugged in from behind.
"Ugo Viana! There's no doubt about it, the ball's in!! "
Viana's powerful shot passed through the crowd. When Edwin van der Sar, whose line of sight was blocked by those people, saw the football appear in his field of vision, it was already too late for him to make any save action. He watched the football fly past him into the goal, and then the visiting fans behind him burst into loud cheers in the stands!
"Sporting Lisbon has equalized the score to 1: 2! The first half is not over yet, and it looks like the outcome of this game is not predetermined. They still have a chance! Nani! This 18-year-old young man is a revelation. His breakthrough has created a goal opportunity for Viana, and the Forest team's rear defensive line has no way to deal with him! He has never played a game for the First Team, and his first time on the field is in such an important UEFA Europa League quarterfinal. His performance is perfect! The Portuguese powerhouse team that has produced Luis Figo, Simao, Quaresma and Cristiano Ronaldo has produced another rising star on the flanks! "
※ ※ ※
Some people were happy, while others were naturally worried.
The cheers from Sporting Lisbon's substitutes' bench and technical area reached the Forest team's side. Tang En cursed angrily, turned back to the technical area, and sat down. Well, now his heart no longer had to hang in mid-air and be in a state of unease. In any case, Sporting Lisbon had already scored. It was too late to say anything now.
Nani! Nani … If I had known this day would come, I would have brought you from Portugal to England last summer!
You bastard, you're famous, and I'm unlucky.
The first half of the game ended a few minutes after Sporting Lisbon equalized the score. Even though the team was still behind, Nani was in a good mood. He did not expect his first appearance to be so outstanding. Tang En looked at the jubilant Portuguese kid and pursed his lips. He turned and walked to the locker room first.
(To be continued, if you wish to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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