Zidane did not know what Twain specifically instructed Wood, but he soon understood.
Wood used a ferocious side tackle to knock Zidane out along with the ball.
The referee's whistle and Bernabéu's boos rang out at the same time.
Yellow card!
Zidane slowly stood up from the ground. He moved his ankle. Everything was normal …
Then he looked up at the man who tackled him. This was the first time he seriously sized up the opponent he had been entangled with for more than 20 minutes, Nottingham Forest's number 13.
The "culprit" pursed his lips tightly and stood in front of the referee, watching him record the foul in his little notebook. He was unapologetic about the foul, his face calm as if it was a matter of course.
Beckham ran over to show concern for Zidane and found him staring at Wood.
"Be careful, Zizu." He reminded. "I've heard about this kid."
Zidane looked back at Beckham and nodded.
"I think they're trying to provoke you, Zizu." Roberto Carlos, who ran up to prepare for a free kick, said half-jokingly.
Zidane smiled.
※ ※ ※
Seeing George Wood get a yellow card for his tackle on Zidane, David Kerslake turned to look at Twain.
Twain also turned to look at him and then shrugged. "He still needs to learn how to control his fouls. The tackle just now was too fierce. It looked like it caused a lot of damage, but in fact … "He paused for a moment before continuing." If he must get a yellow card, he must reap the same benefits as getting a yellow card. Now Wood got a yellow card, but he didn't hurt Zidane at all. "
"I'm only worried about one thing now, Tony. There are two paths in front of Wood. Does he choose to defend Zidane regardless of everything and get a second yellow card off the field? Or does he hold back when defending against Zidane and let the defensive line in front of our center backs be useless? "
"Then … you'll have to ask him."
※ ※ ※
Just as Kerslake said, George Wood was faced with a multiple-choice question even though his face was expressionless.
He knew that if he accumulated two yellow cards in the same match, he would have to leave the field. Now that he had one on him, defending against Zidane would not be easy. He could not guarantee that he would be able to defend against Zidane in the remaining sixty minutes without getting a single yellow card.
Regardless of whether or not they could defend against Zidane, it would be difficult not to get carded in such a high-intensity defense. George Wood was not Balesi, nor was he Sansini. It was impossible for him to be polite and clean when defending.
In order to defend against Zidane, in order to make up for the gap between him and Zidane, he had to pay a certain price.
But now, getting a yellow card early put him in a difficult situation.
If they didn't want to accumulate yellow cards, they had to go easy on their defense. If he didn't go easy, the possibility of getting a second yellow card was very high.
He didn't know what to do.
He didn't want to be sent off. He wanted to stay on the field and compete with number five. Tang En asked him to guard against Zidane, but if he was sent off with a red card in the end, he would fail the mission. He did not want to be a loser.
This was Wood's dilemma, and it was also Zidane's opportunity. How could Zidane, who was used to seeing all kinds of situations and opponents, not know Wood's current situation?
He knew that it was something he could make great use of.
And it was not something that Zidane could make use of alone.
After Roberto Carlos sent the free kick out, Real Madrid's offensive focus clearly shifted to Wood's side.
Perhaps it was possible to defend against Zidane without getting a yellow card, but when you were facing the entire team's attack, when you could not even take care of yourself, when you were dizzy from the impact from all sides, who could guarantee that you would not be impulsive, or that you would be a little faster or a little slower, and then get another yellow card?
He had just struggled to block Carlos' pass and watched as the football bounced out and fell at Zidane's feet. George Wood desperately pounced on it, but the other side deftly passed the football to Guti next to him.
Albertini came up to defend, and Guti passed the football back to Zidane.
The French midfielder held his position and was not in a hurry to send the ball out, seemingly trying to bait Wood into a foul.
But this time, Wood did not impulsively shovel as he wished. Instead, he stuck close and constantly harassed Zidane from the back until the referee's whistle sounded.
A foul, but not a card.
※ ※ ※
"If only he had done this earlier …" Tang En muttered below. He really did not know why Wood liked to shovel the ball. Was it because he looked murderous?
※ ※ ※
After Real Madrid sent out the free kick, it was fruitless.
Although Wood struggled to hold on, he had not yet fallen.
The game seemed to be at a stalemate. Faced with the Forest team's impenetrable formation, Rosenberg's team had no better way than to rely on the big stars on the field.
The Real Madrid manager could do nothing but stand on the sidelines and occasionally wave anxiously. Besides, the Real Madrid players on the field might not listen to what he shouted and said. He had gradually lost control of the team. Wanting to win against Nottingham Forest at home was nothing more than the dying struggle of a man on the verge of death …
During this period, Real Madrid was as they showed on the field. There was no unity to speak of, and it depended entirely on the occasional flash of one of those superstars. To put it nicely, any one of these people had the ability to decide the game on their own. To put it bluntly, they were scattered like sand, each fighting for their own.
If these superstars were not in form for one reason or another, then the game was certain to be lost. And because the superstars lacked the desire to win and the inexplicable sense of superiority, when the team was in trouble, they were often the first to give up the game.
Fortunately for Real Madrid's superstars in today's game, although they were behind in the score, they had the advantage on the field, which gave them the motivation to win the game instead of raising their hands in surrender.
Real Madrid's supporters were looking forward to Raúl, Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, Roberto Carlos … Any one of them would step forward to turn the tide. They firmly believed that their team was still the strongest in the world, because they had the world's most powerful star players. As long as one of them stepped forward, he could turn the tide of the game …
The Forest team finally had an offensive, and after hard work, they obtained a corner kick. The two tall center backs went up to grab the ball. In the end, it was Viduka who passed the ball to Anelka, who stopped the ball and volleyed amid the boos of the entire stadium. This time, Casillas's position was accurate and he predicted in advance. He blocked the French striker's shooting angle and easily took the ball into his arms.
Immediately after, Real Madrid launched a counterattack, and Casillas threw the ball to Zidane with his hand.
The Frenchman stopped the ball gracefully, turned around, and dribbled the ball toward the Forest team's penalty area in one smooth motion!
When Piqué and Pepe saw Casillas take the ball, they turned and ran toward their own penalty area. They gave it their all and ran as fast as they could.
They had to do so because there was only one full back — Chimbonda — in the backfield, one goalkeeper — Edwin van der Sar, and one defensive midfielder — George Wood.
The first defensive player that Zidane was about to face was George Wood.
Wood did not go up to meet him. Instead, he slowly retreated while waiting for his other teammates to return to defend.
But Zidane would not give him the chance. He sped up!
The distance between the two men was rapidly shortening.
Ten meters.
Wood quickly glanced back behind him. There was a large expanse of empty space.
Five meters.
The Real Madrid players were pressing forward quickly. Wood could not recognize them one by one under such circumstances, but he swept his gaze and already saw four figures in white jerseys.
The soldiers were pressing forward.
Three meters.
Wood had to retract his gaze. Zidane was already close at hand. His left foot swiped at the football but did not touch it. Immediately after, his right foot swiped at the football.
Wood did not know whether he was faking this time or playing for real. He quickly made a choice in his mind and decided to bet that this was the first time he was playing for real.
Two meters.
Zidane's right foot swiped over the football and Wood's center of gravity shifted at the same time — he was tricked!
One meter.
Zidane's left foot pushed the football away from Wood's side and then he leaped lightly, his feet passing over Wood.
No technique yet!
Wood still had a chance to stop the breakthrough as long as he reached out to pull the Frenchman's jersey or quickly tripped him from behind with his foot.
But if he did that, it meant that it was bound to be a foul, and judging from the large expanse of empty space behind him, he was bound to get a card!
In a split second, Wood had to make a choice. Should he move his right hand and right foot? Should he stop the attack at the cost of himself coming off the field?
Wood hesitated. At this time, Zidane swept past him and easily overtook him.
Deafening cheers rang out at the Bernabéu. The sound woke Wood up and he suddenly turned to chase after the white figure.
He wanted to make up for his mistake. He could not let Real Madrid play this attack, no matter what the cost!
Two meters away from Zidane, Wood was ready to tackle the ball. As long as this foot went down, he was ready to leave the field.
A tackle from behind!
As if there were eyes in the back of his head, Zidane suddenly diverted the football to the right at the moment when Wood tackled the ball. He jumped up and Wood's legs passed under him …
The football was diverted to Raúl's feet. In the penalty area, he raised his leg to shoot!
Lying on the ground, Wood saw the scene from under Zidane. The goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, did not touch the football despite his efforts to save. The ball hit the far end goalpost and bounced into the goal.
A burst of music sounded from the broadcast at the Bernabéu stadium, and then a voice roared, "The goal scorer — Raúl González!!"
(To be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. COM. More chapters. Support the author. Support the original reading!)
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