"George Wood!! YES！ A beautiful counterattack! Wood initiated the attack, and he ended the attack again! England leads Argentina by 1: 0! Well done! "
A goal scored in a friendly match might not make the English commentator so excited, but it was a different story if it was scored in Argentina's goal.
Seeing Wood's goal, the Crimson Stadium burst into loud cheers, which rumbled and rolled over the stadium, stirring everyone's heart.
After Twain finished hugging his colleagues around him, he turned to Wood and applauded.
Now Wood's talent in offense was fully revealed. He could not only be the initiator of the offense, but he could also be the one to complete the offense. He was a completely different person from the reckless teenager who only knew how to defend a decade ago.
After becoming the England captain, he had scored a number of goals, some of which were very important. This was, of course, related to Twain's familiarity with him and how to use him well. But more importantly, Wood himself had that belief — he wanted to use his best performance to prove that he was worthy of the Three Lions captain's armband.
After the goal, Wood was no longer as indifferent as before. He waved his fists hard and welcomed the hugs of his teammates.
Twain hoped that he would not look so unapproachable, so he did as he was told. After the goal, it was a good opportunity.
It seemed that Wood had matured a lot since Twain left the Forest team.
He should have matured a long time ago … He was thirty years old and not young anymore.
※ ※ ※
Looking at George Wood celebrating the goal, Messi clenched his fists. Although the two did not have a direct conversation, he still thought that Wood's goal was a challenge to himself.
He took it on.
After the game resumed, Messi became active and tried to force a breakthrough many times. Unfortunately, there was not much time left for him … The first half was over!
When he heard the referee blow the whistle to end the first half, Messi's face fell. He remembered that before he set off, Guardiola told him that he could only play half of the friendly match …
The England players walked into the players' tunnel excitedly, while he stood outside for a while before walking back with his head down. In this short minute, he made a decision.
In Argentina's locker room, Maradona was making adjustments for the second half. First, he needed to replace the players who were clearly told that they could not play the entire game. Fortunately, there were not many players who had such special treatment. Otherwise, he would be in trouble. Although it was a friendly match, there were still three substitutions.
"Messi." Although Maradona was upset that they were behind by a goal, he still had to abide by the agreement between himself and Guardiola and replace the two teams' common treasure to rest. The La Liga season had entered its final sprint. The Barcelona club did not want Messi to waste his energy in such a friendly game.
Messi shook his head, "I want to continue playing, coach."
Everyone in the locker room turned to look at him. His words were truly out of everyone's expectations.
Maradona did not expect it either. He looked up at Messi.
"We have an agreement with Barcelona," Maradona said, looking at him.
"I know." Macy nodded, but her eyes were unyielding. "I will call Mr. Guardiola after the game to explain."
Maradona knew why Messi was so insistent. His performance in the first half was average. Although he was the core of Argentina's offense, he did not help Argentina score goals and did not create a few threatening opportunities. England's defense was too successful.
He wanted to prove himself, at least in the case of Wood scoring a goal, that he was not bad.
Maradona was an unruly figure during his playing days. After his retirement, he showed his unique personality even more. After becoming a manager, he restrained himself, but it was limited to him no longer threatening to kill the reporters with a shotgun.
Although we have an agreement with Barcelona, … since the player himself insisted, I can't stop him, can I?
"All right." Maradona finally nodded. "But you only have fifteen minutes. I don't have to sour the relationship with Barcelona for your personal feud with Wood … "
His last sentence was a bit superfluous. He did not care about those.
Messi laughed. He sat down again.
Since Messi did not need to be replaced, there was nothing to adjust. Everything was as usual.
※ ※ ※
In the England locker room, Twain did not praise the England team's performance in the first half. Instead, he asked the team to continue doing so.
Of course, he also made adjustments. He knew that Messi could not play in the second half. After the biggest threat was removed, England's defense did not have to be so tight. England could put a lot of troops into the offense more often.
But in the second half, he and the England players were stunned.
Argentina's number 10 was standing on the field …
"Didn't they say that Guardiola only allowed him to play in half of the field?" Twain asked Walker next to him. "Could it be a smokescreen by Argentina? Damn it, they colluded with Barcelona to play this game in a friendly game? "
Walker did not know why it was like this. A few days before the game, the media reported that the Barcelona club did not want Messi to play the whole game in this friendly game. Guardiola further shortened the time to half forty-five minutes.
So when they saw Messi starting in the first half, they did not take the second half to heart. They did not expect, they did not expect …
Wood was also stunned when he saw Messi opposite him. At the same time, he found Messi staring at him. As an old opponent, he clearly knew what that look meant.
He was just surprised, but not afraid.
Come on, boy.
※ ※ ※
After the start of the second half, Messi once again became the focus of attention. The commentator also wondered why Messi was still on the field. It was estimated that Guardiola could not wait to fly to Nottingham to drag him off the field …
Messi, who took the ball, faced the England two-man defense. He quickly knocked the ball and twisted, drilled through the middle of the two men and broke through!
"What a beautiful man! He's the elf on the football field! "The Argentine commentator exclaimed.
Unfortunately, in the next second, Messi's elf-like figure stopped.
Because Wood crashed into him mercilessly, he staggered and Messi was knocked off the track. The threat to the goal was greatly reduced.
In the face of Wood's close defense, Messi tried several times but could not get rid of it. And seeing that the England players he had just shaken off had the tendency to surround him again, he had no choice but to pass the football to the side.
"Ah ha! Don't think that Wood, who scores frequently, does not know how to defend! 'St. George' is good at both offense and defense and is guaranteed to be every opponent's nightmare! "The English commentator was proud of the result.
Messi was unyielding and soon made a comeback.
This time he did not meet Wood head-on, but was forced to the outside of the penalty area by three England players. He could only lift his leg to pass the ball. The result of the pass was unsurprising. It was again headed out by England's tall center backs.
But it did not matter. The football fell at the feet of the Argentine player, Higuaín.
Seeing that Messi was still in the penalty area, Higuaín directly sent the football over with a straight pass!
Terry raised his arm to signal that Messi was offside, but the assistant referee did not raise the flag.
"Offside!" The English commentator roared in exasperation.
"Beautiful! Not offside! A beautiful straight pass! "The Argentine commentator stood up from his seat excitedly. Six minutes into the second half, Argentina finally ushered in their best chance of the game so far!
Messi received the ball sideways. England's right back, Glen Johnson, was at the back. He was indeed not offside!
Now there was no defensive player around Messi. He was completely unmarked!
Terry, who realized that he had misjudged, hurriedly turned around and pounced on Messi.
Messi could shoot directly as long as he swung his leg, but he glanced at Terry out of the corner of his eye. He decided to choose a safer way — he feigned a shot and did a real dunk, easily swapping Terry who pounced on him. Then he swung his leg again. It was for real!
Although Terry did not stop Messi from shooting, he bought valuable time for the people behind him.
When Messi's supporting foot was a little further away from the football and he swung his leg to shoot, the football was completely out of control. At this moment, George Wood took advantage of the gap and slid in like a tiger coming down the mountain. He shoveled the football out of the end line before Messi could kick the football, and Messi's powerful volley kicked the outside of his thigh.
Messi felt as if he had kicked an iron plate. The inertia caused his body to fall forward, right on top of Wood's body.
"Penalty!!" The Argentine commentator, who stood up, leaned out. He wished he could reach out and grab the referee's collar and spit at him.
The English commentator was a little hesitant. He could not see it clearly from the high stands, and the small television screen in front of him had not replayed the scene just now. "Messi fell in the penalty area. Maybe Wood shoveled the ball first?"
It was not that the television broadcast deliberately did not give a replay, but it was too late for the audience to see what had just happened again. Messi fell in the penalty area and the Argentine players all raised their hands for a penalty. The England players desperately waved their hands to indicate that it was definitely not a foul. They even thought that Messi had dived.
The referee made the final call in the next moment. He held out his right index finger and waved it in front of the Argentine players. The meaning was obvious — George Wood did not foul!
Then he made a gesture for a corner kick, which completely cut off the Argentines' thoughts.
Messi had not gotten up yet. If Guardiola was watching the television broadcast at this time, he must have scolded Maradona, George Wood, the referee, and Tony Twain in his heart — "Do you know what Messi means to Barcelona!! If he gets hurt, our season is over! Who can bear the responsibility! "
Fortunately, Messi quickly got up from Wood's body and looked as usual. He did not look injured.
At this time, the television broadcast finally got a chance to replay the moment just now. Everyone could see on the television screen that Wood's shoveling was fierce but clean. He shoveled the ball close to Messi's toes and shoveled the ball away. He did not even bring anyone with him. If Messi was really injured, it must have been because he kicked the outside of Wood's thigh.
Guardiola and Maradona were worried about whether Messi was injured. Twain was also worried about whether Wood would be injured. Messi's kick was really fierce. It was a full power volley. How could it not hurt to kick the outside of Wood's thigh so hard?
Wood followed Messi to get up from the ground and looked fine.
Terry also came over to show concern. "How are you?"
Wood knew what he was asking. "I'm fine." He rubbed the part where Messi kicked. It was a little sore, but it did not affect his play.
When he shoveled the ball, his thigh muscles naturally tightened, so Messi felt as if he had kicked an iron plate.
Wood looked at Messi next to him. He was looking down and rubbing his toes.
Agüero came up and asked a few words in Spanish. Messi shook his head and estimated that the content was similar to the conversation between Terry and Wood.
Although Messi shook his head to indicate that he was fine, the arch of his foot still hurt a little. He glanced sideways at Wood next to him, who happened to be rubbing his leg.
He suddenly felt the scene was a little funny. No one got the better of it.
Messi was in a good mood seeing Wood suffer a loss in front of him for the first time. He was injured, even though it was only an external injury. The previously tense atmosphere dissipated at this moment.
He took the initiative to reach out to Wood and waved it in front of him.
Wood was rubbing his thigh. He looked down and saw a hand enter his field of vision and was even waving it. So he looked up at the owner of the hand.
Messi was playing with him.
Wood put down his shorts and offered his hand.
The two men's hands clapped lightly and separated.
This was perhaps the only physical contact without the smell of gunpowder in their many years of playing against each other. The two men were secretly competing with each other even when they shook hands before the game.
※ ※ ※
Messi finally did not help Argentina equalize the score within the fifteen-minute time limit. He did not score himself and did not create too good a chance for his teammates. Perhaps the recent consecutive campaigns made him physically tired. He always staggered and felt a little weak after barely passing two people.
In the fifteenth minute of the second half, Maradona replaced Messi on time and watched him walk off the field healthy. Guardiola breathed a sigh of relief in front of the television.
With the core replaced, the strength of the Argentina team was affected. England was still defending and counterattacking as in the first half, but their counterattacks were getting more and more incisive.
The Argentines liked to equalize the score, which was an opportunity to be taken advantage of in the eyes of the England team. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Argentines pressing up, in the twenty-seventh minute of the second half, England used a quick counterattack to score another goal. Rooney scored his fortieth goal for the national team.
Maradona obviously did not have a good way to deal with this kind of defensive counterattack. He was not a tactical master. To be able to lead Argentina to the World Cup, half of the credit was because his players were too good.
Moreover, the number of managers in the world who could break a tight defense and quickly counterattack could be counted on one hand. Maradona was obviously not one of them. This was a world problem. The scene was not good, but they could win.
Twain wanted the result.
As long as they could beat Argentina, he could shut up the opponents who still questioned his ability.
Messi, Agüero, Higuaín and Tevez, the four main attackers in the front field, were all here, not to mention this was a friendly game. It showed how much importance the Argentina team attached to this game.
But the former world champion, who had such a luxurious attacking lineup, could not break through England's defense. Instead, England took advantage of the gaps in their pressing and counterattacked to score two goals.
Judging from the ratio of ball possession and the number of shots, Argentina had the advantage and they deserved to win. The result was exactly what happened, which made the proud Maradona really unhappy. Looking at his anxious look on the sidelines for Argentina's attack, it was as if he could not wait to be thirty years younger and play in person. At that time, no matter how many England players blocked in front of the goal, he wanted to perform a solo ride and pass five people in a row!
In addition to Messi, who had already left the field, Agüero and Tevez, who were now on the field, were once called the successors of the king of football, Maradona. But they were not the real king of football after all. In the face of England's impenetrable wall, there was nothing they could do …
By the end of the game, the Argentine commentator no longer expected them to beat England. He only hoped that Argentina, with Higuaín, Agüero and Tevez, could score a goal to save some face for the former world champion.
Twain would not let them get what they wanted. The tight defensive formation did not relax even though they had a two-goal lead. He wanted the Argentines to be completely desperate. In the last ten minutes of the game, Argentina turned out in full force. The English still did not forget to fight back, which made the Argentines very angry.
The Forest fans who cheered for the England team in the stands were a little dazed. Was the team in front of them, which made the Argentines helpless, their national team or the Nottingham Forest team?
In today's game, Argentina wore their blue and white striped jerseys, and England wore red jerseys, which was somewhat similar to Nottingham Forest's home jersey.
Later, there were even Forest fans who collectively sang the Nottingham Forest team song.
"Forest, Forest! … The world is in our hands, we are England's best team! We are invincible, we are invincible! We are fearless! Because we are the best team! Because the world is in our hands … "
The familiar song appeared in the sky above the Crimson Stadium. Twain could not help but shift his gaze from the field to the stands when he heard it.
The song became louder and clearer. The Nottingham Forest players in the England team were encouraged by the song and became more active. The Argentines became more and more impatient with such a song. They made hasty long shots, made mistakes in stopping the ball, dribbled the ball out of bounds … It was a tragic sight.
The game ended with the song. The powerful Argentina team did not gain the slightest advantage in front of England's defensive counterattack. Maradona was a little unwilling to lose. In an interview with the reporters after the game, he said that he did not expect England to choose such a tactic. Because this was not the World Cup final, there was no need to care so much about the result …
He was mocking Twain for being so shameless for the result.
Twain did not care. He only cared about the result. What was the point of being shameless? After scraping off one layer, there was still another layer. He had plenty of that.
In fact, today's set was also the tactic that England would use when facing strong opponents in the future. Today was just a preview.
When bullying a weak team, they would let loose on the attack and play beautiful offensive football to please the fans. When facing a strong team, they would shrink back and plot against them, just like how he plotted against Argentina today.
Twain was cunning.
"We won. That's enough. I'm very happy!"
The only regret was that Messi came off too early. He still wanted to test if his tactic could hold up under the situation where Messi played the whole game.
After the interview ended, Twain walked to the tunnel. At the entrance of the tunnel, an enthusiastic Forest fan handed a red scarf to Twain. Twain thought he wanted an autograph, but the other party just waved at him and said, "It's for you, Tony! Keep it as a souvenir! "
With that, he ran away.
Twain held the red Forest team scarf in his hand. The scarf was very ordinary. One could be bought for 15 pounds in the souvenir shop outside the Crimson Stadium.
The spectacular singing in the final stages of the game seemed to still linger in his ears. Eleven years of time was like a brand engraved in his heart. It was mentioned over and over again. Every time he thought he did not care about the past eleven years, someone would always come out and remind him in a different way — don't forget the Forest, don't forget the Forest …
Twain hung the red scarf around his neck and walked into the tunnel.
How could he forget the Forest?
※ ※ ※
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.
