Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

With the injured Scholes forced to leave the field for treatment, Manchester United's situation became increasingly precarious due to their numerical disadvantage.

In the 25th minute, Lin Feng took a corner kick, and Van Nistelrooy jumped high in the middle to get to the ball, but unfortunately his header went over the bar and the ball went out of bounds.

In the 26th minute, Real Madrid executed a brilliant attacking move.

After Lin Feng and Raul completed a beautiful two-on-two pass on the right wing, they noticed that Ramos had already come up and promptly passed the ball to the wing.

Ramos evaded Manchester United's full-back and cut the ball back from near the byline, throwing Manchester United's defense into disarray.

They were so focused on marking Van Nistelrooy and Lin Feng, the most threatening players in the penalty area, that they neglected Real Madrid's other midfielder.

Unmarked, Sneijder suddenly burst out from behind, received an assist from Ramos, and fired a low shot towards the far corner of the goal.

The Manchester United players inside the penalty area were already in despair. Van der Sar was positioned too far to the right and was powerless to stop the ball, only able to watch helplessly as it rolled toward their own goal.

It's not even been 30 minutes yet, are they going to fall behind so quickly?

At the crucial moment, a red figure suddenly appeared and slid in to clear the ball off the goal line and out of bounds.

Scholes!

He had just changed his jersey and returned to the game when he made a crucial goal-line save.

If it weren't for his crucial tackle, Manchester United would already be trailing Real Madrid by one goal!

"Well done, Paul!"

"Well done, Paul!"

"You're our team's savior!"

The Manchester United defenders, still shaken, rushed over to give Scholes high-fives and hugs.

They could have easily given the opponent a chance to win that ball; Scholes not only saved the team, but he also saved them.

Compared to the Manchester United players who were overjoyed at surviving the ordeal, Sneijder, who missed a golden opportunity, held his head in his hands, his face full of regret.

He felt that he had missed not just a goal, but an opportunity to perform in front of fans all over the world. If Real Madrid had ultimately lost the game, he might have become the scapegoat for the team.

Ramos was even more frustrated than him. His buddy finally delivered a brilliant pass, but Ramos still couldn't score.

What a waste of my assist!
However, Sneijder cannot be entirely blamed for this goal; after all, who could have predicted that Scholes would be in that position?

Although Scholes' return has eliminated Manchester United's numerical disadvantage.

However, Real Madrid still maintained control of the game.

Seeing that Manchester United's defense in the penalty area was too tight, Real Madrid players began to try long-range shots from outside the box.

In the 29th minute, Lin Feng got rid of Hargreaves in the attacking third and tried a long-range shot with his right foot from 30 yards out.

The long-range shot was of high quality, but Van der Sar reacted quickly, leaping up and tipping the ball over the crossbar with one hand.

This guy's blocking range is truly astonishing; it feels like he has almost half of the goal under his control.

To break through his defense, you need to either catch him off guard or stop a shot of higher quality.

After attacking for more than ten minutes without scoring, Real Madrid's morale had been almost completely depleted. On the other hand, Manchester United, after withstanding Real Madrid's attack, began to gradually push their lines back.

Seeing this, Lin Feng began to control the pace of the game, directing his teammates to make runs and receive passes, striving to keep possession of the ball and not give the opponent any chance to attack.

Manchester United were naturally unhappy. They were preparing to launch a major counterattack while Real Madrid transitioned from attack to defense, but if they couldn't even win possession, what was the point of a counterattack?

Carrick, Hargreaves, and even Scholes all set their sights on Lin Feng, launching a frantic press against him, attempting to steal the ball from his feet and launch a counter-attack on the spot.

However, they underestimated Lin Feng's ability to protect the ball. Before receiving a pass from his teammate, Lin Feng would observe and assess the surrounding environment in advance to determine if it was safe. If it was not safe, he would think in advance about how to get rid of the ball and pass it out safely.

Moreover, unlike typical midfielders, Lin Feng is tall and strong, with a considerable weight, and possesses exceptional physical strength.

Of Manchester United's midfielders, only Carrick, who is of similar height and weight and doesn't suffer much in physical duels with him, is able to keep up with Scholes and Hargreaves' physique.

The two were somewhat helpless against Lin Feng. Not only was he fast and explosive, but he also had excellent footwork and physical strength that far surpassed theirs.

Such a beastly midfielder usually only appears in the defensive midfield position; for such a monster to appear in the attacking third is simply a game-changer.

The two defenders not only failed to contain Lin Feng, but also gave him many opportunities to break free and pass the ball forward.

Real Madrid also managed to get several shots on goal thanks to Lin Feng's passes.

Although none of them scored, it's not a good idea to keep letting the opponent shoot so recklessly.

Ferguson couldn't help but glance at the substitutes' bench, where South Korean Park Ji-sung was watching the game intently.

Noticing the coach's gaze, the South Korean's face revealed an undisguised anticipation, his expression seeming to say:
Coach, I'm ready, let me go!
But Ferguson clearly wasn't planning to make substitutions so soon. At this point, the score was tied, and Manchester United were not at a disadvantage.

Replacing any of these three midfielders would affect or even disrupt the balance of Manchester United's formation, thereby influencing the course of the game.

Although shutting down Lin Feng would greatly relieve Manchester United's defensive pressure.

But Park Ji-sung already proved last year that he cannot defend Lin Feng one-on-one.

If he were to come on, he could at most slightly limit Lin Feng's performance, but he wouldn't be able to completely shut down the opponent.

So after much deliberation, he suppressed the urge to replace him.

He was worried that if the match ended in a draw and extra time was needed, there would be no room for adjustment later if he made substitutions too early.

But Ferguson will soon pay the price for his hesitation!

In the 41st minute, Gago passed the ball to Lin Feng, who executed a beautiful Cruyff turn, easily getting past Carrick who was marking him. While signaling an attack, Lin Feng decisively passed the ball to Sneijder, who was in an open position, and then sprinted forward.

Upon seeing Lin Feng's attacking signal, Real Madrid's entire team suddenly accelerated, launching a powerful counterattack.

Sneijder understood immediately and, without dribbling the ball for too long, quickly passed it back to Lin Feng, who had already made his way out of space.

Lin Feng looked up at his teammates' positions and saw a large gap in front of Van Nistelrooy. He suddenly launched a long pass over the top.

Van Nistelrooy understood immediately, accelerating past his two old teammates Ferdinand and Vidic to break free and receive Lin Feng's pass at the edge of the penalty area, creating a one-on-one opportunity.

Van der Sar rushed out of his goal almost immediately, but it was too late. Van Nistelrooy flicked the ball to the left, got past the goalkeeper, and slotted it into the empty net.

The score became 2-1, with Real Madrid scoring again just before the end of the first half to finally take the lead. Ferguson slumped into his chair, his hands trembling even more violently.

He began to regret it; this Lin Feng was clearly stronger than last season.

He shouldn't have been so arrogant before the match; he should have assigned Park Ji-sung to specifically mark him.

Even if they can't completely restrain him, Park Ji-sung's abnormal physical abilities and persistent, unwavering style will definitely have a significant impact on Lin Feng's performance.

In that case, perhaps those two goals that were conceded before wouldn't have happened.

Unfortunately, there's no going back in this world.

Although Manchester United is his former club, Van Nistelrooy showed no regard for his former club's reputation after scoring and chose to celebrate wildly.

This infuriated Ferguson and the Manchester United players, especially Cristiano Ronaldo.

Vieira once commented that Van Nistelrooy was a real scoundrel, despite his outstanding abilities and reputation as the king of the penalty area.

But this guy has a very foul mouth and always deliberately stirs up various conflicts. He does this not only to his enemies but also to his own teammates.

During a team training session, Ronaldo's overly flashy playing style, which resulted in him not receiving the ball in time, led to Van Nistelrooy's outburst of abuse.

At that time, Cristiano Ronaldo was not famous at all; he was truly just a nobody at eighteen.

Faced with Van Nistelrooy's insults, he could only humbly beg him not to attack his recently deceased father. However, Van Nistelrooy persisted, sarcastically saying that the Manchester United assistant coach was his "bastard father."

The two sides then got into a fight. Although Van Nistelrooy won the fight, he was kicked out of Manchester United by Ferguson, which led to his later move to Real Madrid.

This is why Van Nistelrooy's relationship with Manchester United is not very harmonious; before the match, he did not greet his former teammates in the players' tunnel.

Now that he had finally scored, he naturally wanted to show off and let that old bastard Ferguson see how absurd his decision was back then!

"Huh, clown!"

If Ferguson's feelings for Lin Feng were based on apprehension, then his attitude towards the traitor Fanny was pure disgust.

The deeper the love was in the past, the deeper the hatred will be now.

As for whether he will regret his decision back then!

Ferguson only regretted not getting rid of this guy sooner!
In the 06-07 season, after Van Nistelrooy left, Ronaldo's stats immediately skyrocketed, and this year he has had a complete breakthrough, officially becoming a superstar on par with Lin Feng and Messi.

It's fair to say that without him giving up his position, there would be no Cristiano Ronaldo today.

……

Towards the end of the first half, take advantage of the motivational effect of Van Nistelrooy's goal.

Real Madrid players launched an even more ferocious attack on Manchester United, seemingly intent on sealing the victory in the first half.

Facing Real Madrid's overwhelming attack, Ferguson stood nervously on the sidelines, calling out to the Manchester United players on the field.

Even shouting couldn't stop Real Madrid's attack, especially Lin Feng, whose performance was impossible to stop.

Since we can't stop them, we have no choice but to foul them.

Carrick and Scholes both have a yellow card, and another foul would result in a red card and ejection, so this task can only be completed by Hargreaves.

In the 44th minute, Lin Feng received the ball and got rid of Hargreaves' defense, but the latter decisively fouled and brought Lin Feng down.

The referee hesitated for a moment, then showed leniency by not issuing a yellow card, only giving Hargreaves a stern verbal warning.

If it weren't for the fact that the other two Manchester United midfielders already had yellow cards, and that the location of the foul wasn't particularly serious, Hargreaves would have been guaranteed a yellow card as well.

Although he escaped a yellow card, the hearts of everyone at Manchester United began to pound again when they saw Lin Feng standing in front of the ball, ready to take the free kick.

"This position is quite far from the goal. I wonder how Lin Feng will take this shot?"

The commentators seemed to have already assumed that Lin Feng would shoot directly, after all, his free kick not long ago was so amazing that many people were looking forward to Lin Feng performing a similar feat again.

The probability of scoring from a free kick is already low, and scoring two free kicks in a single match is even more difficult.

But because Lin Feng had achieved this feat before with Manchester United, many people believe he can replicate last year's miracle.

However, after the ball was released, everyone stared blankly at the trajectory of the football in the air:
This looks like a pass, not a shot.
If they could understand the hand gesture Lin Feng made before taking the free kick, they would know that Lin Feng never intended to shoot directly from the beginning.

Unlike the previous goal, this time the foul occurred too far from the goal, making a direct shot less likely. It would be better to use a tactical combination to see if they could capitalize on the chaos in the penalty area to create a good opportunity.

Ferdinand and Vidic stared intently at Van Nistelrooy, determined not to let the other get the ball.

Van Nistelrooy has already scored one; we absolutely cannot let him score a second one.

However, Van Nistelrooy was just a decoy; the real killer move was Ramos, who was positioned near the penalty area line.

Like Lin Feng's former Inter Milan teammate Materazzi, Ramos is a well-known defensive defender with a knife in the football world.

Although he is not as tall as Materazzi, Ramos is very skilled at winning the ball landing thanks to his powerful jumping ability and hang time.

In addition, his excellent core strength allows him to adjust his body posture in the air in time, so that he can complete the header in the best possible position.

Ramos headed the ball toward the goal almost unchallenged, with neither of Manchester United's two center-backs near him.

But just when everyone thought the ball was in the bag and Real Madrid would kill the title race early, Manchester United goalkeeper Van der Sar instinctively blocked it, and Ferdinand headed the ball out of bounds.

The crowd erupted in uproar; the fact that the ball didn't go in was even more astonishing than if it had.

For a goalkeeper, a header from such close range is almost impossible to save.

But Van der Sar did it!

This made everyone very curious, and they wanted to know how he did it.

However, after watching the replay on the big screen, everyone fell silent.

This really requires absolutely no skill; it's all about luck!
Even the commentators were marveling at Van der Sar's good luck:
"Ramos' header was a little too straight. If it had been a little more to the side, Van der Sar probably wouldn't have had a chance at all!"

Although Van der Sar's brilliant save prevented Real Madrid from extending their lead, Manchester United were still trailing at the end of the first half.

Real Madrid are just 45 minutes away from their tenth Champions League title! (End of Chapter)