Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

I don't know!

Why do commentators on various TV stations believe that Real Madrid will face a difficult situation even though we are clearly in the lead?

Real Madrid fans watching the game were completely bewildered. With less than half the game remaining, they were leading by two goals, and it seemed like the game was going to be theirs.

As a result, the commentators made it seem like they were the ones at a disadvantage!

However, the changes on the field soon proved the commentator's warning true.

After Real Madrid extended their lead, the entire Manchester United team completely let go of their psychological burdens and went all out, launching a desperate attack on Real Madrid.

In the 57th minute, Manchester United launched a quick counter-attack into the attacking third. Rooney crossed the ball from the right wing into the center of the penalty area, and although Gago, who was tracking back, managed to get a touch on the ball, he was unable to clear it.

Tevez followed up with a sliding shot, but fortunately his shot went wide, otherwise Real Madrid's goal would very likely have been breached.

"Pay attention and be prepared to defend!"

When Mourinho saw that the opponent was going all out against him, he stood nervously on the sidelines and shouted loudly to the players on the field, reminding them to actively track back and defend.

Manchester United were definitely playing with their lives on the line. Not long after Casillas took the goal kick, possession changed hands amidst a frantic scramble by the United players.

Carrick made a long pass, bypassing the midfield and sending the ball to the right wing, where he found Ronaldo.

After receiving the ball, Ronaldo immediately cut inside, wasting several passes he had previously made to Rooney and Tevez, forcing Ronaldo to take matters into his own hands.

Ronaldo knew Marcelo had a yellow card and didn't dare to tackle him easily, so he deliberately targeted that spot.

Seeing Marcelo blocking his way, Ronaldo pretended to stop the ball to observe, making a move as if he was about to cross. After Marcelo also stopped, he seized the opportunity to nutmeg the ball and get past Marcelo.

A nutmeg is a humiliating move for a defender, and when faced with this type of dribble, the defender is very likely to commit a foul from behind.

But Marcelo didn't dare to foul, and even pulled back his hand that was about to pull Ronaldo's jersey.

It's still early in the game, and if Real Madrid were to intentionally draw a red card at this point, they would have to play with 10 men for the next 40 minutes.

Top teams like Real Madrid and Manchester United have very little difference in strength, and losing one player can put a team at a huge disadvantage.

Furthermore, with the opponent having a full forty minutes, it's entirely possible for them to tie the score or even take the lead.

So Marcelo quickly calmed down and didn't commit a foul.

After getting past Marcelo, Ronaldo was actually waiting for him to foul him. He was already prepared to perform a diving move, making sure it was realistic and natural.

Unfortunately, the opponent didn't fall for it, and Ronaldo then dribbled the ball towards the penalty area.

But before he could even break into the penalty area, Pepe rushed out and brought down the national team's star player.

Beep!
A sharp whistle blew nearby immediately. The referee, with keen insight, showed Pepe a yellow card for the foul and awarded Manchester United a free kick in an excellent position.

"Brother, I'm sorry!"

After committing the foul, Pepe behaved like a child who had made a mistake, repeatedly apologizing to Ronaldo, whom he had brought down.

He was just about to tackle, but he didn't expect to bring down both the player and the ball.

"Hiss... It's nothing... Hiss... It's a minor problem..."

Cristiano Ronaldo rubbed his leg and limped to his feet.

He was initially furious, but seeing Peipei's sincere face, he couldn't vent his anger.

The free kick was in a very good position, and Ronaldo naturally chose to take it himself.

Cristiano Ronaldo feels he's in great form, especially after that knuckleball goal in the first half, which gave him tremendous confidence.

However, unlike the previous goal, this time the foul occurred very close to the goal, and Real Madrid's wall was very close to him, making it difficult to take a free kick.

So Ronaldo opted to use his right foot to curl a shot, attempting to get around the wall from the side.

Although Cristiano Ronaldo is known for his free kicks, that doesn't mean he can't use other free kick techniques.

That was a very skillful free kick, successfully bypassing the wall, but unfortunately the angle wasn't controlled properly, and the ball went slightly over the crossbar.

A collective sigh rippled through the stadium; Manchester United fans were all lamenting the missed opportunity.

Even Ronaldo himself was annoyed. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to get around the wall, so he adjusted the shooting angle slightly upwards. But he didn't expect that just that little bit would cause him to miss the scoring opportunity.

Manchester United's attacking firepower is clearly more than that, especially after Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney and others have stepped up their game.

Their attacking midfielder, Scholes, also stepped up.

In the 60th minute, Manchester United launched another attack from the wing, but this time, the person responsible for the final shot changed from the striker to the midfielder.

Scholes made an unexpected forward run, received a pass back from Rooney, and unleashed a long-range shot from the edge of the box.

With a thud, the ball struck the crossbar!
Before Manchester United fans could even lament, the rebounding ball struck Pepe in the back and landed in the middle of the penalty area.

The short and agile Tevez cleverly stretched out his foot and poked the ball into Real Madrid's goal with his toe.

The score is now 3-2, Manchester United have pulled one back!
Tevez, who scored the goal, was extremely excited and ran to the sidelines to celebrate with a sliding celebration.

The other Manchester United players weren't much better off; they followed him frantically, with many sliding on their knees with him.

On the sidelines, Ferguson jumped up excitedly and embraced his assistants.

Tevez's goal was crucial for Manchester United.

There were 30 minutes left in the game, or about 35 minutes if you include injury time.

Chasing a ball every 35 minutes greatly reduces the difficulty.

But if Tevez hadn't scored, Manchester United would have had to score two goals in the same amount of time to equalize, which would have been several times more difficult than twice as difficult!
Because morale is something that exists on the field!

The later Manchester United score, the more their morale drops, and the less likely they are to score!

Seeing their opponents celebrating wildly in their own half, Real Madrid players were furious, but there was nothing they could do.

Pepe felt extremely guilty. If he hadn't failed to dodge in time and been hit in the back by the rebounding ball, Tevez wouldn't have had the chance to score a rebound shot at all.

"It has nothing to do with you. You were just unlucky. After all, accidents are unavoidable."

Cannavaro keenly sensed the change in his partner's mindset and promptly offered words of comfort.

"Yes, don't be discouraged. We're still in the lead. We're the ones with the advantage until the score is completely tied. So what if they score? We can just come back and score."

Lin Feng patted Peipei on the shoulder and deliberately raised his voice, taking the opportunity to comfort Peipei while also comforting and reminding the other teammates.

This was originally the captain's responsibility, but Raul didn't return from the frontcourt, so Lin Feng took over.

The nearby Real Madrid players didn't think there was anything wrong with it, as if Lin Feng, given his status, was the one who should be doing this kind of thing.

Cristiano Ronaldo did not participate in the celebrations. Instead, while his teammates went to celebrate, he ran alone into Real Madrid's goal, picked up the ball, and ran back.

He was still thinking to himself, "We're still behind, why are all my teammates going off to celebrate?"

Isn't this a waste of time?

Seeing Ronaldo's actions, Scholes reacted and shouted:
"Stop celebrating! The game is the priority. We can celebrate after we tie the score!"

As a veteran of Class 92, Scholes had a very long tenure and a very high status within the team; no one dared to ignore what he said.

The match continued, and the fierce battle resumed.

Manchester United, fresh from their goal, were in a state of high excitement. After Real Madrid kicked off, their formation pushed forward as a whole, seemingly trying to dispossess Real Madrid players and continue their attacking momentum. Seeing this, Lin Feng didn't rush to pass the ball forward. Instead, he shielded the ball, turned, and dribbled backwards for a short distance.

Manchester United players were overjoyed at the sight, with Rooney and Scholes rushing towards Lin Feng almost simultaneously, trying to take possession of the ball from him.

Lin Feng finally passed the ball when the two of them were very close together.

Instead of passing the ball to the two defensive midfielders, he passed it directly to center-back Cannavaro.

Facing the direction of the attack, Cannavaro could observe his teammates' movements better than Lin Feng.

Moreover, with two defensive midfielders in the middle acting as a shield, and opposing players being some distance away from him, he has time to safely handle the ball.

Seeing Lin Feng make a long pass gesture towards him, Cannavaro immediately kicked the ball forward without hesitation.

At this moment, Manchester United players were running towards Real Madrid's half, but the ball suddenly flew through the air towards their own half.

They were so startled that they quickly turned around to defend, but the ball still landed at the feet of a Real Madrid player.

Van Nistelrooy chested the ball down, held off Ferdinand, and swept it across to his right.

Raul arrived just in time, received Van Nistelrooy's pass, and accelerated toward Manchester United's goal.

"Stop him quickly!"

Van der Sar shouted a warning to his teammates inside the penalty area, and Vidic exerted all his strength to finally catch up with Raul.

He used both his hands and feet to try to block the opponent from having a chance to shoot.

Raul was affected and his forced shot went high.

Manchester United escaped a close call.

Real Madrid's counter-attack gave Manchester United a real scare, and even Ferguson was visibly shaken.

Lin Feng deliberately led them back just now; it seems he had planned it all along.

Real Madrid's formation was clearly retreating, but Van Nistelrooy and Raul remained in the attacking third, which was obviously intended to wait for Manchester United to push forward and then launch a counter-attack.

Although the long pass and cross tactic is very simple and straightforward, its threat in this situation should not be underestimated.

If the opponent scores a goal in such a technically unskilled way, it would be embarrassing to pass the ball out.

Although Real Madrid's counter-attack did not result in a goal, it successfully created a deterrent effect, making Manchester United much more cautious in their attacks.

Neither side managed to score for the next few minutes, and the game remained deadlocked.

In the 66th minute, Manchester United made their first substitution.

Another Class of '92 veteran, Giggs, came on and replaced Hargreaves.

Compared to Hargreaves, who is good at both offense and defense but leans more towards defense, Wanglaoji has a more prominent offensive attribute. This substitution is a signal that the team is going to continue to strengthen its attack.

As the Premier League's top assist provider, Wang Laoji is known for his speed, dribbling, and passing on the wing.

Ferguson substituted him, clearly hoping to utilize his passing ability to assist his teammates in scoring.

Although Giggs was past his prime at this time, and his speed and explosiveness had declined significantly, his experience was still there, and his exquisite crossing technique was still there.

Not long after Wang Laoji came on, he displayed his footwork on the wing, delivering a precise cross after making a run down the left flank.

Unfortunately, his teammates couldn't keep up with his pace, and the three Manchester United players in the middle of the penalty area failed to capitalize on the opportunity, watching helplessly as the ball slipped through their fingers.

This wasn't Giggs's fault, but he took the blame for it anyway.
"Oh no, I exaggerated!"

Actually, he didn't pass the ultimate; it's just that he was too fast, and his teammates couldn't keep up and were slow to start.

Cristiano Ronaldo felt both ashamed and admiring. He was ashamed that he had wasted such a good pass from his teammate, but he admired Giggs' character.

Instead of blaming them, the other party took the initiative to take responsibility and help them avoid embarrassment.

With teammates like these, what more could one ask for?
I will definitely not waste his assist next time!

Cristiano Ronaldo silently reminded himself!

But in the next few minutes, he didn't even have a chance to touch the ball.

After Manchester United's attacking run ended, the game returned to Real Madrid's rhythm.

In the 71st minute, Lin Feng played a through ball down the left wing. Marcelo's cross was well-placed, but Vidic and Ferdinand combined effectively, diving to head the ball away before Van Nistelrooy could reach it, giving Real Madrid a corner kick.

Lin Feng walked unhurriedly towards the corner flag, placed the ball, and glanced at the time on the scoreboard.

The match had now reached the 72nd minute, with only 18 minutes remaining in regulation time.

Although if they can hold on for these ten minutes or so, they will win their tenth Champions League trophy in club history.

But seeing his teammates panting heavily, and the slight lead on the scoreboard, he was surprised.

Lin Feng knew that if they didn't score again, their championship hopes would be in jeopardy.

At this time, Manchester United was not the Manchester United of later generations that was hopeless and only made a fool of itself.

At this point, they were the true Red Devils, possessing top-tier team strength and player fighting spirit.

Therefore, to defeat them, you must first destroy their fighting spirit.

With that in mind, he gave tactical signals to his teammates inside and outside the penalty area.

Upon seeing this, his teammates immediately began to pull him away according to the pre-arranged tactics.

Real Madrid players swarmed into the penalty area, leaving Manchester United goalkeeper Van der Sar somewhat unable to move.

Manchester United players immediately protested to the referee, believing that the referee had obstructed the goalkeeper's movement.

The referee stopped the game, ran over to the Real Madrid players to read out the rules of the game, and warned them not to obstruct the goalkeeper.

The Real Madrid players nodded vigorously, indicating that they knew the rules and would not deliberately obstruct the goalkeeper's movement or block the opponent's view.

Seeing this, the referee was powerless to do anything about it, as there was no rule prohibiting attacking players from standing in front of the goal.

He can't do anything about it as long as the other side doesn't break the rules.

He then ignored the protests of the Manchester United players and left the penalty area.

Manchester United's players were on edge, unsure of what Real Madrid was up to.

The only option was to have a few defenders closely mark Van Nistelrooy and Ramos, among other Real Madrid players known for their heading ability.

Liverpool will not repeat the mistakes they made before.

However, Van Nistelrooy and Ramos, who were targeted, were very happy. The moment Lin Feng completed his run-up and took the free kick, the two of them suddenly scattered towards the middle of the penalty area along with their teammates.

The Manchester United players hurriedly followed, and even Van der Sar's attention was drawn to the Real Madrid players who suddenly ran away.

"careful!"

"Watch out for the shot!"

However, at that moment, several urgent reminders came from behind him.

what?
Van der Sar turned around in confusion, his eyes widening instantly! (End of Chapter)