Team Spirit

Chapter 187 Between two points, Maicon is the shortest.

Sky Sports: "10-2! Green Guns live up to their reputation, a super massacre of Arsenal!"

BBC: "The distinction between male and female has been made! The green-skinned player is the true hero, while Arsenal can only be considered a heroine, because a female gun is no match for a male gun!"

The Echo: "Blood dominance! Dartford have now defeated Arsenal three times this season! They've become the unbeatable team against the invincible Arsenal!"

Manchester Evening News: "Manchester United have a golden opportunity to turn things around, while Arsenal, after a series of defeats, may have lost their will to win!"

The Times: "Abramovich spent a fortune to buy the front page of this newspaper, praising the deep friendship between China and Russia! You helped me reach the top, and I'll spend money on you!"

[Ding! Player Maicon's season mission activated]

[Between two points, Maicon's is also short: After being defeated by his junior Bale, Maicon has been in a slump. According to the law of conservation of matter, please help him completely dominate three of the world's top left-backs and help him rise again.]

!!!

Asenqing is not a cause for concern.

Defeating them is not something Lu Kai should write about in detail.

The EFL Cup was a competition that Wenger had given up on, and for Dartford it was just a training ground.

While four hat-tricks in one game are certainly legendary, their significance is ultimately somewhat diminished.

After all, it's just the EFL Cup, where even the prize money for winning is only £100,000.

Not a top-tier cup competition.

EFL Cup: When you were at a lower level, you called her "sweetie," but now you've become "old hag"?

However, Maicon's task did catch Lu Kai's eye.

Goodness, they actually have to beat three world-class left-backs. That's no easy feat.

It's not that Maicon is far inferior in ability, but rather that world-class left-backs are hard to find.

Since the majority of players are right-footed, there have always been more top right-wingers than left-wingers in football.

With the rise of the weak foot of wingers, left wingers have surpassed right wingers, but there has always been more right-footed defenders than left-footed defenders.

However, good news soon arrived.

Inter Milan's left-back is injured.

They are about to face Dartford again in the Champions League, and the only player who can start at left-back is probably... Zanetti!
Inter Milan's legendary captain Javier Zanetti is undoubtedly a world-class right-back.

But he can also play in almost all positions in the midfield and defense.

His adaptability is even more exaggerated than that of AC Milan's legendary captain Maldini.

If a world-class right-back moves to left-back, how can he not be considered a world-class left-back?
Lu Kai quickly instructed Maicon and the coaching staff to use Zanetti as a hypothetical opponent in preparation for the upcoming fourth round of the Champions League group stage.

October 30th, the eleventh round of the English Premier League.

Dartford lost 0-1 to Birmingham away from home.

On November 1st, Dartford flew to Milan a day early to prepare for the Champions League.

As soon as the results were announced, good news came.

Kasper was injured in training and will miss tomorrow's match.

Green Gun clapped and applauded.

Kasper: ? ? ?

Of course, Lu Kai stopped the team's celebration and, as a friend, called Casper to confirm his injury before letting everyone continue playing music and dancing.

After all, although Toldo's ability is no worse than Casper's, Casper's goalkeeper style of play greatly limits Green Gunners, reducing Green Gunners' threatening passes by at least 30%.

Kasper's familiarity with the Green Gun will further amplify this advantage.

Another major event occurred that day.

That is, the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards announced their nominees and began the voting process.

Lu Kai was among them!

And became one of the twenty-four people who appeared on both candidate lists.

The number of candidates is not that many, but usually only those who rank higher can be included in both lists.

Compared to last year, Lu Kai has made great progress in terms of honors.

It has at least met the "minimum expectations" of some fans.

Any further rises or entry into the next phase would be good news.

But this is not all that Lu Kai has accomplished this year.

On that very day, the Asian Football Confederation announced that Lu Kai had been shortlisted as one of the five finalists for the Asian Footballer of the Year award!
The five individuals are Lu Kai and Li Weifeng from China, Ali Karimi from Iran, Shunsuke Nakamura from Japan, and Alaa Huber from Bahrain.

Even Li Weifeng was able to be selected with his status as a six-time champion and runner-up in the Asian Cup, so this award was no longer in doubt.

Although Li Weifeng and Lu Kai had a high degree of overlap in the number of honors they received in the past year, their contributions were vastly different.

This comparison has also had a profound impact on Asian fans, allowing them to experience firsthand just how vast the gap is between top Asian players and top players in world football.

It's a bit of a shame that, in order to promote the Chinese Super League, Zhongguo Football Shoes announced that the selection of Zhongguo Footballer of the Year will be postponed to July next year.

Anyway, it's all about making something weird.

But in reality, nobody cares about this honor.

……

"The AFC Annual Awards Ceremony will be held on November 21st at the Palace of the Golden Horses, a six-star hotel in Malaysia. They hope you can attend." Jiang Mengyun was in her hotel room coordinating with Lu Kai to arrange their upcoming itinerary.

Lu Kai shook his head: "I'm not going."

Jiang Mengyun: "I checked, you had time that day. Were you too lazy to fly? Or were you tired?"

Lu Kai explained, "I'm definitely not tired, but Li Weifeng said they were pushing me to drink too much, using the decanter to force me to drink. I'm really not suited for this kind of occasion."

"What's more..."

Jiang Mengyun smiled.

Moreover, last year the AFC seemed unwilling to include Lu Kai in the evaluation, making it seem as if Lu Kai really wanted to participate.

This year, they simply decided not to go, which can be considered a response.

With this, the feud between the two parties is settled, and whether they will come again next year will depend on the situation.

“Yes, they’ve made changes, so we have to cooperate immediately? There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” Jiang Mengyun said. “Let’s pay off the debt first.”

Boom boom boom!
There was a knock on Lu Kai's door.

Jiang Mengyun looked on with suspicion. She opened the door and saw Ivanka wearing pajamas, leaning against the door frame, striking a seductive pose.

"Um... Director Jiang, what are you doing in Lu's room?" Ivanka blew a kiss to the wrong person, her face flushed. "I'm here to discuss with Lu the details of the filming before and after tomorrow's competition."

"Is it not disturbing you?"

Jiang Mengyun shook her head: "No. You've come at just the right time."

Lu Kai, who was walking out while drinking water, immediately spat it out.

It's all Little Li's fault!

……

November 2, San Siro Stadium.

In the previous rounds of the Champions League and the league, Inter Milan's attendance was not high. The stadium, which can hold 80,000 people, could only accommodate 30,000 to 40,000.

But today, a total of more than 70,000 people came to watch the game.

This demonstrates the level of attention this "UEFA Cup final" has garnered.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan currently has nine points, and a win in this match would secure their qualification for the knockout stage with two rounds to spare.

Dartford are second in their group with six points.

However, in the previous and this rounds, Barcelona defeated Ajax twice, securing six points.

If Dartford loses this round, they will be tied on points with Barcelona, ​​going from a commanding lead to competing with Barcelona for the second qualifying spot in the group.

That would be very bad.

Therefore, this is a must-win game for both sides.

As expected, Inter Milan's starting lineup was as predicted:
Martins, Adriano
Dejan Stankovic, Davis, Cambiasso, Veron

Zanetti, Materazzi, Cordoba, Ze Maria

Toldo

-

Davids, who dominated Barcelona in the second half of last season, failed to stay at Barcelona and instead came to Inter Milan.

This also explains why Barcelona went on a rampage after Motta was ruled out for the season.

Rijkaard didn't take Davies in order to make room for Motta, but Motta ended up being sidelined for the rest of the season... Barcelona is in the same situation as Real Madrid without Makelele this season.

Dartford fielded their strongest lineup, but Lu Kai was moved to the right flank.
Arshavin, Fran, Lu Kai

Amorim, Carrick, Toure

Cicinho, Vidic, Cannavaro, Maicon

Foster

-

With the sound of a whistle, the match began.

In the second minute, Stankovic broke through on the left wing and crossed the ball from the byline.

Adriano volleyed the ball at the far post, but it went wide.

If Vidic hadn't provided the challenge, that kick would have been really dangerous.

In the sixth minute, Arshavin changed his rhythm and cut inside before being fouled, giving Dartford a free kick from a considerable distance.

Lu Kai failed to control the ball, and it flew into the stands.

In the thirteenth minute, Green Gun launched a quick counter-attack.

However, Inter Milan's defense retreated in time, their lineup was complete, and they had a four-on-two advantage.

Forlán passed the ball to Arshavin, whose low shot was saved.

In the 17th minute, Inter Milan earned a corner kick.

Amorim went down in the penalty area, Materazzi was called for an attacking foul, and the corner kick could not be taken.

In the 24th minute, a crucial turning point occurred on the field.

Veron delivered a brilliant cross from the right flank, Adriano drew the attention of the defenders, and Martins jumped at the far post.

Cannavaro was preparing to trade his former underling when Martins jumped at him, deliberately falling down after a confrontation.

This action is a bit hard to discern; it could be interpreted as Cannavaro knocking Martins down, or it could be interpreted as Martins deliberately causing an accident.

However, the referee chose the former interpretation.

"Penalty? This... let's watch this move again."

"Cannavaro explained that Stankovic pulled him back. As former teammates, the Inter Milan players are very familiar with Cannavaro."

"The referee didn't change his decision. Cannavaro complained to his Inter Milan friends for a bit, and then... a yellow card? The referee issued Cannavaro an additional yellow card!"

"Because Cannavaro said a few bad things about the referee to Materazzi, Materazzi immediately told on him."

"Cannavaro was furious; he seemed to have never imagined that Materazzi was this kind of person."

The scene on the field was both laughable and pathetic.

Cannavaro was almost driven mad by Materazzi.

Although Cannavaro and Materazzi compete for positions at both Inter Milan and the Italian national team, they are essentially different types of center-backs, so the competition isn't that direct. There's no need to resort to such underhanded tactics.

Lu Kai patted Cannavaro on the shoulder: "Don't let personal feelings get in the way. No matter what your relationship is like in private, you are teammates in the game. It's within the professional requirements for him to let you down."

Cannavaro is a veteran, and he quickly adjusted his mindset.

Unfortunately, Adriano converted the penalty, scoring the winning goal.

One to zero.

Inter Milan are leading at home!

They might be able to defeat Green Gunners twice and avenge the humiliation of last season's UEFA Cup final.

You green spearmen stole our Inter Milan's championship trophy, so we'll kick you out of the Champions League. In a way, Inter Milan actually lost out!
In the 35th minute, Veron took a long free kick, attempting to loft it directly into the penalty area.

As a result, Foster took the initiative and punched the ball away, defusing the crisis.

In the 44th minute, Stankovic received a pass from his teammate on the left wing, feigned a through pass, and actually cut inside to shoot.

A long-range shot was fired.

Adriano, who was trying to get to the ball, couldn't avoid it and blocked it out of bounds, missing a golden opportunity.

The first half ended immediately.

The match wasn't as epic as everyone had imagined.

Especially the green gun.

Inter Milan are finding it hard to get used to without their "strongest left-hander".

Fifteen minutes later, the two sides switched sides and resumed play.

In the 48th minute, Green Gunners passed the ball around in their own half.

Lu Kai retreated, squeezing out Toure's position.

The diagram illustrates the retreat of the mine.

As soon as Toure came down, Maicon came up and began a sprint down the right flank without the ball.

As soon as Cannavaro saw the situation, he launched a long ball towards the right side of the attacking third.

For a moment, Maicon and Zanetti were racing.

Zanetti had a slight advantage of half a body length.

But Maicon repeatedly rammed into him while running, showing a strong degree of aggression.

Zanetti, after all, plays on the right wing most of the time, and occasionally comes to the left wing, so he lacks some confidence in his detailed skills.

There was no risky stopping, shielding, or passing of the ball.

Instead, he wanted to dive and clear the ball out of bounds, allowing the team to reorganize their defense.

But Maicon saw through Zanetti's intention, or rather, the pressure Maicon applied disrupted Zanetti's sliding tackle. Zanetti failed to reach the ball.

Maicon took a powerful dribble, broke through, and dribbled into the right side of the penalty area.

Fran and Lu Kai, one deep and one shallow, received the ball in the penalty area.

Maicon passes the ball back in an inverted triangle pattern.

Lu Kai made a precise shot.

Toldo was powerless to do anything.

"GOAL! One to one!"

"Lu Kai scores! He didn't let the team fall behind for long!"

"Zanetti made a mistake. Although he can play in any position, he's definitely best at right-back, but unfortunately today..."

"Maicon, the Brazilian international for Green Gunners, performed quite well. His speed, physicality, height, strength, and passing were all excellent."

"Although he is still far from being a top right-back like Zanetti, his attacking full-back style is exactly what many coaches are increasingly looking for."

On the field, Lu Kai smiled.

Burning + Freezing.

Zanetti had no idea that he was experiencing both extremes of joy and sorrow!
In the 51st minute, Inter Milan tried to quickly equalize the score.

Adriano used his individual skill to unleash a long-range shot from just outside the right side of the penalty area.

Foster shook his hand after making the save.

That was really powerful!

It feels like it's almost as good as Lu Kai's Batistuta GOAL.

In the 59th minute, Amorim delivered a brilliant pass, finding Arshavin who had cut into the left side of the penalty area without the ball.

The latter used a change of rhythm to get past Cordoba and delivered an excellent cross.

Fran fired a shot from inside the penalty area.

The football hit the far post and bounced out; a bit of luck.

In the 65th minute, Lu Kai dropped back to receive the pass.

Amorin moved to the left and found Lu Kai.

Maicon seized the opportunity to come up.

Lu Kai proactively moved to the wing and launched a high-speed attack on Zanetti.

In Green Gunners' tactical setup, there was this kind of combination, and Maicon immediately cut inside without the ball and made a forward run down the right flank.

Lu Kai didn't get a real one-on-one chance against Zanetti; the opponent was very steady and didn't fall for his feints.

Lu Kai passed the ball back to Toure.

Yaya Toure played a through ball over the top, breaking through Inter Milan's defense.

Materazzi was tall and strong, but his turning speed was slow.

Maicon accelerated directly into the penalty area.

Although Materazzi wanted to pull them apart, he didn't dare to go too far.

Maicon finally forced his way through and volleyed the ball as it came down.

Swish!
The football went straight into the net.

A powerful shot inside the penalty area, at a relatively shallow angle—it was a phenomenal goal; even Toldo couldn't have saved it.

"GOAL! Two to one!"

"Datford have taken the lead away from home and put the team ahead!"

"The goal was scored by Maicon, who had previously provided an assist!"

"A right-back, he actually made a determined run into the penalty area, and with that volley shot, is he really not a striker?"

"Last season, people said Ashley Young performed well as an attacking left-back. If you really wanted to do a review, you might even have to rank him."

"Maicon's arrival proved everyone right. The strength wasn't Ashley Young, but Green Gunners' tactics of pushing forward with their full-backs."

“Maicon can achieve the same effect on the right wing... no, Maicon achieves it even better. He surpasses Ashley Young in almost every aspect.”

Height: Maicon is one centimeter taller.

In terms of weight, Maicon is much stronger.

Maicon is faster.

Confrontation, Maicon.

Archery skills, about the same.

Their passing techniques are similar, but Maicon's right foot is on the right, which is an advantage over Ashley Young's right foot is on the left.

When a right-footed player is on the left, their passing opportunities, angles, and techniques are all limited.

The main thing is that Maicon has never broken a leg; he has a body of steel, a body of national defense, which is incomparable to some fragile glass.

Morgan was furious!
The two individuals also had very different career paths.

Ashley Young's greatest strength is currently at left-back, but England already has Ashley Cole, who is considered among the world's best left-backs.

Even if Ashley Young is only slightly weaker than Cole, he can only waste the rest of his life sitting on the bench, hence the nickname "Waste Young"!

For the Brazilian team, right-back Cafu is 34 years old and they have been looking for a successor for a long time.

Once Maicon rises to prominence, he will smoothly become the top right-back in Brazil, without any waiting or wasting time.

One still has a place in a football powerhouse.

In a country that is supposedly a football powerhouse, he has no place in the football world.

Do you think these two can be compared?
No comparison!
In the 72nd minute, both sides made substitutions.

Dartford substituted Crouch for Forlán.

Barton replaced Carrick, who had received a yellow card.

For Inter Milan, Recoba replaced Veron.

In the 77th minute, Cambiasso launched an attack with a long pass.

Martins broke through on goal in the attacking third.

However, Cannavaro blocked his inside cut.

Martins had no choice but to dribble into the penalty area himself and shoot from a tight angle.

Foster made a successful save.

Adriano wanted to take a follow-up shot.

But Vidic blocked him.

Adriano is a power-type fighter, and when he exerted his strength... Vidic didn't budge an inch.

Brazilian Giants vs. Eastern European Giants.

Adriano got a little carried away, shoving and pushing while complaining.

Adriano has been in top form this season, and his performance has been impeccable as long as he doesn't encounter Green Gunner.

So he also felt a strange anger towards Green Gun.

Vidic was thrown off balance by Adriano's throw.

Patton immediately led his men over and surrounded Ad.

A standoff ensued between the two sides.

The referee ultimately showed Adriano a yellow card.

Inter Milan substituted Pasquale for Stankovic.

In the 81st minute, Dartford made a substitution to waste time.

Ribery replaced Arshavin.

In the 84th minute, Davies advanced down the right flank and passed the ball to Recoba, who was making a run from the side.

The latter shot from a tight angle and hit the net.

Green Gun would rather give them opportunities to attack down the flanks than to attack down the middle.

Inter Milan's shot-to-goal conversion rate is quite low.

In the 87th minute, Lu Kai participated in the defensive recovery.

Pasquale wanted to challenge Lu Kai one-on-one, but Lu Kai intercepted the pass.

Pasquale immediately counter-pressed, and Inter Milan surrounded Lu Kai.

Maicon seized the opportunity to thrust forward.

Lu Kai passed the ball with his heel, and Maicon received it and sped off.

Zanetti immediately moved toward Maicon, deliberately bumping into him in an attempt to disrupt Maicon's dribbling.

This kicking style makes it less likely to draw cards.

But Lu Kai's playing style during this period has been impressive, especially his illegal overtaking maneuvers on the wing, which made the speed-loving fans of Green Gun very envious.

In terms of speed, they are faster.

But in terms of speed, they were completely outmatched by Lu Kai.

Creativity is such an important thing.

Now, Lu Kai has provided the creative ideas for everyone.

boom!
Maicon flicked the ball ten meters away, deliberately veering to the right to avoid Zanetti's collision and then accelerating outside the sideline.

Zanetti is not known for his speed, and deliberately bumping into people to seek confrontation would only reduce his speed.

Almost instantly, Maicon beat Zanetti.

It has a strong visual impact.

Maicon then dribbled the ball toward the penalty area.

Cordoba moved over to defend him.

Materazzi and Crouch had just gone inside.

However, there is a lateral distance between the two.

Materazzi can't directly interfere with Crouch; he can only cut off Maicon's route to Crouch.

boom!
Maicon passes the ball.

The football arced out in a huge arc, past Cordoba and Materazzi, and precisely found Crouch, who should have been in Crouch's blind spot.

The ball was extremely comfortable; Crouch didn't need to jump; he simply headed it towards the goal.

Crouch's heading ability is actually average because he is physically weak.

But if he doesn't jump, his header will be of very high quality.

Swish!
The football went into the net.

“GOAL!!!”

"Three to one"

"It's Maicon again! He completely dominated the game today!"

"It's unbelievable that Zanetti was completely outmatched by Maicon."

"This playing style... rather than calling him Cafu's successor, it's more accurate to say he's a more dominant version of Cafu!"

"That's incredibly sharp!"

The camera focuses on Maicon.

AC Milan has Cafu, and as their fierce city rivals, Inter Milan is very concerned about everything related to Cafu.

If a new Cafu emerges, they might be able to acquire him before AC Milan.

Although most fans are still angry, Inter Milan's management has actually begun to consider Maicon's future.

Through Maicon, they can steal Cafu's popularity in Brazil and also use it to dampen AC Milan's arrogance, thus competing with them.

The key is that Maicon is so young and will only get stronger in the future, while Cafu gets weaker year by year. Inter Milan is guaranteed to win this match.

Moreover, Dartford has never been one to force players to stay; as long as the price is right, they are the best sellers. Unlike some teams that are clearly ripping people off but insist on keeping players, failing to understand their own position and refusing to accept their fate.

Zanetti overheard the conversation between the head coach and the management after the match.

It contained snippets of text such as "Maicon," "import," and "Zanetti can play on the left wing."

To be honest, Zanetti isn't worried about his position in the team; he can definitely secure a starting position on the left wing.

But is Maicon really that strong?
Zanetti doesn't think so, at least not now.

One reason he wasn't used to the game was that he was somewhat unaccustomed to it.

On the other hand... Lu Kai's harassment of Zanetti seriously affected Zanetti's performance, at least that's what Zanetti himself thought.

Finally, Lu Kai's tactical threat and his teamwork with his teammates were also key factors in Maicon's outstanding performance in this match.

How much less effective would it be if you let Ashley Young play here?
Even if there's a big difference, what if you put Cicinho, who plays left-back today, in that position? Then the difference wouldn't be that significant!

Maicon...don't buy it!

This is Zanetti's opinion.

But considering his poor performance in the game, he didn't say anything more.

Besides, buying players is just an intention; what follows is a long period of monitoring and observation, so Zanetti isn't in a hurry.

If Maicon can further prove his brilliance in the upcoming matches, Zanetti will wholeheartedly support his signing.

After all, Inter Milan desperately needs a championship trophy.

Serie A is really too difficult to play in!

Especially when playing against Juventus, we just couldn't beat them no matter what, and I don't know why.

So hard to guess!

[PS: I've been so tired lately, I feel like I can't hold on much longer. I'm eating a little less today and taking a short rest. Sorry everyone.]

(End of this chapter)