Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 154

At the beginning of the second half, "Magpie" gave Sunderland a "sneak attack" all of a sudden. The ball passed Pickford's fingertips and rolled into the goal.Before the 46th minute, the home team Newcastle United had already led by one goal.

It's a pity that Russell yelled at the side: This kind of duel seems to be intense, but because it is too intense, it is actually difficult for both sides to have a good chance.But the opponent seized such an opportunity to take the lead in the score, which definitely "occupied" the first opportunity, and Sunderland's next game will be difficult to play.

After Anton saw the conceded goal, he folded his arms and paced back and forth on the sidelines with his head down, seemingly helpless.

Speaking of which, this conceded goal has nothing to do with Sunderland's preparation for the game in advance. "Chain defense" was originally prepared to deal with southern European teams, and Newcastle United did not belong to this style.Secondly, just because this is a "derby" and Newcastle is playing at home, they will go head-to-head with Sunderland and will not hesitate to foul - dealing with such a fierce style of play is not Anton's strong point.

What is consoling is that after Newcastle took the lead, they did not shrink back to defend and "put the bus", but continued to press out - after all, they were in front of the elders in their hometown, even if they were clearly bullying, they had to bully to the end.

In the 50th minute, Anton looked at the situation on the field and prepared to make a substitution.His first option was to replace Royce. "Student" Royce's foot skills are very good, but when Sunderland penetrated the ground, the opponents greeted his legs-plus Royce mentioned that his hamstring was a bit tight during the intermission, Anton was very cautious in this regard and was the first to replace him.

The player who was replaced was Crouch-from then on, Sunderland began to relay the header. The ball started from the midfielder Henderson with a long pass, and almost passed directly to Newcastle's goal without landing.In front of the Newcastle gate, it will be difficult for Newcastle's defenders to compete with Crouch——

But they can collide.

So after Crouch jumped high, the audience saw him being "flicked" in mid-air like a bamboo stick, and then fell on his back and landed in the penalty area.

"Drip --" the referee whistled, and the home team was sentenced to a collision foul in the penalty area, and a yellow dot package was attached.Newcastle players came up to appeal and failed, and the fans in the stands booed wildly.

Newcastle's captain hurriedly gestured to the stands: "Stop shh!" That was a dangerous move just now. If the referee hadn't been merciful, it might have been a red dot package.

At this time, Crouch got up from the ground grinning, and Messi stretched out his hand and asked Crouch if he was okay.Crouch shook his head, Messi's concern obviously made this "Mei Blow" very happy.

"It's okay, I'm used to this kind of collision!" As the No.1 in the Premier League, Crouch has been getting used to being fouled for so many years, "Besides, Anton taught me how to buffer .”

Anton did teach Crouch the anti-collision method, but Crouch’s center of gravity is so high, the method Anton taught is actually to let him learn how to adjust the landing posture after being hit, so as not to be thrown to the weak part of.So at this time Crouch seemed to be hit quite badly, but in fact he didn't suffer much damage.

After Messi pulled Crouch up, he stood in front of the penalty spot, ready to take a penalty kick.

On the coaching bench, Sunderland's entire coaching staff stood up and stared in the direction of Newcastle's goal——

"No—" Russell howled miserably, covering his eyes.

Messi's penalty hit the left post of Newcastle's goal as if he had eyes.

"Okay, great!" Anton shouted beside Russell.

Russell: Huh? ——

Then the entire coaching staff yelled, leaving Russell alone on the spot: What did he miss?

By this time Crouch was already celebrating with the robot dance - how exciting it would be to dance with your arms outstretched in front of the stands full of opponent fans!

Poor Newcastle fans, there is no objection to this bad ball: Messi shot too "accurately" just now, hit the goal frame with one kick, and the ball bounced back.Crouch, the big "Messie", has always been very close to Messi. He watched Messi take a penalty here. As soon as he saw the ball bounced back, he rushed forward and bowed his head without thinking - the ball passed from the opponent's goalkeeper's arm. Slid into the goal.

Sunderland leveled the score.

Crouch is so beautiful right now-this is Messi's assist for him!Without Messi, there would be no goal for him.Where does he care what the opposing fans are booing?

Messi also enthusiastically ran up to celebrate with his number one "fan" in Sunderland, imitating Crouch's robot dance, but Crouch has long hands and feet, and he dances like a "robot". Messi's small one looks like "Little Penguin Dance" in comparison.

At this time, the game had just progressed to the 67th minute, and the two sides fought to a 1-1 tie.

Newcastle United made a comeback immediately after conceding a goal.Their fans in the stands are also very strong.A huge Chinese drum was dragged out from the back row of St. James' Park, and a Newcastle fan beat the drum with all his might.Playing in this environment is indeed exciting, enough to make the home team players do whatever it takes.

There were indeed Sunderland fans in the stadium, but they were separated by the police, and squeezed into a corner of the stadium.From the point of view of live TV or from the perspective of neutral fans in the field, the Sunderland fans did not exist.

"Shoot, shoot—"

In front of the Sunderland goal, a group of Newcastle fans shouted desperately.

"Do not--"

Seeing where the ball was going, all Newcastle fans hugged their heads in regret.

The little goalkeeper of the visiting team who was almost scolded by them jumped up high at the critical moment and lifted the ball over the crossbar.The goal would have been scored without him.

At this stage of the game, it is useless for fans to greet Pickford with foul language.Besides, the game was tense and stalemate, so that these fans even forgot about personal attacks.No one noticed that Pickford even twisted triumphantly in front of the goal before talking loudly to his team-mates and arming the corner kick that was about to be taken.

On the bench, Colbeck has already started to warm up.Anton got him ready to play.

But Colbeck: The body is ready, but the mind seems not yet.

He repeated in his mind what Anton had said to him before: "Look how much you love football."

How much can people love football?

Does this have anything to do with the game?

In short, even if Anton replaced him, he still has no answer.

Anton's intention of replacing him is also obvious: in this game, the two sides fought too fiercely, too many fouls, too much energy consumption, and the ground penetration is too difficult...so we need to make more use of set kicks—Kolbeck's out-of-bounds throw The power of the ball is almost equal to that of a corner kick.Anton obviously wants to use him and Crouch to knock on the opponent's goal effortlessly, and strive to achieve the best results with the least consumption.

But Colback still hadn't figured it out.

He kept telling himself that he was a professional player and he had to follow a professional ethics and respect the contract he signed with the team.He kept reassuring himself that maybe he would know what to do when he faced the game.

But the fourth official has already raised the number plate for the substitution, and Colbeck still looks at a loss.Players wearing black and white jerseys were all his childhood idols, but he was wearing red and white—red and white taught him skills, red and white gave him opportunities, and red and white asked him to play...

Colbeck replaced Messi.

This "student" grinned and waved to each "classmate", and then went off on his own, as if he had handed in a blank paper in a cool manner.

Colbeck stepped on the field quickly, and the fans on the sidelines booed the sky as usual: "Boy, what qualifications do you have to replace Messi?"

But Colback pursed his lips, his expression unchanged, as if he hadn't heard the boos.

"Jack looks very stable!" Even Russell praised him on the coach's bench.

But in fact, Colbeck was still thinking about Anton's question: How much do you love football?

At this moment, he stepped on the green grass with both feet, and still had no answer.

He regards football as his job, his career in this life, but he still doesn't know... how much he loves.

As long as Colbeck and Crouch are on the field at the same time, Sunderland is very clear about the coach's tactical intentions.They quickly combined to create a penalty in the frontcourt.

The task of the throw-in was naturally handed over to Colbeck.Now at St. James' Park, with no ball boy to hand him a towel, Colbeck did it himself, holding the ball in his arms and wiping it clean with his jersey.

There were boos behind him, and Newcastle fans were laughing at Colbeck-how long has the game been, is it already dragging on?Didn't it mean that your head coach will win?

Colback didn't hear it, he was really thinking about the question the head coach asked him: how much love?

He throws the ball out of bounds, and he can throw it all the way to the opponent's goal, or to the teammate in front of him.The latter may be a bit unexpected, but it is acceptable, and I can understand that Colbeck may not be in good shape.

But when Colbeck raised his hands high above his head, he immediately took two or three steps back to make room for a run-up—and then he ran forward, power through his arms and waist at the same time.At this moment, following the habit he had practiced for a long time, he desperately threw a throw-in into the opponent's small penalty area.

At this moment, he didn't think about anything, until the ball was dropped and drifted far towards the Newcastle goal, Colbeck seemed to come back to his soul.

How much does he love football?

As long as he's on the pitch, he can forget what he likes, who he is, what his work ethic is, everything - he just wants to score goals.

The ball really flew into the opponent's small penalty area like a cannonball.

The Newcastle goalkeeper was taken aback. He had never seen such a throw-in.

Colbeck's throw-in stunt has not been used much in the Premier League.It would be easy to miss this if the coaching staff couldn't settle down and study every Sunderland game.

Before the goalkeeper could react, Crouch's response had arrived.The Newcastle goalkeeper hurried forward, relaxed his arms, and took off the ball flying in the air just before Crouch.

A whistle sounded, and the referee whistled the Newcastle goalkeeper for a violation-the evidence was in his hands. The goalkeeper directly received the ball out of bounds with his hands.

This kind of violation is quite rare. After all, only Colbeck can throw such a monster throw-in.Newcastle's goalkeeper didn't realize it was actually a "throw-in" until he took the ball.

Now the Newcastle team is a little confused: a direct free kick in the penalty area is a penalty kick; what is an indirect free kick?

Sunderland is somewhat prepared for this: After all, when the "demon wind" struck last time, Pickford almost "violated the law".After that game, the whole team practiced this kind of very rare penalty. Whether it was taking a penalty or defending an indirect free kick in the penalty area, Sunderland had practiced it.

The next performance was like Sunderland teaching Newcastle.Captain Garner put the ball at the position where the goalkeeper caught the ball with his hands just now. Seeing that the distance from the goal was not enough, he reminded the Newcastle captain to ask the opponent to arrange all the players on the goal line——

Newcastle captain: I am ashamed to be reminded of this!

But this ball is not easy to punish.

The penalty spot is horribly close to the goal, only about 5 meters; and Newcastle's defenders are lined up densely in front of the goal. This is the real "human wall" blocking the goal! ——In addition, there is another requirement for indirect free kicks in the penalty area: you cannot shoot directly, otherwise even if you score a goal, it will be called a "violation".

If Sunderland hadn't replaced Messi or Royce before, their precise footwork should come in handy at this time.But now neither of them are on the field, and the rest of Eriksson, Shaqiri and Henderson who are good at free kicks got together and discussed for a while with their heads together. In the end, Eriksson and captain Garner Standing in front of the penalty spot.

The fans sitting behind the Newcastle goal were also very nervous at this time, wanting to see a rare indirect free kick in the penalty area, but there were all people in front of the small penalty area of ​​the goal, and they couldn't see anything.

The referee whistled, Eriksson stepped forward to flick the ball, and captain Garner stepped forward to kick hard: This is the version that Sunderland once practiced, "Strength makes a miracle".

However, Sunderland's luck was a little bit worse.The ball hit the defensive player, there was a muffled "empty" sound, and then bounced out without falling too far.Immediately in front of the restricted area was a chaotic battle.

Fans are eager to find out what happened.However, at this time, except for Pickford and the two linemen, almost everyone was standing in the penalty area. The population density reached the extreme value, and the fans could not see it.

This confusion lasted for about a second or so, and then all the Sunderland players stretched out their arms and shouted, and then a red-haired boy rushed out from the crowd.

The Newcastle United players were all stunned.

The Newcastle goalkeeper hugged the ball that had slipped into the net resentfully.

In the chaotic army, no one can even see the ball.

I don't know who was lucky, or even whether he kicked with the head or the foot, and the goal just went in.

Most of the attacking Sunderland players could see it clearly - the ball just fell at the feet of Colbeck so mysteriously, he didn't even think about it, the ball just went in.

The red-haired boy rushed out from the crowd, and the air seemed to whistle past his ears.

The boy originally wanted to raise his hands high to celebrate his goal, but after running a few steps, those arms suddenly dropped down.

He stopped.

The red-haired boy who should have been closely followed by the spotlight suddenly seemed to be surrounded by darkness.

It's a player's instinct to stretch their feet in front of the goal. Who would have thought what the consequences would be when they stretched their feet?

Even Colbeck himself rushed out of the crowd with the excitement of scoring a goal - and then reacted.

He shouldn't have celebrated, he shot for his favorite team and scored.

The most aggrieved goal in the world is this.

Many people in the team know that Calbeck is a Newcastle fan.These players may have more or less reservations about Anton replacing Colbeck.Until now, when they saw Kaulbeck scoring a goal, many people abandoned their prejudices and rushed up happily.

But it was so sad to see the red-haired boy so entangled.Captain Garner took the lead, and everyone rushed up together, forming a group together, surrounding Colbeck in the middle.

— Jack, you are a good man.

Don't you understand that your love and loyalty to football itself has already surpassed your own cognition.

You are a good player.

Please feel sad at this moment, after all, on the other side of being a player, you can also be a good fan.

In the distance, Russell bounced up from the coach's bench, clasped his hands and said "yeah", and put a stone in his heart.

He was also a skeptic of Anton's employment, but now he can't help but say hello: "Colbeck, this kid really didn't disappoint." Russell knew that Anton had rehearsed the situation of Colbeck on the court. : If Colback shows any unprofessional behavior today, paddles on the field, or even releases water...then his fate will be to be abandoned forever.

The red-haired boy passed the test and saved his career, relying on instinct and passion for football.

Sunderland overtook the score with this goal from Colbeck.In the next ten minutes, there was almost a squall in front of Sunderland.Sunderland almost defended with all their members, abruptly withstood the opponent's crazy counterattack, and kept the score until the final whistle.

Back in the locker room after the game, it was finally time for the players to breathe a sigh of relief.

Captain Garner sat on the chair and laughed: "When the referee whistled, I felt that my legs were weak."

"Jack saved us!" Henderson also said with a smile, "That free throw was all due to him from the beginning to the end."

The red-haired boy was feeling better now, his face was blushing and he couldn't speak.

At this moment, the door of Sunderland's locker room suddenly opened with a "snap". Anton dragged Pickford in and asked, "Be honest, you weren't in the locker room just now, where did you go?"

He closed the door carefully.

Pickford covered his hands and shook his hands. Before the freckled boy could speak, the door of the locker room was suddenly slammed: Bang bang bang!bang bang bang!

Pickford flinched.

Anton frowned: Oops, someone came to the door.