Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 124

In the opening 20 minutes, surrounded by tens of thousands of fans cheering and cheering, Sunderland played with full momentum, but they won't score any points—the "young man"'s defense is very tenacious, what can they do if they just defend you to the death?

After 25 minutes passed, with the arrival of the first wave of physical fitness, Sunderland's offensive speed began to slow down, and the possession rate of the "young people" began to increase.

In the 28th minute, "Youth" started his first counterattack. The midfielder was intercepted by Henderson, but returned without success, and immediately retracted his own half.The young man's coach, Müller, was shouting and commanding from the sidelines, as if to make his team stand up no matter what.

In contrast, Sunderland manager Anton sat on the sidelines with the entire coaching staff. On a night in mid-September, the weather was already a bit cool, Anton turned up the collar of the short coat he was wearing, and the collar covered most of his facial expressions.Others could only see him frowning tightly, staring at the field.

Obviously he was not satisfied with the current situation, but Anton did not choose to go to the command area on the sidelines to continue commanding the game.

In the 35th minute, an attack by Sunderland was cleared by the "Young" defender, and the young forward who had been wandering around the center circle got the ball.

Hypia was experienced, shouted, and directed Godin to intercept, and he and Hummels had returned to defense.The two wingers of the young man also advanced from the left and right at the same time, and the scene was three-on-three.

The young man's advance was very fast, and he had reached the front of Sunderland's penalty area in a short while.The striker kicked his feet vigorously, and the shot was powerful and heavy. The ball "boomed" towards the goal like a cannonball, but unfortunately, the shot was too straight.

Pickford saw where the ball came from, and he did a good job in posture and hand shape. Facing the incoming ball, he tried his best to hold the ball firmly——

At this moment, Pickford heard a large group of surprised shouts of "Yeah" from the stands behind him.He watched the ball slip out of his hand, slipped out from between the gloves on his hands, and bounced two feet away...

Hummels saw it rushing up to protect the ball, but it was too late.The "young man" striker who followed at high speed raised his foot to make a supplementary shot, slammed the ball into Sunderland's net.

1:0.

"Youth" took the lead away.

The "young man" scored for the first time with a kick in the frontcourt.

In contrast, Sunderland was in control of the field for almost the entire half, but in the end it was "marrying for others" and allowing the opponent to score the ball first.

There was a sigh in the stands: In such a good scene, let the opponent score first?

Pickford's buttery hand can almost be said to be the direct cause of the opponent's goal.

The young man was hit by a goal, turned over annoyed, raised his hand and punched the ground vigorously, and punched the ground three times with "boom boom boom" on the ground, suddenly remembered something, got up quickly and looked towards the sidelines.

Anton had already stood up at this moment. He was standing with his arms folded in the command area on the sidelines. He didn't say anything, but just looked coldly at the players on the court who were slowly walking back to the middle circle to prepare for kick-off. .

When Pickford's eyes met Anton, the young man remembered what the coach had said before, and immediately lowered his head in shame—just such a lack of concentration, he paid a heavy price. The record of zero seals since the new season is So far, and put his team in a difficult situation: with the ball in hand, the "young man" can defend and counterattack more comfortably.

But looking up again, Pickford was so frightened that he even forgot his shame-the team's substitute goalkeeper, Craig Gordon, had already put on his sports vest at this moment and began to warm up on the sidelines.

Will Pickford be replaced just because of a "butter hand"?

During the intermission, Pickford squatted in the dressing room, covered his face with his hands, and almost wanted to cry.

Anton has made a decision that he will be replaced in the second half, and the team's second goalkeeper Gordon will appear on the field-Pickford has been training with Gordon recently, knowing how hard this teammate who has been unable to play has been working hard.He immediately understood how serious the mistake he made today: it is very likely that he will lose his position as the main goalkeeper.

I just heard Anton saying: "This is the end of the matter, we have no choice but to treat this game as a test to break the dense defense. Boys, what can you do? I know you all have a lot of ideas... "

Pickford thought to himself: The opponent is defending intensively and cannot splash water, while he is a "butter hand" and a "big colander"... The head coach is really disappointed in himself this time.Thinking this way, he missed the speeches of his teammates one after another, but for some reason, everyone seemed to be led by Anton, and the more they talked, the more excited they were, and the gloomy atmosphere when they just left the field seemed to be swept away.

I vaguely heard Crouch saying: "I don't believe it..."

Will the head coach send "Gao Guy" on the field to bomb from high altitude and break through the opponent's dense defense?

Royce went on to say, "I think it will work!"

Messi also clapped his hands: "...Okay, okay, just do it!" The boss of the team also spoke.

Everyone's morale is very high... Unlike him, Pickford, this time is so good, he can't even play.

Anton said: "... everyone must remember to be patient, there is always a way! In addition, I ask you not to forget one thing: there has never been the word 'easy' on the football field. If you think any game 'Easy', you must have misunderstood football, and correspondingly you may have misunderstood life."

Pickford: I... misunderstood life?

He squatted in a corner of the locker room until his teammates filed out to prepare for the second half.The locker room gradually became quiet, until it became completely silent.

The freckled boy still held his head and refused to move, and gradually began to feel chills all over his body: he has become a person forgotten by the whole team - the future of the first team seems to have been ruined by such a careless mistake like him.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his back.

"You, leave me alone..." the boy said in a sobbing tone.

Shame prevented him from looking up.

But the palm did not leave, but continued to gently press against Pickford's back.The temperature was continuously delivered, and after a while, Pickford finally felt less cold.

"Jordan, I want you to know that sometimes one bad mistake can kill all your opportunities, and the next opportunity will take your whole life to wait... People call this 'life'. Anyway, I hope you remember Live this game." The voice was still clear and warm, but what he said was evocative, and it was difficult to explain the truth in words.

As soon as the words fell, the palm left Pickford's back, and then footsteps sounded, leaving the dressing room.

Pickford held back for a while, then suddenly raised his head, wiped his face with the back of his hand, took a deep breath, grabbed a sports jacket, and strode out of the locker room.Since it was his own fault, he should face the consequences by himself.

The second half of the game has already started, and the young goalkeeper thought in his heart: To win, even if he is replaced, there are still so many teammates on the field.Sunderland still wants to win, must win!

In the Stadium of Light, the greenery is illuminated by lights as bright as day.

The Europa League group stage, as Anton said, turned into a test to break the dense defense.But to everyone's surprise, Anton didn't replace Crouch, the team's highest point, immediately.

Young people in Bern are somewhat disappointed.They put in a lot of effort and prepared a lot for this "high guy" who was in his early two meters.But Sunderland just didn't replace Crouch, but instead replaced a goalkeeper.

For Sunderland, this kind of substitution arrangement made the opponent feel a little uncomfortable: Don't they all say that the tall center breaks the dense defense?What happened to the goalkeeper?

Soon Messi stood up: This dense defense, let me break it down.

Anton previously thought that Sunderland's players were a little "floating", and Messi was not among them.The Argentine strolled around the field as usual - but he was always looking for an opportunity, ready to start.

The young players who stared at Messi for half the court were also a little relaxed at this time: every time he saw Messi taking the ball, he just dribbled the ball slowly and wobbly, made a turn in the midfield, and then sent the ball to him. go out.Sunderland's forward line could not advance a few meters at all.Messi is on the field, a bit like a temporary cameo actor.

But the young players don't know that Messi is waiting for their "loose" moment.

Without warning, Messi suddenly started the signature small step dribbling, but the defender didn't know where he was going to dribble, and was instantly passed.

All of a sudden, there was an uproar in the Stadium of Light: The fans have been waiting for this moment for a long time.

The "young man"'s defense immediately "tightened" back again. When Messi moved, four or five defenders gathered in a small space of more than ten meters square.But Messi's figure swayed, and he passed the four of them in an instant. The No.5 player had no choice but to reach out and grab Messi's jersey——

With a "slap", Messi fell into the penalty area. After he bounced up and sat down on the ground, he raised his head in a daze, as if he had just dropped his butt and didn't know what happened.

Captain Henderson on the field has raised his hands and signaled to the referee.The referee saw the scene just now clearly, immediately blew his whistle, and pointed to the penalty spot.

——"Youth" was awarded a penalty kick!

Breaking the dense defense is also a trick: create a threatening set-piece, and then try to score directly.Penalty kicks should be regarded as the most threatening set kicks, there is no such thing.

The penalty kick made by Messi was taken by himself.He stood in front of the penalty spot, standing very close, leaving little distance for the run-up.As soon as the referee blew his whistle, he raised his foot and hugged him: he is a quick free kick, and Messi is a quick penalty kick.The ball flew towards the goal under the watchful eyes of countless fans, barely passed the goalkeeper's fingertips, and landed safely in the goal.

"Ahhhhh-"

"As expected of Messi!"

1 to 1!

Sunderland finally pulled one back.

Pickford was on the bench and yelled with his teammates at this time. With the yelling, he vented a lot of his inner depression, and the original anxiety dissipated a little: the hole he dug was made by the most powerful player in the team. His teammates helped him fill it in.

At this time, Messi stretched out his hand and ran around the field to celebrate, holding up his right index finger, revealing a "1".Many Sunderland fans didn't know why, so they followed Messi and pointed out a finger: "No.1, our Sunderland is naturally number one."

"laugh--"

Anton, who was standing on the command seat beside him, couldn't help laughing. The young coach who frowned for a long time finally showed a smile. This smiling face was accurately captured by the broadcast camera, and it was inevitable that someone would comment on his face when he turned around. "Upside down" all living beings.

"But Messi is celebrating his first goal in the Europa League!" Anton said.

The rest of the coaching staff think about it too: Messi has never left Barcelona, ​​and Barcelona has never played in the Europa League.

For Messi, this may also be another "lifetime".