Chapter 143: Going further

Not long after the second half started, Spain took advantage of their strong midfield ball control advantage to push England back. This was as expected by Donn, so England was not panicked, but instead shrank its defense line and patiently dealt with England.

Fabregas remembered that before playing, Jero's special instructions to the team:

"There is an information that may be in your favor - George Wood has a yellow card..."

Yero did not continue to say it, but many people, including Fabregas, already fully understood.

As the captain of England, the core, if Wood gets another yellow card in this game, he will lose the qualification to participate in the final.  This happened to Wood. In the 2005-06 season, Nottingham Forest, who returned to the Premier League, reached the final of the UEFA Champions League, and his opponent was Barcelona who trained Fabregas.  In the semi-final before that game, George Wood, who played for Fabregas, received a yellow card at the last moment, and missed the final because of accumulating two yellow cards.   If it weren't for his absence, Nottingham Forest might have won the UEFA Champions League one season ahead of schedule.

Since that incident, Wood has been quite disgusted with such a thing as watching the wall. So even though he was seriously injured, he strongly asked Don to take him to Spain and be ready to play at any time.

This news is indeed very beneficial to Fabregas.

George Wood, who has a yellow card, will definitely have some concerns in the second half of the game, and he will not be able to perform at all levels. As long as he thinks that if he gets another yellow card, he will bid farewell to the European Cup, no one can be as if nothing is wrong.

This is worth taking advantage of.

Thinking of this, Fabregas raised his hand to ask for the ball and ran forward at the same time. He wanted to be closer to Wood and forced him to foul.

Iniesta passed the football to Fabregas, and he knew what Seske was going to do. Actually, he had that meaning, but he was entangled by Michael Johnson, and then he went to Wood to fall into the trap.

Fabregas, who received the ball, dribbled towards Wood.

Wood did not avoid it, just waited for Fabregas to come up. As the last line of defense in front of the central defender, he could not escape no matter what.

As he approached Wood, Fabregas suddenly turned the ball to the left and then turned around and changed direction. Waiting for Wood to lean up.

Wood did not disappoint him, and stepped onto his right and stretched his feet to the ball. Fabregas's feet faster, poked the ball away, and then hit Wood's leg. Then he lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground, screaming in pain!

This voice sucked Don En's heart - Wood made a foul, how will the referee judge? Or verbal warning or card play?

He stood up nervously, staring at the judge in black who ran to the place where the accident happened.

Fortunately, the referee just stretched his hand forward. He did not mean to go to his chest and pocket to get the cards. In the end, there was no verbal warning, but just gave Spain a free kick in the frontcourt.

Tang En breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again.

Four minutes later, the Spanish team made a comeback, and this time it was Fabregas again.   It was Wood again.   But after Fabregas fell to the ground this time, Wood raised his hands and said that he had no action. The referee did not manage Fabregas' protest on the ground, but signaled that the game continued.

The third time. Wood faced Silva's sudden incision, and used his body to knock the thin opponent away, and was called a foul. Silva, Fabregas and Iniesta surrounded the referee and were all making signs to him to get a card.

Seeing this scene, Tang En cursed on the spot: "Take your mb card!"

Fortunately, the referee was not disturbed by Spanish players this time, but Wood made consecutive fouls but did not get the cards, which made the Spanish fans in the stands boo with dissatisfaction.

Don En saw that Espanyol had planned this. They knew that Wood was carrying a yellow card and wanted Wood to be scruples when defending. Wood must be reminded.

Thinking of this, Don Eun got up and walked to the sidelines, shouting Wood's name at the field. After attracting Wood's attention, he shouted: "Pay attention to your movements, George! Don't foul it easily! Don't give them a chance!"

In fact, there is no need for Don En to say anything, Wood also knows what the other party wants to do. He admits that he is very confused now - he is neither willing to give in, nor does he want to really miss the finals with a yellow card. As an English player, it is not often possible to reach the finals. He is unwilling to miss such an opportunity. What's more, if he wants to win the championship trophy himself, how can he be a spectator on the bench?

After the England counterattacked once, Espanyol came again. The target was still George Wood, but this time it became Iniesta. After a series of short passes and switches with Fabregas, Iniesta came to Wood. This time you must make you retreat!!

Wood looked at Iniesta getting closer and closer, and finally made up his mind not to let the opponent go. But just as he was about to step out, a man came out of the diagonal stab and knocked Iniesta out with the ball. Iniesta, who flew out, heard the whistle of the referee, but to his surprise, George Wood was still standing in front of him in the corner of his eyes...

When Wayne Rooney was still on the ground, he cooperated to raise his right hand, indicating that he had violated the rules of the earth.

Wood looked at Rooney, who was sitting on the ground indifferently.

After Rooney got up from the ground, he patted Wood on the shoulder: "Defense is not your own business."

The Spanish players thought Rooney's foul was a provocation. They angrily surrounded the referee and signaled the referee to give the card. But this time, the referee just verbally warned Rooney and did not take out the card. The Spanish booed in the stands became louder and louder.

Don Eun decided to make an adjustment. He made a bold adjustment. He decided to switch Gerrard back to the back and let Wood play the front midfielder. Although this might send Wood to Camacho, it at least reduces the possibility of him getting a card due to a defensive foul. Anyway, England has the lead in one goal, and even if he defeats Don Eun in the end, he doesn't think it's embarrassing. The loser is not qualified to say anything. Besides, Wood's long-range shooting ability can be more important in the front midfielder position.

Don En's adjustment made the Spanish team unexpected...

Jero turned his head and looked at Donn several times. He wanted to figure out what he was thinking - it was obvious that England has basically been destroyed by the wings under the strong offensive of Spain. Their few attacks were initiated by Wood in the backcourt, using his overall view and long passes to create opportunities for Mitchel and Vaughan in front. Now he pushed Wood into the frontcourt and directly faced the Spanish midfielder Camacho. Wouldn't he use his own martial arts?

Camacho turned his head to look at Jero on the court, and Jero gave him a gesture to guard Wood. At present, this can only be done, but this can be regarded as an indirect achievement of his goal - anyway, George Wood is no longer in the midfielder. The 36-year-old Gerald's contribution in defense will definitely not be able to compete with Wood, and Spain has cleared the obstacles on the offensive road.

Now you can ignore Wood and attack with all your might!

The Spaniard wanted to sound the horn of counterattack, but unexpectedly it was England who took the lead.

After reaching the backcourt, Gerald can organize the offense like Wood. When the football passes to Wood's feet, he uses his strong body and explosive strength to squeeze Camacho behind him, and then cooperates with Mitcher who is retreating to meet him. He directly kicks the ball!

The shot was very sudden, and Asenho basically did not respond, but unfortunately the football went off the post.

Although he didn't score, it made Espanyol sweat.

Only then did Yero react to long-range shooting, England is not the only one Steve Gerald...

He walked to the sidelines. He nervously asked Camacho to strengthen his close-knit guard against Wood. Now he could only think of such a way to deal with it. If he adjusted his team, he would be at a loss.

Yero, who gave this instruction, walked back, and suddenly felt a little unwilling: as a result, he was at a disadvantage from beginning to end in the competition with the coach of his landlord. He was led by Tang En, and never once did he take the initiative... including the adjustments he made during the intermission, and now he found that the other party had expected it.

He asked his players to try to get as much set pieces as possible, which was an effective means to break intensive defense, but England was very cunning and always tried to foul in non-dangerous areas away from the penalty area. He asked the team to suppress England's wing, but England took the initiative to give up the wing, and George Wood became active in the middle. He became the attacking point of the English landlord.

And although England has been in gestures since the beginning of the second half, their goal is not in great danger. This is what Jero is most worried about - if the game continues like this, it will only be more beneficial to the defense. The goal must be scored early, in order to achieve this goal, even if... even if it is temporarily ignored!

Jero thought about it for a while in the seat and decided to put two full-backs on it to strengthen Spain's offense and create pressure on England's defense line. This forced Wood and others to return to defense. The goal of reducing his defensive pressure.

England's defense is very tight, and Espanyol's offense is difficult to penetrate. England was surrounded by the Spanish team's frontcourt when counterattacking. It made it difficult for them to send football to the frontcourt. Michael Johnson does not have the ability to pass the ball well with one shot, and it is all up to Gerald, who is easy to be stared at.

For a moment, the two sides were in a stalemate and no one could do anything to each other.

Both coaches stood up from their positions one after another and stood on the sidelines to supervise the battle. The players on both sides fought to the death on the court and did not give in. Wood had another foul, while Abanglaho received another yellow card. Espanyol had a very good opportunity during this period. A little mistake occurred between the three defenders in England, allowing Bo Yang to slip in between the three of them and face Joe Hart. Unfortunately, this opportunity seemed too easy. Bo Yang actually kicked the ball directly into the stands.

This ball made Yero mumble off the court for a long time. Of course he had reason to complain. He watched Bo Yang break into it, and then watched Fabregas pass the football in. Finally, he saw Bo Yang kick the ball away with one kick. Others jumped up, as if it was not the football that was kicked away but him.

"This is almost the best chance in Spain in the second half, but Bo Yang kicked away! What a pity..." The Spanish commentator said annoyed.

John Motson breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems that God is on our side today..."

Yero made a mistake when the middle class was resting, and he only saw it now. He asked the team to strengthen the wing attack, and crossing from the wing was naturally one of them, but Bo Yang was short and thin, and could not gain any advantage in competing with the England central defenders. Crossing from the wing became a useless decoration.

Yero could not agree to such a waste of offensive resources.

In the 20th minute of the second half, Jero gritted his teeth and replaced Boyang with the more impactful Torres. Even if Torres is still injured, he must play. Because of losing this game, even if his injury heals, it becomes meaningless. Who wants to play in the third and fourth finals?

Torres ran on the field with great enthusiasm, hoping that he could become the hero who saved Spain.

Torres, who was thirty-two years old, was no longer as fast as when he was young, but his experience and consciousness were used. He was a step further than when he was young. Now he can be regarded as "Old Jiang".

Seeing him on the court, the England defenders were collectively nervous. As people who played in the Premier League, everyone knows what level of striker Torres is. Those who have been hovering in the top three Premier League scorers list for many years should not be underestimated.

As expected, Torres gave England a long shot as soon as he came on the court. He shot outside the penalty area and was saved by Joe Hart with difficulty. His long shot also rekindled the enthusiasm of Spanish fans. He had already seen that the Spanish fans in New Mestalia had a little let down, but the singing of English fans became louder and louder.

George Wood finally returned to the midfielder position, after all, Spain attacked with all its might. England was in a tight backcourt.                                                                                                               �

Donn applauded Wood's defense on the court. This time, letting go hit Torres' arrogance well, letting him know whose territory it was in front of the penalty area! The effect is quite good. Just look at the English fans in the stands who were applauding and cheering hard.

St. George is a mountain in front of the England goal. Any storm and rain must stop when it comes to him. The goal behind the mountain will always be sunny.

But this mountain does not only shelter from wind and rain...

The game ended in the 75th minute. After Torres's shot was saved by Hart, the goalkeeper from Manchester City did not drive the ball out with his big feet, but threw his hand to Gerald outside the penalty area.

As soon as Gerald received the football, Iniesta rushed up. The Spanish players still remember that the coach asked them to actively snatch the ball in the frontcourt.

Gerald naturally remembers Done let them get the ball quickly.

Turning around and passing the football to Michael Johnson next to him, Gerald ran forward and pretending to participate in the offense, which actually only attracted the attention of the Spanish avant-gardes.

Sure enough, Johnson did not pass the ball to him, but gave Abang Laho to the right.  Abang Laho did not delay for a second after receiving the football.                                         

This is the most feared attack method of Espanyol. If he doesn't stop him when he starts, the trouble will be great. Seeing this, Camacho also threw Wood down and ran towards Abanglajo. The landlords from Nottingham Forest are not fools who only know how to play football with brute force. Seeing Camacho pounced towards him, Abanglaho passed the ball cleanly to George Wood who was inserted in the middle, and lured the tiger away from the mountain!

Wood received the ball, and Camacho was not there, only the central defender was added.

Pique signaled Albiol to wait behind, and he wanted to go up and meet his former captain in person.

Wood never uses fancy moves to dribble, and has the advantage of explosive power. As expected, he only needs to push the football away and speed up and overtake. Pique understands this, so he did not pounce on it, but maintained a certain distance, followed Wood back, and slowly forced him to the side. As long as Wood goes to the side, letting him go this time will be considered successful. Because Wood does not cross, the quality of the cross is extremely poor.

Pique thought so, but Wood would not give him the opportunity to implement this. After seeing Pique having such an attempt, Wood directly passed the football to Vaughan in front of him.

Pique was stunned for a moment and immediately turned around to save Vaughan. At this time, Vaughan passed the football back to Wood, and Wood kept hitting the ball directly to Mitcher who was waiting in front.

Mitcher passed the ball back again. Albial knew that the front of the penalty area was where Wood was good at exerting force, so he quickly asked Mitcher to jump towards Wood. At the same time, Pique also turned around and rushed towards him. The two rushed towards Wood one by one and the other. They had the same idea - even if they had a foul, they could not let Wood shoot the ball out!

Wood turned the back pass to the left, as if he was going to dodge Albiol from the front and then wait for an opportunity to shoot. Albiol and Pique thought so, and the two changed direction slightly and continued to force Wood.

In fact, Wood did this well for them. The two of them wanted to force Wood to the side in time, so that he would be no threat. But just as the encirclement of the two people was about to close, the football rushed out of the gap between them!

No one expected that Wood would knock the football behind him with his heels...

Mitcher is already in an offside position and he is indifferent to Wood's pass.

But the other person is in a very good condition today...

James Vaughan scored a goal when he started in this European Cup for the first time and was actively looking for a chance to score twice.

Now, the opportunity is right in front of him!

George Wood attracted two Spanish centre-backs for him, and then passed a moderate ball to face the goal head-on. Can there be any better chance in the world than this?

Of course not!

Vaughan shot directly in the face of the incoming ball, and the football drew a very obvious arc. If you look at it from Vaughan's perspective, you probably thought the ball would fly directly out of the baseline, because... the arc is too big...

But just as we approached the goal, the football suddenly began to swivel!

Although Asenho made a save early in the morning, the football turned too far... he bypassed Asenho's hands and rushed straight to the top of the goal!

"James Vaughan...yes!yes!yes!!" Motson was excited, "England leads two goals!!"

The football flew into the goal from a dead corner. Asenho could only look at the ball and sigh, then fell heavily to the ground, forgetting the movement of rolling and unloading force. It was not his fault, this blow was too heavy for the Spaniard.

2:0! England leads!
Chapter completed!