Chapter 83 Rematch
At the South_way, Thurlock's home court, Kevin Cooper was waving to signal his teammates to surround him.
This important qualifying rematch is about to begin, and they are making the final mobilization.
"I don't want to say much about the importance of this game," Cooper said. "You must be very clear. I just want to ask everyone: Do you want to participate in the FA Cup?"
"I want to!" everyone replied in unison.
"I want to!" Cooper laughed, and he reached into the center of the circle. "Come on, guys!"
Everyone stretched out their hands and folded them up.
"Although we are just teams in the Ninth League, we want to be the darkest dark horses, guys. Let's show your face on TV! Let the whole of England know us and Wimbledon Athletics!"
Kevin Cooper's hand suddenly fell down, "Win Thurlock and go to the main game!"
"Go to the main race!"
Everyone shouted loudly and then parted.
※※※ "Go to the main game?" Thurlock's fans couldn't help laughing when they heard the Wimbledon players shouting.
"Our 'Fleet' is the sixth-level team, but we don't dare to shout like that!" "Fleet" (the_fleet) is Thurlock's nickname.
"Their ninth-level team dares to say such big talk?"
"Although you are very good in the Ninth League, don't be crazy in front of us! Sarri's boys!"
"Give them some color!"
However, the ridicule of Thurlock fans was quickly drowned in the singing of Wimbledon fans. Although this is Thurlock's home court, judging from the distribution of the jersey colors in the stands, the fans of the visiting Wimbledon team occupy a huge majority... Want to fight against Wimbledon fans? Thurlock fans are too overestimated.
"Wimbledon! Wimbledon! Ohoh! Let's go to the main race! Go to the main race!"
Emily sang loudly among the fans.
※※※Wimbled on the singing of his fans, Wimbledon started this critical rematch.
There is no such thing as a away goal in the FA Cup rematch, so the two goals in the first leg of Thurlock were useless. They could not choose to defend with two away goals. Now both sides are 0:0, everything starts from scratch. As long as either side defeats their opponents in the rematch, they can qualify for the main competition.
From the beginning of the game, Thurlock chose the crazy attack tactic. They were at their home court and were in the sixth division. In terms of ranking in this league, they were much higher than Wimbledon. Of course, they had reason to choose to take the lead in attacking at their home court. They wanted Wimbledon to understand one thing--the difference between the sixth division and the ninth division is not just a change of number.
The tactics that Eames formulated for Wimbledon were to resolutely defend and counterattack. He used the opponent's arrogance to lure them out, and then seized the opportunity and launched a counterattack.
So Borger will be the most important person in this game because he is the fastest player in the team.
Before the game, Eames said to the players: "...Don't pass the ball back and forth from the back. If you can pass it to the front, you can pass it to the front. We play a long pass. When we get the ball, Borger, try to sprint to the corner flag, and the player who takes the ball kicks the ball to that place, master the footwork and strength. Borger, you can catch the ball as long as you run to it. What should you do if you catch the ball? It depends on your own judgment when it comes to the cross or cut in!"
This is Wimbledon's all offensive tactics. As for the defense... Eames asked Chu Zhongtian and Sidwell to impose an oppressive defense against Thurlock's midfielders in the midfield. Because from the first encounter between the two sides, Eames found that several of Thurlock's midfielders were of excellent personal skills, but they were not good at passing the ball. They could pass several people in a row, but they might not be able to send the ball to dangerous places under complicated circumstances.
The two goals lost in the first round were caused by not being familiar with this and allowing the opponent's excellent midfielder to calmly take the ball and break through and pass the ball.
Therefore, if you want to limit the opponent's attack in this game, you must not give the opponent's players space and time to get the ball.
The advantage of oppressive defense is that it can be used to deal with people who have good skills, poor health, poor passing, and are afraid of snatching. A few people go up and grab it, compress their movements to control the ball, and the ball will be lost.
The disadvantage is that your defensive position is messed up. If there are players in the opponent's team who have good passing and good awareness, it will be a tragedy... Fortunately, after an observation of a game, Eames determined that there is no such outstanding player in the Thurlock team.
So he can safely and boldly implement oppressive defense.
The game was held as Eames expected, and Thurlock was obviously not adapted to the mad dog-like siege of Chu Zhongtian and Sidwell. Their players who wanted to transfer the football out, but they always passed the ball under the interference of the opponent. They either had too much time to hold the ball, and as a result, their teammates ran over the position and passed the ball offside again... They couldn't open the situation on offense, and encountered some trouble in defense.
Borger's speed became a nightmare for all Thurlock players, and Wimbledon's simple and crude tactics also made them unable to bear it... After Kevin Cooper received a long pass from Sidwell in the frontcourt, he did not choose to turn around and break through, but directly switched the ball from the wing. Borger used his speed to throw away the opponent's defensive player and then received the football. Then he did not continue to lead in, but made a cross!
Qiao Xilin broke out from the crowd and made a beautiful rush to the top!
Football enters the Internet with a sound!
Just eleven minutes passed before the game began... Wimbledon fans who were visiting raised their arms and jumped up, and the singing of cheering for Wimbledon began to sound again.
In Wimbledon's attack, due to its fast speed, Thurlock's defense was not enough to organize, so Joe Xilin was able to score so easily.
This is Wimbledon's tactical victory.
After scoring the goal, Joe Xilin was very excited. He rushed towards Borge who passed the ball to him and hugged him hard. Other teammates rushed forward and surrounded them.
Eames was not as excited as the players. When the players scattered and ran back to their respective positions, he shouted on the sidelines: "Strive to score another goal! Score more goals! Grab their space! One goal is not safe!"
※※He was right, it was really not safe to lead with a goal. In the subsequent game, Chu Zhongtian felt tremendous pressure. The opponent's offensive rushed towards them like a tide.
Moreover, the opponent did get several opportunities, but their people were not sure about it, and they were not lucky, or Wimbledon was too lucky. One of them was shots. The opponent calmly took the ball at only ten yards away from the goal and then adjusted it and then shot vigorously. However, the football flew out against the crossbar, causing Wimbledon fans to have a false alarm.
"We can't always rely on luck to defend! We have to fight back!" Taking advantage of a corner kick, Chu Zhongtian stood in the penalty area and shouted at his teammates who were returning to defense.
"Of course we have to fight back! But let's hold the ball first!" Kevin Cooper asked Chu Zhongtian to defend.
Thurlock's corner kick was taken, and there was a mess in front of the goal.
Wimbledon's central defender Simmston jumped high and competed for the top, but neither of them reached the ball. The football passed through their airspace. The No. 8 player, who was ambushing the back point, stopped the ball on his chest, but there was not even a Wimbledon player beside him!
"Damn it! What are they doing!?" Eames stood up nervously from his seat.
Chu Zhongtian was originally going to compete for the top, but when he found that the football was a little high, he gave up the idea and instead stayed in the penalty area. Now the football flew backwards, and when he turned around, he saw the opponent's No. 8 player stopping the football with his chest.
Due to inertia, Thurlock's No. 8 was unable to shoot immediately. In order to stop the sudden pass, he retreated a little fiercely and needed to adjust his center of gravity and pace.
Taking advantage of this skill, Chu Zhongtian rushed forward. When No. 8 shot again, the football rubbed Chu Zhongtian's calf and changed direction, and was blocked by the goalkeeper who fell to the ground to rush to the ball.
The football was not controlled by Wimbledon's players, and the goal was even more chaotic.
Thurlock's player rushed up and shot, and the football went straight to the near post, but was blocked by the body of the full-back Steve Gibson who was guarding the post before he had time to push it out.
The Thurlock player's third shot kicked the ball away less than five meters away from the goal... The successive shots just now scared all Wimbledons to breathe. When the football flew out of the stadium, a breath of exhalation came from the stands.
"I didn't score such a goal?" Thurlock's head coach was furious off the court, wishing he could rush to the field and grab the player's collar of the shot.
"We may have wasted the best chance of this game!" A Thurlock fan complained in the stands. The reason why he didn't dare to say loudly was because he would definitely attract attacks from his companions - "Why is such an opportunity our best chance? There are still sixty minutes left in the game!"
※※Although there are still sixty minutes left in the game, Thurlock couldn't find any cheaper. Their offense was completely blocked by Chu Zhongtian, Sidwell and Wimbledon's defenders.
After surviving the crazy counterattack after Thurlock lost the ball, Wimbledon began to gradually take the initiative on the field. Until the end of the first half, although they seemed to have more possessions than Wimbledon, in fact, all the threatening shot opportunities were from Wimbledon.
The only thing that's great to be happy for Thurlock was that they only conceded one goal throughout the first half.
"Is this worth being happy?" Thurlock's head coach scolded the whole team during the halftime break. "We are the team in the sixth division! Now we are the advantage of a team in the ninth division! We are still behind with one goal! Is it worth being happy not to concede the ball? This is a shame! I don't care whether we can participate in the main game, I just want to tell you that I care about being beaten like this by a team in the ninth division!"
On the other hand, Eames did not express his appreciation for the team's performance, and he was not satisfied: "You count yourself. How many opportunities did we get in the first half? And how many did you seize? One! We only scored one goal with so many opportunities! If you can catch half of those opportunities in the first half, we will be 3:0 now! What kind of game is this? This is about who can enter the main game rematch, how can you waste so many opportunities? If we scored a goal in the second half and equalized the score, I hope you won't regret the performance in the first half!"
Eames's severe accusations made everyone feel a little embarrassed. Some people may complain that the head coach's requirements are too strict, but Chu Zhongtian felt that his boss was right. Wasting opportunities will be retribution...※※※After the second half of the game restarted, Eames asked the team to continue to fight back while maintaining a stable defense, but this time they were not allowed to squander those hard-earned counterattack opportunities again.
"Score another goal!" On the sidelines, he slapped at the players who walked onto the court. "It's okay to score two more! As long as you can!"
In terms of strength, Wimbledon might be really strong in Thurlock's sixth-level team that relegates every year... "Hey, Terry. I remember after the last game, you asked them not to underestimate the opponent?" Ingrich found it very funny after hearing Eames say this.
"The belief in underestimating the enemy and winning is two different things, Nicky." Eames glared at him.
※※※The home team Thurlock was unwilling to be led by Wimbledon, and they launched a fierce offensive again after the second half began.
Chu Zhongtian no longer remembers how many times he used his body to block the opponent's shot. Anyway, under the opponent's offensive, his position had retreated from the penalty area to the penalty area. Except for Borge and Qiao Xilin, who were asked to stay in the frontcourt and wait for a counterattack, everyone else returned to the half-court, even defended in the 30-meter area.
Now they have indeed experienced "why one goal lead is the most unsafe", and now they have indeed regretted wasting so many opportunities in the first half.
If they lead two or three balls and then face the opponent's offense, they will not be as nervous as they are now. Every time they defend, they are afraid that the opponent will catch a loophole that they have not paid attention to and score, turning the lead of one ball into clouds.
"We need to score!" Even Wimbledon fans in the stands saw that if the opponent was allowed to continue to attack like this, it would be a matter of time before the goal would be lost.
What is the best solution to this situation?
It is definitely not that you can't organize your defense line so that you can't even fly in a mosquito, because it's impossible. Instead, let the opponent lose a goal and the problem will be solved!
※※※ Chu Zhongtian received a ball from his teammates. Now he must find a way to transfer the football out, and the opponent's player has rushed up. Judging from the ten minutes of the second half, Thurlock used the front court pressing tactics, striving to directly grab the ball in the front court and launch an attack. Therefore, the football cannot be left under his feet for too long.
But looking around and passing the ball to them is just to keep the football in our own space. The opponent's formation is very high. Isn't bullying us without an excellent long passer?
Chu Zhongtian saw Borge who was active on the sidelines. He suddenly thought of the sweat he had put into summer vacation. What is the purpose of practicing hard every day regardless of wind and rain? Isn’t it just for this moment?
Chu Zhongtian made the move to turn around and pass back, and he could trick the Throck player who came to force him to defend and chase the ball. But he used his left foot to pack the ball, turned back, and faced the attack direction again! Next, he stepped on his left foot slightly behind the football, raised his right foot, and kicked the football from inside to outside!
He has done this movement many times during the summer vacation, and he almost no longer needs to meditate on how to kick it in his heart. His body naturally knows what kind of movement to do and how much strength to use... Everything is like being carved on those legs.
As soon as the ball was shot, Chu Zhongtian felt good. His intuition told him that the ball would definitely be able to pass accurately!
Goal: Gavin Borger, who is preparing to sprint on the sideline, is ten meters ahead of him!
Seeing Chu Zhongtian's sudden long pass, Borge knew that the ball must be for him, because he passed it forward and headed straight to the direction of the corner flag. Only he had the speed to catch up with such a powerful pass!
The football raised at a very small angle and the height was not high, but it was very fast and very suddenly. The Thurlock's defensive players did not expect the ball to pass through their defense line - the distance was too far, and the flight distance of the ball had exceeded forty-five yards! Passed from a penalty area on the court to the corner flag on the other side!
"This ball was passed..." Borger turned around and took a look at the football and accelerated again, because he found that if he didn't accelerate, he might not be able to catch up with the ball. "That's so fucking... so fucking big!"
He roared and rushed out, stretched out his foot to snatch the ball that fell from the air. The Thurlock defender who had been following him back to defense did not expect that Borger did not stop the ball, but stopped and buckled it. He couldn't hold back and rushed out of the court.
Borger was not much better either, but he was prepared, so the distance he rushed out was not too far. After a sudden brake, he turned around and ran back, got the football again, completely knocked off the defense.
Next he rushed into the penalty area straight.
In addition to the goalkeeper, the last defender, Thurlock rushed towards him, and the goalkeeper also moved towards the near post, blocking the angle, and preventing Borger from shooting directly. Even though they knew that there was a Wimbledon player behind them, they could not leave the Wimbledon No. 17 player who was holding the ball now.
Borge is not stupid. He didn't pass the ball when he saw this situation... He directly passed the football between the defender and the goalkeeper!
"If you can't hit this ball, go to die, die Jeep!"
Qiao Xilin, who had been waiting behind the goal, faced the ball from Borge. He lightly hit the ankle horizontally and turned the ball into the goal. The goalkeeper who was rushing back had only time to pounce on the shadow of the football. It was so relaxed... 2:0!
Wimbledon, who played in the Ninth Division, led the sixth Division team Thurlock on two goals away!
Chapter completed!