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Chapter 81 National Team Match - Finland
After four rounds of the Bundesliga, European football once again entered the national team match day, and the 2000 European Cup qualifiers began again.

Borussia Mönchengladbach selected Nick, Jankel and Enke for the national team this time. Ribeck saw Enke's performance. The main goalkeeper of Borussia Mönchengladbach reacted quickly in front of the goal and attacked decisively. He was one of the heroes of the team who only conceded 1 goal in the first four rounds.And Jankel also recovered his form in Borussia Mönchengladbach. Riebeck was a little worried about Bierhoff's state. After all, this time against the Finnish team, he still needs to add a strong striker in the penalty area. The Nordics are all tall.

The current form of the third group is obviously not good for the German team. The strength of this group is obviously higher than other opponents are Germany and Turkey. If the German team can win all the remaining games, there is no doubt that they will qualify.

However, in Helsinki, the German team members are still at ease. The overall strength of the Finnish team is obviously still incomparable with the German team. Except for Barcelona stars Litmanen, Hyypia, and Jascolainen, who else can show up?
And the media is also unanimously singing high-profile for the German national team, the defending champions are full of stars, and the Finnish team is still bad-mouthed by the media even though they are playing at home.

But Nick doesn’t think so. The Nordic teams’ powerful style of play still has a great impact on the German team, and the Nordic teams’ defense has never been weak. The Finnish team has Hyypia, who can play the main force in the Premier League team Liverpool. It is really not so easy to play.

September 9, Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

The German team's away game against Finland has begun.

The starting 11 players of the German team are goalkeeper Enke, the four defenders from left to right are Ziger, Link, Nowotny, Babel, Libero Nick, the two full-backs are Hamann and Fryer, the midfielder Ballack, and the two forwards are Bierhoff and Kirsten.

After the start of the game, facing the Finnish team's iron bucket formation, the German team patiently passed the pass and tried to find a way to open the gap. However, the Finnish team's physical strength confrontation made the German players feel a little helpless.

After 20 minutes of the game, the score was still 0:0. The German team had a few long-range shots, but none of them hit the target.

Nick was a little anxious, so he just rushed forward. The Finnish team's offense was not a threat, and Nick thought there was nothing wrong with the defense.

"Michael, give me the ball!" Nick yelled at Ballack.

Although Ballack took a lot of balls during this period, he was a little helpless when he saw a group of big men in the penalty area of ​​the Finnish team. He immediately passed the ball over when he heard Nick shouting.

Nick took the ball and rushed up directly, and then rushed into the opponent's penalty area. Someone from the Finnish team came to intercept Nick immediately, and the space in the penalty area of ​​the Finnish team was small.

"Haha, I don't believe you can stop me!" Nick put on all his horsepower and slammed into the opponent's defender. Of course, Nick's movement was very subtle. He hit the opponent with his waist and butt after turning sideways. The powerful impact immediately made the opponent, a 193cm tall defender, almost fall asleep to the ground.

Seeing that there was room, Nick shot furiously, and another defender of the opponent rushed over. If the ball was shot, it would probably hit the opponent, so Nick immediately made a fake move.

"Damn, there are so many people, isn't this bus too long?" Although Nick was a little depressed, he swung his feet and rushed towards the opponent's two central defenders with the ball.

"Hehe, this kid is looking for death. He dared to come over knowing that we were double-teaming him." Hypia was overjoyed, and winked at his teammates, and the two quickly came over.

The two sides were about to collide soon, but Nick suddenly turned his back, leaned on Hypia, took advantage of the moment when the two defenders were a little dazed, pulled his feet, then turned around suddenly, and wiped it.

The Finnish fans screamed. Such extraordinary moves are simply too dazzling, and Nick is really strong enough to hold the opponent's two defenders alone. Now he has the opportunity to directly test Jasklainen. Nick did not stop and slammed the ball fiercely.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Nick's wonderful breakthrough shot opened the scoring for the German team! He couldn't stand it anymore in the backcourt, so he rushed up to teach the Finnish team a lesson. He is a very good player. Ribeck should rest assured to hand over the game to Nick. He is the commander of this team." Riedel's commentary made the German fans on the scene and in front of the TV revel.

Nick laughed and rushed to the sidelines, and Riebeck also greeted him happily. The old man was very satisfied with Nick's performance, and the master and apprentice gave a passionate hug.

"Nick, well done, keep playing like this. The opponent's offense is not a threat. You can boldly put in an assist. I'll ask Michael to switch positions with you." Riebeck encouraged. Although Ballack's offensive ability is very strong, the game still relies on Nick's breakthrough to open the situation, so Riebeck tends to switch positions between the two.

Nick smiled and said: "Coach, the Finnish team can no longer take the bus. They are behind and can only choose to attack. Then our defensive counterattack can be easily effective."

Riebeck believed that once Nick's counterattack rhythm came, the Finnish team would not be far from being slaughtered.

However, to Nick's surprise, the Finnish team, which was behind in the score, was still slow and did not immediately rush up to launch a counterattack.

"Hey, you are not in a hurry, and I am not in a hurry, so let's play slowly with you." Nick moved in the backcourt unhurriedly, and at the same time kept winking at his teammates, telling everyone not to panic, anyway, they are leading 1:0 now.

The German team stationed troops in the backcourt and was not in a hurry to attack. This made the Finnish team’s wishful thinking come to nothing, because the Finnish team did not have any strong attacking ability at all.

The home fans began to clamor. This kind of lifeless game makes people drowsy. Everyone buys tickets and comes in to sleep.

"Offensive attack! Finnish attack!"

"Ari, teach the German a lesson!"

"Rush forward and overthrow them, we don't need to be too conservative!"

The clamor of the fans also made the Finnish players lose their temper. They were already behind, but now that the German team was not fooled, they immediately started attacking halftime.

Nick laughed: "Haha, well done, I'll just wait for you."

The competition finally became fierce. The defensive ability of the German players is undoubtedly very strong. In the 33rd minute, Litmanen took the ball and tried to forcefully break through Nick.

After stealing the ball, Nick immediately poked his foot and rushed across the center line at lightning speed.

Since the defense line of the Finnish team was no longer dense, Nick easily broke through to the penalty area. Facing Hyypia, who was robbing, Nick flicked his foot lightly, and the ball rolled to Bierhoff's feet.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! The goal went in, it went in! Captain Oliver Bierhoff's goal, Nick's assist was in place, he ran more than half of the pitch, and the Finnish team's defense is now completely pierced!" Riedel shouted excitedly.

Once the opponent no longer lays down the iron barrel formation, Nick's core role in the team will be fully reflected. This once again reminds the opponent not to fight against the German team, or they will die miserably.

Bierhoff jumped on Nick's back very excitedly, and the two rushed to the sidelines, surrounded by teammates behind them.

"Hey, Nick, your idea is so correct, the Finnish team really can't stand the excitement."

"You did all our work by yourself, haha, Nick, the opponent will definitely focus on marking you in the future, just wait to be kicked."

"Captain, this goal was scored beautifully!"

Jasklainen and Hyypia looked helplessly at the German players celebrating. The Finnish team was still too weak and did not have the ability to fight against the German team. Once the defensive strength hoarded in the backcourt was not enough, the German team's counterattack was like a sharp spear.

After falling behind by 2 goals, the Finnish team had to continue to strengthen their offense. Litmanen knew how good Nick was, and started running around Nick. Nick didn't care. Now the German team's defense is very strong, and it doesn't matter where you run alone.

But before the end of the first half, the Finnish team's long pass successfully found Litmanen's feet, and the 'Finnish Skate' swayed past Zieger's defense and hit the goal with a curve ball in the upper left corner of the penalty area. The ball bypassed Enke's fingers and rolled gently into the goal.

1:2, the Finnish team pulled back a goal.

"Day, Litmanen is really a master, 1 vs 4, this defense is too careless." Nick cursed inwardly, the German team's 4 defenders were still scored by Litmanen alone, which is too careless.

The Finnish players rushed over excitedly and lifted Litmanen up and rushed to the sidelines to celebrate, while Enke pointed at his defensive teammates and cursed, and Kahn off the court gloated, all of which caught the reporter's attention.

Bierhoff also yelled at his teammates: "Christian, what are you thinking? The opponent is only a striker, and you can't beat him? What are you four doing?"

Seeing the embarrassing expressions of his teammates, Nick came over to be a peacemaker: "Okay, okay, we are still one goal ahead, don't be afraid, calm down now, we will kill them in the second half!"

"Nick is right, I have to teach them a lesson in the second half!"

"That's right, the goal was so fucking useless, we have to get back in the second half no matter what!"

"Get rid of Finnish skates!"

Seeing that the morale of his teammates recovered immediately, Nick also smiled, and Riebeck off the field nodded thoughtfully, and then walked into the team lounge.

Immediately, the referee blew the halftime whistle.

(End of this chapter)