Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

In the 63rd minute, Evra passed the ball and Li Qi shot hard! Unfortunately, the ball was poked by Gordon's fingers again. The ball changed direction slightly and hit the post hard and bounced back to the front of the goal. Then Tevez followed up with a supplementary shot, but Sunderland defender Higginbotham flew to block it and it went out of the baseline.

In the 65th minute, Li Qi made a series of short passes with Wes Brown on the right, then pretended to go to the bottom, but suddenly stepped back and sent a curved cross from the corner of the penalty area near the sideline, which accurately bypassed the interception of the Sunderland defender in front and found the head of Saha who was ambushing in the middle of the penalty area.

Unfortunately, Saha's lion's head shake was too powerful, or maybe he had not yet fully entered the game state, and the ball was headed too straight, and fell directly into the arms of Gordon who was guarding the middle of the goal.

In the 67th minute, Tevez passed Li Qi's diagonal pass back at the edge of the penalty area, and Hargreaves' powerful shot from 25 yards in front of the goal was blocked by Gordon's diving dive again. He flexibly caught the ball with a vicious dog pounce before Scholes could make a follow-up shot.

Manchester United's attack wave was higher and higher, and they were getting closer and closer to scoring; in order to further strengthen the offensive, Sir Alex Ferguson replaced Eagles with Sylvester in the 68th minute, promoted Evra to the left winger, and began to bombard the penalty area.

But just when everyone thought that Manchester United would soon be able to gain something in the open play, Manchester United unexpectedly broke the deadlock with a corner kick, and the process of scoring the goal was unremarkable.

Shortly after Sylvester came on the pitch, Evra's cross from the left was cleared by the Sunderland defender and went out of bounds, resulting in a corner kick on the right side.

Then Li Qi took a corner kick from the right side in the 72nd minute. Saha jumped up from the crowd 5 yards in front of the goal to grab the ball and headed it into the net from the side of Gordon's head. The distance was too close, and Gordon, as a normal human being, could not react at all.

Saha's header not only helped Manchester United break the deadlock on the field and lead Sunderland 1-0, but it was also his first league goal in 9 months!

Roy Keane then tried to organize a counterattack for Sunderland, but was embarrassed to find that the team's best attackers were already on the field and had exhausted their energy in the long period of passive defense. In desperation, Keane could only replace the energetic offensive midfielder and the young kid for a last-ditch effort!

But it was obviously useless, because Sunderland could hardly even touch the ball. In the first half, the ball possession rate was still 60:40. In the second half, Sunderland, who kept shrinking, almost gave up all the ball possession. Sunderland, who had not touched the ball for a long time, could not find the rhythm of organization and attack.

Manchester United calmly retreated to its formation, slowed down the tempo of the game, controlled the situation steadily, and launched surprise attacks from time to time.

In the 78th minute, Li Qi broke through to the left edge of the penalty area in a counterattack and made a long cross, but Tevez, who was still unable to keep up with the energy, spat the ball into Gordon's arms.

In the 80th minute, Li Qi intercepted the ball, Scholes passed the ball, and Hargreaves couldn't help but shot from 25 yards away from the goal, but it hit the upper left corner and went wide.

In the 84th minute, Sir Alex Ferguson replaced Li Qi, who had the best performance of the game, with O'Shea, and let the latter receive applause from the home fans.

Of course, before the latter left the field, Sunderland, who was unable to kick the ball and started kicking people, kicked his injured right ankle hard. Although it was not a malicious foul, he could not avoid it. Li Qi, who was hit hard, was also uncomfortable and ran with a limp. Although the team doctor said that there was no serious problem after the examination, Sir Alex Ferguson still chose to make a substitution for safety reasons.

In the 90th minute, Collins in the penalty area blocked Wes Brown's shot from the top of the penalty area with his hand, but the referee did not make a penalty...

After the final whistle, Manchester United, who had suppressed their opponents throughout the game, only won by one goal against Sunderland. However, everyone who watched the game knew that the difference in strength between the two teams was far more than one goal.

Sunderland played in a chaotic manner, without any logical tactics. When they should have defended, they had four pure attackers on the field. When they should have counterattacked, they found that their best attackers were exhausted. If it weren't for the heroic performance of goalkeeper Gordon, who saved at least seven sure-shot goals, the black cat would have turned into a calico cat long ago...

Although the Red Devils Manchester United only scored one goal, it was obvious that their overall state and spirit were recovering. The team played better and better. New players Hargreaves, Licky and Tevez have already begun to integrate into the team's tactical system, and the only one missing is Anderson who has not yet appeared. Saha's timely return from injury was a shot in the arm, and this game was Ronaldo's last game of suspension.

With the return of Ronaldo after the national team game, Manchester United's strength is bound to reach a new level!

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Manchester United's legendary captain, who played at the Theatre of Dreams for more than 12 years, played 306 times with the captain's armband, won seven league titles, four FA Cup titles, four Community Shield titles and one European Champions Cup title. Although Keane led the team to compete against Manchester United this time, Old Trafford was still singing "Keane's Song".

If Keane had led the team to win, the praises would have stopped abruptly; but when Sunderland lost the game despite being passive, the praises were sung with peace of mind, and even more enthusiastic. Even though the person involved might feel uncomfortable, this was after all the fans' good intentions, wasn't it? Even though they were fans of the opponent in this game, it sounded a little sarcastic...

Originally, if Manchester United failed to beat Sunderland at home, they would have created the worst record for the defending champions of the Premier League and would have continued to break the worst record for the Red Devils in the history of the Premier League. The original record was 04 points in the first five rounds of the 05/5 season, and Manchester United only ranked third in the season.

However, Li Qi's corner kick assist and Saha's goal helped Ferguson and the team avoid embarrassment. After two consecutive league victories, Manchester United accumulated 5 points in 8 games and temporarily rose to sixth place.

The last time Sunderland humiliated Manchester United at Old Trafford was in April 06, when the Black Cats, who were doomed to be relegated, stubbornly drew with the Red Devils at the same venue, ending Sir Alex Ferguson's team's nine-game winning streak and completely losing the chance to catch up with Chelsea.

However, more than 16 months have passed, and both teams have undergone tremendous changes...

At the post-match press conference, Sir Alex Ferguson first praised the hero Saha who scored the only goal of the game after 26 minutes of playing time: "After Saha came on the court, the situation on the field was obviously different. His movements were light and fast, which brought a sharpness to the team and scored goals for the whole team... We have been missing him very much. Now he is back, everyone is very happy, and we won the game today. He finally came out of his injury!"

Afterwards, Sir Alex Ferguson calmly analyzed the game. He admitted that Manchester United's performance was not satisfactory, but there were objective reasons for it: "In the first half, I thought the pass was too slow. The ball possession rate was pretty good, but no real threat was created. When a team puts together a lineup like this, the game will be difficult."

"The four players in the starting lineup had never played together before. Everything was new to them, so they lacked tacit understanding and relied on their own abilities to play... But fortunately, after the first 45 minutes of running-in, the performance in the second half improved a lot. In the second 45 minutes, we firmly took the initiative in the game. I think Manchester United deserved this victory."

Finally, Sir Alex Ferguson also made some prospects for the schedule after the national team match day: "After defeating Tottenham and Sunderland in a row, the morale of the team is very high. Next will be the national team match day, but after that we will face two tough battles, first away to Everton, and then back home to face Chelsea. Although our offensive problems have not been completely solved, Saha can see that it is the right time to return, and by then Ronaldo's suspension will also end. The best Red Devils are on the way..."

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"In the history of the English League, Manchester United has scored a total of 7098 goals, and its offensive power is unrivaled among all Premier League teams, ranking first. Last season, Manchester United regained the league championship after a lapse of 4 years, relying on a gorgeous and devastating attack, scoring 38 goals in 83 games, 19 more than Chelsea, which ranked second.

However, after the start of the new season, the offense has become the Red Devils' biggest problem. Saha and Rooney were injured, and Ronaldo was suspended. In the first five games, they only scored 4 goals, tied with Reading and West Ham, which had one game less, for the worst record in the Premier League. So much so that the BBC began to make fun of Manchester United, "In today's Premier League, it is the least worthwhile to spend money to watch Manchester United's games, because you can see the least goals."

In this match against Sunderland, Manchester United had 20 shots, but only 3 of them were completed in the penalty area, and the rest were long shots from the outside. This shows that it is difficult for Manchester United to deliver the ball to the most threatening location, or that there is no way to open up a gap to complete the final shot after the ball is delivered, so they can only move freely and then go in and shoot long shots from the outside.

In the first five rounds, Manchester United's statistics are very different from last year, and their efficiency is shockingly low. With 5 shots, they are the most among all Premier League teams, but their 82% shooting accuracy is only in the middle. On the contrary, Arsenal, which missed many shots last year, currently ranks first with a 40.3% shooting accuracy. In terms of chance grasping, Manchester United is the last in the Premier League, scoring only 56.1 goals in 82 shots, with a pitiful 3% goal scoring rate, ranking last among the top 3.7 teams in the Premier League, and 20 percentage points behind Liverpool, which ranks first, and the latter's shot conversion rate is as high as 13.5%!

The main reason for the rapid decline in Manchester United's offensive efficiency is naturally personnel issues. Rooney was injured and Ronaldo was suspended. The two of them scored 31 goals together last year, accounting for 83% of Manchester United's 37 total goals, not to mention their role in the offense. Because last season, Manchester United's overall offense relied on these two strong points to drive the overall situation. Once these two people were missing, Manchester United's offensive organization was very unfamiliar, and the offensive system that was invincible last season did not work well.

The good news is that these two players will be back soon. This round is the last game of Ronaldo's suspension. The Portuguese has been preparing for the next two rounds against Everton and Chelsea. Rooney's injury recovery is also faster than expected. He will undergo a scan next week to confirm whether he can return. Once these two players are together, plus the return of Saha, plus the integration of new aids Tevez and Li Qi, Manchester United's offensive firepower is expected to be further improved.

However, there is a sign worth noting, that is, the rhythm of midfielder Scholes this season is a bit slow, mainly reflected in the speed of passing the ball. In this game, he adjusted and kicked the ball three times, but was blocked by the defender. Last season, Scholes' main task was to pass the ball to the front attackers as soon as possible, so that Ronaldo and Rooney could get the ball in the most suitable position before the opponent closed the formation.

But in this game, due to the slow dispatch, the opponent had time to recover and organize defense; so it was difficult for Manchester United to develop the ball to the dangerous area, Tevez and Li Qi could only withdraw frequently to receive the ball with their backs. When playing against Tottenham, Scholes also had a similar phenomenon. I wonder if this is because his speed has begun to decline because he is approaching 33 years old.

Fortunately, due to injuries, Saha, who had not scored in the league for 9 months, returned in time in this game and scored the winning goal. In fact, Saha's repeated injuries have made Sir Alex Ferguson go from hope to disappointment many times. This summer, the agent confirmed that Manchester United was interested in selling the French striker, and just when the negotiations were about to start, Saha was injured again.

No one would pay a high price for a player who was injured, and he could not pass the physical examination, so Saha was left alone. However, it was a blessing in disguise that allowed Manchester United to taste the sweetness now. It was when they were short of strikers that they got strong support from Saha..."

Bored Ricardo browsed through the sports and joke pages and closed the Manchester Evening News. As for the business section which was mostly filled with photos of beautiful models, Ricardo didn't dare to look at it for too long, after all, Sarafina was sitting next to him.

It was early in the morning the day after the race, and Ricardo and Sarafina took the Virgin Express train from Manchester to London, a journey that took about two hours.

Originally, Ricardo wanted to do something special with Sarah in this special setting of the express train, and try a new and unusual occasion...

But the scumbag Li was stopped by Sarah's invincible thigh twist: Yes, there are quite a lot of people on the early bus, many of them are financial scumbags in suits and young ladies in skirts and high heels; next time, let's try it at a time when there are fewer people.

Sarah looked at the scumbag Li with a surprised look on her face: Is this a matter of many people or few people? ! Oh my God...

Ricardo is accompanying Sarafina back to London to register for school. Today is the first day of summer school. Including today, Ricardo will stay in London for two days to participate in two commercial activities for his endorsement brand, and then he will return to Milan, Italy to report to the national team and prepare for and possibly participate in two games in the European Cup qualifiers.

The Italian national team will play at home against France on Saturday, September 9, and away against Ukraine on Wednesday, September 8...

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On September 9, Italian head coach Donadoni announced the roster for this European Cup qualifier. Of course, he called overseas players including Ricardo a few days in advance to inform them of the reporting time.

In this list, unlike the previous ones where most of them played in Serie A, this time there are 6 players playing overseas, 3 of them play in La Liga, one each for Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, and the remaining 3 are from the Bundesliga, the Premier League and Ligue respectively; the distribution is quite even...

The national team also welcomed a new player. Cagliari midfielder Foggia appeared on the national team roster for the first time. What is quite interesting is that Foggia scored two goals in the just-concluded match against Juventus.

Sampdoria striker Cassano, who recently vowed to return to the Azzurri, did not appear on the list.

In addition, due to Puerta's accident, Donadoni did not recruit Ricardo's acquaintance, Maresca, who plays for Sevilla in La Liga, for the sake of caution. After all, it was heard recently that Sevilla's training and games were a little chaotic after the Puerta incident.

However, Donadoni recruited Ricardo's newest member of the national youth team, Aquilani from Rome.

However, what surprised Ricardo was that Donadoni put Ricardo in the forward list this time. In the previous few times, Ricardo was called up as a midfielder. This time, it may be because Luca Toni was injured and the remaining forwards were not in good condition, so Ricardo was needed to join the forward line to provide firepower support.

However, Ricardo also knows that he can still play as a shadow striker or an organizing striker, but if he is to serve as a bridgehead forward center, responsible for destroying the city, it is not what he is good at at present...

Italy's 23-man squad is as follows:

3 goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Abbiati (Atletico Madrid), Amelia (Livorno);

8 defenders: Barzagli (Palermo), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Gamberini (Florence), Grosso (Lyon), Oddo (AC Milan), Panucci (Roma), Zambrotta (Barcelona);

8 midfielders: Ambrosini (AC Milan), Aquilani (Roma), Camoranesi (Juventus), De Rossi (Roma), Foggia (Cagliari), Gattuso (AC Milan), Perrotta (Roma), Pirlo (AC Milan);

Six forwards: Del Piero (Juventus), Di Natale (Udinese), Inzaghi (AC Milan), Ricardo Ricci (Manchester United), Quagliarella (Udinese), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich).

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