Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

In the 9th round of the Premier League, Manchester United's first starting right back in this tournament was Pique, one of the crystallizations of Barcelona's youth training. In fact, his story is not much less than that of the protagonist Li Qi, and it is okay to start a new book. For example, as a die-hard Barcelona fan but with the surname of Real Madrid legend Bernabeu, this has been regarded as a joke by the Spanish for a long time.

Although Pique had signed with Manchester United three years ago, he is still a newcomer in general. Although Ferguson emphasized the importance of Pique after being defeated by Coventry in the League Cup, such comforting words can only be based on the premise that Manchester United does not spend money to buy a new defender.

Gerard Pique, whose full name is Gerard Piqué Bernabéu, was born on February 1987, 2 in Barcelona, ​​Spain. He then joined the Barcelona La Masia youth training camp in 2 to start his football career and transferred to Manchester United in 1997.

In the summer of 2004, Pique's contract with Barcelona expired. The two sides could not reach an agreement on the terms of the contract - Barcelona wanted to sign a seven-year long-term contract with Pique, while Pique himself wanted to sign a five-year contract. After all, at his age at the time, he was not sure whether he would become a professional player, which required too much talent, hard work and opportunities.

Therefore, Pique did not renew his contract with Barcelona. At this time, both Manchester United and Arsenal offered Pique an olive branch. After communicating with Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsenal coach Professor Wenger, Pique finally chose to join Manchester United.

In the 2006-07 season, Pique was loaned to the Spanish Zaragoza club. He made 22 appearances in the La Liga, including 18 starts, and scored 2 goals. He also made 4 appearances in the Spanish King's Cup, scoring 1 goal, helping Zaragoza finish sixth in the La Liga that season and qualify for the UEFA Cup.

But Li Qi had no impression of playing against Pique in La Liga, and once thought that Pique missed the two rounds of the match against Zaragoza. But in fact, it was Li Qi himself who was absent. Li Qi missed the first round due to injury and Sevilla lost. The second round was the last game of last season. When the ranking was determined, Li Qi took leave to play in the European Youth Championship and missed it...

In fact, Pique's situation is a development template for most talented young players. Although they have potential and are optimistic, it is normal for them to sit on the bench, be loaned out, play as substitutes and rotate before the age of 21. After all, there are too few gifted players like Messi. Unless you have a system or read cool articles, but unfortunately this article does not have one, so don't talk nonsense...

Therefore, Pique, who is half a year younger than Ricardo, can only use this rare opportunity to prove his worth. Fortunately, he showed good adaptability in this game, playing from right back to center back. Although there were not too many defensive problems, the opponent's few attacks were resolved one by one by Pique.

The first half of Manchester United's match against Wigan was indeed a thrill for the Red Devils fans...

After the opening, Manchester United, taking advantage of the home court, launched a tidal attack on the visiting team without any attempt.

In the 5th minute, Tevez broke through Scoco on the right and made a cross. Olembe headed the ball but it went towards his own goal. Former Liverpool goalkeeper Kirkland flew to save the ball.

In the 10th minute, Giggs made a cross pass, Tevez returned the ball, and Scholes' long shot hit the crossbar and went over the goal.

In the 16th minute, Scholes made a straight pass and Rooney took a decisive shot from the edge of the penalty area on the left. The ball was blocked by Wigan Athletic defender Coumas and then changed direction to bypass the goalkeeper who had already made a save and deflected to the far goal. Unfortunately, the ball eventually hit the post and went out of the bottom line.

Although Manchester United had been controlling the situation on the field, unexpected events occurred one after another in the subsequent games!

In the 21st minute, Vidic was injured while competing for the ball in the penalty area and could not continue the game. Anderson replaced him and O'Shea retreated to the back line.

But Manchester United's injury nightmare continued. In the 30th minute, O'Shea also injured his thigh while chasing back. Li Qi, who originally wanted to watch the half-time ball first, warmed up urgently and replaced O'Shea, playing as right back, while Pique switched to the middle...

Vidic suffered a slight concussion and O'Shea strained his thigh muscle. Manchester United was forced to make two substitutions in 9 minutes. Wes Brown was injured and captain Gary Neville's old injury had not yet fully recovered. Pique's substitution for the starting right back was a helpless move. However, due to an accidental injury during the game, such a big adjustment in the backfield made everyone sweat for Manchester United...

Fortunately, as a young player, Pique has comprehensive skills and is a versatile defender. He started the game as a right back. After O'Shea was injured and left the field, he returned to the middle and partnered with Ferdinand as a central defender. In addition, there is the internationally famous all-purpose player Li Qi, who can play left or right, front or back, center or side, up or down, long or short, flexible... Although he has not been on the back line for a long time, Li Qi often played as a right back during his time at Barcelona.

Fortunately, at the last moment, they decided to bring Li Qi along who volunteered. Otherwise, Sir Alex Ferguson, who would have to let the youth team player play as right-back, would have been very depressed.

But such a substitution can only be said to fill the vacancy in the position. No one knows the actual effect. This is the first time that Li Qi plays as a right back for Manchester United in the Premier League. He rarely gets used to this position during training. After all, as a newcomer, he must first shine in the position he is most familiar with or the position that the head coach prefers to arrange.

As for Pique, he is slightly better. Central defender is a familiar position for him, but he only had 22 La Liga games for Zaragoza and only four league appearances for Manchester United. His experience in major competitions is even less than that of Li Qi, who has been complained about by book friends for more than chapters...

There is also the new midfielder Anderson. Although he was a main player in the first team of Porto and Gremio before joining Manchester United, he was born in 88, one year younger than Pique. He missed 5 months of games last year due to a fracture. In fact, in the 5 years since his debut, he has only made more than 50 recorded first-team appearances, and he only started one game in the League Cup in the new season, and the rest of his opportunities to come on as a substitute were very few.

The important thing is that the three newcomers are on the field at the same time, which means that they have to shoulder half of the defensive and offensive tasks in the midfield and backcourt. The Premier League, known as the world's first league, naturally has no weak teams. The teams are all as fierce as wolves and tigers, and they will naturally take advantage of your weakness to attack you; this feeling of worry has accompanied Manchester United fans since the moment Li Qi came on the court as a guest right back.

However, after adapting to the rhythm of the game and finding the feeling of playing as a full-back, Li Qi quickly put Manchester United fans at ease, because Li Qi reminded them that this was the full-back who helped Barcelona score the reversal goal in the Champions League final of the 05/06 season!

After Manchester United's two unexpected injury substitutions, the second half of the first half was tense but not exciting enough, and the game was rather dull. After all, Manchester United, who had the upper hand, needed to find the rhythm of the game for the temporary substitutes, and also adapt to Sir Alex Ferguson's tactics that were readjusted according to the accident...

However, just as the game was about to enter the first half's injury time, Manchester United got the last chance of the game. The source of this attack was the offensive full-back Ricardo Richie, who was known as a restless full-back during his time at Barcelona!

Li Qi first rushed forward and directly intercepted the counterattack of Wigan Athletic midfielder Kilbane. Then Li Qi made a long pass to Giggs on the other side of the court.

Wang Laoji stopped the ball with his left foot and sent a straight pass. Tevez cut in diagonally to the right edge of the penalty area and pretended to go down the bottom, but secretly knocked the ball back to the middle. The substitute Anderson received the ball. The latter received the ball at the top of the penalty area and was about to shoot, but heard a shout from his ear: "Stop! Don't shoot! Pass to the right rib!"

That's the direction of Ronaldo, the ball must be passed to him. Anderson stopped his big thigh from shooting, changed his kick to a push, and after knocking down the center of gravity of the two Wigan Athletic defenders in front of him, he stuffed the ball diagonally into the left rib of the penalty area...

That position was an obvious gap, but everyone was surprised because there should be no Manchester United attacking player in that position.

Tevez is on the right side of the penalty area, Rooney is entangled with the opponent's central defender in the middle of the penalty area, Scholes is still filling in behind Anderson, Giggs has just made a straight pass on the left, and Ronaldo is dancing a double cha-cha with Wigan Athletic's left-back Olembe on the right side!

The right side of the visiting team's penalty area should be a vacuum zone. Did Anderson make a mistake? Was he also suspecting that he was hallucinating?

At the moment when everyone was stunned, a man in red rushed into the penalty area, stole the ball, and then facing Kirkland who was rushing out, he accurately pushed a low shot through the crotch and sent the ball into the goal of Wigan Athletic!

Manchester United broke the deadlock in the 44th minute of the first half! The first goal for Manchester United was scored by No. 17 Li Qi who stole the ball from the full-back position and rushed forward at high speed!

Manchester United's right back has not historically been a very offensive position. Generally speaking, Manchester United's back line mainly assists on the left side, last season it was Heinze, this season it is also Evra.

As for the right side, even with the previous captain Gary Neville, he was mainly defensive and steady in transition. Wes Brown, who played in the first 8 rounds of this season, had very few assists. Pique, who played as a right back at the beginning of this game, was also a central defender. Can he assist by cutting into the opponent's penalty area at high speed? It may happen occasionally in the future, but it is impossible now...

The Wigan Athletic players defending Manchester United's right side were completely attracted by Ronaldo's brilliance. Not only did the left-back keep a close eye on Ronaldo to prevent him from cutting inside, but the defensive midfielder also assisted in defending Ronaldo from breaking through with the ball.

So it was quite unexpected that Li Qi, who played as an inside forward for the first time in this game, broke into the penalty area at high speed from the position of full-back; in fact, not only did the visiting team's defenders fail to notice him, but his Manchester United teammates also failed to react at first. If Li Qi had not shouted in advance very firmly, and Anderson, who was a newcomer with some experience, had not mistakenly thought that it was Ronaldo asking for the ball, the tactical move of this sharp full-back after stealing the ball might have ended early with Anderson's long shot!

Sir Alex Ferguson, who was watching the game on the sidelines, was very excited when he saw Li Qi score this wonderful team counterattack. He chewed his gum and applauded. He was still hesitating in his heart: It seems that letting Li Qi play as a right back is also a good choice? Should he make it a permanent choice? Or just use it as a backhand trick? Well, I will go back and study it again...

Li Qi may not know that his dream of playing in Manchester United's main midfield may end in vain because of his amazing assist as a full-back...

In the second half, after the adaptation and running-in in the second half of the first half, as well as Li Qi's goal, Manchester United found the rhythm and feeling again after two unexpected injuries and passive substitutions, and began to rub against Wigan Athletic.

The visiting team even found it difficult to pass the half court at one point, so even if Li Qi stood near the center line to participate in the interception, he had few opportunities to participate in the attack, because Manchester United's midfield and frontcourt rhythm was too smooth, and there was no chance for him to perform again as an inside forward. Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo teamed up to take on all the offensive tasks.

In the 48th minute, Giggs took a corner kick from the right side, Pique headed the ball to the far post, Tevez volleyed from the far post but was blocked by Wigan Athletic defender Boyce at the near corner. Then Scholes took a tactical corner kick, Tevez made a cross from the left, and Rooney's header from 12 yards was confiscated by Kirkland.

When taking a corner kick, Li Qi and Evra, as the two fastest full-backs, are responsible for falling back to protect...

Manchester United almost scored again in the 52nd minute. After Li Qi intercepted Wigan Athletic's long pass, he headed the ball to Ronaldo near the center line; the latter stopped the ball, turned around and made a series of moves, then broke through to the right bottom line and made a cross.

The ball was headed away by Wigan Athletic defender Hall at the far post, but the ball did not go far enough. Giggs, who was lurking outside the penalty area, received the ball and volleyed it near the corner of the penalty area about 20 yards away from the goal. Unfortunately, the ball hit the crossbar with a bang and bounced out of the bottom line!

Perhaps Li Qi didn't know that it was his previous mention of participating in defense near the midline that put huge pressure on Wigan Athletic's midfield, making it difficult for the visiting team to pass the ball across the half court; it was also Li Qi's excellent defensive skills that completely blocked his chance to directly participate in the attack as a full-back...

However, when the game reached the 54th minute, Li Qi still indirectly participated in the attack and could be considered an assist.

Scholes organized the game in the middle and passed the ball straight to Rooney, who passed the ball back to Anderson, who dribbled forward to attract the defense and then passed the ball to the side. Li Qi once again used Ronaldo's cover to easily receive the ball on the right side and pretended to send Ronaldo to the bottom, but at the last moment of the ball, Li Qi suddenly shook his ankle and instead sent a diagonal pass to the corner of Wigan Athletic's penalty area.

Tevez made a brilliant back-to-back pass in the corner of the penalty area, dodging Kilbane and Bramble who were defending, then nimbly cut into the penalty area, dribbled past Kirkland who was attacking near the small penalty area, and then easily pushed the ball into the empty goal with his left foot! The Argentine beast scored in two consecutive home league games, and Manchester United changed the score to 2-0.

With the dazzling light of Ronaldo that blinded the aluminum alloy dog's eyes and took away the defense, and the ridiculous ability of Tevez to dribble past three people, Li Qi successfully picked up another assist! Unfortunately, there is no extra benefit in assisting Tevez... That won't work. I still have to pass the ball to Ronaldo and Rooney more, and try to pass the next ball to them.

But when you are sleepy, someone will give you a pillow. Li Qi, who was guarding in the backcourt during the corner kick, took advantage of his height and switched positions with Anderson. When Manchester United won a corner kick in the 59th minute, he also ambushed in the penalty area.

Giggs took a tactical corner kick from the right, and Rooney took the ball and shot directly from the corner of the penalty area! Although the ball shot through the densely packed offensive and defensive players in the penalty area, the angle was too straight and was hit by Wigan Athletic goalkeeper Kirkland.

However, Lu Xiaopang's shot was powerful and had a slight arc. Kirkland didn't dare to take it head-on, and just wanted to punch the ball out with both fists. But Kirkland missed the target, and the ball didn't go out of the penalty area, but bounced high to the far end of the goal.

Li Qi, who triggered the outbreak point, quickly determined where the ball would land, but it was unrealistic to shoot directly. There were so many people in the penalty area, and the ball was high and floating. It would be too late to shoot with his feet after the ball landed, and he did not have that kind of abnormal waist, abdomen and neck strength to shoot directly with a header; so Li Qi chose to pass the ball back to the front of the goal.

Ronaldo jumped high on the left side of the small penalty area and headed the ball before Kirkland. The lion shook his head and sent the ball headed back by Li Qi into the near corner of the goal from the hands of the Wigan Athletic goalkeeper!

In the first 15 minutes of the second half, Manchester United scored two goals in a row to secure the victory, leading the visiting team Wigan Athletic 3-0!

Li Qi assisted Ronaldo to achieve the following data: Ronaldo's friend level +1, autographed photos +15, luxury buffet + a quarter...

Trailing by a large margin, Wigan Athletic knew defeat was inevitable, but still hoped to score a face-saving goal, so they made substitutions, replaced the players with new ones, began to consciously press forward, and intensified their pressing and counterattacks.

In the 66th minute of the game, the visiting team also got the most rare chance to score in this game.

In the counterattack, Kilbane passed Ronaldo's defense on the left and sent a 45-degree cross, but Shanel's shot missed. However, there was a way out. After shaking off Manchester United's defensive players, the slowed-down ball slipped to the back of the goal!

Valencia, who had just come on as a substitute, followed up with a powerful shot from 14 yards on the left side of Manchester United's penalty area.

The ball was shot too straight, but with great force. After being blocked by Kushchak, it bounced back and slowly flew towards the goal. Fortunately, Li Qi came back in time and flew to the goal line to hook the ball out of bounds!

Therefore, Wigan Athletic's counterattack seemed to have rekindled Manchester United's ferocity: Little brother, are you so proud? We beat three of you at home, and you still dare to resist? !

……