long live football

In the visiting team's lounge at the Gerland Stadium, the atmosphere was somewhat dull.

The players drank water and ate food in silence to replenish their energy, but no one spoke.

In the first half, when the opponent poured two goals in a row, whoever wants to fight during the halftime break obviously doesn't want to live.

Thinking of the two balls lost, everyone had a bit of shame on their faces.

In fact, they should not have conceded the ball at all: the first goal was an accident, scored by Lyon striker Malouda taking advantage of the start, and the second goal was a complete mistake.

But fundamentally, if their performance is good enough, Lyon should not be able to score a single goal, right?

Among all the silent people, the players in the defensive line put their heads the lowest, because they have just been reprimanded by the manager.The boss didn't swear or curse, but his cold and humorous remarks in a flat tone were extremely "frozen".

What is that sentence?Oh, by the way: "Many teams have the habit of pitting goalkeepers in key games, but you are selected and cultivated by me. I don't want to see you being crowned in the mid-season rating of "Kicker" To the honor of the 'Defense Team'." Then there was a suffocating pause: "Maybe I will have to print these words on your new season jerseys and let you wear them every game .”

As the defenders struggled to breathe, the manager thankfully shifted his guns.

Karl named Hummels and Beckham: "You have to have a clear understanding of your position."

The second goal conceded in the first half was caused by the two defensive midfielders who cooperated for the first time: the cooperation is unfamiliar and there is no tacit understanding. The key is in the game, Hummels, who should use frontal fighting to resolve the opponent's offensive After stealing the ball, he tried to break forward with the ball, and finally lost the ball under his feet due to poor dribbling skills; what about Beckham, who should use precise long passes to attack the team?He juggled the responsibilities of passing, intercepting and looking after Hummels, but in the end he failed to do a task well.

"Matz, your defensive ability and positional awareness are very good, but your passing and passing ability are a bit bad. David, you are not good at confrontation, we all know that, so don't force yourself to do it, It’s self-defeating. Remember what I said to you before the competition? Division of labor and cooperation, don’t imagine yourself decathlon, everything can be done.”

"Liberate your own abilities, make use of those strengths, and then rest assured to hand over the rest, especially those you know you can't do yourself, to your teammates. Dividing your mind in several places anytime, anywhere will only have negative effects—if If you are not satisfied with your mission, you can tell me any time, and I can find another person who can give himself wholeheartedly in the game."

Wherever Karl looked, the players either stared back desperately to show their loyalty, or just looked at their noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, and hearts to pretend to be listening carefully, and almost no one showed dissatisfaction or other negative emotions on their faces. .

Beckham falls into the latter category.He clearly understood that in a sacred place like the locker room, it was not appropriate to have any personal emotions, so as soon as he walked in here, he tried his best to regard Karl as an immediate boss, not a friend.

He didn't feel sad because of the head coach's roll call, but he did care about it and decided to do his best in the following games.

But what makes Beckham even more curious is Carl's method of managing players: in so many years of professional career, Beckham has seen Ferguson's head coach who uses stormy reprimands to teach players, and he has also seen Queiroz. , Camacho, who speaks softly, but can't control the bosses of the "thorny heads" at all. I have seen Capello point out everyone's shortcomings in a stern manner, and then criticize mercilessly until the other party Low to the dust coach.

But Karl Alston does not belong to any of them. His methods are not fierce, his reprimands are calm but not cold-blooded, and his attitude can even be called gentle, but he has a deterrent power that other gentle coaches do not have.

Compared with the above three, Karl is obviously more worthy of Beckham's research and learning, if he also has the idea of ​​​​becoming a coach after retiring.

……

The second half got off to a quiet start.

But there are also some things that have slowly changed over time.

After several head-on confrontations, Hummels' performance gradually became tougher.

When the defense is threatened, he always goes up to it immediately, and passes the ball to his teammates after stealing the ball, without any nostalgia.

Hummels is trying to only do his own thing. The first half of the attempt and the coach's words have let him know that he is not decathlon.And the comprehensive performance will not benefit the team. Only by maximizing the advantages in one's own position, reassuring other teammates and completely liberating their abilities will it really benefit the team.

In the early years, the German team was more like an army, with a rigorous style of work and teamwork. Every player was a soldier. He strictly followed the instructions of the head coach to take every step, and launched an attack on the opponent's defense layer by layer. There is a hint of arrogance, which is why the previous German team was always called the German tank.

The continuous development of modern football has brought about a change in fashion. In recent years, in order to keep up with the mainstream, German football has begun to change its style and adopt technology. It will change, as long as the scope of tasks is clearly divided for them, German players will always be able to complete them meticulously.

In the 55th minute, Lyon forward Fred dribbled the ball forward, and Hummels responded quickly to meet him.

Beckham did not run over to flank Fred with Hummels, but stuck behind him, firmly blocking the possibility of Fred turning around and passing the ball.

Seeing that Hummels was the only one making a frontal interception against him, Fred felt contemptuous. He put half of his shoulder against Hummels, pushed the football away from the right, and then slammed his body to the left. Leaning, trying to pass Hummels with a human ball.

But at the moment Fred stopped the ball, Hummels didn't rush at him as he expected, but abruptly turned his body direction as if he had predicted it, taking a step faster than Fred Catch the football.

Fred never expected this kind of consequence. Seeing that Hummels was firmly in control of the ball, he couldn't help cursing: "Damn it!"

This time he didn't even hesitate. After stealing the ball, Hummels directly picked the ball with his right foot to Beckham.

Beckham took the ball and ran a few steps slowly. Before Lyon midfielder Toulalan pounced, he hooked his right foot, and the football flew straight to the Lyon penalty area as if it had been accelerated.

"Finally here! Beckham's long ball!"

In Munich 1860, there had never been a player who exerted force from near the center circle. The football turned to the opponent's penalty area as if it had grown a positioning radar.When Portillo and Dzeko just saw Hummels break off the football, they buried their heads and ran towards Lyon halfway. While running, they watched the football in the air. When they saw its flight trajectory, the two A sentence crossed the minds of everyone: If you can receive such a comfortable pass every game, then shooting will be as easy as breathing.

The football fell to the right side of the penalty area, and Lyon's defense was completely panicked. Portillo struggled to pass the ball to the center with fewer people in the crowded crowd. Dzeko caught the ball in the air without stopping and flicked his head!

"TOOOOOOOOR! 2:1! 1860 Munich relied on a smooth counterattack to get back a point!"

"Compared to the jerky opening, it is the first time that Oston's team has shown such a smooth attack on the field. It takes less than 50 seconds from interception, attack to shot! Fast and efficient! If they can start from one If we had done this from the beginning, the score in the first half would not have ended at 2:0!" After a pause, the commentator continued: "But there are still more than 30 minutes before the end of the game, and it's not too late."

……

The commentator’s words just hit Carl’s mind. His team is not the kind of weak chicken who panics when they fall behind. He believes that his players have the confidence and confidence to find courage from adversity and play a good turnaround. strength.

As the implementation of the Munich 1860 tactics became smoother, the confrontation between them and Lyon began to become evenly matched.

Within 5 minutes, both sides had a shot, but neither of them changed the score.

Just when the game was getting more and more intense, a sudden change occurred: Lyon midfielder Juninho passed the ball near the middle circle, forward Malouda broke through from the middle after receiving the ball, and soon approached the vicinity of the penalty area, Hu Mei Ernes failed to press, and Dante rushed to meet him. When Malouda dribbled the ball forward at high speed, a sliding shovel shoveled at the football at the opponent's feet.

Dante intended to tackle the ball, but when he was running on the grass, the angle changed for some reason, and his right foot ran straight towards Malouda's ankle.

Malouda was startled and immediately turned around to dodge, while Dante quickly stopped the momentum, but he couldn't stop the momentum in time, and fell forward on Malouda, and the two of them fell to the ground together.

The referee's whistle blew immediately, he showed Dante a yellow card and awarded Lyon a free kick.

There was a burst of violent boos at the Gerland Stadium, and many home fans were giving Dante the middle finger.

But after Dante got up from the ground, his expression was inexplicable. There was neither embarrassment of being caught, nor chagrin of being yellow carded, just surprise and strangeness.He took the initiative to pull Malouda up from the ground, and raised his hands to signal to his opponents, teammates, and the head coach on the sidelines that he really did not intentionally shovel Malouda to the ground.

The boos from the fans only became more and more intense, but Karl frowned slightly. He had been standing on the sidelines and had a panoramic view of all the situations on the field. He saw the whole process of the birth of the yellow card. Dante didn't lie. When he slid towards Malouda's ankle, a look of extreme horror appeared on his face - it is impossible for a player who actively shovels with malicious intentions to show such a look when he is about to succeed, they should be proud That's right.

Then, what does this incident show?Dante, who seldom makes mistakes in training and games, and who doesn't hurt people maliciously, fouled, and the direct cause of his foul was slippery feet... For some reason, Karl suddenly thought of his own worry before the game.

A row of people was quickly erected in front of the 1860 goal in Munich: Beckham, Dzeko, Lars, Dante, Mertesacker, Jankel.

It has height and width, and it is a wall made up of a group of players with a strong style of play. However, if you think of Juninho standing in front of the penalty spot, no matter how good the wall is, it will become almost lethal.

Junior Juninho, master of free kicks, king of fallen leaves, if the shooter of Munich 1860 is Beckham, he is naturally the first shooter there.

"Beckham and Juninho are both free kick masters in the world, but now they are forming a wall to intercept the other's shot. It is a very interesting picture."

When Junior Juninho started his run-up, the narrator couldn't help but lowered his voice following the camera: "Juninho's quick run-up...kicked off, as if he just kicked a football at random... how Beautiful gliding track! The rapid drop in front of the goal! A perfect falling ball! Koch was deceived by the initial flight direction of the football, he jumped a little high, and the ball flew in under his arm! 3:1! Xiaoru Ninho's free-kick miracle!"

There were enthusiastic cheers erupting in the stadium, but Karl's heart sank suddenly.

Karl glanced at Koch, the frustrated expression on the young goalkeeper's face was clearly visible, conceding three goals in one game, almost breaking his recent goalkeeping record.However, Karl did not blame the opponent in his heart. One of the three goals was scored by Juninho Jr., the other was due to defense reasons, and the third was Lyon's 433 formation from the beginning of the game to the present. 11 shots have been made, and this conceded goal rate is considered good.

After Junior Juninho made the free throw, the Lyon fans did not stop because they tasted cheap. Instead, they cheered for the home team more enthusiastically and booed more loudly at 1860 Munich.

But they didn't get complacent for too long, because just 3 minutes later, the same plot was repeated on Lyon.

In the 63rd minute, when Portillo was about to pass the ball outside the penalty area, Lyon defender Abidal's tackle was too strong, and Portillo was shoveled to the ground with the ball.

A free kick plus a yellow card, the referee gave the same penalty for the fouls of the players on both sides.

When seeing Beckham standing in front of the goal, Lyon goalkeeper Coupe was a little nervous. He clearly understood what kind of free kick the No. 23 player on the opposite side had, almost on par with his teammate Juninho Jr., and The goalkeeper of Munich 1860 failed to save Juninho's ball, and Kupe didn't know if he could save Beckham's.

Beckham started his run-up, and when he reached the penalty spot, he tilted his left foot and hit the middle and lower part of the football with his right foot!

The football immediately flew up, spun across the wall and flew towards the goal!

'coming! ' thought Cooper: 'A banana ball! '

But the angle of the ball was not as tricky as Kupe had expected in advance. He jumped high and stretched his arms as much as possible, and the football landed firmly in his arms.

Jumped out!Kupe's excited lips trembled: he saved Beckham's banana ball!Staged a goalkeeper miracle!

The excited Kupe is not worth it. From the live TV footage, it can be clearly seen that Beckham slipped slightly with his left foot when he was preparing for a free throw at the end of the run-up. It was because of this mistake that his right foot The strength is uneven when touching the ball, and the trajectory of the football after it flies is not so standard. Under such circumstances, it is rare for the football to fly towards the goal instead of directly flying out of the baseline.

Beckham walked towards the midfield in frustration. He has long passed the age of stomping the turf to vent his anger, although he really wanted to lose his temper on the grass of the Gerland Stadium just now.

The other Lions players didn't blame Beckham for his mistakes, they stepped forward to comfort their teammates.

As a future partner, Hummels desperately hopes to establish a good relationship with Beckham. He patted the opponent on the shoulder recklessly and said boldly: "The free throw just now was an accident. After all, no one can hit every shot with a free kick. .”

Beckham nodded calmly towards his teammates. The advantage of being a veteran is that he can adjust his mentality to normal in just a dozen seconds.

"Beckham and Juninho are both free kick masters in the world. As for which of the two has better free kick skills, fans have never been able to argue about the result. However, a statement that is recognized by more people is: In direct free kicks, Beckham's hit rate is not as high as Juninho Jr. But if you add other abilities such as passing, Beckham is better than Juninho Jr. overall."

After saying this sentence, the commentator continued to talk a little strangely: "Two uncontrollable fouls and one failed free throw. In a short period of time, Lyon and Munich 1860 players made three turnovers. What is going on? "

But what shocked the narrator even more happened later.

For unknown reasons, there are more and more mistakes and falls on the court, not only when the players of the two sides are confronting each other, but in the 72nd minute, Lars and Ozil's passes with a difference of less than ten meters appeared. Deviation.

In the 75th minute, in another attack by Lyon, Jankel collided with Lyon midfielder Thiago who was about to take a long shot. He sat heavily on Thiago's left leg, and the referee whistled , another free kick awarded to Lyon.

Junior Juninho still stood in front of the penalty spot, but this time he was 32 meters away from the goal. Even though the free kick he sent was heavy and fast, it was still thrown by Koch, who was playing normally. out.

In the 81st minute, in order to prevent Dzeko from passing the ball into the penalty area, Lyon defender Reviere chose a rough foul. His right foot hit Dzeko's calf, but he was unlucky when Dzeko flew to avoid the tackle. , the right foot couldn't hold back the strength, the whole person tilted his back and slipped to the ground, and was crushed by the tall and burly Dzeko.

The two cried out in pain together. Although Dzeko was the one who was fouled, it seemed that Reviere screamed worse than him when he was pressed down hard by him.

The players around hurriedly pulled the two away. Dzeko was fine because he dodged in time, and there was a shin guard on his calf. He was elbowed by Dzeko's arm when he fell, and his nose was bleeding uncontrollably.

The game was suspended for a few minutes because of this, and the Lyon team doctor came up to stop the bleeding from Levier's nose. After the game resumed, the referee announced his own penalty-in view of the fact that the nature of Levier's foul was more severe than that of Jankel just now. Bad (although the perpetrator himself was physically punished for this), the referee had no reason not to give Munich 1860 a free kick.

Faced with Beckham's free throw for the second time, Lyon goalkeeper Coupe felt extremely relaxed. He felt that since he could save the opponent's first ball, he would definitely save the other.

So when Beckham raised his foot before the penalty spot, he didn't realize that the crisis had come, he just thought casually: Ha, there is no run-up, this ball must be easier to save!

However, the world is obviously not satisfactory. When Kupe jumped on the spot and rushed towards the direction he estimated, he could only stare wide-eyed a few seconds later, watching the football pass over the wall, and Changed trajectory in front of him, went through the top of his head and into the net!

"TOOOOOOOO! Beckham! Beckham! He did it this time! He made it this time!"

"Two free-kick masters, both took two free-kicks in one game, and hit the same percentage. Just these two free-kicks can make this game very enjoyable, even if the previous successive falls and Fouls can't take away much of your demeanor!" After a pause, the commentator continued: "It's just that there have been so many situations in the short 10 minutes from the second half to now, there must be something wrong with the game!"

……

There were 30 free kicks in less than 4 minutes, and even the most ignorant audience realized that something was wrong on the field.

The referee did not make a mistake, everyone can see this, every penalty of his is correct, except for the yellow card of Munich 1860 who gave a little more than Lyon (I don’t know if it is because of home factors), it can even be called Above is justice.

So, what went wrong?

The first to find out was the French commentator, holding a maintenance worksheet for the Gerland stadium: "I think I have found the reason for the constant second half of the game: an hour before the game, Lyon just watered the turf of the stadium! And the amount of watering is a little bit more than usual, everyone knows what happens when the turf absorbs too much water-the resistance becomes less, it is more slippery, and it is easy to make people fall."

"As for why the difference between the first half and the second half is huge, I think there are two reasons. One is that the players of the two teams have sufficient physical fitness in the first half, and they can also allocate more energy to control their strength. In the second half, everyone Their physical strength is almost exhausted. They can't spare the energy to manage the movement scale, and they play more casually. If they are not careful when running, they will hit the grass. Second, in the first half, 1860 Munich hadn't finished yet. Their own tactics were completely played out, and in the second half they were more flexible and smooth, and there were more frontal attacks and confrontations with Lyon, so..."

The commentator's new discovery quickly spread to the Gerland Stadium, making many people suddenly realize.

The unfortunate guess before the game came true, and Karl looked at the Lyon coaching bench with a blank expression.

More precisely, it was looking at Lyon coach Gilard Houllier.

A good game was abruptly turned into a free kick duel by him, because of his order to water the stadium before the game.

Was it intentional or unintentional?

Judging from the results alone, Lyon didn't get much benefit: both teams got yellow cards, both got two free kicks, and both scored one. It was a tie.

But even though the ending was harmless, Karl didn't feel any comfort in his heart.

Because in the second half, the tactics of Munich 1860 have been operating very flexibly. They gradually formed a confrontation and even suppressed scenes against Lyon, but they were disturbed by so many fouls and free kicks, and the rhythm of the game was completely destroyed. Originally, according to the previous dispatch, the advancing Munich 1860 is likely to form a few more threatening shots, and the 3:2 score may have already been rewritten...

When Carl's eyes are fixed on a person, his eyes can become very piercing.

But Lyon coach Houllier did not look back from the beginning to the end. He acted as if nothing happened, and he didn't know that someone was watching him-even though Karl was actually only a few meters away from him.

Karl made 10 substitutions in the last 2 minutes, but it didn't have any beneficial effect.After knowing the condition of the turf on the field, the referee also appropriately relaxed his penalty standards. No one got any red or yellow cards or free kicks in the rest of the game.

In the end, Munich 1860 lost the Champions League group match away with a score of 2:3.

……

Karl didn't shake Houllier's hand after the game, and neither did the other side.

The two even staggered when they were being interviewed by the media - as the home team and the winner of the game, Houllier went to the press room to be interviewed by the media first, and Karl went in after he walked out.

The first question a reporter throws at him is: "How do you feel about losing the game?"

"Lyon is very strong, they have many excellent players." Karl said blankly: "However, the turf ruined the game."

"You blame the turf for losing the game?" The reporter's expression was abnormally excited.

Carl glanced at the other party lightly: "Did you hear me say that? I mentioned the turf because today was supposed to be a wonderful game, but because the stadium was poured with too much water before the game, there was an accident. Too many fouls and free kicks ruined the rhythm of the game."

"Then do you have anything to say to the Lyon Club? About watering the turf?"

"I'll just say one thing: when Lyon are guests at the Allianz Arena, we won't entertain them with slippery turf, that's all."

The reporter wanted to get more words out of Carl, preferably with accusations against the Lyon club, but after they tried a few times, they had to put on a disappointed expression.

A famous media from England asked: "In this game, you transformed Beckham into a midfielder. Are you satisfied with his performance? Do you think he is successful?"

In a bad mood, Carl answered many questions succinctly: "You can't judge a player's success or failure by one game, can you?"

"Will Beckham's position still change? Will he always exist as a midfielder?"

"Maybe. But Beckham is a player who can play in many positions. I should find more ways to use him in the future."