long live football

The penalty kick scored by Cristiano Ronaldo was the last goal of the game.

The score between Manchester United and Porto stayed at 3:2 until the end.

When the stoppage time on the scoreboard also counted down to 0, there was a burst of cheers at Old Trafford first, and then the sound subsided slightly, and many fans fell silent like lost.

"Although Sir Alex Ferguson, the 'brain' of Manchester United, failed to appear on the scene, Manchester United played [-]% of the spirit of the Red Devils in this game! Throughout the second half of the game, Manchester United completely suppressed Porto. Their performance Completely worthy of the title of King of the Premier League! Even Mourinho, who has recently caused headaches for many famous football coaches in the world, failed to take the control of the pitch away from Manchester United through his three substitutions in the second half. "

"All this is due to the on-the-spot command of Manchester United assistant coach Karl Oston. It is because of his outstanding performance that Manchester United's record of 17 home unbeaten Champions League games has not been broken... Ah, now this record has been broken. Refreshed to 18 games."

"But it is a pity that Manchester United still missed the Champions League this season." Andy Gray's voice paused, as if to give all fans a time to react.

Champions League promotion rules: In the knockout round, the two teams will play 2 home and away games against each other, and the team with the most total goals will advance.If the total goals are tied, the team with the most away goals will advance.

In the first round of the match between Manchester United and Porto, they lost 1:2 and won the second round 3:2.Although both teams scored 4 goals in the end, Manchester United only scored 1 away goal and Porto scored 2 goals. Therefore, the team that advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this time is Porto, not Manchester United.

"However, although Manchester United has been eliminated from the Champions League, Arsenal and Chelsea have both advanced. In the quarter-finals of the Champions League, there are still these two English teams winning glory for us." Andy Gray said Twitch, the topic turned to Arsenal and Chelsea.

Win the game, lose the Champions League.

The joy of victory lingered in my heart not long before it was diluted by disappointment and depression.

No one has experienced this complex feeling more deeply than Carl.

"We met three times, and it seems that the first two times were full of gunpowder." Mourinho suddenly came to the Manchester United coaching table: "Would you mind talking to me calmly now?"

"Calm?" Carl's face was calm, but there was a sense of humor in his voice: "If Manchester United is now in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, would you be calm or jump in anger?"

"If it means it didn't happen, I never evaluate this kind of thing that can't become a reality." Mourinho heard the ridicule in the other party's words, but didn't take it seriously: "Porto is about to embark on a new journey. , would you mind shaking hands with your opponent?" The madman offered his hand very rarely.

Carl shook it without hesitation.

It is a common polite rule in football not to reject the opponent's initiative of goodwill, and, regardless of Mourinho's personality, his professionalism and his achievements in Porto in just two years are admirable .

"When I was 26 years old, I couldn't do what you did." Mourinho's words interrupted Carl's thoughts: "Although I am looking forward to the next meeting with you - good to see how you can grow at that time." How fast. But I think, the next time I meet Manchester United, it will definitely not be you who coach this team."

Karl nodded: "Sergeant will be able to return to the game next month."

"Have you considered doing it yourself?" Mourinho said with a smile, his expression seemed to ask 'how is the weather today? ' as simple as that.

This question made Carl obviously startled: "Do it alone? You mean I coach a team by myself?" But he immediately shook his head and smiled: "I am young and inexperienced. Who would want me?"

"Why not? Every year in world football, I don't know how many head coaches started as assistants." Mourinho shrugged and said: "What's more, if you stay at Manchester United, the exposure rate of one season can make other league clubs The chairman is familiar with you. Many small teams always like to go to the corner of the assistant coaches of the giants, or directly hire retired stars as coaches, and the threshold for becoming a coach is not as high as you think."

Carl smiled and said, "Thank you for your suggestion, I will keep it in mind."

"Don't just remember, use your brain to think more, this is your own future." Mourinho winked at Carl, shook his hand for the last time, then turned and led his players into the central channel.

Looking at his back, Carl raised his eyebrows slightly - no matter how many coaches will emerge in the world football in the future, Mourinho will definitely be the most unique one among them.

Then, his words...

Carl thought: How should I go in the future?

……

After being eliminated from the Champions League, Manchester United shifted their focus to the domestic league.

The Premier League has now finished 27 rounds, and there are only [-] games left to end this season. Although Manchester United has won two consecutive victories since the game against Everton, it has surpassed Liverpool and ranked first in the standings The third position, but even if it is ranked third, the situation is still a bit grim.

Because Manchester United is now thirteen points behind Arsenal, the No. 2 Chelsea, and eight points behind No.4 Chelsea. If you are not careful in the future, the Champions League qualification is likely to be with the Red Devils. Missed - According to UEFA's regulations, after the end of each league, the champions and runners-up in the Premier League standings can directly qualify for the Champions League. Play and compete with other European teams for the Champions League group stage places.

Although the Champions League qualifying places and qualifying places do not sound much different, they can all participate in the Champions League, even if the team is promoted from the qualifying rounds, as long as they play well, they can win the Champions League trophy.But the meanings of the two are very different for the giants with a fierce schedule.

First of all, the place in the main match is an affirmation of the team's strength. If any giant is ranked outside the top three in the standings by the end of the season, some fans will immediately laugh and say "the team has fallen."The team's signings in that summer will also be blocked, and the stars who are invited to join will consider "if this team can't play the Champions League, won't it affect my future?" Moreover, the club sponsors will also be dissatisfied , and even cut the sponsorship amount in the coming year.

Secondly, after the start of the new season, the team's running-in, league schedule, and various cup games will disperse the team's energy. Undoubtedly, it is a drain on the team's strength, increases the chances of main players getting injured, and may even affect the team's league and cup results in the same period.

So now, most Manchester United players and fans no longer imagine that the team can stage a "reversal to win the championship" in less than half a season. They have set their hopes a little more realistically - catching up with Chelsea, Won the Champions League qualification as the Premier League runner-up.

However, will Chelsea stand still and wait for Manchester United to catch up?That is naturally impossible.

Chelsea coach Ranieri said in an interview with reporters later: "Manchester United want to be the runner-up? Then they have to guarantee a complete victory in all the remaining games, and pray that we Chelsea lose."

I don’t know if Ranieri was possessed by the gods when he said this. As soon as his interview was published, Manchester United ushered in a big victory, while the Blues lost 0:1 to their opponents. Bolton.

Carl finally worked up the courage to visit Ferguson.

In fact, he can't go, Ferguson will have an operation tomorrow, as the current assistant coach and half of Manchester United's head coach, how can he not send blessings to the players for the decent coach of the team?

It stands to reason that it is a bit impolite to visit Ferguson only the day before the operation.But Carl didn't dare to go a few days ago!Not only him, but the entire Manchester United coaching staff and players dare not come to see Ferguson. They are afraid of being blown away by the "Ferguson Hair Dryer" - the reason why Ferguson's nickname is "Blow Dryer", according to the former Manchester United star Star According to Mu's autobiography, "Ferguson was very close to others when talking, and his voice was very loud, and he could blow people's hair, just like a hair dryer."

And Stam, the Dutch star who helped Manchester United win the Triple Crown in 1999, was also quickly sold to Lazio by Ferguson because he insisted on publishing his autobiography to expose the inside story of Manchester United's dressing room in 2001 despite Ferguson's opposition.

Now that Carl holds a big league victory in his hands, and the gap with Chelsea has narrowed to 5 points, he finally has enough confidence to face any criticism from Ferguson.

……

As soon as he turned around the corridor, Carl heard a very noisy sound coming from a certain ward. When he walked quickly to the door of Ferguson's ward, the door opened wide, and a black shadow rushed to Carl's face, accompanied by a curse : "I don't want this hypocritical gift, take it for me!"

Fortunately, Karl reacted quickly enough to prevent the black shadow from hitting him on the head, but when he got out of the way and looked at the ground, he found that the black shadow was just a bunch of beautifully packaged flowers with a delicate greeting card, which was not at all Violent items such as mobile phone ashtrays in his imagination.

At this moment, another person walked out of the ward, it was Ferguson's wife Katie.

Katie picked up the flowers on the ground with a look of pity, plucked off a few withered petals with her fingers, and muttered softly: "What's wrong with taking flowers..."

"Aunt Katie?" Carl called her.

Katie looked up and immediately smiled when she saw someone coming: "Carl, are you here to see Alex?"

Carl raised the fruit basket in his hand: "I hope Sir Alex's surgery goes well tomorrow."

"There are no outsiders here, so you should call Uncle." Katie held flowers in one hand, and pushed open the door of the ward with the other: "Come in and sit down!"

Carl approached her, glanced at the bouquet, and asked in a low voice, "This flower is..."

Katie replied in the same low voice: "David and his wife sent it to wish Alex a speedy recovery."

"Uncle Alex doesn't like it?"

"His heart almost stopped beating when he was angry." Katie looked worried. "Being angry is not good for his heart at all, but he won't listen to what I say."

"Actually, I came today with a mission." Carl decided to ask Katie first: "Fanny and his girlfriend are about to decide on the wedding guest list, and he wants to invite the Beckhams, but he is worried that Uncle will not be happy. , so you want me to take a look."

"David is a good boy. Although I don't like his wife very much, how can a good friend not attend the wedding of a good friend?" Katie said very understandingly: "When Alex comes back from the operation, he will feel better. I can help you talk about it, but I don't know if Alex will agree."

Carl looked at the bouquet in Katie's hand: "The flowers are beautiful, and they are expensive."

"Yeah, it's a beautiful flower. I'll go find a pair of scissors to trim it and put it in a vase. It will last at least a week!" Katie sorted out the bouquet, and then took out the greeting card from it and opened it to Carl to see: " In fact, Alex was still in a good mood when he saw the flowers, and he didn't change his face quickly until he saw this greeting card."

What's wrong with greeting cards?Carl took a closer look, and it turned out that "David & Victoria" was written on the greeting card.

It seems that the same as before, "Victoria" is the incentive.Carl thought for a while, and said, "Fanny is injured, I will try to impress Sir Alex with this."

Katie nodded with a smile: "Although he is often tough with players, sometimes he is very soft-hearted..."

"What are you two chattering about outside? Carl! I've seen you, come in!"

Ferguson yelled loudly in the ward, and Katie waved to Carl immediately, and Carl walked into the ward.

The author has something to say: PS: Mark Hughes gave Ferguson the nickname "Hairdryer" for him. Hughes played for Manchester United for more than ten years. At that time, the media copied the matter, but Ferguson still couldn't figure out who gave him the nickname. He once suspected that it was the then Manchester United captain Brian Robson and Defender Bruce, until 94 years later, that is, in 12, Hughes, who had become the head coach of Blackburn, broke out at this time. Of course, Ferguson later bombarded Hughes in the newspapers.