long live football

A good goalkeeper is half the battle.

The goalkeeper can be said to be the most special position in the entire team, because it is unique and irreplaceable.

During the game, if there are weaknesses and loopholes in other positions on the court, most of them can be solved by the players' supplementary cooperation. It makes up for it, because this position is difficult to change. Even if the head coaches want to change, I am afraid that there is a better choice in their hands-top goalkeepers are scarce resources in football, and basically no team can have two world players at the same time. The top-level goalkeepers were replaced back and forth, and the goalkeeper who was capable but could not be the main player in the team had already picked up Gao Zhier and flew away.

A good striker is easy to find, but a good goalkeeper is hard to come by. Let alone the same club, even in the same country, it is difficult to produce more than two top goalkeepers at the same time. It's a radish and a pit, and almost all of them have been divided up by the rich teams.

England have been plagued by goalkeeper problems in recent years.

There have also been great goalkeepers in the history of the Three Lions, such as Gordon Banks, who won the 1966 World Cup with the England team, and his career spanning 30 years (1966-1996). With a record of 125 appearances for the England national team, three World Cups and more than 1000 games, the "evergreen tree" Peter Hilton.

However, these two great goalkeepers are considered figures with a long history. In recent years, David Seaman, who has supported the England team for more than ten years since the 90s, is also considered an excellent goalkeeper.

Although Seaman has obvious weaknesses and has been played by top stars such as Ronaldinho and Ronaldo in games, he has played steadily for many years and has also made a lot of contributions to the England team. For example, in 96, England and Spain played in the European Cup. When they played against each other, Seaman helped England win the penalty shootout.

When Seaman was there, people disliked him for his many shortcomings and his condition was getting worse and worse. But after Seaman retired, England was so big that it was impossible to find a qualified successor for Seaman.

In the 04 European Cup, James only protected England's goal for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes of leading, the Three Lions were immediately reversed by the French team; Non-existent performance; in the 06 European Cup qualifiers, Robinson, who once again guarded the country, directed and acted in the blockbuster "Zagreb conceded a goal". The act of drilling into the net in front of him was called the most humiliating conceded goal in football history by the media that year...

Do you think England's goal woes are over?No, it’s far from over—in the 08 European Cup, Robinson and Carson both made low-level mistakes in giving big gifts to their opponents in their respective starting games. Performance, but it is not uncommon for England goalkeepers. (Butter hands is a metaphor for a goalkeeper whose hands are slippery as if they have touched butter, unable to catch the ball, and often make low-level mistakes)

The England team cannot produce top-level goalkeepers. Apart from a factor of youth training, the biggest reason is that the domestic league relies too much on foreign goalkeepers. Whether it is Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal, the big powers all choose foreign goalkeepers. When it comes to high-level competition training, no matter how good the seedlings are in their youth, their living space will be gradually compressed and their growth will be limited in the later stage. The local goalkeepers who are already at a disadvantage will naturally become weaker and weaker.

So in recent years, media fans in the British Isles often sigh: This England team has a strong Rooney, a windy Owen, a full-moon scimitar Beckham, an almighty Carrick, and a powerful Shuangde, the flexible Joe Cole, the hard-working Barry, and the solid Terry... But behind them, there are no Buffon, Kahn, Petr Cech, and Casilla who can make people feel at ease Si, Ricardo, Hildebrand...

Only by finding a good goalkeeper who won't perform "Infernal Affairs" at every turn can the England team's performance in the big competition really improve.

Since Seaman retired, media fans in the British Isles have firmly believed in this.

They can only search for many years, and they have not been able to find a qualified candidate.

Joe Hart turned out to finally let people see a glimmer of light.

Hart was popular early. He was a well-known talented player in English football a few years ago, but there have been too many "pseudo-genius" meteors who have been fired in England and then gradually disappeared. Ha, who was tested in the international competition, is especially an England fan. Even his current club, Manchester City, is not particularly reassuring of him, otherwise they would not have bought Shay Wen to replace him during the winter break that just passed...

Although today's duel is just a warm-up match arranged by FIFA, the global attention is no less than that of some large-scale competitions, and the opponent is Spain, the new European champion, so this match is definitely a high pressure for a rookie goalkeeper Level--Although Joe Hart made some mistakes at the beginning, he immediately corrected his mistakes and took on all the pressure to perform better and better. World: He, Joe Hart, not only has talents, but also can show these talents to the fullest on the field.

England fans wept with joy.

During the intermission, few people in Wembley Stadium were discussing the game, and the fans' attention was almost entirely on Hart.

Even journalists from various countries in the media area are talking about it:

"There was Lambert Koch first, and then Joe Hart. Auston has an extraordinary vision for capturing talented goalkeepers. Maybe he can go to youth training in the future, and he will definitely discover more talents. "

"Let Oston leave the front line of the court to do youth training? Forget it, no one is willing to waste money."

"I have always felt that Loew is more than soft and iron-blooded. Let's see how he performs in the World Cup in South Africa. If he is not good, I support the Football Association to change the coach." For sure, the DFB should go and love him forever and ever, and don't think about us Oston..." - These are journalists from Britain and Germany.

"Joe Hart is just a brat after all, it's just God's blessing that he played well just now, and he may not be so lucky in the future!"

"Maybe Auston won't play him in the official international competition? This is a friendly match, it doesn't matter whether he wins or loses, so it can be used to train players. When it comes to the world preliminaries, he will definitely not choose young players with so little experience... ...""——This is a reporter from Ukraine, Russia and other countries who happened to be in a group with England in the South African World Cup qualifiers.

……

In the 15 minutes of the intermission, Karl used half of the time to praise Joe Hart, and the other half was used to line up for the second half.

As for encouraging the morale of the players and arousing their strong desire to fight against the Spanish team?This will definitely happen, but it will not take too long, because Wembley Stadium is of great significance to England players. Accepted.

The second half.

The Spanish team has made some personnel adjustments, such as replacing Villa with David Silva. Before the game, Del Bosque actually had the idea of ​​letting Casillas only play half of the game— ——Real Madrid has a dense schedule in February, just a friendly match. There is no need for the Spanish national team to squeeze the main goalkeeper of the La Liga giants. The Spanish Football Association has complaints - but in the first half, the Spanish team could not have an absolute advantage in terms of score or situation. I am afraid that Bosque, who is afraid of another change in the second half, dare not replace Casillas now.

The ensuing developments in the game soon proved that Bosque was right to be so cautious.

The magic of Wembley's "rotten vegetable field" was revealed in the first half of the game. For example, players such as Pique, Villa, and Carrick suffered a small fall. Before the game, they all put on spiked sneakers with better ground grip, and the physical confrontation between the two teams was not too much at first, so it did not cause any irreparable consequences.

But less than 5 minutes after the start of the second half, Harvey made a careless pass and slipped his foot. He failed to stop the pass from his teammates and pushed the football two meters away by mistake.

Although Harvey reacted quickly and immediately stabilized his body to chase the football, Gerrard reacted faster than him!

With an ankle turn to get the ball ahead of Xavi, Gerrard tricked Alonso into losing his center of gravity with another fake-out of a lateral cut, and then dribbled the ball from the other side and turned and broke.

Gerrard, who shook off Alonso, accelerated his start and made a momentum of going into the Spanish penalty area to form a single-handedly.

Spain's defensive players knew that Gerrard was known for his strong desire to attack, so they immediately allocated a large part of their defensive energy to the opponent.

But when he was about to reach the front of the penalty area, Gerrard suddenly passed the ball!

Throw the ball straight into the middle of the penalty area!

Carrick plugged in and Rooney headed in!

Casillas played bravely, blocking the ball out of the bottom line with a single palm!

The Spanish fans let out a sigh of relief.

England fans and players naturally sigh.

However, Karl was not disappointed, because he found that the England team in that match just now had improved compared to before. It was just a lack of luck not to score, and Gerrard seemed to be adapting well to his new position— —The retreating midfielder gave him a wider vision and space. In the past few 10 minutes, the few passes he sent were very critical, and he also inserted at high speed to get rid of the defense to create shooting opportunities for his teammates.

The only requirement, Carl hoped that Gerrard could remain so efficient from start to finish.

Casillas threw the ball directly at the feet of Ramos.

Once the Spanish team took control of the ball, they immediately launched a fierce counterattack.

With the tacit cooperation of the Matador Corps, it was difficult for the England team to touch the ball, so they tightened their defense, restarted their harassment tactics and increased their fighting efforts.

The Spanish team was worried that going too deep into England's defense would cause the ball to be lost, so Silva unexpectedly chose to shoot with his foot 30 meters outside the goal after receiving a direct pass from his teammate!

"Bang!" The football hit the post and bounced back!

"Boom!" Portillo swayed past Ferdinand and made a supplementary shot.

Fortunately, the direction is still on the right side of the goal!A thought like this flashed through Hart's mind quickly, and then he stretched his body that was already pounced to the right longer, trying to devote all his hair and toes to the great cause of saving.

Fortunately for the England team, Hart shot the ball with a single palm just like Casillas saved Rooney's header before.

……

Nobody said Joe Hart was just lucky anymore.

A lucky goalkeeper can make a save beyond his usual level to defuse the opponent's powerful attack, but what if he defuses it twice, three times, four times or even more in a row?It can only show that while this person is lucky, he also has a powerful strength that no one else can question.

Time passed by every minute and every second, but the score on the field remained unchanged at 1:1. It was really because the goalkeepers of the two teams did not give the opponent's striker a chance to succeed in a sneak attack.

In the 72nd minute, Beckham crossed the midfield, and Gerrard suddenly started after taking the ball. He first forced a breakthrough to the Spanish team's half, and then made another long pass. Coveted within the restricted area of ​​Spain.

Joe Cole took the ball in the middle of the penalty area, and at the same time he immediately fell into the siege of the opponent. Cole, who was not in a good position, did not directly choose to shoot, but used Capdevila and Marchena's bodies to send a goal. Rolling the ball, Rooney happened to appear at the football landing point at this time, and calmly pushed and scored an empty goal!

Although the Spanish national goalkeeper San Cassie ranks among the top strikers in the world, he is also helpless against this tricky and difficult ground ball.

Although the scoring process is not cool at all, the leading score speaks for itself!

Rooney excitedly waved his fist in front of the Spanish goal!

Then he stretched his arms facing the stands.

More than 8 England fans gave him the most enthusiastic cheers.

"Rooney! Looney! Looney!"

Wembley Stadium was shaken for a while.

Off the court, Karl couldn't help clenching his hands in his coat.

This kind of cooperative scoring is exactly what he wants to see.

After talking with Gerrard for a long time, the effect was indeed different. Although the opponent was not very willing to withdraw his position at the time, Carl thought his words would eventually impress the opponent—if Gerrard wanted to play at the top level for a longer period of time In the league, transformation is necessary. To be a midfielder like Pirlo or Zanetti, he may extend his career beyond the age of 35, or even longer.

...Of course, it is not enough for adults and the world of adults to just talk about it. Karl also carried out some substantive actions, such as coercion and temptation.At present, the effect is very good, but still the same sentence, the effect needs to be maintained for a long time, and if it doesn't last long, it will be useless.

After the score was changed, the Spanish team and the England team began to make substitutions again. They wanted to replace players who could no longer affect the game or who had already completed their merits. It would save a day to see which club's head coach faced the media Criticize them for "squeezing players in national team games and causing clubs some losses".

Rooney, who had just made a contribution, went off and was replaced by Irving, who had been watching the game outside the stadium.

Karl simply replaced Welbeck on the field, changing to 442, training young players and at the same time using total defense to stabilize the fruits of victory.

In the 78th minute, Turf played "Infernal Affairs" again.

That's right, Wembley Stadium, the home of the England national team, has screwed up its home team this time.

When Torres approached the England penalty area with the ball at high speed, defender Johnson made a fierce sliding tackle to the opponent.

The slippery tackle on the sole of the foot... made Johnson unable to hold his feet. While shoveling the football under Torres' feet, he also brought the opponent down by the way.

The referee ran over with his whistle in his mouth, first showed Johnson a yellow card, and then awarded Spain a direct free kick.

The penalty point is on the right side of the arc of the penalty area, about 30 meters away from the goal.

Because Torres' free throw technique is average, Harvey took the ball.

After Harvey's slow run-up, he aimed at the ball and kicked it!

Football contains a powerful force, like a cannonball hitting the Spanish team's goal!

Middle?Left?

Hart's first judgment was on the left, but after a short while he thought that the ball was more like flying in the middle, so he changed his body's center of gravity urgently, and dragged the steps that had already moved to the left to the left. middle road.

In the next second, all the fans saw the football appearing in Hart's arms.

The atmosphere suddenly relaxed after a short period of stagnation!

There were constant whistles in the stands, and a large part of them were blown by female fans.

……

The score finally ended at 2:1.

When Joe Hart heard the whistle for the end of the game, his whole body suddenly felt loose. He untied his gloves and touched his face with both hands, feeling as if he had just been fished out of the bathtub, from hair to body, from cheek to The palms are all wet with sweat.

Taking a step away from the goal, Hart was just about to leave the field to drink some water when he was taken aback by his teammates who suddenly rushed in front of him!

Five or six English players "enthusiastically" rushed towards Hart, pressed him to the bottom of the grass, and then stacked Arhat layer by layer!

Hart only had time to let out a half-cry.

As for why the scream was half a sound instead of one?

That's because the players of the England team are too fierce, and with just one blow, they can push out more air than they can take in.

For those players who were going off the field, Karl gave the opposing team hero treatment.

Every English player who passed by his side was praised and hugged by him.

Not only that, the fans in the stands behind the England coach's bench also stood up at this time, welcoming the victorious guys with the warmest applause.

Applause, screams, cheers, flags, salutes, this is England fans.

Booing, cursing, middle fingering, throwing, leaving, it's Spanish fans.

After all the English players around Carl got into the tunnel, a shout came from behind him: "Boss."

Carl turned around, it was Portillo.

Portillo was wearing the Spanish national team's shorts on the lower body, but only a white round-neck T-shirt on the upper body. He held the jersey in his right hand.

Carl spread his arms.

Portillo took a sharp step forward, gave him a deep hug, and took a deep breath, choking his nose.

"Runny nose?" Carl asked him cautiously.

"...I shed tears." Portillo replied dumbfounded.

Carl let go of Portillo, put one hand on the other's shoulder, and squeezed the other hand around the other's eyes a few times: "I'm alive and well, why are you crying? I want to see me and call me, we can have a video call at any time, It’s not life and death, your six-pack abs have been practiced, so let’s get rid of your sentimental problems.”

Portillo had been brewing for several nights. The scene of "the sad atmosphere was floating in the sky when we reunited, and my boss and I were relatively speechless and weeping for thousands of lines" did not appear as expected. Sadness or something, as early as Carl's words, turned into bubbles in the sun , disappeared in an instant.

He handed over the jersey that had been held in his hand for a long time: "Boss, this is for you. Also, thank you for reminding us to pay attention to the turf problem before the game, otherwise, someone in the team might be injured now."

"That's nothing." Carl took the jersey over: "I will keep it well."

Not far away, almost all the coaches and players of the Spanish team have returned to the locker room. It is not easy for Portillo to stay here: "I should go, boss." He turned and left.

Karl lowered his head and glanced at the red Spanish team jersey with only a little golden line on the shoulders in his hand. For some reason, he suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.

When he really doesn't care about parting so much, can he always comfort others with a smile on his face?

I just don't want to cry with me.

Taking a breath and exhaling it again, suppressing the soreness in his heart, Carl called Portillo again: "Javier."

Portillo immediately turned his head.

Carl stepped forward and hugged each other tightly, let go, and patted his shoulder again: "Take care."

Portillo blinked: "Yeah!"

……

In the live broadcast room of BBC TV, two directors are arguing.

One person wants to cut the camera to the studio quickly: What are the cameras still staring at the stadium after the game is over?Several guests and the host were all sitting in the studio waiting for the show to start. They waited dryly for five or six minutes!Those guests also specially invited heavyweight football stars for the battle between England and the West!

The other person was firmly opposed: the ratings are so high right now, only fools want to cut the camera!

In the end, under the vote of all the staff in the live broadcast room, the director was outnumbered. With the absolute disadvantage of 1VS everyone else, he had no choice but to extend the live broadcast of the stadium to the media area of ​​Wembley Stadium. Many reporters frantically took pictures of the "teacher-student love scene" while muttering to themselves: "I captured the most beautiful picture of this game."