On May 5th, the city of Milan was destined to be a sleepless night, of course, only for Inter Milan, not AC Milan.

Jose Mourinho gave his team two days off to allow the first-team players to relax and release the pressure from this time. With 10 days to go before the Champions League final, he has plenty of time to regain his strength and prepare for the Champions League final in Glasgow.

Almost everyone went crazy, only Zheng Zhi returned home early to rest.

The next day, he still appeared at Inter Milan's training base, but today he was not immersed in hard training, but saw off the Chinese national youth team.

Twenty-two players from Zheng Zhi's football school have been training at the Inter Milan academy for half a year, and the Chinese national youth team has also taken a ride, training here for nearly three months in preparation for the 2002 Toulon Cup.

With Wu Di's efforts, the Chinese national youth team has even played against the youth teams of many European countries at the Inter Milan training base.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the team was assembled, and Zheng Zhi was invited to the stage to give a speech to the national youth team. Although there are no school-age players in the football school, these children also gathered together to see off the national youth team.

Standing on the rostrum, Zheng Zhi's eyes swept over the future pillars of the national football team, and his old face became very serious.

"Today is the day you go to the Toulon Cup."

"What I want to say is that this time it is no longer about training, but about ushering in a big test."

"You are the main force in the 2004 Olympic Games and represent the future of the Chinese team. The Toulon Cup is a litmus test of your strength! We should not go with the attitude of learning, but with the belief of how to defeat the opponent! ”

"Because, we are Olympic champions!"

"You must defend this honor!"

"The so-called strong team in the world is not as terrible as we think, we must be young and frivolous and fearless! We can beat any opponent! Even if we have Portugal and Brazil in our group! ”

"Do you want to stay in Europe? Then conquer the Toulon Cup! Let the scouts in Europe see what you're really capable of! ”

Zheng Zhi clenched his fists tightly and shouted for the young soldiers.

"And you!" Zheng Zhi pointed to the younger Feng Xiaoting.

"You are the next group of warriors to go to war, don't think that you are only sixteen or seventeen years old, and you are still far away from the 2008 Olympic Games, I tell you, not far away! Moreover, you are a group of players with a greater mission! I firmly believe that our country will qualify for the 2008 Olympics this year, and then you will be fighting in the capital of our country! ”

At this time, it is only May, and China's successful bid for the Olympic Games is in late July......

Looking at Zheng Zhi, who was giving a passionate speech in the stands, several players under the national youth team felt ridiculous!

Why?

It's very simple, because everyone is a player born around 1981 and 1982, only one year younger than Zheng Zhi, but Zheng Zhi has already won a Golden Ball Award and two World Footballer of the Year, and they have only just started to play the Toulon Cup, and many people have not even played the main team in the domestic league.

What is the Toulon Cup for? It's a youth team competition, it's a training of young people, and it's preparing for the Olympics! (I want to laugh at this paragraph, haha...... ）

It's really a heaven and an underground, a world of difference!

Yan Song, Zhang Yaokun, and Wang Sheng of the Dalian Gang ridiculed Wang Xinxin a lot, because Wang Xinxin played wild ball with Zheng Zhi back then, and four years later, Zheng Zhi was the world footballer, and Wang Xinxin had just emerged in China. The Dalian Gang became famous early and won the domestic championship, what does the Liaoning Gang have?

Of course, they just want to find a psychological balance, compared with Zheng Zhi, who is not like this?

In Zheng Zhi's heart, this year's national youth team is not the next national youth team, that is, the children he is now putting in the Inter Milan training camp, Dong Fangzhuo, Huang Bowen, Feng Xiaoting, they are the most anticipated generation, and they will compete in the Olympics in 2008!

And the timing is just right for them, Zheng Zhi just caught up with the time and focused on cultivating them.

Compared with the previous life, these guys who have been cultivated by Inter Milan's academy are naturally much stronger than before, and even most of them have the hope of being poached by European clubs.

They don't have as many depressed thoughts as the current national youth team players, after all, unlike Wang Xinxin, they are only about one year younger than Zheng Zhi, but more than five years younger, even if they falsely report their age, they are three years younger, they have no psychological burden, and they can still dream naively......

Zheng Zhi's speech also infected them the most.

"Dong Fangzhuo, we have to work hard."

"Well, so are you, we all have to work hard for our respective dreams!"

"In 2008, we will definitely return to the capital from all over the world!"

"Zhao Xuri, you won't want to go home again this time, will you? Peace of mind in Europe! ”

……

……

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Bidding farewell to the soldiers of the national youth team, Zheng Zhi also ushered in the call of the national team.

The major leagues in Europe have ended, and only the most eye-catching Big Ears Cup in Europe has not yet been played, so the countries participating in the World Cup finals have begun to gather their most powerful players to prepare for the World Cup.

As the new captain of the Chinese national team, Zheng Zhi was naturally the first to receive a call-up, but he must also be the last to report to the national team.

And in China, troops have been ordered on the battlefield.

Horton soon announced his squad for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

"Sports Weekly" was the first to reveal the information.

Goalkeeper:

No. 1 Ou Chuliang, No. 22 Jiang Jun;

Fullback:

No. 5 Fan Zhiyi, No. 2 Zhang Enhua, No. 14 Li Weifeng, No. 4 Wu Chengying, No. 17 Du Wei, No. 7 Sun Jihai, No. 3 Sun Xiang, No. 21 Xu Yunlong;

Avant-garde: No. 9 Shensi, No. 8 Li Yin, No. 19 Qi Hong, No. 11 Yu Genwei, No. 6 Shao Jiayi, No. 18 Li Xiaopeng, No. 13 Li Ming, No. 15 Zhao Junzhe, No. 10 Zheng Zhi;

Forwards: No. 16 Qu Peng, No. 12 Su Maozhen, No. 20 Yang Chen, No. 23 Xie Hui.

In this list, Horton can be said to be quite risky, did not bring three goalkeepers, directly removed the young Anqi, the back line, recruited Sun Xiang, who was ready to compete in the Toulon Cup, and in the midfield, gave up a lot of former National Olympic players, and recruited veterans Li Ming and Shensi.

Barring injuries, this is the final squad.

Except for Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang, who did not return to the team, everyone else will fly back to the Xianghe training base in the capital during these two days to prepare for Japan......

-------------------------------------

"It's been a long time,"

"If it weren't for the Champions League final, I would have liked to go to Japan right now,"

"I can't wait to start my World Cup journey in 2002!"

Ronaldo is absent in the training center, no one is more hungry for the World Cup than him, the revenge of the 1998 final must be avenged, he must win the fifth Hercules Cup for Brazil, otherwise he will never forgive himself in this life.

"Ronnie,"

"Fight by battle, let's win the Big Ears Cup, and then go to the World Cup!" Zheng Zhi habitually touched his smooth head.

"If our Champions Cup runners-up go to the World Cup, I think it's quite unlucky."

"Phew, what are you talking about, history will never repeat itself, I won't let this happen." Ronaldo snorted twice. If you take the runner-up again, it is better to jump into the Pacific Ocean and die.

Zheng Zhi smiled, "That's it, why don't you change your hairstyle?" We have a happy word 'Fu' in China, which can bring good luck. ”

"Really? I'm going to try. Ronaldo's eyes lit up, "I listen to you." ”

"When I go to Japan, you can ask a Chinese barber to get me one."

"Well, why don't we all sort out a ......"

……

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Glasgow has never been so lively.

The usual £20 a night hotel is now quadrupled and still fully booked, which is the most obvious benefit of Glasgow hosting the UEFA Champions League final.

It's easy to imagine that nearly 70,000 fans will pour into Scotland's largest city from Italy and Spain on the 15th, and that the game will take place in the evening, and it is not difficult to calculate how much they throw in Glasgow.

A large part of the 70,000 fans didn't have tickets, just to join in the fun. The organising committee gave half of the tickets to Inter Milan and was immediately sold out, while they sold only half of the tickets for Real Madrid, and the rest was snapped up by locals as soon as they returned to Glasgow.

The City of Glasgow has invested more than £400,000 to host the match between Real Madrid and Inter Milan, but they will make a profit of £15 million from Europe's highest-profile club competition. In addition, the organisers hope that hosting the tournament will help Scotland win the 2008 European Football Championship.

Glasgow City Council has decided to ban all vehicles from the city centre on match day and will set up a large screen in the heart of George Square where fans without tickets can watch the game live.

Hampton Stadium, which hosts the games, has been Scotland's national stadium since 1903 and has recently been refurbished with new turf. More than 200 bars across the city are also licensed to stay open until 4 a.m. in order to provide a venue for fans to celebrate.

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On the morning of the 14th, the Nerazzurri finally assembled and headed for Glasgow.

Opponents Real Madrid had already arrived a day early. For the century-old Real Madrid, they were not happy at all last week, leading the league for most of the time, and finally Valencia counterattacked the league title, they only finished second in the league, and the Champions League became their last straw. If they fail, they will face a hundred years of shame!

All eyes are on Hampton Park in Glasgow. This is the 10th year since the Champions Cup was restructured into the Champions League, and the "old-fashioned" Real Madrid and the "new king of Europe" Inter Milan have experienced completely different seasons, but they are standing together again in the final sprint.

Exactly the same as last year!

Despite nothing on the domestic stage, Real Madrid have had a smooth ride in this year's Champions League and there is little doubt that they can win the Champions League. Back in Glasgow, they have a fond memory, in 1960 they also lost the league title and the Copa del Rey, but here they beat Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany to complete a five-game winning streak, and they have a good expectation that they want to recreate the unrivalled glory of 40 years ago with the Centennial Big Ears Cup.

However, their opponents are Inter Milan, who stepped on their shoulders to win the Big Ears Cup last year. If they lose again, it's a Champions Cup trifecta! There is nothing wrong with saying that it is a hundred years of shame.

Between them, there is only one winner!

The Spanish media were cautious about Real Madrid's trip to Glasgow:

"This is the last glimmer of hope for Real Madrid's centennial!" This is how the Spanish media commented. The newspaper AS commented: "Real Madrid did not take their chances and will have to travel to Glasgow in search of one last glimmer of hope to celebrate their 100th birthday. They are cautiously optimistic about Real Madrid's prospects at Hampton Park: "Italians have always been difficult to play against, and they have just won the Coppa Italia and Serie A, and they were the ones who beat Real Madrid in last year's Champions League final! ”

"As" newspaper reminded Real Madrid - if Real Madrid is smart enough, it should know that the first two failures were entirely because of one person - Chinese Zheng Zhi! If this final still doesn't solve this problem, then it will still be Real Madrid who lose.

Marca: Real Madrid can't fall in the Champions League final for three consecutive years, and luck will be on Real Madrid's side. The centennial celebrations can no longer be ruined. If this team can't win the Champions League, it means rebuilding or continuing to bring in players of the highest level.

……

The Real Madrid players also came out to give interviews to Radio Serre and express their thoughts, and Zidane was not happy with this season: "Losing two titles, that's enough. We made some mistakes......"

At this point, the Frenchman raised his voice to show his determination: "I and all my teammates want to win, that's our only goal at the moment!" ”

Teammate Solari on the side duly showed respect for Inter: "Bayer has a strong defense like a glue and a baptism of attack, it will be an extremely difficult game and a great game!" But we can definitely beat them this time, just like at the beginning of the season! We've beaten them before! ”

Solari was not the only one who recognised the enormity of this final, Salgado also said: "Inter Milan are a formidable opponent at all times. They, like us, are used to playing such an important game and have so much experience that we definitely can't relax, the Italians are as cold as ice and any mistake at Hampton Park is fatal! ”

Despite all the rhetoric from the players, manager Andreas Pereira couldn't sit still: "We should have more experience at the last minute and make fewer mistakes. We will do our best to win the most important title of the season. ”

"Of course it's the centenary of Real Madrid, a special day that we never forget, we want to make this a year of celebration, so we have a big responsibility to lift the trophy."

'We can't say if Wednesday was won or lost at the moment and I'm not complaining about the attitude of the players or the results this season is not ideal.

Bosque said his line-up would not be affected by the media comments: "I will pick what I think is the most appropriate and I will not look for other excuses if I fail." ”

Along these lines, the Spanish media believe that the goalkeeper will continue to use the 31-year-old Cesar, with defenders Robert Carlos, Salgado and Hierro, who was ordered to rest against Laco, undoubtedly start, and young centre-back Pavon who has not performed well in recent games, so Elguera will drop back to partner Hierro in the middle.

Figo, who has a small injury, will form a midfield with Zidane, Raul, Solari and Makelele, considering that Inter Milan's tall central defenders Materazzi and Stam are absent at the same time, it is likely that Morientes will be in the front, but if Morientes does not recover from the injury by then, Bosque may also let Atuguti play in the attack, and then send Morientes to attack the back of Inter Milan in the last half hour.

King Carlos of Spain is said to be in Hampton Park to cheer on the team. As long as the king is there to watch the game, Real Madrid always wins.

Inter Milan don't have as much movement as Real Madrid.

After Mourinho and his team arrived in Glasgow, they basically did physical recovery training and rarely did tactical drills. After all, Inter Milan's style of play has long matured.

The only thing that plagues Inter Milan is still the backline, with Materaczi's injury and Stam's drug ban being his biggest headaches. However, before the press conference, he made a brave decision to remove Cordoba from the starting line-up, allowing Panucci to replace him as Carvalho's midday partner, while Zanetti returned to the right-back position.

If Zanetti retreats, the natural sacrifice is the midfield, and Di Biagio can only fill it.

In this way, Inter Milan's starting lineup is also about to come out.

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon

Defenders: Zanetti, Panucci, Carvalho, Grosso;

Midfielders: Di Biagio, Zheng Zhi, Dalma, Pirlo;

Forwards: Adriano, Ronaldo.

At the pre-match press conference, Mourinho also chatted lightly, with no murderous look on his face.

"I'm the coach of Inter Milan and people expect Inter to win titles every season, and if you look at it calmly, Real Madrid has a lot of good players, they have had a very good year and they have beaten a lot of big teams. They fought until the last minute and we have a lot of respect for them, we are a team at the same level. ”

'I want to win, but we haven't forgotten that we are all in the elite of European football and of course whoever wins will be satisfied, but we will also work harder to play this game. I think it's a fair and open game and hopefully it's a compelling game. ”

Captain Zheng Zhi also said: "I believe that players on both sides of this game want to win. Even though it was an important game, I wasn't nervous. If I focus on whether it hurts, it can become a nuisance. The most important thing now is to win. ”

'Real Madrid know how to control the ball well, so we have to prevent any threat from them with the ball. They have a lot of very good players, Figo, Zidane, Raul, Carlos, Guti...... They are competitive. Usually they don't play at the same pace throughout the game, they know the tempo of the game and they can win the game in 10 minutes. We have to concentrate in the game. ”

……

Italy's "Milan Sport" newspaper is very optimistic that Inter Milan can defend the Champions Cup.

According to Sport, Inter Milan have won successive league and cup competitions, and the team is full of energy and confidence in the game. They found plenty of reasons for Inter to win.

1. Exert strong pressure on Real Madrid's porous defense. Inter have proven in any game that they are capable of attacking the opposition backline, while Real Madrid's backline is not very strong and Inter should attack in the opposition half from the very beginning of the game.

2. Attack its two ribs. Real Madrid's two full-backs, Carlos and Salgado, often assisted forward, and after the ball was off the wall, they played behind him, forcing the centre-backs to help up the flanks and create gaps in the middle.

3. Despise your opponents. Although he lost to Real Madrid in a friendly match at the beginning of the season, Zheng Zhi did not participate with the team at that time, and Inter Milan did not really play, and it was at the Bernabeu Stadium. Real Madrid are not strong on the road and have no advantage when playing at neutral venues. On top of that, in last year's Champions League final, Real Madrid was the loser.

4. Relieve the pressure of winning the championship. Inter Milan are no longer under pressure to win the title, they have already won the league and cup and this season has been a success.

5. It's fair to win......

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Once again, the broadcast of the match set a new record. It is said that there were more than 800 print reporters, more than 200 broadcast reporters, and more than 1,000 TV reporters and technicians from more than 80 TV stations around the world.

The match will be broadcast to more than 200 countries and regions around the world, with 77 cameras and 15 satellite lines rented, which will be broadcast live on more than 100 channels. The British independent television station that broadcast the game alone used 21 cameras, including three state-of-the-art machines capable of playing ultra-slow motion.

China's CCBV5 broadcast the match live an hour earlier, and the ratings soared all the way, reaching 30% ten minutes before the game started!

In the locker room, naturally, the coaches of both sides made another passionate speech.

Bosque's side made a rare expression of death:

"It's time for revenge!"

"Either Glasgow or Glasgow! Or win back the glory for the century-old Real Madrid! ”

"Real Madrid must not accept a triple match!"

……

Mourinho, on the other hand, chanted in the dressing room.

"It's time to defend your title!"

"It's either the era of the Great Inter! Or disappear into history like a meteor! ”

……

In the player tunnel, the players on both sides are already very familiar, like Ronaldo, Carlos, Zheng Zhi, Zidane, Figo, these guys are too familiar to be familiar, but everyone did not say hello, although many of them are from the same national team, but they are like passers-by.

As players from both sides walked past the sides of the Champions Cup placed at the entrance, almost all eyes were on the Big Ears Cup. Only Zheng Zhi turned his head all the way to look back, for fear that which teammate would want to reach out and touch the trophy again......

Before kick-off, a moment of silence was observed for Lobanovsky, the Honored Coach of Ukraine, who died one day ago.

Subsequently, Inter Milan legend Bergomi and AC Milan legend Baresi became active, but basically Belgomi was talking, Baresi didn't seem excited at all, because he was AC Milan legend, excited hairy?

"Real Madrid starters: Cesar, Salgado, Hierro, Elguera, Carlos, Makelele, Solari, Figo, Zidane, Raul, Morientes."

"It's almost the same as last year's finalist!"

"Inter Milan: Buffon, Zanetti, Panucci, Carvalho, Grosso, Di Biagio, Zheng Zhi, Dalma, Pirlo, Ronaldo, Vieri. Exactly the same as predicted by Sport. ”

"The handicap opened by the spinach company is a tie, ah, damn it, what's the difference between not opening and not opening?"

At 19:45 local time on the 15th, the European Champions Cup final officially kicked off at Hampton Park Stadium in Glasgow!

Real Madrid kicked off first, and Raul kicked the ball to Zinedine Zidane!

After the opening, Inter Milan launched a full-court press, and soon Pirlo sent Zidane to the ground.

"Pirlo,"

"Well done,"

'Defensively good, crisp, decisive and aggressive.

"If the French lose Zinedine Zidane, the World Cup will be fun, and I'd love to see that." As soon as he thought of the 1998 World Cup, when Italy was eliminated by France, Bergomi's selfishness came to mind.

However, Zidane patted his ass and stood up, looking like nothing was wrong, and then passed the ball back, Figo came from the right side to answer, Real Madrid right-back Salgado actually dared to press up, Figo was given to him by the ball again, and Grosso kicked a frontal flying tackle!

With a snort, it directly shoveled into the ankle of former Real Madrid President Sanz's son-in-law, and Salgado's body instantly smashed on the billboard.

Bang!

"Bastard,"

"It's so rude!"

"They just want to get rid of Real Madrid players?"

The Real Madrid fans in the stands immediately burst out and the voices of 20,000 fans resounded throughout the stadium, but this did not put any pressure on the referee, he did not even give a yellow card, and Salgado was not injured and quickly entered the game.

But when Figo took the ball again and rushed to the right side of the Inter penalty area, Carvalho rushed out of the box and tripped Figo without hesitation, and Real Madrid got a well-placed free-kick opportunity.

Zidane and Figo stood in front of the ball at the same time, but the two wanted to play a free kick to cooperate, but Figo pushed the ball harder, Zheng Zhi killed it as soon as possible, and fell to the ground to shovel the ball at Zidane's feet! However, Grosso, who then caught up, poked the ball out of the right touchline for safety.

The Brazilian Carlos rushed up and threw a sideline ball to the front court near the halfway line on the left side, which was very powerful! Throw it directly under Raul's feet.

Raul didn't wait for the ball on the spot, but took the initiative to rush back two big steps, flashed to Panucci to protect the ball! Immediately after that, without leaving a chance for Panucci to think, he immediately tried to take a step into the middle, but only to snatch it with a false swing, and suddenly pulled the ball with a back on the inside of his right foot!

A gorgeous Cruyff turn!

He actually got past Panucci and immediately dribbled the ball into the left side of the box!

Even Buffon was surprised and barely had time to prepare for Raul, who fired a left-footed shot into the far corner!

"Ah~~~~~h

"The ball is lost!"

"Damn !!"

"In the sixth minute, Raul broke through Gianluigi Buffon's goal, and Mourinho shouldn't have put Panucci at centre-back......