Chapter 62: The Twin Eagles Fight for the Nest (2)
The Argentines certainly don't use a 4-5-1 formation on the counter-attack, and the flexibility and variety of attacking methods are enough to give them the initiative to take control of the game, all because of the perfect vision of the game by coach Batista, who watched the energetic and energetic young men, and after a passionate pre-match encouragement, the players rushed out of the dressing room and embarked on the journey to the final.
It was an important day for the entire Argentine Olympic team!
Messi, who has always had a shy smile, has always felt like a big boy next door in the eyes of Santtiago, and since the assembly of the national Olympic team, the communication between the two has been very limited, compared to Santhiago, who still prefers to mingle with a typical Argentine like Banega.
Standing in the players' tunnel and looking at the admiring eyes of the caddie in front of him when he looked at Messi, and then looking at the caddie next to him, Santhiago couldn't help but laugh in his heart, and after gently knocking on the caddy's head, he pretended to be dissatisfied: "What are you looking at? ”
"I ...... Belch... Sir..."
The frightened caddie came back to his senses, unable to speak, and when he saw this scene, Saint-Tiago touched his head and said with a smile: "You can help us pray to God, and if we win the game in the end, then I can help you get Messi's autograph!" ”
"Really? Mr! The little caddy was so excited that he prayed wholeheartedly after receiving an affirmative response from Santiago.
Messi, who heard the voice, looked back at the little caddie and smiled when he saw the pious appearance of the little caddy, and the little nervousness before the game disappeared.
The much-anticipated final soon began with enthusiastic cheers from the fans, with FIFA President Sepp Blatter saying at a pre-match press conference that the number of spectators at the Beijing Olympics has reached 1.9 million and will eventually exceed 2 million, which is unprecedented. At the same time, FIFA is also very satisfied with the organization of the football competition of the Beijing Olympic Games, as Blatter said, the men's football of the Olympic Games has indeed been very successful, and the Bird's Nest Stadium, which can accommodate more than 90,000 people, is now full.
The warm atmosphere was permeating the stadium, standing in a position that was not familiar before, making the final warm-up preparations, Santiago looked around and soon saw his parents and female agent Isabella in the front row, just smiled and waved at them, and the referee had already blown the whistle for the start of the game!
After the start of the game, the players on both sides seemed to be a little restrained and did not start attacking immediately, and even the mutual testing seemed to be deeply hidden, which is not common at all. However, the players on both sides did not dare to relax at all, because they knew each other too well, not only for the Olympic team, but also for the men's senior national team.
In almost every major event, as long as both sides enter the finals, then they will meet each other, either in the group stage or the knockout round, and in the Olympic arena, it is the final!
I don't know if it was God's arrangement or what, but in this case, the two teams knew each other thoroughly and carefully, which also prompted them to temporarily suppress their imminent fighting spirit in the first moment after the game began. This also gave commentators from all over the world a valuable opportunity to introduce the formations and starters of both sides, especially the lesser-known Nigerian Olympic team.
In this final, the Nigerian Olympic team, known as the African eagles, lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, and Nigerian captain Isak, who had lost his starting place in the previous two knockout games, returned to the team to replace Obuko Obasi, who scored twice in the semi-finals.
At the same time, it is worth mentioning that a number of players from both sides, including Messi and Sergio Aguero, participated in the final of the U20 World Youth Championship three years ago, in which Argentina won the championship 2-1 thanks to Messi's two penalty kicks; However, in the final of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Nigeria defeated Argentina 3-2 with a goal in the third minute of stoppage time after falling behind twice. In the group stage of the 1994 World Cup, Nigeria lost 1-2 to Argentina, and Xia Xia, who scored for the team, has now become the coach of the Olympic team. ”
"It can be seen that the two sides have long had a deep hatred, and although this game is important, it will definitely not be a final game!"
The calm didn't last long, and after a series of inverted feet, Riquelme took the lead in blowing the horn of attack, and after receiving the ball again, he suddenly slid the ball straight under the crotch of the defender and reached Messi's feet. Messi broke through along the side after taking the ball, and the defending Nigerian players struggled to keep up but it was difficult to stop the momentum of the little flea, but fortunately, Messi on the side always had to share the ball to continue the attack, so that the Nigerian players were not too anxious to foul.
But what he didn't expect was that Messi suddenly paused, pulled behind him and threw himself away, and then made an inward action to insert himself into the ribs of the penalty area.
The Nigerian's move proved to be the right one, and sure enough, Messi did not choose to carry the ball all the time, but found a good opportunity and distributed the ball to his good friend Sergio Aguero, but after bursting into the right side of the penalty area, Aguero fell to the ground under the pressure of Nigerian defender Okongkwo. The attack came to an abrupt halt when Sergio Aguero raised his hand on the ground, but unfortunately the referee ruled that the Nigerian defender had not committed a foul and the ball changed hands.
There is only one overage player in the current Nigerian Olympic team, and that is Odenwengi, a striker who plays for Stoke City, although he is not well-known, is definitely a good attacker, and this is also the advantage of Nigerian players compared to the Argentine Olympic team. More opportunities and more appearances have allowed Nigerian players to go beyond the actual experience of the Argentine Olympic team, although they are the same age as the Argentine Olympic team.
That advantage allowed Nigeria to quickly settle down under Argentina's attack, and they immediately returned the favor. Team and talent are the key to the team's success, for African teams there is never a shortage of talented players, what is lacking is unity, which the current Nigerian Olympic team coach Xia Xia knows very well, under his training, the Nigerian Olympic team is absolutely the best of all participating teams in the tacit understanding and passing cooperation.
The continuous passing put the Argentine backline under great pressure, and Gago had to use a ferocious tackle to block the attack, and although he was lucky not to receive a yellow card after a foul, he was also penalized for a very dangerous free kick.
Seeing such a situation, the Argentine players are all like big enemies, but fortunately, this time Odenwengi took a free kick from 28 meters in front of the goal and fired a low shot that was confiscated by goalkeeper Romero, which made the players breathe a sigh of relief.