Chapter 46: The Red Card
At the moment when the ball flew into the dead corner, time and space seemed to stand still in the Yokohama Arena, and the whole world belonged to that not much, but destined to be dazzling red.
All the Chinese media participating in the broadcast jumped up, blending with the screams and shouts of Evergrande fans in the stands, He Wei changed his previous excitement, and said in a calmer tone: "The ball is in!" Wen Zhihao, China's first AFC Champions League golden boot, broke through the goal of European champion Barcelona in front of fans all over the world, and this moment is destined to be recorded in the history of Chinese football. After this night, I believe that Barcelona will remember this young man from China. ”
He Wei told everything in a tone like talking about the old king next door who had nothing to do with him, but tens of millions of fans heard obvious choking through the broadcast.
At this time, no one will have any opinion on He Wei's performance. It is said that many fan families throughout China had a crackling sound at that moment, and countless fans broke their jobs because they were too excited.
As Dad Wen, who has a direct relationship with the parties, rarely took the case, waving a combination of punches and roaring loudly as if he had scored a goal. The wife was next to the old naughty boy. Daddy Wen knew what the goal meant to his son. Since then, as a "Chinese player who has broken through the Barcelona goal", his son's future in Europe can be said to be bright, which is equivalent to having a pass to enter the first-class team.
However, to everyone's surprise, when his teammates and coaching staff were frantically celebrating the goal, Wen Zhihao knelt in place, covered his face with his jersey, and shed a few tears. Scoring such a domineering penalty, he felt that a big rock blocked in his heart had finally been shattered. At this moment, he really forgave himself for his mistake in the Super Cup at the beginning of the year, and standing on the penalty spot, he felt that the goal in front of him was no longer an insurmountable moat.
Even the goal of the European champion is broken, what other goal can I not score?
……
In the 35th minute of the game, Barcelona made the first substitution, and Messi came on to replace the teenager Munir.
A huge scream erupted from the Barcelona stands in the stadium, and on the commentary bench of Nippon Sports Radio 2, Hidetoshi Nakata said with interest: "It's unimaginable! Guangzhou actually scored first. The youngster, who just won the AFC (AFC Champions League) goalscorer title this year, scored Barcelona in person. But Guangzhou should be careful, Guardiola is ready to send the cosmic Leo Messi, his lethality is nuclear level, Guangzhou's defense will face devastating devastation. ”
On CCTV's side, He Wei's voice suddenly raised an octave: "The fans of all China finally got their wish, Wen Zhihao's goal successfully forced Barcelona ace Messi from the bench to the field, and Guardiola's team may really start attacking Guangzhou Evergrande with all its might." ”
Xu Yang followed He Wei's words and said: "Evergrande has been successful enough to force the world-class Messi on the field and let the Cosmos team Barcelona really use its full strength." No matter how the next game develops, Evergrande is the winner...... Of course, I prefer to keep the score until the end. ”
Messi's presence is a clear signal to strengthen the attack. Barcelona then three lines linked to Evergrande to implement high-level pressure, Europe's top pressure intensity made Evergrande's midfield difficult to adapt, and even the back line of the foot had a low-level mistake, fortunately, Messi, who had just come on the field, wasted a few great opportunities to pass, and Scolari's team could enter the break with the lead.
In the dressing room of both sides, the two head coaches fought in the air. Pep Guardiola's tactics are very clear, with Messi as the core of the attack in the second half, relying on Messi's proud skills to tear apart Evergrande's defense.
Scolari, on the other hand, emphasised defensive intensity and focus. Taking the lead in the first half was something he didn't expect in his pre-match plans. However, at this time, the skills of the coach as a World Cup champion began to appear. Scolari decisively decided to use Goulart to remove Elkeson from the front line, and the whole team formation changed to a 4-6-0 strikerless formation, and tried his best to withstand Barcelona's counterattack in the second half.
The media took advantage of the precious halftime break to have a brief exchange, and the first half of the game was unexpected by everyone, and everyone needed to digest it.
From the first moment when referee Aguilar blew the whistle in the second half, the Barcelona players pressed against Evergrande's defense like tigers going down the mountain, and the Evergrande players adhered to the deployment of coach Scolari, took the initiative to give up the ball, and retracted the formation to base themselves on defense.
Such an arrangement is not a big problem against the average team, but encountering Barcelona's Tiki-taka pass control is tantamount to chronic suicide. In the 60th minute, Barcelona used three quick triangles in a row, and finally Suarez equalized with a low shot.
He Wei couldn't help but complain: "Scolari's conservatism has buried Evergrande's advantage, in the face of a team like Barcelona with top passing and control ability, how can it work to blindly defend it!" Evergrande has no lead, and will have to withstand Barcelona's more fierce firepower in the next half hour, and the situation is already very dangerous. ”
Taking advantage of a dead-ball opportunity, Scolari called Wen Zhihao to the sidelines to convey a new instruction: "Wen, you have to break through more when attacking, let Ricardo (Goulart) pass you more, now it can only rely on you, you have to take more responsibility." ”
Wen Zhihao nodded. Back on the pitch, he was clearly more determined and had a wider range of dribbles. Barcelona left wing-back Alves recycled to the middle from time to time to defend Wen Zhihao with Pique, and the penalty in the first half was a big mistake caused by his too much trust in Pique's defensive ability and not closing the gap in time.
Wen Zhihao knew that the team was facing difficulties and that he had to open the gap and draw Barca's attention, even against two top defenders, he was still unafraid.
The game entered the most critical 70 minutes, and Alves, who had suffered a serious decline in physical fitness in high-speed attack and defense, just wanted to take a breath, and when he looked up, he found that the ball was flying towards him, and there was a great tendency to cross his head. His eyes suddenly froze, and he looked behind him, which almost scared his soul away.
On the running line of the ball, a red figure with a high-speed forward swept over itself and went straight into the ribs of the penalty area, without looking at Alves, he knew that it was Wen Zhihao who made the team suffer, the two central defenders Pique and Mascherano are not known for their speed, and next to the two central defenders, Goulart and Paulinho are following up quickly, once the ball allows Wen Zhihao to break through, the local situation will form a three-on-two. Seeing that he couldn't catch up with Wen Zhihao, Alves was heartbroken, threw himself out like an explosive bag, and actually dragged Wen Zhihao's jersey to a side drop and put Wen Zhihao to the ground.
The whole stadium, even the fans in Barcelona jerseys, booed, and such unsportsmanlike fouls were deeply despised by the fans.
However, it was not over, Wen Zhihao stood up, rushed over directly and pushed Alves to the ground, and the sneakers with spikes stomped on Alves' calves twice, and scolded in English: "Are you fucking playing football or practicing taekwondo?!" Look for a beating! ”
Players from both sides quickly rushed to the scene of the incident to set up a field for their teammates, and the referee team quickly accessed when they saw that the situation was not good, pushing both parties away. Aguilar sternly lectured: "I have seen the actions of the two of you, and the nature is quite bad, you better go down and calm down!" ”
After saying that, Aguilar showed red cards to Wen Zhihao and Alves respectively, and invited both sides to the bench.
Wen Zhihao still scolded Alves with an indignant face when he walked off the field, and Scolari quickly asked his assistant to pull him to the bench, for fear of causing another conflict.
The sudden turn of events left Scolari scratching the back of his head helplessly. The offensive core was sent off at a critical moment, how to play this game?