"He's the king of Arsenal, he's saved the team, he's Thierry Henry——!"

The Arsenal players ran to their captain and the goal came at a timely, important one. With six minutes of stoppage time remaining, Arsenal equalised the game's scoreline and the aggregate score for both sides.

Arsene Wenger jumped up from his seat and embraced Patles with open arms.

The 2,000 Arsenal fans who followed the team to Nottingham also erupted in huge cheers. Amid their cheers, the Nottingham Forest fans fell silent for a moment.

Don's heart fell from the clouds to the bottom, and the feeling was indescribable. He bit his lip and stared at the Arsenal players who were celebrating on the pitch.

Seeing that he was about to advance to the final, he was scored by Henry at the last moment! What a fuck......

What were your players thinking in that moment? Do they think they've won? At the moment of switching from offense to defense, the reaction speed is slow, like a ninety-year-old man!

The Forest players held their heads in frustration and watched each other celebrate.

George Wood looked down at his feet.

When he shoveled towards Henry from the side and back, he suddenly remembered Donne's warning in his mind, and he was very tender with two yellow cards on his back, and he would receive a third yellow card for this foul, and maybe even a straight red card. So he reflexively retracted his feet.

It was this little distance that made Henry dodge......

He shouldn't have retracted his feet, he should have shoveled the opposing striker to the ground, so that he couldn't break through and shoot, but his body didn't listen to the call at that moment.

What a bastard, beautifully spoken, and still a coward in the end......

He raised his head again, and saw his dejected teammates around him, and the frustration caused by his performance turned into anger, and he burst out of his mouth: "What are you doing?" We haven't lost yet! ”

Arteta looked up at Wood, who was clenching his fists and roaring loudly, and everyone turned to look at him.

"We haven't lost yet! I don't know who the eliminated ones are, what are you doing?! ”

Then he walked over to Arteta: "Don't protect me, there's no need. ”

"But George......"

"I'll talk about it after getting to the finals." He turned and ran towards the goal, fished the ball out of the net, and then ran all the way to the center circle with it in his arms and put the ball up.

"Tee off!"

Donn, who saw this scene from the sidelines, turned to Chris Rac and said: "Regardless of whether we can make it to the final or not, what makes me feel less depressed is that at least we have a real captain. ”

Chris Rac smiled, not knowing what to say.

※※※

The game restarted and Arsenal were looking to take advantage of the final moments to beat Forest, who were hoping to add another goal in the remaining minutes to put the advantage back into their hands. The two sides did not give in to each other, and fierce battles were launched in every corner of the stadium.

As a result, when the referee blew the whistle for the end of the 90-minute game, the score was still 1:1.

"The score is 2:2 on aggregate and both sides have an away goal, no equal. Now they need to go through 30 minutes of extra time to decide the winner...... If it still can't, then a penalty shootout is required. It was a dramatic game and when Nottingham Foresters thought they were going to win, Thierry Henry levelled the scores in the last minute......

Neither team will go into the dressing room to prepare for extra-time, but will sit or lie on the sidelines, giving the team doctor a massage while listening to the manager's latest instructions.

"We're pressed for time, so I'm not going to criticize you for your last-minute distraction." The Nottingham Forest players were in a circle, with Donn crouching in the middle, looking serious. "In extra time, defense is still the primary goal, taking time to counter-attack. Thankfully, we had a penalty before the game...... If you can't settle the battle in thirty minutes, put it off until then. ”

On the other side, in the Arsenal half, Arsene Wenger stood in front of the players, pacing back and forth, and said to them: "Extra time, rest half, attack half, try to score." If we can't, we play penalties with them. ”

※※※

With only a five-minute break before the 90-minute game and extra-time, many players had barely had time to catch their breath before getting back on the pitch and getting back into play.

George Wood got up from the ground, Donn looked at him, then watched him back on the pitch and said nothing. Because he didn't know what to say either...... It's really pointless to say anything like "don't get a yellow card again", and it's doubtful that he can even make it to the final, so what's the use of reminding him not to get a yellow card?

Everything, let it be.

※※※

At the start of the first half of extra-time, Arsenal took advantage of their recent equaliser to lay siege to Forest's goal, as if they were going to settle the battle within the next 30 minutes.

Nottingham Forest, on the other hand, put on their best and most familiar defensive formation to meet Arsenal's stormy attack.

Donn made one last substitution, he replaced Layton Barnes with Gareth Bell, Barnes ran cramps, and Bale was fit enough to let him go up and solidify the defense.

In the first half of extra time, there was basically no Forest counterattack, Anelka wandered alone in front for a while, and found that the football could not be passed at all, he looked at the tense situation behind him, hesitated for a moment and decided to go back to participate in the defense.

In general, although there is no rule that says it must be this way, extra-time in football matches does present an interesting phenomenon. That is the 30 minutes of extra time because of the two halves and the performance of the two teams divided into two extremes, take this game as an example, now the first half is Arsenal attack, then after the second half, Arsenal will not have the spare energy to attack, this is the turn of Nottingham Forest to attack.

This may be related to the fact that the physical strength of both sides does not allow them to attack for 30 minutes, so they can only choose to rest the half and attack the half.

Arsenal went on the attack for fifteen minutes without achieving anything, and the Forest defence was very well organised. The score remained 1-1 and the Forest players knew their chance had come.

There is no break between the two halves of extra time, and the players can only buy time for themselves by slowly moving through the pitch.

At this time, both the Arsenal players and the Nottingham Forest players have reached their physical limits, and the intensive schedule and continuous games have made everyone tired. They slowly moved around the court. Only one person is an exception......

George Wood ran to the other half with his head held high. When he rubbed shoulders with Cesc Fabregas, the Spaniard could even feel a gust of wind on his cheeks!

※※※

After the start of the second half, the Forest team pressed up as usual, and no one really wanted to drag the game to a penalty shootout, which was a decisive way with no safety factor at all.

Everyone went up, and Garethbell was also frequently involved in the attack. Only George Wood remained in the back, protecting everyone's rear.

Almost everyone thought Arsenal would have no room to threaten the Forest backline after fifteen minutes of indiscriminate bombardment, and it was a bit silly for George Wood to sit behind and watch others perform. Looking at the attacking momentum of Nottingham Forest now, Arsenal are going to exhaust all their remaining stamina just by defending, how can they still endanger the Forest team's goal?

Eastwood's shot was held by Lehmann. The German goalkeeper did not opt for the inefficient method of kicking forward, throwing the ball with his hands...... Go on the offensive!

The football was at the feet of Cesc Fabregas in the blink of an eye, and before the Forest players could react, Cesc Fabregas transferred the football to their captain, the most trusted striker Thierry Henry.

Then, while most of the Forest players were still stunned by the sudden change in the front court, Henry had already adjusted the direction of the football and began to dribble towards the Forest goal!

"It's Arsenal's counterattack! The Forest attacked so hard that they forgot about Arsenal and Thierry Henry, an extremely dangerous man with first-class speed! ”

"Damn it!" Donn jumped up on the sidelines, "I told them to take the time to fight back!" It's not about pressing on the siege! ”

"Don't worry, Tony. George ...... in the back," Chris Rac comforted.

"That's what worries me the most......" Donn muttered.

※※※

Henry looked back, his teammates couldn't run, and there were few people who followed, and although the people of the Forest team were desperately trying to defend back, looking at their running posture, they were obviously physically exhausted. So......

Henry turned his head and looked at George Wood directly in front of him.

Is it just the two of us?

"Thierry Henry, George Wood! The collision of the two captains ......"

Wood didn't have to look around to know what was going on. There was no one else at the back except for him and two centre-backs, and when the Forest team was on the offensive just now, everyone rushed forward without hesitation, hoping to be the heroes who helped the team reach the final at the last minute.

He didn't go up, not because he couldn't run, or because he wasn't interested in attacking, but because he saw Henry cruising around the center circle. With everyone back in the box to defend, why didn't Henry, the captain, lead by example?

He thought of a possibility, which soon became a reality - Thierry Henry was the ultimate weapon in Arsenal's counter-attack, and his return to Arsenal would be tantamount to giving up.

The cunning Arsene Wenger was hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to score the winning goal until the last minute!

Henry knew very well what was at stake with George Wood, and once he got close to him, he would be entangled, and he didn't know what the attack would become. So the key to this counterattack is absolutely and absolutely not to get close to Wood, and not to give a chance to entangle himself.

Wood knew that Henry was fast and had good stamina, and looking at the way he was running now, he was still swinging his legs strongly, and he knew that he could still accelerate and force himself through with speed. You must not distance yourself from him, and once you let him pull away, he can use his speed to force his way through. You have to lean in and entangle him......

Henry flicked the ball to the left for a diagonal break. George Wood moved sideways and met him.

Henry began to speed up, and Wood also began to speed up, following Henry closely and not letting him escape from his control.

Suddenly, Henry made a sharp stop, as if he was about to break through from the other direction. Wood braked suddenly, carefully watching for his opponent's next move. Henry didn't change direction, it was just a change in tempo, and when he saw Wood slow down, he immediately picked up speed to get rid of the other man.

But Wood's physical condition was very good, almost at the same time as Henry. This time the getaway was not successful.

"Henry is going to be entangled by Wood! The two are very close. Nottingham Forest's players are coming back to defend and as long as they hold back Henry, Wood's defence will be considered a success...... Wow! ”

Just when everyone thought Henry couldn't help it, he suddenly pushed the football diagonal between Wood's legs!

Immediately after, he made a sharp stop and turned around and broke through from the other side of Wood's body!

"The ball is divided! Pretty! ”

Wood was unprepared for Henry's move, and by the time he reacted, the other man had already passed by.

What does it mean if Henry is allowed to break through like this?

With Pepe and Pique in the background, maybe it's not so bad that it has to be done. Thinking so, Wood looked up to see Cesc Fabregas and Van Persie running desperately forward.

Three against two?!

Wood knew what that meant.

He quickly turned around and saw Henry's back. It seems that the other party has not completely thrown off himself. This is my last chance...... He saw that Henry was preparing to accelerate.

Wood gritted his teeth and rushed forward, and before Henry could pick up the speed, he slammed into it from behind the side!

Caught off guard, Henry lost his center of gravity by the collision, stumbled under his feet, kicked the football ten meters away, and then his body could no longer maintain his balance, stumbling and running a few steps before falling to the ground!

Boos rang out from the stands from the Arsenal fans, who desperately tried to stifle the shouts of the Nottingham Forest fans.

Donn got up from the dugout after seeing Wood knock Henry to the ground, and even more nervous than him was assistant coach David Crislack, who kept cursing inaudible expletives.

"It's a foul! No doubt! The commentator shouted, "In the face of Henry's sharp breakthrough, George Wood can only stop ...... with fouls"

Henry sat on the ground helplessly, and Cesc Fabregas ran to the referee and made a card gesture to remind the referee.

The Forest players ran back and surrounded the referee. Mikel Arteta even pushed Cesc Fabregas out with some rudeness, while the Arsenal players stepped forward to fight for Cesc Fabregas.

The scene suddenly became a little chaotic.

Wood stood outside the crowd, looking at Henry, who was still sitting on the ground sorting out his socks, and at his teammates and opponents who were huddled and arguing. He didn't come forward to defend himself, he didn't do anything, he just stood outside and watched, as if this matter had nothing to do with him, he was just an indifferent spectator.

Eventually, the players were separated, and Henry got up from the ground, but Wood's collision didn't hurt him.

Chris Rac was still babbling and swearing around Don that no one could understand, but Donn calmed down. He, like Wood, was mentally prepared for what was about to happen.

There is no escaping this, whether it is attacking the referee, accusing Cesc Fabregas of adding fuel to the fire, or swearing, it will not change.

The referee parted the crowd and saw Wood standing outside, who looked down and pulled out a yellow card from his trouser pocket and showed it in front of Wood.

Wood lifted his eyelids and glanced at the yellow card, then turned and walked away.

The close-up of the televised broadcast followed Wood's back, with captions playing at the bottom of the screen: "George Wood, yellow card, out for the next game." ”

※※※

Chris Rac stopped scolding, he covered his face. Don was still standing on the sidelines, his hands on his chest, his face gloomy, as cold as an ice sculpture.

When something bad can happen, then it will happen – Murphy's Law.

Don has this hunch, he has always had it, but he doesn't want to admit it, he doesn't want to think about it, for fear that just thinking about it in his mind may become a reality. So he tried to think about the bright side of things, but the bad result still happened.

"George Wood succeeded, and he prevented Henry's fatal breakthrough. But...... The price he paid was the absence of the next game, and if Forest could really beat Arsenal and advance to the final, it would have nothing to do with him. Looking at his expressionless face, didn't he know that he had already received a third yellow card? ”

How could he not know? But this is the path he has chosen, since he has done it, why should he regret it, and he should be so excited that he can't help himself? He chose to accept the price calmly.

Of course, he hopes that he will have the opportunity to appear in the final, after all, that is the highest pursuit of a professional player outside of the World Cup. But if he had to choose between "Forest lost his ticket to the final" and "he personally lost his ticket to the final", he would choose the latter. If the whole team doesn't qualify for the finals, it's pointless to not eat a yellow card. It's not actually a multiple-choice question, it's clear that it's cause and effect. Without team qualification, there is no individual qualification. Giving up the interests of the team for your own sake will end up with a ridiculous result of nothing.

Donn sat down, and he turned his head to see Albertini punch the back of the seat.

"Demi." He beckoned Albertini over. "Don't pass your emotions on to other people. You see, George is calm. It's not over yet, and now is not the time to be distracted. ”

Albertini sat next to Donn and looked at Wood on the field. "Boss, do you know what the UEFA Champions League final means to a professional footballer?"

"Of course I do...... However, this is the phrase you should say to George. Tang En said without looking back, without the slightest emotional fluctuation in his tone. Demy, I have to thank you. You're a good captain and now you've brought out an equally good captain for the Forest. ”

Albertini was not at all happy with Donn's compliment, biting his lip and staring at the pitch.

(To be continued)