Chapter Ninety-Three: The Second Round

How many other Notts County players remember talking to themselves at half-time?

"Wimbledon? The ninth division? Trailing by a goal? Never mind. Forty-five minutes is enough to win you. ”

This confident inner monologue now sounds like a brilliant irony.

Their despised opponents Wimbledon are now celebrating their second goal of the game.

“2:0! This score is so surprising! It's incredible! It's unbelievable! ”

"It's incredible, it's unbelievable" was probably the most uttered by the game's trial commentator, and he wasn't the only one who was surprised, many Notts County and even Wimbledon fans didn't expect the game to be like this.

For the Notts County fans, maybe they guessed the score correctly, 2:0, which is still a conservative estimate, but unfortunately they guessed the wrong side of the lead.

Just half a minute earlier, Wimbledon took advantage of a corner kick by Joe, who is not very good at heading. Schilling smashes the ball with the top of the net. The defensive attention of the Notz County defenders was met by the two Wimbledon centre-backs, as well as Kevin Athletic. Cooper and Chu Zhongtian were attracted, but they didn't expect that Joe, who was not tall and not very good in heading. Schilling appeared on the spot where the ball landed, barely unmarked, and easily headed the ball in.

This kind of ball is not difficult even for amateur players.

Wimbledon's painstaking set-piece attacking tactics before the game have finally paid off here.

It was a goal that made the Wimbledons ecstatic at the whole stadium, because they would have feared an equaliser when they were one goal ahead, and now a two-goal lead is full of confidence, even if they accidentally let Notts County score a goal, they are still ahead.

"We're going to the second round!" Wimbledon fans shouted. "Oh yes!! We're going to the second round! ”

The cheers were a deep source of excitement for the Notts County players on the pitch, but what could they do? It's their own pride and contempt for the enemy, and they relax the transition, but now they can't be nervous when they want to be nervous, and some people even think like this when they see them falling behind by two goals: "It's over, we're done!" ”

Farewells fans have chosen to remain silent. Just as they couldn't accept that their team was one goal behind a League Ninth team at home, they can't accept being two goals down now.

"God, I can't accept this fact for a while...... "Some of the fans at Wimble's Bar muttered. I thought it would be great for us to be able to participate in the main event, but I didn't expect us to make it to the second round......," the guy said with tears in his eyes, and the people around him didn't think it was a shame to shed tears over it.

Old Bent patted him on the back, "Hey, man. We can go further! Trust Chu and his buddies, and believe in our own team! ”

Eames kept grabbing every player who ran past him on the sidelines, yelling, "Watch defensive!" There are more than twenty minutes left in the game! You must keep it for me!! ”

The plan he had made before the game didn't work at all, but he was happy because the team now had a two-goal lead. This is the best manifestation of the subjective initiative of the players - they thought of using the opportunity to hit the Notts County goal with the tee in hand before the game, but they did not expect the Notts County to be so proud and light, and they seem to be powerful, but in fact they are nothing more than paper tigers, allowing Wimbledon to break with a single stab.

After a two-goal lead, the game restarted and the Norts County finally rushed to the ground and launched an indiscriminate attack on the Wimbledon goal. But although they attacked fiercely, they had no discipline. Most of them are brutal by themselves, which is actually inseparable from Chu Zhongtian's performance. Because he froze the opponent's midfield core Darren. Kaski, so the Nods offense is more often lacking in variety, overly simplistic.

The further back they went, the less they had options, and they couldn't find any other means to threaten the Wimbledon goal than long-range shots and forced breaks. There are people everywhere in front of the goal, hoping that the ball will hit some unlucky guy or lucky guy and fly into the goal. As soon as they forced a break into the box, the Nodes players scrambled to fall to the ground, hoping for one penalty, one was not enough, two penalties.

Unfortunately, they didn't get their way. This kind of intensive fake fall is simply challenging the limit of the referee's patience. After yellow cards were issued to two Nodshire players who faked a fall in the face of boos from the home fans, the Notz County players' penalty-taking trend was finally somewhat curbed.

Later, the impatience of the Notts players was also manifested in the over-action, which looked like a foul every time they defended, and fierce tackles and body collisions continued to occur. But Wimbledon players aren't fuel-efficient either, and although they're not professionals, their cunning might be professional - once the opponent fouls, they fall to the ground and lie on the ground for a long time, humming and chirping, pretending to be seriously hurt. Isn't that what happens to football matches on TV that teams that want to delay the game? I've never eaten pork, but I've seen a pig run.

At first, Nods County was a bit of a sportsman, and when they saw a Wimbledon player fall to the ground injured, they kicked the ball off the touchline. By the last ten minutes, they didn't care about any sportsmanship, Fei Epharai. Wimbledon player down? Go on the offensive! They're all fake falls anyway!

The Wimbledon fans in the stands booed.

Despite this, they still failed to score.

By the time there were five minutes left in stoppage time, the Wimbledon fans had already risen from their seats, singing and cheering as they waited for the game to end. They couldn't sit in their chairs at all, and they had to stand up and jump to fully express their excitement.

"Wimbledon! Wimbledon! Oooooooo We are Wimbledon!! ”

Not only the fans, but also the substitutes and coaches of Wimbledon stood shoulder to shoulder on the sidelines, waiting for the referee to blow the final whistle before they rushed onto the pitch and hugged every Wimbledon player.

※※※ Chu Zhongtian couldn't think of so many things for a while, his mind was now full of games, defense, and the idea of not allowing the opponent to score. He doesn't know how long it will be until the end of the race.

He is responsible for the defensive midfield core of Darren. Kaski had already been substituted five minutes earlier, and instead of a midfielder, the opposition manager had replaced him with a striker. Chu Zhongtian thought about it for a while, and retracted into the penalty area to make a cameo as a central defender.

He has played as a centre-back for several years and is no stranger to the position, and he knows what is required and what needs to be paid special attention to in this position. Compared with the midfielder, the central defender is less allowed to make mistakes, so the central defender cannot be as aggressive as the midfielder, and sometimes he cannot play at will. After all, scavenger tactics are no longer in vogue, and if the marking central defender misses someone, if he makes a mistake, there is no one to help wipe the back of the butt.

Now his main task in the game is to push the opponent's cross out or block the opponent's shot.

In order to avoid letting the football rub his body and fly into the goal, he tried his best to block it with the front of his body, so that the football would hit his stomach and chest, and he could bounce back directly.

It's just that he will be "bombarded" many times...... After this game is played, I wonder if it will be "the mountains and rivers of the motherland are red" on the chest and belly?

Luckily, time is running out.

In stoppage time, the fourth official held up a sign saying "four minutes of stoppage time", which drew boos from the Wimbledon fans in the stands. They felt that stoppage time was too long and made it clear that they were going to give Knowts a chance to equalise.

Notts County head coach Billy. Deardon was also standing on the sidelines, but instead of waiting for the game to rush into the pitch and hug the players, he was there ranting loudly and demanding that the team press all the way. Four minutes, it's not like there was no chance of an equaliser.

The situation of scoring two goals in the last three minutes to turn defeat into victory is not uncommon in world football, and Chinese fans must be familiar with it...... Losing to a team in the ninth tier isn't the end of the world, but it can be a shame for them, and it can cost the team a lot of game prize money and TV revenue, which could be a lifesaver for Nods...... Wimbledon rallied in the final moments, all of them retreated into the penalty area, covering the goal tightly. In the final moments, Nods County finally won a corner, but no one was crowding it in, and the box was full of Wimbledon players in blue and yellow jerseys. The Notts players already know they lost this game, so it makes no difference whether the goal goes in or not.

After that, the corner kick from Nods County was pushed out of the bottom line by Chu Zhongtian, and the referee was too lazy to give Nods County another corner kick, and then blew the whistle at the end of the game!

"It's over!!" The trial commentator exclaimed excitedly, "Wimbledon Athletic have beaten Nods County and they have reached the second round of the FA Cup, knowing that they have eliminated the third division team, the second division team Nods!" Look at the score, 2:0! Wimbledon scored two goals with just four shots on goal in the game, while Nods County had 23 shots on goal and didn't score a single goal! This must be the biggest upset in the first round of the FA Cup! Not one of them! ”

He must now hope that he can win the favor of the BBC management with his passionate commentary on this game, just like John Brown in the beginning. Mortenson, like him, is now the BBC's ace commentator and one of the best commentators in the UK.

Amid the impassioned voices of the young trial commentators, Wimbledon substitutes and coaches burst into the pitch with open arms.

Wimbledon fans in the stands also used the first floor of the stands to wave their arms and shout at the players in the stadium. This made the police officers at the scene very nervous. Wimbledon fans don't have a great reputation, having been famous for their brutal style since their League One days.

The police don't want today's Wimbledon fans to act aggressively when they are too excited.

Fortunately, these fans just crowded into the first floor of the stands and kept singing, and there was no intention of rushing into the stadium or removing the seats to fight with the home fans.

"Second round! Round 2! Round 2!! The fans chanted their next goal in unison while waving their arms into the stadium.

Chu Zhongtian was very excited to win the game, and when he heard the referee's whistle, he turned around and hugged the closest teammate to him. That teammate was even more excited than him, and even kissed him the face, staining his saliva on his face, but Chu Zhongtian didn't care, or he didn't feel it at all...... After he hugged this teammate, he went to hug the next one, and then he was hugged by more people.

"Hooray!! We're in the cut! They shouted. We're on the cut!! ”

Colin. John held the DV camera and muttered, "It's a shame you can't see this on the spot, Emily......"

"It's only been a year since the team was founded, and we have reached the second round of the FA Cup! It's amazing! ”

The narrator was still spewing his saliva passionately.

But he's right, this Wimbledon team is really amazing.

Originally, there was not much news media attention to this game, except for the local media where the two teams were located, there was almost no one.

Now, as soon as the game is over, both groups of media have rushed to catch the players and coaches of Wimbledon for interviews.

Even Chu Zhongtian was pulled to ask a few words, but Chu Zhongtian, who was extremely excited, didn't hear the reporter's question clearly at all, and he didn't know what he answered. In hindsight, he regretted it, and the rest of his teammates were no better than him, and everyone was so excited that the words he said were not on the horse's lips, incoherent, and incoherent.

Only the head coach Eames seems to be a little more normal, able to talk eloquently and coherently in front of reporters, after all, he has experienced more exciting things than this.

"Yes, we qualified, I'm not surprised. Didn't we just say that more than two weeks ago? Our goal is more long-term than that...... Does anyone still think we're talking big? ”

His rhetorical question left all the reporters speechless. The media who had previously unscrupulously ridiculed Wimbledon had a very good expression at this time.

"So will the second round of the main tournament be the limit of the team?" Of course, journalists who are not afraid of death will always exist.

"I think you asked the same question before this game." Eames squinted at him, "Every round of the league is the limit for us, but do you know where our limit is? He asked, and then he added, "Even we don't know!" Ha! Hahaha! ”

Yes, no one knows where the limits of this team are. Will they stop in the second round, or will they really be able to achieve their goal of the third round? Or, further afield...... on the way back from Notts, the Wimbledon players are not yet completely quiet, and they are discussing this game and the games ahead.

"I think we'll be able to have a live TV broadcast for the whole country in the next round!"

"We're already famous! Beat Notts, that's a team six levels above us, haha! ”

"This is sure to be the most memorable game in my statement!"

"Don't be so shabby, we have the next round, the next round?"

"My dad didn't come to see the game, I just called him and said we won, guess what he said? He said, 'Don't make fun of your father!' 'Hey, am I that kind of person?' He can take a good look at the sports news in the evening, and he doesn't know how happy he will be when the time comes! ”

Joe. Schilling kept rummaging through the luggage he brought, jumping up and down, causing many people to look at him with concern: "What are you turning over, making a mess, dead jeep?" ”

"Sunglasses!" Joe. Shirin continued to rummage. "I remember I brought it...... Why can't I find it? ”

"What are you looking for sunglasses for? It's night! "In November, there was a lot of rain and fog in the UK, so it was dark very early, and it started to get dark at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It's a cloudy day, and when they get on the train back to London, it's already half past seven, and the sky outside has long been ruled by night, what sunglasses are they wearing?

"Hey, who says sunglasses are only for sun protection?" Joe. Shirin stopped what he was doing and said proudly. "I scored in the game, I'm a celebrity now, what if I go out without sunglasses and be surrounded by people? I don't care, but it's just an autograph and a group photo, but if it blocks traffic, it's a problem......"

Shirin shook his head and boasted about a beautiful and troublesome future, inspired by him, a group of people said that they would prepare sunglasses to put on their bodies when they went back, and wear them when they went out.

Chu Zhongtian didn't have this idea, because his life was very simple, except for the apartment he lived in, the school and the bar where he worked, and then he went to training and competitions. He can't always wear sunglasses when studying, working and playing football, right?

In the past, sunglasses were worn to prevent glare, but now they still retain their original function, but more often they are used to pretend to be forced.

Chu Zhongtian doesn't like to pretend, so he never wears sunglasses. Instead of having a heated discussion with his teammates about what to do when he became famous, he was doing something else — pulling out his notebook and pen in his schoolbag and writing a diary on the train.

Since he proposed to write a book "The Days I Played Football in the UK" at noon today, he plans to record all the details of his life in the future, and organize it after graduation to see if he can really write a book.

It can be regarded as a memorial to my study abroad career in the UK......

(To be continued)