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As the winner of last season's French Cup, Metz has already joined the third round of the UEFA Cup. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 InfoTheir opponents were Derry City, winners of the 2005 Irish League Cup.

This is a team that Chu Zhongtian and his teammates have never heard of, and the Irish league seems to be 108,000 miles away from them.

Historically, it is not the first time that Metz has played in a European competition, but for the current Metz team, there are not many people who have played in European competitions. Besides, their opponents are so strange.

Although the Derry City team participates in the Irish League and wins the Irish League Cup, they are a Northern Irish team, and their city, Londonderry, is also the second largest city in Northern Ireland, and it is a city with strong religious contradictions.

Generally speaking, football in Northern Ireland and Ireland is complicated by religious and political factors.

But the Metz players don't have to worry so much, they just need to go to the Municipal Brantiwell Stadium in Londonderry (English: brandywell_stadium, Irish: tobar_an_fhioruisce) to play the game.

On the 13th, Mays flew to the international airport in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, and then took the bus specially provided for them by the event organizers to Londonderry, a small city in northern Northern Ireland - like many cities in Europe, known as the largest and largest, in the eyes of Chu Zhongtian, a Chinese, they are just small pockets.

Although under Northern Irish control, the city is actually closer to Ireland. Because near Londonderry, the national border is along the Foyle River, with Ireland to the west and Northern Ireland to the east. But when the border reached Londonderry, it turned a corner, and Londonderry on the west bank of the river was drawn into Northern Ireland. I don't know why the border was so drawn here, but the consequence of this demarcation is that the small city has never given up its freedom to break away from British control and run towards Ireland. Emotionally and geographically, Londonderry is more focused on Ireland.

So when the bus of the Mace team approached the city of Londonderry, they saw a huge stone monument with the words "you_are_now_entrering_free_derry." free_derry" has two meanings, one referring to the Catholic quarter of the city, and the other meaning "free Derry" – Catholics call the city "Derry" rather than the "Londonderry" imposed on them by the British government.

What you are entering now is free Delhi.

The bus drove past the monument, and the town outside the bus was quiet and peaceful, and there was no sign that a war had broken out here more than 20 years ago. The band U2 has a famous song "Sunday, bloody_sunday" about that time.

The small city was divided into two parts by the walls - the inner city, which was surrounded by the walls, and the outer city, which was an area of the unexpected walls. The inner city was Protestant and a major commercial center, while the outer city was a gathering place for Catholics.

The Municipal Brantiveville Stadium, where the game is held, is located just outside the city.

However, the hotel where the team stayed was located near the square in the center of the city, and when the bus drove through the doorway of the ancient city wall, Chu Zhongtian had the feeling of traveling through a time and space tunnel.

In the hotel room, you can also see the familiar object of the French teammates in the central square - a towering monument to freedom. This thing was once built in Paris, France, to commemorate the end of the victory of the Second World War, and then the French government wanted to demolish it in the eighties, just when the city of Londonderry in order to commemorate the end of the Northern Ireland War and express the voice of the Delhi people to pursue freedom and democracy, the city of Londonderry was ready to build a monument on the central square. It happened that the French side was going to be demolished, so they simply bought ready-made ones, so they moved the monument that originally stood on the streets of France to Londonderry.

The team arrived in Londonderry in the morning, had lunch, rested for a few hours, and set off at 3:30 p.m. for a syllimatization session at the Municipal Brantivewell Field.

The stadium is small, with a capacity of 9,000 and an average attendance of just over 3,000 for a Derry City match, which is already high for the Irish League...... Chu Zhongtian once again thought of Wimbledon's King's Ranch Stadium, which could only accommodate 4,600 spectators.

It's Ireland's top league...... It's similar to the stadium of England's ninth tier amateur league.

Despite this, football is alive and well here.

"The situation here is similar to our training base." Ribery sighed. "It's not even as good as that, I think I should cut back on dribbling on this football pitch." He was afraid of losing his foot.

Many players have the same idea as Ribery, the field is average, not good, and a little uneven. Still, upon seeing this cramped, low-slung little court, almost everyone thought they would be able to beat this little-known team with ease.

The result?

In the first leg of the UEFA Cup the following night, Metz took the initiative for the vast majority of the game. But they just couldn't shoot through the Derry City goal. The small team, supported by more than three thousand fans at home, united like a steel plate, stood in front of their goal.

The 9,000-seat stadium was packed, and those who couldn't afford tickets did everything they could to watch the game in person – the municipal cemetery not far from the stadium was open to fans to watch the game from a high vantage point, and Londonderry was a hilly city with undulating terrain. On the periphery of the stadium, double-decker buses are parked so that fans can stand on the upper deck to watch the game.

Chu Zhongtian is no stranger to this scene, when he played at Wimbledon, there was an FA Cup match, and those Wimbledon fans who did not buy tickets waited outside the stadium in order to watch the game, and let some people lie on the wall to broadcast it live for them.

With such strong fan support, Derry City may really be able to do wonders...... They succeeded, and at home they held on to the 0-0 scoreline.

When the final whistle blew, Metz's players looked a little frustrated, as they had not won such a small opponent on the road. However, the Derry City players were ecstatic and saw hope for further progress - they started with a 2-0 aggregate win over Swedish side Gothenburg in the first round of the UEFA Cup, then a 7-3 aggregate win against Scottish side Greiner in the second round, and now they ended their home game 0-0 in the third round of the two legs, at least cutting out the chance for Metz to score away goals.

Derry City fans sang "teenage_kicks" from the low stands by the local punk rock band Low Profile (the_undertones), which was used by fans to make the Derry City anthem.

“i_wanna_hold_you，wanna_hold_you_tight，yeah！ teenage_kicks_right_through_the_night――e_on！！ ”

Amid the singing of the Derry City fans, Metz hurried out of the tiny stadium that almost suffocated them.

The team didn't do well in the first UEFA Cup game and Fernandes didn't criticize anyone because it was the first time, the first time, there was always a mistake of one kind or another, and it was not a big deal. But after this game, I believe the players have understood what the European competition is like, and then return to the home stadium, there will be no chance for Derry City.

When the Metz players leave Londonderry the next day, they may only remember how frenetic the fans were...... The waving red and white checkered flags in the stands were the only color of the night.

※※※ The trip to Londonderry was like a dream with your feet in the air, and in retrospect, many details were not clear. And back in Ligue 1, Metz landed on both feet and returned to the real world.

They beat Nice 2-0 at home on 16 September.

On September 23, in the seventh round of the league, Metz lost 1-2 away to Bordeaux.

After this game, Metz will host their opponents in the third round of the UEFA Cup, the second leg between the two sides, where Metz must beat to progress. Even if it's a draw, as long as the opponent scores, they will be eliminated.

With 20,000 passionate fans in a familiar stadium, Metz has no excuse not to win this time.

Although more than 2,000 enthusiastic Derry fans came to cheer on their team, in front of 10 times more Metz fans, they didn't do anything.

The Holy Mountain Furien Stadium is a relatively dilapidated small stadium in Ligue 1, and it is still a "behemoth" for the players of Derry City.

In this behemoth, Metz also took the initiative from the start of the game, but the team did not waste chances as easily as in the first leg, and Fernandez focused on shooting during these days of training. Paid off in this game.

Just six minutes into the game, Ibisevic opened the scoring with a header. He also scored the first goal of the European tournament for Metz.

So far this season, Ibisevic has scored four goals on all fronts, just like last season's Ibisevic, who didn't score no matter how he shot on goal.

The ball is in advance, and the situation is opened. If Derry City still fantasizes about qualifying, they must press out and attack, otherwise it will be a dead end. Delhi City attacked, giving Chu Zhongtian more opportunities to pass the ball threateningly.

When the first half was near the end, Chu Zhongtian made a direct pass, and Ribery successfully countered offside, and after receiving the ball and shaking it past the goalkeeper, he easily pushed the football into the empty goal.

With a two-goal lead in the first half, Metz had all but sealed the win.

But Metz didn't stop there, and they seemed to want to return the 0-0 humiliation away to the small team.

Fernandes had a simple remark about his team's second-half set-up at half-time: "Keep attacking." ”

He doesn't need to go into too much detail, dealing with such a weak opponent, being too stiff will only make the players feel that the manager is not worried about them, and they don't have enough trust and respect. As professional players, having played dozens, if not hundreds, of professional league games, they know how to play.

In the second half, Chu Zhongtian led the team to continue to put pressure on Derry City, and firmly suppressed Derry City, which was trying to counterattack. In the 56th minute, Ribery wanted to dribble and be brought down by the opponent, but Promans took a free kick and scored directly. 3：0。

The goal completely extinguished the fighting spirit of Derry City's counterattack.

In the subsequent games, they even pressed very little on the Metz players, and Chu Zhongtian was not like playing football in the midfield, but more like walking.

He even had the opportunity to try his hand at some fancy technical moves to test the results of his training over the past few months. For example, once again he faced a not too tight defense from Derry City, and even made a Marseille turn for the first time in his career...... It's just that because the opponent didn't keep a tight eye on him, his Marseille turn didn't actually play any role - he was in front of the opponent before he turned around, and he was still in front of the opponent after he turned around.

Chu Zhongtian also realized that he was doing it at the wrong time, so he passed the ball to his teammates.

Towards the end of the game, Ibisevic was brought down by a Derry City player after receiving a pass from Chu Zhongtian in the penalty area. The referee blew the whistle decisively and awarded Metz a penalty.

Originally, the team's number one set-piece was vice-captain Promans, who not only took free kicks, but also took penalties. So when they saw the penalty, everyone thought that Promans would come forward to take the penalty, and the stands remembered the voices of the fans calling Promans's name and cheering for him to score a brace in this game.

Chu Zhongtian also thought so, the team's penalty kick never had anything to do with him, he just raised his arms and cheered for the team to win a penalty. At this time, Promans did not run into the penalty area, but ran to his side: "You punish, Chu." ”

Promang's words took Chu Zhongtian by surprise.

"I'm not a penalty taker...... Chu Zhongtian pointed to himself. I'm afraid I won't be able to kick ......."

"It doesn't matter, we've already won anyway, it doesn't matter if you can score or not." Promans laughed, "If you want to score your first goal in a European competition, then you have to score it." I'll leave it to you anyway. After saying that, he walked towards the forbidden area, but did not step in, but stood on the line of the big forbidden area.

Ribery next to him was strange, pointed to the football inside and said to him: "Gregory, where is the football ......"

"I didn't take the penalty." Proman replied.

"Who's that?" Ribery was confused. Who else could it be if it wasn't you? Don't you think you're scoring fewer goals? I don't like you if you don't like it, if you don't want to punish it, just leave it to me...... He was about to step in to take the penalty when Promans dismissed the idea with a word.

"I gave it to Chu, I think he took the most credit, but he didn't score, it's not fair."

Let Chu come to the punishment, Ribery will have no opinion, if it is someone else, it is estimated that he will have to rush to kick himself no matter what.

"Good idea." He gave a thumbs up to Promins.

Then he turned around and shouted at Chu Zhongtian: "What are you still stunned about? Clear! Come up and kick a penalty! His teammates knew his name. So everyone looked at Chu Zhongtian one after another, watched him walk up, walked into the penalty area, picked up the football, and put it on the penalty spot.

This was the first time Chu Zhongtian had taken a penalty in a game, but he didn't feel nervous.

The fans in the stands were chanting the name of the vice-captain Promans, but Promans had no intention of kicking a penalty, so their shouts gradually weakened, and at this time, Chu Zhongtian walked in, and then picked up the football and wanted to take a penalty. After seeing that it was Chu Zhongtian who came up to take the penalty, the fans cheered again, and the cheers were much louder.

"Kick it in, Chu! You deserve this goal! ”

After Chu Zhongtian set up the football, he looked back at his teammates. There was no shouting like the fans in the stands, but a lot of people gave him a thumbs up.

Chu Zhongtian turned back, looked down at the football under his feet, and then looked at the goalkeeper standing in front of the goal.

He didn't go back and run, he just stood next to the football.

He doesn't think it's a good thing for him to run, because he can be cranky and hesitant about how to kick in the run, which will result in a penalty kick. It's best to play with your body's instincts.

The referee blew the whistle when he saw everyone retreat outside the box.

The goalkeeper of Derry City is waiting for Chu Zhongtian to step back and run, not only him, but everyone: the players, coaches and fans, are waiting for Chu Zhongtian to help him run and then take a penalty.

Unexpectedly, at this time, Chu Zhongtian picked up his right leg on the spot, and then pumped it the football!

The ball flew like a cannonball to the right of the goal and hit the net!

The ball is in!

The Derry City goalkeeper didn't react, and only after the football had entered the goal, he turned his head to look, and there was no pain in his eyes for conceding the goal, but confusion...... That's the shot? Penalty kicked?

Even the fans of Metz were not prepared for such a sudden penalty, and they were stunned for a while before someone took the lead in shouting cheers for the goal.

Then the cheers resounded throughout the stands of the Holy Mountain Furion Stadium.

After the goal, Chu Zhongtian stood in place and waved his hand vigorously, although he scored his first goal in the European competition, but this goal was sent by others, not by himself, and he couldn't show any more excitement.

However, his teammates ran over to send their congratulations, which made Chu Zhongtian feel the warmth of the team.

The topic quickly turned to Chu Zhongtian's shooting method.

Ribery patted Chu Zhongtian on the shoulder and said to him: "The way you take the penalty is really special...... If I were that goalkeeper, I wouldn't have thought you'd shoot without saying hello...... Ha ha! But it's a great way to take a penalty! ”

Proman is a set-piece master, he takes the whole team and has a say in the penalty.

"Don't be happy, Frank. This method may only be used by Chu. ”

"Why?"

"You don't run at all, just shoot a ball of his speed and try it. You all saw just now, how fast did Chu shoot the football? If you don't run, you won't have the power from your feet, and you can only rely entirely on your waist and abdomen to exert force, which is a thankless way to shoot, and it is easy to strain your back muscles. Promans analyzed for everyone. That's why I said that if you don't have a body like Chu, don't try it easily. ”

Chu Zhongtian didn't expect to have so many famous names, he just thought that shooting a penalty like this could allow him to distract himself, but he didn't expect it to become a unique way to take free throws...... In the end, Metz beat Derry City 4-0 at home, and four goals from Ibisevic, Ribery, Promans and Chu Zhongtian helped the team advance to the next round with an aggregate score of 4:0.

Metz's trip to the UEFA Cup has officially kicked off.

(To be continued)