Chapter 298: Against Ukraine
Ahead of the third round of Group D, the media and fans were most concerned about whether Wayne Rooney would be able to play. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ο½ο½ο½Uο½Eγ ο½ο½ο½ο½
In the final round of the European Championship qualifiers, England played away against Montenegro, Rooney was punished by UEFA for deliberately kicking people from behind and received a red card, and then was punished by UEFA and banned for two games, and Rooney was unable to play in the first two games of the group stage, and he has not played for England for a month now.
Rooney had been suspended enough games before England played against Ukraine, and he could play for England.
However, England performed very well in the first two games, winning two 3-0 against France and Sweden respectively, which is enough to prove the strength of the England team, in the two games, the England team's forward efficiency is also very poor, striker Theo Walcott broke his goal drought in the England team, his last time he scored for the national team was back in 2008, Welbeck played well in both games, also scored a goal, and Burton Reiter, who was selected for the England national team for the first time in recent years, also scored a goal.
All three strikers have scored and efficiency is guaranteed, so will Rooney still get a start?
Before the start of the game, Wan Sheng was interviewed and asked about Rooney, to which Wan Sheng's answer was yes, "I have no reason not to let a player who is quite good, in great shape, and eager to ......perform" In other words, Rooney will play, and the specific starter or substitute, Wan Sheng did not say very clearly.
The media has analyzed this differently.
Wan Sheng's words also made the Ukrainian team feel very uncomfortable, England have a lot of dangerous players in the team, but Wayne Rooney is definitely at the top and they have to prepare for that.
However, before the start of the game, Ukrainian star Shevchenko stood up and pointed out that the team should not pay too much attention to Rooney who has returned from the ban against England in the final round, because the Three Lions have other good players.
'We'll have to look at Rooney again, but it's a player who hasn't played for a month.
'I know he's a very good player, a player who can change the whole team, but even if he plays, we'll have to see.'
What Shepchenko meant was that Wayne Rooney hadn't played a competitive game for a month and might not be in as good form as other players, and if all the focus was on him, he might ignore the threat of others.
'The whole team in England is very good, not just Wayne Rooney. They are particularly dangerous from set-pieces and we will be on guard. β
Shepchenko's godparents spoke more interestingly, predicting that Ukraine would beat England 1-0 and Sheva would score the winning goal. When asked about Rooney, they replied, "I've never heard of such a person." β
Sixty-nine-year-old Stefan Prekhodko and sixty-six-year-old Vera Prekhodko were Shepchenko's godparents, and after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1986, Sheva's family fled to Prikhodko's distant village, where they helped her grow up.
Speaking about the European Championships and the Ukrainian team, Stefan Prekhodko said: "We don't have the internet and we only focus on our little Sheva. We wish England a good time in Ukraine, but not Tuesday. β
"Ukraine will win 1-0 and our children will be the goalscorers. Wayne Rooney? No, we've never heard of it. β
Vera Prekhodko is more than happy to evaluate Shepchenko, revealing that Shepchenko grew up in the countryside, which was good for his body and laid the foundation for him to become a professional athlete.
"Sheva was always running around, riding or playing football, and of course we put up two goalposts for him to practice, and they are still there today. Obviously Sheva is busy, but still comes back to see us once a year, he offered to buy us a villa in Kiev, but we are here very quickly, this is our home. β
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In the continuous analysis and reporting of the media, the game is about to start, and in the pre-match press conference, Ukrainian coach Oleg Blokhin talked about the team's confidence again, like taking an oath, saying, "The whole team has enough confidence, we will definitely win." β
England are keeping a low profile.
When Wan Sheng learned from media reporters that the Ukrainian team continued to express confidence in interviews, he just smiled and said, "They always say confidence and say that they will win, but I think that people always lack something, so they keep talking about something." β
That's enough.
After that, the game has been started, and the whole Ukrainian team and the media feel very aggrieved, they don't dare to talk about confidence anymore, just like Wan Sheng said, won't they talk more to prove that they have no confidence? But Ukraine and England play, what can we talk about without talking about confidence?
That feeling of suffocation is really uncomfortable.
Many Ukrainian media cursed Wan Sheng in their hearts, this young Chinese really can't spit out a little good in his mouth.
Finally, the game officially began.
In fact, Wan Sheng didn't care about the game at all, on the one hand, the England team's prospects for qualification were good, and on the other hand, Ukraine's strength was limited, and it was difficult for them to threaten the England team.
Many European media have said that the team coached by Wansheng, whether it is Manchester City or Atletico Madrid, is very good at playing with small clubs, which is not wrong at all.
It's like a few skills to strengthen the offense and shoot the goal, only in the situation of continuous attack, can the power be maximized, once the team can play an advantage, then the advantage is easy to continue to expand, so Wansheng has little to worry about the game with Ukraine.
Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin has a good idea, he learned from the experience of France and Sweden losing to England, and let the team defend tightly in the first minute of the game, but the current England team is not afraid of dense defense, even if the opponent's defense is tight, they can still use long-range shots and headers to complete the goal.
Oleg Blokhin's tactical thinking was correct, but it is a pity that Ukraine is too far behind England.
Ukraine have a dense defense and tough players, which would have played a role if it had been put on Atletico Madrid, but they were in front of England, who had never been afraid of tough games, and that was the rhythm they were used to.
Soon Ukraine found out that they could not withstand the attack of England at all!
When Oleg Blokhin explained the tactics, he talked about blocking the front end of the penalty area line and not allowing the England team to shoot easily, but it is very difficult for the players on the field to do it, under the leadership of Morris, the England team continues to cooperate on the periphery of the penalty area, and it is not easy for Ukraine to block the defensive line, unless they give up the defense in the penalty area, otherwise they will definitely give England a chance on the periphery.
Abandon the exclusion zone?
That's absolutely impossible!
So Ukraine could only face England's repeated bombardment on the edge of the box, and it didn't take long for them to appreciate the absolute difference between the two teams.
Ukraine has no way at all.
Even head coach Oleg Blokhin can only pray that England's players don't play well, or that God stands behind Ukraine and doesn't let England finish the goal.
England's threat on the periphery of the penalty area is actually within an acceptable range, and the perimeter shot is always less threatening, even if Morris and Gerrard want to score the ball, after all, it is too far from the goal, and the goalkeeper has enough time to react.
When England suddenly attack quickly, the threat to the Ukrainian defence is even greater.
Many times the Ukrainian defenders have not had time to retreat, and England's attack has already hit the penalty area, thanks to the two wings, especially Ashley Cole and Ashley Young, who are very accurate in their long-range passes, often jumping directly over the entire Ukrainian defence with one pass.
In the face of this offensive, Ukraine can only pray to God.
In this case, not to mention the counterattack, they can play a good half-court defense, thank God!
God didn't stand behind Ukraine, or rather, God had abandoned them, and on 21 minutes of the game, Morris rendered useless in the Ukrainian half with a penetrating pass, a pass on the right flank, and Morris shook off the players who followed him, making room for himself to deliver the ball to the front of the penalty area.
The ball flew past the feet of two Ukrainian defenders and appeared directly in front of Rooney.
Faced with this opportunity from the sky, Rooney instantly swung his right foot to show his quality as United's leading goalscorer.
Rooney's right foot is pumped hard behind the ball!
"Bang!"
After a muffled sound, the football rushed straight towards the goal like a meteor.
Faced with such a powerful volley from close range, Ukrainian goalkeeper Koval could barely stand still, unable to react at all as he watched the ball fly from his hand into the goal.
"Rooney!"
The English commentator Han, snorted, and then used a long roar to indicate the result, "Goooooooal!! β
"Rooney! Wayne Rooney! GoooalοΌοΌοΌ β
"The ball is in! The ball is in! Rooney! Rooney! After two bans, Wayne Rooney came on for 20 minutes and scored for England! β
In the excited shouts of various commentators, Rooney jumped up excitedly and waved his lower arms fiercely, and then he ran to Morris's side, hugged Morris excitedly, and thanked him for the good ball he passed.
Rooney was very excited!
After two games in the group stage of the European Championship, Wayne Rooney's mood has been depressed, and he doesn't even know if he will be able to start the game.
Wan Sheng gave him the opportunity to start, and Rooney also cherished it, knowing that if he didn't perform well, he would definitely not have a chance in the next game.
After the Chinese took charge of the team, England's overall performance has improved and he has become less needed, and he must show his quality to prove his solid position in the attack.
A lot of team-mates rushed over to celebrate Rooney's goal.
They kept talking around Rooney, and Rooney enjoyed it, and he couldn't help but look at the dugout, just like he had looked at manager Alex Ferguson on the sidelines after scoring for Manchester United, and he definitely got that look of recognition.
Wan Sheng smiled at Rooney.
Before the game, Wansheng took into account the lineup layout and gave Rooney the opportunity to start, in fact, the reason is very simple, because Rooney does have strength, he and Bolton Reiter are similar forwards, both belong to the strong center, but compared to Burton Reiter, Rooney is stronger in terms of experience and strength.
There's no reason why Wan Sheng shouldn't let Rooney play, and he can't start Bolton Reiter because of his 'cronies'.
It's the work ethic of being a coach.
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After the England team scored the first goal, the England fans at the scene cheered wildly, and the various England commentators were very excited.
Everyone was singing praises to England.
The Ukrainians don't feel very good, Ukraine are already passive on the field, and after another goal is scored, they are even more passive.
England is bigger and smoother.
In the first 20 minutes, the England team has not let go, after all, the game has just started, some players have not yet found their form, and after Rooney scored, everyone was used to the game, and the performance of the whole team was getting better and better.
The England team is not in a hurry to score again, they all remember what Wan Sheng said, "no matter what kind of attack, it must be based on the premise of solid defense", if the defense is not good, the offense will not need to be discussed.
The key figure in England's attack remains Morris.
Morris is the offensive and defensive core of the team, and also the soul of the frontcourt offense, and Morris is partnered with Scott Parker in this game, the 33-year-old Parker is still very calm, and his main job in this game is to stabilize the midfield defense.
In the early years Parker played for Chelsea, originally as a substitute for Makelele and Lampard, but he did not have many opportunities to play in the position he is good at, Parker, who dreamed of participating in the 06 World Cup, finally decided to leave Chelsea, although Mourinho wanted him to stay as a substitute, but Parker still joined Newcastle United for 6.5 million pounds for a poor performance in the 06-07 season, and after one season, he returned to London for 7 million pounds to join West Ham United, in the career of West Ham United, Parker played quite well, However, due to relegation, he moved to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur for Β£6 million in August last year.
Parker has been doing well for Tottenham this past season and was named Player of the Month for November for his outstanding performances.
After serving as the interim manager of the England team, Wan Sheng considered a call-up and decided to use the experienced Parker, a calm veteran who can be of great help to the team in many games.
Now Parker is quietly contributing to the defense.
With Scott Parker sharing the defensive work, Morris can step forward and lead the team's offense without any worries.