Chapter 62: The Spirit of Football
While Zhang Tiehan and John Terry were battling head-to-head near midfield, Wigan Athletic's defence was struggling.
The other players were not as calm as Zhang Tiehan, they had to deal with Chelsea's dazzling team-ups, and they also tried to prevent the opposition's excellent players from breaking through, and once a man broke through with the ball, it often meant that there was a gap in the defence, which was very dangerous.
But the Chelsea stars are just too good.
It wasn't easy to really stop them from scoring, and the Wigan Athletic players had to keep the ball out with their bodies again and again, as if they had built a wall of flesh in front of the penalty area, blocking opponents all over their bodies.
Every player is hard.
The hardest thing is that Riddle, who is responsible for commanding the defense, and the backcourt defense general Brekin, Riddle has to constantly remind his teammates with a roar, and Brekin is completely standing in the penalty area, tired of participating in the defense again and again.
Near the restricted area, he can be found everywhere.
To say that in this kind of perseverance, the most depressed is Erlington, Ellington himself is not a defensive player, his defensive ability is very average, and there is no place for him in the backcourt of the team, he can only cooperate with his teammates to defend together.
For example, to complete the double bag, such as cooperating with teammates to get in a good position, and then to get close to the opposing player, prevent the opponent from running to a good position, etc., but these are not what Ellington is good at, he is very envious of Zhang Tiehan who is standing in the front court.
It turned out that the position was his...... It's just a pity that that's in the past.
So he had to come back to participate in the defense, but he was not good at the defensive work, Ellington watched Zhang Tiehan in the front court, fighting with the opponent's core defender again and again, and he was very envious.
Terry was depressed and was grabbed by Zhang Tiehan, and Ellington also saw it.
Again, again.
The eyes of the fans, reporters, and even the coaches of both teams stayed on the Wigan Athletic half, and Ellington paid little attention to the players up front, and he also found Zhang Tiehan to deal with the opposing core defender with ease.
"I can't do that." Ellington thought that it was no wonder that his place had been replaced.
I see!
But maybe it's an opportunity......
Thinking of this, Ellington thought about it, and he noticed that every time Zhang Tiehan got the ball, no one in the team could keep up, so that Zhang Tiehan could only take the ball by himself, and then waste opportunities again and again.
It can't be helped.
It is very difficult to get rid of Terry after grabbing the ball, not to mention, it is not only Terry who is left behind by the opponent, there are at least two defenders at every moment in the half, and it is very difficult to get rid of the defense of the two and not let other Chelsea players chase it, Zhang Tiehan will definitely not be able to do it.
Ellington thought that while Chelsea were attacking, he didn't follow back to defend, but instead took a few steps forward.
His defense is a lazy mess, there is not much difference between him and him in the backcourt, and he doesn't think he is of any use in defense, but if an iron man gets the ball again, as long as he is rooted, he is likely to get a good opportunity.
Chelsea bombarded Wigan Athletic's half-time and no one noticed that Ellington had moved forward.
Five minutes later, Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard fired a long-range shot that was picked up in the arms of goalkeeper Phelan and he drove the ball straight into the pitch.
This kick is not accurate, it is only expensive enough.
The distance fell in the opponent's half, Zhang Tiehan and Terry were near the center circle, Chelsea stood at the back of the players, and the central defender Desailly was only ten meters away from them, this is Chelsea's backline, they pressed very forward, and as soon as Phelan kicked the ball out, everyone felt that no one could chase the ball.
Zhang Tiehan was the only one who didn't give up.
At the beginning of the game, he was in the front court, watching every minute and second pass, he couldn't do much in defense, and the offense has been blocked, which means that there is no performance at all, and this ball is a little far, and he didn't use 'see through' to find the landing point in time, but he still ran forward, fast, fast, and ran with all his might.
The figure was surprisingly fast!
Terry gave up first, he didn't keep up at all, and it was only Desailly behind him who slowly followed, but the latter also felt that the ball would fly off the sideline and did not run hard.
One second, two seconds, the football flew in the air for more than two seconds, and fell directly in front of the sideline, but in the process of falling, everyone on the scene was surprised to find that the thirteenth had a chance to catch the ball, his speed was too fast, and he was about to run to the landing point.
This...... How is that possible?
Terry and Desailly were in a trance, they were experienced, and the ball just now was obviously impossible to catch, but this young boy did have a chance to catch up, that is, the opponent's speed was unimaginably fast.
At least, they can't catch up.
"Whew......" Zhang Tiehan panted roughly, glanced back at the football, and suddenly jumped up from the place, letting the football hit his chest.
The stop ball was not pretty, and the ball popped up more than a meter on the chest.
"Stop him!" At the same time, the Chelsea players also reacted and hurriedly shouted to remind their teammates.
Terry didn't run from the beginning, he had no chance to keep up at all, but it was Desailly, he was in a better position than Zhang Tiehan, but he didn't chase the ball, but now Zhang Tiehan's ball stopped a little big, and he hurried over to scramble.
Zhang Tiehan saw Desailly, he was a little anxious, and immediately chased the ball after landing.
Both chased the ball at the same time.
Desailly is very anxious, he knows very well that he can't let the opponent get the ball in this position, his teammates don't have time to defend at all, and then it will be a one-on-one situation, even if he is a top central defender, he has no confidence in the face of one-on-one, after all, it is always the attacking side that is advantageous.
Zhang Tiehan is the same, this is a good opportunity.
Although, in reality, he did not have much confidence to pass Desailly to face the goalkeeper, but there were not many chances to get the ball in the opposition half, so he could only do his best.
Touch!
There was a muffled sound on the field, and the two of them stretched out their feet with all their might, and kicked the ball at the same time, and there was a real kick in the front and back positions of the football!
"It's safe now." Terry thought to himself, "Desailly has a lot of strength, he is a little stronger than himself, and that oriental player is by no means an opponent. ”
It was only in the next moment that he saw Desailly's body crooked, staggering and almost falling to the ground...... He's suffered something!
"No......"
Desailly was also very surprised, his strength knows by himself, he has not seen that player in the Premier League for so long, he has never seen that player stronger than himself, if he does, that is, the leg strength of the Brazilian big-name defender Robert Carlos can compete with himself, and ordinary players can't compare to it at all.
But with such a pair of feet just now, he actually suffered a loss.
The other party's movements are similar to his, and the strength of the two is not too much, that is, the strength of the other party's legs is indeed greater than his own.
How is this possible?
Desailly was surprised, but fortunately he didn't suffer much loss just now, only staggered, and rushed over to defend again after taking two steady steps.
Zhang Tiehan was also affected by the impact on his feet.
He tried his best to grab the ball, but the ball was grabbed, and his body was a little unstable, and when he took two steps forward to stop the ball, the opposing player was also standing in front of him.
Breakthrough?
Zhang Tiehan's eyes swept the space behind Desailly, this is on the side, even if he breaks forward and waits for the bottom line, it is useless, he only has himself, if he crosses to the bottom line, the opposing player also runs back to defend.
Not to mention...... He didn't know how to break through Desailly.
Desailly's defense is definitely world-level, he stood in front of Zhang Tiehan, his eyes stared carefully at his feet, his feet were steady on the grass and he didn't move, but he could give people a lot of pressure, this was psychological pressure, Zhang Tiehan felt it, he gritted his teeth and decided to gamble.
His method of passing is simple, which is to go to the side of the ball and then fight with the opponent to start the speed.
As long as he starts fast enough to catch the ball first, he will have a chance to pass the opponent.
There are not many chances of success......
Generally, defenders have a good sense of awareness, they don't blindly play out, they just follow quickly, as long as there is no problem with anticipation, they can do it with just a lot of defenders.
In the previous games, Zhang Tiehan wanted to pass Terry like this, but failed repeatedly.
Desailly is not Terry in front of him, but Desailly's defense will not be much worse than Terry, and even judging by his age, he should be more experienced.
But Zhang Tiehan didn't choose......
"Zhang, here!" A sudden shout made Zhang Tiehan see the light of day in a desperate situation.
It was Ellington's voice.
Zhang Tiehan almost did not hesitate to push the ball over, and Desailly, who was so fast in front of him, reacted half a beat slower.
It turned out to be a good pass.
Although the force was a little bigger, but from the midfield desperately ran forward, and past Terry's Ellington was unguarded at all, but he slowed down for fear of offside, and Zhang Tiehan's pass was just right to Erlington's feet.
"Well done!" Zhang Tiehan passed the ball and praised it.
The Chelsea fans in the stadium were nervous, they didn't even notice a Wigan Athletic player running up...... I didn't have it before, when did this guy come up?
No one knows what to do.
Even the managers of the two teams were the same, the difference was that Ranieri looked anxious, while Jevier ran straight to the sidelines, excitedly watching his players dribble towards the opposing goal.
No one had a chance to defend anymore and Ellington took the lead with the ball!
He dribbled across the penalty line and had a one-on-one chance for the opposition goalkeeper to strike, and Ellington cautiously slowed down and struck his toes...... The ball was hoisted into the arms of goalkeeper Cudicini.
Ellington's originally excited face instantly seemed to fall to the ground, and he was stomped on several times.
"Whew-"
Fearful voices from Chelsea fans were heard in the stands.
Ranieri also breathed a sigh of relief, if Wigan Athletic scored another goal, the game may really be lost, after all, it is a football game, no matter how strong his team is, it is not easy to score, and the difference between the two goals can completely determine the outcome of a game.
When the opponent scores two goals, he can completely give up the defense, and eleven people are piled up in front of the goal, no matter how Chelsea bombards it, it is too difficult to score two goals.
'If you lose the Carabao Cup, especially against an opponent like this...... Ranieri couldn't have imagined it.
At the same time, Jewell on the other side also patted his forehead.
It's a pity to waste such a good opportunity, Erlington was a little too nervous, he did everything well in front of him, just got to the goal, picked the ball into the arms of the opposing goalkeeper, where is it, it is softer than an ordinary pass.
As a client, Ellington was much more annoyed than the others.
What a good opportunity, a goal at Stamford Bridge, it was an absolute honour, but he was disappointed to miss it like this, and his good team-mates would comfort him when they passed by him.
"It's okay, there's a chance next time!"
"Good job, how did you just think of running forward?"
Zhang Tiehan's words were, "Nathan, you're amazing!" I'll pass you the ball next time, and you'll do the same shot again? That's awesome! I don't think there's anything better than that. ”
"You bastard!" Ellington cursed.
He didn't pay attention to it, because only good friends said that, and that's the truth, and the shot just now was really inferior.
Everyone was thinking about the shot just now.
Except for one person, that is Chelsea's core central defender John Terry, what he cares about is that Zhang Tiehan stopped the ball near the sideline just now, which he thought would be out of bounds, but he didn't expect the opponent to stop it in front of the sideline.
He's so fast......
Terry recalled the other party's run just now, and couldn't help but sigh, he knew that he had lost again for the third time.
The two didn't really fight just now, but psychologically they had already completed a fight.
Terry cares a lot about this fight!
To be the captain of Chelsea and the best centre-back in England, John Terry has relied not only on his skills and physicality, but also on his on-the-spot commanding ability, and one of the key reasons why he has been recognised by others is his perseverance and never-give-up spirit.
No matter how far the game went, Terry never gave up, and he always fought until the last minute of the game.
Just now he gave up.
Although there are reasons for his misjudgment, the opponent did not give up, not only that, every time the ball flew in the front court, the opponent would try his best to fight for it, and every time it was the same, the opponent would do so.
This thirteenth, in the spirit of football, is not inferior to himself.
In the fight just now, I have already lost...... Probably, perhaps, the other party didn't pay attention to these things at all, and didn't even know that Lu Dao was fighting against him, but Terry still admitted that he lost.
"I lost."
Terry looked at the figure beside him, a wry smile on his lips.
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