Chapter 775: The Role of the Veteran
48_48474Pirlo had just scored a goal in this position, and he knew that goalkeeper Reyna would definitely think that he was going to shoot directly, so this time he was not ready to shoot directly, but was ready to pass to the penalty area and play a match with his teammates.
Before taking the free-kick, Pirlo secretly handed a code to his teammate, indicating that he was going to pass the ball and play a set-piece tactic that he had trained before the game.
This signal Liverpool's players did not see, in the imagination of Liverpool's players, Pirlo will definitely shoot directly, there is no doubt about this, they have scored a goal in this position, and another goal must be more certain, and at the moment Milan has no pressure, it is strange that Pirlo does not pursue a stunner.
Goalkeeper Reina's mind is also nervously thinking about which side Pirlo will shoot, far corner or near corner? The last time I shot the far corner, will it shoot to the near corner this time? Or shoot again to the far corner? It's all possible, Reyna has thought about it, the only thing that hasn't been taken into account is whether Pirlo will pass the ball.
When referee Van Deel's whistle blew, Pirlo curled a ball into the box.
Seeing Pirlo pass the ball instead of shooting directly, Liverpool's players and goalkeepers panicked, and the defenders were not mentally prepared, judging the flying arc and landing point of the ball while staring at the players they wanted to mark, some people lost people, and some people did not judge the landing point of the good ball, leaving a lot of opportunities for Milan's players.
Goalkeeper Reyna was also not ready, and when he found out that Pirlo did not shoot but passed, he went to look for key targets that could grab the header, by this time the attacking players and defenders were already running, and Reina couldn't tell who was who, let alone focus on defense.
When it came to the final fateful moment, Liverpool themselves were in chaos, which stunned all Liverpool fans, who looked at their penalty area in horror and waited for the verdict of fate.
Liverpool coach Benitez on the sidelines saw that Pirlo didn't shoot but chose to pass, he couldn't help but exclaim, he didn't expect Pirlo to pass the ball, "This Pirlo is really cunning", Benitez also sighed, at this time to be able to think of a player who passes the ball instead of shooting is not simple, he can't think of it, his own players can't think of it is too normal, Benitez is not in the mood to complain about his team now, the number is one less, even if it is overtime, what can it do, Benitez even had the idea of dying early and revitalizing early.
At this time, several Milan players have gotten rid of the marking of Liverpool players, and there are outflanking players in the front, middle and back points, but Pirlo's pass is fast and spinning, and not every player can grab the landing point, Pirlo's passing target is to find Gilardino in the most dense position in the middle.
When grabbing the landing point, Gilardino consciously took a step slower, and Carragher, who was defending him, rushed out, and then saw that Gilardino did not move, and the flight arc of the ball flew right towards Gilardino, and Carragher was too late to come back.
When the ball flew to the halfway, everyone saw the situation, this is a well-trained free kick match of Milan, the main is the young Gilardino, the reason why the final end point is on Gilardino's body, is also because Gilardino came on as a substitute, Liverpool's players are not familiar with him enough, want to hit Liverpool by surprise, and the position where the free kick is scored in front of Pirlo also just increases the concealment of this free kick combination.
However, not everyone at Liverpool has been deceived, for example, the veteran Hyypia, who has just come off the bench, is ready to defend, he did not guess that Pirlo could pass, but he is not willing to put all the defensive tasks on goalkeeper Reina. Hyypia defended Inzaghi, but half of his attention was still on the ball, not just following Inzaghi, and when he saw that the ball was not flying towards the space between the player and the goalkeeper, but behind them, Hyypia immediately gave up on Inzaghi, who was running forward, and turned back to grab the spot.
Gilardino saw Carragher rushing out of his defense, his heart was overjoyed, he stared at the ball flying rapidly with all his heart, at this moment he didn't think that anyone could still run over and grab points with him, whether he could complete the stunner all depended on his header skills, and for header skills, Gilardino was still very confident.
Gilardino grabbed the spot, but almost at the same time, Hyypia, who was back in the game, also grabbed the spot.
Gilardino jumped to the highest point to prepare for the header to smash, and Hyypia was jacked from low to high, the two collided together, Gilardino's lower smash did not fall, Hyypia's top did not go up, the ball flew directly over the crossbar and flew out of the bottom line, and Hyypia and Gilardino also fell to the ground in pain.
It was only then that the Liverpool fans and other players breathed a sigh of relief, and everyone once again experienced the feeling of escaping death, but in addition to excitement and joy, their hearts were tugging again, because Hyypia, the hero who had just disturbed Gilardino's battle for the top, was lying on the turf in pain.
After Agger was sent off, Liverpool no longer had a regular central defender except for Hyypia, and if Hyypia was injured again, Liverpool, who were already one less player, would not be able to play in extra time.
The team doctor quickly came on the field to see how Hyypia's injury was and if he could still play.
At this time, the reporter also gave Hyypia a close-up, through the guò shot, the fans inside and outside the stadium saw Hyypia's condition, he was hit by Gilardino's forehead to the top of his head, people were a little confused, and when Gilardino fell, his elbow hung through his forehead, and blood flowed half of his cheek.
England's commentator exclaimed: "The veteran Hyypia played a key role in the first arrival, he saved Liverpool a chance to win the title with a clever and brave aerial duel, he was also injured as a result, Hyypia is the representative of the iron spirit of the older generation of Reds, we hope he can persevere, Liverpool need him ...... now"
Liverpool's team doctor quickly helped Hyypia to the sideline and cleaned him up.
Benitez said anxiously to Hypia next to him: "Hyypia, how do you feel, can you still hold on?" ”
It hurts to not care about the player's injury at this time, but just ask if he can play, but now Liverpool's shape is really too nervous, and Benitez can't care about these details.
Hyypia shook his head and said firmly: "It's okay, coach, I can persevere, let me play." ”
The team doctor saw that Hyypia was about to walk towards the stadium, and hurriedly stopped: "Wait until I wrap gauze for you." ”
The team doctor wrapped Hyypia with gauze and asked him to change his red-dyed jersey before letting him play.
The Liverpool fans in the stands saw Hyypia wrap up on the pitch again, and they all stood up to applaud the veteran player, no matter what the final result was, Hyypia was one of the heroes of the game and he deserved enough respect, even if he only played for a little more than a minute.
Five minutes of stoppage time had expired due to Hyypia's injury, but referee Van Del did not end the game and allowed Liverpool goalkeeper Reyna to serve the goal.
At the moment, the vast majority of people thought that extra time was definitely going to be played now, and when Reyna took the goal kick, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game.
Playing extra time is the most beneficial for Milan, and the players, coaches and fans of Milan are also focused on extra time, and do not think that Liverpool can still pose any threat now, not to mention that their players are in their own half, even if the referee does not end the game, Liverpool has no chance.
However, at this time, Liverpool's frontcourt players did not give up attacking, Gerrard, Chen Yu, and Bellamy all hoped to sneak attack at this time, because extra time was too unfavorable for them, even if the game would end at any time, they did not want to give up this slim hope.
Reina saw that his frontcourt players were pressing very forward, and immediately understood the thoughts of his teammates, of course he supported his teammates, so he did not pass the ball to Alonso, who asked for the ball, but directly drove to the front court with a super long foot, looking for his striker Chen Yu.
Reina's distance from Chen Yu is not eighty meters but also seventy meters, not to mention a goalkeeper, that is, Alonso comes with a long pass, and the distance is shortened by ten meters, and he never dares to say that he can pass to Chen Yu's side, Reina's this time is basically blind, it is better to be able to pass it, and it is nothing if it can't be passed, anyway, no one can guarantee the formation of an offensive opportunity at this time.
However, luck came and the mountains couldn't stop it, Reina's kick hit the same pass as luck to find Chen Yu more than 70 meters away, and accurately passed to Chen Yu one meter away.
Alonso gave a thumbs up in surprise at Reina's pass, ashamed of himself.
Originally, the spirit of Milan's players was in a state of laxity, and many people were waiting for referee Fandel to blow the whistle at the end of the game, but seeing Reina's ball accurately found Chen Yu, and the referee Fandel's whistle had not yet sounded, Milan's backfield players panicked, and three or four players ran towards Chen Yu, and even two central defenders were moving closer to Chen Yu's side.
In fact, at this time, the Milan players still think that the game will end at any time, as long as they don't let Chen Yu hold the ball.
Chen Yu didn't expect Reyna to pass so accurately, and Gattuso, who was defending him, was less than two meters away from him, but he didn't have a chance to compete with him for this header
However, seeing Milan surrounding him on a large scale, Chen Yu instantly put an end to the idea of taking the ball, he directly threw his header into the ferry, put the ball on the top to Gerrard in the middle, and quickly inserted it diagonally into the Milan penalty area