"It's such a strange tradition. It's obviously useless, but it still persists for so many years..."
"It's normal. They always like to waste energy on such useless things."
…
When Julay and Ramirez were tossing coins and performing a blessing ceremony in front of tens of thousands of Madrid Pirates fans, the Madrid Kings players who had just taken the field to warm up were naturally attracted to them.
After seeing clearly what Hu Lai was doing, they all started complaining.
Even though the "Mary's Lucky Coin" ritual is very famous and has been going on for so many years, there are endless legends about this ritual.
But in fact, there is no such thing as luck in this world that can really be prayed for.
If Mary Magantto was really the "Lady Luck" in the minds of Pirates fans, then she wouldn't have died in a car accident.
This lucky ritual is more of an act of encouragement and psychological comfort, and cannot really bring luck to the Madrid Pirates.
Pirates fans and players themselves probably know this very well...
After all, Madrid Pirates did not win every home game against Madrid Kings, nor did they score three goals every time they faced Madrid Kings at home.
But just like the curse of not touching the trophy before a game, people tend to remember more dramatic examples rather than all results.
Those games that had a lucky ritual before the game but failed to win were naturally "forgotten" by the Madrid Pirates fans.
As long as the lucky ritual works, the media will write about it and the fans will talk about it, as if this lucky ritual really works.
In fact, the reason why they did this was probably because they hoped to use this method to strengthen the players' confidence and create a subtle influence in their hearts.
To put it bluntly, it is a psychostimulant used by less powerful pirates to hypnotize themselves.
Both Kings fans and players sneer at the tradition of Madrid Pirates.
They simply don't have this tradition of pretending.
Because they are stronger, they do not need to use self-hypnosis to increase their confidence.
※※※
After the warm-up, the players from both teams returned to their locker rooms to make final preparations for the game.
Hu Lai entered the system. He did not choose [Lingxi Card], but equipped himself with two props, [Broken Bear Leg Guards] and [Worn Bear Jersey].
Because the previous task of scoring goals in consecutive games was finally limited to eleven games, so in that task alone, Hu Lai earned 1.1 million points, with each additional round of league points increasing by 100,000 points.
Hu Lai can be said to be very wealthy now.
But he still saved his points.
[Lingxi Card] If you can use it like this, don’t use it.
Hu Lai is now less and less dependent on the system.
Originally, these points were reserved for the World Cup, but because we have to participate in the Olympics this summer, no matter how many points we have, they have become a bit stretched.
It has been a long time since he exchanged props in the system space to help him compete.
The equipment for this game [broken Bear shin pads] was also mainly used to defend against the Argentinian center back Sergi Peralta of the Madrid Kings.
Hu Lai could imagine with his buttocks that he would be strictly guarded by that irritable old man during the game. Royvi might give Peralta this order:
"Use all means except fouling to prevent him from scoring! If necessary, you can also foul!"
Hulay, who is well aware of Peralta's playing style, will naturally not be so foolish as to think that he will be unscathed in this game.
He always has to speculate on his opponents with the greatest malice and make the best preparations, otherwise he may have been kicked off his legs long ago.
Competitive sports have nothing to do with race or nationality. Don’t think that only Chinese football has the kind of trash that kicks people’s legs off.
European football, which has a larger player base, has experienced many more tragedies than Chinese football.
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Then the players from both sides walked out of the locker room and came to the tunnel to prepare for the game.
The tunnel at Pirates Park is different from that at Crown Stadium.
There is a wall in the tunnel of the Crown Stadium that separates the home team and away team players. They will only meet when they finally walk out of the tunnel. Before, they were separated by a wall. At most, there was a fence in the middle so that everyone could say hello to each other.
What.
But this arrangement also greatly reduces the possibility of "enemies becoming extremely jealous when they meet". Maybe even the Madrid Kings Club themselves know that they have more enemies?
Pirates Park, the home stadium of Madrid Pirates, is an ordinary player tunnel.
Players from the two teams stood directly side by side in the tunnel, and if their eyes were slightly tilted, they could see each other.
Hu Lai can see Melly, and Melly can see him.
However, although the two people were in the passage, there was no communication.
Not in words, not even in eyes.
Hu Lai seemed to regard Melly as air, and Melly in turn turned a blind eye to Hu Lai.
In fact, a camera was pointed at the two of them, trying to capture their interaction.
But the two didn't let the camera get what they wanted.
They all looked ahead and waited quietly to enter.
Occasionally he would greet his teammates and exchange a few pleasantries, but more often than not he would just stand there honestly.
Outside, huge songs were being sung, and Pirates Park was like an oversized Pirates bar, bustling with people and full of vitality amidst the chaos.
Then they were taken out of the tunnel by the referee team and stepped onto the court.
When players from both sides came on the field, the volume of the Madrid Pirates anthem in the stands suddenly increased.
Pirates fans use this method to declare their sovereignty and let the Kings players know whose territory this is.
But in fact, this trick is of little use to most Madrid Kings players.
Especially those players who often participate in Madrid derbies. They have experienced hundreds of battles and have long been used to it.
For example, Alexandra Cerrados, the captain of the Madrid Kings. As the player with the most goals in local derbies, he has scored a total of 14 goals in all the Madrid derbies he has participated in in the past.
Moreover, eight of his fourteen goals were scored in away games. He can be said to be the most unwelcome person in this stadium.
He paid no attention to the hustle and bustle at Pirates Park.
Also unconcerned was Melly.
Although he is very young, he has experienced Madrid derby many times and is a "derby veteran".
He turned a blind eye to the noise created by Pirates fans.
That's how I stepped onto the court.
※※※
"Friends from the audience! Welcome to Pirates Park! Follow me to watch a highlight of this round of La Liga! The league leader Madrid Pirates will face the city's rival Madrid Kings at home! The captains of both sides are making pre-match picks.
ceremony……
"Before this game, the good news for Madrid Pirates is that Joaquin Vela has returned from injury and is ready for this game. His return can strengthen the strength of Madrid Pirates in the midfield and relieve Ramirez.
The burden... But Kyrie ultimately failed to come back before this important game, and neither did Ruiz. Therefore, there were very few adjustments and changes that could be made to the Pirates' offense in this game, and they were basically studied by the King of Madrid.
Already...
"Of course, the Pirates are also very familiar with the King of Madrid. As rivals in the same city that have been entangled with each other for more than a hundred years, the two teams are very familiar with each other, so there are no tricks in this game. Both sides will go head-to-head with their own strengths.
This is a pure competition of strength!”
As the commentator continued to talk, the captains of both sides finished picking sides, returned to their own teams, boosted morale for the last time, and then took their positions amidst the huge noise.
The Madrid Pirates won the right to pick the side, and Ramirez chose to fight with his back to the South Stand in the first half and attack towards the South Stand in the second half.
The Madrid Kings get the right to kick off and they will be the first to attack.
Melli stood in the center circle with a football under his feet. Now he has replaced the "Four Kings" Alexandra Cerrados and has become the sharpest spear in the hand of the king.
When the noise above the Pirates Park stadium finally dropped from its peak and gradually subsided, a crisp whistle sounded.
Game start!
※※※
After Melli passed the football back, he ran forward diagonally.
Behind him, Cerrados received the ball and passed it to midfielder Dudu Carlos.
After receiving the ball, the Brazilian midfielder did not continue to pass the ball back. Instead, he looked up and at the same time, he naturally dunked the football to the right and past Hulay, who came up to tackle him.
Then he took off and passed the ball.
Passed the football directly to Melli who ran to the right.
Although he has become the king's spear, Melly is still more accustomed to moving on the wing and does not stay in the middle like a center.
His scoring does not always have to be in the penalty area, in front of the goal, or in the middle like Hu Lai.
Because he has foot skills that Hu Lai does not have, he can initiate the attack with the ball by himself.
He is both the initiator and the finisher of the attack.
Seeing Melli catch the ball, other Kings players pressed forward, including the two full-backs Rafael Fonseca and Padin Garcia, who also pressed forward directly.
Obviously they all have great trust in Melli and know that the football is at his feet and will not be thrown away easily.
Even if you can't open the situation, you can still keep the football from being intercepted.
In this way, the Kings players behind will naturally dare to step forward boldly and participate in the attack.
Otherwise, if someone breaks the ball halfway through the run, then who would dare to come up?
Did you come to practice the return run during the race?
This is the reason why the current Pirates' offense is not as sharp as before.
After Maxi Carey was injured, the Pirates lacked players in the frontcourt who could hold the ball. Ruiz could hold the ball, but his skills were rough and his effect was still far behind that of Carey.
Since there is a lack of players in the frontcourt who can hold the ball and make plays, the Pirates' two full-backs naturally do not dare to press easily. In some cases, the offensive effect will be greatly reduced.
※※※
After receiving the ball, Melly did not use his best personal skills to drive the ball towards the Madrid Pirates goal, but patiently dealt with the Pirates' left back Ion Martinez.
He didn't take the initiative to go up, so Ion could only guard against him and couldn't go anywhere.
Even if the Madrid King's right back Patin Garcia passed by him, he did not dare to retreat, because compared to his teammate in the Spanish national team, Melli was obviously more threatening with the ball.
So Melli passed the football to Garcia, who was left alone.
When he passed the ball, Ion quickly turned around and retreated to chase Garcia.
Merry quickly moved to the center.
Dudu Carlos went to the right rib to meet Garcia, and he and Melly crossed paths.
Ramirez handed Carlos over to Joaquin Vela and went to fight Melly himself. In this game, Ramirez still had only one task, which was to nail Melly when he came to the middle.
.
Garcia took the ball on the right wing and faced Ion who was chasing after him, and initially chose to force a breakthrough.
But he was not able to break through Ion Martinez, the main left back of the Spanish national team, so he took control of the football and handed it to Dudu Carlos, who came up to meet him.
When the Brazilian received the ball, he did not stop the ball, but directly sent the football into the penalty area with a through ball.
Melly, who was originally outside the penalty area, started to accelerate into the penalty area when Garcia passed the ball to Carlos.
Although Ramirez also followed, there was a big gap in speed between the two.
Melly took the initiative to move again, and soon left Ramirez behind, and went straight into the space where Carlos passed through!
"Melli! He caught the ball in the ribs of the Pirates' penalty area! It's dangerous!"
He Feng exclaimed.
I saw that Melli, who received the ball in the open space, did not continue to dribble the ball inward, but directly shot with his feet!
The football flew quickly against the turf towards the back corner of the goal!
Goalkeeper Hywell fell to the ground quickly, but still a little slow. His hand that he swung out did not touch the ball!
Under everyone's gaze, the football flew directly into the goal and hit the side netting!
In just two minutes, the Madrid Kings already led the Pirates by one goal!