Harry Bogard leaned on the bench seat, watching the game calmly and intently.
Jimmy Stokes, who was next to him, looked at the pitch first, then quickly and cautiously glanced at the captain.
Unexpectedly, the captain got it right.
After the game started, Stan Park Rangers, who was obviously playing at home, did not play well.
Instead, it was the Madrid Pirates who turned against the visitors and gained the upper hand.
Stokes knew what tactics the team would use to deal with the Madrid Pirates, which was nothing more than to run more, fight harder, and overwhelm the opponent in terms of momentum.
There's nothing subtle about it.
The main thing is to pay attention to "fighting".
This is also the tradition of head coach Scott Brooks.
But in front of the Madrid Pirates, who pay attention to overall control, Stan Park Rangers' efforts seemed more like "headless flies" flying around.
Stokes knew that his idea was disrespectful to the coach and unfair to his teammates.
But he just couldn't help but think of it like this.
It's really because the Madrid Pirates' passing was so good that the Stan Park Rangers players could only run after the football.
The configuration of two dual playmakers, Maxi Carey and Vukovic, made Stan Park Rangers' defense in the middle of the midfield stretched.
Just one defensive midfielder is obviously not enough to stop the opponent.
Mathews Schneider is an attacking midfielder who is neither good nor fond of defending.
Although under the request of the head coach, I ran very hard and fought very actively, I still just rushed to the top and was not professional enough.
Just five minutes ago, in the 33rd minute of the game, Madrid Pirates took the lead.
But it was not Hulay who scored the goal, but their central defender Danny Drew - a free kick from the front wing, Tonini passed into the penalty area, both Hulay and Maxi Carey attracted Stan
With the attention of the Park Rangers defensive players, Drew came in from outside the penalty area, went around and nodded the ball towards the goal.
The football flew into the goal guarded by Brazil national goalkeeper Lemos.
This goal is actually the result of the previous superior performance of Madrid Pirates.
Before the goal, the Pirates already had an advantage in possession.
Stan Park Rangers doesn't really have a better way to stop them.
The free kick that resulted in the loss of the ball was caused by Kamara suddenly switching to the left wing to break through.
Stokes took a sneak peek at Harry Bogard because he didn't expect to be spotted by the captain before the game.
I have to say...he is indeed the captain!
Then he thought about what the captain said to him before the game.
Do you really have a chance to appear?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance towards the coaching bench again.
He knows that the head coach doesn't like him, so will Mr. Brooks entrust him with important tasks?
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Scott Brooks frowned slightly, his expression solemn.
After conceding the ball in the 33rd minute, Madrid Pirates attacked even more fiercely. Stan Park Rangers were obviously playing at home, but now they could only shrink their defense and passively take the beating.
More running and more fierce fighting are completely useless at this time.
It will even give the opponent more opportunities for set kicks - didn't the Madrid Pirates' goal come from a free kick in the frontcourt?
Besides, the Pirates have two free kick masters in Maxi Carey and Toni.
One is good at curve balls, and the other is good at elevator balls. They have quite a complete range of styles. They have everything they need, distance, distance, left, center, and right. They can play anywhere.
This also makes Stan Park Rangers players somewhat cautious when competing.
Stan Park Rangers now need to regain control of the midfield.
Considering their current staffing in the midfield, it is really difficult to regain control of the midfield...
Matthews Schneider is an offensive midfielder. He has outstanding footwork, is good at dribbling, and has good physical confrontation ability. Because of his short stature and low center of gravity, it is difficult for ordinary people to steal the ball from him.
But he also has a problem, that is, he is too confident in his dribbling ability, and sometimes he sticks to the ball a little bit.
Although most of the time he was indeed able to bring the football out when many people were chasing him, which attracted thunderous cheers and applause from the fans in the stands.
But sometimes, because of these dribblings, better opportunities to play the ball are missed.
So in fact, Matthews Schneider is not a very good offensive organizer. He is actually an offensive midfielder who helps the team's offense by scoring goals.
But now these things are of no use against Juan Ramirez, a world-class defensive midfielder.
His blind dribbling will only get him into Ramirez's hand-to-hand combat, which will make Stan Park Rangers' offensive progress difficult.
Brooks knew how to adjust, but he still hesitated.
Now the team is one goal behind and the situation is very unfavorable. Can that boy Stokes withstand it?
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Just when Brooks was hesitating, Schneider was tackled by Ramirez while dribbling.
He fell to the ground, and there was a burst of boos from Stan Park Rangers fans in the stands - the home fans believed that Ramirez's tackle was a foul.
But the referee was indifferent.
He could see clearly that Ramirez shoveled down from the side and scooped the ball cleanly. Even though he then brought Schneider to the ground, it was not a foul.
While Schneider was still lying on the ground with his hands raised in protest, the Madrid Pirates had already used the stolen ball to launch a quick counterattack.
Vukovic plays a long pass to find Kamara.
This time Kamara did not switch to the left to trouble Stan Park Rangers right back and captain Johnson Law, he received the ball on the right wing.
When the football flew towards him, he kicked it directly towards the center and passed it to Hu Lai who came up to meet him.
After kicking him, he accelerated forward.
It seemed like he was going to have a two-on-one with Hu Lai to hit the wall.
Stan Park Rangers left-back Bruno Martins quickly chased back.
As a result, Hu Lai turned around and took the football to the center.
After two steps, Stan Park Rangers center back Eric Jacobs and defensive midfielder Jonathan Dixon came to surround him.
He then passed the football horizontally to Toni, who was in the middle.
Then he changed direction and went straight into the penalty area.
Toni made a diagonal pass and Hulay received the ball behind Jacobs who was returning to defense.
Although Jacobs pushed forward hard, trying to use his physical strength to interfere with Hu Lai.
But Hu Lai is no longer Wu Xia Amon, and his core strength has improved just a little bit compared to when he played in the Premier League.
He resisted Jacobs' squeeze without using any plug-ins!
You must know that Jacobs is 1.9 meters tall and has a very strong body. He is like a black tower on the court. Strength is his biggest advantage.
But he didn't make Hu Lai lose his balance immediately.
In fact, Hu Lai only withstood the first physical impact of Jacobs. As long as Jacobs came again, Hu Lai would fall down.
But as a forward, if he can withstand the first impact of the opponent's center back in the penalty area, he can already buy himself more time.
Even half a second more may determine the success or failure of this attack!
Now after Hu Lai resisted Jacobs' first round of impact, he opened his arms to maintain balance, and then shot with his feet!
"Hu Lai!! Here we come!!"
Another Stan Park Rangers center back Zach Gordon flew over and tried to block Hulay's shot, but it was too late!
The football flew past his toes and headed straight for the top corner of the goal.
Goalkeeper Lemos' body was like an arrow being ejected towards the football!
But Hulay's shot near the penalty spot was powerful and heavy.
No matter how fast Lemos moves, he can't move faster than a football - he only gets into position after the ball flies into the goal...
"Hu!!"
"The goal is scored!! Hu Lai! Beautiful!! Pirates of Madrid are leading by two goals! And the first half of the game is not even over yet!"
He Feng shouted excitedly.
Yan Kang lamented next to him: "I remembered that when Hu Lai was in Leeds City, he came to challenge Stan Park Rangers away from home. He only won once, and it was very difficult to win that time... Now, the Pirates took the lead in the first half.
Two goals! Although there is a reason for the decline of Stan Park Rangers' strength, the strength of Madrid Pirates is indeed far stronger than that of Leeds City..."
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Hulay, who scored the goal, ran towards the corner flag area.
He misses the feeling of celebrating on this court.
Because it was almost three years ago - in the fifth round of the 2026-2027 Premier League season, Leeds City challenged Stan Park Rangers away. Because it was followed by the first Champions League game in Leeds City's history, so head coach Tony...
Clark made a substantial rotation, and Hu Lai did not enter the starting lineup.
He eventually came off the bench and scored a goal.
That was also the last goal he scored at this stadium.
Now, after returning to this stadium after two and a half years, he has scored again.
It truly deserves to be called the "Longxing Land"!
The excited Hulay raised his arms high and greeted the Stan Park Rangers fans in the stands.
Then jump up, turn around, and land!
"huuuuu!"
He dubbed the action himself.
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Seeing Hulay "planting the flag" again on the Stan Park Stadium - Hulay once said this in an interview. He called this practice "planting the flag", which means that he scored a goal at the opponent's home court -
Scott Brooks turned to his assistant coach Brown and said:
"Let Stokes go warm up and follow him into the dressing room at halftime!"
He finally made up his mind.
Give this player he didn't think highly of a chance.
