When Hu Lai stood in the center circle for the third time, with the football under his feet preparing to kick off, he heard Tonini calling him.
"Pass the ball to me, Hu!"
Tonini gestured to him.
In fact, Hu Lai knew very well what would happen after he passed the ball - Vesuvius' players would definitely catch up like a hunting dog chasing a rabbit.
He believed that Toni himself knew this very well.
But Hu Lai still nodded to Toni.
Seeing Hu Lai nodding, Toni had a smile on his face and thanked him with a thumbs up.
After the crisp whistle, accompanied by the cheers of Vesuvius fans, Hu Lai turned around and passed the football hard to Tonini who was standing in the midfielder position.
As he expected, after the football was played, Vesuvius' forward Merlin Ulrich quickly passed by him and rushed straight towards Toni.
After Toni received the ball, he did not pass the football immediately.
Instead, when Ulrich rushed in front of him and stretched out his foot to steal the ball, he gently moved the football to the left with his right foot, then knocked the ball forward with his left foot, and at the same time, he sidestepped away.
Ulrich rushes.
“Beautiful fried meatballs!”
After passing Ulrich with a fried ball, Tonini passed the football to Vukovich who stepped forward to meet him.
At the same time, he also reached out and made a "steady" gesture to the Serbian midfielder.
Be steady, don't rush to attack after conceding two goals in a row, control the rhythm first, slow down, and don't let the game fall into the rhythm that Vesuvius wants.
There is no need for the head coach to remind them. As experienced players, they themselves know exactly what to do.
Vukovich passed the ball directly back to the feet of center back Danny Drew.
Drew then passed the ball to left back Yin Weng Martinez and pointed to the far right side.
Yin Weng made a long diagonal pass with his big foot and passed the ball in the direction Drew pointed to right back Ettore Navarro.
As soon as Navarro caught the ball, Vesuvius' players rushed up to press him.
But before receiving the ball, Navarro had already seen Joaquin Vela who came to meet him, so he passed the football directly back to Joaquin Vela in the center.
Vela received the ball and passed it back to goalkeeper Hewel.
The Madrid Pirates just moved back and forth in the midfield and backfield.
In response to the Pirates' ball control behavior, Vesuvius' countermeasure was to press high.
Their players seem to be tireless.
This kind of pressing did create some trouble for Madrid Pirates' goal.
As the number of consecutive passes increased, mistakes would always occur. Vesuvius seized one of the opportunities and launched an attack in the frontcourt.
They passed a low ball from the right side of the penalty area to the center.
Merlin Ulrich, who was outflanking in the middle, failed to get a chance to shoot due to the personal interference of Tony Nijoaquin Vela. He could only watch the football pass in front of his eyes and roll back!
The Vesuvius fans in the stands became excited - because although Ulrich failed to get a chance to kick, he deceived goalkeeper Hewel into the middle. Now the goal is empty!
Another forward of Vesuvius, Valerio Betra, rushed to the back point and stabbed with his foot!
At the same time, the center back Riva Moreno, who was supposed to be guarding him, slipped and fell to the ground at the critical moment!
The Madrid Pirates fans in front of the TV were so shocked that they broke into a cold sweat!
Fortunately, Toni arrived in time and put down a shovel to intercept!
The football was blocked by him in front of the goal line!
Betra wanted to make a follow-up shot, but this time he and Vukovich exchanged a kick. The football bounced and flew outside the penalty area, and was completely messed up and cleared.
"Wow! It's so dangerous! It's so dangerous!"
Spanish commentator Sanchez let out a sigh of relief.
The Italian commentator put his head in his hands: "Vesuvius missed an opportunity to extend the score to 3:0! Betra's two consecutive shots were blocked by Madrid Pirates players in front of the goal line twice!
"
But he quickly changed the subject: "However, the dangers in front of Madrid Pirates' goal show that their defense can no longer withstand the pressure. Moreno's sudden slip is strong evidence! Under Vesuvius' high pressure,
The pressure on the players of Madrid Pirates will increase... That's it! Keep applying pressure, and under heavy pressure, the Pirates will inevitably collapse!"
The Italian commentator was right, and Vesuvius fans thought so too.
Moreno suddenly slipped in front of the goal, which is simply a microcosm of the busy situation of the Madrid Pirates.
However, the next scene that appeared on the live TV screen made many people frown.
After Riva Moreno got up from the ground after making a mistake, he actually smiled at Tonini.
Tonini, who wiped his butt for him, did not complain to Moreno who made the mistake. Instead, he waved his hands with a smile on his face, as if he did not take the danger in front of the door to heart at all...
This is very puzzling.
You almost lost the ball just now!
And this is clearly Moreno's own mistake.
Don’t you all criticize and self-criticize?
Even if I don’t criticize myself, I’m still smiling!
Especially Moreno, he made a mistake and the team almost conceded a goal, but he still had a smile!
What's so funny?
what's so funny?!
Simply baffling!
We Vesuvius fans can’t stand it any longer and we feel sorry for the Madrid Pirates fans!
Such a shameless, irresponsible and shameless group of players, no wonder Madrid Pirates have performed so poorly this season!
In fact, it's not just Vesuvius fans who find it incredible.
Farias on the court was also a bit incredible.
He saw with his own eyes Toni and Moreno smiling at each other.
Then I got messy too:
Why laugh?
One just made a mistake and almost caused the team to concede a goal, while the other had already caused the team to concede a goal due to his own negligence.
There were dangers in front of the Pirates of Madrid, and Farias's heart was beating wildly. The two people who should be afraid of the most actually laughed at each other...
Farias looked at other teammates and found that most of them turned a blind eye to this. They were not as surprised as he was, and no one criticized them.
Goalkeeper Hywell is directing the players to position themselves for defense.
On the field, captain Joaquin Vela was clapping his hands to encourage everyone.
He looked at Hu Lai again, who not only did not criticize Tonini and Moreno, but gave them a thumbs up!
Noticing Farias' doubtful eyes, Hu Lai turned around, smiled at him as well, and then told him with gestures and mouth movements:
Stay still and don't panic, it's no big deal.
Farias suddenly realized that this might be the old guys' "not alarmed by changes"?
In the past six or seven seasons, these people have experienced many "famous scenes" together. Especially during the three consecutive Champions League seasons, every championship was hard-won and was won through stumbling.
.
There are many situations like this where one is forced into a desperate situation by the opponent.
Not to mention, in the recent second round of the Champions League quarter-finals, didn't the team fall behind by three goals in the game?
So maybe in their eyes, the "danger" in front of the door just now is really not that big of a deal...
Thinking about it this way, Farias felt that it was really not a big deal.
We can come back from being behind by three goals, but what does it mean to be behind by two goals?
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Farias saw calmness and hope in the smiles between Moreno and Tonini.
The fans of Vesuvius also saw hope - the hope that Vesuvius would score more goals and end the two-round suspense in one round.
After the game resumed, Vesuvius stepped up its offensive and put further pressure.
However, the panic they hoped to see from the Madrid Pirates players did not appear.
The Madrid Pirates players not only withstood Vesuvius' offensive, but were also able to launch threatening counterattacks.
In the 20th minute of the game, Hu Lai got a chance to kick outside the penalty area.
He first pretended to pass the football to Farias, and then suddenly moved the football forward to create enough space for his feet, and then quickly shot with his legs!
Even though he was a bit hasty, his kick was still of high quality.
The football bounced off the ground in front of the goal, bypassing the hands of Vesuvius goalkeeper Jakobs Persson who was diving from the side, and then hit the outside of the goal post and missed the goal!
"Pillar! Ahhh!" He Feng shouted regretfully to the sky, "It's such a pity that the goal didn't go in! This is the best chance for the Madrid Pirates since the start of this game! What a pity!"
Hu Lai felt the same way himself. When he saw the football hit the goalpost and then missed the baseline, he raised his hands and held his head, grinning in pain.
Looking at Hu Lai's expression and movements, Spanish commentator Sanchez said: "What a pity! Hu Lai's shot was very sudden. It is very rare to be able to shoot such quality in such a hasty situation. If more preparations were made for him,
At that time, maybe the ball can hit the inside of the goalpost and bounce into the net?"
Wang Guangwei retracted his gaze towards the bottom line, then pointed at Hu Lai and shouted to Giuseppe Giordano, his center back partner who had just been guarding him: "Slow down, slow down! Go up faster!"
In fact, Giordano went up quickly enough, otherwise Hu Lai wouldn't have been able to get up in a hurry.
But in Wang Guangwei's view, this is not enough.
Giordano was not dissatisfied after being criticized, but nodded excitedly.
He also knows that he has done a good job, but...defending Hu Lai means going all out and doing the best!
Sure enough, this is the strongest forward in world football today!
Wang Guangwei noticed Giordano's expression, and he could guess what the boy was thinking.
He did not stop Giordano from having bold ideas. After all, as a talented central defender who has attracted much attention, he has to play against Hu Lai to test his quality...
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Soon when Hu Lai got the ball in the Vesuvius penalty area, Giordano almost touched him before he could catch the ball.
And he pushed back very hard to show Hu Lai his determination.
So this time Hu Lai failed to make a shot. He didn't even turn around and passed the football directly to Vukovich.
The latter completed the shot.
The latter's shot was blocked by Wang Guangwei's foot.
"Wang Guangwei! Good shot! He blocked Vukovic's long shot!"
Wang Guangwei pointed to the corner flag area and shouted: "Defend the corner kick!"
Then in the corner kick attack of the Madrid Pirates, he jumped up with Danny Drew to compete for the top. Since he was stuck in the position first, he cleared the ball with his head before Drew.
"Wang Guangwei! Another successful defense!"
When Wang Guangwei had an outstanding performance, the Chinese commentators He Feng and Yan Kang were very excited and spoke several decibels louder.
"As of now, twenty-three minutes into the game, Vesuvius still leads the Madrid Pirates 2:0 at home. The Pirates' offensive improved slightly, but they still failed to break Vesuvius' goal. Although Vesuvius is not like
The Turin Bulls attach great importance to defense, but as an Italian team, how can they easily have problems on defense?" Spanish commentator Sanchez also sighed.
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Hu Lai knew that he was being closely watched by Vesuvius.
Although his team has encountered many problems this season, his scoring efficiency still ranks first among the others.
The coaches and players of Vesuvius know exactly who is the most threatening player for Madrid Pirates...
Even though Farias scored a very beautiful goal in the last Champions League game, it did not help him attract much defensive firepower.
It seems you still have to rely on yourself.
When Wang Guangwei stood next to Hu Lai again, Hu Lai covered his mouth and said to him: "Why are you guarding me, Lao Wang? They have said that the most threatening person in our team is Farias."
"Haha." Wang Guangwei was already immune to Hu Lai's nonsense. He sneered in return, "It's okay for you to lie to others, Hu Lai. Who is complaining about this naughty boy Farias in the group? Just take care of yourself."
He doesn't care about his teammates at all and has no sense of teamwork? What threat can such a player pose? If he has the ability, he can score five goals in a row again?"
Hu Lai curled his lips and said: "We will treat each other with admiration after three days of separation. Old Wang, think about it carefully, how long has it been since I complained about Farias in the group?"
Wang Guangwei was stunned for a moment after hearing this, because indeed... Hu Lai seems to have not complained about Farias in the group for several days. Is it true...
As a result, just when he was thinking this, Hu Lai suddenly ran out!
And caught the ball!
Then before Wang Guangwei could pounce on him, he took a shot!
The football made an arc, bypassed the fingers of Vesuvius goalkeeper Jacobs Persson, then went around the far post... and flew out of the baseline!
"Ah!" He Feng looked up to the sky and shouted regretfully, "That shot was a beautiful shot! It's a pity that it missed slightly!"
The Italian commentator exclaimed: "Oh! What a risk! Hu's shot almost scored! He used his clever movement to get rid of Wang briefly!"
Seeing Hu Lai holding his head in his hands, Wang Guangwei wanted to slap himself - why did I almost get in trouble with this kid again!?
In his only previous experience of fighting against Hu Lai, wasn't this how Hu Lai suddenly jumped out while chatting with him?
Sure enough, it’s been too long since we’ve fought each other, so have I even forgotten this lesson? I was actually fooled by Hu Lai using the same trick...
He shook his head mockingly, and even wanted to give Hu Lai a thumbs up: Sure, Hu Lai, after all these years, he still "doesn't forget his original intention"?
But I am no longer the high school student that you easily teased to the point of becoming impatient!
※※※
Yin Weng Martinez actively moved forward and participated in the attack.
He started to pass from the left wing, looking for Hu Lai in front of the goal.
However, Hu Lai was not able to grab the spot this time.
Because the landing point has been occupied by Wang Guangwei in advance.
He blocked Hu Lai's header to clear the ball and pushed the football away, ending the Madrid Pirates' attack.
The Vesuvius fans in the stands gave Wang Guangwei applause without hesitation.
Since joining Vesuvius from Eldrea four years ago, he has completely established himself as the main force in this team in just half a season.
Wang Guangwei, who is not too tall at only 1.85 meters, has become an indispensable part of Vesuvius's defense thanks to his precise judgment of where the football will land, his tireless running, and his brave confrontation.
of iron gates.
Although he received praise from the fans, Wang Guangwei's face did not show any happiness or relaxation.
Instead, he pointed to the wing and loudly reminded his teammates not to give the Madrid Pirates a chance to cross easily.
In fact, it is not difficult to guard Hu Lai in one-on-one situations, because he is not the kind of player with particularly strong individual combat ability.
So why has Hu Lai still become a "nightmare" for all defenders?
Because as a defender, it is impossible to defend just once in a game. Within ninety minutes of a game, defensive players must stay focused at all times and cannot be distracted or careless.
But humans are not machines, so how can they not be distracted and make mistakes?
The scariest thing about Hu Lai is that he can very efficiently seize the opportunity for you to make mistakes and get distracted.
This requires defensive players to remain vigilant and alert at all times when defending against random attackers.
Being in a state of mental stress for a long time increases the chance that players will make mistakes and become distracted.
The more you tense up, the more you make mistakes, and the more you make mistakes, the more you become tense...it becomes a vicious cycle.
As a defender who knows Hu Lai very well, it is absolutely impossible for Wang Guangwei to be complacent and think that he can guard Hu Lai just because of a successful defense.
But his centre-back partner Giuseppe Giordano doesn't seem to think so.
After Wang Guangwei successfully defended Hu Lai, he gave Wang Guangwei a thumbs up and said loudly: "Well done, Wang! That's it, we can definitely defend him!"
Wang Guangwei ignored Giordano, he seemed a little too excited today...
He wondered if he should remind Giordano during the halftime break to stop being so excited.
※※※
Facing the increasingly fierce offensive of the Madrid Pirates, Vesuvius chose to recycle the formation.
Anyway, they have a two-goal lead, so they can completely launch a defensive counterattack.
How deep does their formation go?
Even after the two forwards retreated to the center circle, all eleven players on the field were in their own half.
When Madrid Pirates center back Danny Drew got the ball, he was already in the center circle of the opponent's half, and the two Vesuvius forwards were not far from him.
In front of him is an advanced line of four Vesuvian midfielders, about ten meters away from him.
About ten meters behind the forward line are four defenders.
The four forwards closely follow the Madrid Pirates midfielder.
The four defenders pressed in front of the top of the penalty arc in unison - they even knew how to flag offside.
Under their pressure, it was impossible for the Madrid Pirates' forwards to reach Vesuvius' penalty area, and they could only retreat outward.
Yin Weng Martinez, as a left back, was moved to the left wing position.
Not far from him is Farias.
The two left players are concentrated in one place, making the left wing a little crowded.
But this is also the key direction of Madrid Pirates' offense.
After failing to find a suitable passing point closest to him, Drew decided to pass the football directly there.
So he started and made a long pass.
Because Vesuvius is currently implementing a shrinking defense strategy, when Drew passed the ball, Vesuvius forward Valerio Betra, who was only three meters away from him, did not interfere.
The football flew towards Farias and Yin Weng.
Because the positions of the two people are now highly overlapping, it is difficult to tell who the ball was passed to.
Farias stood in front of Yin Weng, faced the flying football and jumped up unceremoniously to remove the ball with his chest.
Just as the football flew to the left wing, Wang Guangwei noticed that Hu Lai in front of him suddenly ran towards the area where the football landed.
Is he going to meet Farias?
However, Wang Guangwei remained unmoved. He continued to stay at his position and just pointed his finger at random people, reminding his teammates nearby to take extra care.
Farias did not pass the football to Hu Lai.
After taking off the football, he dribbled the ball laterally and cut inside, just like he had done countless times before, seemingly not paying attention to the teammates around him.
Maybe he didn't pay attention to the defensive players who were swarming around him - his cut inside immediately attracted two Vesuvius players to come up, one was forward Merlin Ulrich who returned to defend in front of the penalty area, and the other was
It's the team's captain, midfielder Victor Montero.
Two people were stuck in front of Farias, one on the left and the other on the right.
Also when Drew passed the ball to the left wing, Vukovich, who was originally in the midfield, suddenly accelerated towards Vesuvius' penalty area.
Wang Guangwei noticed Vukovich's advance, so he leaned over slightly, but his eyes were still fixed on Farias who was holding the ball, and the corner of his eye was focused on Hu Lai's position.
After Vesuvius midfielder Montero got close to Farias, he tried to put pressure on the Argentine "lone wolf". Farias saw this and tried to shoot the far corner directly from outside the penalty area, deceiving Montero.
After stretching his foot to block, he used the inside of his right foot to knock the football from behind the left foot supporting his body to the other side, and turned around at the same time!
Although Montero was stunned by him, Vesuvius still had someone guarding him.
So as soon as Farias turned around, Merlin Ulrich on the other side stretched out his foot to poke the football.
Seeing this, Farias could only take the first step and stab the football towards the player closest to him.
At this time, Hu Lai was a little outside the corner of the penalty area. In front of him was Farias who passed the ball to him, and behind him was Yin Weng Martinez who had been waiting on the sideline for a long time.
Faced with this situation, Hu Lai did not choose to pass the football directly to Yin Weng behind him. After adjusting, he first attracted Merlin Ulrich and then used the outside instep of his right foot to pass the football back to the already inserted player.
Farias in the restricted area.
After passing the ball to Farias, Hu Lai did not continue to run forward, nor did he choose to cross into the penalty area. Instead, he did the opposite - he ran back and opened up from behind Merlin Ulrich.
Returned to the corner of the penalty area, and then cut across along the line of the penalty area.
Wang Guangwei, who had been paying attention to Hu Lai, saw Hu Lai's movement and immediately thought of a possibility - Hu Lai was going to receive Farias' pass! While Farias had completely destroyed Vesuvius' defensive power,
After attracting him, he ran into space to catch the ball and shoot...
Originally, he didn't believe that Farias would pass the football to Hu Lai when he had already entered the penalty area.
But for some reason, Hu Lai's words suddenly rang out in his mind:
"You should treat each other with admiration after three days of separation!"
Will the former "lone wolf" Farias learn to work as a team during this period? After all, the pressure he faces is indeed great...
At the same time, Wang Guangwei also saw Hu Lai, who was outside the penalty area, making a very hidden gesture towards Farias, which meant asking for the ball!
Seeing this scene, combined with what Hu Lai said to him before, Wang Guangwei no longer hesitated, and quickly rushed out of the restricted area with a single step, killing Hu Lai!
At the same time, Vukovich also pulled away, as if to respond. So Montero also took a step back in the direction of Vukovich, and the circle that originally surrounded Farias was suddenly reduced by two.
My personal space has been torn apart!
Farias did not pass the ball to Hu Lai or Vukovich.
He chose to shoot directly!
Just after entering the penalty area, near the corner of the penalty area, facing the blockade of three people in front of him, about 20 meters away from the goal, and with a small angle, Farias took a shot!
When they saw him waving his feet, many Chinese fans in front of the TV couldn't help but tutted:
Another stupid kick!
But then, they saw Vesuvius goalkeeper Jakobs Persson leaping sideways, opening his arms and missing the ball...
Until this time, many people thought that Farias missed the kick.
But then they saw the football lift the net!
"Ball... eh! What a good ball! What a good ball!" He Feng was stunned for a moment, then realized what this scene meant and shouted loudly. "Farias! He got a goal back for Madrid Pirates! Second
In 18 minutes, Madrid Pirates got a goal back! 1:2!"
The noise above Vesuvius’ home stadium, the Southern Stadium, was silenced!
Everyone was worried about scoring randomly, but they didn't expect that the first goal scored by the Madrid Pirates was the "lone wolf" Farias who had been scolded bloody in the previous three league games!