Thirty-six-year-old Juan Ramirez sat on the ground and looked around to see the 31-year-old Melli running.
The latter opened his arms and ran towards the corner flag area.
A few seconds ago, he was guarding Mellie where he was sitting right now.
Facing his own defense, Melly's center of gravity changed very slightly, and he lowered his left shoulder.
This means cutting in from the left.
So Ramirez followed and tilted his body slightly that way.
He also kept a hand, and was not completely deceived by Merry's action - except for the fact that his body was tilting that way, most of his center of gravity was actually still at the original position and had not moved.
Just to be prepared for Merry's sudden change of direction.
His experience played a crucial role at this time, because Melly really changed his direction!
When he lowers his shoulders to the left, he is not really trying to cut in, but a fake move!
Then he used his left foot to dunk the football to the right of his body, and at the same time turned around and cut into the penalty area!
Ramirez felt that he had reacted immediately, but he still failed to touch the ball - he quickly turned around and kicked the football with his feet, trying to destroy Melli's dribbling!
This series of actions is completely a conditioned reflex and is the result of years of experience!
His reaction was not unpleasant, but in the end it was all in vain!
Not only was the kick in the air, he also felt that his body lost balance and fell backwards!
When he felt his butt sitting on the soft and tough turf, he turned around and saw Melli picking up the ball in front of the attacking Spanish goalkeeper Guillermo Manu!
Manu waved his arms during the attack and failed to hit the ball.
He looked back and watched the football fly into his goal...
Then he kept kneeling on one knee, opened his arms, and looked back at the goal.
Juan Ramirez rolled over from the ground and sat up, and his eyes finally caught the scene at the beginning.
In his sight, Melli ran past the Spanish goal, arms outstretched and running towards the corner flag in the distance.
The other Argentine players were in high spirits and chased after them, shouting.
Ramirez withdrew his gaze and no longer looked at the Argentinian's proud look.
He lowered his head.
There was no excuse this time. His knee withstood the test at the critical moment and did not collapse suddenly.
So being knocked to the ground by Merry was not because his old injury recurred at a critical moment.
In fact, it's very simple. His body didn't keep up with Merry's rhythm.
To put it bluntly, he is old and is no longer the best defensive midfielder in the world.
Although Melly is only five years younger than him.
But the age of five is like a chasm, insurmountable.
The serious injury he suffered four years ago accelerated the aging of his body.
Compared with him, the 31-year-old Melli is in the prime of life. He led the Madrid Kings to the league championship this season and is in the golden stage of his career.
When Juan Ramirez lowered his head, the stadium stands burst into cheers, and the Argentine fans jumped to their feet. The blue and white jerseys were like waves on the ocean.
And their cheers were like waves of waves.
The Argentine commentator raised his arms in the commentary box and shouted: "Melli! Melli! Melli!!! He is like the representative of the god of football in the world! There is almost nothing he can't do! His pace is so
Light! His body is so dexterous! He only needs a tiny movement to manipulate his opponent in the palm of his hand! Now he is at the peak of his career! Ah - Meili Bane
Plus, he is like the sun in the sky, shining on us all!”
The Argentinian commentator burst into tears at the end of his speech, his voice became incoherent, and his words were somewhat garbled and incoherent, like a drunken poet.
Considering that Melli's goal was so wonderful, it is completely understandable that the Argentine commentator lost his temper.
You must know that it is not just the Argentine commentators who are racking their brains to praise Melli. Commentators from all over the world are cheering for Melli's goal and climaxing.
"Merry! He put on another amazing solo performance!"
"Melli turned this game into his own stage!"
"The World Cup is a place where heroes are created, and Melli is the hero!"
"3:1! Although there is still nearly half an hour before the end of the game, Melli's goal has killed the game! It's so demoralizing! The Spanish team just pulled a goal back, less than five minutes, right? Specifically
It's four minutes and forty-one seconds! Meili used this personal performance to end the suspense of the outcome of this game!"
…
Even the Spanish commentator was impressed by Melly's performance in a disguised way by lamenting for Ramirez:
"The 'championship cornerstone' collapsed, and the era of Spanish football has completely passed... Although I really don't want to admit it, the Argentine national team led by Melli in such a state is indeed the most likely to win this World Cup..."
Originally, Argentina was not the number one favorite to win the championship - the original favorite belonged to defending champion Brazil.
However, yesterday, Brazil and Japan had to fight to decide the winner in a penalty shootout, which is in sharp contrast to Argentina's 3:1 lead over Spain now.
I believe anyone will easily come to this conclusion after watching these two games:
This Argentina is indeed more championship-worthy than Brazil!
If nothing goes wrong, Melli will very likely win the Gold Cup, which symbolizes the highest honor in world football, at this World Cup in China!
※※※
After the referee blew the full-time whistle, the Argentine players ran wildly on the court to celebrate, while many Spanish players collapsed on the turf.
In fact, they had anticipated failure.
Because after Melli helped Argentina rewrite the score to 3:1, Spain has been unable to score again.
When Melly just scored, there were still 28 minutes left before the end of the game. Maybe they all still had the illusion of equalizing the score.
But with ten minutes left in the game, it was already clear to them that they would not be able to equalize the score before the game time ran out.
With five minutes left in the game, Spain's players were just passing the football back and forth, but they were completely unable to break through Argentina's defense, and they probably had no motivation to do so.
It was clear to everyone that their World Cup journey had come to an end.
The whistle at the end of the game may be a signal of relief for them.
They finally don't have to pretend to be desperate on the court... because they all know that working hard is meaningless.
Spanish captain Juan Ramirez stood with his hands on his hips after the final whistle.
He did not immediately comfort his teammates.
Because he himself still needs comfort...
But no one could comfort him, so he could only digest his emotions by himself.
Just then, someone called him from behind.
He turned around and saw Nestor Farias.
The latter said to him: "Sorry, Juan. I want to exchange jerseys with you, is that okay?"
Ramirez was stunned for a moment, then shook his head at Farias: "No, Nestor. Not this time..."
Farias thought that his captain at the club was not in the mood to exchange jerseys with him because he lost the game, so he said: "I understand, I'm sorry..."
Unexpectedly, Ramirez asked him: "Why did you say sorry?"
"Uh, I..." Farias didn't know how to explain for a moment.
Say "Sorry I beat you?"
No matter how you listen to it, it feels like you are showing off...
Seeing Farias' embarrassment, Ramirez forced a smile on his face and explained to him: "It's me who should be sorry, Nestor. I can't exchange jerseys with you because it's me
The jersey for the last national team game, I want to keep it myself."
Farias looked at Ramirez with wide eyes, and he seemed to hear another meaning from this sentence.
Last national team game?
Seeing Farias' eyes widening, Ramirez simply explained: "Yes, I have decided to retire from the national team after this game."
Farias finally reacted. He didn't expect that he would end the captain's national team career...
He wanted to apologize even more: "Sorry, I... uh..."
Ramirez simply hugged Farias, who was at a loss, and said in his ear: "I said, don't be sorry, Nestor. This is the World Cup, there are always people who win, and there are always people who lose. You win
Now, just enjoy the victory and don’t care what the loser thinks.”
This scene looks like Ramirez's Spain is the victorious side, comforting Farias who lost...
Farias, who was hugged, buried his head and murmured: "I will try my best to win the World Cup, Juan. No matter what you think, I will regard this as a gift to you!"
Hearing the young man's stubborn answer, Ramirez smiled:
"Then I wish you good luck. Thank you, Nestor."
※※※
"... After losing to Argentina, the captain of the Spanish national team, Juan Ramirez, announced in an interview with reporters after the game that he would retire from the Spanish national team. Next, he will only focus on club competitions...
"Ramirez's announcement of his decision to retire from the national team is shocking and very regrettable. As a player who won the World Cup with the Spanish national team eight years ago, Ramirez is considered to be a more critical contributor than Cerrados.
He also has the nickname 'Champion Cornerstone'...
"For Spanish football, although they failed to qualify for the local World Cup four years ago, it was already considered the end of the dynasty. However, until today, Juan Ramirez announced his retirement from the national team, the golden generation of Spanish football.
Only then did he truly withdraw from the stage of history - that era was completely over...
"It's just a bit disappointing that the last scene of Ramirez, the 'cornerstone of the championship', that left a deep impression on us on the World Cup stage was when he was knocked to the ground deftly by Melli and watched as Melli scored.