Cavani stood at the penalty spot, stretched out his hand to straighten the hair tie on his forehead, straightened out his wet long hair, and wiped the sweat from his face. He slowly stepped back, put his hands on his hips, and looked straight at
Looking at Edwin van der Sar in front of the Manchester United goal.
The Uruguayan center's chiseled face is full of perseverance.
He wants to score goals!
When facing Manchester United at home in the first round, he failed to perform very well and was subsequently replaced by Pep, which made him feel very depressed. Therefore, in this game, he worked hard and performed very hard.
But facing Ferdinand and Vidic, the strongest central defender pairing in world football today, he really couldn't come up with a good solution. He could only work hard, work hard, and work harder.
Now, there was such a penalty kick opportunity, and he didn't want to miss it.
Fortunately, his teammates in Naples also supported him. When Rakitic heard that he wanted to take the penalty, he gave in without saying a word. This made Cavani grateful to his teammates from the bottom of his heart.
The Uruguayan took a deep breath and turned to look at the visiting team's coaching bench on the sidelines.
Head coach Gao Shen was still standing in that position, smiling at him and giving him a thumbs up.
Cavani forced out a smile and nodded slightly.
In fact, he couldn't laugh at all.
Twenty-eight-year-old Gao Shen is really like a big brother to the twenty-two-year-old him.
He still remembered that it was Gao Shen who went to Buenos Aires in Argentina and brought him, a young player who could not even play the main role in Danubio, to Italy.
At that time, he had not thought about the future at all. He was happily looking forward to studying abroad, making money, and being able to change his family and life.
Serie A, Champions League, everything is blank to him.
But in just three years, everything has changed.
He is no longer satisfied with being just a young player and a main player in Serie A.
He is only 22 years old and has already won the Serie A championship and the top scorer in Serie A.
I still remember that after he won the Serie A Golden Boot last season, Gao Shen told him not to be satisfied with it.
"No matter what your previous goals were, from now on, you should set yourself a higher, more difficult to achieve, or even a goal that you could not even imagine before, and then work hard to achieve it!"
"Remember, Edinson, from now on, you, Edinson Cavani, have surpassed Paolo Rossi and become the youngest top scorer in Serie A history!"
These words from the head coach have always inspired Cavani.
He believed in Gao Shen and admired Gao Shen, so he worked harder and performed better this season.
Naples players are basically the same.
And now, he and his teammates are standing in the Champions League semi-finals at Old Trafford.
He, 22-year-old Edinson Cavani, stood in front of legendary goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
When he thought of this, Cavani closed his eyes and raised his head.
When his eyes were closed, he found that his ears' hearing had become sharper.
The whole Old Trafford stadium was roaring, but he seemed to be able to hear the fear in the hearts of Manchester United fans.
They are scared!
Afraid that he will score! Afraid that Manchester United will lose! Afraid of many, many things...
When he opened his eyes again, the referee was ready and blew a crisp whistle.
After Cavani took a deep breath, he quickly ran forward, without even looking at Van der Sar's reaction. He used his run-up to accumulate energy, pouring all the energy in his body into his feet, and drew out a furious kick.
shoot.
This shot not only devoted all his strength, but also brought together all his efforts in the past few years.
Especially the shooting skills he trained with Zidane.
The ball was extremely fast, flying towards the Manchester United goal with lightning speed.
Van der Sar reacted quickly and made a save, but the ball was too fast and too powerful.
The Dutch goalkeeper felt his fingers touching the ball, but he was unable to change the situation of the ball.
The ball went in!!
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"Forty-five minutes, Naples wins again!"
"Two to zero!"
"Uruguayan center Cavani calmly scored the penalty!"
"This is a crucial goal. Naples won a key match point in the two-round knockout round."
"Two to zero, now the total score is three to one!"
"Naples scored two away goals, which means Manchester United must score at least three goals in the next second half to have a chance to reverse Naples and advance."
"But judging from the performance in the first half, Manchester United actually didn't have a good solution."
"Naples performed very well in the away game tonight. The overall performance was very stable, especially the attack on the left wing, which was very threatening. On the other hand, Manchester United, who played at home, was lackluster on the offensive end."
"Naples won the key match point, but we must also remind Naples that at Old Trafford, everything is still unknown, because Manchester United will never surrender easily."
…
Maybe it was because of the penalty kick that Gao Shen had already prepared. When Cavani scored the penalty, he just clenched his fists and raised his head above his head and shouted loudly without being too excited.
Cavani has Rakitic to thank for this penalty kick, as well as Di Maria and Vargas.
In a football match, scoring a goal is never the credit of one person, but the credit of everyone on the team.
Therefore, when Gao Shen saw that after Cavani scored, he immediately ran to the sidelines, greeted his teammates, and came over to celebrate the goal.
What Gao Shen is most proud of is the good atmosphere in the Naples locker room.
There was competition, pressure, and even quarrels and conflicts, but everything was within control.
This makes the team work together as a rope, working hard in one direction.
"Ferguson should have a headache now!" Gao Shen breathed a sigh of relief.
We have to work harder in the second half because Manchester United will make a crazy counterattack.
But after winning the key node, Naples took the initiative, and the rest was to take advantage of the situation.
If it really doesn't work, Gao Shen can definitely play as a defensive midfielder and huddle up to defend.
At that point, what else can Ferguson do to him?
With Manchester United's current ability to break through intensive defense, if Gao Shen really wants to defend with all his heart, he really is not afraid of Ferguson.
…
Ferguson does have a headache.
I even started to regret it a little.
Why did I regret that I had to seek enlightenment before?
This bastard taught his apprentice and forgot about his master.
Uh...it seems like I didn't teach him anything.
Forget it, never mind.
With a score of zero to two, returning to the home team's locker room, every Manchester United player seemed to lack fighting spirit.
They are all famous players who have played football for many years, and they all know very well that the current situation is extremely unfavorable to Manchester United.
The key match point was taken away, and Manchester United must score at least three goals in the second half. This is a very fatal hard indicator.
What they faced was the quasi-champion of Serie A!
Ferguson is very aware of the atmosphere in the locker room and understands the psychology of the players. This is normal.
But Manchester United had no choice.
"In the second half we had to attack, attack like crazy, and try to score from the very beginning."
Ferguson is about to make a substitution.
During the halftime break, he asked Berbatov and Nani to warm up and prepare for substitutions.
As for the replacement, it goes without saying that Park Ji-sung will definitely be replaced.
Although he, like Rooney, both performed lacklusterly, Rooney is the team's tactical fulcrum, he is not.
Berbatov went up, and only Park Ji-sung could be taken out of the trident.
The Korean looked resentful, but there was nothing he could do.
This is his fate.
The midfielder got Anderson.
The Brazilian midfielder came to Manchester United with the aura of Ronaldinho II. Although he also made several good passes in the first half, especially the direct pass to Rooney, which was very thoughtful.
But unfortunately, he is still more defensive and exhausted.
Ferguson wants Nani to play so that the Portuguese can create more opportunities and threats for Manchester United on the wing.
The biggest problem for Manchester United now is that the offense cannot open up the situation.
Ferguson wanted to change the formation, play 4-2-3-1, and at the same time change the team's offensive tactics.
After the change of formation, Rooney still played on the left, Nani replaced Park Ji-sung on the right, Berbatov was at the front, and Cristiano Ronaldo took up the shadow forward position and devoted himself to the attack.
As a result, Manchester United's double midfielders, Carrick and Fletcher, need to bear more defensive pressure.
"I believe you all know what the situation is now."
"It is not the time of despair, nor is it the time when we are at our weakest. We have never lacked the strength and courage to fight tough battles and reverse the opponent's drama."
"The more times like this come, the more you must stay rational and calm, keep a clear head, and make the best judgment. Don't be anxious. We have the strength to turn the situation around. It's only three goals."
,right?"
"We are also facing a Serie A team. With Liverpool's offensive level, they can score consecutive goals in a short period of time. What can't we do? As long as you work together, there is nothing you can't do. Do you understand?
"
Manchester United's players all responded in unison.
The Red Devils and Manchester United cannot live without being crazy.
But Manchester United's ability to repeatedly fight classic tough battles has never been based on being hot-headed.
But a tenacious and persistent desire to win!
…
"Manchester United will definitely attack from the beginning. I even guessed that Ferguson will change the formation. I can't guess exactly how, and I don't want to guess, because there is no need."
In the visiting team's locker room, Gao Shen also repeatedly emphasized the importance of the second half to his players.
A 2-0 lead was not enough to ensure Naples advanced.
In a match of this level in the Champions League semi-finals, if you slack off a little bit, you can score two or three goals every minute. Therefore, Naples has not won yet and has not yet obtained the right to advance.
"We know what our opponents want, just like our opponents know what we want before the game begins."
"So, at the beginning of the second half, we took the initiative to attack. If Manchester United dares to attack us, then attack!"
With two goals in hand, Gao Shen is more confident.
Even if we fight for offense, who is afraid of whom?
Napoli doesn't necessarily lose to Manchester United.
"Remember, after the start, we must seize the initiative and disrupt Manchester United's rhythm. If I don't call stop, no one will give up. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Naples players also responded in unison.
