Chapter 1,235 The Harm Caused by the FIFA Virus

After playing in the World Cup qualifiers, Gao Xiaodong returned to England to continue playing in the Premier League.

At this time, good news came from Asia. Gao Xiaodong was selected into the final six candidates for the Asian Footballer.

Although Gao Xiaodong has won the World Footballer, the AFC did not allow Gao Xiaodong to participate in the selection of Asian Footballer because Gao Xiaodong did not participate in Asian competitions.

Of course Gao Xiaodong wouldn't care, but Gao Xiaodong's fans and Huaguo fans were very dissatisfied, thinking this was discrimination against Huaguo football and Gao Xiaodong.

The AFC is also under great pressure. After all, it is unreasonable to exclude the World Player of the Year from the selection of Asian Footballer. Fortunately, Gao Xiaodong came back to participate in the Asian World Cup qualifiers this year. This can be regarded as giving the AFC a step forward. The AFC also immediately selected Gao Xiaodong into the final six-man candidate list.

Except for Gao Xiaodong, the remaining five players are Japan's Shinji Kagawa, South Korea's Koo Jizhe and Yeom Ki-hun, Iran's Ajili, and Uzbekistan's Jeparov.

Of the other five, only Shinji Kagawa plays in the five major European leagues, but his fame and achievements cannot be compared with Gao Xiaodong. It can be said that the other four are all unknowns. As long as the AFC puts Gao Xiaodong on the candidate list, Gao Xiaodong is basically equal to winning an award.

After the international match, Manchester United's first opponent is newly promoted Swansea City.

Swansea was third in the English Championship last season. After a brutal 1-of-4 play-off round, they finally entered the Premier League. They were the first Welsh team in English history.

Swansea has been competing in the lower leagues and finished sixth as a newly promoted team in the 1981-1982 league. This was also Swansea's best result in England's top league. Although Swansea and Cardiff City are in the English League, their more honors are in the Welsh Cup. Swansea has won the Welsh Cup 10 times. But this is a team like this. When it was at its most depressed, the entire team was worth only 1 pound. In 1997, a London company bought Swansea and invested several million pounds at that time. However, the good times did not last long. The team was eventually sold to an Australian consortium for 1 pound, but the consortium wanted more. Selling players to get money, Swansea finally "survived" with the intervention of the professional league. In difficult times, the team could not even pay the electricity bill. In the 1999-2000 season, the team won the English League C (fourth tier) Championship, this gives the team vitality.

Swansea's success in promotion is inseparable from head coach Rodgers. In 2004, Rogers was Chelsea's youth team coach. In 2006, Rogers became Chelsea's reserve team coach. Rogers tends to attack, which is very different from Mourinho. Under the leadership of Mourinho's "favorite" Rogers, Swansea finally eliminated Reading in the play-offs and entered the Premier League, completing an amazing feat. "Quadruple jump".

This team is similar to Chelsea;

They have a tenacious style and fierce fighting. In addition, almost none of their players participate in the national team competition and they are full of physical fitness.

Manchester United played very hard against Swansea. In the second half, Gao Xiaodong defeated newly promoted Swansea with a free kick.

The process is not good to watch, even ugly, but fans can accept that the FIFA virus is not easy to remove. Being able to get three points and not being left behind by Manchester City is the biggest benefit.

After the league is over, there is a battle between the Champions League and Benfica for the top spot in the group.

Manchester United is playing at home. As long as they beat Benfica, Manchester United can lock in the top spot, which will be very helpful for the devil's schedule on Christmas.

Manchester United's away game against Benfica was very average. In the end, they won a thrilling 3:2 victory. Back at home, Manchester United naturally did not want to give Benfica another chance.

Manchester United coach Ferguson deployed his strongest attacking lineup, preparing to take the lead and defeat Benfica's confidence and morale.

However, God did not want it, and Benfica took the lead in the third minute of the game.

This is Benfica midfielder Witsel passing the ball to the right. Pereira passed the ball. Gaitan's shot from a small angle on the right side of the penalty area was blocked by Manchester United defender Phil Jones's left leg and entered his own door.

1:0

Benfica took the lead with a lucky own goal.

This was a major blow to Manchester United. Then Manchester United attacked and bombarded Benfica wildly, and finally equalized the score in the 30th minute.

This is when Benfica defender Bruno Cesar fouled Gao Xiaodong in his own half. After Gao Xiaodong and Evra passed the ball continuously, Gao Xiaodong suddenly made a pass. Rooney stopped the ball and dunked the defender, and scored with a sweep shot. The score was tied at 1:1.

Then Manchester United attacked like a wave, completely suppressing Benfica in the half.

The people of Benfica came well prepared. Faced with such a difficult situation, they played very tenaciously. Manchester United had such a huge advantage, but they were still unable to score.

Until the 45th minute of the first half, Evra passed a diagonal pass from the left, and Gao Xiaodong volleyed directly from the front of the penalty area.

Goalkeeper Arthur fought hard to save Gao Xiaodong's long shot, but the alert Hernandez made a supplementary shot into the net in the penalty area, changing the score to 2-1.

Manchester United returned to the locker room with a one-goal advantage. Ferguson felt that his starting lineup was good and made no adjustments.

At the beginning of the second half, after Benfica passed the ball continuously, Aimar made a 45-degree cross from the wing. De Gea made a mistake in handling the ball and cleared the ball to Bruno. At Cesar's feet, Cesar took a shot and De Gea saved it, but the ball hit Ferdinand and bounced in front of Aimar. Aimar pushed into the empty goal and changed the score to 2:2. .

A big gift was given at the beginning of the first half, and another big gift was given at the beginning of the second half. This made Gao Xiaodong and other senior players very angry.

But now is not the time to complain. Gao Xiaodong and the senior players can only encourage their teammates to cheer up and continue to put pressure on Benfica.

Ferguson was also very anxious when he saw the score was equalized. He replaced the experienced veteran Berbatov and replaced the young player Hernandez.

Ferguson's substitution was timely. After Gao Xiaodong and Evra passed the ball continuously, Gao Xiaodong passed the ball to the left. Nani passed the ball. Berbatov headed the ball from 10 yards. The ball bounced off the ground and flew into the net. .

3:2, Manchester United once again took the lead.

Although the Benfica people knew that there was little hope of winning, they still launched a fierce counterattack, trying to score another goal at the last minute to equalize the score.

Manchester United played steadily after taking the lead and did not give Benfica many shooting opportunities. In the end, Manchester United defeated Benfica 3:2 at home and secured the top spot in the group.

Returning to the Premier League, in the 13th round, Manchester City played against Liverpool and Manchester United played against Newcastle. Manchester City's encounter with a strong opponent was a good opportunity for Manchester United to chase points.

However, Manchester United continued to fight hard and still did not wake up from the FIFA virus. This game was very bad. Gao Xiaodong stayed in the backcourt and the offense was weak. Gao Xiaodong attacked in front and the defense was empty. In the end, Manchester United was defeated by Newcastle United at home. 2:2 draw.

Fortunately, Manchester City failed to seize the opportunity of Manchester United's mistakes. They drew 1:1 with Liverpool and failed to widen the points gap with Manchester United.