Episode【205】: Leeds United Come to Hillsborough

March 5, 2009, Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England!

Yes, it’s Hillsborough Stadium!

This is the home ground of Sheffield Wednesday and was once known as one of the "best stadiums in the UK"!

But what made her famous all over the world was not her facilities and buildings, but the famous "Hillsborough Disaster". Today, the stadium is famous all over the world.

On April 15, 1989, during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, an accident occurred at this stadium, a huge accident.

The game had already started a few minutes ago, but due to issues such as the unreasonable design of the entrance to the stadium, many fans did not enter the stadium. This made many fans outside the stadium very angry and angry.

There were too many people hesitating, and the entrance was too narrow, and there were many Liverpool fans outside the stadium who did not enter. The organizers at the scene made a temporary decision to open door C, which was supposed to be the exit, to let these Liverpool fans in.

Since the game has already started, Liverpool fans are very anxious. The current organizational order is very chaotic, and there is no staff guidance. This caused more than 5,000 Liverpool fans to all flock to a small underground passage area leading to the stands.

In this stand, in order to prevent football hooligans from causing trouble, the organizers put up some barbed wire fences to divide the stand into several small areas. And this underground passage connects the third and fourth areas.

Originally, the capacity of these two small areas was 2,200 people, but the actual capacity was less than 1,700 people.

At the beginning, more than 2,000 people poured in here, and there was a steady stream of fans coming in later. At this time, a shot from the Liverpool team hit the goal post in the stadium, causing a commotion inside the stadium. Fans who had not entered the stadium rushed to enter the stadium and crowded forward crazily. In an instant, the place was overcrowded.

Many of the people in front were squeezed directly into the barbed wire fence, making it difficult to move. But the fans at the back didn't know what was happening in front, and they still pushed forward crazily. This resulted in many people in front being squeezed to death on the spot, and many people even heard the sound of their sternums being crushed by the barbed wire...

Later, the scene became more and more chaotic, and a serious stampede occurred. In the end, someone managed to escape by breaking through the barbed wire fence in front!

This tragic incident resulted in 96 deaths and more than 200 injuries!

This is the "Hillsborough Disaster" that shocked the world!

The youngest fan who died in this tragedy was only 10 years old, and this little fan was the cousin of current Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, Jon Paul Gilhuly. At the time, he was only older than Gerrard. Only 2 years older.

The two have played football together since childhood and are both die-hard Liverpool fans. Both dream of becoming Liverpool players when they grow up. Later, after Gerrard became a player for the Liverpool team, he said many times: "I fight for Jon Paul. He made me become a professional player!"

It is precisely for this reason that Gerrard rejected many wealthy clubs and stayed at Liverpool, never thinking of leaving.

It has been almost 20 years since this tragedy happened this year, and it will be the 20th anniversary of the "Hillsborough Tragedy". The endless desolation is already felt here in advance!

Zhong Cheng, wearing a white suit, slowly walked into the stadium.

This is not the first time Zhong Cheng has come to this stadium, but his mood today is different from before. Zhong Cheng seems to have seen the group of lovely fans in the stands!

In the stands, 96 seats are vacant today, and no tickets are sold. This is to commemorate the souls who lost their lives in this stadium, and also to warn people today that life is more important than anything else, please cherish yourselves. s life.

Zhong Cheng looked up and sighed slightly!

May there never be any more tragedies in world football, and may everything be fine!

Zhong Cheng put his hands in his trouser pockets, walked slowly to the coaching bench, and then sat on the coaching bench very calmly, sitting quietly.

The cheers of fans from both sides continued, and the atmosphere was very heated. Sheffield Wednesday fans are bashing Leeds United like crazy, everything is so normal, as if no one imagined these things...

At this time, the bald head coach of Sheffield Wednesday, Di Matteo, walked towards the visiting team's coaching bench with vigorous steps. He extended his right hand to Zhong Cheng: "Welcome to Hillsborough." ,boss!"

Zhong Cheng immediately stood up, stretched out his right hand, smiled slightly and said: "Robert, you are wrong. I am not your boss now, your boss is - Kramer!"

Di Matteo was slightly startled when he heard this, then turned his head and glanced at the VIP box in the stadium.

In this VIP box, Sheffield Wednesday's chairman Cramer was sitting quietly, but his eyes were staring at Zhong Cheng, and his eyes were about to burst into flames.

Kramer roared crazily in his heart: "Damn crazy Loya, you are dead today! You Leeds United are dead today!"

Cramer gave Di Matteo a mission: he must overthrow Leeds United!

Di Matteo immediately turned his head, looked at Zhong Cheng, smiled slightly and said, "You will always be my boss in my heart. Without you, I would not be where I am today!"

Zhong Cheng shook his head slightly and said: "You are really honored, you are very powerful!"

Di Matteo shook his head humbly. He respected Zhong Cheng very much in his heart. Without him, there would be no Di Matteo today. Di Matteo was extremely grateful in his heart.

Zhong Cheng immediately said: "Even if you look at me like this, I will not show mercy!"

Di Matteo was stunned for a moment, then smiled slightly and said: "Boss, don't worry. I won't be merciful. I will let you see how powerful I am!"

Zhong Cheng reached out and patted Di Matteo's arm and said, "Really? Then let me see the strength of your Sheffield Wednesday team!"

DiMatteo nodded firmly and said, "You will definitely see it!"

After saying that, Di Matteo nodded to Zhong Cheng, then turned around and walked back to his coaching bench, ready to start the game.

Zhong Cheng looked at Di Matteo's back and raised the corners of his mouth slightly. Di Matteo has grown a lot, but Leeds United really won't show mercy in this game.

Now the commentators in the stadium are introducing the starting lineups of both sides to the fans at the scene and in front of the TV, because the players from both sides have already appeared in the stadium. Today’s starting lineups for both sides are as follows:

Home team: Sheffield Wednesday, coach: Di Matteo, formation: 4-4-2

Goalkeeper: Stekelenberg

Back four [from left to right]: Roberto Carlos, Sol Campbell, Heitinga and Verhahe

Midfield four [from left to right]: Van der Vaart, Nigel de Jong, Sneijder and Rivaldo

Two forwards: Huntelaar and Vieri

Today Sheffield Wednesday's starting lineup is basically their main lineup, but some adjustments have been made in some positions. The most eye-catching change is naturally their forward line. Vieri and Henry today Both Trall started at the same time, which was beyond the expectations of Zhong Cheng and the commentators.

Reyes was injured today, so he did not have the chance to face Leeds United again.

To be honest, there is still a lot of story between Reyes and Leeds United. Everyone hopes to see Reyes' performance in front of Leeds United. In the first round match between the two sides this season, Reyes performed well. Do they want to see what kind of answer Reyes will give today?

Unexpectedly, Reyes was slightly injured during the warm-up before the game, so there is no way to play today.

The full-back Cafu also took a truce this weekend because he was relaxed and was preparing for the next week's game, so the Dutchman Verhahe appeared in the starting list.

The Dutchman Stam is almost ready to retire because of his old age. Therefore, he gave up his main position to his compatriot Verhahe.

As for Ronaldo on the striker, he was sitting on the bench today, waiting for his chance.

Yes, this is the home team Sheffield Wednesday's starting lineup today.

Zhong Cheng felt a little regretful because he wanted to face Reyes. After Reyes came to Sheffield Wednesday this season, his performance is still very good. Now the number of goals and assists have reached double digits, scoring 10 goals and sending 11 assists. The performance is very amazing.

It's a pity that Reyes can't play in this game. This is really a shame.

Next, they are introducing the starting lineup of the visiting team Leeds United, as follows:

Away team: Leeds United, head coach: Zhong Cheng, formation: 4-1-3-2

Goalkeeper: Zhong Zheng

Back four [from left to right]: Ivanovic, Kompany, David Luiz and Lichtsteiner

Single midfielder: Yaya Toure

Midfield three [from left to right]: Marco Reus, Toni Kroos and Cristiano Ronaldo

Two forwards: Lewandowski and Edinson Cavani

In this round of competition, Leeds United's lineup has undergone a lot of changes, mainly because Leeds United has had a lot of players recently, and many of them have accumulated yellow cards and been suspended.

Patrick Evra at the back was suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards, Glen Johnson was in the normal rotation, and Lichtsteiner was his replacement. In the defensive midfielder position, Mbia's red card suspension is still in effect, and Seydu Keita is also suspended with accumulated yellow cards, so Yaya Toure started today.

The forwards Gareth Bale and Luka Modric were unable to play due to minor injuries, so substitute players came on the bench.

Diego Milito on the forward line was suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards and missed this game.

Therefore, Leeds United is facing their derby opponent Sheffield Wednesday with a remnant formation. No wonder Di Matteo has so much confidence, because this is not the strongest Leeds United team!

Seeing Leeds United's remnant formation, Cramer in the VIP box was very excited: "Madman, you still won't lose in the game like this? Hahaha, you're dead!"

Kramer was very excited, as if he had seen Zhong Cheng being trampled under his feet, begging for mercy. Just thinking about this scene makes Cramer so happy that he can't breathe!

Kramer was really excited. He had been waiting for this day for a long, long time!

At this time, the referee Martin Atkinson immediately blew the whistle to start the game. The first to kick off was the home team Sheffield Wednesday. They were wearing blue and white striped shirts and attacked from the right side of the TV screen to the left.