Chapter 755 Volume 6 Crimson Saint George Bless England

Although Tang En called for Capello not to worry about George Wood's physical problems at all. But Capello still put Wood on the bench in the third game against Brazil.

He really doesn't have to worry about Wood's physical fitness. What he is worried about is Wood's yellow card-in the game against the South Korean team, he "won" a yellow card for his tough defensive attitude. In the game against Brazil, Capello was worried that Wood would receive another yellow card, which would lead to a suspension. That would be a big loss for England.

From this point of view, although he is still on the bench, his position in Capello's heart is completely different.

Both sides sent non-main players in a tacit understanding. In the end, England lost to Brazil by one goal and ranked second in the group.

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Unlike George Wood's tortuous trip to the World Cup, his teammate David Bentley, who was also the focus of Twain's investigation, went much smoother. Currently in this national team, he has no opponents on the right side and is a player that Capello relies heavily on.

All three group games started, and their performance was remarkable.

This strengthened Tang En's confidence in wanting to buy him. However, due to Bentley's outstanding performance, Twain is also mentally prepared to face competition from other teams.

Twain is a coach who prefers to play sideways. All the signings for the new season will come from the midfield, and almost all of them are offensive players. The left and right midfielders need to be supplemented, and there must be a strong new aid on the front line.

Both Zikic and Abanglaho belong to the type of players-the ability in one aspect is particularly outstanding, but the final effect is lacking. Zikic's height and header, as well as Ken's good sense of passing the ball for his teammates, are the bridgehead of the team's offense. Abang Lahuo's speed is a sharp weapon for quick counterattacks. But Twain still needs a truly pure shooter, just like Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Now France's leading striker, Benzema, definitely meets the requirements, but Twain knows that it is almost a fantasy that he wants to buy. Leaving aside the numerous contenders from wealthy families, simply satisfying the appetite of that shameless and greedy Aulas is not what the Forest team can do at the moment.

As for Huntelaar, he has already been bought by Real Madrid...

Tang En felt that deciding who to buy was a headache for him. It was even more troublesome than studying tactics and thinking about how to defeat the opponent.

After all, this is something that you can't go back on once you pay the money. If you spend tens of millions to buy a piece of trash, the pressure will not be the slightest bit.

Tang En decided to continue to observe.

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England's opponent after qualifying in the group is the US team. This is the second match between the two sides in the World Cup after England lost 0:1 to the United States in the 1950 World Cup. Sixty years ago, the two teams played against each other for the first time. After the United States defeated England 1-0, the editors of England could not believe the game report, so they made a "perfect" solution after a very "careful" review. The method-they thought that the front-line reporters made a mistake and missed a "1" in front of England's score, so with a swipe of a pen, the news of England's 10:1 victory over the United States appeared in the newspaper. It became a famous joke in the history of the World Cup.

Sixty years later, the English are still arrogant, but they don't make the mistakes of sixty years ago - live broadcasts make such mistakes almost impossible again.

Wood went into battle again and got the chance to start. Capello gave him a very clear task - midfield defense, cutting off the link between the US team's midfield and striker.

George Wood did a good job. The midfield was under his control throughout the game, and the US team could only rely on long passes to launch the offense.

England scored a goal in each half, and eventually eliminated the United States 2-0 and entered the quarterfinals.

George Wood started the game, played 90 minutes, tackled 20 times in the game, succeeded 16 times, robbed 11 times, succeeded 9 times, fouled 5 times, was violated 6 times, and passed 51 times , 40 successes, one shot, no shots on target, one assist.

This is his technical statistics. After the game, he ranked second in the team in scoring, second only to Steven Gerrard who scored two goals.

Commentators around the world brought up his name time and time again during games, calling him England's mainstay in midfield. With him, England's midfield is rock solid. England's ability to defeat the United States so easily is inseparable from his performance. If Gerrard hadn't scored two goals alone, the best of the game would have gone to George Wood again.

In fact, the World Cup is an excellent stage for most players to let themselves go to the world. Although George Wood has been famous in England for a long time, and his performance in the club is impeccable, but due to the lack of achievements in the national team, he has always been considered not a world-class star. Some people think that Wood can only perform well in the club, because there is a head coach in the club, Tony Twain, who trusts him and is willing to take him as the core, but he is still not strong enough when he is in the national team. Just like Del Piero, the "golden boy" of Italy back then, no matter how well the club performed, it would not be recognized by most people if it did not perform well in the national team.

The club and the national team are the two legs of a professional player, without which one he is just a lame man.

In this World Cup, although he came off the bench in the group, but in the knockout stage, he became the player Capello relied on most.

After the game with the US team, Capello publicly named and praised George Wood's performance at the press conference: "He reassures me that he knows what he should do. He is very orderly in our midfield .”

Many experts also said after the game that although George Wood looked the most inconspicuous among the star-studded England midfielders, he was definitely the most irreplaceable one. Whether it is Gerrard, Lampard, Bentley, Joe Cole... or anyone else, they can find a replacement, but only George Wood, no matter in terms of characteristics or functions, is irreplaceable.

If England wants to go further in this World Cup, such a diligent midfielder who absolutely implements the coach's tactical intentions is definitely a key figure.

To win a major cup match, to put it bluntly, you still have to rely on defense... The defense of England's midfielders with George Wood and without George Wood are completely two grades. Capello is no fool, he is well aware of this. George Wood is synonymous with "defense".

Even though England's opponent in the next game is the European champion Spain, Twain still boldly predicted in his column that England could at least enter the semi-finals. Maybe they can reach the World Cup final for the second time since 1966. His confidence comes from Capello reusing George Wood, and he is also a very defensive coach.

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Before the game against England, Fabregas, the main midfielder of the Spanish team who has played in the Premier League for a long time and knows English football best, was interviewed by reporters. When asked "Who is the most dangerous person in England", He said without hesitation: "George Wood."

This kind of Arsenal captain and the midfielder core of the Spanish national team can't forget the FA Youth Cup he participated in in England. George Wood, who turned out to be born, seemed to have poured cold water on his young and famous genius. Until now, Fabregas has struggled against Wood in the English Premier League.

The Spanish coach Bosque agreed with his favorite general. He said: "Unless we are going to play the traditional long ball in England, we can't play around George Wood."

Yes, Spanish football is very particular about midfield control. Look at Spain's starting midfielders in the group stage - Fabregas, Xavi, Xabi Alonso and David Silva, attacking, all technically good, good on the ball and controlling the tempo master. This midfield lineup shined brilliantly in the group stage. Spain qualified from the group with all three victories and scored 11 goals, which fully demonstrated their attacking strength, and all 11 goals were initiated by the midfielder. These four midfield starters directly assisted seven of them.

After only two games in the group stage, Spain's midfield combination has become famous all over the world, and almost everyone wears the hat of "artistic football" on their heads. The football played by the Spanish team is pleasing to the eye and highly entertaining, and the offense is smooth and natural. Fans like to watch them control the football at their feet, play with the opponent through passing back and forth and a series of running positions, and then score goals without knowing it. It is really an art.

So with these three group matches, Spain has become the favorite to win the championship. The media commented that the power of the European champions is still there, and this is an opponent that no team dare to underestimate.

But for England's coach Fabio Capello, he saw a chance to win-Spain has scored 13 goals in four games so far, and its attack power ranks second among all participating teams. It is second to Argentina, which has Messi, Aguero, Tevez and others. But they conceded seven goals. There is no doubt about Casillas' ability. The reason for conceding so many goals is just because they don't pay attention to defense, or their own defensive level is very limited...

For such a team that pays attention to the control of the midfielder and advances layer by layer, while the full-backs frequently assist, and the offense is very layered and good-looking. What is more troublesome than encountering a tough midfield sniper?

In the game against Spain, Capello put on a defensive posture, replaced Bentley with defensive midfielder Hargreaves, and set up an astonishing three-back midfielder in the middle of the midfield. ——George Wood in the center, Gareth Barry and Hargreaves on the left and right. Offensively, there is only one Gerrard in the front center.

"Obviously, I want to defend." Capello explained his lineup in the pre-match press conference. "In the game against Spain, trying not to concede the ball first is the key to winning the game."

Dunn agreed with this: "If you want me, I will do the same! Defense is the foundation of winning. In such an important game, the side that loses the ball first will easily fall into chaos, giving the opponent an opportunity to take advantage of it. I don't need 7:6 wins the game, I only want 1:0!"

The Spanish media regarded Capello's decision as begging for mercy and showing weakness. They triumphantly announced: "The Spanish team's offensive power is unparalleled in the world, and the gold medal coach Capello is quite afraid."

"Three defensive midfielders can't stop us from scoring goals!"

"The arrangement of the three defensive midfielders is simply outrageous! This is a retrogression of football and the poison of utilitarian football! This World Cup is destined to belong to Spain and art football!"

...

But they have all forgotten that Spain was able to win the European Cup in 2008 because of a very, very important reason-the team had a full-time defensive midfielder Senna who was in excellent condition at the time, because of his tireless running and The interception allowed Harvey, Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas to safely and boldly organize the attack.

In this World Cup, Senna didn't even make it to the final list due to the rapid decline in his age. Bosque didn't even bring a defensive midfielder to South Africa, is it because of the coach? No, this is just the nature of the Spanish nation. They admire offense and art from the bottom of their hearts, and despise defense and utilitarianism from the bottom of their hearts.

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The game will be played in Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa.

The direct collision of artistic football and utilitarian football, the strong dialogue between Spain and England, the favorites to win the championship, attracted the attention of the whole world. There are so many people, everyone is looking forward to the quarter-finals where sparks hit the earth.

"Who do you like, Tony?" Newcastle coach Alan Shearer, who was also a guest commentator before the game, asked his counterparts. At this time, both of them temporarily put down their identities as head coaches, and the cooperation was quite fast.

"England." Twain raised his hand and said, "If Capello still plays Spain in the same way as in the group stage, I will be optimistic about Spain."

"Three midfielders... I really didn't expect it." Alan Shearer was born as a forward, and coaching Newcastle is also known for his emphasis on offense.

Tang En smiled happily. Now he saw Capello as a "communist". "I heard about the Spaniard's reaction to this before the game. I bet those arrogant Spaniards will break their glasses after half the game. Three midfielders, Xavi and the others don't want to play any more. Haha!" He is now very much looking forward to the game for a while.

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After the game officially started, everything went as Twain said. Less than half the game, the Spaniard already looked very anxious.

The three midfielders George Wood, Hargreaves and Gareth Barry piled up in front of the back line, making it impossible for the passes that Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas are good at to pass through. Later, not to mention passing the ball, even possession of the ball became a luxury.

Capello's mission to the three defensive midfielders is simple and clear-no matter what method is used, don't let the Spanish midfielder get the ball comfortably and organize the attack. So fouls, small movements, and reasonable use of body collisions... caused Spanish artists to suffer a lot. The elegant and personable artists in the group stage looked embarrassed in the face of England's tough pressing.

Harvey and Iniesta are basically submerged in England's muscular forest. Only Cesc Fabregas, who has been in the Premier League for a long time, is slightly better, and he is not completely at a disadvantage in physical confrontation. Later, the Spanish team basically gave the ball to Fabregas, and Fabregas, who was originally arranged on the right, also slowly moved to the middle by himself. Old rival George. Wood circled up.

The ensuing game was deadlocked. England defended wholeheartedly and were unable to counterattack, while Spain attacked without a goal and could not score.

In the first half, the two sides fought 1:1.

Bosque made adjustments in the second half, replacing Iniesta with Diego Capel, officially moved Fabregas to the center, and formed the center with Harvey, while the sides were handed over to Silva and Kazzo Pull to break through, intending to open the gap from the side.

His change helped a little. But Capello quickly followed suit. Let the defensive area of ​​the three defensive midfielders increase. The center is mainly reserved for George Wood, and Gerrard helps deal with the attacks of Fabregas and Harvey.

Capello had no intention of fighting back at all.

The game was dull, much to the disappointment of spectators around the world waiting in front of their TVs. Spain is the most proud and most popular offensive football and artistic football because the opponent's midfield configuration with three midfielders can't play at all, England also shrinks in the backcourt and has no desire to attack. What's so good about such a game?

But Dunn watched it with gusto. He liked to see Spain's attack blocked by the three midfielders. Every time he saw George Wood defending another attack, he applauded in his heart.

Until the end of ninety minutes, the score was still 0:0. The two sides entered overtime after a short break. This is the first overtime game of this World Cup.

Some commentators have already criticized Capello's conservatism, but Capello can't hear such criticism, and even if he hears it, he will continue to do his own thing. Pleasing the crowd is nothing compared to winning the game.

In the first half of the overtime game, England suddenly made an offensive. Three consecutive waves of offensives almost broke through the gate guarded by Iker Casillas, which also caused the Spanish fans to break out in a cold sweat. Tony Twain's antidote to this was that it must have been an action personally ordered by Capello, because if the game was dragged into a penalty shootout, it would actually be of no benefit to England.

The impact of being eliminated by Portugal on penalty kicks in the World Cup in Germany must have continued to this day, not to mention that Joe Hart is more than one grade behind Casillas in the goalkeeper.

Therefore, Capello hopes to take advantage of the decline in the physical strength of the Spanish players in overtime to let England, who has endured for 90 minutes, launch a surprise attack and win the game. They almost succeeded - if "Saint Igor" hadn't appeared again.

In the second half of extra time, England's offensive gradually weakened, and Spain regained the initiative. They seized the last time and hoped to decide the outcome in the regular game. Even if the person standing behind them was Iker Casillas, no one wanted to take a penalty. decisive battle. And Bosque is already thinking about the order of players in the penalty shootout for a while.

The singing in the stands faded away. The Spanish fans were worried. They did not expect that the team with high expectations would play in such a mess, and the English fans were also worried-Capello's three midfielders gave them hope of not losing, but they did not see that they could win. ball of hope.

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The game went on to the 118th minute, with two minutes left before the end of overtime.

George Wood didn't give the ball to Gerrard, Barry or whoever he usually did after cutting off Cesc Fabregas at the back, but chose to carry the ball forward himself.

His sudden move caught the Spanish midfielder off guard. Except for Cesc Fabregas who was always by his side, everyone else forgot to defend the England No. 13 who was rushing forward with the ball.

Cesc Fabregas knew exactly what this kid was going to do. When Nottingham Forest was in trouble, Tony Twain would occasionally let George Wood suddenly step forward to organize an attack, and this often had a miraculous effect!

Tang En shouted in the live broadcast: "GO, George! GO!"

"George Wood went forward with the ball himself, and the Spanish midfielder didn't intercept it at all... No, Cesc Fabregas is still following him... But he is not fast enough!" Mortensen clenched his fists and shouted.

It was England's last attack...

Capello stood up from his seat, pursed his lips and looked at the court, motionless, like a statue.

"Gerrard is picking him up...Puyol is coming up! Pass? No! Force a breakthrough! Well done, George!!"

Wood relied on Puyol's combination of physical and speed advantages to forcefully wiped out the Barcelona captain.

"Entered the 30-meter zone!"

Tang En seems to have forgotten that he is now a guest commentator, not the head coach of Nottingham Forest. He stood up from his seat, clenched his fists and shouted into the field: "Shoot! George! Shoot!!"

"But his shooting is a bit..." Shearer has a different opinion. He thinks the pass is better.

Before he could finish his doubts, Wood kicked suddenly when he was about 30 meters away from the goal. Even Cesc Fabregas didn't expect him to be so decisive.

The football flew into the air without spinning, and flew straight to the goal, bringing a gust of wind.

Casillas had no time to adjust his position, so he could only soar into the air, stretching his arms vigorously, trying to save the corner kick. At this moment, "San Igor" is the only person the Spaniard can rely on, and all defenders are helpless against Wood's shot.

"George_WOOOOOOOOOOOO - GOOOOOOOOAL!!!"

With Mortensen's roar, Casillas slumped from the air, and he didn't touch the ball. The football pierced the defensive barrier of "Saint Igor" and turned into a meteor and crashed into the net!

The deadlock of nearly 120 minutes was broken...

"A groundbreaking kick...a world wave!!" Mortensen, who had been suppressed for 120 minutes, also broke out. He stood up and waved his arms vigorously, shouting, "GOAL! GOOAL! GOOOOAL!! Lore! !The lore before the finale! There is no more lore than this one! Casillas lost to George Wood! George... St.George (St.George)!'St.George' beat'St.Igo Er'! He is the patron saint of England (Note 1)! Let's go to the semi-finals, see you in Spain!!"

"St. George", who scored the lore goal, was pressed to the bottom by his crazy teammates. Capello, who had escaped from death, hugged tightly with his colleagues, swearing obscenities in Italian, and vented himself One hundred and twenty minutes of suppressed emotion. Before the World Cup, the Football Association of England gave Capello the goal of reaching the semi-finals, and now he has completed this task.

The Spanish side was dead silent. Everyone couldn't believe that George Wood, who was the least able to shoot in England except for the goalkeeper, kicked such a world wave and kicked them back to their hometown in Spain at the last minute.

"Yes! His shooting skills are terrible! But it is not the first time in his career that he has scored such a wonderful world wave! Manchester United and Chelsea have all been defeated by his powerful shot... The Spaniard Ben Time to learn! You have 'St. Igor' and we have 'St. George'!!"

"Four hundred and twenty-two years ago, the British Navy hoisted the blood-red triangular St. George's flag on the Atlantic Ocean. They fought bloody battles to the end, never flinching, and defeated the Spanish Armada! Now we see that flag full of glory again, It is flying over Johannesburg, South Africa! Once again we have defeated the Spanish Armada!!"

"St. George bless England!! St.George_for_England!!!"

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(Note 1: The flag of St. George is the flag of England. The flag is a red cross on a white background. The flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (that is, the United Kingdom) is composed of the flag of St. George representing England and the flag of St. Andrews representing Scotland, as well as the flag representing Made up of the flag of St. Patrick of Ireland.

St. George is the legendary patron saint of England, a dragon-slaying knight. The blood from the slain dragon just formed a blood-red cross on the ground. In 1277, the English designed a flag with a red cross on a white background as the national flag of England. Another theory is that St. George was a brave Roman cavalry officer who was killed in AD 303 for trying to stop the persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian. Canonized by Pope Glasius I in AD 494. He also became a patron saint of England, Georgia, Moscow, Catalonia, Malta, Lithuania, soldiers and skin diseases.

In the semaphore at sea, St. George's flag is a blood-red pennant, the flag of the Royal Navy. Raising it is to tell the opponent that he will fight to the death and never back down. The red pennant is a symbol of martial spirit at sea.

So the excited Mortensen borrowed George Wood's name here and called him the patron saint of England "St. George", which is very appropriate. )

Finally, ask for a monthly pass! ! !