Chapter 756: Volume 6: Crimson St. George's World Cup

Sorry, forgot to post regularly...

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A day into the game, Spanish fans may not be willing to accept the fact that pre-tournament favorites Spain were knocked out by England's least capable shooter.

This game made George Wood famous in world football. Even the most fake fans now know George Wood's name.

After the game against Spain, George Wood underwent a urine test and found nothing wrong. He was subsequently named man of the match. The comment given to him on the official FIFA website is: "The impeccable defense and game attitude, the lore at the last moment against the favorite Spain, embodies the full value of a central midfielder."

Mortensen gave Wood a new nickname and his hysteria when scoring goals was widely spread. Now England fans have changed to refer to George Wood as "St. George". After the game, a voice resounded in the streets and alleys of England, and in the tavern square-"St. George bless England!"

The English media said that George Wood's earth-shattering shot was comparable to David Platt's hook shot against Belgium at the last minute in the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Twenty years ago, Pratt's goal saved England and helped the team break into the quarter-finals. Twenty years later, George Wood's world wave helped the team break into the quarter-finals.

Fabregas looked frustrated after the game, but he still praised George Wood's performance in an interview: "...I tried to break him, but he was too fast. Maybe I should have fouled earlier. Well... that's football, a second of hesitation cost us the game... he did a great job and deserved to win the game, I wish him the best of luck."

Capello rarely praises a player alone, but this "law" doesn't work on George Wood. He was very emotional in the interview after the game. He took the initiative to mention George Wood, the hero of the game to the reporters: "He is a great player, and I feel lucky to have such a player in the team. Yes Yes, that was a beautiful goal, but I value his performance 119 minutes before the goal - it was perfect. He completely contained Xavi and Cesc Fabregas, not conceding a goal is the best for his efforts. Pretty sure..."

Del Bosque, who was calm after losing the World Cup, was asked about George Wood's performance and replied: "Capello's three midfielders are very successful, but without George Wood, the three midfielders are not what people think. So good. He is the core of the midfield defense... yes, I think he is the best defensive midfielder in world football in recent years. But maybe in a few years I have to remove the 'defensive' - that Beautiful goal. I have nothing to say about being beaten by a goal like this."

Twain, who discovered and raised George Wood, also became the target of the media after the game. He is not at all surprised by Wood's success: "Because I already knew he would succeed. If Eriksson was as smart as Capello, England might go further in Germany. If McLaren's head Sober up, England won't need to be a spectator in the summer of 2008. You see, anyone who looks down on Wood will end up miserable. You think that Nottingham Forest won two European Cups and a league title in two years because of luck With 'St. George', what else can't be done?" Having said this, Tang En laughed triumphantly. He really likes the new nickname Mortensen gave Wood in a flash of inspiration in the live broadcast, which is much better than "monster", "artificial man" and "future soldier".

So many people praised George Wood, so what did he think of it?

"I am very happy to be able to reach the semi-finals. I just played normally." He said "I am very happy", but there was no obvious smile on his face.

"He is just playing normally, I really want to see what his extraordinary performance looks like..." the reporter who interviewed him said in the report.

In short, George Wood established his position in world football in one fell swoop.

Before the start of the World Cup, until the group stage. The English media are still arguing over whether to let Lampard and Gerrard start or let George Wood and Gerrard start this issue. Some people support Lampard, and some people support George Wood. England's "Dual Virtues" issue has not been resolved at all because of Capello's arrival. On the contrary, "Double Virtues" has become "Three Virtues", and there is a trend of intensifying.

Well now, all the voices of controversy disappeared overnight. Some media even said: "What Capello should consider is not the question of who should start George Wood or Lampard, but who is the other person who will start with George Wood?"

It seems that "St. George"'s World Cup journey has just begun, and he still has time to write his own legend. Due to Wood's outstanding performance, England fans even began to look forward to reaching the final and winning the Hercules Gold Cup.

"...we haven't been close to that trophy since 1966. Every World Cup we say it's the best England team ever. But in reality? But maybe this World Cup will be one Different ending. Capello is a defensive coach. In the World Series, defense means championship and victory. Now with 'St. George', we have the right to dream more!"

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But "St. George's" World Cup journey ends here.

In the semi-finals they met the Italian team led by "Silver Fox" Lippi.

It was a contest between two Italian managers and a direct conversation between the conservative and the more conservative. In the end, Italy's reinforced concrete chain defense defeated England. Facing Italy's shrinking defense, England lacked the means and ideas to break the deadlock. Exposed their weakness of lacking a playmaker midfielder. Both Gerrard and Lampard are more of a scoring midfielder than a passing playmaker.

In Italy, Pirlo organized the team's midfield in an orderly manner. Threatened England's goal through defensive counterattacks, so that England did not dare to press across the board.

In the end, the game was dragged into a penalty shootout.

In fact, when it entered overtime, England was already exhausted-it took too much energy to play against Spain for 120 minutes, and to play against Italy for another 120 minutes... Thinking of this, England players Thoughts have already begun to crumble.

Only George Wood and Gerrard are exceptions. They are still running tirelessly, hoping to break the deadlock for the team. Wood even planned to repeat the same trick and scored from the back. In fact, at the last moment of the game, England fans and the media really hoped so...

But their opponent this time is not Spain, which has almost no defense in the midfield, but Italy, the originator of defensive football.

George Wood was heavily marked, and the Italian players would rather foul early than give Wood a chance to get in later. A few times Wood hastily kicked his shot and missed the head. Although England fans kept shouting during the game: "St. George_for_England (St.George_for_England)", but this time "St. George" did not reappear, he failed to bless England.

The game was dragged into a penalty shootout, and the English have completely lost confidence-it is not the first time they have fallen in front of a penalty kick. When playing a penalty kick, almost everyone will have inexplicable psychological shadows.

George Wood was not included in Capello's penalty kick list. Although his psychological quality is very good, his shooting skills are really not reassuring.

There was no suspense in the result, the world's best goalkeeper Buffon saved a penalty kick and "scared" a penalty kick. Italy hit four of four free throws and England's fifth man didn't even play and the game was over.

Tang En was not sad about this result. On the one hand, he was not a real Englishman, and he would not feel sad or happy because of the fate of this team; on the other hand, when the game was dragged to overtime, He had already seen the fate of England in his heart-he couldn't keep up with his physical strength, and he was not eliminated by Italy in overtime. It can only be said that the England team was very lucky, but good luck made them lose in the two overtime games. Run out and never come back in a penalty shootout.

George Wood and his teammates stood side by side in the middle circle, watching his teammates step forward one by one to take the penalty kick, either joyful or frustrated. And he can only watch his World Cup come to an end.

In the World Cup in Germany, he didn't get a chance to play for a minute. Even if England were eliminated by Portugal, he didn't have any special emotions except for Beckham's sadness. Four years later in South Africa, he was a regular from the knockout stages and he really felt part of the team. He deserves a lot of credit for England reaching the semi-finals, and he deserves more than just finishing in the semi-finals...

He was sad.

But he didn't cry. He had no memory of ever crying in his lifetime. He just stood where he was, with the rocker straight, and he didn't even bow his head to vent his disappointment. Because his back was leaning against someone, he couldn't move.

Lampard, who came off the bench in overtime, was the fifth penalty shooter to play, but the game ended before his turn. He finally cried out behind Wood's back. It's not that he is not strong enough, but because he knows that this may be his last World Cup trip-he was 32 years old in 2010, and he will be 36 years old in four years. It is almost impossible to play for his country in the World Cup up.

No matter how strong a man is, he can't stand such a blow.

When Beckham was substituted in the game against Portugal, when he was sitting on the sidelines covering his face and weeping, some people criticized him for never forgetting to put on a show. Those people just stand and talk without pain in their backs. People who have never experienced this kind of thing will never understand how much sadness is in their hearts.

When the fourth Italian player, Grosso, kicked the football into the gate guarded by Joe Hart, the Italian players next to him rushed forward, and half of the people in the stands cheered and jumped for joy.

Looking at the ecstatic expressions of his opponents, Wood clenched his fists. He now regrets that he can't contribute more to the team on offense. If his shooting is better... seize one of the three opportunities in overtime, I'm afraid we won't see the Italians like this now. expression.

He hates to see his opponent laugh, and he likes to see his opponent cry most.

Shoot better! Attack better! I don't want to be a defensive midfielder! I don't want others to control the outcome of the game! I want to hold... my destiny in my own hands!

I'm going to be a real "St. George"!

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Mortensen was silent for a long time, making people think he was dead. Alan Shearer shook his head helplessly. Tang En sighed. The first two were really sad that England had stopped in the semi-finals, while Twain only felt sorry for George Wood.

"Although...the semi-finals have achieved the goal before the World Cup. But after watching the last game against Spain, I believe that all English people are looking forward to more, but..." Mortensen finally recovered a little anger, "That's football. It doesn't come down to our will. The lads in England are good ... George Wood at twenty-four, Alan Lennon at twenty-three, Jack at eighteen Wilshere, Jack Rodwell, 19, Mecha Richards, 22, Walcott, 21, Joe Hart, 23, 20 Four-year-old Wayne Rooney, twenty-five-year-old Ashley Young, twenty-six-year-old Bentley, twenty-six-year-old Stuart Downing...Look at these young people, I think we You can still look forward to four years later.”

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In the third and fourth finals played on the day before the final, George Wood continued to start, and his partner was replaced by Lampard.

In the third and fourth finals, England's opponent is the opponent Brazil in the group stage.

Losing the semifinals did not affect Wood badly, or he became more motivated...

Capello handed Kaka to him, and he faithfully implemented the coach's tactical requirements on the field. Don't let Kaka take the ball easily, don't give him the space to start a breakthrough, don't let him pass the football easily, even if he gets a yellow card for a foul... completely freeze the core of the Brazilian team.

The duel between George Wood and Kaka was very exciting, and it became a beautiful scenery in the game. Neither of the two sides took advantage of each other's success.

In the end, England's overall strength was not as good as that of Brazil, and two consecutive 120-minute games exhausted all their physical fitness. They lost to Brazil 1:2 and finally won the fourth place in this World Cup.

The final was between Italy and Argentina, after 90 minutes of fierce fighting. The Argentine team defeated Italy 2-0 relying on the two flashes of Messi and Aguero. He won the Hercules Cup for the third time in history. After this battle, Messi was made a god, and the media and fans called him a new generation of football king. For a time, the name of "Mesidona" was shouted all over the world.

"2010 was the year of Messi! At the club, he wore the No. 10 jersey and led Barcelona to the league championship and the European Champions Cup! In the national team, wearing the No. 10 jersey, he finally became the king of the world! We are lucky Witnessed the birth of a new generation of football champions in South Africa!"

In almost all such praises, only one person sang a different tune.

Out of the mentality of going against the whole world and the disgust of the phenomenon that everyone blindly followed and sang praises, Tony Twain wrote in a column after the final: "I recognize the three championships Messi has won , but it would be too early to call him the 'new football king'. Argentina can win the World Cup because they didn't meet England. Barcelona can win the European Cup because Nottingham Forest is not there!"

Some people ridiculed Tang En for "you can't eat grapes and say grapes are sour".

Tang En countered that his team will return to the European competition next season, and he will let everyone know who is right and who is wrong.

"I don't mind at all if UEFA draws my team with Barcelona, ​​I can't even wish for it. Come on, 'hidden rules' me!"

Afterwards, he was fined 20,000 euros by UEFA and given a stern warning because of his remarks that might lead the public to believe that there was a black-box operation within UEFA...

The rift between him and Barcelona is getting bigger and bigger.

Lost money and reputation, but also deepened the feud with the opponent. In the eyes of outsiders, Tony Twain's idiot's behavior was simply unreasonable.

But Tang En thought he was just telling the truth...

If George Wood plays Messi, Messi just needs to pray that he doesn't get kicked off in 90 minutes and do nothing else. As long as Tang En is still the head coach of the Forest team, he will definitely do this. Where did Italy lose? The loss is that the marking of Messi is too "civilized". It's a pity that Gattuso's state declined too quickly as he got older. If Gattuso is in his prime, it is hard to say what the result of this final will be... You must know that in the game, Gattuso has obviously been unable to keep up with Messi's rhythm, and he is always easily beaten by Messi. The speed is left behind, and it is too late to foul.

New champion? Messi is far from being able to dominate everything. He still has a long way to go before becoming king.

At the very least, let my "St. George" test your fineness first.