Chapter 675 Club World Cup Final

The referee of this game is Yair Maloufo from the United States. He is a referee with rich enforcement experience. In the player channel before the game, he clearly told the players of both sides that he hoped to get a smooth game and hoped that the players of both sides could enjoy the fun of the game.

As the captain of Manchester United, Bruno stood silently at the front of the Manchester United queue, slowly adjusting his emotions and gradually getting himself into the state of the game.

Mourinho said that the battle should be over in the first half!

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In the corner area on the left side of Al Ain's half, Bruno gently put down the football, stepped on the grass behind the ball, slowly stepped back a few steps, stood upright, and looked straight ahead.

In the penalty area, several high-point and header-excellent players of Manchester United have already stood in their respective positions.

Al Ain's defensive players also pestered Manchester United's players as if they were facing a great enemy, and there was always some harassing small moves on hand, which made the penalty area look very messy.

In the stands of Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, every fan's face was tense and solemn.

It was the seventh minute of the game, and Manchester United had unexpectedly controlled the situation and the ball from the beginning. Al Ain retreated steadily in its own half, allowing Manchester United to attack, and they took the opportunity to counterattack.

Because Manchester United's offensive was fierce, the two wingers composed of Rashford and Luke Shaw, Mbappe and Cancelo were more threatening.

In just seven minutes, Manchester United had already won three corner kicks. The first two were left and right, all of which were taken by Rashford. As a result, without exception, Manchester United's corner kicks failed to create threats. Al Ain had obviously made arrangements for corner kicks.

In the seventh minute, Manchester United won the third time. Rashford took the initiative to change and gave the penalty kick opportunity to Bruno.

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This season, Bruno rarely takes corner kicks, but this does not mean that his ability to take corner kicks is poor. It is more due to the professional division of labor in the club. The coaching staff believes that it is more threatening to let Bruno stay near the penalty area.

But if fans who are familiar with Bruno are not unfamiliar, Bruno's corner kicks frequently make contributions, so when Bruno stands in the corner area, Manchester United fans cheer immediately. This also makes Al Ain very puzzled. From the players on the field to the coaching staff outside the field, although they don’t understand what’s going on, they always feel that it seems to be very powerful.

Could it be that Bruno is the most threatening player for Manchester United to take corner kicks?

If so, then the defensive strategy formulated by Mamic before the game may have to change.

Bruno can clearly feel that the live camera behind him has been aimed at him. He heard the cheers and applause from the fans in the stands. This is encouragement, but also pressure.

To become Manchester United’s number one star, you must be able to bear this pressure.

He exhaled heavily, slowly raised his right hand, and pointed his index finger to the sky, as if to say one.

This made everyone inside and outside the stadium hold their breath. No one knew what this meant, except for a few Manchester United players.

This was the tacit understanding that Bruno had cultivated with them during their daily training.

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After the referee blew the whistle, Bruno took a deep breath and jumped out quickly. Every step he took was very steady and powerful.

He didn't know how many times he had done this kind of training in the past six years. His pace had already become an instinct of his body.

After his left foot stood on the left side of the football, his body formed a specific angle with the football. His right foot was like a bowstring, and it quickly popped out and touched the football.

There was a muffled sound like an air explosion at the scene, and the football flew out at a lightning speed. The arc was not high, but the speed of the ball was very fast.

In the penalty area, the players of both sides were in a mess. Van Dijk, Harry Kane, Rashford and others all used their running positions and squeezes to interfere with and attract the defense of Al Ain players.

But Maguire suddenly retreated to the penalty spot before Bruno took the free kick, and then suddenly rushed forward and chased the front point.

By the time Al Ain's defenders realized Van Dijk's danger, the English central defender had already jumped to the front of the goal, and with a diving header, he headed Bruno's cross into the goal guarded by Khalid.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"Manchester United scored the first goal in the seventh minute!"

"1:0!"

"Maguire! Harry Maguire scored the crucial goal!"

"This was a corner kick assist from Bruno! The quality of the corner kick was very high. Bruno's landing point was almost heading for Maguire's head. After the England central defender headed it, the football changed direction and hit the goal. Khalid didn't even have time to react."

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After seeing the header score, Maguire punched the grass with both fists, jumped up from the ground, ran towards Bruno, and hugged Bruno directly.

The two cheered and celebrated wildly on the sidelines, shouting loudly at the live camera and Manchester United fans in the stands.

Behind them, Manchester United players also rushed out and surrounded them.

"This goal is too crucial! People who are familiar with football know that in such a crucial final, whoever scores first can control the initiative."

"Manchester United scored just seven minutes into the game, which was beyond everyone's expectations, but this is football!"

"Bruno's corner kick skills are very superb, and the level of this corner kick is very high. Maguire seems to cooperate with him very well. After a fake shot to get rid of the defender, he quickly chased the front point and scored with a header."

"1:0, Manchester United temporarily took the lead!"

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Mamiqi grabbed his head hard, as if he wanted to tear his head off. He kept shouting at the players on the field, hoping that they could calm down.

This is the final!

Although they made a very detailed plan before the game, and even took many factors into consideration, who could have thought that Bruno would take a corner kick and Maguire would cooperate with him so well?

Bruno's most impressive set-piece is his penalty kick. In his career, Bruno has scored 24 consecutive penalty kicks without missing a single one. This achievement shows his calmness at critical moments and his superb penalty kick skills. From Udinese to Manchester United, he not only demonstrated his ability to score goals, but also proved his reliability as a penalty shooter. This series of successful free kicks not only helped the team win the game, but also further consolidated his core position in the team.

In addition, Bruno's ability to score free kicks is also the top level in the world football, known to the world.

During the Udinese period, Bruno was also the team's first corner kicker. However, as Bruno's scoring ability became stronger and stronger, Bruno's chances of taking corner kicks became fewer and fewer.

Mamic missed Bruno and Manchester United's change of tactics.

This is a bit troublesome.

The opponent was given three corner kicks in the first seven minutes of the game, and the goal was scored. How to play next?

Mamic immediately walked to the sidelines and made adjustments, hoping that the players could stabilize. At the same time, he also signaled the players in the front and middle fields to retreat appropriately to help defend the two wings in the back field and stabilize the position first.

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Manchester United obviously also knew Al Ain's wishful thinking and did not intend to let the opponent go back just like that.

According to Bruno's observation, Mourinho's strategy is to pursue the victory and end the battle in the first half.

This is a very wise choice.

The main reason is that Manchester United's physical fitness is indeed not as good as that of the opponent. If the stalemate phase drags on to the second half, it will be very disadvantageous for Manchester United, so it is necessary to gain enough advantages in the first half.

If the advantage cannot be established in the first half, then the strategy and style of play must be changed in the second half, leaving enough room for retreat.

The advantage of strength is that they have the initiative on the field and can decide what tactics to adopt, when to attack and when to defend.

After taking a one-goal lead, Manchester United continued to press and oppress in the midfield, especially in the defense against Kaio. The double defensive midfielders Gundogan and Kante were like a wall, blocking the Brazilian front midfielder, especially Gundogan.

In the 14th minute, when Kaio wanted to break through with the ball, Gundogan suddenly made a fierce shovel and knocked the Brazilian midfielder to the ground with the ball.

The referee Maroufo gave a yellow card. The Manchester United captain did not argue, smiled at Maroufo and stepped back.

This was his way of showing off to Kaio. The action looked fierce and lethal, but in fact no one would be injured, it was just very intimidating.

After being knocked down by Gundogan, Kaio did restrain himself a lot. Every time he saw the ferocious looks of Gundogan and Kante, he was obviously a little uneasy.

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Al Ain's midfield was restricted. The ball could not be played in the front court, so the ball was transferred more in the midfield and backcourt. Manchester United increased the pressure in the midfield and backcourt.

At the beginning, Al Ain could still cope, but as time passed, Al Ain's overall strength disadvantage was reflected.

In the 28th minute, Al Ain's central defender Fayez took the ball forward and wanted to pass the ball to midfielder Doumbia under the interference of Harry Kane. The two were only ten meters apart, which was originally a sure thing. Unexpectedly, just as Dembele was about to grab the ball, Gundogan suddenly jumped out from behind and tangled with Dembele, causing the ball to roll to the left.

Rashford caught up with the ball and quickly dribbled along the left, directly forming a counterattack after intercepting the ball in the frontcourt.

Harry Kane also pressed forward immediately, and the two quickly formed a two-on-three situation in the left half.