Chapter 172 Three Heroes vs. Xiao Liang
"ladies and gentlemen!"
"Please welcome the 2021 Copa Award, the best young player in the world!"
"Chen! Xiao! Liang!"
"Pa pa pa pa slurp slurp slurp"
"Yo-yo! Ooooh!"
There were loud gongs and drums, blasting firecrackers, waving red flags, and huge crowds of people.
Chen Xiaoliang held up the trophy, which was a golden disc that looked like a monument, supported by several straight, thick lines.
It’s hard to say what the original design intention was, but the Copa Award trophy didn’t look like this at the beginning.
The earliest design was in the shape of a tree, with all the branches representing the last names of past Golden Globe winners.
For example, Modric, Messi, Beckenbauer and so on.
But a misunderstanding still occurred.
For example, the Ronaldo that stands out on the tree trunk, which Ronaldo is it?
Fans of Ronaldo and C Ronaldo are not giving in to each other. You bring up the World Cup to say Ronaldo is better, and he brings up the number of Champions League and Ballon d'Or awards he has won to say C Ronaldo is better.
I don’t know if the organizers thought it wasn’t lively enough or what, but they put the BEST of former Northern Ireland legend and Manchester United superstar George Best in a prominent position in front of Messi.
So Messi and Barcelona fans celebrated, saying that the Ballon d'Or was confirmed, implying that Messi was the best one.
The next year, France Football simply changed the trophy.
The 2019 winner De Ligt and the 2020 winner Haaland both received the same redesigned trophy as Chen Xiaoliang.
At this moment, only half of the deafening cheers and shouts from Roma fans were for Chen Xiaoliang.
The other half was aimed at Inter Milan's players.
As a courtesy, Inter Milan players lined up on the other side of the Roma players and watched Chen Xiaoliang's brief presentation.
But they didn't care and looked very relaxed.
Although Barrera was once included in the 24-man shortlist for the 2017 Golden Boy Award but did not make the final round, thanks to Inter Milan's strong championship last season and his outstanding personal performance, he and his teammate Lautaro have been selected for the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or in the just-concluded selection.
He finished 26th, while Lautaro was 21st.
This is enough to prove that the two are already among the best players on the planet.
It was slightly different from what Mourinho and his coaching team expected. It seemed that they also realized that there would be some problems in their left defense. In this game, Bastoni played as the left center back in the three-center back system, while the team's regular substitute, 33-year-old D'Ambrosio, was used as the right center back.
Thus, on the left, behind Perisic, who is weak in defense, is Bastoni, who is excellent in defense;
On the right, in front of D'Ambrosio, who has a slower defensive speed, is Dumfries, the right wingback with excellent running ability.
It seems that Inter Milan head coach Inzaghi has figured out the chain defense.
The rest of the starting lineup continued the previous lineup, which was exactly what Roma predicted.
In front of the three midfielders of Calhanoglu, Brozovic and Barrera are Lautaro and Dzeko, one on the left and one on the right, one fast and one tall.
The goalkeeper is captain Handanovic.
Mourinho also made changes, which surprised the local media and fans in Rome.
The three central defenders from right to left are Mancini, Smalling and Kumbulla;
Ibanez played as right wingback, Viña as left wingback;
Obviously, Mourinho knew that Karsdorp's defensive ability was completely unable to compete with the successive attacks of Perisic and Calhanoglu, so he simply sent Ibanez, who was the fastest and most reliable defensive central defender in the team, to block the right side, hoping to cause unexpected trouble to the opponent.
The double defensive midfielders are still Cristante and Veretout, and in front of them is Chen Xiaoliang;
The forward combination of Zaniolo and Cesco was used.
Pellegrini and Abraham both sat on the bench with serious expressions.
This unprecedented configuration is naturally a double-edged sword. If used properly, it would be like playing against the rules and defeating a master with random punches. If used improperly, you would be confused before you can confuse your opponent.
Especially Ibanez, when he was in Fluminense in Brazil, he played as a left back and a defensive midfielder, but he had never played as a right back, or even the relatively more forward right wing back.
Many fans are happy with the changes made by Mourinho, believing that he has really put a lot of thought into making up for the team's shortcomings, but they are also worried about whether temporary changes in formation and sending players who are not familiar with the position can play the desired role.
However, at this time, one media outlet issued an "alternative" voice...
Roma, Inter Milan, and the Korean media, which have nothing to do with this game, have been speaking out intensively, using words like "hype", "shady dealings", "meteor", and "injury to Zhongyong" to predict Chen Xiaoliang's future prospects.
The reason is simple: the results of this year's Copa Award hurt their self-esteem.
South Korean player Lee Kang-in was ranked ninth in the second Copa Award in 2019 when he was 18 years old;
That year, the 27-year-old Son Heung-min ranked 22nd among the 30 candidates for the Ballon d'Or.
At that time, both rankings broke the best results for Asian players in the world's major individual awards.
There is no need to say how proud and proud Koreans are of this.
Even for many Korean fans, after Son Heung-min's Tottenham Hotspur, Lee Kang-in's La Liga team Mallorca has become their second home team.
The winner of the Copa Trophy that year was current Juventus center back De Ligt, who also won the Golden Boy Award the previous year. Therefore, Korean media generally claimed that Lee Kang-in lost to De Ligt not because of his lack of strength, but because his platform and identity background were not as good as the other.
But now Chen Xiaoliang has directly won the first place of the Copa Award, which has made some Koreans with strong self-esteem unable to sit still.
You said that De Ligt has Ajax genes, Juventus platform bonus, and the halo of the Dutch national team, and can still find some self-comfort. What does Chen Xiaoliang say?
Youth training... He didn't have any youth training at all. The time he actually spent at Tottenham was too short, and he could only be considered a half-baked youth training student of Glasgow Rangers.
A rich club? Who would consider a Scottish Premier League rich club outside of Scotland as a rich club?
Roma? Who would consider a European giant when they have not been able to enter the Champions League for many years and have no worthy champions in their family?
National team? Come on, a dozen or twenty years ago, when the Chinese media talked about the South Korean national team, there was a term called "Korea phobia", which means that they would be scared and lose the game when they met South Korea.
Now? These three words are too embarrassing for the sports media in the Red Country to mention.
When failure is a natural thing, even the right to fear is taken away.
Just like no one would describe the Red Country men's football team as "Italyphobia", "Germanophobia" or "Westernophobia".
The Korean media is in chaos.
For some ethnic groups and some people, losing to Europeans and Americans with high noses and white skin is completely acceptable, but losing to Asians with the same black hair and yellow skin is unacceptable.
But the Copa Award is not the Winter Olympics, and the French will not give them the opportunity to drag and drag and make shameless appeals.
However, God helps those who work hard, and they still "reported" a "news".
It is said that Mourinho let his super agent Mendes work behind the scenes to bribe most of the Ballon d'Or winners, and ultimately changed the outcome through such forced intervention.
That wasn't enough, they also brought up the example of Kluivert Jr.
The second son of the Dutch legend is also in Rome. In 2019, he ranked 9th in the Kopa Award selection, but soon fell into decline and was loaned out by the club continuously. This season he was loaned to Nice in Ligue 1.
So the Korean media concluded that Chen Xiaoliang is the next Kluivert.
However, all analysis and estimates must be verified by actual combat.
Therefore, in this game, Inter Milan unexpectedly gained a large number of Korean fans...
Their Red Country boss Zhang Kangyang was also confused...
The outside of the field is the outside of the field, and the inside of the field is the inside of the field!
After the referee Marco Di Bello communicated with the captains of both teams, Chen Xiaoliang and Handanovic, to determine the division of sides, both sides stood still, and then he blew the whistle to start the game!
“Beep!”
Zaniolo kicked the ball with his familiar left foot in front of Lautaro, officially starting the game!
Chen Xiaoliang didn't stop the ball and passed it directly to Binia on the left.
Zaniolo and Cesco began to press forward.
Binia passed the message back to Chen Xiaoliang.
Barrera pounced.
In this game, cutting off Chen Xiaoliang's forward passing route was the main defensive task of the Italian midfielder.
Chen Xiaoliang still did not stop the ball. Facing the pressure from Barrera, any unnecessary movement would result in the loss of the ball. He rubbed the ball with the outside of his right foot, and the ball immediately flew towards Cesco.
As a bridgehead in the front section of Roma, Sesco's great role and power in Roma's offense have long been demonstrated.
The person who was mainly responsible for defending Cesco in this game was Inter Milan's defensive core Skriniar.
Facing the floating ball, the two men fought for a while, Cesco overpowered Skriniar and headed the ball, then he unloaded it with the instep of his feet and completed the catch beautifully.
“Beep!”
Referee Marco Di Bello blew the whistle, indicating that Cesco had committed a foul by elbowing someone.
Cesco spread his hands, looking surprised.
"You're bragging about this?! This was a reasonable confrontation, there were no unnecessary hand movements at all!"
Mourinho on the sidelines complained to the fourth official.
The fourth official frowned and made a very serious gesture to Mourinho to retreat, meaning that he should return to the coaching command area and not run out.
Mourinho was helpless, as he knew that he had become a "special target" among Serie A referees. After going to the stands three times this season, any disturbance would be magnified by the media. This also forced him to try not to direct the game on the sidelines in several games, but to sit quietly in the coaching seat and watch.
Skriniar kicked the ball to the left.
Perisic took a few steps after receiving the ball. Ibanez did not dare to relax at all and kept his eyes fixed on Perisic's steps.
Perisic did not choose to force the ball, but passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area. Barella came in and prepared to pass the ball horizontally again, but Mancini got the upper hand and blocked the ball.
Mourinho applauded on the sidelines and expressed encouragement to Ibanez and Mancini.
Roma got the ball again, but the attack was not organized smoothly.
Inter Milan maintained a very tight formation, with three central defenders and two wingbacks ready to shrink or expand at any time depending on the degree of pressure from Roma's midfield and frontcourt.
At the same time, the two wingers Perisic and Dumfries' commitment to defense far exceeded Chen Xiaoliang's expectations.
The defending champions took a very pragmatic stance, patiently looking for opportunities in the offense, often making small-scale cooperation in the penalty area to find opportunities to cross the ball to the middle or to the bottom.
When defending,
At the fulcrum, Skriniar would compete with Cesco for almost every header, while Bastoni and D'Ambrosio beside him would be ready to make backup and fight for the second penalty.
And Brozovic is really like what Joao said, like a taxi . Although he can't run as fast as a Ferrari, every time you see him, he is running!
He was responsible for cutting the passing routes on the ground, Skriniar was responsible for intercepting high balls, and Chen Xiaoliang was unable to effectively deliver shells to Cesco. He could only keep moving, receiving the ball, dividing the ball, and passing it back in the midfield, trying to transfer the ball to Roma.
However, looking at Inter Milan, their attack is also in the exploratory stage.
In the 8th minute, Dumfries broke through on the right and passed the ball to the middle under the pressure of Bigna.
Barrera made his way into the penalty area, pretending to receive the ball behind him, while Calhanoglu moved to the left, pretending to receive the ball from the middle and launch an attack from the side.
Lautaro suddenly retreated, and while running he stretched out his hand to signal that the ball should be passed to him quickly.
Brozovic received the ball, looked up and passed the ball.
As a result, he didn't pass the ball to anyone, but took a long shot directly!
As soon as the ball flew out, Chen Xiaoliang, who was rushing sideways, made a sliding tackle and blocked it with his heel.
Brozovic was stunned and Barrera was shocked. Both of them were surprised at how fast Chen Xiaoliang was.
In the previous ball, a horizontal pass was made and three actors on the left, center and right sides were full of drama, which successfully fooled Ibanez, Smalling and Mancini to focus their attention on them.
Only Chen Xiaoliang still pounced on Brozovic and slid to the ground in advance.
This clearly revealed the true intention of the attack.
“Interesting.”
"Um?"
Chen Xiaoliang only heard someone talking beside him, and when he turned around, it was Barrera.
"I say, you seem to be quite capable." Barrera thought Chen Xiaoliang didn't hear clearly, so he repeated it with a different meaning.
Chen Xiaoliang smiled. Did he really need to say "thank you" to him at this time?
Seeing that Chen Xiaoliang lacked a receiving point when he got a chance to pass the ball in the frontcourt, Veretout took the initiative to press forward and cooperate with the organization of the attack.
But by doing this, he actually fell into an ambush circle in Inter Milan's midfield.
Inter Milan's midfield, which was mainly composed of Barella and Brozovic, aimed to cut off and put pressure on Chen Xiaoliang and prevent him from passing the ball forward comfortably.
Chen Xiaoliang's active running and his style of play without controlling the ball or dribbling meant that Inter Milan's two midfielders had no chance to directly steal the ball.
But now that Veretout pressed forward, he immediately shared the number of times Chen Xiaoliang received the ball in the midfield.
But the Frenchman will not insist on passing the ball with one kick. He likes to make a run from behind, push forward, and stop and dribble in the midfield.
He likes to play like this, and Barrera likes him like this.
For a moment, Veretout thought he was in team training, because he saw a midfielder rushing towards him quickly, disrupting his balance and dribbling pace with an unreasonable close collision, and then intercepting the ball.
Just like what Chen Xiaoliang has been doing to himself during team training since the first day he arrived in Rome.
But after taking a closer look, he found that this person was wearing number 23, was half a head shorter than him, and was wearing a blue and black striped shirt. He was not his teammate at all!
After Barrera stole the ball, he moved directly to the left, where Calhanoglu had been waiting for a long time.
He received the ball, adjusted one step and passed the ball directly!
Dzeko!
He pressed Kumbulla from behind and headed the ball out like a mountain falling on his head!
Patricio moved ahead and dragged the ball out of the baseline with one hand!
“Beep!”
Referee Marco Di Bello blew the whistle again!
This time he also penalized Dzeko for pushing someone!
Inzaghi shook his head. He did not choose to engage in a meaningless verbal dispute with the fourth official. He also asked the players to pull away Dzeko who was arguing with the referee.
But it was too late. Dzeko had just said a few words of dissatisfaction when Marco Di Bello pulled out a yellow card for him!
"Isn't this too harsh?! What on earth want to do?!"
Now Inzaghi couldn't help it and walked towards the fourth official and questioned loudly.
"Please return to the coaching area!" The fourth official used the same method he used on Mourinho on Inzaghi.
Veretout, who had just lost the ball, was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. The team almost fell behind in the score because of his loss.
But... what Joao said was indeed right!
Calhanoglu's crossing ability is on par with Chen Xiaoliang, while Veretout's former teammate Dzeko has remained as good as ever after leaving Roma. He is simply an older but stronger Cesco!
Barella, who has the stealing ability of Chen Xiaoliang, grabbed the ball under the cover of Brozovic, who has the running and endurance of Chen Xiaoliang, and then passed it to Calhanoglu, who has the crossing ability of Chen Xiaoliang, and then passed it to Dzeko, who has better header ability than Cesco!
Other Roma players on the field had the same idea as Veretout.
The huge gap against Inter Milan last season made them not have the energy to think so much. They couldn’t win anyway, so why think so much?
But today, with the arrival of the Mourinho era and the strong joining of Chen Xiaoliang, Cesco and others, they have given them great hope!
However, it was this hope that brought them a greater shock.
It’s like a person who is climbing a mountain. When he is at the foot of the mountain, he looks up at the peak and cannot really feel how big a challenge the height of the mountain brings. Only when he has climbed to the halfway point with great effort and looks at the top of the mountain, can he understand that conquering a peak is by no means an easy task!
"It seems that the referee has established his authority early on after the game started! After all, this game is related to the championship and the top four of the entire season! Ten minutes after the start of the game, the rules should be set for both sides and a stable balance should be found! This will also prevent the game from getting out of control!"
In the live broadcast room, in order to match the atmosphere of this focus battle, Penguin allowed Zhan Jun and Huang Jianxiang to cooperate for the first time!
As we all know, since becoming famous on ESPN, Zhan Jun has been a professional commentator for Premier League team games. He has also always modestly called himself a "commentator."
Since Huang Jianxiang made his debut on CNBTV5 channel, he has commented on many Serie A matches in the early years and has a special affection for Italy, especially his shocking roar in 2006, which not only became a famous meme for more than ten years, but also changed his career path.
"Teacher Jianxiang, what do you think?"
Huang Jianxiang: "I think so too, especially this season, Roma's games have encountered controversial penalties many times, Maresca was punished to referee in Serie B, and at the same time, due to the arrival of Mourinho, there are a large number of Premier League fans among his fans. In contrast, the refereeing ability, control ability and credibility of Serie A referees have been questioned by the outside world.
I think Marco Di Bello was given a warning today and that no obvious controversial incidents should occur in key matches.
So he simply took a strict approach and nipped the possibility of a conflict between the two sides in the bud.”
As the two were talking, Patricio took a long free kick, and Cesco finally "cleanly" headed the high ball and passed it back to Chen Xiaoliang who was ten meters behind him.
Chen Xiaoliang immediately passed the ball to the left, and Binya made a long shot!
The ball was blocked by De Brosio's butt and flew out of the sideline.
"In the first ten minutes, the two sides had possession rates of 37% to 63%, with Inter leading by a large margin, but neither side completed a real shot, either due to a foul or being blocked and completely deviating from the goal.
All the competition was carried out around the midfield and the flanks, with constant back and forth, which was lively but boring to watch. "
However, before Zhan Jun's comments could spread far, in the 14th minute, the game took a surprising turn!
Lautaro's lob pass from outside the penalty area was blocked by Kumbulla and Inter Milan took the corner kick from the left.
There was no doubt that Calhanoglu was on the penalty spot.
The penalty area was immediately filled with players from both the offensive and defensive sides, with you in me and me in you!
Chen Xiaoliang was also marking Bastoni near the penalty spot.
No one expected that Calhanoglu's corner kick would fly out with an arc and height that looked like it didn't hit the right place.
It was impossible to pass the ball to the back post as it flew very low.
The pass to the middle was obviously not powerful enough.
Pass forward?
Inter Milan did not deploy any players at the front point!
The ball flew halfway, turned in an arc, and flew towards the goal!
Patricio had already got his posture and hand shape in place, waiting for the ball to fly into his arms.
But the script thought that the corner kick, which was thought to be harmless, suddenly fell rapidly when turning!
It was completely beyond the flight trajectory that Patricio had subconsciously imagined in his mind!
The ball went between his legs and over the goal line!
Patricio stood there in a daze!
Roma players are collectively confused!
"How could a veteran goalkeeper who has fought many battles and reached the top of Europe be fooled by a direct corner kick?!
incredible!"
Zhan Jun shouted excitedly.
Huang Jianxiang: "You think he can't do it, but he just happens to catch you off guard. Calhanoglu's corner kick was very thoughtful, and from the fact that there was no man at the front point, it was obvious that he came prepared!"
Calhanoglu stood by the corner flag with his hands on his hips, looking very proud, and watched his teammates rush towards him to celebrate the goal.
This action of his, who was not very famous, caused huge boos from the Roma fans in the stadium!
A group of fans in the nearby stands launched a fierce verbal attack on him, but Calhanoglu simply opened his hand and placed it on his left ear, pretending to listen, while his right hand kept fanning, as if the sound was too soft and he couldn't hear it.
Now, the whole place was filled with boos, insults, and greetings to parents!
Referee Marco Di Bello immediately showed the Turk a yellow card to stop his provocative behavior!
Barrage:
【The brain damage of the dog and chicken】
[Damn, this can go in, Patricio's reputation is ruined]
[Hurry up and replace the goalkeeper in his prime in the winter window! And replace all the defenders at the same time! Roma can't win anything with this defense! ]
[This referee is really good at picking out cards... but this one is a beautiful one]
[Cha 20 is really cheap, AC Milan fans are the first to dislike him]
[This referee only knows how to control the game by showing cards. He is so lax. He spit more saliva than Mourinho when he cursed after the game.]
[The person above, if you say that, I won’t be sleepy anymore]
