Chapter 112
Crouch took several deep breaths before he managed to calm himself down. He walked back to the sofa with a slightly stiff step and sat down next to Grupp.
Grup raised his arm and nudged Crouch, motioning him to look at the TV, "Look, Beckham is there too!"
Crouch looked up, and when he saw very familiar faces appearing on TV one after another, he finally couldn't help but ask, "Is it too late for me to go to the scene now?"
Grupp tutted softly, patted Crouch on the shoulder and asked him to calm down. "Why are you in such a hurry? Aren't you going to play together next season? By this time next year, you will not only be there, but you will also be playing on the field."
"Gerrard and the like have gone, but they certainly won't play for Chelsea."
"You still have a big advantage."
The rise and fall of Crouch's chest quickly slowed down. He leaned back slightly on the sofa and smiled easily. "You're right. I have the advantage!"
It’s just a pity, if he was also with Anelka, no, with Modric... Bah, bah, bah, let’s not think about these things, next season, after he goes to play for Chelsea, he will definitely win more championships with the team as a main player!
Under Crouch's careful gaze, it was finally 22:45 local time in Russia, and the 2007-2008 UEFA Champions League final officially started.
After the opening, both teams played very cautiously, even a little too cautious. Within the first fifteen minutes of the game, Chelsea and Manchester United only played against each other three times, two of which were Malouda's two crosses from the left trying to break through the opponent's defense, but both were successfully cleared by Manchester United defenders, and the football did not even fly in front of Van der Sar.
Compared with Manchester United's solid defense, Chelsea's defense seemed a bit weak. Manchester United midfielder Hargreaves' cross was blocked by Ashley. It was blocked, but it was ineffective. The football turned around and headed straight for Chelsea's goal. Endrit stepped forward and easily caught the handball, then looked at Ashley with a frown.
"You're not a goalkeeper anymore," Endrit shouted at Ashley very seriously, "Don't even think about bringing the ball back!"
Ashley nodded repeatedly but didn't dare to say anything.
After the game resumed, Manchester United began to speed up the offensive tempo, launching two attacks from both wings in succession. After the cross from the flank, the ball flew straight to the Chelsea goal.
John Terry has quick eyes and a quick head. He got to the spot immediately and jumped up to clear the ball with his head. It was an effective clearance, and the ball was directly thrown forward by John Terry.
After he successfully cleared the ball for the second time, John Terry turned his head and raised his eyebrows at Ashley. He seemed to have said nothing, yet he seemed to have said everything.
Ashley was very angry at John Terry's expression. He rolled his eyes and then looked away, staring at the position of the football, thinking, isn't it just a successful clearance? It's like no one can do it.
In the 20th minute, Ronaldinho won an indirect free kick opportunity on the wing in the frontcourt, but Hargreaves made a cross, and the ball was intercepted by Makelele on the wing before it flew to the midfield.
After Makelele intercepted the ball, he did not hesitate and rushed directly into the Manchester United penalty area with the ball. Manchester United midfielder Scholes made a direct tackle to intercept the ball.
At Chelsea, Drogba received the most cards in the team, while Manchester United's Scholes sometimes received twice as many cards as Drogba. There is no other reason. Scholes' physical fitness is not good. To become a starting midfielder, he mainly relies on his skills. Defense and interception of the ball all rely on tackling.
The tackle is the technique that is most likely to result in a foul, not to mention that Scholes's tackle was directly aimed at Makelele's men. Makelele and Scholes have faced each other more often in the past few seasons. When he saw Scholes's attitude, he gave up dribbling the ball and tried to change direction and angle while running to prevent himself from getting injured.
The two men collided directly with each other. The famous German referee Brüch ran over blowing the whistle, but the two men had already started pushing each other on the spot.
Endrit was just about to run forward to check out the situation, but Brühl had already made the decision. Makelele, who was the first to push the opponent after getting up, and Scholes, who committed a defensive foul, both received yellow cards.
Scholes, whose nose was directly broken, returned to the field after treatment. Endrit patted Makelele's shoulder to comfort him and then turned back to the goal.
This is the Champions League final. Endrit knows how excited and nervous his teammates are. It would be better to pray for God to come than to expect them to remain calm and not impulsive on the court.
"Ritter just left the goal and ran to the front court again," the commentator couldn't help but sighed when seeing the scene in front of him, "Every time Chelsea had a dispute and the game was temporarily suspended, Ritter would immediately set out to the scene to check the situation."
"And we all know that Ritter rarely joins in his teammates' celebrations during games. Most of the time, he always stands in front of the goal with a serious look on his face, as if he was welded to it."
“Beep, beep…”
After seeing Scholes take his position, referee Brüch blew the whistle to continue the game.
In the 26th minute, Manchester United attacked. Defender Brown cooperated with Scholes on the right to pass Lampard and then passed the ball to the middle. Essien, who was closest to the ball, looked at Rooney, Ronaldinho and Hargreaves who appeared near the middle. After making a quick judgment in his mind, Essien chose to go up and mark striker Rooney to prevent the latter from shooting directly after receiving the ball.
But he misjudged the ball, and when the ball was halfway on the way Ronaldinho jumped up and headed it towards the goal.
Rooney, who was unable to move due to Essien's tight defense, sneered. However, Essien's expression did not turn ugly. He did not even turn his head to look in the direction of the goal. He just continued to stare at Rooney. He did not hear the whistle of "goal valid". After seeing Rooney's expression gradually becoming ugly, Essien sneered, imitating Rooney's expression just now.
Rooney's expression suddenly became uglier.
The smile on Essien's face became even brighter.
In the 27th minute, Chelsea, with the ball in hand, launched a new attack on Manchester United's goal. Drogba passed the ball back in the melee in the penalty area, and Ballack received the ball and shot it from 20 meters away from the goal, but the ball went high and failed to enter the goal.
In the 34th minute, Lampard made a cross from the left, Drogba headed the ball to the far post, and Ferdinand jumped in front of the penalty area and prepared to clear the ball with his head. But Ballack came straight towards Ferdinand, who jumped hastily to head the ball, which flew directly towards the Manchester United goal. Van der Sar subconsciously stood up and blocked the ball, only to find his back getting cold and he broke into a cold sweat.
A minute later, Rooney made a long pass to the side. Rooney, who never spoke to each other in private, completed a wonderful cooperation with Ronaldinho on the court. Ronaldinho received Rooney's pass in the middle and lobbed the ball directly to Tevez.
Tevez made a diving header and headed the ball towards the goal. Endrit took the initiative and jumped up to catch the ball in his arms.
Today's game is crucial. Even Endrit doesn't dare to do anything fancy. He is determined to directly suppress all the balls when making saves today and not give the opponent any chance to make a follow-up shot.
Endrit held the football and moved his eyes to the left to look at Carrick at the edge of the penalty area: Yes, that's right, I'm defending you.
Coach Mourinho said that if he didn't see his teammates in a good position in front of the goal, he would not launch a counterattack and would play it safe. At worst, he would rely on a penalty shootout to win the game. Chelsea is not at all weak now.
In the 43rd minute, Ferdinand was given a yellow card for fouling Lampard outside the penalty area, giving Chelsea a direct free kick opportunity.
The Chelsea fans at the scene stood up and stared at Ballack who was preparing to take the penalty kick with wide eyes.
Before the game, Chelsea fans had already put up a "Quadruple Crown" banner to show their confidence. However, after the game started, they put away the banners and sat down in the stands, planning to put up the banners again after Chelsea scored a goal.
But the first half was almost over and Chelsea had not yet been able to open the scoring, and Ballack's free throw was the most promising one so far.
Under the gaze of Chelsea fans, the football flew over the wall and rushed towards the goal. Van der Sar jumped towards the place where the football would land and stretched out his arms to touch the football, but he did not touch the football at all - instead of the football flying directly into the net, the ball hit the crossbar and flew out.
Kicked high.
Barak stood there and rubbed his face with his hands, then quickly pulled himself together and prepared for the next attack.
The Chelsea fans who stood up in the stands couldn't help but sit down again. They didn't boo, but sighs still sounded one after another.
The game continued and Chelsea kicked off again. After a period of probing in the first half, Chelsea slowly pushed the ball towards Manchester United's penalty area.
In the 45th minute, Essien received the ball and took a long shot. The ball was blocked by Ferdinand and bounced out. Lampard ran forward and kicked the ball.
Van der Sar, who had just taken the initiative, failed to stop the ball and lost his balance. Before he could steady himself, the ball flew directly towards the goal. Ferdinand had no time to block it, and the ball rolled into the goal.
The referee Brüch immediately blew the whistle to indicate that the goal was valid. Chelsea fans who had just sat down jumped up and hurriedly raised the banner.
"GOALLLL!!! The ball goes in! In the last minute of the first half, Lampard made a follow-up shot into the net! Chelsea leads Manchester United 1:0!"
"The championship is waving at Chelsea! Chelsea has never been so close to the championship as it is now!"
After the celebration, there were three minutes of injury time in the first half. The game was not over yet, but the camera was already showing familiar faces who came to watch the game: Capello, Beckham, Gerrard...
"Gerrard cried? He cried because of Chelsea's goal..."
"No, no, no, Gerard didn't cry!" Browning interrupted his partner quickly, "He didn't cry, it was raining at the scene!"
At first, just a few small raindrops gently caressed the earth, without any pain or itch. But after the three minutes of injury time, the rain started to fall, and Endrit almost fell when he was walking back with his teammates.
"The playing field for this year's final wasn't in great condition to begin with. Now that it's raining, can we really play football there?"
The commentator reasonably suspected that UEFA had secretly received money behind the scenes, so the venue of the match was set here, and even the match time was scheduled so late!
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