Chapter 95
After a hurried fifteen-minute halftime break, players from both teams returned to the field.
The commentators for this game also returned:
"Okay, let's get back to the game, it's the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, Chelsea vs Manchester United, we're commentating for you at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge!"
"The game has entered overtime! In the final injury time of the regular season, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a header and dragged Manchester United, who was on the verge of elimination, into overtime!"
"Overtime is a huge challenge to the physical strength of players on both sides. Manchester United has no one to replace, and Chelsea has no plans to make substitutions at the moment."
Mourinho kept an eye on every instantly changing player's movement and condition on the field.
Twelve minutes into the overtime, he chose to exercise his right to make substitutions, replacing three players in a row.
After the three substitute players came on the field with full energy, they immediately launched several powerful threatening shots at Manchester United's goal, but they were all cleared or saved.
Van der Sar shouted loudly at the defense to coordinate, his eyes fixed on the changes on the field like a hawk.
The fans in the stands of Stamford Bridge sang and shouted one after another, cheering for their team.
However, until the whistle for thirty minutes plus injury time was blown, the score remained tied at one to one.
"Penalty shootout!" The commentator in the broadcast room shouted excitedly, "Chelsea vs. Manchester United in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final finally went to a penalty shootout!"
"Right now, the coaches of both teams are arranging their lineups, and the players are taking this opportunity to replenish their water and adjust their breathing on the sidelines," the partner nodded.
The camera turned to Cristiano and Alan and others on the sidelines.
Everyone was soaked. The temperature was less than ten degrees Celsius. Because of the rain, the players exhaled white breath when they talked on the sidelines. Cristiano's face was obviously flushed with two spots after the intense exercise.
He splashed water on his face, took a few gulps and then spit it out, nodding and communicating with Alan.
He pulled his long sleeves, and pulled the cuffs to halfway point as if he was afraid of the cold. He put his hands to his mouth to blow warm air, and jumped a few times on the spot.
Alan covered his mouth and whispered something in his ear, and Cristiano grinned.
"The order of penalty kicks is out!" Not long after, the commentator in the broadcast room announced the starting lineups of Manchester United and Chelsea.
The most brutal and exciting penalty shootout is about to begin!
"Manchester United and Chelsea's first two penalties were both perfect!"
"Who's next? Manchester United's Ronaldo!"
"Ronaldo has a high success rate for penalty kicks, so this one shouldn't be a big problem."
As the commentator was speaking, on the screen Cristiano started running, paused, changed speed, and shot!
The ball was directly confiscated by the opposing goalkeeper!
There was an uproar on the field instantly!
Cristiano was stunned.
"Ronaldo missed a penalty! Oh my God... The speed change and pause of this ball failed to deceive Chelsea's goalkeeper, but instead disrupted Ronaldo's own rhythm!" the commentator exclaimed.
His partner watched the replay and added: "The ball didn't go fast enough. It's probably because Ronaldo ran out of energy and lacked threat. Manchester United is in danger!"
Cristiano covered his face tightly.
Oh my God, he opened his eyes slightly and looked at the ball rolling out in disbelief.
He walked back to the wall of his teammates and no one spoke.
"The last penalty kick will be taken by Chelsea's captain! As long as he scores, the game will end with Chelsea's victory!"
"That shouldn't be a problem...but that's what I said about Ronaldo just now. We can't say for sure until the end." The partner coughed lightly.
Van der Sar took a deep breath and stared at Terry, who was wearing a blue jersey and captain's armband.
"Terry! Run up! Shoot!"
"Oh my God! The ball hit the post and flew out!? Manchester United! Once again won the right to survive!"
"Let's watch the replay."
"Terry's foot didn't stand firmly, the field was too slippery, what a pity..."
"Six goals! The game is very close! The next penalty kicker is Giggs!"
Alan took a deep breath and heard Cristiano standing beside him, whispering something in Portuguese.
He glanced over from the corner of his eye and saw Cristiano with red eyes, his hands clasped together against his mouth, and his head slightly lowered as if he was praying.
When Giggs walked to the penalty spot, Cristiano almost didn't dare to look. He hid behind the wall of his teammates, covering his eyes with his hands with only a small gap left.
"Who is that lying on the ground?" The commentator in the broadcast room almost laughed out loud in such a tense atmosphere, "Oh, it's Ronaldo, haha, he doesn't dare to look?"
"Giggs, very steady..." his partner said.
"Stop talking my friend, you have something." The commentator interrupted his colleague and coughed lightly.
“…”
Giggs easily lobbed the ball into the upper right corner of the net!
"Giggs' penalty goes into the net! It's Chelsea's turn!!"
"In the seventh round, Anelka played for Chelsea."
Anelka stood on the penalty spot.
Van der Sar stood in front of the net with his arms outstretched, and as Anelka leaned forward slightly to run, he made an inconspicuous left-pointing gesture with his left hand, like a psychological hint.
Anelka shoots to the right!
Van der Sar seemed to have expected it, he flew to the right and saved the ball, but it went out of the goal!
In an instant, the field was filled with thunderous cheers as if an explosion had occurred. Neville and Ferguson rushed onto the field, waving their arms wildly without caring about their manners, and Van der Sar was surrounded by his teammates!
"Van der Sar ended the game!! Congratulations to the Red Devils for getting a one-way ticket to the Champions League final!"
Cristiano heaved a sigh of relief, and fell flat on the field. The fear in his heart and the regret of losing a point took a step back and came over him like an overwhelming force.
His nose was filled with the smell of dirt and grass after the rain on the court. The rain soaked the field. All around him were the excited and joyful cheers of teammates and fans. Cristiano took advantage of this opportunity to lie on the ground, hiding his face in his elbows, and vented the pressure of losing the point and his resentment towards himself.
How could he lose the ball at the last minute? Damn it, he trained earlier than everyone else and worked double or triple the effort just to not miss a point at this moment.
Cristiano was so sad that he just wanted to cry his heart out. When he worked harder than everyone else, the taste of failure he tasted would inevitably be more bitter and painful than that of others.
No matter how many games he goes through, he always hates failure and losing, and that will never change.
Neville and Ferguson first gathered together with Van der Sar and his group to cheer and celebrate this hard-earned victory, and then they both noticed that there was one person missing in the crowd.
Neville immediately found Cristiano who was still lying on the court. He walked over not knowing what to do and saw their young number seven lying on the ground. Although he could not see his expression, from Cristiano's trembling shoulders and waist, he was almost 100% sure that their crybaby was crying miserably.
Neville immediately looked to his teammates and Sir Alex Ferguson for help.
Fortunately, Ferguson came over quickly, and Neville immediately went to pull Cristiano up from the ground with confidence - he couldn't guarantee that if the boss was not around, how he would persuade Cristiano who was crying so hard.
Cristiano's face was covered with grass clippings and mud, looking dirty, and his whole face was red from crying in the grass.
Neville gave Cristiano a big hug, hugged him and said loudly, "Okay Ronnie, we still won! We are in the final! Be happy, Ronnie!"
"We'll talk about the lost points later. This is not just your problem." Ferguson pinched Cristiano's neck soothingly.
He patted the boy's shoulder. A 120-minute match in the rain plus a penalty shootout was indeed beyond his expectations. If there were not such a dense schedule of matches, Cristiano's physical strength would be enough to cope with this fierce battle, but... Ferguson breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Van der Sar saved the ball.
If he arranged an extra midfielder, if Cristiano didn't have to go back to defend, Ferguson always had many ideas and tactics that he was willing to try boldly. He saw many possibilities in Cristiano and he believed they had the opportunity to try to balance the best.
Cristiano's other teammates also noticed the situation on Chris's end. They ran over, and Van der Sar smiled and put his arm around Cristiano's shoulders: "Okay, don't be sad, we won, this is the point! Without your header, we wouldn't have reached this point!"
Keane agreed, and his teammates' comfort and concern made Cristiano no longer embarrassed to continue to be upset. He was taken by Van der Sar to thank the fans in the stands. For a while, Cristiano habitually followed these big brothers.
Rooney and Alan were walking together. He couldn't help but point at Cristiano not far away and said to Alan: "Look at Ronnie, he is almost sticking to Van der Sar."
Alan looked over as Rooney said and saw Cristiano really following behind Van der Sar like a little tail. He laughed and replied, "I was scared."
"Apart from anything else, it was really Van der Sar who saved him this time, otherwise if they lost, the fans and reporters would probably scold him to death." Rooney nodded in agreement. The English sports tabloids are not friendly to Cristiano at all. This is the difference between a local star and an outsider.
Alan's eyes darkened when he heard this. During the time he had been on the same team with Cristiano, he knew better than anyone what Cristiano had encountered, as well as the completely untrue reports that fabricated Cristiano's temper, character and personality, as well as the abnormally harsh reports on his performance on the field.
He said in a deep voice: "Don't forget these people, it was Cristiano who saved Manchester United first, and then there were these people who came after."
Rooney's eyelids twitched, and he nodded wisely to show his agreement. He didn't want to provoke Alan, who was obviously the one with the real bad temper.
After returning to the locker room, Keane said to Cristiano: "Ronnie, if you don't want to go to the post-match interview, don't go. We will help you deal with it."
Ferdinand and Alan both nodded, and hoped that Cristiano would not accept interviews. They all knew what the reporters would ask and say about the penalty performance.
Cristiano changed his clothes and looked at the captain and teammates who always took care of him. He scratched his hair - he had fixed it with hairspray, it had grown a lot longer recently, and the little curls lay obediently on his neck, making him look very energetic.
He responded, "I have to go, I don't care what they write about it."
Rooney looked at Cristiano's back as he strode out. He said "Wow" softly, raised his eyebrows, and gave a thumbs up: "I see that he seems to have adjusted his mentality. He is fine."
Keane and the others exchanged glances, feeling somewhat curious and a little worried, and followed with big strides.
Sure enough, the reporters asked some standard questions at the beginning, but later on, some people asked sharp and embarrassing questions:
"Why did you miss the penalty?"
Cristiano looked at the other party and threw the question back in the same way: "Why don't you ask about my goal? For example, the header? We played a beautiful combination, I felt good, and then I scored a goal."
The reporter on the other side was rarely asked back by a player and was unable to react for a moment.
"As for the penalty, I missed it, that's a fact. I can't tell you why, but what I can tell you is that I will double my training and improve. You can watch my future games, my goals and the championships I win."
Keane and a few others were being interviewed on the side while keeping an eye on the situation over there. Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but cough lightly and turned his head away to hide the laughter that was about to come out.
They really don't have to worry about Ronnie. Their golden boy is like a little German Shepherd with vitality and confidence. These reporters should not try to stimulate or defeat him with their crude methods.
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