In the visiting team's locker room.
"My boys! You played great!" Coach Carter's face flushed with excitement and he high-fived the players one by one!
Leading by two goals in the first half, this result is the best half-time result of the Bucks Steelhorns in this tournament.
Based on the performance of the Bucks Steelhorns in the first half, as long as they can keep up this momentum in the second half, they really have a chance to enter the top 8 in the country! Not only Coach Carter saw hope, but everyone on the Bucks Steelhorns team, from top to bottom, saw real hope! When Gu Ran walked into the locker room, Coach Carter took the initiative to greet him and gave him a big hug, "Gu! Your performance today was great! Those two kicks of yours are definitely eligible for the best goal award of this year! In addition, I have good news for you! Your first goal has been confirmed to be the fastest in this national competition!"
As soon as these words came out, the locker room suddenly became excited: "Gu! You are the fastest! Hehehehe!"
"Haha! Congratulations, Gu!"
"17 seconds to shoot...goal!"
"Gu! Come on! We wish you faster!"
The main players of the Bucks Steelhorns team all made faces and grinned.
I fuck...
These idiots...
Gu Ran suddenly felt a little amused and helpless.
However, to be honest, the fact that we can afford to make such a joke shows that we are no longer outsiders.
Gu Ran cleared his throat and said, "Thank you for your blessings. I will continue to work hard and strive to satisfy everyone faster."
"What?"
“Fuck…”
"Satisfied? We... well, we are indeed satisfied..."
The main players of the Bucks Steel Horns team all covered their faces and were unable to refute.
Gu Ran continued: "Of course, this is all thanks to Coach Carter. Without Coach Carter, I would never have the opportunity to score a goal, let alone set the fastest goal record."
It was a very rainbow-tinged remark, but it wasn’t exactly a compliment.
After all, in the Bucks Steelers, Coach Carter is the absolute boss of the locker room. Coach Carter does not give Gu Ran the freedom and right to shoot, so Gu Ran does not have the opportunity to break through and shoot.
With 12 years of life experience, Gu Ran deeply understands one truth: It is not that you can be awesome just by having the ability, it also depends on whether others give you the opportunity to be awesome.
To put it more elegantly, there are many good horses, but there are few good horse trainers.
It is obvious that Coach Carter's vision and courage are absolutely at the level of a talent scout.
So, although Coach Carter is always using PUA, Gu Ran admires and likes this old man from the bottom of his heart - besides, Gu Ran has also learned a lot from Coach Carter's PUA techniques.
"Hahaha!" Coach Carter's old face really broke into a smile. "Listen! Listen to this, all of you! This is a good player! The more talented, the harder he works, and the more humble he is! Very good, Gu! Keep it up! In the second half, you have to keep playing well for me!"
"Yes, Coach!"
Coach Carter hugged Gu Ran again, and then said with a hint of regret: "It's a pity that Maria resigned to become a doctor, otherwise she could have given you physical therapy during the halftime break to help you recover some strength. By the way, Gu, didn't you bring a life assistant? Didn't you train her in physical therapy?"
Holy shit…
I want to...beauty! She's a Hollywood princess, I'm afraid she'll melt if I put her in my mouth! Can I let her give me physical therapy while panting? I'm almost doing physical therapy for her! Gu Ran said quickly: "Coach, she only cares about life, not physical therapy."
Coach Carter said helplessly: "Well, it's a bit of a waste... Otherwise, I will give you some physical therapy myself."
Oh shit!
Stop it! Gu Ran suppressed his fear and said, "No, no, no, coach, I'm still in good physical condition. Really, I'll be fine in the second half. I just need to rest for ten minutes."
"Really?" Coach Carter said with some concern, "But I looked at the data. In the first half, you ran 6.5 kilometers and sprinted 1.7 kilometers. The ratio of sprinting to running distance is very high. In addition, you had 7 confrontations in the first half. Your physical energy consumption must have been very high."
Gu Ran said firmly: "Coach, don't worry, I'll be fine in the second half!"
There are still 4 talent points to be added! Add 1 at the beginning of the second half! When needed, add another one! The physical strength can definitely hold up! Seeing Gu Ran so firm and confident, Coach Carter nodded, "Well, sit down now and take a rest - all of you, give Gu Ran a seat!"
"yes!"
Mianbao and others quickly gave the best C position to Gu Ran.
Gu Ran hurriedly tried to give way, but Bao Mian and others forced Gu Ran to sit down.
The team's status is already obvious.
Gu Ran participated in a total of 4 games - to be exact, 3 and a half games, and scored 4 goals!
This number of goals has surpassed Minato, Cissies, and Glider, and he has directly jumped to become the team's top scorer!
Moreover, Gu Ran can also enter the top 10 scorer list of the national competition!
The so-called "shooter" is not an exclusive title for forwards and center forwards, but whoever scores more goals is the best shooter.
A defender who scores many goals can also be called the top scorer.
The most well-known defender is Koeman, the former coach of Barcelona. As a defender, Koeman's record has not been broken by any defender so far: 21 goals in 32 official matches.
There is also Ramos, the only defender in the Spanish team's history of scoring. The other one who has scored more goals than him is the former Spanish captain Hierro - of course, Hierro played as a midfielder in the early days, so strictly speaking he cannot be considered a pure defender.
There is another sharp defender who didn't score many goals but is very worthy of mention - Materazzi. He is the Italian defender who used trash talk to make Zidane lose his temper and got a red card by heading the ball. His highest record is 12 goals in 30 games.
In short, although it is rare for a defender to be on the scorer list, it is by no means impossible. It is just more difficult and has a higher gold content.
After the players were seated, Coach Carter drew the positions of the Bucks Steelhorns team that were penetrated by the opponent in the first half on the tactical board and analyzed them one by one.
The players of the Bucks Steelhorns nodded frequently as they listened to the lecture.
“…We were ahead by two goals in the first half, but that also meant that Triangle River would attack desperately in the second half.”
“So, we have to forget the score in the first half and just treat it as 0:0 now. Don’t be proud, and don’t think we can definitely make it to the quarterfinals - we still have half a game to go!”
"What's more, the reason we were able to score two goals in the first half was not because our team's overall strength was stronger than that of the Sanjiaohe team, but because we relied on Gu Ran's genius strength to catch them off guard twice."
"Such opportunities will become less and less in the second half."
"In the second half, Gu Ran will definitely become the opponent's main target."
"So, we must be prepared to hold our own against them."
"The strategy for the second half is still to focus on defense."
"And the key to the defense is their ace captain Butler."
"As long as we lock down the B2B midfield of the 433 formation, their front and back fields will be disconnected and they will not pose any threat."
"Football is not only the art of attack, but also the art of defense."
"The Bucks Steelhorns are a weak team, and we must stick to tactics that suit our weak team."
"Compared with them, our advantage is physical fitness."
"So we have to use defense to wear down their energy, and then look for opportunities to counterattack."
"In addition, everyone, please pay attention. Unlike the defensive shrinking in the first half, in the second half, we have to push the second line of defense out and perform high defense in the midfield area to limit their 433 midfield pass control and prevent their B2B from receiving and passing the ball smoothly."
"Ximei, in the second half, you and Gu Ran will switch positions. You will play as the left back and Gu will play as the left midfielder."
"Yes!" Ximei and Gu Ran responded at the same time.
Ximei no longer had any complaints about the exchange of positions. Instead, she felt a little honored.
Coach Carter continued, "Gu, you can move a little closer to the middle, so that you, Minato, and Bread can quickly form a triangle defense when Butler gets the ball. Remember, your main task in the second half is to prevent Butler from breaking through your triangle defense area."
"Yes! Coach!"
Coach Carter glanced at the entire team and said in a deep voice, "In the second half, if Gu Ran is being closely watched, pass the ball to Shuimen and use the dog-release tactic. If Gu Ran is not being closely watched, use the dog-selling tactic. Do you understand?"
"I understand!" the Bucks Steelhorns players shouted excitedly.
Minato followed suit and then frowned: Wait, why am I surrounded by dogs everywhere???
"Very good!" Coach Carter nodded with satisfaction, "My boys! Win this game and defeat Chelsea's Lampard! You will bring glory to the entire Southampton Private School!"
"Down with Lampard!"
“Ahhhh!”
“We will win!”
"Top 8 in the country! We're definitely in!"
"For my lovely wife in 10 years..."
The players of the Bucks Steelhorns were extremely excited. They stood in a circle, hands on top of each other, and shouted loudly: "Bucks Steelhorns! Fight to the end!"
After the 15-minute break, players from both teams walked out of the player tunnel again.
The students of St. Paul's Boys' School in the stands welcomed their home team with wild boos.
As soon as he walked out of the player tunnel, Rosser, the right winger of the Triangle River team, couldn't wait to walk up to Gu Ran and said arrogantly: "Hey, Chinese boy, you were lucky in the first half, so you stole two goals from us, but don't be complacent, you will definitely have no chance in the second half, because I will focus on guarding you."
Oh……
Gu Ran frowned slightly: That’s it?
You studied tactics for 15 minutes, and now you just send a right winger who has received a yellow card to defend me?
You don't want the right winger's attack anymore? Gu Ran smiled coldly, "Follow your father."
Rosser was stunned at first, but when he reacted, his face was immediately filled with shame and anger, and his fists clenched so hard that they made a clattering sound. "Fuck! Chinese! How dare you insult me! You are courting death!"
When Rosser's teammates saw that the situation was not good, they ran over to stop Rosser.
If Rosser took action at this time, he would definitely end up in trouble.
Light~ A full blue bubble quickly formed under Rosser's feet.
Another pulling elbow attack +1.
This stuff is really dirty...
However, his mentality was broken by just one sentence. This guy has no future.
What's more, there will be many more days in the future when you will be ridiculed by our Chinese fathers. You have to adapt to it. Only the fittest can survive.
Gu Ran ignored Rosser and walked onto the field to take his position.
"Rosser! Calm down!"
"Fuck this Chinese guy! He's so damn arrogant! I must beat him! I must make him... huh?"
Rosser was cursing with gritted teeth when suddenly he was stunned.
——Gu Ran did not stand in the left back position, but switched to the left midfield position!
This, this...
How come this is not according to the routine?
How do I defend this? Do I have to retreat to the midfield area to defend? Then how can I receive the pass near the penalty area?
"Mr. Lampard, what should we do? That kid changed his position!"
Lampard also saw Gu Ran's position change, and his face was immediately depressed: Gu Ran, why did you go to the left midfield? If you do this... then you are not like my father!
Lampard took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry, just keep your eyes on him. Leave the attacking to our left winger."
Rosser: ...
On the football field, after Gu Ran took his position, he concentrated his mind and added one talent point to his physical attribute.
In this way, Gu Ran's physical attribute reached 66 points.
This is a very obvious improvement compared to the physical condition when he was just reborn.
Basically, 70 points of physical attributes are enough to gain a foothold in the professional league.
Of course, the professional leagues include English League Two, English League One, and the English Championship. In order to gain a foothold in the top professional leagues, the physical attributes must reach at least 80 points.
After adding physical strength, Gu Ran immediately added 1 point to "Man of Steel: Tin Man".
Originally, Gu Ran didn't want to learn the "Tin Man" skill so early. After all, there was still a chance to force Lampard in half a game. If he could get the Tin Man skill for the second time, he could save one talent point.
But the specific situation needs to be analyzed specifically.
Gu Ran's performance in the first half was so sharp that even though Lampard was a novice head coach, he knew to focus on defending Gu Ran.
In addition, Rosser is now furious, and he will definitely be maliciously targeted by Rosser in the second half.
With the Tin Man +2, plus his own strong attributes, his own super high basketball IQ, and his high concentration during the game, he will be safer when facing Rosser's malicious fouls.
What's more...what decent man would complain that he is becoming more and more like steel?
Gu Ran secretly took a deep breath and felt that every part of his body had become iron-hardened.
"Gu! Come on!"
Annie was jumping up and down excitedly in the away team's stands.
Gu Ran then waved to Annie and gave her a charming smile.
Anne's heart suddenly started to beat fast.
She had seen this kind of smile from Gu Ran before, and she didn't think it was anything special. After all, there were many handsome men in Hollywood, and she was not surprised by this kind of charming smile.
However, when Gu Ran, wearing his jersey and standing on the green field with a dashing smile to her charming face, Annie suddenly felt hot.
Beep! With the referee's whistle, the second half of the game officially began.
First, the Bucks Steelhorns kicked off.
After Shuimen got the ball in the middle, he immediately passed the ball to Gu Ran in the left midfield position.
The moment Gu Ran got the ball, the Triangle River team immediately responded with a siege - ace captain Butler rushed over to block Gu Ran's cut-in and passing channel, and Rosser on the right side and the right back also quickly double-teamed Gu Ran from the front and back positions.
Both Gu Ran's forward and backward passages were locked.
This was exactly what Coach Carter had expected. Gu Ran's performance in the first half was too eye-catching, so he would definitely be the focus of the opponent's attention in the second half.
Gu Ran was mentally prepared for this. Before the encirclement was completely formed, he decisively passed the ball back to Minato, then continued to pull to the side to attract defense.
With Gu Ran's involvement in the left midfield, the pressure on Shuimen was suddenly reduced, and he rushed directly into the 30-meter area of the Sanjiaohe team with the ball.
The other two midfielders of the Triangle River team came to block Minato. Minato suffered a disadvantage in the physical confrontation and could only barely pass the ball into the Triangle River penalty area.
The ball was not passed very well, and neither the sissy nor the glider were able to get into position.
The pass went straight out of bounds.
The Bucks Steelhorns players themselves were also very upset.
Without Gu Ran's participation, the attack was visibly weakened in sharpness.
Delta River goalkeeper Eddie quickly kicked the ball out of the goal, and after the Delta River midfielder got the ball, he immediately knocked it to Butler.
As soon as Butler got the ball, Gu Ran rushed over and used his body to block Butler's advance path.
Butler took the ball and attacked Gu Ran! However, Gu Ran was not afraid at all. While forcibly holding Butler, he saw the right opportunity and quickly kicked Butler with a sharp side tackle!
Interception and steal +2!
Use Butler's skills against Butler! Butler was immediately surprised. He never expected that Gu Ran could hold his body and steal the ball from him. When he wanted to protect the ball, it was too late.
The ball under Butler's feet was shoveled out of the sideline by Gu Ran! Butler's foot was also shoveled by Gu Ran! Gu Ran's defense was fierce and accurate!
Butler raised his hand to appeal to the referee, but the referee ignored him.
This side tackle was aimed at the ball and is definitely not a foul!
Butler was filled with shame and anger - he realized that Gu Ran was not a pushover at all! Gu Ran was also very aggressive!
For defensive players, especially for midfielders and defenders, aggressiveness is also one of the essential attributes!
The students of St. Paul's Boys' School in the stands were very dissatisfied with Butler's performance and kept booing and jeer at him.
They wanted to see Butler domineeringly eating raw food, but in the end, what they saw was Butler being humiliated.
If it was like the first half, where it took several people to defend Butler, the students of St. Paul's Boys' School wouldn't have booed so wildly, but the reality was that Butler was defended by Gu Ran alone! Butler couldn't even hold the ball in front of Gu Ran! The substitutes of the Bucks Steelhorns cheered for Gu Ran happily! You know, Butler is the biggest threat!
Defending Butler means protecting the fruits of victory! The game continues.
The two sides continued to engage in fierce hand-to-hand combat near the midfield.
In the next 15 minutes, both sides' physical energy was rapidly consumed, the error rate was increasing, and the movements of both sides were becoming more and more rough.
Gu Ran was given special care.
Basically, whenever Gu Ran gets the ball, or wants to run into an open space without the ball, he will be targeted by the Butler trio in a rough manner.
Rose, in particular, was particularly enthusiastic when defending Gu Ran, using all sorts of dirty tricks.
Fortunately, Gu Ran had added Tin Man +2 in advance, so these insidious and harmful actions were nothing more than tickles to Gu Ran.
Gu Ran was fouled only three times in the first half.
However, less than 20 minutes into the second half, Gu Ran had already been fouled four times.
Coach Carter on the sidelines saw this and felt pain in his heart. He kept putting pressure on the referee loudly, demanding that Rosser be given a card.
But the referee ignored it.
In fact, being fouled and violated are common on the court.
The more important the core player is and the better the performance is, the more times he will be fouled by the opponent.
That's for sure.
There is no way a team would know you are the key player and not target you.
If this happens in a baseball team, it is normal for your defensive movements to be irregular and for one kick to keep you out of the court for three months.
Even in a formal high school national competition like the one in the UK, the defensive actions will only be more fierce, especially when the team is behind.
Football is essentially a competitive game.
Take Maradona, the football king, for example. Since the statistics of fouls began in 1996, Maradona has been fouled a total of 152 times in all World Cup matches.
And these are just statistics for World Cup matches.
In this regard, Messi ranks second. He has been fouled 65 times in all the World Cups he has participated in.
Neymar was fouled 60 times in total and Ronaldo was fouled 58 times in total.
Of course, the fact that Ronaldo was violated less often is actually related to the fact that his national team was eliminated too early. If Portugal and Argentina had the same number of games, Ronaldo would have been violated many times.
The fact that Lao Ma was violated 152 times is enough to show his status in the underworld back then.
He is so strong that the opponent can only stop him by fouling, and even fouling cannot stop him.
In the Milwaukee Bucks, Gu Ran has quickly grown into the core of the team. This not only means that he will get more ball possession and the trust of his teammates, but also that he will be targeted by opposing players and being fouled will become commonplace.
Therefore, it is really the perfect time to obtain the almost god-level passive skill "Man of Steel: Tin Man".
Rosser's sneaky moves such as elbowing, pulling, and kicking the heels, as well as Butler's head-on collision, could easily have hurt Gu Ran and made him hesitate, but now, for Gu Ran, they were just like tickling.
Gu Ran was not in a hurry to counterattack Rosser - there would always be opportunities.
Gu Ran continued to focus on receiving the ball and passing it.
Under the circumstances of being madly locked down by Butler's three-man team, it was indeed difficult for Gu Ran to participate in the offense. However, Gu Ran still relied on his extremely high basketball IQ to seize the opportunity and made two extremely threatening long passes.
It’s a pity that the sissy and the glider were not good enough in close combat in the penalty area and they failed to hold the ball twice.
If the level of Sissy and Glider could be higher, then the two balls sent by Gu Ran would have been sure goals.
Coach Carter on the sidelines had a look of regret on his face and could only applaud and cheer for the team.
Lampard was sweating coldly and his hands and feet were shaking.
In the 71st minute of the game, the opportunity came——
Due to the high-pressure defense of the Bucks Steelhorns, the defender of the Triangle River team was a little hasty in passing the ball and kicked it to the left midfield position where Gu Ran was.
The ball was actually intended for their own right winger Rosser, but it was obviously passed too far.
Gu Ran immediately started at high speed, rushed to the first landing point, watched the flight trajectory of the football, and prepared to compete for a header.
Rose was naturally not willing to be outdone. Relying on the fact that he was taller and stronger than Gu Ran, he rushed over and tried to push Gu Ran away.
Gu Ran was like a root under his feet, and he withstood Rosser's collision! The football flew over their heads, and the two of them jumped up almost at the same time! Gu Ran's position was obviously better. Gu Ran's forehead hit the middle of the football and pushed hard -
Rose knew that he couldn't hit the ball, but how could he be willing to be suppressed by Gu Ran? Rose exerted his strength fiercely, and his head directly hit Gu Ran's jaw! Damn it!
You are really looking for death!
Gu Ran instantly became murderous, and instead of dodging Rosser's attack, he took the opportunity to knock Rosser's forehead hard from above! I have Iron Man +2!
What the hell are you talking about?
If I don't take advantage of such a good opportunity, I'm not your Chinese wild dad! Bang——
The two men's heads collided heavily and their bodies fell to the ground at the same time! Rosser's head was covered in blood and he fell to the ground unconscious!
Gu Ran's head was also covered in blood, but he rushed up the moment he fell to the ground! There was a cry of surprise at the scene! Dududududu!
The referee blew the whistle!
…
(End of this chapter)