Chapter 565 Zidane's will!

Franck Ribery.

The 23-year-old young player was born on April 7, 1983 in Boulogne, France. According to him, his ancestor was the famous Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty who fled because of Zhu Di's usurpation of the throne.

Before the World Cup in Germany, Franck Ribery was an unknown. He came from Boulogne, known as the "worst town in France". After spending three seasons in the youth academy of Lille, Ribery left in 1999 due to poor performance and returned to his hometown club, Boulogne-Boulegni.

After that, Ribery remained unknown.

In January 2005, he joined Galatasaray Football Club in Turkey. In his 5 months, he scored 5 goals and assisted 5 times for the team and won the Turkish Cup.

Last season, Ribery returned from Turkey to join Marseille. Although he played badly in the early stages of the league, he performed well in the Intertoto Cup. His goals helped Marseille beat strong teams such as Lazio and Deportivo La Coruna. At the same time, he also became a core player of the French Under-21 youth team.

In the European U-21 Youth Championship qualifiers, Ribery made great contributions for the French youth team. In the play-off match against England, it was Ribery's goal that eliminated the England youth team and allowed the French team to successfully advance to Portugal.

Before the 2006 World Cup, Franck Ribery had never been selected for the French senior team. In the French youth team, Ribery played as a striker and an attacking midfielder. However, in Domenech's French team, he was assigned to play as a striker.

In the round of 16 group stage, Ribery scored a goal and stood out, and was directly hailed by the French media as the successor of the famous French star Zinedine Zidane. But in fact, the two have different football styles, and Ribery's style is closer to Robert Pires, who is good at fast impact on the wing, and he is also very good at set-pieces.

Such a player does not look outstanding. Perhaps there is another reason why Ribery is sought after by the media and trusted by the head coach. That is, he looks quite strange and looks like a ruffian, but this appearance makes people feel that he is trustworthy on the football field.

In his early years, when he was 2 years old, Ribery encountered a serious car accident. Unfortunately, he was thrown from the back seat to the windshield, leaving a long bloody mark on his face. However, even now, when he has a lot of money in his hands, Ribery still refuses the "plastic surgery" suggestions made by friends and family. Ribery said: "Some people think my face is ugly, but I will not have plastic surgery. The car accident changed my life and made me cherish my life and career more. It made me focus more on football games. Winning the world championship is more exciting than having a beautiful face."

This time, Ribery finally impressed Domenech with his efforts and performance, and he became the starting player in the World Cup semi-final against England.

Judging from Ribery's experience, he is really just an ordinary player. Before the World Cup, his value was only 1 million euros. Facing a world-class superstar like Beckham, he could only look up to him. But now, on the court, Beckham is fooled by Ribery's footwork again and again.

This gave Ribery a great sense of pride.

So, the next moment, Beckham couldn't bear it anymore and kicked Ribery to the ground.

For such an obvious foul, the referee directly showed Beckham a yellow card, and the French team also got a free kick on the left side. The position of this free kick was not very good. Under normal circumstances, the French team should choose to serve directly.

However, Zidane stopped his teammate from serving the ball.

He felt that this was a good opportunity. At least from the beginning till now, the French team had been playing very passively. If they took advantage of this opportunity, how could they know that it wouldn't turn into a chance to score a goal?

Zidane thought so, so, without any of the English players noticing, he walked in front of the ball and kicked it directly under the ball.

Don't underestimate Zidane's footwork!

Perhaps, the aura of his dribbling skills and ball control master has completely overshadowed Zidane, but the accuracy of his footwork still amazes people time and time again. As the offensive core of a team, Zidane's footwork is not to be questioned at all.

All the fans in the stadium saw the football flying in the air, and after reaching the highest point, it landed accurately at the back of the penalty area, where Henry was!

"Danger!"

As the commentator shouted, Henry stopped the ball smoothly and kicked it at the bottom of the diagonal side of the football while running. With this force, the ball flew directly to the left corner of the goal.

This is almost a sure goal!!

"goooo" the shouts of the fans for a goal had resounded throughout the Allianz Arena, but at this moment, England's goalkeeper Thomas Clarke showed his power!

Throughout the World Cup, Thomas has not had many opportunities to perform, because England's offense always suppresses the opponent, which reduces a lot of performance opportunities for a goalkeeper, and the opponent's shots are always sure to score. Thomas often watches the ball go in but is powerless.

But this time, Thomas predicted it accurately in advance!

When Henry was shooting and receiving the ball, Thomas had been watching the swing of his feet. At the moment of shooting, he dived directly to the right. When everyone in the audience thought the ball was going to go in, he still blocked the ball with both hands.

However, in order to catch the ball, Thomas fell directly to the grass, and then he covered his wrist and began to grimace.

The ball didn't go in, but no English player was happy because Thomas was injured! The main goalkeeper was injured, which was even more serious for a team than the first core player being injured, which would mean that their goal was no longer stable.

Amid the concern of his teammates, Thomas walked off the field holding his wrist, and head coach McClaren had to replace the player with substitute goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

The young Robinson is mature beyond his years and became a key player for the team as early as the 2002-03 season. He first played for Leeds United, but as the team was relegated, he moved to Tottenham, where he has been performing steadily.

In the national team, it was difficult for Seaman to perform due to his fixed position, but since the 2004 European Cup, he gradually gained the upper hand over his rival James, constantly started in various national team competitions, and had outstanding performances. He was once England's number one goalkeeper.

Originally, Robinson had always been considered the number one goalkeeper in this World Cup in Germany. Unfortunately, Thomas' strong rise in Chelsea last season directly took away the position of England's main goalkeeper.

So much so that until now, Robinson's playing time in the World Cup in Germany is still zero.

And now, he finally found a chance to play, but his teammates did not trust Robinson very much. In the England team, the gap between the two goalkeepers can be seen almost at a glance. Every player knows that Robinson, like David James before him, is prone to making small mistakes on the court, and neither of them has any particularly strong abilities, so they have always been relegated to substitutes.

Such a goalkeeper is not trustworthy.

But now Thomas is injured, Robinson is the only one left in goal.

After Robinson came on the court, the game between the two teams started again. From the field, it seemed that the situation of the two teams had not changed. The England team still had the advantage on the field, while the French team still stuck to their defensive counterattack.

The score on the field is still 1:0.

But is the French team really willing to continue playing like this! ! ?

As the pillar of the entire French team and the soul of French football, Zidane would never be willing to lose the game like this! Even though the goalkeeper of the England team was injured, the French team was still at a disadvantage. He had to show considerable strength to save the team's situation and strive to equalize the score or even overtake.

If France loses this game, this will really be his last game. Losing the game silently and then retiring quietly is definitely not what Zidane wants to see. Now that the team is at a disadvantage, it is time for him to perform.

Zidane had no choice, he had to show his strength, otherwise the French team would definitely fail, their World Cup journey would inevitably end, and his football would also end here.

The end of a generation of masters, this may be a good ending, but such a casual ending is not what Zidane wanted. His football life has been brilliant and brilliant, what he needs is a perfect ending!

What is perfection?

There is no doubt about it, that is the Hercules Cup!

Only if he can help the French team win the World Cup again can he be compared with the two football kings in South America!

At this time, Zidane turned his head and looked at Wang Li, who was standing casually in the Bayern half, running continuously, his movements were light and natural. As a teammate of Real Madrid, Zidane knew Wang Li very well. Although Wang Li looked casual, Zidane knew that this black-haired boy was definitely ready to explode at any time!

This is the intuition of a strong man, and it is also the result of Zidane's understanding of Wang Li.

This black-haired kid is too strong. If they want to beat England, they must attack and try to score goals. It is almost impossible to stop this black-haired kid for a whole game just by relying on defense. Before that, the first thing the French team needs to do is to equalize the score. Only in this way can the two teams stand on the same starting line.

On the field, the ball returned to the feet of the French players again, this time it was still Franck Ribery.

Before the game, many media outlets linked Ribery to teams like Manchester United, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. On the one hand, this was a recognition of his strength, and on the other hand it was also to build momentum for the new French talent.

But obviously, the former is what Zidane values ​​most.

The same is true for Ribery himself. Although he is very satisfied with his performance in the World Cup, as a professional player, if he wants to get a better contract, more salary and join better players, he must work hard to show himself on the court.

David Beckham was facing Ribery. McLaren had considered replacing Beckham before, but at least he hadn't done that yet. Beckham remained on the court. Seeing Ribery dribbling the ball, he subconsciously wanted to step forward to defend him. After being dribbled past several times before, Beckham already knew the strength of this "scarred kid" in front of him, and he would not be easily fooled again.

Ribery's dribbling speed was not fast, but Beckham was still not in a hurry to kick the ball. He kept retreating, ready to block and steal the ball at any time. This is the English way of stealing the ball - relying entirely on the body, not speed.

But at this moment, Ribery chose to pass the ball!

Beckham didn't think of this at all, so he was fooled by Ribery again. The latter passed the ball to Zidane who was following up in the middle, in front of Beckham's incomprehensible gaze.

Seeing Ribery receiving the ball, Henry in the frontcourt subconsciously rushed forward. He ran so fast that he was almost offside. He kept his eyes on the situation in the midfield at all times, ready to rush forward to counter offside and create a one-on-one opportunity.

This is the on-court awareness of a super shooter.

Henry was disappointed because he saw Zidane receive the ball. He had a heartfelt admiration for this senior star, but when they got on the court, the cooperation between the two could only be described as "bad". Henry was trained by Arsenal and had long been accustomed to the fast-changing football, but Zidane's football was not good enough.

It can only be described as slow.

Therefore, it can be said that it is basically difficult for the two to cooperate with each other. This is also the reason why the French team has shooters like Henry and Trezeguet, as well as many world-class midfielders, but still lacks in offensive power.

However, is Zidane's football really just slow?

Of course not!

Media and fans all over the world use the word "art" to describe Zidane's football, and there must be a reason for that.

Even though Zidane's football is very "slow", its offensive threat is not bad at all. For example, now Joe Cole is trying to steal the ball in the frontcourt, but Zidane, in his "slow" movement, seems to leave Joe Cole behind in a blink of an eye with ease. This is just the beginning.

Later, Zidane met John Terry.

Zidane's dribbling speed was really slow, he just dribbled slowly, and after meeting Terry, he shook his feet and naturally moved over from the right side, while the football was kicked over from the left side with the outside of his foot.

The ball is passed!!

The ball was passed outside the penalty area!!

Even Wang Li in the frontcourt had his eyes lit up when he saw this extraordinary move. He knew that in this respect, he could not compare with an artistic master like Zidane. Most of his extraordinary moves were based on his internal strength and speed, while Zidane relied entirely on a sense of the ball and rich game experience.

"Beautiful!! Wonderful!" the commentators on the scene couldn't help but exclaim.

You have to know that the position where Zidane dribbled past the defense was in front of the center penalty area line. There were very dense defensive players at this position. There were probably only a few players in this position who dared to pass the ball to the defense. Zidane not only dribbled past Terry, but also caught the ball steadily. Such a performance was really gorgeous.

But passing the opponent does not mean that he is safe, because there are many defensive players in this position, and after Terry there is Ashley Cole. Everyone in the stadium thought that Zidane would definitely pass the ball.

However, Zidane's choice surprised them all.

A clean long shot!!

The shot was so sudden that Paul Robinson, who had just come on the field, had no time to react. He just subconsciously reached out with his hand, but the ball had already flown into the goal from his hand and kept bouncing on the net.

“gooooooooooooooooooal!!!” The commentator on the scene couldn’t help but cheer for this goal: “What a beautiful goal!! Zidane!! It’s Zidane, my God, what an incredible goal!!”

"This goal was entirely the result of Zidane's personal ability. He scored a goal in his own unique way and equalized the score for the French team! Beautiful and wonderful!"

Seeing Zidane's goal, French coach Domenech jumped up from his seat. He was so excited! It was not only because of the team's goal, but more importantly because of Zidane's goal.

You know, if the game is lost, this will be Zidane’s last game!

In the last game of his career, he was able to score such a wonderful goal. This brilliant scene will always remain in the hearts of the fans. Obviously, the French fans also thought so. They all stood up from their seats and cheered for Zidane's goal. They shouted Zidane's name to show their support for Zidane!

"Zidane!!! Master of Art!!! You are the pride of French football!!!" Such shouts resounded throughout the stadium.

At this time, commentators from various countries were also discussing with each other. They kept analyzing Zidane's goal and praising him unanimously - "Many fans think Zidane is old. No matter how good he was before, he is no longer good now. But in this World Cup, Zidane's performance has proved himself. Although he is 34 years old and will soon be 35, he is still the best player in the French team."

"Zidane has already scored three goals in the games before the World Cup, and this is his fourth! If you don't talk about England, Zidane has scored the most goals for all other teams."

"We all saw Zidane's wonderful performance just now. I think Zidane is likely to be nominated for the Golden Ball in this World Cup. Of course, the premise is that France can beat England and advance to the World Cup final."

These words are as good as saying nothing. Even though Zidane scored such a wonderful goal, no fan thought that the French team could beat the English team. After all, the current score was only 1:1.

The most important thing is that the black-haired boy has not yet shown his strength, and the game seems to have just begun.

England still holds the vast majority of chances of victory.

(To be continued)