Chapter 152: Qualifications for the starter

No one knew what Abang Laho was thinking at this moment. Even he himself didn't know how this thought rose from the bottom of his heart.

Anyway, he is now full of energy in his chest.  The European Cup finals cannot be satisfied by running two laps before going down. The team starts with eleven people, but only those who score goals can leave their names in the finals.   As a forward, he is naturally advantageous than his teammates in other positions. So what's the point of running for dozens of minutes?

Of course, you have to score a goal!

Must score a goal!

Abang Laho re-entered the game, and it was obvious that he was more active than before. He seemed to no longer continue to push in the front, but retreated from the opponent's penalty area and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

Tang En was very satisfied with his change, so he stopped supervising the game on the sidelines, but turned back to the coach's seat and asked for water to drink.

Everyone in the coaching staff knew why he wanted to start Abanglaho and gave up Vaughan. But they couldn't tell the players the reason, because it was related to whether the team could win the game.

Three minutes later, England's continued offensive finally created an opportunity for Abanglaho. After receiving a pass from Wood on the edge of the penalty area, he broke into the penalty area and faced goalkeeper Amelia. He tried to use his outside instep to bypass the opponent, but unfortunately the arc was slightly larger and he went directly to the far post.

This ball made the English feel very sorry and also shocked the Italians in a cold sweat.

But those commentators who opposed Abanglaho's starting lineup were still picking on his fault: "It's a pity! But if it were Vaughnlai, they might have entered..."

This statement is completely irresponsible, because James Vaughn's shooting skills are not accurate to millimeters. Shooting is about luck. No matter how bad luck is, it can score goals, and maybe it is a world wave. Unlucky, even a striker of Romario's level comes. He may lose his game against empty goals. What's more, in terms of competition experience, Abon Raho is obviously better than Vaughn, because Nottingham Forest often participated in important Champions Cup games in the past few years, and Abon Raho also won. Don't let Abon Raho start the game is not simply nepotism, but because Abon Raho is indeed capable of starting in such an important game.

The main reason for criticizing him in the media is that Abang Lahoo only scored one goal in this European Cup, which is really inconsistent with his identity as a striker. However, he performed well in the right forward position.

Abanglaho's shot failed to score, while Tang En stood on the sidelines to applaud his performance just now.  There is no problem with the use of technology.   It's just that the luck is a little bit bad...

Abang Laho himself could not hear the commentators' comments on him, and through this shot, he found a place to be used.

In the subsequent attack, Abanglaho appeared more in the ribs of the Italian back line - between the centre-back and the full-back. This position made the opponent very uncomfortable. It was a bit like the three, no matter where the local area, it was difficult for anyone to go.

Wood also discovered this, and he had his own plans in his mind.

Logically speaking, Rooney should be the main attack point of England's team because he is strong. He has excellent skills and rich experience. But these are just texts and route maps on the tactical board. In the game, Rooney will not be able to get so many opportunities. Mitcher was suspended, and Vaughan was pushed on the bench by Donn in the semi-finals. In the eyes of Italians, Rooney is the most threatening person on the England front line, and they have no reason to let it go.

So in actual games, Rooney was most defensive.

Just look at Chrischito. You will know how much risk you will take to pass the ball...

Wood is a human being, not a machine. He has the right to modify the instructions entered before the game based on the situation on the field. Since Rooney's road is not open, then change it. He aimed at Abanglaho, who had previously been sleepwalking.

He didn't know why Don't let Vaughn play, but he didn't think that Abanglaho was incompetent and qualified to start. And in his opinion, Abanglaho's previous sleepwalking performance was a big advantage. If used properly, it could achieve unexpected results for the Italians.

Because of his poor performance before, the Italian defenders have relaxed his defense. Now the Italian must think that this Abonrajo is not threatening, right?

That's really great...

Wood ran to the frontcourt to participate in the offense. Gerald passed the football back to him. Wood directly gave the football to Abanglaho in the ribs. Sure enough, when he received the ball, the Italian defensive player did not pounce on it immediately.

Abanglaho took this time to quickly turn around and face the goal.

When Chiellini rushed over, he did not bury his head and dribble the ball in, but suddenly divided the football into the middle!

This move really made the Italian unexpected. Gerald, who received the pass in the middle, took a long shot without hesitation!

Fortunately, Amelia was very focused and pressed Gerald's long shot against the ground firmly under her.

But this attack made the Italians realize one thing - Abonrajo is still the guy who passes the ball to others. He is definitely not the direction of the English landlord attack.

This further strengthened the Italian defenders' focus on Rooney and Gerald's ideas.

"Actually, our tactics in the first half were not suitable for Abanglaho's performance..." Walker said to Don En, who was standing on the sidelines. "He is more suitable for counterattack. I think it's more useful to send him on the court after we lead..."

"Most people think so, including Italians." Donn turned his head and shook his head at Walker. "Abanglaho's speed is too fast. It's too dazzling. Everyone has formed a fixed mindset about him. Including the current head coach of Nottingham Forest... But I don't think so. After so many years under my command, if he still only knew how to use speed, he would have cleared him out of the team. He has another side, but it's not very noticeable. I just want to use his unobtrusive side to help me open up the situation."

Speaking of this, Don En laughed, "Now the Italian players think so."

He pointed at the field and let Walker see it.

Abonrajo's position retreated a little, but none of the Italian defenders pulled out to keep up with the defense. Italian midfielder defenders were also paying attention to Gerald and frequent back-sliding into the Wood, as well as the other two wide players.

Abanglaho was raising his hand to ask for the ball, but he had not forgotten to turn around and look at the situation around him. Unexpectedly, no one paid attention to him. He was despised.

Abang Raho was angry about such treatment, but Don Eun was laughing and laughing happily.

"Lippi..." He glanced at the next door, "He is a very cautious head coach, but he didn't expect that I would let Abanglaho start, a person who performed mediocrely in this cup. So he must have made no targeted arrangements for Abanglaho. Everything depends on the players' judgment. You know, Des. People will make mistakes. They have their own ideas, and this is something the head coach can't control..."

Under Lippi's repeated emphasis, the Italian players paid high attention to the England team, but Abon Lajo, who was unplanned, did not receive the respect he deserved. Of course, his poor performance before "helped" him. No one wasted time on someone who was not in shape, compared with Abon Lajo. Even George Wood's shot was more threatening.

Wood did not intend to tell his other teammates about his thoughts and let everyone go and pass the ball to Abanglaho. This was a gamble, and the Italians did not react so quickly. If the English team fed Abanglaho and instead exposed their true intentions, he decided to do it alone.

Of course you have to take some risks. But as the team's metronome and core, choosing when to take risks and when to be conservative is a matter of duty.

Abanglaho raised his hand to ask for the ball again, and Wood also passed the ball over. Then he rushed forward and made a stance to cooperate with Abanglaho with "two-for-one". The Italian defenders were indeed fooled. Whether it was Chiellini or Aquilani, they all turned their attention to him, ignoring Abanglaho who had already got the ball.

Abang Lahoko, who had just received the ball, turned around and finished it all in one go, had no intention of passing the ball. He looked up and saw a road leading to the penalty area...

Just between Chiellini and Vital, in the ribs of their defense, there was a seam from where Abanglaho saw the penalty area.

After Abang Laho made the illusion of passing the ball, he suddenly knocked the football forward. Then start!

Chiellini was paying attention to Wood, while Vital was staring at the "little tiger" Walcott. No one expected that Abanglaho would choose to lead a breakthrough himself!

His speed was indeed fast. In an instant, he had already rushed in, and Chiellini began to turn around...

"Stop him!!" De Rossi shouted in panic.

Chrischito ran from the side, and once again made a key prediction, throwing Rooney down and pounced on Abonraho. This was entirely due to the instinct of an excellent defender.

Abanglaho, who broke into the penalty area, was not polite. He swung his foot and shot directly. At this moment, Chrischito came over and shoveled him and the ball was thrown out!

"Punishment!" John Motterson screamed.

"Beautiful defense!" This is the voice of the Italian commentator.

Abonrajo, who fell to the ground, thought he would hear the whistle of the penalty kick. But there was nothing. The ball that Crischito shoveled out was kicked out by Chiellini who had driven back. The referee had no expression of Crischito's move. Abonrajo jumped up from the ground angrily and roared at the lineman with indifferent expression: "This is a foul! It is a foul!"

Other England players were also dissatisfied with him. Wood ran to the referee, pointed to the penalty area, reminding him that Crischitodi's defense was definitely a foul just now. Rooney was also making a fuss for Abanglaho, although just now when Crischito rushes towards Abanglaho, he made a gesture to let Abanglaho pass the ball to him.

The referee just waved at Wood's protest, indicating that he was very clear and didn't say anything more.

Tang En was also very angry on the spot, but the person who endured his roar and saliva was the fourth official.

"Please believe the referee's decision. Not every time he falls to the ground, he is a foul..." Faced with the head coach who was described by the media as a demon, the fourth official was a little confident when he said this.

"So I support using electronic eyes to replace the referee! If you are a person, you will make mistakes!" Tang En threw down this sentence and walked back angrily. He knew that he would not return the penalty kick, and the referee's penalty was not allowed to change. He just wanted to vent his dissatisfaction. He was not good for health...

England still didn't get a penalty kick. The Italians escaped. They began to pay attention to the close-kick of Abanglaho and no longer gave him space to move freely. The fools saw that the sleepwalking patient was gradually awakening. Not to mention that Lippi was dissatisfied with Italy's defensive performance off the court, reminding them to pay attention to Abanglaho's defense.

They still believe that as long as Abang Lahoo doesn't give him room to sprint and dribble, he will be no threat.

Donn began to call Walcott's name off the court. Walcott, who returned from injury in the first half, was not active enough.

"What are you afraid of when you get more balls? Get more crosses... low-level ground!"

"George! Let's cooperate with him in the past... Yes, that's it!"

Walcott and Wood played two-pass and one-on-one on the wing and ran forward, while Wood passed him a pass and passed the ball to bypass Vital's defense.

After receiving Wood's pass, Walcott made a cross from the bottom. Rooney grabbed the spot in the middle, but he obviously could not compete with Italy's entire defense line. The football was pushed out by Chiellini.

Although this attack did not work, Tang En still applauded the players' performance off the court.

England fans were also applauding.   Because England's strong offensive has completely suppressed the Italian team.

The Italian commentator didn't think so: "I think the current situation is good for us. The stronger the English attacked the ground, the greater the hope of us winning. When Lippi decided to counterattack the defensively, I was worried that England would not attack, so that we would not be able to win the game. Now, there is one side who takes the initiative to cooperate. I think the game will end within ninety minutes..."

After Walcott and Downing added crosses from the wing, Abonrajo seemed to have become the Forsaken again. He did not have excellent heading skills and did not have the advantage in bounce and competed for the top. Instead, Rooney frequently appeared in front of the goal and competed with Italian defenders.

But Abang Laho himself did not give up. He was still looking for a goal opportunity. It was like a hunter, patiently waiting for the rabbit to appear in front of him.

When Walcott took the ball and broke through again, the Italian defenders were divided into two parts, partly preventing him from breaking through and crossing. The other part was staring at Rooney and Gerald.

This time Walcott did not simply overtake by speed and then cross from the bottom. He made a fake move to cross, tricking Vital into a skewing center of gravity, but suddenly knocked the ball between Vital's legs, and then used his flexible figure to go around Vital.

"Beautiful man scored!"

Walcott, who broke through Vital, made Italy's defense very nervous because there were cracks on their defense. Walcott could not only continue to break through by himself, but also cross now, or even shoot directly.

Chiellini rushed towards Walcott. Although Rooney is important, you must always remember the player who takes the ball when defending the defense is the most dangerous.

Walcott passed the ball while he caught up, not to Rooney or to Gerald, but to Abanglahoe who was dragged near the penalty spot!

Abonraho is not unmarked, Aquilani is next to him. Seeing him catch the ball, he stepped forward to interfere.

Abanglaho shot with his feet, and Aquilani threw the center of gravity out.

This is almost instinct. Abanglaho has no intention of considering why he received the ball. And what should he do next. He saw Aquilani's center of gravity shake off. He then tweaked the ball to the left and dodged the angle. But it seemed that there was more than one trouble...

He just dodged Aquilani. De Rossi appeared in front of Abonrajo again, blocking the angle of his shooting.

Abanglaho once again swung his feet and shot. This time De Rossi was not fooled, and he stood there and moved without moving...

"He should pass the ball! Rooney is asking for the ball!"

"The indecisive behavior will lead to the failure of this offense. He no longer has the angle and space to shoot..."

"Our defense is very successful. Abanglaho now either passes the ball or waits for the ball to be intercepted!"

De Rossi thought Abanglaho must have made a fake move this time, but he didn't expect that when Abanglaho swung his right foot down, he really hit the football...

This was a very concealed shot. Abanglaho poked the football with his toes while swaying his legs on the spot and was unable to exert force. In order to exert force as much as possible, his body then leaned back and helped him.

The soccer ball, poked by the toes, flew straight through De Rossi's legs toward the goal.
To be continued...