Super Marshal

May 14, 2011, afternoon, Wembley Stadium, London.

The FA Cup final has gone on for seventy minutes, and the score between the two sides is still zero to zero.

Neither Gao Han nor Ferguson made substitution adjustments, and they were obviously maintaining the situation on the court.

Manchester City controlled the ball and rhythm as always, launching wave after wave of attacks towards Manchester United's goal.

The Red Devils and Manchester United also showed extremely tenacity in this game. The central defender combination of Ferdinand and Pepe, as well as the old goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, sat in front of the goal and helped Manchester United resolve the crisis time and time again, especially Van der Sar.

As early as the first half when Manchester City launched a bombardment, Van der Sar repeatedly made key saves.

In the 23rd minute, Cristiano Ronaldo got a kicking opportunity on the left side of the penalty area, almost directly to the dead corner, but Van der Sar bravely saved the ball with one hand, resolving a crisis.

But the most dangerous thing was in the 35th minute, a direct pass from Modric. Benzema quickly stepped in and barely took it off in an unguarded state. Just when Benzema was about to kick. At the critical moment of the goal, Van der Sar decisively abandoned the goal and attacked Benzema's volley.

This was also a very dangerous attack. If Benzema hadn't reacted quickly enough and stopped his kick in time, Van der Sar would have received a fierce shot.

But after the ball was saved, it did not fly far, but fell at the feet of David Silva at the front of the penalty area. The Spaniard stopped the ball in the penalty area and volleyed, trying to hit an empty goal, but Van der Sar again After saving the ball, he jumped up from the ground, opened his arms bravely, and blocked Silva's shot again.

With two consecutive heroic saves, the 40-year-old Van der Sar won full applause. Even the Manchester City fans who came to the away game cheered and applauded the Dutch goalkeeper.

It was thanks to Van der Sar's heroic performance and Manchester United's unity that they finally stubbornly blocked Manchester City's attack.

Manchester City did not play impatiently. They still controlled the ball in an orderly manner and patiently looked for opportunities.

Especially in the second half, Manchester United players' physical exertion increased. Although they were occasionally able to seize opportunities to counterattack, they also frequently showed flaws, and cracks continued to appear in the iron wall.

In the 73rd minute, Sanchez forced a breakthrough on the right and brought the ball to the right side of the Manchester United penalty area, but Leighton Baines and Matic defended at the same time, forcing him to pass the ball back.

Modric ran to the right to receive the ball and moved to the feet of David Silva in the center.

The Spaniard received the ball, and Manchester United's Fletcher rushed towards him immediately, but before he could get close, David Silva had already passed the ball to Benzema's feet in the penalty area.

In the penalty area, the French center leaned on Ferdinand and received a pass from David Silva. He then saw the Spaniard quickly move forward after passing the ball. He immediately understood and used his heel to move the ball to the baseline without thinking. pass.

Sure enough, David Silva entered the penalty area at high speed and after getting rid of Fletcher, he crossed behind Ferdinand and caught up with the ball before Pepe. He made a quick dunk to stop the ball, turned around, and saw his hands raised at the edge of the penalty area. Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Spaniard passed the ball back, and Cristiano Ronaldo stopped and fired directly.

Only a bang was heard, and the ball went straight to the goal with lightning speed.

At this time, Manchester United's penalty area was full of people. Ferdinand reacted instinctively and blocked the Portuguese's shot. But just when everyone thought that Manchester City's offensive was going to be in vain again, Card Kabuto suddenly appeared on the right side of the penalty spot. Before the ball blocked by Ferdinand hit the ground, he shot a volley straight away.

This sudden shot prevented Van der Sar from reacting in time. He just instinctively raised his hands and leaned forward to pounce. However, he was unable to make a move, and the ball directly hit the goal behind Van der Sar.

One to zero!

Kaka was so excited that he raised his hands in the air, kept running and praying, rushed to the sidelines, and lay directly on the ground, as if he was worshiping his God, but he was soon chased from behind. The Manchester City players who came up piled up one after another, firmly suppressing the Brazilian superstar.

This is a fatal shot!

…………

…………

After seeing Kaka score the winning goal, Ferguson was not as excited or angry as expected.

He seemed to accept the result calmly and turned around and walked back to the coaching bench.

In fact, it can be said that he was mentally prepared for losing the ball.

With Manchester United's current strength, it is not at the level of challenging Manchester City, not to mention that Manchester City's current head coach is still Gao Han.

He has reached an agreement with the management. As long as Gao Han leaves Manchester City, the management will increase the club's investment, allowing him to once again lead the team to the Premier League and Champions League championships, so that he can retire with honor.

But as long as Gao Han is still in Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea will not have much desire to burn money.

The reason is simple. No matter how much you burn, you can't beat Manchester City. Instead of doing this, it is better to keep the money and wait for the opportunity.

In the same year, in the eyes of players, head coaches and club leaders, they are three completely different concepts.

Ferguson and Gao Han are very good friends and good neighbors, but he still sincerely hopes that Gao Han can win the Champions League this season and leave the Premier League as soon as possible, because he can no longer wait.

His players couldn't wait any longer.

After the end of this season, four veterans including Edwin van der Sar, Scholes, Gary Neville and Owen have decided to retire.

Unknowingly, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville were both approaching their fourth birthday, Owen, the once popular young boy, was already thirty-one, and the old Edwin van der Sar had passed his forties before he knew it. This made Ferguson Extremely emotional.

Ever since the news came out that Van der Sar would retire, Manchester United fans have reacted extremely fiercely. Almost everyone hopes that Van der Sar can stay and continue to play for the team, because even at the age of 40, Van der Sar is still He is one of the most eye-catching and outstanding goalkeepers in Europe.

Thirty-two league games, 14 clean sheets, 80 dangerous saves, and a terrifying 72.7% save success rate. This data ranks him second only to Manchester City's Petr Cech. Called the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League.

What you need to know is that Petr Cech is in the prime years of his career, but Van der Sar is already forty years old.

Time has hardly left any trace on Van der Sar. His solid goal-line skills, accurate prediction and position selection, and stable and calm psychological quality have made Van der Sar the most reassuring player in front of Manchester United's goal. A presence that makes opponents despair.

In this game, in the face of the indiscriminate bombardment of Manchester City superstars, Van der Sar kept the goal clear time and time again. If it weren't for him, Manchester United would have conceded more than three goals by now.

It can be said that Van der Sar, who has passed his 40s, is still the most indispensable and key member of the Manchester United team. His departure made Ferguson panic, and he did not know how to deal with the crisis in front of the goal next season.

Rival Wenger publicly stated after the Manchester United game, "Ferguson will definitely miss Edwin van der Sar next season."

In fact, without Wenger saying it, Ferguson himself knew it very well.

This will be the final final for Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Michael Owen.

…………

…………

The game time entered the 80th minute, and the score was still 1-0. Manchester City temporarily took the lead with Kaka's goal.

After losing the ball, Manchester United thought about counterattacking, but they were never able to break through Manchester City's defense. On the contrary, Manchester City's counterattacks repeatedly threatened Manchester United's goal, which made the Red Devils feel very depressed.

Ferguson made his first substitution in the 81st minute, with Scholes coming on and replacing Mkhitaryan.

Just four minutes later, Ferguson made a second substitution, with Michael Owen replacing Tevez.

All the fans who came to the scene finally understood that the Manchester United coach had given up on this game. He was just replacing players who were about to retire this season and let them accept the cheers and cheers of the fans.

In the stands, whether it was Manchester United or Manchester City, fans from both sides stood up from their seats and sent off these retiring veterans with extremely warm applause. This will be the last final of their careers.

Especially in the 89th minute, when Gary Neville came on as a substitute, the audience applauded even more enthusiastically.

There is no need to say more about the contribution of this legendary captain of Manchester United to the team. He is the banner figure of Class 92. He has participated in fewer and fewer games in recent years and is about to retire now.

Every time a substitution was made, the Manchester City coaching staff and bench players, including Gao Han, also came to the sidelines to applaud them, and there were Manchester United fans in the stands who had already displayed a huge banner.

"Goodbye, legend!"

This was undoubtedly a tearful scene, and it also reduced the competitive atmosphere of the entire FA Cup final to the minimum.

Especially at the last moment of the game, Manchester United's Class 92 walked out of the player tunnel one after another and appeared at Wembley Stadium, including former superstars Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Butt, Phil Neville and others, all appeared at the Courtside.

When the referee blew his whistle, these students from Class 92 immediately rushed into the court and surrounded Gary Neville, Scholes and others, still forming a circle just like they did when they were crossing the field. Circle, head to head, it makes people extremely emotional.

The professional league is cruel and full of cold calculations, but football has warmth. It brings together the feelings and friendship of countless coaches, players and fans.

All the fans in the audience once again stood up from their seats in unison and gave Manchester United's Class 92 the warmest applause since the opening, which did not stop for a long time.

Today, at Wembley, there is no winning or losing.

Gao Han believes that fans all over the world will be moved when they see this scene.

Countless years from now, people may forget that on this evening at Wembley Stadium, Manchester City won the FA Cup, but they will definitely remember that on this evening, here, in front of 90,000 fans in the audience , and witnessed by live TV viewers and fans around the world, European football bid farewell to a generation of legends.

Suddenly, Gao Han envied Ferguson.

He won more championships, achieved higher honors, and even trained more players, but he did not have a group of proud disciples like Class 92.

It was also at this moment that Gao Han fully understood and saw clearly what path he wanted to take.

Thinking of this, Gao Han suddenly felt something in his heart and strode into the stadium.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Brian Kidd was surprised.

Gao Han waved his hand without looking back, "Sign and take a photo."

Everyone was completely dumbfounded.