The Godfather of Football

"Aren't you always complaining about not having a chance?"

"Today, this game is the opportunity you have been waiting for!"

The most watched game in the Champions League group stage, a focus event that has been watched and broadcast live by countless TV organizations and media around the world. The opportunity that countless people dream of appeared in front of Mascherano.

"You have to prove to me, your teammates, and the fans during the game that you are the person the team needs!"

Standing at the San Siro Stadium, Mascherano was breathing heavily and sweating profusely as he kept walking back. Behind him, Rui Costa fell to the ground and the ball fell on him. Not far away, the referee was also nearby, and had just completed a penalty, AC Milan's free kick.

Although Mascherano completed a very clean defense, his movements were indeed a bit too big and looked a bit fierce. This caused Rui Costa, who had excellent ball control skills, to fall to the ground, which also made him He received overwhelming boos from the San Siro fans, because in the eyes of these fans, if it were not a foul, it might be an assist.

The Argentine didn't pay attention to the boos from the fans. He walked back immediately after the referee blew the whistle and made the penalty.

Almost whenever there is a free moment, the Argentine midfielder's mind will keep replaying the words Ye Qiu said to him before the game and during halftime. Every time he recalls it, there is always a look in his eyes. will become more determined.

Back in front of the defense line, Lucio and Kivu both nodded towards him. Mascherano turned around, just like a wolf, staring ahead, waiting for the prey that entered his defense zone to appear, and his expression , his eyes were full of murderous intent.

Anyone who enters the defense zone will be killed without mercy!

In Ajax's tactical system, the midfielder plays an important role, but it always seems insignificant.

It's no wonder that Ibrahimovic, Robben, Van der Vaart, Sneijder and Arteta are so eye-catching in front of them, especially the offensive trident, which is hailed as the new generation of talented stars in Europe. Famous and highly respected throughout Europe.

Unlike the trident, whose every move attracts attention, the defensive midfielder is always the least likely position to shine.

But as Ye Qiu said, without strong support from the midfield and backcourt, it would be impossible for the offensive players in the frontcourt, those so-called geniuses, to unleash their offensive power and creativity without restraint. .

This made Mascherano feel comfortable, because he felt that the head coach could see both himself and De Jong's contribution to the team, so they both felt gratified.

Sweat slid down from his forehead and felt a little astringent through the corners of his eyes. He reached out to wipe it away and turned his head sideways to look at the scoreboard.

73 minutes, 2:1!

In the second half, AC Milan got a goal back. This team's offensive ability is still very good. Just now, Rui Costa's almost scalpel-like delicate through ball went straight behind the defense line, and Inzaghi was behind Successfully countered offside and scored a single goal, regaining a point for AC Milan.

This goal gave AC Milan hope, so they started to attack aggressively, hoping to equalize the score in one go.

That was Mascherano's only major mistake in the game. He kept telling himself that it was only this time!

The ball quickly came from the feet of Rui Costa and was given to the feet of Rivaldo on the left.

After the Brazilian superstar got the ball, he cut into the middle. Mascherano took a chance and got close to Rivaldo. He cut into Rivaldo's movement path with his body and directly blocked the Brazilian superstar. The two had a tight fight. Real physical confrontation.

Among Brazilians, Rivaldo's physical fitness is quite outstanding, very close to European players, but after a contact with Mascherano, Mascherano was fine and was very skillful with his feet. He kicked Rivaldo's ball to Maicon nearby, but Rivaldo took a step back.

"Wow, this Argentinian youngster's physical fitness is very good!" the on-site commentator exclaimed, "This reminds me of Redondo. Redondo's physical fitness and confrontation ability are also very good."

Sometimes, it is easy for fans to label a player because it is easy to understand.

For example, when it comes to Redondo, most fans have the impression of an elegant, calm, and calm organizational style, and many so-called Redondo IIs are like Cambiasso, Gago, and Banega in the early period. A Daiyu-shaped midfielder who has excellent organizational skills, but is a bit weak in body bones.

But in fact, Redondo was able to gain a foothold in La Liga, gain a firm foothold in European football, and lead the Real Madrid team to win the Champions League in 2000. His organizational ability is only part of it, and his defensive ability is also very critical.

Redondo's elegance, calmness and calmness are actually the result of his excellent physical fitness. Otherwise, how come Cambiasso, Gago and Banega, the so-called elegant and calm people, couldn't become Redondo?

Because there is no strong physical strength to support you, no matter how elegant and calm your technique is, if you are contacted or bumped by the opponent's body, I'm sorry, you may fall on the court in a state of embarrassment at any time.

But when you are physically stronger than your opponent and can firmly suppress your opponent, you can also become very elegant and calm.

It's like an adult facing a child. If his physical fitness is completely superior to that of his opponent, you will still be in a hurry?

So in Ye Qiu's opinion, Cambiasso, Gago, Banega and others are not like Redondo at all, or only part of them are like Redondo. If we really look at it from the perspective of a single defensive midfielder, Mascherano is more like Redondo. Although Mascherano's organization and offensive ability are a little weaker, at least he is closer to Redondo than Gago and others in the defensive midfielder position.

In Ye Qiu's opinion, the most similar thing about Mascherano is that he seems to have a sense of smell.

Just like the previous match with Rivaldo, perhaps the Brazilian's physical fitness is not necessarily inferior to Mascherano, but the Argentine defensive midfielder's entry point is very good, which just prevents Rivaldo from exerting his full strength, while he himself exerts his strength very comfortably.

When Rivaldo, who can only exert half of his confrontational strength, encounters Mascherano who exerts his full strength, the result can be imagined.

It was like this time, when Seedorf was trying to break through his defense, even though Van der Vaart was defending and interfering, Mascherano rushed out from the side, and did not fight with Seedorf, nor did he try to take him on, but just kicked quickly in the gap when he was dribbling the ball.

Seedorf continued to rush forward by inertia, but the ball was intercepted by Mascherano.

In the words of Mascherano's father, this kid was born with a sense of knowing how to intercept the ball, but if you want to analyze it carefully, it is not difficult to find that this sense of smell is composed of many different abilities, which is difficult to explain clearly.

Ye Qiu stood on the sidelines, watching Mascherano complete another beautiful defense, and he was happier than anyone else.

"This kid really tried his best in this game!" Bobby Hams said with a laugh.

In the first half, Ajax seemed to have the upper hand and took the lead by 2 goals, but in fact, the situation was not as good as the score showed. AC Milan's defensive counterattack was also very good. With players like Pirlo, Seedorf, and Rui Costa behind them, Rivaldo and Inzaghi had no shortage of counterattack opportunities.

Mascherano was in the defensive midfielder position. He destroyed at least 2 very good counterattack opportunities of AC Milan in the first half, but all this was not very conspicuous in the eyes of fans or the media, because they always focused on the offensive players.

Even when Mascherano was competing with the offensive players of the opponent, their eyes were still more focused on the offensive players. This has to be said to be a very strange angle of watching the ball.

But Ye Qiu, as the head coach of the team, was very clear about Mascherano's performance in this game.

Not showing off, but very stable, and played very well.

Of course, it is not to say that he played well in this game. In fact, Rui Costa was able to successfully assist Inzaghi to score, and a large part of the responsibility lies with Mascherano, but it was precisely because of that mistake that he tried very hard to recover the losses caused by his mistake.

Ye Qiu was very happy to see Mascherano's attitude. No player would not make mistakes. The key is attitude.

Ye Qiu did not like those players who still felt indifferent and indifferent after making mistakes.

"Let John warm up!" Ye Qiu turned around and told Roland.

Soon, Ajax completed a substitution and replaced Maicon, who performed mediocrely, with Heitinga.

Ajax's right side was under great pressure in this game, because Rivaldo, Seedorf and Rui Costa were more on this side, which put a lot of pressure on the defense on the right side. Therefore, Maicon did not perform very well throughout the game, but he was also quite satisfactory in defense.

Before Ajax made the substitution, Ancelotti had already made two substitutions, replacing left back Kaladze with Costacurta, obviously very dissatisfied with the Georgian's performance, because the first goal was his mistake.

The second substitution was to replace Pirlo with Serginho, who was more miserable. As a defensive midfielder, he was entangled by Sneijder, and he did a bad job in defending Ajax in the defensive midfielder position. The close connection between Arteta and Sneijder made Pirlo unable to defend at all, and Ancelotti's substitution this time was intended to strengthen the offense.

It was after this substitution that Rui Costa assisted Inzaghi to score.

Ancelotti saw Ye Qiu replace Maicon with Heitinga, and wanted to further strengthen the defense, so he also made a substitution, replacing Rui Costa with Shevchenko, playing a double striker tactic, letting Rivaldo cruise behind the two.

Ye Qiu responded to the opponent's move and began to appropriately retract the team's three lines, further compressing the space for AC Milan's midfield activities, especially letting Mascherano sit in front of the defense line. In addition to protecting the defense line, he also put pressure on AC Milan's midfield.

Soon, Ye Qiu completed the second substitution, Yaya Toure replaced Arteta.

This substitution strengthened Ajax's midfield. The Ivorian's running, defense and coverage were all excellent.

After completing the two substitutions, Ajax's defense became solid, and AC Milan began to fall into the tangle of two strikers, that is, the partnership between Shevchenko and Inzaghi.

It's strange to think about it. When these two world-class shooters are combined, it will actually have a positive plus negative effect.

Even in the end, Inzaghi and Shevchenko failed to score.

…………

…………

When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, the entire San Siro Stadium once again erupted with deafening boos and curses. It was obvious that the fans of the Rossoneri did not like Ajax at all, and it could even be said that they did not like Ajax at all. Very annoying.

But that didn't stop the Ajax players from celebrating at all.

Being able to defeat AC Milan in an away game and defeating the opponent in the first game of the Champions League group stage, is there anything more joyful than this? Is there anything more satisfying than slapping these fans on the spot?

Ye Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. He felt that it was still a bit risky to win this game.

He was originally betting on Mascherano's performance.

This is a choice without a choice. Although Maduro is good, there is still a big gap between De Jong and Mascherano, especially in defense, so he can only choose Mascherano.

Judging from the entire game, Mascherano was not that outstanding. His debut was not as eye-catching as Ye Qiu expected. At least Rui Costa's assist was a stain that he could not cover up. , but overall, he did a good job, very well, and his flaws did not hide his flaws.

Also because Mascherano played well, Ajax finally successfully defended the result of the opening attack and defeated AC Milan 2:1. This pair of Ajax It's not easy for Chris.

"Congratulations!" As the host, Ancelotti hesitated for a moment after the game whistle sounded, but finally walked to the front of the visiting team's coaching bench and stretched out his hand towards Ye Qiu.

This is a bit sour to say, after all, no one wants to lose in this game.

"Thank you!" Ye Qiu smiled and shook hands with him.

When Ancelotti saw Ye Qiu's smile, he felt uncomfortable in his heart. This Chinese, who was obviously much younger than himself, led a team that was much younger than his own and defeated him at his own doorstep. If you lose yourself, no one will feel good about this useless feeling.

"We will definitely have a chance to take revenge!" After a silent confrontation, Ancelotti finally said a harsh word.

Ye Qiu smiled and did not answer, because in his opinion, this was more of a helpless counterattack after losing.

It's like two children fighting, and the losing one cries and shouts to the winning one, "Don't leave, I'll go back and ask my dad to beat you." Such words in themselves have little lethality and intimidation. sex.

However, I still have to say that Ancelotti is indeed good. At least he gave a positive evaluation of Ajax's performance in the post-match press conference, but he still attributed more responsibility for the loss. The team is in poor condition.

"We have just experienced two weeks of national team competition, and after returning to the team we played another Serie A game. The players' bodies were very tired, especially several key players, which made us very passive in the game. In the end It’s a shame to lose the game.”

But a reporter immediately counterattacked Ancelotti on the spot and asked him, since he knew that the players were tired, why not rotate them? Why do you leave so many stars on the bench unused, but insist on choosing Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf and other players in every game?

"In terms of strength, our bench is filled with players such as Tomasson, Borriello, Ambrosini, Serginho and Redondo. Even if they are on the bench, they have to be superior in terms of strength. Ajax, and you previously advocated rotation, but now..."

Before the reporter could finish speaking, Ye Qiu coughed heavily, interrupting the Italian reporter.

"I'm very surprised. Why do you think that AC Milan's substitute lineup is better than ours?" Ye Qiu asked the reporter without showing any weakness, but before he could answer, he said again, "After we just finished with 2 : 1. When you defeated your main team, which was the strongest team in the world, and you thought it was impossible to fall, why did you think that the substitute team was better than us? "

The reporter didn't expect that his hurried words would offend Ye Qiu due to his poor language.

But it's no wonder that Ajax was cultivated by Ye Qiu with hard work for three or four years, as if they were his children, and this group of players was brought up by him single-handedly. You are in the newspaper It’s okay to doubt, because of freedom of speech, I thought you were farting, but you said it in front of me, I’m sorry, I can’t bear this tone.

"Put away your so-called pride of being a wealthy family. In my eyes, it's nothing!"

Ye Qiu stood up and glanced unceremoniously at the group of reporters below. Even Ancelotti, who was embarrassed next to him, was not noticed by him.

"In my opinion, there is only one situation that can prove that you are stronger than us!" Ye Qiu pointed at the reporters and then at himself, "That is when you defeat us on the court, but I must remind you You, the situation is the other way around, we defeated you!”

"In my eyes, you are just a group of defeated generals. You have no right to say that you are superior to us. That will only make me feel like I have heard the funniest joke in the world!"

Ye Qiu's words made all the reporters present feel an uproar, and a large part of them were Italian reporters. They even noisily criticized Ye Qiu's remarks, thinking that it was an insult to them.

But some neutral journalists and media remained silent, because in their opinion, this was purely a dispute caused by some people being too arrogant and looking down on Ajax, and finally being slapped in the face by Ye Qiu on the spot, so what is there to be dissatisfied about?

When Ye Qiu left the press conference early, many journalists and media close to AC Milan were behind him and bombarded this young Ajax coach who was arrogant and domineering in their eyes.

It can be imagined that the front page headlines of most newspapers in Italy the next day would only have one theme.

Bombard Ye Qiu!