The Midfield Master

On September 29, local time in Portugal, the sixth round of the Portuguese Super League kicked off. Maritimo sat at home to face Braga, a Portuguese super powerhouse that has risen rapidly in recent years.

The champion of the Portuguese League Cup last season and the runner-up of the Europa League in 2011 can be said to be a strong team that has risen rapidly in European football in the past five years. It is known as the strongest team after the top three in the Portuguese Super League.

Maritimo has one win, three draws and one loss in five rounds, ranking 8th with 6 points, while Braga has three wins and two losses, ranking fifth with 9 points.

However, in the last few rounds, Maritimo has been in good form. In the last round, they drew with Sporting Lisbon, which is currently at the top of the list, which made the fans of the home team quite optimistic about this game.

But when Maritimo's starting lineup came out, some fans of the home team felt a little incredible.

Because the last two games turned out, Xia Ze, who performed quite well, did not appear in the starting lineup as the public opinion said, but was put on the bench by the head coach Martins.

Xia Ze's substitute made some Maritimo fans feel pessimistic about the start of the game. Even the bookmakers raised the odds of Maritimo's victory after the two starting lineups came out. All this indicates that the game has not yet been played. From the beginning, the balance of victory has been tilted towards Braga.

Zhang Wei and Di Keao, who also performed well in the last Portuguese League Cup, were also selected for the squad this time, sitting on the bench like Xia Ze.

Suars, who was suspended due to a red card in the last round, replaced Xia Ze's position and partnered with Gretel and Pereira in the midfield.

After knowing that he was not destined to start, Xia Ze didn't say anything. He knew that the head coach must have his reasons for doing so, but he hadn't realized it yet.

But Zhang Wei, who was sitting next to him, didn't think so. When the game started, Zhang Wei was still chattering and complaining about Xia Ze. Xia Ze could only smile helplessly and let Zhang Wei speak freely.

And Xia Ze did not enter the starting lineup, which also made other Maritimo players feel a little uncomfortable, even though Xia Ze only played two games.

Relying on the superior strength of Maritimo, Braga took the initiative at the beginning of the game, cooperated with the short pass, and the tugging of the frontcourt made a lot of noise. For a while, the situation in front of Maritimo was turbulent, and dangers frequently occurred .

Although captain Briggle and Brazilian central defender Rosario sit on the back line, they can barely resist the opponent's attack.

But the midfielder was suppressed by the opponent, and there was no way to play an effective counterattack, which made Braga's players unscrupulously throw themselves into the attack.

Martins frowned on the sidelines, obviously he didn't expect his team to play so hard at home.

You must know that when they played against Sporting Lisbon in the away game, even if Xia Ze hadn't played yet, they could still gain a firm foothold. But now it turned out that Braga was playing under pressure, which made the young coach's handsome face clouded with gloom.

Above the stands, more than 10,000 Maritimo fans were watching the game nervously.

Among the fan group, there is a young beautiful fan with blond hair and brown eyes, tall figure, straight nose, and healthy wheat complexion. It is the counter employee Monica that Xia Ze met at the bank to send money last week. When she was on vacation, as a loyal Maritimo fan, she was also frowning at this time, obviously very worried about the team's suppression.

"Hey, if Xia Ze starts, then we don't have to be overwhelmed right now, we can't fight back, and we can even lead!" Monica said worriedly, obviously he has quite confidence in Xia Ze.

Beside her, a tall and thick man with a big beard shook his head and disagreed with Monica's thoughts: "Although Xia Ze performed well in the last two games, I heard that his physical fitness It's not very good, and the opponent must have targeted it. Using Xia Ze as a surprise soldier may be more effective. Sister, you can't just be biased towards Xia Ze just because you have seen him."

"Brother, how can you say that!" Monica was exposed by the big beard,

Some shy.

Since Xia Ze was born last week, she has been fascinated by this handsome Chinese youth, and after taking a photo with him, she even put the photo of the two on the desktop of the mobile phone, and she is quite obsessed with Xia Ze.

...

While the two were talking, Braga launched an attack again, penetrating in from the center. Maritimo's defenders could no longer stop them, and the opponent's striker Lima pierced through the gate.

In the 20 minutes of the game, Braga led Maritimo away.

Lima's goal made the Barreiros stadium dead silent, only hundreds of Braga fans in the corner area were cheering and celebrating.

Goalkeeper Sasha fished the ball out of the net in frustration and kicked it into the midfield with a big kick. And Maritimo's defenders were also listless. They couldn't even raise the motivation to pursue responsibility for the conceded goal just now.

"Pay attention to the defense! Keep your spirits up!" Martins couldn't help shouting loudly as he watched his players look downcast from the sidelines.

"Everyone raise your head, we can't let them press down and fight anymore, press harder, we want to recover the score!" Captain Brigle clapped his hands and encouraged everyone.

After the re-kick-off, under the instructions of Martins and the captain, Maritimo's players fought more fiercely, and once overwhelmed the frontcourt, creating a threat in front of the opponent's goal, allowing the home team fans to see the hope of equalizing the score.

However, there was a leak in the house and it rained all night. During a header fight, central defender Igor was pierced through the forehead by the opponent's striker. A terrible wound split on his forehead, and blood flowed all over his face immediately. Team doctors rushed into the arena for emergency treatment.

"Zhang Wei, go warm up." Assistant coach Jorge came over and greeted Zhang Wei who was on the bench.

When Zhang Wei saw that Igor was injured, he was ready to warm up. When Jorge came over and said, he immediately put on his warm-up vest and ran back and forth on the sidelines to warm up.

The fans in the stands saw that the main central defender Igor was injured, and they were worried again. The advantage that was finally regained, is it necessary to give up because of the injury of the main defender?

"Sister, who do you think that person is?" The bearded man in the stands looked at Zhang Wei who was warming up on the sidelines, and said in surprise.

"That's Zhang Wei, the central defender who was transferred with Xia Ze. I saw him at the bank last week." Monica said indifferently. Obviously, she didn't like anyone else except Xia Ze.

"This... I seem to have seen him before." The bearded man looked at Zhang Wei, a little speechless. He was accosted by Zhang Wei at the bar last week, and he ignored him.

...

After treatment, Igor was still unable to persist in the game, and Zhang Wei came off the bench wearing the No. 27 jersey.

Most of the Maritimo fans at the scene didn't know Zhang Wei. They didn't know the strength of this Chinese stupid big man, but they were worried about their team in their hearts.

However, after Zhang Wei played, he still used his stable performance to give those fans who didn't know him a chance to know his strength.

On the visiting team's bench, Braga coach Carlos Carvajal looked a little surprised.

He thought that the opponent's main central defender was injured and his team could regain control of the situation on the field, but he didn't expect that Zhang Wei, who came off the bench, was more stable than Igor, and his striker couldn't even break through his defense at all.

The 1-0 score was maintained until the end of the first half. Maritimo's counterattack after losing the ball was effective. After Zhang Wei came off the bench, the defense was surprisingly stable.

But the weakness of the midfield organization made it impossible for them to threaten the opponent's goal, let alone equalize the score.

During the intermission, Monica took her bearded brother to the sidelines to go shopping. This is a very common thing, but judging from Monica's hurried expression, it seems to be a little different.

After the start of the second half of the game, I don't know what Braga's coach said in the middle of the game. Maritimo was once again suppressed by the opponent's offensive within the half-court, and he had no ability to counterattack.

Fortunately, central defender Zhang Wei and Rosario's partners have a good understanding. It seems that they have cooperated with each other for several years. They blocked the opponent's offensive from the goal and did not allow the opponent to score a second goal.

In the 55 minutes of the second half of the game, Braga still had an absolute advantage on the field, and Maritimo could only recover the poor ball possession ratio by relying on sporadic counterattacks.

"Martinez, let him play, let Xia Ze play!" A woman's voice was uploaded from the stands.

In the stands very close to the coaching bench of the home team, a beautiful fan and several fans around him held up a sign at the same time, with different Portuguese words written on the sign, forming a sentence: "Let Xia Ze play !"

This beautiful fan is naturally Monica. During the intermission, she pulled a beard and went outside to buy cardboard and pens, and made this slogan by herself.

The surrounding fans were attracted by Monica's actions. They looked at the disorganized midfielder on the field and thought of Xia Ze's amazing performance as a substitute against Sporting Lisbon last week. Shouting slogans.

Gradually, in the stands behind the coach's bench, a slogan is slowly gaining momentum.

"Mr. Martins, let him play!"

...

The fans' shouts became louder and louder, and Maritimo's coaching bench was also attracted by this slogan. Martins looked at the slogan on the stands behind him, frowned slightly, and whispered something to assistant coach Jorge.

After the fans shouted for three or four minutes, Xia Ze and Di Keao finally started to warm up on the sidelines.

At this time, the fans headed by Monica gave cheers and applause. It is also a rare scene in the history of football that a young player who has only played twice has the support of so many fans.

In the 65th minute of the game, after warming up, Xia Ze came off the bench and replaced Suars, who was underperforming.

At the same time, Di Keo also replaced Pereira, replacing an attacking midfielder and a defensive midfielder with two attacking midfielders, which is obviously a signal that Martins wants to strengthen his offense. Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 188 Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 388 Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 188 Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 388 Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 88