All Football Talents Are Mine Chapter 292

292. Physical struggle (1)

Man City’s winning streak did not stop.

After the first leg of the quarterfinals against Dynamo Kyiv, the team easily advanced to the semifinals with a 4-1 win in the second game held in Kiev, Ukraine.

The next opponent was Ajax, a Dutch powerhouse that defeated Benfica.

The semifinal bracket was as follows.

[2010-2011 Europa League bracket]

〈Manchester City vs Ajax〉

It was an upset.

First of all, everyone expected Manchester City and FC Porto to rise, but the rest did not.

In particular, Juventus should have fallen long ago.

This is because they were showing the worst performance this season, despite their title as a big club.

They showed a poor performance not only in the Serie League but also in the Europa League group stage.

This was due to the aging of the players.

But surprisingly, when they reached the tournament, they achieved close results and advanced to the semifinals.

However, because the squad was still very weak, it was not an opponent to be very careful about.

As of now, the only opponent to watch out for is FC Porto.

‘There’s nothing special about Ajax either.’

Everything goes well.

Everything was solid.

There seemed to be no obstacles at all.

Certainly until then.

However, a few days later, an obstacle appeared in Hoyoung’s path of success.

Stoke City.

That was the FA semi-final against EPL’s pride, Stoke City.

They are currently a mid-tier team, hovering around the top 10 in the league, but they are called the strongest team in the EPL.

That was the problem.

Etihad Campus.

Manchester City’s players were very nervous ahead of the match against Stoke.

While training, I was constantly worried.

There were even players who felt burdened to participate in the game.

It wasn’t that I was afraid of losing the game.

but.

“They are definitely a strong team. “There is no team stronger than them in the world, right?”

EPL senior Vincent Kompany spoke to Hoyoung.

Hoyoung nodded and agreed.

“then. “It’s a man’s team.”

It wasn’t that I was afraid of losing, it was that I was afraid of getting injured in the game.

Yes.

They were the strongest team in another sense.

A so-called man’s team.

They were a fearsome team that played soccer with their bodies, not the ball.

The club’s mascot is a hippopotamus, and their playstyle is not much different.

Just push hard.

So much so that it is even nicknamed ‘Body Talk City.’

Some even said that the reason Lionel Messi does not come to the EPL is because of them.

No matter who the opponent was, there were numerous players who suffered long-term injuries during the match against Stoke City.

That was why Hoyoung was secretly worried about this game.

If this was a normal EPL game, it wouldn’t really matter.

However, it was a different story in the FA Cup semi-finals.

“They will definitely come out with their intentions. Killing tackles must be their tactic.”

“that’s right. If it were them, they might injure more than half of the players and cause a forfeit.”

It wasn’t unreasonable at all.

This season, Stoke City’s desire to win the FA Cup was greater than ever.

The reason was simple.

They are the third oldest professional soccer club in England, and this year is already their 148th anniversary, and they have only won one trophy so far.

Therefore, it was clear that they would somehow make use of this opportunity that came after a long time.

I didn’t know what I would do to get to the finals.

There was a joke among the players about this.

“They say they have tools in their locker room. “If we lose in the first half, we will definitely come out with extras in the second half.”

They weren’t kidding.

The passion for victory was so great that one Stoke City defender left this comment on social media as soon as they reached the semifinals.

-Ryan Shawcross: Watch carefully. I’ll show you what men’s soccer is.

It was a kind of threat and psychological warfare.

The intention is to put pressure on Man City and prevent key players from appearing.

Man City had no choice but to worry about making a starting list.

If any of the key players get injured ahead of the remaining match against Chelsea or Manchester United, the team will be completely ruined.

‘I’m sure their target will be me.’

In this situation, Hoyoung was receiving advice from people around him.

Ronaldinho said, “Use your sense of balance to avoid tackles,” but in fact, there was a limit to that.

There was no 360-degree surrounding view above his head, and no matter how wide his field of vision was, Hoyoung was not able to avoid all tackles.

In particular, if the opponent was very determined and started a physical fight, there was a high chance of being defeated.

Moreover, Ryan Shawcross was good at fighting and was smart, so his ability to avoid the referee’s eyes and commit fouls was outstanding.

Hoyoung wasn’t worried for nothing.

However, Carlos Tevez, who recently returned from injury, seemed to have no worries at all.

“Why are you so scared?”

“Carlos, you should know better. “We’ve played against Stoke City a few times.”

“That’s why I’m not scared. I am confident. Actually, there’s nothing special about them. “I will definitely ask you to be a starter tomorrow.”

Even though he recently returned from injury, he didn’t seem to be afraid at all.

Rather, he gave Hoyoung a clear solution.

“Just bump into little things.”

Carlos Tevez.

He was a player who was not afraid of any physical fight.

It was because he was so good at fighting, but it was thanks to the special talent he had.

[Carlos Tevez]

Talents

– El Apache (T)

– El Apache’s center of gravity (U)

– Shocking physical fight (S+2)

– Surprising space penetration (A+3)

– Precise ball keeping (A+3)

– Burning Desire to Win (A+2)

– (See more)

(You can covet one talent when you meet the conditions.)

(You can acquire some of the senses when you covet T-Class (Title). However, you must be over 18 to covet one talent. (Condition 1: Remain

in the top 4 of the EPL by March) (

Condition 2: Advance to the semifinals of the FA Cup)

(Condition 3: Europa League )

Advance to the semifinals)

(Condition 4: Receive know-how from Carlos Tevez)

(Hidden condition: Open when one or more talents are desired)

El Apache.

It is the nickname of Tevez, who grew up in the Apache, a crime-ridden area in Argentina, and means ‘villain’ in Spanish.

His play style also suited him, and this can be seen just by looking at his other nickname, ‘Master of Physical Fighting.’

Even though he had a small body of 173 cm, he had tremendous fighting skills.

Right center of gravity.

With that alone, he was able to withstand no matter how rough the struggle was.

It was a talent that Hoyoung, who had the world’s best physical ability and an astonishing talent for physical fighting (S-), coveted.

But now it was no longer just a piece of cake.

Since they advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and Europa League, they could pursue just one talent.

And thankfully, Tevez took it upon himself to give advice.

“You have a much bigger body than me. But if you learn this secret, no one will be able to touch you.”

“What is that?”

“Just don’t fall.”

It was an obvious statement, but Tevez was serious.

“Being good at fighting ultimately means not falling. And there are two main ways to avoid falling. Balancing the entire body and maintaining the center of gravity in the lower body. The way I do it….”

“It’s the latter.”

“yes.”

“So?”

“So. Place your center of gravity on your lower body. And hold on. Then the other person will go out. “No matter how extreme you may call him.”

Tevez also gave some advice after that.

He taught me know-how, such as the method he uses to maintain his center of gravity and how to fight with his opponent.

“But you probably wouldn’t know it just because you heard it.”

That was right.

In fact, it was a know-how that had been passed down to other teammates several times, but no player absorbed it and made it their own weapon.

Because that was truly a talent.

No matter how much I told them, it was meaningless if they couldn’t accept it.

But Hoyoung was accepting it little by little.

[I want the center of gravity (U) of El Apache.]

This was enough as a weapon to be carried in the upcoming match against Stoke City.

It will take some time to get used to it, but Hoyoung is already overflowing with confidence.

April 16th.

Meanwhile, the day of the game dawned.

Many spectators came to Wembley Stadium, known as the mecca of soccer.

Located in London, this is the exclusive stadium for the England national soccer team and boasts the largest scale as a stadium representing England.

It can accommodate about 90,000 people.

The stadium was packed even before the start.

These were the spectators who had come to watch the FA Cup semi-finals that were about to begin.

On one side was the red flag used by Stoke City, and on the other side was the light blue flag symbolizing Manchester City.

The game started in great heat.

[Stoke City has established a 5-4-1 formation. Abdoulaye Faye took a very defensive attitude, placing Ryan Shawcross and Robert Huth at center back.]

[On the other hand, Manchester City also came out with an aggressive 4-2-3-1 formation. At the front was Tevez, and underneath him were James Milner, Ronaldinho, and David Silva. As many people expected, Woo Ho-young was left out as a bench member.]

[This means that the players will not be played in the first half when they are most active. It appears that the risk of injury was taken into consideration.]

In addition, to prevent injury to Robinho, who enjoys breaking through, James Milner was sent as a starter instead.

But ironically, it was Man City who scored the first goal.

[Gooooooooooooooo!]

[David Silva announces the first goal in the 8th minute of the first half!]

In fact, even if he was not a member of the elite team, he had enough power to easily beat Stoke City.

It seemed like there was no need for Hoyoung to participate.

But around the 15th minute of the first half.

The game suddenly started to go strangely.

Stoke City had a throw-in chance and suddenly equalized.

[Gooooooo! The headed goal is a blast!]

[Rory Delap’s throw-in was a work of art. There is no separate catapult!]

A human catapult that conquered the EPL with just throw-ins.

It was a throw-in assist from Rory Delap.

As a former javelin thrower, he was able to throw in throws from a distance of over 40 meters and was so good at throw-ins that he scored eight goals just this season.

There was even a time when they beat Arsenal with just a throw-in.

In other words, that is Stoke City’s tactic.

Man City also prepared sufficiently to prepare for this, but even after knowing about it, they were unable to deal with it.

Stoke City did their best to create a throw-in and immediately scored the second goal.

To make matters worse, the ordeal did not end there.

Beep!

The accident occurred right at the start of the second half.

It was a clash between Tevez and Abdoulaye Faye.

[Player Abdullahe Faye receives a yellow card and leaves.]

[The problem is Tevez.]

Tevez, who was loudly boasting that he was confident, let down his guard and ended up getting injured.

1 minute in the second half.