291 Dirty Rochemback Part 1 (1/2)

Chapter 291: Dirty Rochemback Part 1

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

When Sporting Lisbon arrived in Nottingham, the manager, José Peseiro, spoke modestly at a press conference held in a hotel. ”Nottingham Forest is a strong team, and I'll be glad to be able to obtain one point in this match.”

This modesty was not only present in that one press conference; it was displayed in various ways. It seemed that Nottingham Forest was indeed a dangerous adversary in Sporting Lisbon's view. The Portuguese did not open their adaptive training to the media when they arrived in Nottingham a few days ahead. This cautious and prudent behavior was not a symbol of strength to the people of Nottingham.

Indeed, today's Sporting Lisbon was not the Sporting Lisbon of yesteryear. The only time they had won a European Championship was forty years ago.

The final game of round 16 had just begun, and the Forest team demonstrated their home field advantage. They did not test the ground in the midfield. The Forest team charged to Sporting Lisbon's front in the first attack.

Twain had sent out eleven of his best players for the match.

The goalkeeper was van der Sar and the center backs were Hierro and Matthew Upson. The left and right backs were Leighton Baines and Chimbonda. The defensive midfielders were George Wood and Albertini. The left midfielder was Franck Ribéry and the right midfielder was Ashley Young. The two strikers were Freddy Eastwood and Mark Viduka.

This was the Forest team's main lineup when Twain did not rotate it. It was a perfect combination of youthful vigor and the veterans' steady calm.

On the other hand, Sporting Lisbon's lineup looked unfamiliar to Twain. It was difficult for him to put a name and number to the faces of most of the players, let alone have a deep understanding of them. But fortunately, the first round was on his home ground. Twain's tactic was to gain points on their home ground. They had to win and score big. They had to concede as few goals as possible.

It would not be a victory if they failed to achieve those three targets.

”...Mark Viduka! Terrific shot! Ricardo made a wonderful save. This Portuguese national goalkeeper once personally scored the last penalty kick in the UEFA European Championship and eliminated England in that game.”

He was a brash goalkeeper. Tang En had a deep impression of him. In that game, Ricardo had first saved England's penalty kick without gloves, and he had personally shot the last penalty kick into the goal to eliminate England. Due to this, Ricardo's wonderful save did not win applause for him but instead invited jeers from the English fans.

Ricardo was the team captain of Sporting Lisbon and one of the few Portuguese national footballers on the team. With him as the core, Sporting Lisbon's defensive tactics for the game were already obvious.

Peseiro wanted to get one point on the Forest team's home ground; on that basis, it would be best to get another goal in this away game if possible. Even if they could not obtain a point in the end, as long as they scored a goal in this game, everything would be fine when they returned to their home ground.

However, Twain would not let him get what he wanted.

Viduka's explosive attack kicked off a surge of attacks from the Forest team. Amidst the Forest fans' cheers, wave after wave of attack struck Sporting Lisbon's goal.

”... Nottingham Forest played aggressively at home. The speed at which they got into the rhythm of the game is amazing!”

This was expected. Twain had prepared a long time for this game. Recently, the team's daily training had been centered around the UEFA Europa League. If the game did not meet Twain's requirements, it would have been all for nothing.

Viduka did not manage to score a goal, but a goal was coming soon.

In the ninth minute of the first half, the Forest team's continuous offensive finally breached Sporting Lisbon's goal.

Viduka attracted two Sporting Lisbon fullbacks in the front, and soon after passed the ball from his foot to Albertini, who came up. The Italian assumed the stance of swinging his leg to shoot directly into the goal. The Portuguese defenders dared not ignore this and rushed to slide to intercept. Although the Italian was old, his long shot was still enough to frighten the enemy.

When the opponent jumped up to use his back to block Albertini's shot, Albertini suddenly sent out a direct pass.

Eastwood received Albertini's pass in the front of the penalty area. After he leaned against Fábio Rochemback, who came up to defend, and blocked him, he turned around to hook the ball into the penalty area. As a result, the Sporting Lisbon players around him would not be hasty with their feet because if they ran into Eastwood with their extended legs, there was a very high chance that the opponent would respond by falling to the ground. Compared to a one-on-one face-off with the goalkeeper, it was more stable to score with a penalty kick.

The surrounding Sporting Lisbon defenders refrained and dared not make a hasty move. Rochemback, who was blocked by Eastwood's back, could not care less. He only knew the opponent was in the penalty area and had edged him outside. Seeing that he was about to shoot, he absolutely could not let his opponent succeed.

He pushed from behind, hoping that Eastwood, who was about to shoot, would lose his balance. But he did not expect Eastwood to use the push and turn it into a launch!