World's No.1 Football Manager

Chapter 449 Youth is a Double-Edged Sword

In the studio, the commentator George Ricardo was replaying the first half of the game.

"Just when everyone thought the game would end in a draw in the first half, who would have expected that the situation would change suddenly in the last few minutes. Benfica's core Pizzi scored two goals in a row. But this score is also reasonable, after all, Benfica is the better team. Maritimo, which has been smooth in the league this season, has encountered the biggest crisis. Whether their golden body of unbeaten victory will be broken, let us wait and see."

Nuno Gomez, who served as a guest commentator, calmly analyzed:
"This is not the first time that Maritimo has fallen behind in the first half, but it is the time when they fell behind the most and was also the most passive. The key lies in their adjustments during the 15-minute intermission. If they deal with it properly, the second half will be a battle between dragons and tigers. If the adjustments fail to achieve the desired effect, the game will be very difficult."

Benfica coach Jorge Jesus was thinking hard as he encouraged his players in the dressing room.

What will the opponent's Chinese coach, who has repeatedly used clever tricks, do to deal with it?

Fifteen minutes passed quickly and the second half began.

Gao Yuan made a personnel adjustment, replacing midfielder Vukovic and replacing full-back Castinho.

With 5 defenders on the field at once, the formation seems to have become 5-3-2.

Seeing this scene, the commentator George Ricardo exclaimed: "Is Maritimo not ready to win? They actually replaced an offensive player and replaced a defender when they were behind! Five defenders can guarantee a solid defense, but the offensive strength has been weakened!"

Nuno Gomez also said in surprise: "Vukovic is one of the best players of the Maritimo team this season, and he was replaced, not to mention he is the captain of the team! This is the second time they have replaced their captain in this game! It is said that Arsenal have the habit of selling their captains. Does Maritimo's coach have a habit of changing captains?"

Of course, Gao Yuan is not crazy, nor does he want to give up the game, but he realized that without a spiritual leader on the field, it means that the team has no soul!A team without soul and fighting spirit cannot achieve a reversal!
And the spiritual leader Antonio has been replaced, he can only be replaced by a player with super mental strength to stabilize the morale of the army.

And this person is - Cascetinho.

Although Casetinho is just a young substitute.But his mental strength, willpower, and leadership are outstanding. It can be said that he is a natural leader. Gao Yuan replaced him on the field to stabilize the morale of the army.

"I just looked at the statistics. After Vukovic left the field, the average age of the Maritimo team turned out to be an astonishing 21.2 years old! This is because there is a 34-year-old Dzeko, otherwise the age will be younger! Is this a youth team game?" George Ricardo roared hysterically as if he had discovered a new world.

Nuno Gomez was also taken aback when he heard this data: "With such a young lineup, wouldn't their coach worry about mental fluctuations or even collapse?"

Just then, on the field, Benfica launched a threatening attack.

Due to the good results in the first half, Benfica did not change their formation during the intermission, and they still used the same style of play in the first half, focusing on Vinicius.

Vinicius is still dribbling forward, and Wen Jun is responsible for defending him.

Vinicius dribbled the ball on the right side of the middle. His dribbling skills were not better than those in the first half, but his dribbling was much smoother than in the first half, because Wen Jun, who was defending him, did not dare to grab the ball easily, but was always on guard against him passing the ball.

After all, Benfica's two goals in the first half were all passed by him.

Wen Jun didn't dare to pounce with all his strength, so he gave Vinicius more room to display. He dribbled the ball forward for more than 20 meters, and he was about to hit the penalty area.

At this moment, a person rushed over from the oblique speech, and what he ignored was a flying shovel.

Vinicius jumped up in a panic, and the ball was left in place, and Wen Jun picked it up.

Wen Jun passed the ball to the supporting teammate, and then he took a surprised look at the player who shoveled. It was the new full-back Cassettino.

"In front of the penalty area, you are not afraid of fouling with such a fierce tackle?" Wen Jun asked.

Casetinho got up from the ground and showed a gentle and confident smile: "It's better to stop him here than to enter the penalty area! Also, what are you afraid of? You killed him in the first half! Why didn't you dare to shoot in the second half?"

"Because I'm afraid of him...passing the ball." Wen Jun hesitated a bit.

"So what about passing? Don't you trust your teammates?"

"No... no, I just..."

"It's nothing! You can guard that big black Brazilian! Others can guard other guys! Right, Joao?"

Casetinho suddenly changed the subject and asked his roommate Joao not far away.

"Yes! Of course I can!" Joao is a thorn, of course he is fearless.

"You see!" Cassettino said to Wen Jun with a smile, "I'm just a substitute, but I'm not afraid of them. What are you afraid of?"

On the surface, these words seemed to be addressed to Wen Jun, but the voice was very loud, and several people on the back line could hear them very clearly.

Obviously, this is for all teammates!
We are all young people. The biggest characteristic of young people is that they refuse to accept anyone. Cassettino is right. He dares to fight as a substitute for ten thousand years. What do you have to be afraid of?
Youth is a double-edged sword. Although youth often means inexperienced and impulsive; sometimes it also means fearlessness and courage!

Casetinho is a natural leader. Just one shovel and a loud word are like a bucket of oil poured on the fire, which ignites everyone's fighting spirit.

Soon, Benfica made a comeback.

The ball is still at Vinicius' feet.

Vinicius dribbled forward with the ball, but Wen Jun didn't look forward and backward again this time, and did not hesitate to stick to the defense, playing very aggressively.

Vinicius was very surprised, why did this kid suddenly dare to make a move?Isn't he afraid of passing the ball again?
Now Vinicius can't pass Wen Jun whose ability has been strengthened. The two fought a few times, and Vinicius almost lost the ball, so he had to turn around halfway to protect the ball and pass the ball back.

It was Pizzi who received the ball again, and Pizzi, who was very flexible under his feet, quickly rushed forward after getting the ball.

Cheers erupted from the stands of the Stadium of Light, and the fans of the home team seemed to have seen a replica of the two goals in the first half.

But this time Pizzi's advance was not so smooth. João who was next to him followed closely, didn't rush, and didn't take a step easily. He just stuck to his side and kept using his tall body to squeeze against Pizzi, forcing the core of Benfica to involuntarily dribble the ball away from the intended direction and go to the side.

Just like this, he got more and more sideways, and finally reached the wing, and Pizzi suddenly found himself trapped in the encirclement of Joao and full-back Barrera. Pizzi had no choice but to pass the ball back again.

The teammates who received the ball were quickly pressed by Zhou Yong.Can only pass back again.

Come and go.The ball was passed back to their own half, and an attack by Benfica that was originally threatening was resolved.

The successful defense this time strengthened the confidence of the Maritimo players. They became more and more daring in the defense, aggressively pressing, filling each other's positions, and the team's defensive fence was getting tighter and tighter.

As the Benfica team returned without success one after another, everyone found that the spirit of the Maritimo team had taken on a new look.

"Maritimo's defense seems to have improved!" George Ricardo said in surprise.

"However, only defense is not enough. After all, they are still two goals behind, so they have to find a way to quickly bring the score back!"

(End of this chapter)