The weather in England in January was still cold, with only a few degrees. The players on both sides wore heavy down jackets at the beginning of their warm-ups until their bodies were completely warm.
There was still an hour before the start of the game. Almost all the media reporters who paid attention to the youth training were in place. Their cameras were all aimed at the three heroes of Manchester City's youth training, followed by Liverpool's top striker, Glenn McCauley, and the second striker, Li Qing.
Among them, the focus of the local reporters was on Sancho, Foden, Li Qing, and Brewster. According to their thoughts, the players who decided the outcome of the game should be the English players.
The two managers, Neil Critchley and Lee Carsley, looked at the players who were warming up. They did not have much confidence. For them, everything that needed to be done had been done. The direction of the game depended on the players 'performance.
Neil Critchley looked at Li Qing. In his opinion, if Liverpool U18 wanted to go further, they needed Li Qing to continue his previous league performance.
Lee Casley glanced at Sancho, Foden, Diaz, and Enmecha. If Guardiola had not poached Nick González from La Masia, who was injured and unable to play, the offensive lineup for this game would have been more luxurious. However, he firmly believed that even without Nick González, he could rely on this luxurious lineup to defeat Liverpool U18 and advance to the top 16.
During the handshake session between the players from both sides, Li Qing could not help but look at Sancho, Foden, and Diaz, the three heroes of Manchester City's youth training. Foden and Diaz were relatively good-looking, while Sancho was a little mature, but they were very polite.
Like the National Youth Premier League, the FA Youth Cup was taken care of by the English Football Association. The games were broadcasted live, but compared to professional games, the live broadcast of the FA Youth Cup was only shown when the game officially began.
"Beep ~"
With the referee's long whistle, the 2016-2017 FA Youth Cup 1/16 between Manchester City U18 and Liverpool U18 officially began.
Manchester City's U18 team, who was at home, quickly took advantage of the kick-off to launch an attack. Fortunately, Neil Critchley had a targeted deployment before the game. The attacking quartet consisting of Sancho, Foden, Diaz and Enmecha did not show their power.
Before the match, Li Qing wasn't assigned too many defensive tasks. His main task was to catch a counterattack, and defense was more for show.
Due to Liverpool's U18 team doing a lot of work on defense before the game, Foden, who was good at organizing attacks in the middle and front field, was frozen. The speed space that Sancho needed was seriously insufficient, resulting in Enmecha, who was at the front, not receiving effective support.
Diaz, from Spain, was the only Manchester City U18 player who performed normally. His footwork was extremely delicate and his dribbling accuracy was very high. Unless three players defended, it was difficult to break.
The first shot came from Sancho's long shot after breaking through on the right flank, but unfortunately it did not hit the goal.
In the next few minutes, the Manchester City U18 players tried to shoot long shots outside the penalty area after realizing that the penetration in the middle could not open up the situation. However, the hit rate was a little low.
Even if they were lucky enough to hit the goal, they would be thrown out by Grabala, who had quick reflexes.
In general, in the first ten minutes of the game, Manchester City's U18 attack was all talk and no action. The Manchester City fans watching the game on the sidelines shook their heads repeatedly.
The Manchester City U18 manager, Lee Carsley, frowned. The failure to score in a row of attacks was a huge hidden danger for the defense.
Liverpool's U18's most threatening Li Qing was at the front like a dagger to his throat. As long as there was a slight movement, he might be able to perform a throat seal.
In the 19th minute, Foden, who was good at finding openings, made a long pass diagonally to find Enmecha. The two men ran in unison, and the football also bypassed the center back Masterson's head. However, goalkeeper Grabala expanded the defensive area. He jumped high and firmly caught Foden's long pass diagonally.
Grabala did not control the rhythm like he did a few minutes ago. Instead, he suddenly took a big stride forward, and his right hand, which was holding the football tightly, used the inertia to throw the football out.
Looking at the football in the air, the Manchester City U18 manager, Lee Carsley, suddenly realized something and felt a little uneasy.
Grabala's powerful hand toss was definitely not without a purpose, but to find Li Qing!
The majority of the eleven goals Li Qing had scored in four matches had been scored through long-distance attacks. As the manager, Li Carsley had studied it particularly thoroughly. He did not need to deliberately shout, and the players on the field quickly pounced.
"I hope I can complete the defense."
However, sometimes, the more worried you were, the more things would happen.
Before this, the team had the posture of a half-court offensive drill. The center backs had pressed past the half court, and the full backs had almost acted as wingers. Li Qing's talent was unobstructed. From afar, he could see the goalkeeper attack, running a few seconds ahead of the defensive players.
In the ever-changing football game, a goal could be scored in a few seconds.
The center back, T Wilson, could play as a left back and center back. The faster he was, the reason he was playing as a center back in this game was to effectively suppress Li Qing's speed.
Li Qing's field of vision was wide, and his eyes lit up as he ran. He took advantage of the situation and used the inside of his left foot to pull the football to the front right, which was also the direction of the right side of the sideline, so that the football was far away from Tyreke Wilson, who was coming from the middle at high speed.
The next step was naturally to accelerate!
His two legs that were filled with power quickly took turns to stomp on the ground. In just a second, he had increased his speed to an unbelievable stage. T Wilson realized that competing with Li Qing in speed was a foolish decision, and he decisively chose to collide into someone and commit a foul.
Unexpectedly, the seemingly thin and weak Li Qing wasn't knocked down. He staggered to stabilize his body, but T. Wilson, who had taken the initiative to knock into someone, staggered and fell to the ground due to the huge reaction force.
The other center back, J. Jovenny, who had already slowed down, cursed in his heart and had no choice but to grit his teeth and chase.
But…it was already too late.
Li Qing, who had gradually stabilized his body, once again accelerated. He brought the football and quickly crossed the middle line, heading diagonally towards the penalty area.
The goalkeeper in front of the goal, A. Muric, watched as the center back, J. Jovenny, was getting further and further away from Li Qing. He sighed and abandoned the goal to attack.
However, at this moment, Li Qing raised his left foot, and the inside of his foot quickly kicked towards the bottom of the football…
A bald middle-aged man standing at the northeast corner of the stadium looked at Li Qing's shooting action and blurted out,"Hanging shot?"
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。