"George. Wood!! yes！ Beautiful counter-attack fit! Wood's attack, and it was he who put an end to it! England leads Argentina 1-0! Well done! ”

A goal in a friendly may not have thrilled England's commentators, but it was Argentina's goal that didn't mean the same.

Seeing Wood score, the Crimson Court erupted in a huge cheer, rumbling over the pitch and stirring everyone's hearts.

After Dunn and his colleagues around him had finished hugging, he turned to applaud Wood.

Wood's offensive talent is on full display today, and he can be not only the initiator of the attack, but also the completer of the attack, just like the reckless teenager who only knew how to defend a decade ago.

Since captaining England, he has scored a number of goals, some of which are still important key goals. This certainly has to do with the fact that Donn knows him well and knows how to put him to good use, but more importantly, Wood himself has that belief that he is going to put in his best performance to prove that he is worthy of the Three Lions' captain's armband.

After the goal, Wood was no longer as aloof, and he swung his fists vigorously to meet the hugs of his team-mates.

Donn wanted him not to look like he couldn't approach with a straight face, so he complied. It was a good chance after the goal.

It seems that the period since Donn left the Forest team has allowed Wood to mature a lot.

It's long overdue...... He's thirty years old, not young.

※※※

Looking at George celebrating his goal. Wood, Messi clenched his fists. Although the two did not speak directly, he still believed that Wood's goal was a challenge to himself.

He took it.

After the restart of the game, Messi came alive and tried to force a breakthrough many times, but unfortunately there was not much time left for him...... The first half is over!

Hearing the referee blow the whistle at the end of the first half, Messi's face collapsed. He remembered that before leaving, Guardiola told him that he could only play half of the friendly game......

The England players excitedly walked into the tunnel while he stood outside for a moment before looking down and walking back. In that short minute, he made a decision.

In the Argentine dressing room, Maradona is making adjustments for the second half, first of all, he needs to replace the players who have been clearly told not to play the whole game, fortunately there are not many players with such special treatment, otherwise he will be distressed - although it is a friendly game, the number of substitutions is still three.

"Messi." Although Maradona was very unhappy with the one-goal deficit, he still had to abide by the agreement between himself and Guardiola and replace the treasure shared by the two teams to rest. La Liga has entered the final sprint, and FC Barcelona don't want Messi to waste his energy in such a friendly match.

Messi shook his head: "I still want to keep playing, coach." ”

All eyes in the locker room were on him, and this sentence was really unexpected by everyone.

Maradona didn't expect it, he looked up at Messi.

"We have an agreement with Barcelona." Maradona looked at him and said.

"I know." Messi nodded, but his eyes did not back down. 'I'll call Mr Guardiola after the game to explain.'

Maradona knew why Messi was so insistent – he was average in the first half, and although he was the heart of Argentina's attack, he didn't help Argentina score or create a few dangerous chances. England's defence was too successful.

He wants to prove himself, at least with Wood scoring a goal.

Maradona was an unruly figure when he was a player, and after retiring, he intensified his efforts to show his unique surname. After becoming the head coach, he has relented, but he no longer threatens to kill reporters with a shotgun.

We have an agreement with Barcelona, but ...... Since the players themselves have insisted, I can't stop it, right?

"Okay." Maradona finally nodded, "But you only have fifteen minutes." I can't afford to stiffen my relationship with Barcelona for the sake of your personal vendetta with Wood......"

His last sentence was a bit redundant. He didn't care about that.

Messi laughed, and he sat back down.

Since Messi doesn't have to be replaced, there is nothing to adjust, it's business as usual.

※※※

In England's dressing room, Donn did not praise England's first-half performance, but demanded that the team continue to do so.

Of course, he also made adjustments. He knew that Messi couldn't play in the second half, and after the biggest threat was removed, England's defense could not be so tight, and more often England could devote a lot of troops to the attack.

But in the second half, he and the England players were stunned.

Argentina's No.10 was standing squarely on the pitch......

"Didn't you say Pep Guardiola was only allowed to play half the game?" Donn asked Walker, who was next to him, "Could it be a smoke grenade set off by Argentina?" Damn, playing a friendly match and colluding with Barcelona to play this set? ”

Walker didn't know why this was happening. A few days before the game, the media reported that FC Barcelona did not want Messi to play the whole game in this friendly match, and Guardiola further shortened this time to 45 minutes in the half.

So when they saw Messi starting in the first half, they didn't take the second half to heart. I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it......

Wood was also stunned when he saw Messi opposite. At the same time, he noticed that Messi was staring at him. As an old rival, he obviously knew what that look meant.

He was surprised, but not afraid.

Come on, boy.

※※※

After the start of the second half, Messi was in the spotlight at one point. The commentator is also wondering why Messi is still on the field, and it is estimated that Guardiola at this time is eager to fly to Nottingham to drag him off the field......

Messi, who took the ball, faced England's two-man defense, he quickly knocked the ball and twisted, drilled between the two people, and broke through!

"It's beautiful! He's the elf on the football field! The Argentine commentator exclaimed.

It's a pity that in the next second, Messi's elf-like figure stagnated.

Because Wood hit him mercilessly, he stumbled under his feet, Messi was knocked off the rails, and his threat to the goal was greatly reduced.

In the face of Wood's close defense, Messi tried several times but couldn't get rid of it, and seeing that the English players who had just been thrown off by him had a tendency to surround again, he had no choice but to pass the football to the side.

"Aha! Don't think that Wood, who scores a lot of goals, won't defend! 'St. George' is both offensive and defensive, and keeping it is every opponent's nightmare! The commentator in England was very pleased with the result.

Messi was unyielding and soon made a comeback.

This time he didn't meet Wood head-on, but was forced to the outside of the box by three English players and could only cross with his feet. The result of the cross was unmistakable, and it was topped out by England's tall centre-backs.

But it doesn't matter, the football fell at the feet of Argentine player Higuain.

Seeing that Messi was still in the penalty area, Higuain directly kicked the football over!

Terry raised his arm to signal Messi offside, but the linesman did not raise the flag.

"Offside!" The commentator in England shouted angrily.

"Beautiful! No offside! Nice direct pass! The Argentine commentator excitedly stood up from his seat. Six minutes into the second half, Argentina finally had their best chance of the game so far!

Messi receives the ball sideways, England's right wing-back Glenn. Johnson dragged on the back and he really wasn't offside!

Now there is not a single defender around Messi, he is completely unmarked!

Terry, who realized that he had misjudged himself, quickly turned around and pounced on Messi.

Messi could shoot straight at goal with just a kick, but when he caught a glimpse of Terry out of the corner of his eye, he decided to go the more secure way - he faked a real shot and easily replaced Terry who pounced. And then pick up your feet again, it's real!

Terry didn't stop Messi's shot, but he bought precious time for those behind him.

When Messi's support foot is a little further away from the ball and the shot leg is picked up at the same time, the ball is completely out of control. It was at this time that George. Wood took advantage of the situation and tackled like a tiger down a hill to shovel the ball out of the line before Messi could hit the ball, and Messi's powerful volley hit the outside of his thigh.

Messi felt as if he had kicked an iron plate, and his habitual surname made him fall forward, right on Wood.

"Penalty!!" The Argentine commentator who stood up leaned out, eager to reach out and grab the referee's collar and spit on him.

The commentator in England was a little hesitant. He couldn't really see it from the high stands, and the small TV screen in front of him hadn't replayed the scene yet. "Messi fell in the box, maybe Wood tackled the ball first?"

It's not that the TV broadcast deliberately didn't give a replay, but it was too late for the audience to watch what just happened again. Messi fell in the penalty area, the Argentine players all raised their hands to take the penalty, and the England players desperately waved their hands to indicate that it was definitely not a foul just now, and they even thought that Messi faked a fall.

The referee made the final decision in the next minute, and he stretched out his right index finger and swung it in front of the Argentine players, and the meaning was obvious - George. Wood doesn't foul!

Then he made a corner kick gesture that completely cut off the Argentine's thoughts.

Messi hasn't gotten up yet, if Guardiola is watching TV at this time, he must have put Maradona and George in his heart. Wood, the referee, and Tony. Don scolded again and again - "Do you know what Messi means to Barcelona!! If he gets injured, we're done with the season! Which of you can take this responsibility! ”

Fortunately, Messi quickly got up from Wood, and his expression was as usual, and he didn't seem to be injured.

At this time, the TV broadcaster finally got the opportunity to replay the moment just now. Everyone could see on the TV screen that Wood's tackle was vicious, but clean, sticking to Messi's toes, shoveling the ball away and not even bringing it to anyone. If Messi is really injured, it must be because he himself kicked the outside of Wood's thigh.

Pep Guardiola and Maradona are worried about whether Messi is injured, and Don is also worried about whether Wood will be injured, and Messi's kick is really ruthless...... It's all the power of a powerful volley, and it kicks Wood the outside of his thigh like this, can it not hurt?

Wood followed Messi to his feet from the ground, and he didn't look fine.

Terry also came over to care: "How's it going?" ”

Wood knew what he was asking, "It's fine. "He rubbed the part that was kicked by Messi with his hand, it was a little sore, but it didn't affect the kick.

His thigh muscles naturally tense when tackling the ball, so Messi felt as if he had kicked the iron plate.

Wood looked at Messi next to him, who was rubbing his toes with his head down.

Aguero came up to ask a few Spanish questions, and Messi shook his head, presumably similar to the conversation between Terry and Wood.

Although Messi shook his head to indicate that he was fine, there was still some pain in the arch of his foot. He squinted his eyes at Wood, who happened to be rubbing his legs.

He suddenly felt that this scene was a little funny, and no one was pleased.

For the first time, seeing Wood suffer in front of him and suffer an injury – albeit only a traumatic one – Messi was in a good mood, and the previous tension dissipated at this moment.

He reached out to Wood and shook it in front of him.

Wood was rubbing his thighs when he looked down and saw a hand come into his field of vision and shake it, so he looked up at the owner of the hand.

Messi is having fun with him.

Wood dropped his shorts and handed his hand up.

The two men's hands slapped lightly and then parted.

This may be the only physical contact they have not smelled of gunpowder in all these years of fighting...... You must know that these two people are secretly fighting even when they shake hands before the game.

※※※

Messi finally failed to help Argentina equalise within the fifteen-minute limit, failing to score himself and creating too many chances for his team-mates. Maybe it's because of the recent continuous battles that have made him physically tired, and he always stumbles after barely passing two people, and he is a little weak.

In the fifteenth minute of the second half, Maradona replaced Messi on time, and Guardiola, who was in front of the TV, breathed a sigh of relief when he walked off the field in good health.

The core was replaced, the strength of the Argentine team was affected, and England continued to defend and counter-attack as they did in the first half, but they counterattacked more and more sharply.

The Argentines love to equalise and that is an opportunity to exploit in the eyes of England. Taking advantage of the Argentine's heavy pressure, in the 27th minute of the second half, England took advantage of a quick counter-attack to add another goal, and Wayne Rooney scored his 40th goal for the national team.

Maradona obviously didn't have much to do with this kind of defensive counter-attack, he wasn't a master tactician. Half of the credit for leading Argentina to the world championship is due to the fact that his players are so good......

Moreover, the head coach in the world who can break the death and quickly counterattack can be counted on one hand, and Maradona is obviously not among them. This is the world's surname problem, the scene is not good-looking, but it can win.

Don wants results.

A victory over Argentina would allow him to silence the oppositionists who have questioned his ability to this day.

Not to mention that this is a friendly match, Messi, Aguero, Higuain, and Tevez's four attackers in the front court are all here, which shows how seriously the Argentine team attaches to this game.

However, the former world champions, who had such a luxurious attacking line-up, were unable to break down England's defence, and England used their pressure to counter-attack and score two goals.

In terms of possession and shots on goal, Argentina had the upper hand and deserved to win. As a result, it is indeed the case now, and the arrogant Maradona is really unhappy. Looking at his anxious appearance on the sidelines for Argentina's attack, it seems that he wishes he was thirty years younger and played in person, and when the time comes, don't care how many people in England are blocked in front of the goal, he will also stage another thousand miles to ride alone, and he has five people in a row!

In addition to Messi, who has been off the field, Aguero and Tevez who are now on the field were once called the successors of the football king Maradona, but they are not the real football kings after all, and there is no way to face the impermeable wall of England......

Towards the end of the day, the Argentine commentators no longer expected them to beat England, hoping only that Argentina, with Higuain, Aguero and Tevez, could score a goal to save some face for the former world champions.

Don was not going to let them get his wish, he didn't let up because he was two goals ahead, and he wanted to make the Argentines completely desperate. In the last ten minutes of the game, Argentina poured out of the nest, and the English still did not forget to counterattack, which made the Argentines very angry.

Forest fans cheering for England in the stands were in a trance, whether the team that left Argentina at a loss was their national team or the Nottingham Forest?

In today's game, Argentina wore their blue and white sword stripes, while England wore a red shirt, which was somewhat similar to Nottingham Forest's home shirt.

Later, there were even Forest fans who collectively sang the Nottingham Forest anthem.

"Forest Forest! …… The world is in our hands and we are the best team in England! We are invincible, invincible! We have nothing to fear! Because we are the best team! Because the world is ...... in our hands"

The familiar sound of singing appeared in the sky above the Crimson Stadium, and Don couldn't help but move his eyes from the stadium to the stands when he heard it.

The singing is getting louder and clearer. The Nottingham Forest players in the England squad were inspired by the singing and became more and more active. The Argentine, on the other hand, became more and more impatient in such songs, rushing to shoot from distance, making mistakes in stopping the ball, and dribbling out of bounds...... It's just miserable.

The game ended in singing, the powerful Argentine team did not take advantage of England in front of the counterattack, Maradona lost a little unwillingly, in an interview with reporters after the game, he said that he did not expect England to choose such a tactic, because this is not a World Cup final, there is no need to care so much about the result......

This is ironic Don didn't even want his face for the sake of the result.

Don didn't care, he just fancied the result, what is cheekiness? Scraped layer after layer, and he had a lot of that stuff.

In fact, today's set of tactics is also the tactics that England will use in the face of a strong enemy in the future, and today is just a rehearsal.

Bullying the weak team, he let go of the offense and played beautiful offensive football to please the fans. In the face of a strong team, he shrank up and yin people, just like he yin Argentina today.

Don was cunning.

"We won, that's enough, I'm happy!"

The only regret is that Messi went down too early, and he also wants to test whether he can withstand this set when Messi plays the whole game.

After finishing the interview, Don walked to the corridor. At the Yongdao crossing, an enthusiastic Forest fan handed Don a red scarf, and Don thought he wanted to sign it, but he just waved his hand at him: "For you, Tony!" Keep it as a souvenir! ”

With that, he ran away.

Donn held the Red Forest scarf in his hand, a very ordinary scarf that could be bought for fifteen pounds at the souvenir shop outside the Crimson Course.

The spectacular singing in the final stage of the competition seemed to still linger in his ears, eleven years of time, like an imprint engraved in his heart, repeatedly and again and again, every time he thought that he no longer cared about the past eleven years, someone always came out to remind him in a different way - don't forget the forest, don't forget the forest......

Tang En hung a red scarf around his neck and walked into the corridor.

How can you forget the forest?

(To be continued)