So far, Gravesen had not caused any trouble for the Forest team"s offense in this game.
Of course, Gravesen"s lack of action also had to do with the Forest team"s insufficient offense for the first half.
It was different now. The Forest team"s high pressing gave Real Madrid a headache. The star players" mistakes gradually began to increase. The consequence of frequent loss of the ball was that the Forest team got more offensive opportunities. Real Madrid"s tattered defensive line was going to face a real test!
Anelka was one of the most active players in the Forest team"s offensive lineup. After he had scored a goal, he wanted to score more. The perfect ending would be a hat-trick from him, and then for Nottingham Forest to beat Real Madrid. It would be a complete revenge on both personal and team levels.
Albertini pa.s.sed the football to Ribéry, who then dribbled it for two steps before realizing that Real Madrid"s defense was not so easy to break through. He pa.s.sed the ball to Anelka.
Whenever the Frenchman received the ball, the Bernabéu stadium would ring out with a deafening hiss.
Nevertheless, Anelka was not affected at all. He was not afraid of that. Instead, he used the hissing as his motivation. The more the opponent"s fans booed, the more energetic he became.
Twain understood Anelka"s frame of mind, so he let Anelka start the game as an attacking core.
The player who came to defend Anelka this time was an opponent he had encountered many times previously in the Premier League: Gravesen.
He deftly skirted past the clumsy Dane. Slower by half a beat, Gravesen had to reach out and pull him down.
It was a free kick in the front field.
Albertini, who took the free kick, did not directly shoot to the goal. Instead, he pa.s.sed the ball to Ashley Young on the flank.
Roberto Carlos cut across in front of Ashley Young. The youthful Young did not retreat but competed with the star footballer in speed on the flank. The final result was no win and no loss. He did not break through the Brazilian fullback, but he also compelled a corner kick. Carlos kicked the ball out of the end line with a quick tackle.
"The Forest team was on the offensive. They were repeatedly awarded the positioning b.a.l.l.s in Real Madrid"s backfield. For the visiting Nottingham Forest team at Bernabéu, the positioning of the ball is their chance. I don"t think Manager Twain will be content to draw in this match with Real Madrid. He"s not that kind of person."
The British commentator from ESPN remarked on that. He was right.
Bale kicked the ball out and Piqué headed the ball in the crowd. But his shot to the goal was saved by Casillas.
As a player from the Barcelona youth team, Piqué would have a special motivation in playing against Real Madrid.
When he saw Casillas hold the ball, Piqué and Pepe immediately turned and ran back. This was how the ball was lost in the first half. They did not want a repeat.
The more experienced Albertini actively chose to get close to Casillas, who had the ball and was looking around. Intentionally or not, he hung around by his side.
As expected, Casillas noticed Albertini move. He clamped the ball and waved helplessly with his other hand. Albertini faced toward him and slowly withdrew from the penalty area. He did not take any further action, so the referee could not say anything. However, he could delay Casillas" kickoff to buy some time for his teammates falling back to defend.
That was very effective. Casillas gave up his intention of throwing the ball by hand for a fast attack. He waited for everyone to move ahead before he kicked the ball hard towards the front field.
Real Madrid"s front field players were not good at fighting for headers, so long b.a.l.l.s were not really suitable for Real Madrid"s offense. Just as expected, Pepe headed the ball back as he returned to his position to defend.
Real Madrid"s offense still needed to be closer to the ground. The aerial contest was not their strength. Or since the departure of Fernando Morientes, the aerial zone in the opponents" penalty area was not an area they could make use of.
The football was pa.s.sed to Zidane"s feet.
In the first round of compet.i.tion between the two teams, Beckham was the most active player and was voted the best in the game after the match. Beckham petered out in today"s game. Instead, Zidane suddenly broke out, which many people had not expected before the game.
Everyone thought Zidane was old and in a slump alongside Real Madrid"s downturn. Since his exit from the French national team, it could be seen that Zidane was actually tired of football.
He had almost obtained all the honors that a professional player could have. What motivation could he have to continue playing? Now the team was so messy within and the locker room was factional. If playing had become so tiresome, it was better not to play.
But if someone looked down on him, that person must pay the price.
As he watched Zidane confidently dribble on the field, Twain suddenly recalled the legendary French number 10"s curtain-call performance during the World Cup in Germany.
From the first game, people had talked about Zidane"s curtain call. Which game would be his farewell game? They did not expect him to do his curtain call all the way to the final. The World Cup final became the stage for his farewell performance. It was truly a magnificent stage.
When Zidane took the ball, the Bernabéu stadium broke out into huge cheers. The Real Madrid fans revered everything artistic. Zidane was the artistic master on the field. The welcome he received here was no less than the team"s headliner, Raúl González.
The player who was welcomed by the enemy was naturally a bigger enemy. George Wood"s eyes blazed when he looked at Zidane now. He could not forget the loss of that ball. He thought it was the consequence of his hesitation and wanted to make up for that misstep. How was he going to make up for it? He was not going to hesitate anymore!
The referee"s whistle sounded. Zidane sat on the ground, while George Wood stood beside him. It was a foul.
When he heard the whistle, Twain was nervous. He was afraid that the referee was going to give a yellow card to the hot-headed boy. They would be finished.
The cheers at Bernabéu instantly turned to boos. They put pressure on the referee in hopes that the referee would show a yellow card.
The referee did not do anything. He stood at the spot where the foul was committed and raised his hand to motion for a Real Madrid player to take the free kick. He did not say anything to Wood.
Wood went back to his defensive position with a sullen expression. But Twain could not sit on it any longer.
He called Mikel Arteta from the subst.i.tutes" bench. "Mikel, go do your warm up!"
Kerslake glanced up at him.