Chapter 250 Manchester United is back on track,

France's 0-1 defeat to Scotland was originally the biggest upset in the European Cup qualifiers. French goalkeeper Landreau's low-level mistake made France fall from heaven to hell overnight, and the Gallic Army against home enemy Scotland slipped to third place in Group B.

In the difficult away game in Kiev, Donadoni's team withstood tremendous pressure, defeated Ukraine, surpassed France and ranked second in the group, and the situation for qualifying immediately improved.

Italy coach Donadoni said happily after the game: "Thanks to the whole team, they won the game. We showed our personality, Italy just needs to continue along this path..."

No matter how critical the media is, no matter how much they complain about Italy's lineup and tactical design, no matter how much they criticize Donadoni's selection of players and clinical command, it is undeniable that Italy, which returned triumphantly from Ukraine, has regained the initiative to qualify, and all that's left is a decisive battle with Scotland in November to accomplish their goal.

However, many experts have reminded Italy not to get carried away: judging from the points, Italy's situation seems to have suddenly improved, while France was knocked off a cliff after one game, but in fact it is not as optimistic as it seems.

The situation of the French team seems complicated, but their next three games are: home against Lithuania, away against the Faroe Islands, and away against Ukraine. Considering that Ukraine is almost out of the game after this round, it is unlikely that the French team will lose points in the following games.

In fact, if France beat Scotland in this round, it would be better for Italy, because after Italy beat Ukraine, they can sit back and relax and overtake Scotland by 2 points, and only need to draw in the Glasgow match in mid-November.

In Italy's last three games, the two home games against Georgia and the Faroe Islands are not too difficult, but the away game against Scotland is a must-win. Because even if they draw in this game, France may get 9 points in the last three games and surpass Italy by 1 point, thus pushing Italy to the third place!

Scotland's last three games are: home against Ukraine, away against Georgia, and home against Italy. An advantage for Italy is that they can deploy their own strategy based on Scotland's performance in the first two games. The Italians certainly hope that Scotland will lose points in these two games. In fact, this is not impossible. If this is the case, then Italy only needs to draw away to qualify.

But if Scotland beats Ukraine and Georgia respectively, then Italy will be forced to win away games to qualify. And once Scotland wins in a row, with the momentum of losing to France, Ukraine and Georgia, it will also bring great pressure to the Italian team!

In addition, if you are facing the most dangerous and vicious situation in history - "a draw means qualification", you must not take it lightly. After all, there have been countless painful lessons in history...

At the same time, England, the veteran king of the qualifiers, also won a 2-1 home win over Russia with Owen's 3 goals and 0 assist, winning the key advantage in qualifying and basically securing a place in the final round.

Ricardo, who received the news from the England team, naturally knew that he had to rush back to Manchester overnight after the game, because Sir Alex Ferguson called and told him that he was in good health. He also asked Ricardo, who performed well in the two qualifiers but did not fully display his power, to report back to the club as soon as possible. Three days later, in the sixth round of the Premier League, they would go away to challenge Everton, and Ricardo would start!

Although Liverpool is not far from Manchester, less than 60 kilometers away, it only takes half an hour to drive there. However, the away game three days later starts at 3 noon in the morning, leaving Manchester United, who canceled their two training sessions a day, with only two training sessions to prepare for the game...

This greatly disappointed Ricardo, who had wanted to take the opportunity to stay in Ukraine for half a day to experience the exotic customs and habits!

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As for why Sir Alex took the initiative to call, it all started with Ricardo's indecisive text message after the game...

According to the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was attacked and injured at Euston Station on his way to London by car the afternoon before England's European Cup qualifier against Russia.

Sir Alex Ferguson was travelling to London to attend a 9/11 memorial event. However, when the train arrived at Euston Station at 16:30, he was attacked by a 40-year-old drunk stranger. The Sir Alex suffered a leg injury, but it was not serious because he still attended the event as planned.

After the incident, the local British police immediately calmed the situation and the 40-year-old man was arrested; the purpose of the man's attack is still unclear, but he will be charged with assaulting police officers, intentional injury, and disturbing public order, and is expected to be sentenced to prison.

Although he learned from the media and his agent Raiola that the boss of his club was still strong and healthy, how could Ricardo, who was a good boy, not express his feelings after learning about it? So he quickly sent a text message to express his loyalty, oh no, to express his filial piety: "Boss, I heard about the thugs' violence. Are you okay? Is your body okay? Do you need to invite a famous oriental doctor to treat you? We can also check some hidden diseases..."

What Ricardo didn't expect was that instead of receiving a text message from his boss telling him to get lost, he received a phone call from Sir Alex Ferguson, telling him to get lost back to the club and stop bullshitting...

On the flight back to the UK, Ricardo also saw another major news about the club: Rooney was going to return early!

Rooney was injured on August 8. According to the original doctor's diagnosis, Rooney would need to rest for at least two months. But now, in just four weeks, Rooney is about to make a miraculous comeback. He also actively asked Sir Alex Ferguson for a chance to play in Saturday's match against his former club Everton!

If the source of the news was not The Sun, the UK's best-selling sensational tabloid, Ricardo would have believed it almost immediately.

But back at the club, Ricardo, who was carefully verifying the facts, began to wonder if he was too harsh on The Sun... Hmm! It must be that he opened it in the wrong way!

Rooney has resumed training on Monday, and boss Sir Alex Ferguson also confirmed the news of Rooney's early return: "The latest diagnosis gave a positive answer, and I am satisfied with it... I am glad that he is on the road to return. He has started to resume training and everything is good. If he is not fully recovered and ready, I will not let him return to the training ground."

According to the boss, he will monitor Rooney's condition in the next few days of training, but will basically put Rooney on the bench to start the game and is unlikely to risk starting him.

However, the other two pieces of news attached to "The Sun" allowed Ricardo to relax a little. His seriousness was not deviated. He should still be skeptical. After all, the main business of tabloids is still bullshit: there is really no sign of these two people's comeback plan.

One is the team captain, Gary Neville. After a six-month rehabilitation program, Neville was supposed to return at the beginning of the season, but he got injured again. This time, The Sun claimed that Gary Neville has seen the light at the end of the tunnel...

The other is the Korean star Park Ji-sung. It is said that his knee injury has recovered well and he is likely to make a comeback in the near future!

However, it is worth mentioning that Rooney returned about 3 weeks earlier, but Park Ji-sung originally planned to return around the New Year, which is still 3 months away...

As expected of a bullshit tabloid, it's really good at exaggerating! I almost believed it all.

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2007年9月15日中午12时，07/08赛季英格兰足球超级联赛第6轮首场焦点战--红魔曼联客战太妃糖埃弗顿，在艳阳高照的晴朗天空下，马上就要在古迪逊公园球场展开争夺，谁胜谁就将暂时获得榜首体验卡至少45分钟。

双方近12个赛季的25场交锋，曼联20胜4平仅负1场。唯一的失利是2005年4月，邓肯弗格森在古迪逊公园打入唯一进球。双方英超历史交锋30场，曼联22胜4平4负，其中客场11胜1平3负。双方历史交锋173场，曼联74胜38平61负占据上风。

In addition, it is worth mentioning that in the 15-year history of the Premier League, Manchester United is the team with the most wins, with a total of 369 wins, while Everton is the team with the most losses, with a total of 232 losses. Losing the most games is actually a kind of ability. After all, it proves that Everton has enough strength to stay in the Premier League for many years and constantly refresh its lower limit, oh no, it is a record...

C-Ronaldo returned from suspension, Giggs, Carrick and Silvestre replaced Eagles, Hargreaves and Evra in the starting lineup respectively.

Sir Alex continued to line up a 4-4-1-1 starting formation:

Goalkeeper: No. 1 Van der Sar;

Defenders: No. 6 Wes Brown, No. 5 Ferdinand, No. 15 Vidic, No. 27 Sylvester;

Midfield: No. 7 Cristiano Ronaldo, No. 16 Carrick, No. 18 Scholes, No. 17 Li Qi;

Single attacking midfielder: No. 11 Giggs;

Single striker: No. 32 Tevez.

As for Everton, former Manchester United goalkeeper Howard was injured in the national team match in the middle of the week. Wessels, who was loaned in the summer, started for the first time, Jakub made his first home appearance, Gagielka replaced Carsley in the starting lineup, and McFadden, who killed France in the European Cup qualifiers, also started the game from the bench.

However, among the starting 11, there are still many people who caught Ricardo's attention. The one who caught Ricardo's attention the most is the Spanish midfield commander Artate, who was strongly recommended by old Li Qi. However, it is said that he is better as a head coach than as a football player!

There is also Phil Neville, a versatile player from Manchester United's youth training, who is almost the same as the captain, Baines, the golden left foot who played against him in the European Youth Championship in the summer, and Jakub, a famous player from Jiaozhou Fuli...

As soon as the game started, the home team Toffees took the lead.

In the 2nd minute, Everton midfielder Arteta made a straight pass, and Jakub used his strong body to resist Sylvester's harassment on the right, squeezed into the edge of the penalty area and shot with his left foot, but the power was too strong and the shot went far away from the goal.

However, after this attack, the game began to fall into the rhythm of Manchester United. The Red Devils, with their superior numbers and technology in the midfield, began to take over the game; Artate, who was facing Li Qi, was also closely guarded. Li Qi would no longer give him the opportunity to easily turn around and pass the ball.

In the 5th minute, Manchester United's attack arrived as expected. Li Qi intercepted the pass that Everton midfielder Jagielka tried to pass to Artate, and then Li Qi directly passed the ball to Tevez in the middle, who passed it diagonally to the other side of the penalty area. Ronaldo followed up like a gust of wind, stopped the ball, cut inside two steps, and took a long shot with his left foot outside the penalty area, but unfortunately the ball hit the side net!

In the 11th minute, Manchester United patiently organized an attack from the backcourt. Van der Sar kicked the goal kick to Sylvester on the wing, who passed the ball directly to Li Qi who retreated to receive the ball before Yakubu came over to harass him.

While Li Qi was receiving the ball with his back, he had already observed the route of the ball. Without waiting for Arteta to press closely, he kicked the ball directly to Carrick who was diagonally behind him.

The latter did not hesitate after receiving the ball, and passed it directly to Ronaldo who was rushing forward on the right. The Portuguese player used the same trick again after receiving the ball, cutting inside at high speed and shooting again from the top of the penalty area! This time, the ball shot with his left foot was significantly better than the previous one, both in angle and initial speed, and it was very ideal.

Unfortunately, this time Ronaldo's long shot was blocked by Everton center back Lescott, and the ball deflected and hit the left post...

The Red Devils' powerful attack wave will not stop so easily, and the subsequent attacks will come one after another.

In the 15th minute, Wes Brown received a long pass from Lizzie and made a cross at a 45-degree angle on the right. Tevez, who was lurking at the far end, headed the ball at a small angle, but unfortunately the ball was headed too straight and was confiscated by Everton's second goalkeeper on loan, Wessels.

In the 23rd minute, Li Qi flashed past Artate and faced Everton right back Hibbert's fearless top defense. He lightly passed the ball diagonally to Giggs at the front of the penalty area, trying to play a wall-to-wall match with the latter to break through Everton's right defense. But Wang Laoji played a trick, pretending to knock the ball back to Li Qi who was running forward at high speed, deceived the center back Yabo's center of gravity, and pulled the ball back to the other side of the penalty area.

Unfortunately, this unexpected through ball was not only a little too powerful, but also too realistic. Tevez, who was also shaken by Giggs, started half a beat slower and could only shoot at a small angle when he caught up with the ball. The ball was also blocked by Lescott who chased after him and went out of the baseline.

In the 29th minute, Arteta could no longer bear it and fouled Li Qi, who had repeatedly disciplined him. Ronaldo's direct free kick from 30 yards in the middle was blocked by the wall and went out of the baseline.

Giggs then took a corner kick and Baines headed the ball away. However, the ball was first caught by Scholes who was lying in wait outside the penalty area. He then fired a powerful shot from 25 yards in the middle of the field. Unfortunately, the ball was again blocked by Yabo.

Giggs took a left corner kick for the second time in a row. This time, Vidic successfully scored from 8 yards in front of the goal, but his shot was still a few centimeters away from the near corner of the goal...

Seeing that Manchester United's offensive was getting more and more intense, getting closer and closer to Everton's goal, and getting closer and closer to scoring, at this moment, another accident happened!

In the 38th minute of the game, after Sylvester had deceived Jakub's pressure with a feint and then made a diagonal pass to Li Qi, he suddenly screamed, covered his knees and fell to the grass.

Li Qi, who was retreating not far away, seemed to hear a "pop" and quickly kicked the ball out of the field, signaling the referee to call the team doctor to come in quickly: this kind of sudden injury without physical confrontation is the most terrifying!

As expected, the team doctor rushed to the scene and treated the situation for 1 minute before signaling Sir Alex to make a substitution. Sylvester was then carried off the field on a stretcher, covering his tearful face.

Li Qi has also experienced many injuries on the court, of course not only himself, but also other people's injuries. Combining the judgment on the scene and the gestures and expressions of the team doctor, Li Qi has a preliminary judgment in his mind. I believe that many teammates have also guessed Sylvester's situation. It is almost certain that it is a cruciate ligament problem. It is likely that this season will be over...

Why do many teammates guess it? After Evra came on as a substitute at left back, Li Qi clearly found that the whole team seemed to be immediately given a group negative buff. The sharp offensive and unstoppable momentum were greatly reduced. Not to mention breaking through Everton's goal, they were quickly pushed back by Everton.

This allowed Everton to win back a rare offensive before the end of the first half...

In the 45th minute, Everton midfielder Osman took advantage of a set-piece opportunity and volleyed the corner kick from the edge of the penalty area!

This shot was a world-class goal, breaking through Van der Sar's defense and hitting the net directly! Fortunately, Yabo fouled Carrick in the penalty area first, and the referee ruled the goal invalid, which saved Manchester United from a disaster.

The referee did not grant long extra time due to Sylvester's lengthy injury treatment and the game soon entered halftime. Otherwise, Everton might have taken advantage of Manchester United's collective distraction and had a chance to score another goal at the end of the first half.

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