Chapter 36 Knowing what to do
I have to say that Genoa's reserve team is indeed stronger than Sampdoria, otherwise why are they the ones ranked high in the reserve league now, not Sampdoria?
The reserve team has played nineteen rounds in Group A, and currently Genoa reserve team ranks first. In this group, there are also reserve teams from Juventus, Fiorentina, and Turin. What about the reserve teams of Sampdoria? They are currently ranked sixth. If they want to qualify for the reserve team playoffs, they must at least get fifth in the league at the end of the season.
Including this game, there are seven games left. This is not a very easy task. Last season, Sampdoria reserve team only won the eighth place and missed the playoffs. They could only watch the city's arch rival Genoa reserve team advance to the playoffs as the first and finally won the championship trophy.
Although the players of Sampdoria reserve team were full of fighting spirit and played very hard after the opening game, the first goal was the visiting Genoa reserve team.
At the 21st minute of the game, Genoa's forward Samuel Longo scored the first record for the team, breaking the deadlock on the court.
After conceding the ball, Sampdoria Reserve's starting goalkeeper Andre Tozo was very angry. He vowed before the game that Genoa Reserve would not score a goal in this game. Unexpectedly, in just 21 minutes, the goal he guarded was pierced, and he felt very embarrassed...
Sure enough, he saw that when Jelenic was participating in the teammate's goal celebration, he had not forgotten to shake his fingers to him - everyone knew what this action meant.
"Damn!" Tozo cursed and sweared, he turned his eyes to Gao Zheng on the sidelines.
In his eyes, the Great Devil sat on the bench, holding his chin in his hand, looking at the court, and didn't know what he was thinking. Will he be anxious about this situation? Will he be impatient to play early?
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After conceding the ball, the left-back of Sampdoria reserve team saw Tomaso Cancerotti being replaced by Bruno because the area he guarded on the court had obviously become the biggest weakness - the goal Longo scored was launched from here.
He was replaced just 23 minutes into the game, which is certainly not a good thing for the players, and means that he has become the worst performer of the team.
But football is so cruel, or professional football is so cruel.
When you are not performing well enough, don't expect to stay on the court.
After all, the reserve team's game is already very close to the first team game. If the reserve team players want to move up, they will definitely enter the first team. The competition in the first team is more intense than that in the reserve team. If you can't even deal with various situations in the reserve team, why do you still talk about gaining a foothold in the first team?
This is no longer a place for children aged thirteen or fourteen to enjoy happy football.
Grico was replaced by Cancerotti, who finally stabilized the defense of Sampdoria reserve team after he came on the court.
The two sides began to fall into a stalemate and the situation was very stalemate.
The Sampdoria fans in the stands did not stop cheering for their team, but what they could do was limited, and the cheering could not completely make up for the gap in strength between the two sides.
The situation on the court was mainly Genoa's reserve attack, Sampdoria's reserve defense, Tozo made several wonderful saves in the next game, and finally made his name as the main goalkeeper of the reserve team not be humiliated by Genoa's reserve team...
But his ability to save the opponent's shot did not help the lagging team equalize the score. In the end, the two sides scored 0:1 in the first half, and Sampdoria, who played at home, was temporarily one goal behind.
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During the halftime break, many people from Sampdoria reserve team turned their attention to Gao Zheng, either openly or secretly. In their minds, if anyone can change the situation on the field, it must be Gao Zheng... not Icardi.
It's not that they look down on Icardi or are biased against Icardi.
As a pure shooter, Mauro Icardi relies heavily on the support given to him by his teammates in the middle and backcourt. If he fails to perform well in the mid and backcourt, or his energy is restrained by the opponent's attack, he will not be able to provide enough support to Icardi.
In this game, because of Genoa's strong strength, the players of Sampdoria's reserve team mainly stalemate with Genoa in their midfield and backcourt, and did not have much spare time to support Icardi.
So although Icardi was very active in the frontcourt, he had no actual performance. Icardi played very uncomfortable in the first half of this game.
Icardi was not satisfied with his performance in the first half.
He had been talking big before and boasted about it. He said that when he came, Sampdoria could beat Genoa. As a result, he ran for 45 minutes in vain and didn't score a single goal, which was simply embarrassing...
And now everyone's eyes are on Gao Zheng...
He lowered his head and did not go to see Gao Zheng.
However, these players only dared to turn their attention to Gao Zheng, but did not dare to really make such a request to head coach Bruno...
Facing everyone's eyes, Gao Zheng did not take the initiative to ask for a game. It seemed that this battle that started because of him had nothing to do with him now. He would only go when the coach asked him to join.
Bruni was also indifferent, and he did not make any adjustments to the personnel.
At the beginning of the second half, Gao Zheng was not replaced.
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At the beginning of the second half, Genoa reserve team, which was one goal ahead, had a fierce offensive, and they scored again in the 49th minute.
The goal for the team this time was midfielder Stefano Stularo.
After Tozo concedes the ball, Jelenic, who happened to be in front of the goal, leaned over and said to him: "I don't think that stupid guy has to play anymore. You are all finished anyway! Hahaha!"
After saying that, he smiled and ran to his teammates and joined their celebration - a group of Genoa reserve players ran to the bottom of the stands where Sampdoria fans gathered to celebrate, which was simply a naked provocation.
Of course, they also received scolding and booing from Sampdoria fans, as well as the middle finger.
"Get back to your chicken coop, bastard!"
"Don't let me see you on the street!"
It is not polite to a group of big men to curse more than young people... Here, there is no traditional virtue of "respecting the elderly and loving the young".
Gao Zheng was fascinated by the bench - this is the derby.
He was also a person who experienced the Milan derby back then, and it was similar to what he is now. Although everyone was at the age of fifteen or sixteen, they all imitated their performance in the adult team derby and tried to make themselves look like the first-team stars.
At this moment, assistant coach Casilio walked over quickly and said to Gao Zheng, who was turning his head to "appreciate" the performance of Genoa players: "Gao, it's your turn to play!"
Gao Zheng was stunned for a moment, and the second half only started for five minutes...
But he didn't talk nonsense, stood up from the bench and took off his vest.
It seems that the two goals behind in the Lighthouse derby made the usual serious head coach unable to sit still...
When Gao Zheng walked to the sidelines, Bruni pulled him, opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
Because he remembered that he asked Gao Zheng to play casually in the last game, Gao Zheng scored the goal when he came on the court.
So should I make such arrangements this time?
Seeing the head coach's appearance, Gao Zheng smiled and asked, "Do you want to kick it casually?"
Bruni changed his mind and shook his head: "No, this is a derby. Use your ability to change the current situation. You know what to do, high."
Gao Zheng was not modest, he nodded.
Yes, he knows what to do.
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PS, this is released regularly, so when I updated this chapter, I didn’t know the result of the game, and I didn’t know if I had predicted correctly...
Chapter completed!