Rooney stopped playing the game, his eyes were as wide as bells, and he almost dropped his phone.
Ferdinand The beer glass in his hand stopped in mid-air, and the wine slowly flowed down the wall of the glass and dripped on his leather shoes, but he didn't notice it at all.
Vidić opened his mouth wide. Serbia, who had always been calm, looked like a child who had never seen the world.
Pogba The mobile phone in his hand fell to the ground, with the screen facing down, and there was a "snap" sound. He quickly picked it up, wiped it distressedly, and then turned to look at these women.
Even Owen, who had always been calm, raised his eyelids and his eyes stayed on those twenty-three women for at least three seconds.
Berbatov was still elegant and calm, but his hand shook slightly - a drop of red wine spilled and fell on his white shirt.
"Fuck..." Rooney finally swallowed the shrimp dumplings, his voice hoarse, "Who... are these people?"
"'Some friends' that Zhang said?" Ferdinand put down his wine glass, "I thought there would be at most three or five women, but this is... twenty-three?"
"And every one of them is top quality." Vidić whispered.
Vidić, who has always been serious about his words, can say the word "top quality", which is enough to illustrate the shocking power of these twenty-three women.
Zhang Kuang walked up to the twenty-three women and greeted them with a smile.
"Welcome, welcome. Come inside, eat and drink as you like."
Matilda leaned into his ear and whispered, "Zhang, you look very handsome today."
"When am I not handsome?"
Matilda rolled his eyes, but did not refute.
Three girls, Lama, Arya, and Liam, stood nearby, looking at the twenty-three women with complicated expressions.
They know Matilda and know that she is the "captain" of France Study-Abroad Squad. They also know the eleven Middle East girls because there are frequent contacts between France Study-Abroad Squad and Britain Study-Abroad Squad.
But they didn't know the four female reporters and the four beautiful young women.
"Zhang Kuang, do you know these friends?" Lama asked Matilda in a low voice.
"We know each other." Matilda said, "But we'll talk about it when we get back."
Lama nodded and did not ask any further questions.
Next, the club's senior management and coaching staff came. They came just for a formality and to express their opinions on the spot.
No matter what, everyone has to come and at least cut the cake and say "Happy Birthday". There's nothing we can do about it.
Just when they entered the field, they saw a group of beauties inside that had captured everyone's attention. David, Ferguson, Phelan, first team coach Rene Meulensteen and others were all dumbfounded.
What is going on?
Jonathan quickly explained to several people.
"These are the female partners of our agency. We also took advantage of Zhang Kuang's birthday party to invite them over to thank them for their continued support to us."
"Uh..."
Then the staff came over and asked Jonathan to leave. Jonathan spoke first on behalf of the agency to celebrate Zhang Kuang's birthday, and then David·Gill sent birthday wishes to Zhang Kuang on behalf of the club.
The next step is to sing happy birthday, cut the cake, distribute the cake to everyone, and everyone eats it for a while.
Zhang Kuang cleared his throat, walked to the center of the banquet hall, and clapped his hands.
"Everyone, thank you for coming to my birthday party today." His voice was not loud, but it could be heard in the entire banquet hall. "I invite you all to come today, firstly, to celebrate my eighteenth birthday, and secondly, to thank you all for your support and help during this time."
He pointed to the Chinese food on the long table. "This is China's famous dish made by the chef I specially invited from China. You can eat and drink as you like. There are enough drinks, so you are welcome."
What followed was a lot of praise for the food. The club's executives and coaching staff wanted to eat a few bites and then leave, but they couldn't stop eating. It was so delicious.
"It's okay for everyone to eat, but you need to increase your exercise tomorrow. These foods are high in sugar, fat and calories, which are not good for athletes. Of course, you can also eat as much as you like, but if the physical test is not up to standard, you should practice more to get your body back." Ferguson took a few bites, held it back, and then warned the players.
Although he is only a coach, he is not in good health and dare not eat too much.
The player team, who originally wanted to feast on the meal, suddenly had resentful eyes when they heard this, looking at the delicious food on the plate with reluctance.
Only Zhang Kuang ate happily. It had been a long time since he had eaten such authentic domestic food. The food here was either modified to suit the local tastes, or the ingredients were inconsistent in China, so what he made himself was always a little different.
This time it is very, very authentic.
The birthday party is coming to an end.
Manchester United's players left one after another, and the coaching staff also left. Before Ferguson left, he called Zhang Kuang aside and said a word.
"Happy birthday. Don't be late for training tomorrow."
"Understood, BOSS."
Ferguson glanced at him, then at the twenty-three women, shook his head, turned around, walked a few steps and then turned back.
"Zhang, don't waste your talent."
"Thank you BOSS for your concern, I will pay attention to it."
How did Zhang Kuang pay attention in the end? No one knows. They only know that he was very busy that night, busy practicing.
Cultivation is like this. He can practice up to 9 Qi and Blood Points in one day, so he must work hard.
After one night, he felt full, and after drinking enough Qi and Blood Points, he felt particularly energetic.
Early the next morning, Carrington Training Ground.
Before the training started, Ferguson stood on the sidelines and watched the players walk into the training ground one after another.
His eyes paused on Zhang Kuang.
Zhang Kuang seems to be in good condition - full of energy, walking briskly, not at all hungover or excessively exhausted, but rather as if he has taken a lot of tonic.
"Zhang, come here."
Zhang Kuang trotted over.
"BOSS, what's going on?"
"Go and take a physical test. If you don't meet the standard, practice more for three hours every day for the next three days."
"No problem, BOSS."
Ferguson stared at him for two seconds, then smiled, boy, let's see if I don't kill you.
"Okay, let's go."
Zhang Kuang turned around and ran to the office building.
He came back half an hour later, accompanied by the club's chief physician Steve McNally, who directly handed Ferguson a form.
"Sir, this guy is a monster, look at it."
Ferguson was stunned for a moment, took the form and took a look at it. He looked at Zhang Kuang in surprise, and then looked at the form.
"The instrument is not broken?"
"Sir, there's nothing wrong with the instrument."
Ferguson nodded. "Okay, I understand, go ahead and do your work. Zhang, you can go train too."
Ferguson waved his hand, feeling tired, is this guy not a human?
--
Sunday, August 22nd.
Craven Cottage Stadium, London.
In the second round of the Premier League league, Manchester United challenged Fulham away from home.
Before the game, almost everyone thought this would be a crushing victory. Manchester United defeated Newcastle 3:0 in the first round. The tridents cooperated tacitly and attacked like silver.
Fulham lost to Bolton 0:2 in the first round away game and was in mediocre form.
But the charm of football lies in its unpredictability.
Craven Cottage Stadium is one of the smallest stadiums in Premier League, and can only accommodate more than 25,000 people. But its home atmosphere is very strong, and it is difficult for visiting teams to take advantage here.
Fulham's head coach Mark·Hughes is a former player of Manchester United. He knows Ferguson's tactics well and he knows how to limit Manchester United's offense.
In the locker room before the game, Ferguson stood in front of the tactical board with a serious expression.
"Don't underestimate Fulham." He said, "Their defense is very resilient. Mark·Hughes understands our play style, and he will definitely devise tactics based on our weaknesses."
He glanced at Zhang Kuang.
"Zhang, you play on the left today, but don't stick to the wing. Fulham's right back Baird is slow, use your speed to eat him. If they double-team you, drop back to get the ball and bring out their defense."
"Understood, BOSS."
Ferguson glanced at Rooney and Berbatov again.
"Rooney, if you go to the right, lean towards the middle. Berbatov, you should pay attention to the support in the middle. The trident should change positions flexibly and don't stand still."
"Understood."
"There is one more request," Ferguson said, "In today's game, I want you to put pressure on them from the beginning. Don't give them any chance to breathe."
Ferguson arranged the locker room neatly, and all the Manchester United team members went to the court in a vigorous manner.
Even the commentators of Sky Sports and CCTV-5 are very confident.
Not to mention the 5,000 Manchester United away fans, who were dancing and singing in the away stands.
The whistle sounded.
Manchester United kicks off.
After the game started, Manchester United quickly took control of the ball.
But Fulham's defense was more tenacious than expected. Their back line was very tight and the midfielder retreated in a timely manner. Manchester United's offense was blocked time and time again.
In the first ten minutes, Manchester United had a ball possession rate of 70%, but did not have a single shot on target.
Zhang Kuang takes the ball on the left and faces Fulham's right back Cris·Baird. Baird is 1.88 meters tall and weighs 85 kilograms. He is strong but has average speed.
Zhang Kuang made several false moves, but Baird remained unmoved. He just stayed close to Zhang Kuang, preventing him from turning around.
"Fulham's defense against Zhang Kuang today was very targeted," said Martin·Tyler of Sky Sports. "Baird didn't give him any room to turn around. As long as Zhang Kuang turned his back to get the ball, Baird would stick to him and prevent him from accelerating."
"Yes," Rob Hawthorn said, "This is the most effective way to deal with fast, explosive wingers, not giving them room to sprint."
In the fifteenth minute, Zhang Kuang decided to change his style of play. It's not that he couldn't get past Baird, but if he got past, it would arouse the vigilance of other Premier League teams, which would disrupt Ferguson's principle of keeping a low profile before September 1st.
At this time, he can pretend to have a weakness and be manipulated. Isn't this just right?
Therefore, he began to retreat to the midfield to get the ball. After receiving the pass from Scholes, he turned around and faced Baird.
This time, he had room to sprint.
Zhang Kuang moved his left foot, tilted his body to the left, and pretended to take the outside line. Baird The moment his center of gravity moved, Zhang Kuang dunked the ball back, pushed with his right foot, and passed it from the inside line.
Baird stretched out his hand and grabbed the corner of Zhang Kuang's clothes, but Zhang Kuang's strength was too great, and he directly brought Baird down and continued to rush forward. This time Zhang Kuang forgot to hide his clumsiness. The most important thing was that he forgot about it when he started running.
"Foul!" Fulham's player yelled.
But the referee did not blow the whistle, the offense was favorable, and Manchester United continued to attack.
Zhang Kuang broke into the penalty area, and Fulham's central defender Hangeland came over to defend. Hangeland is 1.95 meters tall and is one of Premier League's tallest central defenders. He has a strong heading ability, but his foot skills are rough.
Zhang Kuang didn't give him a chance to take a shot and shot directly.
The ball flew towards the far corner of the goal like a cannonball.
Fulham's goalkeeper Schwarzer flew to save the ball. His fingertips touched the ball. The ball changed direction and flew out of the baseline after grazing the post.
Corner kick.
"Zhang Kuang's shot!" Martin·Tyler shouted, "Almost! If this goal is scored, it will be another world wave!"
Old Trafford is in the distance, but Manchester United fans of Craven Cottage burst into warm applause from the stands.
In the 20th minute, Fulham launched a sharp counterattack.
Midfielder Danny Murphy made a through ball, and forward Andrew Johnson succeeded in countering offside, facing Van der Sar alone.
Van der Sar attacked and saved Johnson's shot. However, the ball bounced to the edge of the penalty area. Fulham's other forward Zamora followed up with a follow-up shot, but was blocked by Ferdinand.
So risky.
"Fulham's counterattack is very threatening," Martin·Tyler said, "Manchester United's defense line is too close, giving Fulham room to counterattack."
Ferguson stood on the sidelines with a bad expression.
He turned around and said to Phelan, "Tell Carrick to pay attention to protecting the defense line and not to press too high."
Phelan nodded, ran to the sidelines, and conveyed Ferguson's instructions to Carrick.
In the 28th minute, Manchester United's offense finally paid off.
Giggs picked up the ball on the left and passed the ball towards the penalty area.
Berbatov competed for the top of the penalty area and missed it, but the ball bounced to the right side of the penalty area.
Rooney followed up and shot a volley, but the ball was saved by Schwarzer.
Zhang Kuang rushed out from the crowd and fired furiously at the ball.
You must know that his running position is not bad.
The ball hit the net.
1:0!
Martin: "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Manchester United's China forward has scored consecutive goals. Who can stop him? Who can stop him? He is indeed a super forward who scored more than 30 goals in Ligue 1's half-season."
Rob: "Yes, assuming that Ligue 1's level is lower than Premier League, Chinese Zhang only scored half of the goals in Premier League. That's more than thirty goals in a season, which is also the data of the Golden Boot."
"Yes, he has an extremely keen sense of smell in front of the goal. He was the first to find the target in the crowd and scored with a follow-up shot! This is the super sense of smell of a top shooter, which is quite terrifying."
He Wei: "It's in, it's in, it's in, Zhang Kuang scored the goal with a follow-up shot. Zhang Kuang is as agile as a cheetah on the grassland. In just one breath, the two defensive players guarding him lost sight of him. At this time, he has already appeared at the goal point. This is the top hunter."
Zhang Kuang ran towards the corner flag area and made the "Siu" celebration gesture.
Rooney rushed over and jumped on his back.
"Brother, where is my assist?" Rooney asked.
"That was a shot, not an assist." Zhang Kuang said, "Your shot was saved and I made it up."
"Fuck, I created that too!"
"Okay, okay, I'll count you as half an assist."
On the sidelines, Ferguson stood up and clapped several times.
His expression became more relaxed, but his brows were still furrowed.
1:0 is not enough, Fulham plays very tenaciously and may equalize at any time.
Sure enough, Fulham did not give up. In the 42nd minute, Manchester United was once again threatened by Fulham's counterattack.
This time, it was Fulham's captain Murphy's long shot. The ball hit the crossbar and bounced back into the penalty area. United States's front midfielder Dempsey fired a volley. Van der Sar didn't react and the ball went in.
1:1
I really can't blame anyone for this ball, but I always feel like something went wrong.
In the 44th minute, Manchester United won a free kick in the frontcourt. Giggs took a free kick. Ferdinand headed the ball towards the goal, but Schwarzer saved it.
End of the first half, 1:1.