In this way, at the end of the year, football still has a big melon for fans and media to eat for several days. The reporters took pictures of Rooney's "tragic situation": even Christmas was shut out by Coleen!
But the media and fans were so happy that the homeless people who had no money for Christmas also grinned, feeling that Rooney's Christmas was not as easy as for them.
Fortunately, the Zhang Kuang club has taken in Rooney. We can't really let him have no place to stay for Christmas, right? In addition, the 19th round of Premier League is about to start, so Rooney cannot be missing.
December 26th, Boxing Day.
Old Trafford.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the sun shone thinly on the turf, but the enthusiasm inside the stadium was frighteningly hot.
Manchester United plays at home against Sunderland, Premier League in the 19th round.
What's even more special is that there is a special session before the game.
Before the referee blew the whistle, the audience's announcement sounded, "All fans, welcome, the winner of the 2010 Europe Golden Boy Award--Zhang Kuang!"
Zhang Kuang wore the red home jersey of Manchester United, held the Golden Boy Award trophy in one hand, and slowly circled the field.
Old Trafford's more than 70,000 fans all stood up, and the thunderous applause lasted for nearly a minute.
In the east stand, fans unfurled a giant banner. "The pride of Europe golden boy Zhang Kuang, Manchester United."
The South Stand sang a newly composed song. "HewontheGoldenBoy, hescoreseverygame, ZhangKuangisourhero, heburnslikeaflame..."
Zhang Kuang walked around the stadium, and every time he passed a stand, the applause and cheers increased by one decibel. He even saw a few young fans holding homemade signs with crooked words on them. "Zhang Kuang, I also want to imitate the Golden Boy."
When he reached the west stand, Zhang Kuang stopped and waved to the stand.
After completing the circuit, Zhang Kuang handed the trophy to the staff, stood in the middle circle, and took a deep breath.
The game is about to begin.
Ferguson has the full lineup in this game.
Van der Sar guards the goal, defense line Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra; midfielder Carrick, Fletcher, Park Ji-sung; frontcourt trident Zhang Kuang, Berbatov, Rooney.
Sunderland's lineup is mainly defensive, setting up a 5-4-1 iron barrel formation.
Their head coach Bruce admitted before the game. "My plan is not to concede a ball in the whole game, and then see if there is a chance to steal one."
But in only the fourth minute of the game, Manchester United fell down a few times after kicking off. Then Carrick took the ball in the center circle, observed it, and found Park Ji-sung on the right with a long pass.
South Korea stops the ball, cuts inside, and knocks the ball across to Berbatov in the middle.
Berbatov took the ball with his back, withstood Sunderland's pressing attack, and then passed the ball with a light heel.
The ball passed between the two defensive players and landed accurately at the feet of Zhang Kuang on the left side of the penalty area. At this time, the two defensive players of Sunderland broke into a cold sweat. Let Zhang Kuang get the ball in this position? Or let him face the goal?
Something big is going to happen.
So the two of them rushed towards Zhang Kuang desperately.
After receiving the ball, Zhang Kuang pretended to shoot, and one of the defensive players immediately slid over. As a result, Zhang Kuang stepped on the ball and pulled it horizontally, creating a space.
Immediately afterwards, before another defensive player could take action, Zhang Kuang kicked the ball hard towards the bottom. The ball flew towards the goal in a violent arc, then bypassed the goalkeeper's fingertips and drilled into the far corner of the goal.
1:0.
Old Trafford burst into loud cheers.
Zhang Kuang ran towards the corner flag area and made a "glider" celebration: with his arms spread wide, he skated and knelt from the penalty area line to the billboard.
Martin: "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Four minutes, just four minutes, the new Mr. Golden Boy scored his first goal since winning the award.
I thought that Manchester United would be somewhat affected by the previous love affair, and the player's status would fluctuate, but I didn't expect that Manchester United today seemed not to be affected at all, and their mental state was very full."
Rob: "Is it possible that after they have been physically released, they will be more energetic after a few days of recuperation?"
Martin: "Oh, no, man, you can't say this... truth, be careful they send you a lawyer's letter..."
He Wei: "Zhang Kuang! Just four minutes into the game, Manchester United opened the scoring! This is Golden Boy Award's winner's declaration! Berbatov's heel pass is superb, and Zhang Kuang's shot is even more impeccable!"
Xu Yang: "The most exciting thing about this ball is that Zhang Kuang stopped the ball, faked a shot to get the ball out of the way, and then shot the ball in one go.
To be honest, his set of actions, as well as his play and reaction to the two defensive players, were to the extreme. This is a truly top-level ability. There are not many people in the world who can have this ability."
Sunderland's players stood in the center circle, looking at each other. Bruce rubbed his forehead on the sidelines. The plan of "trying not to concede the ball in the whole game" arranged before the game went bankrupt in four minutes.
In the 12th minute, Carrick stole the ball from Sunderland in the midfield and passed it to Rafael on the right. Rafael saw that Rooney's movement took away the two defenders and opened up a space for him, so he continued to move forward. When he brought it to the right side of the penalty area, he swept the ball and passed it to Berbatov in the middle.
Berbatov pushed the shot from close range, Onuoha blocked the near corner and missed the baseline.
In the 18th minute, Zhang Kuang broke through from the left and went down, shook Sunderland's right back, and passed with his left foot.
The ball drew an arc, accurately bypassed the defensive player at the front point, and landed at the feet of Berbatov, who was unmarked at the back point.
Berba raised his foot and pushed the ball into the net.
2:0.
Berbatov ran to the corner flag area and slowly made a "bow" in celebration. Rooney ran over and pushed him. "Are you too lazy to even run?"
Berba looked innocent. "Just go in and run away."
Martin: "Today's Sunderland was so miserable. Five main players were injured and the core midfielder Cattermole was suspended. The midfield control completely collapsed, and the ball possession rate in the game was only 43%."
Rob: "It's ridiculous that their head coach said before the game that he would try not to concede a goal in the entire game and then steal another. He was talking in his sleep. Look at the situation now. It's only 18 minutes and it's 2:0."
Martin: "Oh, we are a weak team after all. Be careful that we will be bloodbathed tonight."
In the 31st minute, Giggs took a free kick from the right side. Zhang Kuang made a feint running movement on the edge of the wall, attracting the attention of three defensive players, but it was Ferdinand who really rushed to the landing point.
Ferdinand headed the ball to the back point, and Park Ji-sung grabbed the spot and volleyed. The ball bounced off the ground and changed direction, drilling into the lower left corner of the goal.
3:0.
Xu Yang: "It's over, it's over. Sunderland is probably going to be bloodbathed today. It's been 3:0 in just half an hour. The whole team will definitely be beaten to the point of being discouraged. The less motivated, the more dangerous it will be later."
He Wei: "Yes, Sunderland can't defend it at all. They are using a broken formation to fight against the team with the strongest offensive ability in the world. The consequences of this are extremely serious."
In the stoppage time of the first half, Manchester United got a corner kick opportunity.
Giggs took a corner kick and the ball flew to the center of the penalty area. Zhang Kuang jumped high in the crowd, he jumped higher than everyone else, almost as if he paused in the air for a second, and then gave a powerful headbutt.
The ball hit the ground, bounced back, passed the goalkeeper's save, and rolled into the net.
4:0.
When Zhang Kuang landed, he was brought down by the Sunderland defender and rolled around, but his header had already been scored.
The referee blew the whistle to indicate that the goal was valid. Zhang Kuang was lying on the turf and grinning. Rooney ran over and pulled him up. "You are heading the ball. Others are heading the ball towards the goal. You are heading the ball for a dunk."
Zhang Kuang laughed loudly, "This is called Kongba."
He Wei: "Zhang Kuang scored twice! With one assist, he participated in three goals of Manchester United! Today's Old Trafford belongs to Mr. Golden Boy!"
Xu Yang: "Looking at this replay, Zhang Kuang's take-off height is too exaggerated. His unprecedented jumping ability is the best in the world."
In the second half, Manchester United tightened the pace slightly, but Sunderland's defense had already been penetrated.
In the 58th minute, Carrick intercepted the ball in the midfield and passed the ball long. Berbatov succeeded in countering offside and scored with a shot. 5-0.
However, after confirming with the linesman, the referee believed that Berbatov was offside and the goal was invalid.
Berba stood there with his hands on his hips and cursed in a low voice in Bulgarian.
Rooney smiled and patted his shoulder, "Run later next time."
In the 70th minute, Zhang Kuang was substituted.
Old Trafford Everyone stood up and applauded, and the applause lasted for nearly two minutes.
When Zhang Kuang walked off the field, Ferguson stood on the sidelines and patted him on the back. "Well done, sit down and take a rest."
Zhang Kuang sat back on the bench, took the towel handed by the staff and wiped his sweat, then looked at the field.
The final score was fixed at 5:0, mainly because Manchester United let off steam in the second half. There was no point in bullying such a weak team with only a broken team. In addition, the relationship between Sunderland and Manchester United was delicate. Manchester United didn't want Sunderland to lose too ugly.
Manchester United defeated Sunderland at home. Zhang Kuang scored two goals and made one assist. After the game, he was undoubtedly named the best player in the game.
At the press conference after the game, when Sunderland head coach Bruce was asked "how to evaluate Zhang Kuang's performance," he spread his hands and said, "How do you want me to evaluate it? Our defense was deployed for half an hour, and he scored in four minutes. There may not be more than five defenders on the planet who can guard him, and we don't have any in our team."
When Ferguson was asked "whether Zhang Kuang has reached world class", the old man Scotland chewed gum and said slowly, "World class? He got Golden Boy Award. He scored 11 goals in the UEFA Champions League group stage. He scored three goals in this game. You can judge for yourself."
The reporter asked, "Sir, Manchester United is in good spirits today. Is it because they went to a party with many people before Christmas? They are physiologically released, so they are full of energy?"
Ferguson was silent for two seconds, and then showed a meaningful smile, "I can't judge this, but I think the last incident is over.
The relevant personnel have all received the punishment they deserve, including written apologies and fines, and they have also recognized their mistakes.
However, there is one thing I want to say. I am not exonerating them, I just want to say that "the atmosphere before the holiday is strong" and teammate Zhang Kuang won the grand prize, so they made the same mistake as all men after drinking a little wine.
Of course, there are also some women who want to find people for some excitement because of the festive atmosphere, so this is like dry wood meeting fire. Therefore, we should not talk about this matter again in the future, we should look forward to it."
Reporter: "But Rooney has made news many times because of this kind of thing."
Ferguson: "Then what can I do? First, I can't follow him 24 hours a day, and second, I can't castrate him. I can only punish him after the incident, that's all, I can't shoot him, right?"
"Haha..."
The whole audience burst into laughter.
The Christmas schedule has just begun. Two days later they will face Birmingham away from home, and three days later they will face West Brom at home.
Premier League's devilish schedule is well-deserved, but for Zhang Kuang, this is the best stage.
After all, Golden Boy Award is just the beginning.
On December 28, Premier League challenged Birmingham City away from home in the 20th round.
The heat from the 4-0 bloodbath against Sunderland on Boxing Day has not yet dissipated. The entire Manchester United team boarded the bus to Birmingham early.
St Andrew's Stadium, this century-old stadium located in the center of Birmingham, has a capacity of just over 30,000 people, but is famous as the "Devil's home stadium"Premier League.
In the past 16 months, Birmingham has only lost one game here, and Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur have all stumbled on this venue.
At the press conference the day before the game, Ferguson rarely smiled, "St Andrew's is one of the most difficult away games for Premier League. Birmingham's home defense is extremely strong. They are deep in the relegation zone and are working hard for every point. We cannot underestimate the enemy in the slightest."
The reporter asked, "The combination of Ferdinand and Vidić has performed stably recently, but the media has been discussing their slow turn. Are you worried about the high-altitude impact of Birmingham?"
Ferguson chewed gum and said slowly, "Rio and Nemanja have been together for many years, and they know how to deal with tall forwards. Birmingham and Žigić, but we have experience."
On Birmingham's side, coach McLeish bluntly made harsh words at the pre-match press conference. "Manchester United's central defender turns slowly. This is something everyone Premier League knows."
We will let Jerome and Žigić take turns attacking them. Moreover, we have Ben Foster, who knows the shooting habits of Manchester United players very well. He is familiar with which angle Rooney likes to shoot, and when Berbatov will shoot."
A reporter asked, "What about Zhang Kuang? Is Foster familiar with Zhang Kuang?"
McLeish paused for a moment, with a slightly embarrassed expression. "Zhang Kuang...Foster was at Manchester United, but Zhang Kuang hadn't come yet. But that's not important, we have special tactical arrangements for Zhang Kuang."
In fact, the Birmingham team did make detailed arrangements for Zhang Kuang before the game: Gardner and Bowyer double-teamed him, not giving him room to turn around; once he got the ball, the nearest full-back immediately helped defend; he limited the number of receptions he received, and would rather let him pass back than face the goal.
On the night of the game day, the lights were brightly lit in St Andrew's Stadium. The local weather in Birmingham was cold and humid, and the turf was covered with a thin layer of water vapor.
In the Sky Sports live broadcast room, Martin·Tyler and Rob·Hawthorn are doing pre-match warm-ups.
Martin·Tyler opened the information in his hand. "Friends from the audience, welcome to watch the focus of the 20th round of Premier League. Manchester United challenges Birmingham in an away game. Let's take a look at the starting lineups of both sides."
The big screen showed the starting list of Birmingham.
"Birmingham forms a 4-5-1 formation," Martin·Tyler read, "Goalkeeper No. 26 Ben·Foster, the former Manchester United goalkeeper faces his old club tonight.
Defence: Right back No. 2 Stephen Carr, captain; center back No. 5 Roger Johnson partnering with No. 15 Scott Dann; left back No. 6 Liam Ridgewell.
Five midfielders: No. 7 Sebastian Larsson is on the right, No. 12 Barry·Ferguson is defensive, and No. 8 Craig Gardner is responsible for the midfield attack.
No. 4 Lee Bowyer serves as the free midfielder, and No. 23 Jean Beausejour is on the left. The single arrow is No. 10 Cameron Jerome."
Rob·Hawthorn added, "The intention of Birmingham's lineup is very obvious. The five midfielders suppress Manchester United's passing route. The two tough guys Gardner and Bowyer are specifically responsible for strangling Zhang Kuang.
On the front line, Jerome is fast and good at counterattacks, and there is also Žigić, who is 2.02 meters tall, sitting on the bench. This is McLeish's backhand."
Martin·Tyler continues to read Manchester United's first appearance, "Manchester United also arranged a 4-3-3 formation. Goalkeeper No. 1 Edwin·Van der Sar.
Defense line: No. 21 Rafael right back, No. 5 Rio·Ferdinand and No. 15 Nemanja·Vidić partner as central defenders, Vidić wears the captain's armband, No. 3 Pas Terry·Evra left back.
Three midfielders: No. 28 Darren·Gibson Premier League starts the game for the first time in eight months, No. 16 Michael·Carrick serves as the core organizer, and No. 8 Anderson is responsible for midfield promotion.
The front trident: No. 33 Zhang Kuang is on the left, No. 9 Dimitar er·Berbatov is in front, and No. 10 Wayne·Rooney is on the right."
Rob·Hawthorn answered, "Manchester United There is a very interesting change today. Gibson started. Ferguson said before the game that he hopes to strengthen the midfielder His propulsion ability, Gibson's long-range shooting and back-row penetration are his characteristics. But the last time Gibson Premier League started was a long time ago, and his status is unknown."
Martin·Tyler nodded. "And there is a hidden danger in Manchester United's defense. Ferdinand and Vidić are facing fast forwards like Jerome today, and with Žigić on the bench, their turning speed may be targeted.
Looking at the standings again, Manchester United tops the list with 55 points after 19 rounds. The second place Arsenal only has 36 points, and the gap has reached 19 points. What about Birmingham? They are on the edge of the relegation zone and urgently need points. This is a showdown between the top team and the relegation team, but St Andrew's has never been short of upsets."
The screen cuts to CCTV-5, He Wei and Xu Yang who are also warming up before the game.
He Wei: "Viewers, welcome to watch the 20th round of Premier League's live broadcast of the 2010-2011 season. Manchester United challenges Birmingham City away from home. At this moment, St Andrew's Stadium is already full, with nearly 30,000 fans turning the place into a blue ocean."
Xu Yang: "The atmosphere at Birmingham's home court is very scary. They have only lost one game here in the past 16 months. Any strong team coming here will have to shed a layer of skin. Although Manchester United is at the top of the list, this game must not be taken lightly."
He Wei: "Let's take a look at the starting lineups of both sides. On Birmingham's side, goalkeeper Foster is a former player of Manchester United. He is well aware of the shooting habits of Manchester United players. Gardner and Bowyer in the midfield are both strong players with tough styles. This will be a test for Zhang Kuang."
Xu Yang: "Yes, Zhang Kuang has been in such hot form recently. UEFA Champions League scored 11 goals and 7 assists in the group stage. He just won Golden Boy Award on Boxing Day. The whole audience cheered when he walked around the field to display the trophy before the game.
Birmingham will definitely take good care of him. Gardner and Bowyer will take turns guarding him, not giving him any room to turn around or start speeding up."
He Wei: "Looking at Manchester United again, Ferguson has arranged for Gibson to be first released today. This is Gibson's first appearance in Premier League after an unknown period of time.
His long-range shooting ability and midfield coverage area are what Ferguson values, but he has been away from the team for a long time and his condition depends on the game process."
Xu Yang: "Manchester United now has a huge lead. The 19-point difference has almost no precedent for a comeback in the history of Premier League.
But Ferguson said before the game that St Andrew's was one of the most difficult away games for Premier League, and he did not underestimate the opponent. Manchester United's goal today is definitely to get all three points and continue to expand the lead."
"..."
Within St Andrew's Stadium, players from both sides have lined up in the player tunnel.
Zhang Kuang stood in the middle of the team, lowered his head and gently jumped and moved his ankles.
Next to him is Berbatov. The Bulgarian looks lazy as always, as if he is not going to play a Premier League game, but to have afternoon tea.
Rooney stood behind Zhang Kuang, muttering something, not knowing what he was muttering.
Over at Birmingham, Gardner and Bowyer were communicating in low voices, glancing in the direction of Zhang Kuang from time to time. Gardner's eyes were full of scrutiny, while Bowyer's face was expressionless.
Referee Li·Mason walked at the front, looked back at the players on both sides, and after confirming that everything was correct, walked out of the tunnel.
The song "GladAllOver" came to my mind instantly.
This is the team anthem of Birmingham. Nearly 30,000 home fans sang in unison, with a sound that almost overturned the roof of the stadium. Blue flags were flying in the stands. The expedition Manchester United fans were compressed into a corner of the visiting team's stands. There were only less than 3,000 people, but their red flags were still eye-catching.
Players from both sides enter the stadium, line up, shake hands, and guess sides.
When Zhang Kuang and Gardner shook hands, Gardner put a little more force on his hand and looked directly at Zhang Kuang. Zhang Kuang smiled, put more force on his hand in return, let go and walked to his position without changing his expression.
Martin·Tyler: "Players from both sides have entered the stadium. Birmingham is wearing a blue home jersey today, and Manchester United is wearing a classic red away jersey."
Zhang Kuang is standing on the left wing. Today he faces the joint defense of Birmingham's right back Stephen Carr and right midfielder Sebastian Larsson. Gardner and Bowyer will also help defend at any time."
Rob·Hawthorne: "Looking at Zhang Kuang's expression, he was very relaxed. He even joked with Rooney during the warm-up before the game. The two of them competed in the corner kick area to see who could kick the goalpost more accurately. Zhang Kuang hit two of his three kicks, while Rooney missed none."
Martin·Tyler: "Haha, I hope Rooney's state will not be like this in the game."
"..."
The referee Li·Mason looked at his watch and blew the opening whistle.