Super Marshal

September 20, 2009, 13:30 pm.

Old Trafford, Manchester.

Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster, wearing a yellow jersey, stood in front of the goal line, looking up to the sky with great piety, reaching out to make signs on his forehead and chest, and praying in his mouth.

He is already twenty-five years old.

He started his career with Stoke City, but he never played for Stoke City for even one minute. During those three years, he was loaned to five teams and wandered almost every six months. Until 2005, he was loaned to Wrexham in Wales.

In Wrexham he met a man who changed his life forever.

His teammate, Darren Ferguson, son of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

He will never forget that night four years ago at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

That was one of the few games that Ben Foster played for Wrexham, and in that game he was in very good condition and made many wonderful saves, helping Wrexham defeat the opponent 2-0 and successfully win the championship. .

After the game, Ferguson personally came to the dressing room to visit his son Darren, but also met Ben Foster.

Three months later, Manchester United bought Ben Foster from Stoke City for two million pounds.

But it is not easy at all to gain a foothold in the Red Devils. Ben Foster was loaned to Watford as soon as he joined.

In the first season, as the main goalkeeper, he helped Watford successfully reach the Premier League and established himself as the main force. He performed very well. In the summer of 2006, he was surprisingly selected into the World Cup squad in England and Germany. This made him · Foster became famous in one fell swoop.

After returning from the World Cup, Ben Foster continued to play for Watford to further improve his strength. With his wonderful performance, he was selected for the national team many times and even became the starting goalkeeper of the national team for a time. After the season, He also naturally ended his experience in the outside world, returned to Old Trafford, and officially began the new journey of taking over from Van der Sar.

But the two years at Manchester United were undoubtedly lonely.

The ever-stronger Van der Sar firmly controls the position of Manchester United's main goalkeeper. The fierce competition has left Ben Foster with few opportunities. He has only received training in three league games in two years. This is for a player who is in urgent need of game experience. For a goalkeeper, it is undoubtedly a very painful thing.

But the scariest thing is not this, but the fact that the long-term lack of competition has caused him to lose that keen reaction, and he has been away from the game for a long time, making it impossible for him to adjust his situation skillfully.

Many people simply cannot understand that as a goalkeeper, especially a Manchester United goalkeeper, he stands alone in front of the goal for most of the game. Especially in the cold season, the whole body seems to be stiff, but when the opponent attacks When entering halftime, he had to react immediately.

These two extreme states are a huge test for any goalkeeper. Only experienced goalkeepers know how to adjust themselves during the game to keep themselves in the best condition anytime and anywhere to cope with the opponent's sudden blow. .

In early March, Ben Foster performed well in the League Cup and saved a Tottenham Hotspur player's penalty in the final penalty shootout, ultimately helping Manchester United win the League Cup.

After the game, Ferguson personally took the lead in renewing Ben Foster's contract, raising his weekly salary to 25,000 pounds, and appointed him as Van der Sar's successor, promising him a period of ten years into the future.

In early August, Manchester United was invited to participate in the Audi Cup. However, in the final, Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal's powerful volley contused Van der Sar's left hand, resulting in a broken finger on his left hand. He had to undergo surgery and was suspended for at least two months. .

This is undoubtedly great news for Ben Foster, and it can be said to be a God-given opportunity.

You know, Van der Sar is already 38 years old. Although his condition is maintained very well, as long as Ben Foster can show that he has the ability to replace the Dutch goalkeeper in these two months, that will It is a matter of course that Van der Sar replaces him and firmly takes the throne as Manchester United's main goalkeeper.

But he didn't know if it was because of this that he put a little more pressure on himself.

During Edwin van der Sar's injury, Fortes secured his position as Manchester United's main goalkeeper. He started five league games this season and conceded three goals. The statistics are not ugly, but Forster made a total of three fatal errors. As a result, he has been questioned by the outside world since this season, and many people believe that his strength does not meet Manchester United's requirements.

You know, the person he is being compared to is Edwin van der Sar!

That is an almost legendary figure in European football!

Foster feels that this comparison is unfair to himself, but he still works hard to prove himself. He wants to prove to everyone that he, Ben Foster, is worthy of the position of Manchester United's main goalkeeper.

He performed well against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur before. I hope he can continue this good momentum against Manchester City this time.

…………

…………

"Okay, the game begins!"

Giggs, who was wearing the captain's armband on the field, clapped his hands vigorously and shouted to his teammates around him.

In the absence of team captain Gary Neville due to injury, vice-captain Giggs served as the team's field captain, responsible for directing his teammates on the field to play.

"Be careful, they are coming."

As soon as the game whistle sounded, Manchester City, who were playing away games, turned the away game and pressed forward aggressively, showing the momentum of suppressing Manchester United from the beginning. It also made Manchester United's entire midfield and backfield feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.

But the game had just begun. Just after half-time of Manchester City's first wave of attack, Manchester United intercepted the ball and passed it back to the defense. Ferdinand was responsible for picking up the ball.

Manchester City's front trident pressed very tightly and rushed towards Manchester United's defense. Benzema in particular rushed directly towards Ferdinand who had the ball, and he was very fast.

Ferdinand felt the threat, turned around to protect the ball, and passed the ball back to goalkeeper Foster in the penalty area.

Unexpectedly, Benzema did not slow down and passed by Ferdinand, chasing the ball.

What's even more terrible is that Ferdinand's pass was a little weak. After Foster was shocked, he decisively abandoned the goal and made a big-footed clearance first. However, Benzema still flew up and wanted to use his body. Block Foster's path.

There was only a bang as the ball hit Benzema firmly on the back and bounced towards the goal.

The whole Old Trafford stadium screamed, only to see Benzema quickly chasing the ball, but Foster was so shocked that he almost lost his mind. He quickly took a step faster and took the ball with a big kick. Kicked out of bounds, Manchester City's throw-in.

After dealing with this, Foster felt a chill running down his back, and his heart was about to beat out of his voice.

But there was a huge boo from the stands at Old Trafford, and many fans were booing Foster.

This made Ben Foster feel very depressed in the stadium. When he looked at Ferdinand, the boss of the team's locker room still looked indifferent, as if the ball just hit him. As if it doesn't matter.

But it was obviously because the force of his pass was weak, which caused Foster to be passive when receiving the ball. How did it become the goalkeeper's problem?

"Pay attention, they're here again!"

Manchester City quickly sent out a throw-in. After Sanchez ran to the right to receive the ball, he passed the ball into the penalty area. Benzema blocked Pepe with his body in the penalty area. After stopping the ball deftly, he turned and kicked directly to hit the goal.

Foster was shocked and flew over, holding the ball tightly under his body.

Fortunately, Benzema was interfered by Pepe and the kick failed to hit hard. Otherwise, Foster would have been impossible to save, which made the Manchester United goalkeeper secretly sweat.

After getting up from the ground, Foster looked up and saw that Manchester City's players did not retreat in a big way, but still pressed against Manchester United, showing signs of taking advantage of the start and eating Manchester United in one bite.

One minute, a shot, a throw-in, Manchester City's offensive is getting sharper.

Foster's powerful goal kick sent the ball directly to the Manchester City half. Javi Martinez headed the ball first and passed the ball to Zabaleta, who then grabbed the ball before Rooney. Xavi Alonso.

Manchester United began to put pressure on Manchester City's midfield and backfield. After Xavi Alonso got the ball, he used another big kick to send the ball directly to the frontcourt and fell to the left side of Manchester United's penalty area.

Benzema and Ferdinand started at the same time and chased the ball.

Ben Foster also decisively abandoned the goal. He was closer than others, and the ball seemed to be under his control, so Ferdinand did not catch up again, but slowed down. Only Manchester City's Benzema Keep up the pressure on the goalkeeper.

It can be seen that putting pressure on the goalkeeper is one of the tasks assigned to him by the head coach.

But just when everyone thought Foster would get the ball, they didn't expect that the Manchester United goalkeeper made a mistake in judgment.

He wanted to stand in the penalty area and wait for the ball to roll in, then bend down to pick it up. Unexpectedly, the ball went to the left against the white line of the penalty area and did not enter the penalty area.

According to the rules, once the goalkeeper leaves the penalty area, he cannot use his hands.

This made Ben Foster a little stunned, and he changed his mind in a hurry and decided to use his feet.

But at the moment when he changed his mind, the ball arrived in front of him, but so did Benzema, who suddenly accelerated.

The Old Trafford stadium screamed again, everyone shouted in disbelief.

Ben Foster himself was startled and quickly caught the ball with his foot, but Benzema reacted faster than him, stealing the ball with his foot continuously, and stabbed the ball before Foster could kick it. open.

The sudden change shocked the entire Old Trafford stadium. Ferdinand immediately rushed towards Benzema, blocking Benzema and the goal, but the Frenchman threw away Foster. After catching up with the ball, he did not choose to hit the goal himself, but passed the ball to the center.

I saw Cristiano Ronaldo rushing into the penalty area from the top of the arc like a bolt of lightning, and easily pushed the shot into the empty goal.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"Only two minutes into the game, just two minutes, Manchester City took the lead to score Manchester United's goal!"

"Goal from Cristiano Ronaldo!"

"It's also his seventh goal of the season."

"Oh my god, Manchester City launched a wave of fierce offensive after the opening, and Manchester United made two major mistakes in a row."

"Goalkeeper Foster and central defender Ferdinand both looked out of shape in this game. There was already a pass back just now, which almost caused Benzema to threaten, but I didn't expect it to happen again."

"It should be said that this is also a major shortcoming of Manchester United, especially the central defender and goalkeeper."

"Van der Sar's absence has indeed had a considerable impact on the Red Devils and Manchester United. Now it seems that Ben Foster, who is ridiculed by fans as a butter hand, is simply not capable of guarding Manchester United's goal. Ferdinand's state this season is also disappointing. Worry."

"One to zero, Manchester City broke the deadlock!"