Chapter 43 Lob Shot?

The weather in England in January is still cold, with only a few degrees. Players from both sides started to warm up in heavy down jackets until their bodies were completely warm.

There was still an hour before the game started, and almost all the media reporters who were paying attention to youth training were in place. Their cameras were all aimed at the three Manchester City youth training players, followed by Liverpool's top scorer Glenn McAuley and second scorer Li Qing.

Among them, the local reporters focused on Sancho, Foden, Li Qing and Brewster. According to their ideas, the players who decided the outcome of the game should be English players.

Neil Critchley and Lee Carsley, the two head coaches, looked at the players who were warming up, and they were not sure. For them, what needed to be done had been done. In which direction the game would develop, it would depend on the performance of the players.

Neil Critchley looked at Li Qing. In his opinion, if Liverpool U18 wanted to go further, Li Qing needed to continue his previous league performance.

Lee Carsley glanced at Sancho, Foden, Diaz, and Nmecha. If it weren't for the injury of Nick Gonzalez, who Guardiola personally brought from La Masia, the offensive lineup for this game would be even more luxurious. However, he firmly believed that even without Nick Gonzalez, they could rely on this luxurious lineup to beat Liverpool U18 and advance to the round of 16.

During the handshake between the two players, Li Qing couldn't help but look at Sancho, Foden and Diaz, the three Manchester City youth training heroes. Foden and Diaz were relatively handsome, but Sancho was a little precocious, but they were all very polite.

The Youth FA Cup, like the National Youth Super League, is taken care of by the English FA. All the games are broadcast live, but compared to the early access to the signal for professional games, the live broadcast of the Youth FA Cup only starts from the official start of the game.

"Beep~"

Accompanied by a long whistle from the referee, the 1/16 of the 2016-2017 English Youth FA Cup between Manchester City U18 and Liverpool U18 was officially announced to start.

Manchester City U18, who were at home, quickly took advantage of the kick-off to launch an attack. Fortunately, Neil Critchley had targeted deployment before the game, and the offensive quartet composed of Sancho, Foden, Diaz and Nmecha did not show the power they should have.

Li Qing was not assigned too many defensive tasks before the game. His task was mainly to catch counterattacks, and defense was more of a show.

Because Liverpool U18 did a lot of work on defense before the game, Foden, who was good at organizing offense in the frontcourt, was frozen, and Sancho’s speed and space were seriously insufficient, resulting in Nmecha, who was at the forefront, not getting effective support.

Diaz from Spain was the only Manchester City U18 player who performed normally. His footwork was extremely delicate and his dribbling accuracy was very high. Unless three players defended, it would be difficult to be intercepted.

The first shot came from Sancho's long shot after breaking through on the right, but unfortunately it did not hit the goal.

In the following minutes, Manchester City U18 players tried long shots outside the penalty area one after another after realizing that the penetration in the middle could not open the situation, but the hit rate was a bit low.

Even if they were lucky enough to hit the goal, they would be saved by Grabara who reacted quickly.

In general, in the first ten minutes of the game, Manchester City U18's attack was thunderous but little rain, and Manchester City fans watching the game on the sidelines shook their heads.

Manchester City U18 head coach Lee Carsley frowned. The continuous attack failed to score a goal, which was a huge hidden danger for the defense.

Liverpool U18's most threatening Li Qing was at the forefront like a dagger against the throat. As long as there was a slight movement, he might make a throat-sealing blow.

In the 19th minute, Foden, who was good at finding space, made a long diagonal pass to Nmecha. The two passed and ran in unison, and the football also bypassed the head of the central defender Masterson, but the goalkeeper Grabara expanded the defensive area. He jumped high and firmly grasped Foden's long diagonal pass in his palm.

Grabara did not control the rhythm like in the previous few minutes, but suddenly took a step, and the right hand holding the football used inertia to throw the football out fiercely.

Looking at the football in the air, Manchester City U18 head coach Lee Carsley suddenly realized something and felt a little uneasy.

Grabara's powerful hand throw was definitely not without purpose, but to find Li Qing!

Most of the eleven goals scored by Li Qing in the four games were scored through long-distance raids. As the head coach, Lee Carsley studied it very thoroughly, and he didn't need to shout deliberately, and the players on the field rushed quickly.

"I hope to complete the defense."

But sometimes, the more you worry about something, the more it will happen.

Previously, the team had a half-court offensive drill. The central defenders had pressed across the half court, and the full-backs almost acted as wingers. Li Qing had a talent that was unobstructed. He could see the goalkeeper attack from a distance, a few seconds ahead of the defensive players.

In the ever-changing football game, a few seconds can score a goal.

Central defender T. Wilson can play as a left back and a central defender. He is fast and plays as a central defender in this game to effectively suppress Li Qing's speed.

Li Qing had a broad vision, and his eyes lit up while running. He used the inside of his left foot to lead the ball to the right front, that is, to the right sideline, to keep the ball away from Tyreke Wilson who was running from the middle.

Next, of course, he accelerated!

His two powerful legs quickly and alternately pushed the ground. It only took him one second to increase his speed to an incredible level. T. Wilson realized that it was a stupid decision to compete with Li Qing in speed, so he decisively chose to foul.

Unexpectedly, the thin-looking Li Qing was not knocked down. He staggered to stabilize his body. Instead, T. Wilson, who took the initiative to hit him, staggered and fell to the ground due to the huge reaction force.

Another central defender J. Giovanni, who had slowed down, cursed secretly and had to grit his teeth and chase back.

But... it was too late.

Gradually stabilizing his body, Li Qing accelerated again, quickly crossed the center line with the ball, and rushed diagonally towards the penalty area.

The goalkeeper A. Muric in front of the goal watched the central defender J. Giovanni getting farther and farther away from Li Qing. He sighed and abandoned the goal.

However, at this moment, Li Qing swung his left foot, and the inside of his instep quickly kicked the bottom of the football...

A bald middle-aged man standing in the northeast corner of the court looked at Li Qing's shooting action and blurted out: "Cross shot?"