Chapter 117: Chapter 116 This Damn Football (Seek Full Subscription, Don’t be a Cliffhanger)
The ninetieth minute of the match.
The score was still one to zero.
UEFA President Johansson and Bayern President Beckenbauer left the presidential stand and took the elevator to the pitch, ready for the award ceremony.
The moment the elevator doors closed, Beckham took the corner kick.
The football flew over Manchester United goalkeeper Schmeichel’s head.
He did not contest the header, but he did disturb the Bayern defenders competing for the ball, resulting in all five of the Bayern defenders behind him failing to exert any force.
The ball hit one of the Bayern players and deflected towards Cole, who, with his body twisted, headed the ball weakly back.
Fink, who had come on for Matthaus, cleared desperately with a big kick.
At the edge of the penalty area, Giggs took a shot with his weaker right foot, which also lacked power.
Up to this point, the football had not once been struck with a clean force.
Not a single person had executed their intended action perfectly, mistakes followed by more mistakes.
However, the football happened to fly towards substitute Sheringham.
Sheringham, blessed with good fortune, half-turned and swept the ball with his right foot, not even looking at the goal, acting purely on his striker’s instincts to redirect the ball that would have flown out of goal range back towards it.
Kahn stretched out frantically, but was almost two meters away from the ball.
One to one!
Manchester United equalized the score!
The Manchester United players celebrated wildly, and red celebratory fireworks lit up in the stands.
Ferguson turned and punched the air toward Deng Kai, who wasn’t far away, celebrating, "You’re really a fucking magical coach!"
Matthaus, sitting on the Bayern bench, looked completely baffled; staring towards the goal direction, his profile resembled the tear-jerking singer Yang Zhongwei.
Matthaus was one of Germany’s triumvirate, a Golden Ball winner, and he had even hoisted the Hercules Cup.
But he was missing the honor of being a UEFA Champions League champion.
He had reached the Champions League final back in 1986, but missed out on the championship.
This time, he had thought he would fulfill his dream, but now...
"Should I not have told Hitzfeld that I was tired?" Matthaus fidgeted uneasily in his seat, a sense of foreboding enveloping his heart.
He turned his head to look towards Deng Kai.
Could this be the mysterious Eastern power?
Many footballers believe in these offbeat and bizarre practices.
The black players from France have brought a particularly effective curse from Africa.
And Eastern civilization, profound and extensive, is even more adept at this.
Then, players from both sides returned to their own halves, and the match resumed.
After Bayern kicked off, Manchester United immediately launched a high press. Bayern, with no other choice, cleared the ball with a long kick, giving possession back to Manchester United.
Manchester United’s left-back Irwin Denis made a long pass.
Substitute Solskjaer pulled to the left and controlled the ball, attempting a cross.
The ball was cleared by a Bayern player out of the baseline, and Manchester United won another corner.
By this time, Bayern was utterly tense.
Solskjaer walked towards the corner flag, planning to take the corner himself as he was nearest.
Every second was precious at this point.
Less than a minute and a half remained in the match.
But a voice came from the stands, "No, David! Let David take it!"
Deng Kai yelled to Ferguson from his seat in the stands, "David! Beckham has to take this corner!"
Ferguson had lost his resistance to Deng Kai’s voice, and he rushed to the edge of the coach’s box to shout at Solskjaer, "Ole, you go to the box, let David take it!"
Solskjaer immediately turned and ran into the box, signalling to Beckham on the right flank to come and take the corner from the left.
Beckham raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting the coach to arrange things this way.
He quickly jogged over, positioned the ball, took a deep breath, and decisively struck the corner kick.
The Manchester United players were all focused in the middle.
But Beckham’s kick was aimed for the near post.
However, a red figure intercepted from the back, Sheringham using clever movement to glance a header at the near post.
The ball soared towards the goal.
Manchester United’s nearest player, Solskjaer, instinctively stuck out his right leg to flick it.
The ball bounced into Bayern’s net.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze at exactly ninety-two minutes and seventeen seconds.
"Ah!!!"
Manchester United players madly rushed toward the corner flag area.
Schmeichel even did a forward somersault in the backfield, excitedly.
The entire stadium of Red Devils fans screamed incessantly, unable to stop for a long time.
Later, when Manchester United players returned to their own half to kick off,
several Bayern players were kneeling on the ground with tearful eyes, unable to stand up again.
After the kick-off, Bayern launched a final counterattack, but the football was cleared by a Manchester United player with a big kick.
The head referee blew the whistle three times, the match was over.
The Bayern players all lay on the pitch at the same time, motionless, crying silently.
Meanwhile, Manchester United players ran wildly around the field smiling, celebrating like crazy.
Manchester United’s substitutes stormed onto the pitch.
But Ferguson, after rushing a couple of steps forward, suddenly turned back and gestured to Deng Kai, "Kai! Come down, come down quick!"
"Ah? Me?" Deng Kai was somewhat surprised. Is this really okay?
The Manchester United fans didn’t give Deng Kai the chance to hesitate and directly passed him down from the stands.
Ferguson pulled Deng Kai along with the Manchester United players to celebrate on the pitch and thank the fans.
At this time, many reporters also rushed in.
They were interviewing Solskjaer, who had scored the winning goal.
Deng Kai squeezed in, grabbed Solskjaer’s arm, and said, "Sol-hi, stop the interviews, there’s always time for interviews, but you only get one chance to celebrate like this. What you should be doing now is celebrating with us, otherwise you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!"
Solskjaer didn’t understand what ’Sol-hi’ meant, but he suddenly realized why he kept turning back to look at his celebrating teammates while being interviewed.
It was the calling of his heart.
Screw the interviews.
What should be done now is to celebrate wildly!
"Sorry, let’s talk later!" Solskjaer then ran towards the gathering area of Manchester United players, leaping onto Beckham’s back with a flying jump, making sure he had no regrets for the future.
But while Solskjaer ran off, Deng Kai was surrounded by reporters.
Fuck!
This is so damn ’Sol-hi’! Why didn’t you take me with you!
The reporters were also very interested in Deng Kai, "Deng Kai, you did it, how did you precisely predict that Manchester United would become treble winners this season? It’s incredible."
Deng Kai could only accept the interview, "First of all, I definitely couldn’t have known all of this in advance... I just understand Manchester United well enough."
Reporter: "Why did you let Schmeichel go up for that corner? It indirectly led to Manchester United’s first goal."
Deng Kai: "At that time, if I were on the field, no matter my position, I would have gone up to contest that header. I believe Schmeichel must have felt the same in his heart."
Reporter: "Why did you let Beckham take the corner kicks?"
Deng Kai: "This year’s Beckham is one of the best in the world at delivering crosses. His handsomeness makes people seriously underestimate his strength. This year, he could at least be in the top three for the Golden Ball."
"Even, if I could decide, I would give him the Golden Ball directly! He deserves it all!"
Reporter: "What do you think about Solskjaer’s winning goal?"
Deng Kai: "I don’t dare to imagine. If you hadn’t witnessed that goal, you’d never dare to imagine one like it."
Reporter: "I feel like there’s a deeper meaning to your words, but for the life of me, I can’t figure it out."
Deng Kai: "Then stop trying to figure it out, Ferguson seems to be free over there, aren’t you going to take the opportunity to interview the real helmsman of Manchester United?"
The reporters were reminded and immediately dispersed, rushing toward Ferguson.
Then Deng Kai heard the emotional voice of Ferguson coming through.
"I can’t believe all of this, I don’t believe it, this damn football!"
"I must admit, when I heard someone say midway through the season that Manchester United would win the Champions League and become treble winners this year, I didn’t believe it myself."
"I knew it had to be said by a Manchester United fan. I tried to look it up, and then I saw the interview with Deng Kai."
"When I saw his appearance, I was actually disappointed, because he’s as handsome as David. When a guy that handsome speaks, it always gives you a sense of unreliability."
"Kai might have used such words to deceive many female Manchester United fans, but how could I, Ferguson, be defeated by such sugar-coated bullets?"
"However, at the Golden Ball award ceremony, he refreshed my view of him. He truly understands football, he’s got a smart kid, and he’s born with a big heart. He never gets stage fright."
"At this moment, I must apologize to the players who played on the field today."
"Because until this moment arrived, what I told them about us becoming treble winners was a lie. I didn’t really think that, and I doubted myself all the time."
"I also have to apologize to Sheringham and Solskjaer, because until now, I believe that the best thing I did wasn’t to send them on as substitutes, but to let my assistant invite Deng Kai to the match yesterday."
"Without his reminder, I don’t know if Schmeichel would have come up for that header."
"Without his reminder, I don’t know if David would have taken the last corner."
"Even, without seeing him, I’m not sure that I would’ve been firm in sending on Sheringham and Solskjaer."
"This kid doesn’t belong to Manchester United, but Manchester United’s championship, no, these three championships, they all belong to him!"
