Momentary Oversight
Momentary Oversight
The commentator had reminded them several times that it was 36 degrees Celsius now. At such a high temperature, time seemed to have slowed down and was about to solidify…
The rhythm of the match was slow and peppered with mistakes on both sides. Exciting moments in the match were few and far between. This was not what a match between England and Germany was normally like.
Compared to the fiery moments before the match, the difference was massive. Only the most die-hard fan could remain passionate in this situation.
An example would be Fat John and the gang. Fat John took off his shirt and exposed his fat as he led his buddies in their songs and applause to cheer on England. They were located directly under the sun, and the sweat on their bare chests glistened in the sunlight, blurring the England flags that were painted onto their chests.
"In this 36-degree heat, the players on both teams seem to still be groggy from their afternoon naps. Look at this, Schweinsteiger didn't manage to receive this ball… was the pass too fast? There was nothing wrong with the pass from Toni Kroos."
Schweinsteiger knew he was at fault as well, and he turned back to give his teammate from Bayern Munich a thumbs up for the pass.
Sammer observed for a while longer and decided that England's counterattack did not pose a threat to the German backline. Therefore, he readjusted his tactics and made his team press up more to make use of the width to find Mario Gómez inside the penalty area. At the same time, he asked them to take more long shots to break down England's defense.
After Germany started to take the initiative, the situation began to change. At the very least, there were more shots for one of the teams.
The Germans started to make some noise again, whereas the English appeared to be lethargic.
They were starting to get used to Twain's way of doing things, but they had hoped to be able to get the better of the Germans, not just in terms of the results, but also in terms of the play.
"Even if we win, this is rather depressing…"
There were some England fans grumbling in the stands.
Of course, the fans were not the only ones who thought that way.
※※※
"I don't think we should just wait for them to attack us all the time!" Walcott shouted while defending a corner.
"What are you trying to say, Theo?" one of his teammates asked him.
"We should take the initiative and try to attack!" Walcott said while raising his fist.
"Cut the crap, Theo. Do what you have to do…" John Terry, the captain, shouted at Walcott who was not in position yet as he pointed at the penalty area.
"Yes, defense. Defend, defend… I got it." Walcott shook his head and walked away.
Walcott had performed admirably in the first match and resigned his two competitors to the bench, strengthening his hold on the right-winger position. However, he was unable to score in the second game, just like the rest of his team. Now, he hoped to prove himself again in the match against Germany and show the manager what he could do.
"Watch your man! Don't let him lose you!" Terry shouted after putting Walcott in his place.
Walcott did not care about that. He did not have the physique, the height, or the jumping ability anyway. He just had to put on a show when defending corners, there was no need for him to do anything at all.
His mind was filled with thoughts of attacking, and he was focused on looking for defensive loopholes within the German team.
To him, this could be a good opportunity. Didn't Boss always say that the opportunity to attack laid hidden in every defense? Now that Germany had a corner kick, their center-backs would press up to attack as well. Their defense would be weakened, and now was the best time for him to make use of his speed!
Walcott looked at Mertesacker and Westermann who were jostling with Terry and the others inside the penalty area. The two of them were 1.98 meters and 1.9 meters tall respectively, much taller than Terry and Taylor. The English defense was in a panic just because they were standing in front of their goal. However, Walcott thought that was not a bad thing. At the very least, the Germans would never expect their corner kick to become an opportunity for him.
Who stayed back in defense for Germany? Jansen, Rolfes, and the goalkeeper.
Rolfes was slow, but Jansen was a problem. The wingback was also a very fast player. If he wanted to get past him, Walcott might have to go to the other side. Jansen was a left-back, and his position was directly against the right-wing. Walcott was not afraid of competing with another person in terms of speed, however, in such a crucial moment, it was best to minimize any potential problems, and he did not want to overextend himself either.
Next, Walcott started to imagine the possible obstacles that he might face. In his view, the most problematic part was the distance for his acceleration. There were many opponents and very little space, which meant that his speed would not be very effective there. The best way was for his teammates to help him. However, Walcott was worried that the speed of the attack would be slowed down if he passed to his teammates, and his plan would go down in smokes. In this situation, he was the only one that he could trust.
He had no choice but to dribble past the defending players with his skills, then accelerate and speed through the midfield.
Toni Kroos did not go into the penalty area, choosing to wait for an opportunity outside the box instead. He was an attacking midfielder, and he did not know how to defend. He was also not the type of player who would put himself in danger to stop an attack from the opponent. If Walcott broke through on his side, he would at most extend his leg in a feeble attempt to stop him. After Walcott decided on a path to breakthrough, he shifted a little to the outside and hoped that the ball would successfully reach him.
He would raise his hand to ask for the ball if Joe Hart caught it. There should be no reason why Joe Hart would not give it to him. If the defenders cleared the ball, then it was up to him to make a correct judgment about where the ball was going to be…
When Lahm placed the ball at the corner, there was a group of English fans behind him in the stands. Those fans kept giving Lahm the middle finger and insulted him using vulgarities that he understood. However, Lahm was unmoved as if it was mere air behind him. He stepped back after placing the ball and waited for the referee's whistle.
He had to wait for a rather long time as there were some altercations inside the penalty area between the players of both teams.
Mertesacker was 1.98 meters, Westermann was 1.9 meters, Gómez was 1.89 meters, and Khedira was also 1.89 meters. There was a suffocating pressure in front of the England team's goal when these four giants stood around it. Terry, Taylor, and Joe Hart felt very anxious. Even Mitchell appeared in front of the goal as a makeshift defender.
"Push them out and clear the space!" Joe Hart had already decided to come out to catch the ball or to punch it away. He did not feel safe facing the team with the tallest average height in the competition. He was 1.96 meters, and he was still confident that he could compete with the giants of the opposing team.
The referee called Mitchell and Mertesacker to him and warned them not to commit any excessive pulling or pushing. Both players complained that they had their shirts pulled by the other.
After waving their complaints away, the referee gave a sign to Lahm with his hand to indicate that he could restart the game.
Lahm's ball had a slight outer curl, which became more obvious once the ball started to reach the goal.
Joe Hart had a lapse in judgment as he only realized that the ball was going a little too far away from him after he came out. He could not guarantee that he would be able to catch the ball and could only try to punch the ball away in mid-air with one hand!
Hart could barely manage to punch the ball with Mitchell and Mertesacker between him and the ball. As for whether the ball could fly far enough or who would be able to get it… He could not worry about that then. He had to take care of his balance—to get his hand on the ball that was flying away from him, he had to dive almost horizontally, and he would fall on the ground now that he had lost his balance. If a German player got the ball…
What he was worried about did not happen as Walcott's gamble paid off. He got the ball!
A good opportunity!
Walcott gave a cheer in his heart when he received the ball. All he had to do now was to dribble past…
After Walcott stopped the ball and turned around, the person who appeared in front of him was not Toni Kroos but Rolfes!
Walcott was shocked—when had he come over?
Faced with an unexpected opponent, Walcott could not react in time, and he gave the ball away to the opponent just like that…
Oh no…
Walcott turned to tackle for the ball, but Rolfes had already positioned himself between him and the ball.
After getting the ball, Rolfes did not waste any time. He knew that it was a crucial moment with Joe Hart down on the ground in the penalty area. If they took advantage of the opportunity, they might be able to score…
He passed the ball to Podolski who had not joined in the mess inside the penalty area.
The Werder Bremen forward had a pretty good shot on him, and now was the time for him to show them what he could do!
Podolski received the ball from Rolfes with his right foot in front of him, then raised his left foot and took a long shot!
Even though he did not have much run-up, the speed of the ball was not slow at all. This was the power of a German footballer.
The ball found a way through to goal amidst the crowd. John Terry extended his foot out in an attempt to block it, but he missed. Gómez was still in front of the goal, and when he saw the ball flying straight towards him, he hurriedly ducked in shock and fell backward. It was not easy for him to do this so quickly with his 1.89 meters frame…
Nobody touched the ball, including Joe Hart who was getting up from the ground, and it flew straight into the net.
"What a beautiful goal! A world-class ball from Podolski!! We're leading 1:0!"
"England has finally conceded a goal… A mistake from Joe Hart! That was a very careless punch!"
The commentators from both countries had totally different reactions, and so did the fans from both countries in the stands. The German fans got to their feet and cheered with their arms in the air. The England fans had their heads in their hands; they could not believe what they were seeing.
In the minds of many England fans, one question was becoming more prominent, and the question mark at the end was slowly straightening to become an exclamation mark:
The German team is still so strong?
※※※
Twain looked down and cursed when he saw the ball fly into the goal. Des Walker was a little agitated beside him, and he waved his arms in anger, blaming Joe Hart for coming out so carelessly.
Sammer leaped up with both feet off the ground when the ball flew into the goal. One could tell the excitement that he was feeling. To be able to take the lead in such an important match meant that they were that much closer to moving into the knockout stage.
A clumped defense could not defend against set-pieces… Twain was in a very bad situation now. If he allowed the score to remain like this, England would lose the match, and they would be gifting the chance to get past the group stages to others. That was not Twain's style.
He could only choose to let his team push up and score an equalizer as soon as possible. Otherwise, the situation would only get worse for England as time passed.
30 minutes had passed in the first half, and England had only 15 minutes left. They would be in trouble if they could not equalize in the first half…
※※※
Joe Hart was in a daze in front of the goal. He had not expected to cost his team a goal by making a mistake in coming out for the ball.
Another person who was in a daze was Walcott. Even though nobody blamed him, he could not shake the feeling that the goal they conceded was because he lost the ball. He had been overconfident and had not expected Rolfes to advance beyond the midfield when he was not paying attention—the Germans had decided to be bold for once and it paid off.
Walcott appeared to be distracted in the match after that, and Twain kept shaking his head at the sideline.
Twain had already asked his team to attack appropriately, but there was little effect. The glare of the sun and the heat prevented England from performing to their usual standards. Walcott's side was almost completely ineffective because of his loss of form. The Germans were able to defend easily as England could only attack using Chris Cohen, and attacking from only one flank was too one-dimensional. The German center-backs were all very tall, and they made quick work of high balls.
At the end of the first half, England had still not managed to equalize. The situation was gradually becoming worse for them.
If the manager had no intention of making any substitutions during half-time, the substitutes would usually make use of the half-time break to do their warm-ups. However, when George Wood was going to go warm-up, he was stopped by Des Walker.
"Go to the changing room with them George," Walker said.
Wood's heart skipped a beat and he asked, "Will I be coming on in the second half?"
Walker's reply disappointed him, "No, you've not recovered yet, there's no need for you to warm-up," Walker said while shaking his head.
Wood looked down and entered the players' tunnel with the others unhappily.
The heat from the direct sunlight had made them a little faint, and the coolness of the tunnel gave them a boost of energy.
A wall apart, the English players could hear the laughter of the Germans. Even though they did not know why they were laughing, the England players had the same thought when they heard it—they were unhappy, very unhappy.
"Damn it! I'll show them in the second half!" Wayne Rooney, who had made almost no contributions at all in the first half, said while kicking the wall.
"Don't waste your energy on the wall," a cold voice came from behind him.
Rooney turned and saw the cold and unfeeling face of Tony Twain. The other players saw the expression on the face of their boss as well. It looked like Boss was very angry…