host must win

Chapter 54
For this Four Nations Invitational Tournament, Ferguson attaches great importance to it and regards it as a touchstone for Manchester United's summer training.And this competition does have this potential, because Manchester United's three opponents are not unknown people: Barcelona, ​​Ajax and Parma are all European giants!
Of course, due to the Four Nations Invitational Tournament system, Manchester United will only encounter two opponents, one game against the host Ajax on August 8, and then captain Parma on August 2, while against Barcelona. Will not fight.

When it comes to Ajax, the only thing United have to do with it is the never-ending poaching.Of course, in this match against Ajax, Ferguson will naturally not let go of this great opportunity to observe the Dutch players up close.

There are many young players in the Ajax team who have received "gifts" from Ferguson, but they finally chose to stay. In the 2001-2002 season, he scored Ajax's first goal of the new season and then scored in 7 consecutive games. He was also a young Dutch international. It was impossible for Ferguson not to notice Van der Vaart.

However, Van der Meyde is what Ferguson wants most now, but Koeman will definitely not let him go.This game is actually a contest of contention and retention.

In fact, this summer, Manchester United has already done a game with Ajax and won, and that is the competition for Yin Jun, the World Cup superstar.

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The match between Manchester United and Ajax will be played on the evening of August 8 local time.In the previous game, Barcelona defeated Parma 2:4 and currently ranks first with 2 points.

Even though it was only a warm-up match, the Armstrong Arena was packed and Ajax wore light blue jerseys.

Manchester United's main lineup made its debut in the new season, and Ferguson sent 6 players who participated in the World Cup.Besides Beckham and Ferdinand, there are Butters, Sylvester, Veron and Fran.Yin Jun sat on the bench again in the opening game.

Former Feyenoord striker Van Nistelrooy was greeted with applause and boos at the same time.

Ajax's offense was very smooth. Sikora continued to cause trouble for Manchester United's defense. Van der Meyde harassed the opponent on both wings with his excellent dribbling skills. Manchester United was relatively passive and difficult to play their offensive advantages.

Not long after the opening, Van der Meyde overplayed Sikora's pass, and then he broke through on the right with a wonderful pass. Van der Vaart passed between Ferdinand and Blanco, but unfortunately his header hit the crossbar.

Fran performed well in the previous warm-up match, but today he played mediocre.In the 29th minute, Ruud van Nistelrooy made a single-handed breakthrough, the goalkeeper attacked and blocked, and Fran shot high.

In the 38th minute, Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was brought down at the front of the penalty area. Garasek took a free kick. The ball hit Ruud van Nistelrooy and then bounced in front of Sikora. Unmarked Sikora A volley shot into the net 4 meters in front of the goal.

1:0, the home team took the lead!
Manchester United tried to regain the score, Keane dribbled the ball into the opponent's half and passed it to Giggs, who headed it wide.In the second half, Ferguson replaced Beckham and Veron with Bart and Scholes, and Fran pulled to the right.But Manchester United's situation has not changed.

In the 58th minute, Ferdinand was replaced by Brown. In the near future, the two may be Manchester United's main central defender partner.

In the 71st minute, Butters appeared to have injured his leg when making a save.Ajax took advantage of this opportunity and extended the score to 1:2 after 0 minute. Ibrahimovic received a long-distance direct pass and calmly shot into the net from the edge of the penalty area.

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Butters was immediately replaced by Carroll. Along with Carroll was Yin Jun, who replaced Giggs.

However, Yin Jun appeared on the right side of Manchester United after his debut, and Butt was adjusted to the left side.

Yin Jun made a contribution to the team in just one minute after his debut. After breaking through Ajax's defense on the right, he kicked the ball into the penalty area at a 1-degree angle, and Scholes, who inserted in the back, made a wonderful volley on goal.

Manchester United pulled one back and the score on the field became 2:1.

Manchester United's morale was boosted after pulling back a city, and they continued to put pressure on Ajax's goal.

In the 78th minute of the game, Manchester United once again attacked the frontcourt.This time, Scholes reciprocated. He pretended to pass the ball to Ruud van Nistelrooy in the penalty area, but it turned out to be a fake move. The real target of the pass was Yin Jun who was in the back.

Yin Jun made a breakthrough on the right rib, shot from a small angle, broke through Ajax's goal, and tied the score at 2:2.

He contributed a shot and a pass within 7 minutes of his debut, helping Manchester United equalize the score. Yin Jun's performance shocked Ajax and made the noisy Amsterdam Arena fall into silence.

Originally, when Yin Jun appeared on the stage, Ajax fans booed him, obviously because Yin Jun rejected Ajax and chose to join Manchester United.

In the minds of many Ajax fans, Yin Jun's approach is disrespectful to Ajax.

Now in 2002, although Jinyuan football has begun to show its power, as the overlord of the Eredivisie and the winner of the Champions League quadruple, Ajax is still the top European team.Their fans often don't take Manchester United, which has only won 2 Champions Leagues, in their eyes. Some people even think that Manchester United is just a rising upstart.

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Yin Jun's performance has attracted Ajax's great attention, and Koeman even asked Ajax's defense to focus on Yin Jun.Brazilian left-back Maxwell, who was called "Ajax's best player" by Ibrahimovic, even gave up his offense for a while and defended Yin Jun with all his strength.

This Ajax team is indeed very strong, especially their defense. The central defender combination of Pasanin and Chivu, plus the two full-backs Maxwell and Trabelsi, is definitely the top defense in Europe. , After they put all their efforts into defense, it is indeed difficult for Manchester United to break through their goal.

In the end, when the referee blew the three whistles at the end of the game, the score remained at 2:2. The two sides shook hands and made peace, each scoring 3 points.

After the first round, Barcelona topped the table with 7 points, followed by Ajax and Manchester United with 3 points, Ajax ranked second due to alphabetical order, and Parma bottomed out with 2 points.

Manchester United's two new aids performed well. Judging from the whole game, Ferdinand played normally, but he was responsible for Manchester United's first goal conceded, and Yin Jun was the main contributor to Manchester United's draw with their opponents , He was also named the best player in the game after the game.

Ferguson affirmed the performance of the two after the game. He said: "We don't need to wait for Leo to adapt to the team, because he and his teammates are already very familiar, and even more than that, he and some England internationals have already cooperated together. Passed. Yin's performance surprised me. He adapted to the team like a seamless transition, which is different from some players. Fran should learn more from Yin. For him, adapting to the team and relaxing is very important."

(End of this chapter)