January 26th.
Leicester, King Power Stadium.
The stadium was already packed before the game even started.
Leicester City fans wearing blue jerseys sang the team anthem loudly and waved their blue fox scarves, creating a lively atmosphere before the game.
It was also the first time for Lingshan and his wife Julia to come to the VIP stand area of King Power Stadium.
The loud singing that surrounded the entire stadium made the two of them feel excited.
This is not the first time they have come to the King Power Stadium to watch football.
However, this time is different from every other time.
Because, their precious son is about to make his first career start in this stadium!
Yesterday, after learning that he was on the starting list, Ling Feng immediately called home to share the good news with his parents.
Then, he asked the club staff for two tickets.
The first start of his career, such a milestone moment, of course, must be witnessed by his relatives in this world...
The loud singing in the stadium also spread to the visiting team's locker room.
The Chelsea players who were changing their clothes looked relaxed.
And the Pistachio Hazard in the team, even with his upper body naked and only wearing shorts, stood in the middle of the locker room, constantly twisting his body to follow the music on his mobile phone.
Such funny dance moves made the teammates laugh.
Several teammates also imitated his example and started dancing together.
The most recent battle between Leicester City and Chelsea was two years ago.
The battlefield is also in the FA Cup.
At that time, Chelsea won a 5-2 victory.
Moreover, the two teams have met five times in history, and Chelsea has won all five!
Perhaps it is because Chelsea players who have never lost and have a psychological advantage are so relaxed...
Due to the comprehensive rotation, only Hazard and Lampard are the absolute main players in Chelsea's starting lineup.
The remaining positions, including goalkeeper, are substitute players who rarely play in the league and Champions League.
It is worth mentioning that defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic, who just transferred from Benfica with a transfer fee of 21 million pounds in the winter window, got the opportunity to start for the first time.
As a newcomer who had just transferred, Matic, who was sitting in the corner, just changed his sneakers silently and did not participate in the "dance".
In fact, this silent tall defensive midfielder was bought by Chelsea for 1.5 million pounds as early as 2009.
However, due to fierce competition within the team and lack of strength, Matic was loaned to Carlos Tevez in the Eredivisie after a year in the reserve team.
In 2011, Matic, who had no chance to play at Chelsea, was sent to Benfica as an addition to Chelsea's purchase of David Luiz.
The Portuguese Super League giant Benfica serves as one of the springboards for many South American potential new stars to go to the five major leagues. It is a famous "black shop" in football.
Their business model is to vigorously cultivate these potential little monsters, and then sell the leveled monsters to teams in the five major leagues at a high price to obtain huge profits.
Di Maria, David Luiz, Coentrao...
All of them are famous and wealthy stars!
Matic, who came to the Portuguese Super League, was like a fish in water, quickly establishing himself and becoming the team's main defensive midfielder.
Last season, he helped Benfica finish second in the Portuguese Super League, Portuguese Cup and Europa League.
With his outstanding performance throughout the season, he was named the best player of the Portuguese Super League season.
This performance was also recognized by Mourinho, who entered the palace for the second time, so he bought him back.
As Mourinho's designated defensive midfielder in the winter window, Matic is the first step in Mourinho's new tactical structure at Chelsea.
This FA Cup match against Leicester City was Matic's first start back at Chelsea.
He must perform well enough to repay Mourinho's trust and gain a place in the highly competitive Chelsea midfield!
Just as his thoughts were spinning, team coach Mourinho quickly walked into the locker room.
"Turn off the music! Sit tight!"
Under Mourinho's unquestionable tone, Hazard immediately turned off the music on his mobile phone.
The other players also hurriedly returned to their seats.
After looking around and seeing everyone's eyes focused on him, Mourinho slowly said:
"Listen, what I want to say and the tactics I want to deploy were all discussed in the tactics room yesterday."
"I just want to repeat it again, no matter what opponent we face, as a team, we must be tough and full of fighting spirit!"
After some lectures, Mourinho looked at Matic, who was silent in the corner, and said in a deep voice:
"Nemanja, your mission is very simple, just keep an eye on No. 23 for me!"
Hearing this, Matic looked solemn and nodded sharply.
"I know, boss!"
. . .
Meanwhile, inside the home team's locker room.
Compared to the visiting team, the atmosphere in the home team's locker room was much calmer.
The starting players, headed by Ling Feng, were all concentrating on doing their own thing.
It is a rare opportunity to start, and the opponent is the Premier League giant Chelsea, even though they are inevitably a little excited and nervous.
Even if the head coach tells them, "Don't put pressure on them and just perform to your heart's content," it won't completely alleviate their inner ups and downs.
After all, for substitute players, this game is a rare opportunity for them to perform.
However, both Pearson and the players understand that the purpose of this game is mainly to train troops and allow the main players to take a rest.
As for winning or losing, it really doesn't matter...
After a brief lecture, Pearson was ready to attend the pre-match press conference.
As soon as he walked out of the locker room, the assistant coach Walsh next to him suddenly asked
"By the way, Nigel, the press officer just asked me if I would like to bring Ling with me to the press conference."
"how do you feel?"
Hearing this, Pearson couldn't help but frown.
Since the FA Cup was born, Ling Feng's performance has been amazing, which made him very happy and gratified.
However, such an outstanding performance also attracted media reporters like hyenas.
In the football world, Pearson has seen too many young players who have just debuted and are overly praised by the media because of their good performance.
Then he lost himself and eventually became an example of hurting Zhongyong.
He didn't want Ling Feng to become like this.
Ever since, Pearson shook his head and rejected this proposal that could increase the team's attention and traffic:
"He's still young and I don't want the media attention and bullshit to get to his head!"
