From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 950: Neither the Right Time nor the Right Place
When Manchester United arrived in the UAE, they soon faced the semi-finals against the Saudi giants Riyadh Crescent.

The match kicked off in the early morning of February 2th, Beijing time. Before this match, another semi-final had ended a day ago, with South American champions Palmeiras defeating African champions Cairo National 10:2.

If Manchester United can beat Al-Hilal, their opponent in the final will be the Copa Libertadores champions.

However, it is not easy for Manchester United to advance to the final. On the one hand, it is a problem for the team to adapt to the climate after coming from the cold UK to the hot UAE. However, their opponent, Al-Hilal, does not have such a problem. After all, as a Middle Eastern team, they have already adapted to this climate.

Then there is the fact that Riyadh Crescent has been in very good form recently. They just three days ago defeated the host Abu Dhabi Peninsula with a score of 6:1, showing a good form.

Under such circumstances, although the media believe that Manchester United will eventually advance, this game will definitely be very difficult.

However, Manchester United players are relatively calm. After all, this is not their first time to come to the Middle East to play in the Club World Cup. They have participated in the Club World Cup in the past few years, and the competition venues have also been in the Middle East, so they already have experience.

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Mourinho took off his suit jacket, revealing the shirt underneath. The back of the shirt and both armpits were wet with sweat. Remember, he had just stood outside for a while while the players were warming up...

The players also changed out of the clothes they wore when they went out for warm-up. Some players simply didn't bother to put on their clothes and just left their upper bodies bare, letting the sweat flow down their bodies, which was more comfortable.

Mourinho was giving his players his final instructions: "Today's temperature is higher than usual, so everyone should pay attention to properly allocate their energy during the game. Don't rush in and hit hard at the beginning, and then run out of energy. Remember, the game is 90 minutes, not 19 minutes. You have to consider the whole situation."

During the warm-up, many players had already anticipated how difficult today's game would be: those who went out for warm-up were almost knocked to the ground by the rolling heat waves. The temperature gave them a wake-up call.

Some players felt exhausted after finishing the warm-up!
This game is going to be difficult indeed.

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At the same time, in the locker room of Riyadh Crescent, their head coach Yaldin was encouraging his players: "I heard that such a high temperature today is extremely rare locally. What does this mean? It means that God is blessing us! This is a great opportunity for us to beat them at home - if such weather is rare even for us, then wouldn't it be even more difficult for Manchester United to adapt? Moreover, they have just experienced a devilish schedule, and the players are still very tired! So don't be afraid of them! What about the European champions? Now is not the Champions League, but the semi-finals of the Club World Cup! This is not the freezing cold UK, but the hot UAE, which is our home court!"

Jardim used infectious words to motivate the players.

The players of Riyadh Crescent were indeed deeply encouraged.

Today's unexpectedly high temperature is rare, but why did it happen on the day they played against Manchester United? We have to think that it was the will of Allah, a divine revelation, indicating that they can definitely beat the powerful Manchester United at home!
The players of Riyadh Crescent were very excited at the thought of this.

They are basically devout believers who have the greatest trust in this inexplicable mysterious phenomenon.

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At 2:10 on the morning of February th, Beijing time, : pm local time in the UAE, with the referee's whistle, the Club World Cup semi-final between Riyadh Crescent and Manchester United began.

When the game started, the players of Riyadh Crescent were like warriors blessed by the gods. They were full of fighting spirit, running all over the field, and were completely tireless.

In contrast, the Manchester United players still showed their discomfort with the hot weather. They traveled thousands of miles from the freezing cold of England to the hot UAE, and the fatigue and high temperature made them not in a good condition.

Bruno is no exception. After all, he is also a human being, not an omnipotent god who can never make mistakes.

As the two teams gained strength, Riyadh Crescent naturally took the advantage on the field. They controlled the tempo of the game and attacked fiercely, while Manchester United could only shrink their defense to avoid losing the ball.

De Gea performed quite well and saved several shots from Riyadh Crescent.

But today he was not in the best condition. You know, like other Manchester United players, he came all the way from England, so how good could he be?
This can be seen from the several saves he made in the game.

If it were any other time, he would have been able to hold some of the balls in his arms, and would not have given Riyadh Crescent any chances for corner kicks or follow-up shots. But today, there were a few balls that he could only save from the bottom line, giving the opponent a corner kick.

Compared to his performance in the UK, his body seemed a little heavy, as if he couldn't jump.

………………

De Gea certainly knew that he was in poor physical condition, but he did not show it. Every time he blocked the opponent's shot, he would get up from the ground, wave his fists and shout.

This not only boosts the morale of the entire team, but also encourages myself.

However, despite his many attempts at blocking, he still couldn't completely stop the opponent's fierce bombardment.

In the 26th minute of the game, Riyadh Crescent's Brazilian midfielder Matheus Pereira suddenly shot a shot from outside the penalty area, and the football flew along the grass towards the lower right corner of the goal.

De Gea flew over and flicked the ball with one hand. But because the distance was too far, he only touched the ball with his fingertips, so he didn't exert any force. The ball bounced outwards, hit the goal post, and then bounced back, just in time for Riyadh Crescent striker Ighalo who was in the penalty area. He stretched out his foot and poked the ball, and the ball passed De Gea and flew into the goal!

"Ighalo!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!" The commentator of Saudi TV raised his arms and shouted excitedly.

The Zayed Stadium was filled with thunderous cheers. The Riyadh Crescent fans, dressed in traditional Arab costumes, jumped up, waved their Riyadh Crescent scarves and cheered.

At the same time, Manchester United fans sat in their seats with their hands on their heads. The glaring sunlight made everyone's face look extremely pale.

"Oh no! We lost the ball!" He Wei said disappointedly at the scene.

Before the game he was worried that the hot weather and lack of rest for the players would be Manchester United's biggest problems, and now the problem has broken out.

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De Gea, who lost the ball, lay on the ground, pounded the ground hard, and cursed: "F**K!"

He knew in his heart that this ball should not have ended like this, and he also knew why he lost the ball: when he pushed hard, he clearly felt that the power from his legs was not enough, causing him to not fly far enough when he pushed. In fact, it was just a little bit short...

But it was this tiny bit that led to the loss of the ball.

If he was in normal condition, he should have slapped the football out of the baseline with one slap instead of using his fingertips.

The TV broadcast gave some close-up shots of the Manchester United players who lost the ball. In the shots, many of the Manchester United players had their mouths wide open, breathing in big gulps like fish out of water, hoping to take in more oxygen.

Everyone's jerseys were soaked with sweat and stuck tightly to their bodies.

The game had only been going on for 26 minutes and they looked like they had been fished out of the water. Their exhausted look was heartbreaking, and at the same time, it made people worry about the prospects of the rest of the game.

The loss of the goal damaged Manchester United's morale. After the game resumed, Riyadh Crescent took the opportunity to launch a massive attack. For a while, Manchester United's goal was in a state of panic and danger.

This made Manchester United fans in front of the TV and in the stands very worried, fearing that the next goal would be conceded.

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On the sidelines, head coach Mourinho has left the coaching bench and is standing outside the stadium, nervously watching everything that is happening on the field.

But he had no better solution. After all, it was not a problem with the tactical arrangement, but the players were in poor condition.

The weather is really hot, so hot that even if you do nothing, you will feel dry mouth and possible dehydration, not to mention the players who are running hard on the court.

The game had only been going on for half an hour when Manchester United players kept coming to the sidelines to ask the coaching staff for water, taking advantage of various dead ball opportunities.

The amount of sweating is much greater than usual. If you cannot replenish water in time, you will really become dehydrated, and in severe cases you may even faint.

There was really no good sign in today's game, as if all the bad situations in the world were concentrated on Manchester United.

In the first half, Manchester United had basically no decent attack as almost everyone retreated to their own half to defend against Riyadh Crescent's attack.

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After taking the lead, Riyadh Crescent's morale was higher and they were full of confidence. They felt that they really had a chance of defeating Manchester United, so the quality of their attack was also very high.

Manchester United had to put all their players into the game to barely keep the ball from being conceded.

Fortunately, Manchester United did not lose any more goals until the end of the first half.

When the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, the score was temporarily fixed at 1:0, with Riyadh Crescent taking the lead.

Looking at the exhausted Manchester United players leaving the field, Gary Lineker said weakly: "The good news is that Manchester United only lost one goal. The bad news is that looking at the players' appearance, it really makes people worry about how long their physical strength can last..."

He felt as if he had used up all his energy just by sitting there and explaining.

He felt the same way as the players and naturally felt that there was little hope.

(End of this chapter)