At 7:15 PM, Fly was doing his final stretches in the player tunnel, with a warm palace patch given by Taylor stuck under his Arsenal red jersey—this was originally equipment for female footballers.
Fabregas was shoving heated insoles into his socks when he suddenly cursed and pulled out his finger: "Damn! It's stuck to my skin!"
Glory glory Man United
Glory glory Man United
Glory glory Man United
As the reds go marching on on on
Just like the Busby babies in days gone by
We'll keep the Red Flags flying high
You've got to see yourself from far and wide
You've got to hear the masses sing with pride
United! Man United!
We're the boys in red and we're on our way to Wemberly!
Wemberly! Wemberly!
We're the famous Man United and we're going to Wembley!
....
As the melody of "Glory Glory Man United" began, the ice stalactites at the top of the tunnel suddenly broke. Rooney ducked to avoid the falling ice cones, and the Crushed ice bounced on the grass, sliding towards the center circle.
Manchester United's star player looked at Fly not far away, his eyes fierce.
What Fly said in the interview after receiving the Premier League Player of the Month award for August was still vivid in his mind.
What? He, Rooney, was just a wingman, incomparable to Cristiano. As soon as he heard this, Rooney wanted to swallow Fly whole.
That crybaby Cristiano, what right did he have to be mentioned in the same breath as him, the star of England?
What happened in the 2006 World Cup was still fresh in his memory. The insidious Cristiano directly plotted against his club teammate and got him sent off. This kind of behavior was not something a hero would do!
When Rooney thought about how he had been so belittled by this kid in front of him, he was filled with anger.
"Kid, don't cry after the game today!" Rooney pointed at Fly's nose, warning him to be careful.
Fly chuckled upon hearing this and simply said, "Get lost. If you still want me to help you win the World Cup, then behave yourself."
Upon hearing this, Rooney's temper instantly died down.
He had to admit, although he was very angry about Fly's belittling remarks in the interview.
But deep down, Rooney still very much wanted to see Fly join the England National Team.
He knew his own situation. Rooney was well aware that the current England team was completely superficial and couldn't be considered a strong team at all.
Except for crushing weaker teams in qualifiers, they would immediately collapse in the main tournament.
Rooney knew he was not very disciplined, and the next World Cup would likely be the last national team tournament of his life.
As for the 2018 World Cup, Rooney basically had no expectations.
He didn't want to leave any regrets in his life; he wanted to win England's second World Cup title.
It was precisely with this mentality that Rooney hoped Fly would be as strong as possible, because the stronger he was, the greater England's chances of winning the championship would be.
However, Rooney hadn't completely resigned himself yet. He felt he could still carry the team and didn't want to simply give up his national team status.
So, although he didn't continue to say harsh words, he chose to ignore it and didn't respond directly.
Seeing Rooney's reaction, Fly knew what he was thinking and couldn't be bothered to pay attention, continuing his warm-up.
Playing in such cold weather, it was easy to get injured without a proper warm-up.
Although Fly had the injury immunity buff, it didn't mean he could immediately get his body moving on the field without warming up.
Just as the players from both sides were doing their pre-match preparations.
On the other side, at the pre-match press conference, the war between the two old men, Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, had already begun.
Sir Alex Ferguson, as the host, struck first, shouting to the media: "Arsenal's good luck this season ends here."
"This game will mark the beginning of Arsenal's decline from prosperity this season; they will never have the same luck they had before."
"Anyone who has followed the schedule knows that apart from Chelsea, Arsenal's opponents before this season were not truly strong teams."
"In the Champions League, they were also drawn into a relatively easy group, which allowed them to focus their energy on the domestic League."
"But such good luck will cease to exist from the second half of the season. Arsenal will face more and stronger opponents."
"Their thin squad depth makes it impossible for them to balance both domestic and European competitions simultaneously, and collapse is imminent."
When asked about Fly celebrating Taylor's birthday on the same day as the match against Manchester United, the red-nosed old man said irritably, "I said it before, Fly is a spoiled child."
"I regret that no opponent has taught him a lesson before."
"But it doesn't matter, we will teach this child a good lesson in this game. He is very talented, but he hasn't experienced tempering and setbacks yet. His first setback in his professional career will be provided by us, Manchester United. I believe he will thank us in the future."
When Wenger was interviewed, in response to Sir Alex Ferguson's remarks, he simply said a few words lightly:
"I know Alex very well. It's obvious that for a man who calls himself a gentleman to say such ridiculous things, it's clearly because he knows how strong Arsenal is now."
"Good luck in the draw is part of football. Moreover, wasn't Manchester United's Champions League group draw good?"
"In Manchester United's group, besides Valencia, which is a European top 5 leagues level team, the remaining two teams are Glasgow Rangers from the Scottish Premiership and Bursaspor from the Turkish Super Lig."
"Manchester United played against these two non-European top 5 leagues level teams and didn't achieve a perfect winning record. I think Alex should look for his own problems instead of complaining about Arsenal's good luck."
"If he were drawn into a group with Real Madrid and Ajax like AC Milan, then I think his complaints would be understandable."
"But the reality is that Manchester United was also drawn into a group with little pressure. The problem is with his own team management, what does that have to do with Arsenal?"
"As for saying that our previous opponents were all weak? I don't know if Alex is getting old and his eyes are not working well. Arsenal has already played against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham this season and achieved a perfect winning record."
"With such opponents and such a record, I really don't know what he has to question."
When asked about Fly celebrating Taylor's birthday, Wenger smiled slightly, "Fly told me about this beforehand, and I agreed. Although I am his coach, I cannot control his private life."
"Taylor Swift is a good girl. She has given a lot for Fly, including when Guinness tested Fly's 100-meter speed last time, this girl was friendly to all the staff present."
"I witnessed this myself, and it's hard for me to imagine a talented young female singer who became famous early on being able to lower herself and treat everyone peacefully. This is very rare."
"Thinking about Alex's former disciple's celebrity wife, who caused her husband to break with Alex, his mentor, I'm very glad I won't encounter the same thing. This girl Taylor will not let Fly break with me."
"Such a good girl deserves Fly's sincere treatment. Celebrating her birthday is perfectly normal. I will not interfere, nor will I be dissatisfied because there is a match against Manchester United today. I am not a narrow-minded person like Alex."
After Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson finished their verbal sparring, both old men returned to their respective team dressing rooms.
Sir Alex Ferguson saw the busy Manchester United players in the home dressing room, his face serious, and he said to everyone: "Lads, today we must teach Arsenal a harsh lesson!"
"They haven't lost a League match so far this season, and neither have we, so we are no worse than them!"
"So many fans came out today to support us in the severe cold of minus ten degrees Celsius. Can we let our supporting fans leave disappointed?"
"Answer me!!!"
Upon hearing this, the Manchester United players immediately roared: "No, let's kill Arsenal!!!"
"Very good, let's go!"
In the away dressing room on the other side, Wenger didn't put too much pressure on the Arsenal players; he just told everyone to be careful.
Playing in such low temperatures of minus ten degrees Celsius, both the slippery pitch and the body that hasn't warmed up properly can cause player injuries.
Wenger only hoped that no players would get injured after this match, he could even accept a loss.
After all, Arsenal's League lead was still relatively large, with enough room for error, and it hadn't reached the point where every match had to be won.
Following the Main Referee onto the pitch, the biting cold wind stung Fly's face.
When the captains exchanged pennants, Fabregas noticed that the edge of the Manchester United pennant was frozen hard, like a red dagger.
Today's Main Referee was Atkinson, known as one of the "Premier League's Four Blind Men". He was testing the elasticity of the ball—a football with conventional air pressure was as hard as a stone in the low temperature.
Atkinson signaled to use a low-pressure match ball. The Manchester United goalkeeper coach immediately waved an air pressure gauge in protest. The Fourth Official took out a temperature gun and pointed it at the broadcast screen: the LCD panel showed ghosting due to the low temperature.
It was 7:55 PM, five minutes before the match was scheduled to start.
Fly looked towards the VIP box in the L110 stand. Taylor was holding up a support sign with "21" printed on it above her head, her breath turning into ice crystals on her eyelashes.
The away fans suddenly sang a modified version of "Happy Birthday" in unison, the sound waves shattering the ice crust on the advertising boards by the pitch.
Feeling the enthusiasm of the Arsenal fans, Taylor stood outside the box and waved her hands to the fans, completely disregarding the cold outside the box.
Sir Alex Ferguson rubbed his hands in the dugout, the white mist from his breath blurring the dial of his gold watch.
Wenger was wrapped in a knee-length Canada Goose down jacket, and the fog on the inside of his glasses forced him to take them off.
As the players gathered in a circle, the grass suddenly made a crisp sound like breaking glass—the underfloor heating system had finally melted through the ice layer, and steam gushed out from underground, enveloping Old Trafford in a magical white mist.
"Beep—"
The moment the opening whistle penetrated the ice mist, the heat erupted simultaneously from eighty thousand bodies caused the snow on the roof to start collapsing.
A contest between the war of football and the laws of nature dramatically kicked off in this frozen red theater.
The first clash between Manchester United and Arsenal this season had begun....
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