Chapter 953: Volume 7: The Heart of the Lion King
John Mortensen laughed out loud in the commentary: "Did Queiroz think that Twain would fight him? Didn't he claim that he knew Tony Twain best? Why can't he even remember Twain's biggest characteristic? Defensive counterattack , Defensive counterattack! Haha!"
If Queiroz could hear Mortensen's ridicule, his face would definitely be even uglier.
It's not that he didn't think about guarding against England's counterattack, and it was impossible for him to control the players' clocks in his own hands at first. After more than 20 minutes of siege, it is normal for the players on the field to relax. Who would have thought that England would really seize such an opportunity, and kill it with one blow?
Being behind is not good for Portugal, and now Queiroz has no other choice but to let the team bite the bullet and continue to attack. It is impossible to retreat, and the word "retreat" does not exist in Portuguese football.
After taking the lead, England did not take advantage of the situation to cover up and try to expand the score. They shrank back in front of Portugal's offensive. Faced with England's intensive defense, Portugal's stars felt powerless. This defensive lineup has trapped Argentina led by Messi, and Twain is not afraid of Portugal.
"Damn it! These turtles!"
Ze Castro cursed from behind. Now he doesn't dare to rush up, no matter how itchy his feet are, he has to stay behind obediently and protect the backcourt with Pepe.
The conceded goal just now was because he rushed forward rashly, lost his position, and was unable to defend in time. To be held accountable, he must take full responsibility. After finally gaining a firm foothold as the main central defender of the national team, he didn't want to lose his main force because of this mistake.
Pepe heard his partner complain, and he shrugged beside him. He is no stranger to this scene, when he was on that side, this kind of defense would give him a sense of security, but now... To be honest, he also hates dense defense.
It's just a dense defense. What's even more annoying is that they still have counterattacks, which is really unsettling, boss...
Pepe is actually a central defender who likes to assist and go forward. He also had a masterpiece of running long distances with the ball in the Portuguese national team, and then personally hitting the ball into the goal. But when facing England... no, to be more precise, when facing Tony Twain, he had to let go of his desire to attack and earnestly defended, taking precautions.
The game was stalemate, the Portuguese were helpless in the face of dense defense, and England's few counterattacks were quickly defeated by Pepe and Ze Castro's defense.
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Queiroz believes that since England is a defensive counterattack, then the score of 1:0 must be what they are after, and it is impossible for them to make any big moves after that. For the rest of the time, England should focus on defense, and the harmless counterattack poses no threat to his team at all. He tried to consider letting the two full-backs actively assist again-after the goal just now, he Roaring on the sidelines made the two full-backs restrain themselves and focus on defense.
Now it seems that without the support of full-backs, Portugal's offense lacks layers, and it is impossible to open England's defense.
England's defensive pressure increased sharply when two Portuguese full-backs rushed forward.
Tang En could see clearly from the sidelines that Portugal had the upper hand during this period of time. They already had two consecutive kicks hitting the goalposts. If it took longer, it was hard to say whether England would be able to hold on.
He whistled to the players from the sidelines, then gestured for them to fight back.
In the 36th minute, England found another chance to counterattack. Gerrard made a long pass from the backcourt, and Downing ran along the sidewalk to chase the ball. This time Pepe also made preparations in advance. He asked Castro to protect him while he rushed forward.
Gerrard's long pass was a bit big, and the football went straight to the corner flag. Most people would choose to give up when faced with such a pass. But Tangning didn't. He sprinted towards the ball's landing point at full speed.
This also made Pepe dare not be negligent in the slightest. If Tangning caught the ball, she would be facing the goal directly...
The two quickly met, and Pepe unceremoniously pushed Tangning away.
Tang Ning was closer to the football than Pepe, but with Pepe's close press, he was not sure that he could control the ball. Even if he controlled this position, it would not be conducive to his next move - the two of them were already approaching the corner flag.
In desperation, Tangning jumped up and swept the football still in the air towards Pepe. The distance was too close, and Pepe couldn't dodge in time and blocked the ball out of the sideline. Downing diverted a throw-in for England, and the counterattack was finally not in vain.
Even when it was a throw-in, the England team did not go all out and press hard. Joe Mattock stepped forward for a throw-in, the other three defenders stayed in the second half, and Michael Johnson was also behind to help them defend—in any case, there must be enough people in the backcourt, so that Not afraid of Portugal's counterattack.
Except for these four people, everyone else rushed to the frontcourt to participate in the attack. Rooney and Mitchell were in the penalty area, and Gerrard was lying in ambush at the top of the arc, ready to take a cold shot. Walcott also leaned towards the middle, planning to grab points to pick up leaks, or organize a second attack.
Tangning stepped forward to respond to Mattok's throw-in.
Pepe's height of 1.86 meters is already the highest altitude on Portugal's defense line, and he should of course defend England's highest altitude Mitchell.
Mitchell broke free from Pepe's hand: "Pull me carefully and I'll show you, Pepe!"
Peipei smiled without getting angry, and put her hand up again: "Be careful and get a yellow card for flopping."
Pepe knows that he does not have an advantage in height. If he honestly does not move his hands, he is not worthy of being a central defender. No matter what method is used, Mitchell must not be allowed to grab the ball. He couldn't be more familiar with his former teammate. He is 2.01 meters tall, and he doesn't bounce like those tall people. His bounce and header are excellent.
Veloso also returned to the door, standing on the other side of Mitchell, and Pepe tacitly sandwiched Mitchell in the middle. There is still a tacit understanding between the two of them playing for AC Milan.
Mattok looked at the situation on the court, and the only one who could catch his pass was Tangning, but Tangning was pressed so hard by the opponent that even if she received the ball, she might not be able to turn around. So the ball still has to be passed back to him, so what should he do next? Take it out or pass it on? Where do you pass the ball?
He has to think about it in advance, so as not to be at a loss after throwing the football. He looked up at the penalty area, Mitchell was very eye-catching, his height was simply too outstanding...
With a plan in mind, Mattok threw the football to Tangning and at the same time made a gesture to pass it back to him.
Tangning knew what to do without him making gestures. Antunes kept running into him from behind, and he wasn't sure he could handle the ball well in such a situation. So he didn't wait for the ball to hit the ground, and directly knocked the ball back to Mattok in the air.
Mattok stopped the football while Tangning was still helping him to block Antunes. He didn't hesitate, took a step back to open the distance, and then directly kicked the pass!
Really simple tactic.
But when used on Mitchell's head, it is very effective.
Seeing the football flying from the air to the goal, Pepe grabbed Mitchell's clothes with all his strength, while Mitchell was struggling hard, trying to break free from the encirclement of Pepe and Veloso.
Goalkeeper Patricio didn't watch the show either. He planned to jump up and confiscate the ball at the right time.
All this happened in a blink of an eye. When Pepe and Mitchell jumped up at the same time, the football had already flown over the goal.
Patricio jumped a bit late, he got ahead of Mitchell and Pepe, and now he can only pray that Pepe can stop Mitchell, or Mitchell is interrupted by Pepe Fly the ball.
He was disappointed.
Mitchell has completely surpassed Pepe, he is now the first height, football is in front of his eyes, there is no better opportunity than this! No one can stop him! Not even Pepe!
"Aaron Mitchell shook his head and hit the goal! The goal is scored!! A neat goal, beautiful!" John Mortensen cheered again.
The England fans in the stands sang the song "God Save the King" to cheer for England.
"In thirty-seven minutes, England led Portugal 2-0! This is really an unexpected game! Judging from the scene, Portugal has an absolute advantage. They hold 67% of the ball. But in terms of score But England lead by two goals!"
After the goal, Mitchell ran to the corner flag with open arms, hugging Joe Mattock and other teammates.
The Portuguese players stood on the spot as if struck by lightning. I'm afraid they still can't believe it now, they will be behind England by two goals before the first half is over...
What's going on here?
From the perspective of the scene, from the perspective of technical statistics, Portugal should be the leader...
What's wrong?
What exactly went wrong?
Some of the players set their sights on their coach Queiroz.
At this time, Queiroz didn't kick the mineral water bottle like the first goal he conceded. He stood on the sidelines, just like his players. He was also thinking about what went wrong...
Pepe probably knows what's wrong - he's not getting any younger. If I were myself two years ago, I should be able to rely on my super physical fitness to make up for the height gap between myself and Mitchell and interfere with the opponent's header. But this time, he couldn't do anything except look up and watch the opponent smash the ball into the goal.
"Damn it!" He clenched his fist, wanting to punch something. But there was nothing around him except the goal post.
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The Portuguese seemed to be out of his wits, while Twain laughed endlessly in the middle of his coaching bench: "Haha! They think that defensive counterattacks are equal to 1:0 doctrine? How naive! Who said that defensive counterattacks can't score many goals? I just wanted to Prove it to you!"
People are always used to reverse the process from the score, but when they see 1:0, they think the game must be extremely dull, full of ugly defenses and negative attitudes. When you see scores like 4:3 and 6:0, you will think that it must be a hearty confrontation battle, full of passion and excitement.
But the reality is so cruel-the defensive counterattack can also score high scores, at least for now it is very possible... and the side with the most advantage is definitely not equal to the side with the leading score.
"3:0! 4:0! Don't let me miss the chance to score! I want the Portuguese's European Cup journey to end from this game! Aha!"
Dunn clenched his fists and spun around on the spot. Seeing his team leading Portugal by two goals so easily, he couldn't hide his excitement.
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England's two-goal lead over Portugal, which is not weak, surprised the German coach watching the game from the stands. He felt that with the strength of the two teams, it was only natural for both teams to fight to the death. Unexpectedly, Tang En's team declared victory almost without bloodshed. This was really beyond his expectation, and I believe it also exceeded the expectation of the German coaching staff. It seems that they are going to re-evaluate Tony Twain's ability...
It can't be just the Germans, there are also French, Italians, Dutch, Spaniards in the stands of this game... They all want to observe what kind of sparks will collide between England and Portugal. But he didn't expect to be severely hit by Tony Twain's defensive counterattack.
Everyone is thinking about such a question-if it is our own team, is there a way to solve England's defensive counterattack?
It is a worldwide problem to break the dense defense and at the same time beware of quick counterattacks.
The Italians are a little less worried, because they are used to this trick. If they encounter England unfortunately, they will definitely turn England into Portugal.
The Englishman walked into the locker room with a two-goal lead, while the Portuguese walked away a bit distraught. Anyone who sees them feels that the game has ended early, and there is nothing to look forward to in the second half.
An Italian "intelligence officer" stood up and stretched, and put away the DV in his hand. He decided to leave early, and there would be fewer options for transportation if he was late. Anyway, coming here is just a routine. He doesn't think it is possible for England or Portugal to meet Italy in advance-by the time they meet, they will already be in the final.
Could England or Portugal reach the final? Without George Wood, England should first consider the top priority of qualifying for the group. And Portugal... a team that has been beaten into such a virtuous team by England without George Wood, is there any need to worry that they will threaten Italy?
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Inexplicably falling behind by two goals in the first half, Queiroz as the coach should be furious, but that is not his style. His style was to calmly think about what went wrong and what we could do about it.
He felt he understood what was wrong.
"I think we were too optimistic in the first half, and our opponents were too simple. The unscrupulous pressure created a void in the defense, and the first goal was the key. It disrupted all our plans." Calm down Kui Rhodes analyzed for the dejected players. He was the first to admit his own problems, even though he also pulled the whole team as a foil...
"But I'm not going to play it safe in the second half, never!" He raised his voice a little. Because he thought of Tang En's cheerful appearance after scoring the goal, it was like a sharp knife, stabbing his heart. That's right, he didn't like that man at all, and anything that made that man happy would make him very unhappy.
"Did you think the game was over? Far from it! The English probably thought the game was over early, they must have started celebrating in the dressing room. This is our chance..." He leaned forward and looked at his players They said word by word, "We underestimated the enemy in the first half, and it's their turn in the second half."