Chapter 327 The Real Core of Portugal

"2:0! The Portuguese team expanded the score in the 24th minute. The goal came from Cristiano Ronaldo's free kick. He and Bruno had a free kick. The two seemed to be in perfect harmony. This made All the previous rumors about the two of them being at odds have disappeared!”

The Portuguese fans in the stands of the Lyon Stadium jumped from their seats when they saw the ball go around Hennessy's fingertips and into the goal. They raised their arms and cheered.

"Well done, Ronaldo! Well done!"

The Welsh fans on the other side were silent. The team suffered two blows within twenty-five minutes, and they didn't know what to say for a while.

On the court, after scoring the goal, Ronaldo excitedly made his exclusive celebration again. This is his sixth goal of this European Cup. He finally overtook Bruno and became the top scorer of this European Cup.

When Ronaldo was cheering, Bruno appeared in front of him. He was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect that he would be the first person to celebrate after he scored.

Bruno stretched out his hand to him, grinned widely and said, "Well done!"

When Ronaldo saw Bruno, he stretched out his hand to him reflexively. The two hands collided in the air and made a snap.

Immediately afterwards, teammates swarmed forward, surrounded the two people, and hugged each other tightly.

"We scored again, hooray!"

"Well done, Ronaldo!"

"This cooperation is really tacit!"

………………

The players were so excited, and so was head coach Santos off the court, who rushed out of his seat and waved his arms vigorously.

According to the current situation, it is already certain that Portugal will defeat Wales, which also means that Portugal will advance to the European Cup finals again after 12 years.

Twelve years ago, the Portuguese team launched an attack on the European Cup championship in front of home, but ultimately fell short. In the two European Cups since then, the Portuguese team has never been able to reach the finals.

Now, after twelve years, the Portuguese team will once again challenge for the European Cup championship.

But at present, what makes him happier than this ambitious goal is that the two important players in the team, Bruno and Ronaldo, have shown excellent understanding.

First of all, Bruno and Ronaldo had communicated before this free kick. This tactical cooperation must have been discussed between the two people. Secondly, after scoring the goal, Ronaldo and Bruno high-fived each other. If their relationship was really as reported by some media, then they would never do such a celebration after scoring a goal.

With the last source of internal instability removed, Santos can direct the team's full energy towards their external enemies.

The Portuguese team, which scored two goals, did not stop there. A one-goal lead is not safe, and a two-goal lead is not safe. If they can still score goals, why not continue to score? Score three, four, five, six... who would think there are too many goals?

Therefore, the Portuguese team faced Wales and did not stop after taking a two-goal lead. Instead, they continued to bombard the Welsh goal. And poor Wales, facing the aggressive offensive of the Portuguese team, could only retreat and defend, doing nothing.

………………

Just three minutes after Ronaldo scored, the Portuguese team made a comeback.

Bruno passed the ball to Ronaldo. The Portuguese captain took the ball with his back at the front of the penalty area. The Welshman Collins who was guarding him suddenly slipped. Ronaldo immediately turned quickly and broke into the penalty area, and then passed another Welsh central defender William who came up to attack him. James shot a low shot with his right foot from 14 meters from the center, but Hennessy barely saved the ball.

In the 33rd minute, Bruno made a long pass from the backcourt to the frontcourt. Ronaldo passed the football to Nani with his head. The Welsh defenders raised their hands to indicate that Nani was offside, but the linesman did not raise the flag and the referee did not blow the whistle. , not offside!

Nani succeeded in countering offside, dribbled the ball into the penalty area, and then shot 11 meters away from the goal, which was saved by goalkeeper Hennessy who struck in time.

Hennessy, who saved Nani's goal, jumped up from the ground, waved his fists, and roared at his fellow defenders: "Look what you are doing! How can you let him break into the penalty area so easily!!"

"He's offside!" Williams retorted.

"But the linesman didn't raise the flag!" Hennessey waved his arm and pointed at the linesman, "You shouldn't have given up the game!"

"Okay, okay..." Another defender Neil Taylor came up to smooth things over.

On the other side, Nani, who wasted this one-on-one opportunity, covered his face with his hands and looked very frustrated.

………………

Until the end of the first half, Wales did not organize any decent offensive. They were completely stunned by the waves of Portuguese attacks. When they came off the field, some people even had a little confusion in their eyes.

The Welsh players never imagined that they would be two goals behind in the first half, and what hit them more than the score was that they could not find an advantage on the scene.

Judging from the scene, it was good that they only conceded two goals. If the Portuguese attackers had not wasted opportunities, they might have fallen behind 0:4 in the first half.

The Portuguese players were elated when they came off the field and were extremely happy.

Even they themselves did not expect to be able to lead Wales by two goals so easily.

Amid the noise from the fans, players from both sides quickly left the court and entered their respective locker rooms.

They have fifteen minutes, and these fifteen minutes are more important for Wales, because if they want to save the defeat in the second half, they must plan well in these fifteen minutes.

Can they complete a comeback from two goals down?

………………

In the visiting team's dressing room in Wales, Wales coach Coleman was losing his temper, not only because of the score, but also because of the scene.

The fans may care more about the score, but the head coach definitely values ​​the process and the scene first.

They can tell a lot from the scene and process. Whether this team still has hope of equalizing the score when it falls behind can be seen from the first half.

If the team is not at a disadvantage, but just has bad luck and allows the opponent to score two goals, then the score of 0:2 is not a problem at all. Forty-five minutes in the second half, some tactical adjustments can save the defeat.

But Coleman saw none of that from this first half. It can even be said that none of the scenes he hoped to see happened. His team was overwhelmed by the opponent and had no ability to fight back. There were very few shots and almost no threatening attacks. The busiest player was not the forward but the goalkeeper. Hennessy…

Judging from the forty-five minutes of the first half, Coleman could not find a way to defeat his opponent. So he was angry. He was lagging behind in everything from the score to the scene. How could he continue to play this game?

"...Look what you guys played in the first half? I counted, you only had four shots in forty-five minutes, and only one of them hit the goal frame. There was no threat in the offense. Our offense The defense must bear tremendous pressure. Portugal is an attacking team, they are good at attacking, and they are only good at attacking. If we can create pressure on their defense, we can break this situation. Didn’t do it!”

………………

The head coach's words made all the offensive players of the Welsh team lower their heads and remain silent.

He was scolding them, and the Welsh offensive players did not do well enough in the first half. There were not many opportunities, and they were all wasted.

But just because the players are silent doesn't mean they don't have ideas. They also felt that this matter could not be simply blamed on them.

Although the Portuguese team mainly focuses on offense, their defense is also not ambiguous, especially the No. 8. This No. 8 is simply a monster. When attacking, he can appear in the Welsh penalty area. When defending, he immediately builds a blockade in front of his back line, making it impossible for Wales' offense to penetrate easily.

Coleman glanced around and seemed to know what the silent players were thinking.

In fact, he also noticed Bruno's performance. The new Ballon d'Or winner has definitely been a better player than Messi and Ronaldo in the past two years, and he has also brought his outstanding performance at the club to the European Cup. In the previous 3 group matches and 2 knockout games, Bruno has scored 5 goals and also sent 3 assists. He is the best player in this European Cup.

Because after learning this, Coleman paid more attention to Bruno's performance in this game.

It can be seen from the first half that Bruno is indeed the core of the Portuguese team. Whether it is offense or defense, he can play a very key role.

………………

Obviously, if Wales wants to defeat the Portuguese team, it must make adjustments to the core figure of Bruno.

If possible, he had to freeze Bruno completely. Even if it cannot be completely frozen, we must find a way to prevent Bruno from playing the role he should have played.

Bruno can organize offense and defense in the Portuguese team and is the core of the entire team.

Yes, it is the core, not the pure offensive core, nor the pure defensive core, but the core, the real core.

It can be said that the Portuguese team plays entirely around Bruno. Bruno's status in the Portuguese national team is somewhat similar to Beckenbauer's status in the German team.

However, although this made him the core of the Portuguese team, it also became the "Achilles heel" of the Portuguese team.

Because as long as Bruno is contained, it is equivalent to containing the Portuguese team.

With this in mind, Coleman made his own adjustments to the team's second half.

In order to guard against Bruno, the defensive strength of the midfield must be strengthened.