Chapter 628 Bruno and Portugal's Dilemma

After freezing Bruno, the French team wasted no time and launched a tidal wave of offensives against Portugal's goal, one wave after another, one wave higher than the other.

Finally, in the 26th minute of the game, taking advantage of the opportunity to steal the ball from Bruno's feet, the French team launched a quick counterattack, catching Portugal off guard.

At that time, Bruno took the ball and was about to launch an attack, but during a foul steal by French player Pogba, he fell to the ground and lost the ball.

William Carvalho only raised his hands to protest the steal to the referee, but failed to step forward in time to block it, allowing Pogba to rush over with the ball.

Making mistakes in the midfielder position makes the back line very passive. Moutinho and Joao Mario rushed to defend Pogba almost at the same time, and Pogba seized the gap and passed the ball away.

He passed the ball to Giroud, who passed it back after attracting the attention of the Portuguese defender. Two people played a one-two!

Pogba received the ball again and fired furiously from the top of the penalty area, and the ball hit the net.

France equalized the score!

The French fans in the stands roared with deafening cheers.

Pogba, who scored, excitedly ran to the corner flag area to greet the French fans there.

The Portuguese players surrounded the referee. They believed that Pogba's steal before the goal was a foul.

"This should be a foul first, such a goal is invalid!" Ronaldo said angrily.

Bruno, on the other hand, did not defend himself or make excuses. He stood outside the crowd with his head lowered.

Regardless of whether Pogba's steal was a foul or not, at least his performance before losing the ball was not good. He never found a solution. Instead, he lost the ball at his feet, allowing the opponent to launch a successful counterattack.

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The TV camera showed a six-second close-up of Bruno, who was bowing his head.

The commentator commented on this: "Bruno's goal at the beginning of the game made the Portuguese fans ecstatic, but then Bruno was closely guarded by the French team and could not perform at his normal level. This goal was lost because he got the ball in the backcourt Caused by being interrupted... Bruno is usually the core of Portugal's midfield. More than half of Portugal's goals are directly or indirectly related to him. In other words, once he cannot perform at his normal level, Portugal will also lose. The Portuguese media gave Bruno a nickname - 'Heart of Portugal', which vividly illustrates Bruno's importance to Portugal. If there is a problem with this heart, the Portuguese team will be unable to breathe. , or even death..."

In Portugal, many fans cursed the referee for being a black whistle: "F**K! It's obviously a foul, okay? You don't call such an obvious foul, damn Argentines!"

There are many Portuguese fans who have criticized the Argentine referee Pitana for being a black whistle, but no matter how angry the crowd is, it cannot change the reality that Portugal conceded the goal.

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After the game restarted, Bruno still had no way to solve the dilemma he faced. He can only make some short-distance passes and has almost no forward threatening passes.

Because the French team has tasted the sweetness of his defense, they are now working even more vigorously.

Bruno got the ball and didn't rush to pass it out. Instead, he pushed Kanter with one hand and motioned to the people in front of him to come back a little bit.

The distance was too far, and coupled with the physical confrontation of the French defensive players, he could not ensure the accuracy of the pass in this situation.

While he was distracted, Kanter stole the ball with his foot.

Bruno nudged the football, and Kante kicked him on the ankle. Bruno's feet hurt and he couldn't support his body and fell to the ground.

Kanter no longer regarded Bruno as a brother at this time. When he saw Bruno falling to the ground, he completely ignored him and jumped out to snatch the ball away.

This time the referee finally blew the whistle and called Kanter a foul.

Ronaldo refused to give up and signaled that the referee should give Kanter a yellow card for the foul. Of course, if the referee wanted to give a red card, that would be fine.

The referee Pitana didn't listen to him and gave Kanter a verbal warning.

Kanter spread his hands, shrugged, and ran away.

Bruno rubbed his ankle and got up from the ground. Kanter's toe hit his ankle, causing him to grin in pain.

He moved his ankle and breathed a sigh of relief when he found there was nothing wrong.

It would be tragic if he was kicked and injured.

Next in the game, Bruno found that small defensive moves like Kanter's just now were common on him. This seemed to be a targeted tactic specially arranged by the French team. Pushing the thigh, kicking the ankle, sweeping the leg...compared to this, pulling the jersey and pulling the arm is simply child's play.

In short, they tried every means to prevent him from getting the ball comfortably.

In order to achieve the secondary goal, any means can be used.

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The players of the French team have good control over this aspect. Although they were all fouls, they were not given cards. At most, they were booed by the Portuguese fans for a while, but there was no loss. And destroying Portugal's offense is the real benefit.

Throughout the first half, except for that goal, Bruno played awkwardly. It was difficult for him to hold the ball and he could only play the ball as quickly as possible, and the connection between him and his teammates was cut off by the French defensive players. . Occasionally, there is a chance to succeed, but the teammates fail to grasp it...

When the game reached the 35th minute, Kanter, who was responsible for defending him in the midfield, made an oversight and allowed Bruno to use a fake move to get away.

This is a rare opportunity!

Kanter, who was shaken away, became anxious and slipped, and it was too late to catch up. But it doesn't matter, there is another defensive midfielder Pogba...

Pogba is still five or six meters away from Bruno, which is enough space for Bruno to pass the ball.

He sent a direct pass to Bernardo Silva.

After Bernardo Silva got the ball, he cut inside and broke into the penalty area, and then suddenly shot!

This attack was sudden, and the French team's defensive players basically did not react, but Bernardo Silva's shot went high...

Bernardo Silva, who shot high, put his head in his hands and looked very sorry.

Just as regretful as him is Bruno. This is an excellent opportunity...

But he can't complain that Bernardo Silva wasted his opportunities, because first of all, he didn't create a few decent opportunities himself.

If you fail to do well, you have no place to blame others.

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"Bernardo Silva breaks through! Shot - high! What a pity... What a pity. For Portugal, this may be their best offensive opportunity in the first half. Bernardo Silva Silva's shot was decisive, but he didn't control his footwork well. "The Portuguese commentator was also very sorry.

"Bruno finally got rid of the French team's defense and completed an organized attack. It's a pity that Bernardo didn't grasp it..."

…

Bernardo Silva turned back and gave Bruno a thumbs up, indicating the beautiful pass he just made.

The French commentator said very happily: "Judging from Bruno's pass, it proves that Deschamps' tactics are correct. Look, Bruno was only given such a chance, and he completed a penetrating pass. Passing the ball, if we let him go, the score will definitely not be 1:1 now!"

If Bruno heard the French commentator's praise, he would only smile bitterly.

This attack failed to score, which also took away Portugal's good luck.

Before the end of the first half, the French team seized another opportunity, launched an attack, and scored another goal to take the lead!

In the 45th minute, taking advantage of the fact that the Portuguese players were slightly relaxed before the end of the first half, Hernandez made a breakthrough pass from the left. Mbappé made a sudden shot at the top of the arc, and the ball went into the lower left corner of the goal. France 2 :1 ahead of Portugal.

This goal loss had nothing to do with Bruno, but Bruno was still very disappointed on the court. They had a great start, but didn't have an equally great continuation. In the 45 minutes of the first half, they were helpless by the opponent's highly targeted tactics.

This speaks to his failure as a team leader.

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"The first half is over! The French team fought back after falling behind, scored two goals, and took the lead! What a wonderful first half!"

Portuguese fans don't think so. When the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, their expressions were dull, and some were shaking their heads, dissatisfied with the team's performance.

Bruno walked off the court with his head lowered. He heard some boos. He didn't know who came from them, but he always felt that they were booing him, because in the first half, he was very frustrated with the French team's ubiquitous close press. Unable to adapt and helpless.

The team went from leading to falling behind in the first half, which was directly related to his poor performance.

Perhaps because this was the World Cup final, the opponent's momentum was beyond his imagination, and it was several times more difficult than in the league or even the Champions League.

He admits he was ill-prepared for it.

But what to do? The opponent's close pressing was everywhere, which made him very uncomfortable. He could not even control the ball, let alone organize the offense and control the team's rhythm.

Bruno kept his head down as he walked into the corridor and then into the dressing room.

When he stood in front of his own locker and took off the dirty jersey that fell on the ground, he was still thinking about the first half of the game.

Although this is the World Cup final, it definitely shouldn't be the last final in his career. Isn't he powerless every time? Or should we say that we will stay put from now on and never pursue those high-level competitions and opponents?

This is not right. Playing football is only fun when you have to fight against strong opponents.

To play at a higher level is the meaning of being a professional player.

A World Cup final should not be my Waterloo!