Chapter 114: The game ended early

John Motterson laughed in the commentary: "Does Queroz think Done will attack him? Didn't he claim that he knows Tony Done best? Why can't he even remember Done's biggest characteristics? Defensive counterattack, defensive counterattack! Haha!"

If Queroz could hear Motson's ridicule, his face would have been even more ugly.

It was not that he had thought of preventing England's counterattack. At first, he could not control the players' clocks in his hands.  It was normal for the players on the court to relax after more than 20 minutes of besieging.   Who could have thought that England would really seize such an opportunity and kill with one blow?

Being behind is very unfavorable for Portugal. Now Queiroz has no other way, so he can only let the team bite the bullet and continue attacking. Retreat is impossible, and there is no word "retreat" in the Portuguese football.

After leading, England did not take advantage of the situation to cover up and strive 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 Don is not afraid of Portugal.

"These turtles shrank!"

Ze Castro cursed from behind. Now he dared not rush up. Even if his feet were itchy, he had to stay behind honestly and protect the backcourt with Pepe.

The goal just now was because he rashly stepped forward, lost his position and could not return to defense. He had to be held accountable and he had to be fully responsible. He finally gained a foothold in the main central defender position of the national team, but he didn't want to lose his main player because of this mistake.

When Pepe heard his partner's complaint, he shrugged beside him. He is not unfamiliar with this scene. Such defense will bring him a sense of security when he is on that side, but now... to be honest, he also hates intensive defense.

It's okay to just defend intensively. What's even more annoying is that they have counterattacks, which really makes people feel uneasy. Boss...

Pepe is actually a central defender who likes to assist and move forward. He has also dribbled the ball in the Portuguese national team for a long distance and then personally scored the ball into the goal. But when facing England... no, to be precise, when facing Tony Donn, he had to put down his offensive desire, defend seriously, and be careful.

The game was stalemate. The Portuguese were at a loss when facing intensive defense, and England's few counterattacks soon returned in vain under the defense of Pepe and Ze Castro.

Queroz believes that since England is a defensive counterattack, the score of 1:0 must be what they pursue, and they will not be able to make any big moves after that. All the time ahead, England should focus on defense. The unintentional counterattack does not pose any threat to his team at all. He considered letting the two full-backs actively assist again in the exam - after conceding the ball just now, he roared on the sidelines to make the two full-backs restrain themselves. Defensively.

It now seems that without the support of full-backs, Portugal's offense lacks levels, it is impossible to open up England's defense line.

When two Portuguese fullbacks rushed forward, England's defensive pressure increased sharply.

Don En saw it clearly off the court. Portugal has completely taken the lead during this period. They have already hit the post with two consecutive balls for a long time, and it is hard to say whether England can hold on.

He whistled at the players on the sidelines and then made a gesture to make them fight back.

In the 36th minute, England found another opportunity to counterattack. Gerald made a long pass from the backcourt, and Downing ran along the side to chase the ball. This time Pepe also prepared in advance. He asked Castro to protect him from behind, but he rushed up.

Gerald's long pass was a bit big, and the football went straight to the corner flag. Most people would choose to give up when facing such a pass, and at most they would give him a thumbs up to his passer. It was great to pass against his will. But Tangning did not, and he sprinted at the full speed towards the landing point of the ball.

This also made Pepe dare not neglect at all. If Tang Ning gets the ball, he will face the goal directly...

The two met soon, and Pepe pushed Tangning out without hesitation.

Downing is closer to football than Pepe, but under 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 the next move - they were almost at the corner flag.

In desperation, Tang Ning jumped up and swept the football still in the air towards Pepe. The distance was too close, and Pepe could not dodge it. Block the ball out of the sideline. Tang Ning transferred to an out-of-bounds ball for England, but finally did not let the counterattack be wasted.

Even when serving out-of-bounds, England did not make a lot of effort and put in a big push. Joe Matok stepped forward and threw out the ball, and the other three defenders stayed honestly in the second half. Michael Johnson also helped them defend from behind - no matter what, the backcourt must be guaranteed enough players so that they will not be afraid of Portugal's counterattack.

Except for these four people, everyone else rushed to the frontcourt to participate in the offense. Rooney and Mitcher were in the penalty area, and Gerald was ambushed in the arc top area, preparing to wait for an opportunity to shoot coldly. Walcott also leaned against the middle, intending to grab the spot and pick up the bargain or organize a second attack.

Tangning stepped forward to receive the outbound ball from Matok.

Pepe is 1.86 meters tall and is already the highest altitude on the Portuguese defense line. He naturally has to defend England's highest altitude Mitcher.

Mitcher broke free from Pepe's hand: "Put me again and be careful I'll throw it to you, Pepe!"

Pepe smiled and didn't get angry, so he put his hand on: "Be careful of falling and eating a yellow card."

Pepe knew that he did not have an advantage in height. If he was honest and had no movement in his hands, he would not be worthy of being the central defender. No matter what means he used, he would not be able to grab the ball. He was very familiar with his former teammate. He was two meters and one in height, and he did not bounce like those with people. His bounce and header were excellent.

Veroso also returned to the front of the goal, stood on the other side of Mitchel, and with Pepe tacitly clamped Mitchel in the middle. The two of them played together in AC Milan, and this tacit understanding was still there.

Matok looked at the situation on the court. The only one who could receive his pass was Tangning, but Tangning was forced by the opponent, and even if he received the ball, he might not be able to turn around. So the ball still has to be passed back to himself. So what should I do next? Take it out or pass it out? Where can I pass the ball in the words of the passing ball?

He had to think about it in advance so that the football would not be at a loss after throwing it away. He looked up at the penalty area. Mitcher was very eye-catching. His height was so outstanding...

With the intention in mind, Matok threw the football to Tangning and made a gesture to pass it back to him.

He didn't need to make gestures. Downing knew how to do it. Antones kept rushing to him from behind, but he was not sure to control the ball well under such circumstances. So he knocked the ball back in the air without waiting for the ball to land.

Matok stopped the football, and at this time Tangning was still helping him block Antunes. He didn't hesitate, took a step back and opened the distance, and then directly raised his feet and crossed!

What a simple tactic.

But it is very effective when used on Mitchel's head.

Seeing the football flying from the air towards the goal, Pepe grabbed Mitcher's clothes with all his strength. Mitcher was struggling hard, trying to break free from the siege of Pepe and Veroso.

Goalkeeper Patricio was not watching the show either. He planned to jump up and confiscate the ball at the right time.

All this happened between lightning and fire, and when Pepe and Mitcher jumped up at the same time, the football had already flown over the goal.

Patricio jumped a little late. He was snatched in front by Mitchel and Pepe. Now he can only pray that Pepe can stop Mitchel, or that Mitchel will fly the ball under the interference of Pepe.

He was disappointed.

Mitcher completely surpassed Pepe, and he is now the first height. Football is right in front of him, and there is no better chance than this! No one can stop him! Even Pepe cannot do it!

"Aron Mitcher headed the ball! The ball scored!! The goal was clean and neat, beautiful!" John Motson cheered again.

The English fans in the stands sang the song "God Bless My King" to cheer for England.

"Thirty-seven minutes, England led Portugal 2:0! This was a really unexpected game! From the scene, Portugal had an absolute advantage, and they had a 67% possession rate. But in the score, England led two goals!"

After the goal, Dimitcher ran to the corner flag with his arms wide open and hugged Joe Matok and other teammates.

The Portuguese players stood on the spot as if they were struck by lightning. They may not believe it until now. They have the advantage and will fall behind England two goals before the first half...

What's wrong with this?

From the scene, from the technical statistics, we should be the leader in Portugal...

Is there something wrong?

What exactly went wrong?

Some of the players turned their attention to their land head coach Queroz.

Queroz didn't think of the first goal conceded, and kicked the mineral water bottle with no grace. He stood on the sidelines, just like his own players. He was also thinking about what was wrong...

Pepe may know what was wrong - he is no longer young. If he were two years ago, he would have been able to rely on his super physical fitness to make up for the height gap between himself and Mitcher and interfere with the opponent's header. But this time, he could not do anything except raise his head and watch the opponent smash the ball into the goal.

He clenched his fists. He wanted to punch something. But there was nothing else beside him except the door post.

The Portuguese was like a loss of energy, while Don En laughed in the middle of his coaching seat: "Haha! They thought that defensive counterattack was equal to 1:0ism? It's so naive! Who said that defensive counterattacks cannot score many goals? I want to prove it to you today!"

People are always used to reverse the process from the score. Whenever they see 1:0, they think that the game must be extremely dull, full of ugly defense and negative attitudes. When they see scores like 4:3 and 6:0, they think that it must be a hearty attack battle, full of passion and excitement.

But the reality is so cruel - defensive counterattacks can also play high scores, at least at present, it is very likely... and the side that has the advantage is definitely not the one that has the lead.

"3:0! 4:0! Don't let me go if you can score a goal! I want the Portuguese's European Cup journey to end from this game! Ahha!"

Don En clenched his fists and turned around in the same circle. Seeing his team lead Portugal with two goals so easily, he could not hide his excitement.

England was so easy to lead Portugal with two goals, which surprised the German coach watching the battle in the stands. He felt that it was natural to fight to the death with the strength of both teams and lose both sides. Unexpectedly, Don't expect that Don't win the victory with almost no bloodshed. This was really beyond his expectations, and I believe it was beyond the expectations of the German coaching staff. It seems that they are going to re-evaluate Tony Don't's ability...

It can't be just Germans. In this game, there were French, Italians, Dutch, and Spanish in the stands... They all wanted to observe what kind of sparks would appear between England and Portugal. But they didn't expect to be hit hard by Tony Donn's defensive counterattack.

Everyone is thinking about this question - if it is our own team, is there a way to crack it against England's defensive counterattack?

Breaking intensive defense and beingware of quick counterattacks is a global problem.

Italians are a little less worried because they are used to this trick. If they unfortunately encounter England, they will definitely make England turn into Portugal.

The Englishman walked into the locker room with a two-goal lead, while the Portuguese walked in a daze. Anyone who saw them looked like they felt that the game had ended early and there was nothing to look forward to in the second half.

An Italian "intelligence officer" stood up and stretched his waist and put away the dv in his hand. He decided to leave early, and there were fewer transportation options available if he was late. Anyway, it was just a routine thing to come here. He didn't think that England or Portugal might meet them in Italy in advance - when they met, it was already in the final.

Is it possible for England or Portugal to reach the final? Without George Wood, England, should first consider the top priority of qualifying in the group. And Portugal... By England without George Wood, England, is it necessary to worry that they will threaten Italy?

Queroz, the head coach, should have been furious, but that was not his style. His style is to calmly think about the problem and how we deal with it.

He felt that he had understood something was wrong.

"I think we were too optimistic in the first half and thought the opponent too simply. The unscrupulous pressure caused the defensive air, and the first ball was the key. It disrupted all our plans." Queoroz, who calmed down, analyzed for the dejected players. He first admitted his problem, although he also brought the whole team as a foil...

"But I don't plan to be conservative in the second half, never!" He raised the volume a little.   Because he thought of Tang En's cheerful look after the goal, it was like a sharp blade that hurt his heart.  Yes, he didn't like that man at all. Anything that made that man happy would make him very unhappy.
Chapter completed!