Chapter 543: Mihajlovic’s free kick returns, Pogba is expelled

Chapter 543: Mihajlovic’s free kick returns, Pogba is expelled

After Spain scored, the team's morale improved a lot, and the players played more confidently and calmly.

In this state, they dared to play with frontcourt cooperation that was relatively risky and they didn't dare to play before.

In the 33rd minute of the first half, Spain got a chance on the right side.

French, Morata and David Silva used continuous short passes to successfully hit the ball to the front of the French team's left penalty area and attracted a large number of opposing players.

The French team learned the lesson from the last time they conceded the ball, and this time strengthened their defense in the middle, while Kanter kept an eye on Lin Quan throughout the game, staying close to Lin Quan wherever he went.

Morata did not pass the ball to Lin Quan this time, but moved to the space on the left.

Alba, who came in behind, quickly dribbled the ball down to the bottom and completed a cross before the opponent's full-back came up to him.

Umtiti pushed forward, but was unable to push it far.

The ball fell in front of Busquets, who cleverly stretched out his hands to block Pogba who rushed from the side.

When Pogba saw that the opponent was stuck, he pushed Busquets.

Busquets was thinking about how to deal with the ball. When he was pushed by Pogba, he immediately screamed and fell to the ground. When he fell, he did not forget to hold the ball under his body to prevent the referee from stopping the game and being beaten by the opponent. Grab the ball and get a chance to counterattack.

Pogba was very angry. He felt that he didn't use much force. Busquets fell down with a light touch, and he screamed so exaggeratedly that it was obviously a fake fall.

So after seeing Busquets fall to the ground, Pogba ignored it and directly kicked the ball under Busquets with his feet, seemingly trying to snatch the ball away and continue the attack.

If the first one wasn't a serious foul, then Pogba's next one was a real foul.

Busquets screamed after being kicked like this, clutching his stomach and rolling on the ground in pain.

Slow motion on the big screen showed that Pogba did not kick the ball, but kicked Busquets directly in the stomach.

When the Spanish players saw the opponent committing such a nasty foul on a fallen teammate, they all rushed forward, surrounded Pogba, and wanted an explanation.

The players of the French team saw their teammates being surrounded and immediately ran over to help them.

The situation on the field suddenly became tense. The referee's standards in this game were relatively loose and the whistle was not blown strictly.

Both sides committed many fouls in the first half. Some of them, if called harshly, would have resulted in a card, but they were spared due to the referee's penalty standards. This made the players on both sides who were violated feel a sense of guilt. Turn on the fire.

At this time, taking advantage of this opportunity, the anger of both sides broke out, and the pushing and verbal quarrels between the players on both sides became more and more intense.

Giroud and Pique, the tallest men on the field, even started to lift the cow head to head.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, the referee finally did not dare to show mercy this time.

He rushed over quickly, separated the most quarrelsome players from both sides, and issued a yellow card to Pique and Giroud, each with fifty rebounds.

Then he walked up to the fouled Pogba, showed Pogba a red card, and sent him off directly.

Pogba was stunned. He spread his hands and looked at the referee with an aggrieved look, as if to confirm to the other party:

Is this red card really for me?

Could it be a mistake?

The other French players nearby didn't care about arguing with the Spanish players at this time, and ran to the referee to plead with him.

The French team was already lagging behind. If one more player was sent off at this time, the game would not be played.

This penalty made by the referee will greatly affect the trend and even the result of the game.

They hope that the referee can be merciful, even if he gives Pogba a yellow card, he cannot be kicked out of the game directly!

The referee had no intention of changing the decision and insisted on his decision. He also signaled Pogba not to stay on the court and asked him to leave the court immediately.

The Frenchmen in the stands were all holding their heads in disbelief. After seeing the referee insisting on the red card, they all protested.

The whole stadium was filled with boos and curses, and there were voices of insults to the referee everywhere. The French seemed to be using this method to put pressure on the referee. Even if he could not change the result of this penalty, he still had to let the referee down. I had concerns when I made the first penalty and made a penalty that was more beneficial to the French team.

On the court, after some referees make relatively drastic penalties, they often make up for it afterwards in order to find a balance as much as possible. The French just want to take advantage of this to make a fuss.

But their calculations may be wrong!

The chief referee of this game is from Italy, Italian Golden Whistle Nicola Rizzoli.

He has been selected as the Italian Football Referee of the Year for three consecutive years and was selected as the 2013 International Football Referee of the Year by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

In terms of qualifications and officiating experience, he is currently one of the top referees in football.

Although his law enforcement standards are relatively loose, his will is very firm and he will not easily change his penalties, even under huge pressure from the outside world.

Historically, in this European Cup semi-final, it was Rizzoli who withstood the pressure and awarded a penalty kick to the French team when the German team was in a good situation, completely reversing the situation of the game and helping the French team. In the end, they defeated the German team and advanced to the finals.

The Italian is no stranger to Spaniards.

He officiated two Spanish team games in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the first match of the group stage between Spain and the Netherlands and the final match between Spain and Germany.

The Spanish team won both games, and they won by a big margin.

From this perspective, Rizzoli can be said to be the lucky star of the Spanish team.

Judging from the current situation, this game is obviously developing in a direction that is beneficial to Spain.

In the stands, some Spanish fans couldn't help but start celebrating in advance.

Pogba is an important part of the French team's midfield, and sending him off will greatly affect the French team's offense.

Moreover, the numerical advantage can also greatly reduce Spain's defensive pressure on the field.

Deschamps' face was very ugly. Pogba's behavior just now was too uncool.

Even if Busquets' acting skills are a little exaggerated, as long as he doesn't kick someone, the first time he commits a pushing foul, he will only get a verbal warning at most. Judging from the referee's standards for this game, there is not even a verbal warning.

But Pogba kicked someone, and he kicked someone while the opponent was lying on the ground. This constituted a serious foul of deliberately injuring the opponent's player, and the card was definitely given.

Originally, he had a trace of luck in his heart, praying that the referee would be merciful and give him a yellow card. Unexpectedly, the opponent would impose the death penalty on Pogba, which suddenly forced the French team into a desperate situation.

This is not the first time that Pogba has been so uncool. As early as 2013, in a World Cup qualifying match, Pogba did such a stupid thing once.

After Pogba was substituted that time, it only took two minutes for Pogba to receive two yellow cards and be expelled, which shocked everyone present.

And coincidentally, the opponent of the French team in that game was none other than the Spanish team!

Pogba's unexpected dismissal severely damaged the French team's offensive system.

It became more difficult for them to score goals. Deschamps couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead and began to think about how to adjust during the halftime break to reduce the impact of Pogba's departure.

Just when Deschamps was having a headache over this problem, Lin Quan came to the foul spot with the ball in his arms, preparing to take a free throw.

At this time, both sides had ten people on the court. Busquets was really injured and had been carried to the sidelines on a stretcher for treatment.

The temporary balance in numbers meant that there were no obvious loopholes in the French team's set-piece defense.

They lined up the wall nervously near the penalty area line, guarding against Lin Quan's direct shot and several taller players on the other side.

The location of the foul is about 38 meters from the goal, on the left side of the court, and about seven or eight meters from the sideline.

French players feel that at this distance, the opponent is unlikely to shoot directly, so they focus most of their energy on marking players in the opponent's penalty area.

But when the Spanish players saw Lin Quan's gesture, they all understood that he was going to shoot the ball directly.

Although they knew Lin Quan's intention, the Spanish players did not stay in place like wooden stakes. Instead, like loaches, they drilled in and out of the opponent's penalty area, trying to attract the opponent's attention as much as possible. Lin Quan creates opportunities.

Lin Quan took seven or eight steps back, took a deep breath, and started running.

With a loud bang, the football lifted off the ground and flew towards the penalty area at high speed.

After seeing the flight path of the football, the Frenchman immediately understood that the opponent had hit the goal directly.

The French players lined up in the wall jumped up one after another, trying to block Lin Quan's shot with their bodies.

It's a pity that they didn't jump high enough, and the football whizzed past their heads.

Hearing the sound of breaking through the air above their heads, the French players who took off couldn't help but feel a little happy in their hearts.

What a terrifying power!

Fortunately, I didn't block it just now. If I had blocked it, I would have been knocked unconscious by this ball!

The French team's goalkeeper Lloris is fully focused at the moment, and his footsteps have moved to the right side of the center line of the goal.

By observing the flight path of the football in the air, he judged that the ball was headed to the right.

Being able to take such a high-quality free kick from a distance of nearly 40 meters, Lin Quan's free kick ability is truly well-deserved.

But it's a pity that your intention has been seen through by me, and a shot of this level cannot break through my ten fingers.

Lori turned sideways confidently and prepared to make a save. However, just as he rose into the air, he discovered that the flight path of the falling football suddenly changed.

Lori was shocked. The ball's landing point deviated from his predicted position, and he was already in the air, but he had no time to make adjustments.

With a crisp sound, the football almost grazed the lower edge of Lori's right arm and flew into the goal.

"Incredible goal!"

"Lin Quan's free kick completely deceived the French goalkeeper. Lori was completely fooled!"

“This is the second free kick Lin Quan has scored in this European Cup, and they are all super long-range free kicks!

Even though the French team tried their best, they still couldn't completely freeze Lin Quan because he still had the trick of free kicks! "

"He is the genius of this era, God's gift to Spain!"

In the Spanish commentary box, the commentators spoke at extremely fast speeds with all kinds of complimentary words, wishing to blow Lin Quan to the sky.

Not only are they doing this, after seeing Lin Quan score such a difficult free kick, commentators from various countries are almost doing the same thing.

Finished!

Seeing the goal go in, Deschamps' head banged and he slumped down on the coaching bench, his mind going blank.

On the other side, Bosque jumped excitedly and rushed into the court ahead of the substitutes with lightning speed.

Lin Quan's second goal was almost the winning goal to seal the victory for the Spanish team.

Leading by two goals will have a greater psychological advantage than leading by one goal, because the team has room for error.

Even if the opponent recovers a goal in the next game, Spain can still win.

Moreover, Spain has a huge advantage at this time. Not only do they lead by two goals, they also have a numerical advantage.

Bosque couldn't imagine what the other party would do to make a comeback in this situation!

Not only did Bosque think so, but also the other Spanish players on the court, the Spanish fans in the stands, and even the Spanish commentators in the commentary box all thought so.

"Although this result is very cruel for French fans, I have to say that they have been forced into a corner at this time!"

In the commentary box of Sky Sports, Martin Taylor pretended to feel sorry for the French for a while. The historical grudges between Britain and France are very deep. If he hadn't been concerned about his current status as a commentator, he would have wanted to open champagne to celebrate.

"Yes, there is not much time left for the French team. They must find a way to score a goal as soon as possible!"

How could the French not understand something that even the commentators could think of?

After the restart, the French team launched a crazy counterattack, trying to get a goal back before the end of the first half.

Unfortunately, the numerical disadvantage made it difficult for their offense to be effective, especially with one player missing in the midfield. The French team quickly fell into a disadvantage in the midfield confrontation.

Pogba's dismissal turned the French team into a single defensive midfielder, with Kante wiping the entire midfield alone.

If Kante hadn't spared no effort to put out fires everywhere, and relied on his strong running ability and excellent interception ability to resolve dangerous situations everywhere, the French team would have continued to concede goals, let alone attack.

But even so, the French team gradually fell into a disadvantage. Their counterattack did not last long before they were pushed out by Spain. The situation of the game began to turn into Spain besieging the French team's goal!

(End of this chapter)