Chapter 421 The ultimate firepower attraction, belongs to Ronaldo’s explosive night

Chapter 421 The ultimate firepower attraction, belongs to Ronaldo’s explosive night
"aoaoaoaoooooo——"

As the Portuguese and Spanish players emerged from the tunnel at Fisht Stadium in Sochi, the roar from the fans in the stands was deafening.

Almost every player who entered the stadium was also affected by the fanatical atmosphere from the audience, including top stars such as Ronaldo and Ramos, who were moved and had heavy expressions on their faces.

Only Martin had a calm expression and was not affected in any way.

For him, participating in the World Cup is not something to be particularly proud of.

The reason why I chose to represent Portugal in the World Cup was entirely to fulfill the dream of my late adoptive father.

Therefore, the ritual before every game on behalf of Portugal is never to sing along with the Portuguese national anthem.

The same was true for the World Cup group stage this time. He kept his eyes straight and went through the entire process in a coping style.

The great momentum began to drop to a minimum as the game approached. It was obvious that fans from both sides and neutral fans wanted to explode again after the game started.

"Beep~"

The Italian referee Rocchi blew the whistle, announcing the official start of the focus match between Portugal and Spain in Group B of the 2018 World Cup.

Diego Costa kicked the football under his feet to David Silva, and the Portuguese attack group headed by Cristiano Ronaldo pounced on it amid the roar of the audience.

"Longguo TV, Longguo TV, the game we are broadcasting for you now is..."

Central 5 commentator He Wei blurted out: "The one wearing the white jersey and white shorts is Spain. They attack from the left to the right of the broadcast screen. The one wearing the red jersey and red shorts is Portugal..."

Spain, which had the right to kick off the ball, did not rush to launch a forward attack, but adopted a step-by-step approach to advance the overall offensive formation.

The commentator in the on-site commentary box took advantage of this less intense situation to re-announce the starting lineups of both sides to the fans in front of the TV.

Spain's offensive tactics are very different from the past, from the original penetration of the center to the main focus of the wing.

Obviously, this is due to Martin's defensive coordination ability in the middle.

Santos naturally made targeted arrangements before the game, knowing that Spain's offense is likely to adopt a wing attack like many teams that compete with Martin.

Therefore, Spain's offense on the wing is not very smooth.

The most critical thing is that the attack from the wing must ultimately pass the ball to the center.

Diego Costa is Spain's only fulcrum in the Portuguese penalty area. Even though he is very aggressive, he does not play his due role under the combined defense of veterans Pepe and Font.

After a series of uninterrupted passes, the football was given to Alba on the left.

The left-back who plays for Barcelona is full of offensive attributes. He used his left foot to pass the ball while running, tricking Cedric into jumping to block it. Then he used his left foot to knock the slowly rolling football forward. He walked forward a few meters, looked up at the penalty area again, adjusted his steps with a few lunges, and passed directly without giving Moutinho a chance to cover up the defense.

The soccer ball shot up from the ground and flew towards the Portuguese penalty area with strong rotation. The Spanish fans in the audience suddenly became interested.

But Diego Costa, who was stuck in the penalty area, did not get any advantage from the struggle with Pepe. Neither of them could take off, and the football was firmly held in the arms of Patricio, who was attacking.

Spain's defense was very timely when switching from offense to defense. Someone would be responsible for approaching Martin at the first time and not giving him a chance to touch the ball during the transition from defense to offense.

Patricio did not rush to launch an attack. He chose to stabilize the rhythm according to the tactics formulated before the game.

He waited until the players from both sides dispersed before throwing it to Moutinho, who was making a circuitous move.

Before Martin regained his Portuguese passport, Moutinho was Portugal's true midfield core, and now he is also responsible for the offensive organization of the midfield and backfield.

Spain is also quite wary of Portugal's super offensive ability. It does not use high pressure in the frontcourt, which is a killer. They all retreat to the half-court to defend and compress the space needed for Portugal's offense.

Of course, the most important defense is Martin.

As we all know, whether it is Arsenal or Portugal, Martin should be restricted the most.

Busquets and the all-around warrior Koke have a clear division of labor on the defensive end. One is following closely, and the other is responsible for checking for gaps in the middle.

Unexpectedly, Portugal's first threatening attack at the beginning did not come from Martin.

Martin, with his back to the attack, passed the football option sent by William Carvalho directly to Moutinho, who was facing the direction of the attack, and the latter handed it to Ronaldo, who wandered to the left rib of the attack.

Cork stayed close to Martin, with Busquets shouldering the defensive burden.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Busquets have played against each other many times in La Liga. They are very familiar with each other and know how to break through.

There are no fancy technical moves, just take the ball and accelerate forward.

Busquets was afraid of giving Portugal a free kick in the frontcourt, so he quickly retracted his right foot that was stretched out half a beat.

Carvajal, who was retreating, did not expect that Busquets would let Ronaldo over so easily, and it was already a bit hasty to defend Ronaldo.

Facing Ronaldo's iconic bicycle ride, he seemed a little anxious, and he instinctively stretched out his right foot to poke the ball.

Unexpectedly, Ronaldo's feet were faster and he got the ball out a few tenths of a second earlier.

Carvajal realized what was happening and it was too late to shrink back.

Ronaldo fell forward and fell to the ground.

The referee Rocky saw it very clearly. He blew the whistle decisively and pointed his finger in the direction of the penalty spot.

"Penalty kick!"

Central 5 commentator He Wei said impassionedly: "Carvajal tripped club teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, and referee Rocky decisively awarded Portugal a penalty kick in the second minute!"

Spanish captain Ramos has a very good relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo. Carvajal, who committed the foul, is also a Real Madrid teammate. Instead of questioning it as usual, he interceded with the referee Rocky, hoping to have his life taken back.

After all, the contact between the two people just now was not particularly obvious, and it fell into the category of whether it could be judged or not.

Pique and Busquets, who play for Barcelona, ​​are not very friendly to Ronaldo. He mocked Ronaldo for diving.

Cristiano Ronaldo is also a superstar who is used to big winds and waves, and he doesn't pay attention to the two of them at all.

Anyway, the referee Rocky's intention to make the penalty is very firm, but the VAR allowed to be used in this World Cup is a bit of a headache.

After an eight-minute review by the video assistant referee, it was finally determined that there was no problem with Rocky's penalty.

In the Portuguese national team, Ronaldo originally took the initiative to hand over all the free kicks and penalty kicks to Martin, but Martin only wanted the free kicks, so the penalty kicks still belong to Ronaldo, unless he is not sure. Only then will he take the penalty kick under great pressure.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the captain, was active at the start and was very confident in his condition, so he stood at the penalty kick spot holding the football.

'Evolution' means that Ronaldo's shooting skills have reached the peak, and his penalty kicks are almost always on target.

Facing the Premier League Golden Glove, De Gea did not make any fake moves and kicked the ball directly to the lower left corner of the goal.

De Gea's judgment was correct, but the angle of the penalty kick kicked by Ronaldo was very strong. Before the body of the thrower could stretch, the football flew into the net against the lower edge of the left goal post with an unstoppable momentum.

1:0
Portugal leads Spain at Fisht Stadium.

"Cristiano Ronaldo hit the penalty!"

Central 5 commentator He Wei said loudly: "The game only started in the fourth minute, and Portugal got a dream start!"

"aoaooaoaoooooo——"

Accompanied by overwhelming cheers, Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the penalty kick, ran to the front left and did the iconic 'siu' celebration in front of the excited Portuguese fans.

"Martin has not yet exerted his strength. Cristiano Ronaldo broke out first and helped Portugal take the lead." Sky TV commentator Andy Gray said impassionedly: "This is a huge blow to Spain, which lost its head coach the day before the World Cup opener. Trouble, if they are leading, they must press out and attack, otherwise they are likely to be encroached on by Martin's cannibalizing attack and expand the score!"

"Martin is a very magical player. He is good at various offensive tasks. He can also burst out suddenly when you are not paying attention and send the ball into the opponent's goal through his super personal ability."

Manchester United head coach Mourinho, who served as the guest commentator, did not focus on Ronaldo who scored the goal, but turned the topic to Martin who appeared in the camera: "When you encounter an opponent like Martin, you are simply helpless. Because you always need to waste a lot of time thinking about how to limit, but when the game is over you will find that all the efforts in the past will be in vain.”

As Sky TV's top commentator, Andy Gray has finished countless Arsenal games in the Premier League and Champions League, and he knows that Mourinho's point of view is very reasonable.

Many past games have proven that Martin's team is invincible.

A large number of fans sitting in front of the TV also approved of Mourinho's remarks.

One of the highest-level football coaches in active service, his comments about Martin are simply spot-on.

Not long after, the game started again.

Spain, which was lagging behind, had to step up its attack.

Of course, as a mature team competing for the World Cup championship, we also know that haste makes waste, and the offensive routine still adopts a layer-by-layer approach to attack Portugal's 30-meter defense zone.

David Silva, Iniesta and Isco worked very hard, cooperating with Alba, Carvajal, Koke and other players to take turns participating in the attack, trying to tear apart Portugal's seemingly stable defensive system.

At this time, William Carvalho was in very good condition. He was known as a weakened version of Kante in the Portuguese team. His frontal defense was extremely good, and he was assisted by Martin behind him.

It is no exaggeration to describe Portugal's central defense as impregnable.

For this reason, Spanish attacks can only be launched from the wings.

The ultimate goal of the wing attack must be to serve the center.

Limiting the extent of Alba and Carvajal's participation in the offense and paying attention to Diego Costa also put the Spanish offense into a state of misfire.

On the other hand, Portugal's offense was impressive.

If it weren't for De Gea's outstanding form and the poor foot feel of Seat B and Fee B, Portugal would have expanded the score.

Diego Costa, who had suffered so much in the Portuguese penalty area, became angry after a failed challenge and pushed Pepe from behind who had pushed the ball away.

Referee Rocky whistled for a foul and gave a yellow card to Diego Costa, who was clearly retaliating.

Such a price also made Diego Costa calm down quickly, knowing that the game is never an overnight success.

Patience is an important part of scoring a goal to help the team equalize the score.

But Diego Costa has not yet had his chance, and Portugal has a golden opportunity to expand the score.

In the 18th minute of the game, Seat B received a pass from Martin on the right side of the offense and made continuous fake moves to cut inside. David Silva, who was defending, was slow in kicking and kicked down the player who had dialed the ball out in advance. Seat B.

Referee Rocky whistled for a foul and awarded Portugal a direct free kick from the corner of the right penalty area.

The location of the foul was a bit off, but the on-site director immediately showed Martin the camera.

"Although the angle in this position is not very good, Martin's direct free kick shooting rate between 23 and 35 meters is very high."

Central 5 commentator He Wei said solemnly: "David Silva is very active in defense, but this foul is likely to cause irreparable losses to Spain."

"As He Wei said, Martin is very confident in taking direct free kicks from a distance of 23 meters to 35 meters, and... he has also scored free kicks from a wider angle!"

The guest commentator Xu Yang said loudly: "Martin is now completely epic in terms of free kick accomplishments, even better than the famous free kick master Juninho! I think... this is Portugal's expansion of the score. Great opportunity!”

During the conversation, the Spanish players had already arranged a four-man wall under the command of goalkeeper De Gea.

Cristiano Ronaldo handed Martin the right to take the free kick, but he still stood at the back left of the football, standing like a compass, looking towards the goal with murderous intent.

"Beep~"

Hearing referee Rocky's whistle, Ronaldo took the lead in running.

De Gea knew Ronaldo was a cover, but his body couldn't help but devote 100% concentration.

In the past, Ronaldo could not be said to be a master of free kicks, but he could be said to be a master of free kicks.

It's just that a knee injury four years ago led to a decrease in explosive power, making it impossible to kick free kicks that fall extremely fast.

Martin followed.

Cristiano Ronaldo approached the football in three strides. Everyone probably guessed that he was a cover-up, but... not entirely.

I saw Ronaldo's right foot swinging up and passing the ball horizontally to the left.

The football, which is close to the ground, rolls from the right corner of the penalty area to the left along the line of the penalty area.

At the same time, Martin, who was originally running towards the location of the foul, suddenly made a small turn and was in exactly the same direction as Ronaldo's pass.

The four Spanish players who served as the wall and several other nearby players pounced on Martin, obviously intending to use their flesh and blood to block Martin's shooting angle.

"wowoowoooooooo——"

There was a huge exclamation, and Martin, who was facing the football, missed the ball.

Mistake?

No!

He missed the ball on his own initiative!

David Silva, Koke, and Busquets had fallen to the ground, and they could only watch helplessly as the not-so-fast football rolled towards the center.

"Bruno Fernandez!!"

Central 5 commentator He Wei's voice suddenly rose an octave higher.

The Spanish player who didn't realize it but didn't fall to the ground blindly rushed towards B Fee who ran towards the top of the penalty area and passed the ball to Ronaldo.

Just when everyone thought B Fei would volley the ball, he faked a shot and passed the ball. The instep of his right foot rubbed the rolling football towards the right rib of the small penalty area.

"Cristiano Ronaldo!"

Sky TV commentator Andy Gray, who was in the commentary box at the scene, looked at Ronaldo who appeared at the spot where the B ball passed and couldn't help shouting.

Martin's running position and exaggerated leg-raising attracted the attention of most of the Spanish defensive players in the penalty area. In addition, B Fee did have a large direct shooting angle, which was equivalent to attracting all the remaining defensive attention.

His fake shot and real pass were something that few people would have thought of. By the time they realized what was going on, it was already too late to make defensive moves.

Cristiano Ronaldo didn't stop after passing the ball. He stepped in and participated in the attack.

The Spanish defensive players pushed forward again, advancing and retreating, and the gap became more obvious.

De Gea abandons the goal and attacks!
Cristiano Ronaldo, who was running, moved cleanly and directly used his forehead to rub the football passed by B Fee in the opposite direction of De Gea's attack.

In the middle of the attack, De Gea froze in place looking at the hard-to-reach football. All he could do was to keep his vision from losing track of the football's route until the football fell into the arms of the snow-white net...

(End of this chapter)