Chapter 431 Semi-finals: Battle between England and Portugal

Chapter 431 Semi-finals: Battle between England and Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo scored Portugal's fourth goal in the second minute of stoppage time, turning the score into 2:4.

With three minutes left in injury time, it meant that Croatia, which was three goals behind, had only a theoretical possibility.

But there is a high probability that theoretical things will not become reality, especially when the opponent is Portugal, the favorite to win the championship.

Even though the Croatians have an iron will and never give up easily, the cruel reality is before them and they cannot escape.

"Beep~beep~beep~~"

The remaining less than three minutes of injury time became completely garbage time. Until the referee Richie sounded the end of the game, the scoreboard still showed 4:1.

"competition is over!"

"competition is over!!"

"After conceding a goal first, Portugal relied on Chinese player Martin's hat trick and assists to defeat Croatia 4:1 at Fisht Stadium in Sochi, becoming the last team to advance to the semi-finals of the World Cup! They We will compete with England for a place in the finals at the Luzhniki Stadium in four days’ time!”

Central 5 commentator He Wei said impassionedly: "This is a carnival day for the Portuguese, and it is also our carnival day. The Chinese player Martin contributed 10 goals and 4 assists in this World Cup, and is the biggest contributor to Portugal's advancement to the semi-finals! If his outstanding performance can continue, he will lead Portugal to the first World Cup championship in team history!"

"Portugal scored a staggering 18 goals in the five games before the semi-finals, breaking the record of 2002 goals scored in the first five games by Brazil in the 15 World Cup. The Chinese player Martin was directly involved in 14 goals, which is worthy of the name. Portuguese thighs.”

Guest commentator Xu Yang gave impassioned commentary.

"aooaoaoaoooooooo——"

"Martin! Martin! Martin!!!"

……

The auditorium of Fisht Stadium was filled with huge cheers from Portuguese fans and the vast majority of fans.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was particularly excited in the fanatical atmosphere. He kept raising his arms and shouting something, obviously venting his ecstasy of reaching the World Cup semi-finals after 12 years.

Martin, who led Portugal to the semi-finals, was just waving to his adoptive mother Clara Anna in the VIP area facing the audience.

Of course, there were also Savannah Blade’s entire family accompanying them.

The reporters in the mixed area at the scene almost all focused their cameras on the smiling Martin.

Everyone knows that without Martin's outstanding performance, Portugal would not be able to reach the semi-finals.

Central 5 commentator He Wei said with high spirits: "Martin has scored 10 goals in this World Cup. He can almost book the Golden Boot in advance, and even has the opportunity to hit the single World Cup created by the legendary French star Juste Fontaine. 13-goal opportunity!”

The Croatian players who lost the match collapsed on the ground and shook their heads after hearing the final whistle.

Not long after, the Portuguese players, who were celebrating their promotion, took the initiative to find the dejected Croatian players and comforted them.

Many players on both sides are teammates in the club, and the relationship is very good, so naturally they have something to say.

Martin has no club relationship with the Croatian players, but he also took the initiative to comfort his opponents.

Had it not been for his intervention, Croatia, led by Modric, would have not only reached the semifinals again after twenty years, but also historically advanced to the finals in accordance with the normal course of history.

Hugs were exchanged and jerseys were exchanged.

At the same time, Martin, who performed extremely well on major social platforms around the world, once again ranked among the top three most searched.

[Three shots and one pass! Martin leads Portugal to the World Cup semi-finals! 】

[Martin: Juste Fontaine scored 13 goals in a single World Cup, don’t run away! I will catch up with you soon, hehehe~]

[The number one football star in the world perfectly saves Fruit Ya! 】

[Is there any suspense about the final World Cup champion? 】

[The youngest football champion in history: 22-year-old Martin will officially win the title in Moscow! 】

……

The World Cup is the most watched sports event in the world. Many non-football enthusiasts also like and fall in love with football in the fanatical football atmosphere.

Martin, who is known as the strongest, naturally received more attention, and the number of fans on major social platforms increased sharply again.

As early as the end of last year, Martin's total number of fans on social platforms had surpassed Ronaldo and became No. 1 in the sports world.

Riding on the wave of the World Cup, personal authentication accounts on every social platform have surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo in all aspects.

Those who signed Martin as the corporate image spokesperson early have made a lot of money. The MOBA game King Pesticide created by Penguin and the Pei Qinhu skin (Martin) linked to Martin are creating new sales every day. record.

Martin's choice of the commission model for skin licensing has also significantly increased his personal assets.

According to multiple authoritative media reports, Puma, the world's leading sports equipment supplier, has developed a series of football shoes named after Martin that will be released to the world before the World Cup finals.

In other words, Puma is extremely optimistic that Martin will lead Portugal to the finals and wear the exclusive sneakers of the King of Football series to play in the finals!

※※※※※

With the end of the World Cup quarter-finals between Portugal and Croatia, the World Cup has entered a three-day intermission.

Waiting for such a time interval makes the fans waiting for the semifinals feel like their days are like years.

The Portuguese team, which advanced to the semi-finals, took a flight to Moscow the next morning to prepare for the semi-finals with England.

The England team coached by Southgate is inferior to Portugal in terms of lineup strength except for a few positions. Many positions can be said to be crushing.

But what determines the outcome of a football game is often not the strength of the lineup, but the team's overall performance in the game and the coach's behind-the-scenes fighting skills.

Portugal did not even make it into the top five in terms of total value. Spain and Brazil, the top three, were eliminated in the 1/8 finals and 1/4 finals respectively. This means that there is not much connection between the results and the strength of the lineup. It can only be used as a reference. .

In addition, in terms of personal worth rankings, Martin is far ahead.

The Portuguese team arrived in Moscow and received a warm welcome from local and long-awaited Portuguese and neutral fans. The domestic arrival gate of the international airport was overcrowded, and the loud cheers continued for a long time.

Fortunately, the organizers were well prepared and had targeted plans.

While maintaining a fanatical atmosphere, it will not affect the normal travel of other passengers.

The Portuguese players, led by Martin and Ronaldo, smiled and waved to the enthusiastic fans as they did in the past, thanking them for their full support.

The Portuguese players naturally responded with even more enthusiastic cheers.

As the event reaches the semi-finals, time becomes increasingly tight and the intermission period naturally becomes shorter.

葡萄牙从1/8决赛到1/4决赛有六天时间准备，但是结束1/4决赛到半决赛之间却只有四天。

Fortunately, under the leadership of Martin, the battle ended within 90 minutes, and the physical exertion was almost the same as that of England, which also won the game in 90 minutes.

It is worth mentioning that the distance traveled by the two teams to fly to Moscow. Portugal from Sochi is farther than England from Samara, about 700 kilometers longer, which means the flight time is at least an hour longer.

In terms of travel and travel, Portugal consumes more.

At two o'clock in the afternoon that day, the entire Portuguese team took a bus to the training ground provided by the organizer to conduct routine but extremely important recovery training.

"Cristiano, your physical fitness is not good enough, are you getting old?"

Martin looked at Ronaldo who was obviously struggling to participate in the recovery training, and he couldn't help but joked.

"How is that possible? I'm just pretending. I'm in very good physical condition. Look..."

As Ronaldo spoke, he would turn back and speed up from time to time.

But only you know whether it's tight or not.

Players including Fee B, Seat B, Pepe and others laughed when they saw Ronaldo, who was working very hard, and let out good-natured laughter.

How could Ronaldo, who was running back to the starting point, not know what was going on?
He walked around behind Martin and wanted to lift his leg and give him a gentle kick. Unexpectedly, Martin reacted very quickly, raised his body, twisted his waist, and dodged lightly.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who is 33 years old, did not expect that Martin would hide away. His whole body's center of gravity followed the outstretched right foot and stepped out. Martin turned to look at Ronaldo, who was making a gesture of pressing his thighs, and said with a smile: "How do you feel?"

"What's it like? It's pretty good~"

Ronaldo said without blushing or heart beating.

The other players saw this and laughed.

Standing under the awning, head coach Santos looked at the good atmosphere in the team and gained initial confidence in the semi-final match against England.

The players shortlisted for England's 23-man squad are all from the Premier League, which is the only exception in this World Cup.

From the point of view of advancing to the semi-finals, the opponents encountered were not strong.

The best explanation is that they qualified early in the group stage and lost to Belgium in order to avoid the strong top half. They met Colombia in the 1/8 finals and Sweden in the quarter finals.

Martin led Arsenal to achieve three consecutive years of British dominance in the Premier League. Every English player felt the terrifying oppression from Martin.

Facing England in the semi-finals, I have a huge psychological advantage!
The atmosphere of the team is very good now. The main players are healthy and in excellent condition. They have all the factors to compete for the championship.

……

The British media is the most fanatical football media on the planet, with the largest coverage in the world.

That's why they know that Martin is perverted enough, and with Ronaldo and B in very good condition, the future semi-finals may not be optimistic.

In this context, the British media began to do what they are best at: making up lies and trying to influence Portugal's preparations through various channels.

Naturally, the Portuguese media is not willing to lag behind. You have already messed with our team, and we must mess with you.

Anyway, just follow the authoritative reports of the Sun in the past, so that players who have been caught in the whirlpool of public opinion have been greatly affected.

In addition, the Portuguese media also mentioned the news of a fight between England fans and Fighting Nation fans.

It is simply embarrassing to beat someone who is too small and still be chased.

Fans all over the world waiting for the World Cup semi-finals to kick off were originally bored, but the national media from both sides of the match kept making trouble in the past two days, which made these bored fans very enriched.

There are so many melons that I can’t finish them all.

The fans were very relaxed, and the Portuguese team was extremely focused in preparing for the game and was not disturbed by the outside world at all.

Their goal is highly unified, in order to win the World Cup championship every four years.

Everyone knows that with the addition of Martin, the possibility of winning the World Cup is extremely high.

Cristiano Ronaldo has the nickname "Luo Sansui". He fully played a role in regulating the team during the three days preparing for the semi-finals. The whole team was happy physically and mentally, which can be said to be twice the result with half the effort.

Looking back at the England team, the preparation atmosphere is particularly heavy.

The first is the pressure brought by Martin, which makes every English fan feel like they can't win no matter how hard they try.

In the Premier League, no team can defeat Arsenal led by Martin.

Even draws are pitiful.

Portugal, led by Martin, has won all five games in the World Cup. He is in full form personally, with 10 goals and 4 assists, ranking first in scorers and assists.

Head coach Southgate looked at the players who lacked confidence and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

Morale is an invisible and intangible thing, but its impact on the game needs no introduction.

On the afternoon of the first World Cup semi-final match between Belgium and France, England took the lead in going to the Luzhniki Stadium for their final pre-match pitch and rational press conference.

Head coach Southgate was interviewed by media reporters. He did not answer the reporter's questions. Instead, he took the initiative to talk about the team's mainly young players and the good atmosphere in the team. Everyone unified their thinking and was confident in the semifinals.

Captain Harry Kane said solemnly: "Martin is indeed impeccable and his ability is the best in the entire football world, but football is a team sport. I believe that the performance of the whole team will definitely defeat Portugal in tomorrow night's game for the first time in 52 years." Reaching the World Cup final again!”

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the Portuguese team took the bus to the Luzhniki Stadium.

Head coach Santos and Ronaldo attended the regular press conference before the game, and the assistant coach led the players into the stadium.

Portuguese players can be said to be very familiar with this stadium.

This World Cup has already seen two games played at this stadium.

They will face Morocco in the second round of the group stage and the host country in the 1/8 finals.

The results are wonderful, everyone wins!
Ronaldo, who was being interviewed by the media, learned the content of Harry Kane's answer from the reporter. He smiled and said: "Spain, Morocco, Persia, the Warring States, and Croatia all said similar things in interviews with the media before the game. What was the result? We won the game without any blood and advanced to the semi-finals. I won’t say much more. The team that advanced to the finals was naturally Portugal..."

The British media still wanted to criticize Ronaldo, but after thinking about it, they decided to forget it. What if they really lost?
Moreover, the probability of losing this game is very high.

Football is indeed a team sport, but which team has beaten a team that Martin has a playing record?
No!

At nine o'clock that evening, the World Cup semi-finals took the lead at the Zenit Stadium in St. Petersburg.

What's interesting is that Belgium also went to the World Cup semi-finals with a magical record.

The teams they encountered in the group stage were Panama from North and Central America, Tunisia from Africa, and England from Europe. The opponents in the 1/8 finals, Sakura Country, were from Asia, and Brazil in the quarter finals was from South America. This means that Belgium, which won all the games, won all five games. Defeating teams from different continents, this... is also the first time since the inception of the World Cup.

France has won all the two teams at the World Cup level, but the French team has not won in the last three warm-up matches. The two teams have met 74 times in total, and France is still at a disadvantage with 24 wins, 19 draws and 30 losses.

The game reached the semi-finals, and both teams played steadily.

Against this backdrop, the forty-five minutes of the first half were fruitless.

I thought there would be no changes in the second half, but only six minutes into the game, the French team took the lead.

Lucas Hernandez made a pass from the left, and Matuidi passed forward. Giroud's shot from 12 meters in front of the goal was blocked by Kompany.

Griezmann took a corner kick from the right, and Umtiti headed the ball into the near corner from a small angle about six yards from the goal.

For this reason, he also surpassed Juste Fontaine and became the youngest player for the French team to score in the semifinals.

The deadlock was broken, and Belgium, which was lagging behind, strengthened its attack to increase the probability of a half-pin score.

The French team's overall defense, which adopted defensive counterattacks, was impregnable, and the offensive system led by De Bruyne and Hazard had no solution at all.

Until the end of the game, the score displayed on the scoreboard did not change.

In the end, the French team defeated Belgium 1:0 with Umtiti's goal and took the lead in advancing to the final of this World Cup.

If another semi-final tomorrow night at the Luzhniki Stadium ends in Portugal, the two teams will meet again in the final of the continental competition after two years.

The Portuguese team, who watched the live broadcast of the game, are not only confident in the World Cup semi-finals that will start tomorrow night, but also have enough confidence in the finals that they will most likely reach in the future.

The next day, Moscow, a city full of World Cup fever, was particularly lively.

The organizers have some headaches. Football hooligans in England are notorious. Despite repeated setbacks in the land of the warring country, they still suffer repeated defeats.

Naturally, the two teams were not affected and were preparing step by step for the World Cup semi-finals, which started at nine o'clock in the evening.

This period of time is difficult for both players and fans.

The tournament has reached the semi-finals, and the next step is the finals.

Lose, then come back four years later.

But career time is short, and no one knows what the scene will be like four years from now.

Adjusting to the best condition has become the top priority for both teams in preparing for the game...

(End of this chapter)