Chapter 437 The European Red Devils third place, the peak showdown between Portugal and France

Chapter 437 The European Red Devils third place, the peak showdown between Portugal and France

The Portuguese fans at the Luzhniki Stadium rejoiced and continued to burst into deafening shouts to vent their ecstasy.

The same goes for the Portuguese players on the field, all of them excited.

Reaching the European Cup finals two years ago had a certain degree of chance. Reaching the World Cup finals two years later today is a complete manifestation of strength!

Although the addition of Martin is crucial, they know that football is a team sport. After all, they have made a contribution, even if it is insignificant, to advance to the finals or even win the championship.

Regular press conference after the game.

England head coach Southgate, like the head coaches who led the team to defeat in the past, took the responsibility for the loss.

The vast majority of the British media did not take advantage of the loss to criticize Southgate. Portugal, led by Martin and Ronaldo, is simply too strong.

Regardless of offense or defense, it is difficult to bypass Martin's strongest point, and the loss is excusable.

Besides, reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup has exceeded the set goals of the domestic media and fans, so except for the local Manchester media who criticized Southgate, no one said anything.

The fundamental reason why the local media in Manchester were dissatisfied with Southgate was that last November, Phil Jones, who was in peak condition but was injured, was given six injections to play an inconsequential warm-up match.

As a result, it was immediately scrapped.

These media that support Manchester United believe that Phil Jones did not take six injections to play in the warm-up match, which caused the injury to worsen and become irreversible. He can completely play as the main central defender, so there is no possibility of Maguire's own goal assisting Martin.

Southgate frowned and said nothing in the end.

The Portuguese media and the Dragon Country media did not like to hear this, and they shifted the topic to Martin.

"It's no exaggeration to say that without Martin, we would have been the ones to advance to the finals!"

Southgate sighed: "His ability is so strong that there is no way to limit it. He can play a huge role in key offensive and defensive ends. It always feels like 11 against 12."

Such comments are commonplace for teams defeated by Martin, and the media reporters who interviewed them almost had their ears ringing after hearing them.

But for those groups that like it, even if it is the same.

The domestic media in Dragon Country and the domestic media in Portugal belong to this group.

The second semi-final of the 2018 Fighting Nations World Cup has ended, and fans all over the world have devoted themselves to discussions and exchanges about this game.

[Portugal, the favorite to win the championship, has already booked the championship! 】

[France will definitely lose two championships in two years! 】

[Martin’s team = invincible. 】

【Killing people to kill people? Breaking Juste Fontaine's single World Cup scoring record and defeating France to win the title? 】

[Portuguese stars who are about to win the championship: Stars led by Ronaldo praised it one after another. 】

……

Portugal head coach Santos attended the regular post-match press conference more than ten minutes later than expected because he attended the team's locker room celebration to advance to the World Cup finals.

But few reporters who waited for the timeout in the press conference hall of the Luzhniki Stadium complained.

Historic reaching the World Cup finals naturally requires a good celebration.

Nothing wrong with that.

The reporter from the British media asked a very targeted question. He mentioned that the most discussed topic on social platforms recently was that Portuguese players followed Martin to the World Cup finals.

Such questions are full of pitfalls.

Santos has enough life experience and often deals with media reporters, so he can handle it easily.

He argued that the addition of Martin has indeed brought about qualitative changes to the team. The best example is that Arsenal, which was once only competing for fourth place in the Premier League, quickly dominated the Premier League and European competitions after introducing Martin in the summer of 2015.

The underlying meaning is expressed clearly enough.

The first is to admit that Martin is indeed very good, but it is undeniable that Portugal's foundation is not weak, and the addition of Martin undoubtedly adds championship temperament to Portugal, which is not weak in overall strength.

A reporter from New Wolf Sports from Dragon Kingdom talked about Martin's 12 goals in this World Cup. Will the Portuguese team cooperate with Martin in the final to break the record of 1958 goals in a single World Cup set by Juste Fontaine in 13? Where are the records?

Santos's answer was perfect: "The Champions League final is known as the highest level competition in the world. Looking at the performance of the Champions League finals in the past three seasons, I think... everyone here should have a rough conclusion, right?"

Scored twice in the 2015-2016 Champions League final.

Four wins in the UEFA Champions League final in the 2016-2017 season.

Hat trick in the UEFA Champions League final in the 2017-2018 season.

You can average three goals per game in the top finals, but what about the World Cup finals?

As a guarantee, at least two goals!

In other words, Santos' potential meaning is that Martin will completely break Juste Fontaine's single World Cup scoring record, and may even catch up with Klose's total goal record of 16 goals in four World Cups!
As a result, the style of social platforms began to change.

Football fans all over the world have speculated on how many goals Martin can score in the World Cup final.

On the contrary, the person involved, Martin, turned a blind eye and relaxed with the whole team preparing for the World Cup final against France.

According to the normal development of history, the French team won the second World Cup championship in team history, so they must devote all their concentration to avoid accidents.

Ronaldo and other Portuguese players naturally dare not neglect it. After all, this is the first World Cup final in their lives.

It may even be the only World Cup final in your life.

If you lose, you will regret it for life.

Including the French team that came to Moscow, every player regards the World Cup final as the most important game in their lives!
The preparation for the game is extremely high, and the logistics staff also cooperate with the team to make all preparations, allowing the players to focus all their energy on training and mentality adjustment.

After the day's training, we have to chat with a professional psychological counselor for a while in the evening to strengthen everyone's confidence in the finals.

Martin brought them a huge sense of pressure, which seriously affected the mentality of every player who was fully prepared for the game.

Deschamps, the head coach of the French team, sees this in his eyes.

He watched Martin's performance in the semifinals at the Luzhniki Stadium and was incomprehensible.

Excellent contributions on both the offensive and defensive ends.

In other words, it was Martin's super performance that allowed Portugal to easily advance to the finals.

Although the local European Cup lost to Portugal in overtime two years ago, the overall strength of the national team is now much stronger than two years ago, and the core players have grown rapidly.

In particular, Kanter, Pogba, and Griezmann have all improved rapidly and reached the peak of their personal careers.

In addition, the sudden emergence of Mbappe has played a key role in the past six games.

The central defender partners Varane and Umtiti cooperate perfectly.

The only shortcoming is Giroud who serves as the bridgehead.

But he insists on using it because of his technical skills. He can not only play the ball perfectly, but also attract firepower for Griezmann, Pogba and Mbappe in the second offensive echelon.

Not counting Martin, Portugal has shortcomings in all four lines. With the addition of Martin, the team's strength has increased significantly and there are no obvious shortcomings.

If you have to look for one, the central defenders of Pepe and Wundt are almost 70 years old together.

However, Martin's presence has minimized the age disadvantage of the two, and to some extent has turned it into an advantage. Rich game experience can often make the most accurate judgments at the most dangerous times.

"Headache."

The players were sweating profusely on the training ground, and Deschamps frowned in thought.

……

Both sides of the 2018 Fighting Nations World Cup finals focused on preparing for the game, and the waiting fans had to spend their excess energy on social platforms represented by the mobile Internet.

Represented by Instagram, Twitter, Longguo’s scarf and Zhigeqiu.

According to a data table published by a statistical organization, the proportion of Martin appearing is as high as 65.3%, which is much higher than that of star players such as Ronaldo, Griezmann, and Mbappe.

Martin serves as the first football champion in the 21st century and is the most popular topic.

The second is to break Juste Fontaine's record of 13 goals in a single World Cup.

Ranked third is the powerful French team.

You know, the French team is the most valuable in the world.

……

Players from both sides of the match focused all their energy on preparing for the game during the day. The head coaches of both teams issued abstinence orders to the players, strictly prohibiting them from going out to the hotel to find their wives who were staying in another hotel. Therefore, they could only use their mobile phones to kill boredom at night. time.

With the addition of players, traffic on major social platforms has skyrocketed.

While chatting with his adoptive mother Clara Anna and Savannah Blade, Martin also did not forget to interact with the fans. He also had time to say goodbye to his friend De Bruyne, club teammates Kante, Ferland Mendy, Koscielny...

Before the World Cup finals, it was a tasteless third or fourth place finals. Naturally, De Bruyne, who was in St. Petersburg, had to be encouraged.

@clubmate, just for fun.

He @kanter said: N'Golo, I heard that there is no obstacle that you cannot overcome, only Kanter that you cannot overcome? Zundu and fake toot?
What was said to Ferland Mendy: Will he start in the final?

As for what he told Koscielny, it was even simpler: Should we use the mysterious Eastern power?
In addition to De Bruyne's normal response, Kante, Ferland Mendy and Koscielny all responded with six decimal points representing speechlessness.

"Really boring."

Martin sighed, just as Savannah Blade sent an original photo, he suddenly became interested, and even De Bruyne didn't respond.

※※※※※

Sometimes time passes very slowly, and sometimes it feels like it passes very fast.

In the blink of an eye, it’s July 7th.

According to the schedule of the Fighting Nations World Cup, the third and fourth place finals will start at 5 pm today. The venue is the Zenit Arena in St. Petersburg.

The next day, the much-anticipated World Cup finals of the Fighting Nations will kick off at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

According to international practice, both parties participating in the final must attend a regular press conference the day before the game.

As for stepping on the court or performing it in the press conference hall of Luzhniki Stadium, there is no hard requirement.

Participating teams may not like to participate in regular pre-game press conferences, but no team will refuse to step on the court the day before the game.

Having a preliminary understanding of the turf will obviously be of great help to the game the next day.

Portugal is lucky to have played three full games at the Luzhniki Stadium in this World Cup, which means that one of every two games will be played at the venue of the World Cup final.

Compared with the French team, it has a greater advantage.

The most critical thing is that the French team's only previous game at the Luzhniki Stadium was against Denmark in the third round of the group stage. However, as long as the two sides drew in that game, both sides could advance to the top 0. No one put in any effort, 0: throughout the game.

Still familiar with the venue?
nonexistent.

So the French team that reached the final was very upset. Why didn't they pay attention at that time?
Look at Portugal's impressive victories in the second round of the group stage, the 1/8 finals and the semi-finals. Their familiarity with the grass is ranked No. 1 in this World Cup.

Closer to home.

The French team is the team in the first half of the finals, and according to international practice, they are the home team.

As the away team, Portugal, the second half final team, was the first to go to the Luzhniki Stadium to participate in the pre-match stomping ground and attend the regular press conference.

Starting from the hotel where they stayed, all the way to the Luzhniki Stadium, there were fanatical fans everywhere, cheering for the Portuguese players who were preparing for the World Cup finals.

Through the glass window, Martin could also see many people from the Dragon Country holding red flags and posters of themselves.

He waved to these lovely fans.

In the press conference hall of Luzhniki Stadium, Portuguese head coach Santos and captain Ronaldo attended.

Facing interviews with media reporters, the two were as confident as ever in the final.

joke!

They have all reached the finals, who will fight for the runner-up spot?

champion!

With Martin joining Portugal, they were considered the favorites to win the World Cup before the World Cup. Now that they have easily reached the final, no one is dissatisfied, even the unhappy French media.

In addition, the French media are also quite afraid of Portugal.

Although Portugal won the European Cup two years ago due to a lot of chance and luck, it is undeniable that Portugal won the championship. Now with the strong addition of Martin, the suppression has become multiple levels.

At 4:30 p.m., France coach Deschamps and top star Griezmann attended the regular pre-match press conference.

The answers given by Santos and Ronaldo in interviews are almost exactly the same. They are full of confidence in the World Cup final which will start on time at 6pm tomorrow.

The reporter mentioned Martin, who scored 12 goals in this World Cup.

Both Deschamps and Griezmann looked a little heavy.

However, they quickly adjusted their mentality and returned to their confident appearance.

At five o'clock in the afternoon local time in the fighting country, the penultimate match of the 21st World Cup, the third or fourth place final, kicked off at the Zenit Arena in St. Petersburg.

Belgium and England met again after the third round of the group stage.

Compared with the outcome of that game, which is irrelevant, the outcome of this game will determine who is the third runner-up and the third runner-up.

When Martin returned to his hotel, he watched the live broadcast of the game, which was no different from what he remembered.

Meunier scored 216 seconds into the game, tying the record for a single team to have ten players score in a single World Cup.

The two sides exchanged offense and defense for most of the subsequent time, but they were always close to scoring. It was not until the end of the game that the second goal was ushered in.

De Bruyne got the ball in the middle, attracting many English defenders and then scored the ball decisively. Hazard, who received the ball in the left rib, shook off the declining Phil Jones and broke into the left side of the penalty area to score a low shot.

In the end, Belgium defeated England 2:0, the best record in team history.

As the third and fourth place finals come to an end, viewers all over the world who follow the World Cup know that the quadrennial gluttonous feast is about to usher in the finale.

finals!

France VS Portugal!
(End of this chapter)