Chapter 547 Portugal’s Iron Barrel Formation

July 11, 2016, Paris, France.

At the Stade de France, not far from Paris, the stands that can accommodate more than 80,000 people are already full.

The Delaunay Cup, symbolizing the European championship, was placed in a conspicuous position at the entrance of the player tunnel so that the players could see it immediately.

Many UEFA presidents and senior officials from FIFA came to the game. Even politicians from Spain and Portugal came to the stadium. In addition, there were hundreds of reporters from major media around the world and countless people. Long guns and short cannons.

They will witness this game together with more than 80,000 fans at the scene.

With about ten minutes left before the start of the game, the players from both sides had already left the locker room and were waiting patiently in the tunnel to enter.

Facing such an important game, the players on both sides felt tremendous pressure, and many young players seemed even more nervous. They frequently crossed themselves on their chests, as if praying and praying.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who has experienced various competitions, was a little nervous at this time. In addition to feeling uneasy, he couldn't help but glance at the No. 10 player diagonally opposite.

Lin Quan's expression looked very peaceful, without any nervousness. After noticing Ronaldo's gaze, he also looked back at him.

The two people's eyes met in the air, and Ronaldo quickly withdrew his gaze, but couldn't help but mutter in his heart:

Why is this guy so calm and not nervous at all?

This is the first time Ronaldo has participated in the final of such an international competition, but Lin Quan, who is opposite him, has already participated twice.

Although Ronaldo is eleven years older than Lin Quan, he is obviously not as good as Lin Quan in terms of experience in such international competitions.

Fortunately, the head coach was very well prepared for this game. Thinking of this, Ronaldo felt a lot more relieved and no longer so nervous.

The players of the two teams did not wait too long in the tunnel. When the referee saw that the time was almost up, he led the players into the court.

Although everyone in the players' tunnel had already felt the warm atmosphere outside, when they entered the stadium, they were still shocked by the huge sound.

This game attracted mainly fans from Spain and Portugal. Since the French team was eliminated, there were not many local fans who bought tickets to watch the game.

Without these French people who are trying to fish out, the fans of the two teams naturally tried every means to create momentum for the home team.

Although Portugal and Spain are neighboring countries and many of their players play in La Liga, the Portuguese are not so convinced of Spain in terms of football.

They are working hard to prove themselves in front of the powerful Spain, and today's game is undoubtedly the best opportunity.

As the hegemon of world football, Spain will naturally not hand over its top spot easily, so it will naturally not look down upon these challengers who try to subvert their dominance.

As a result, the fans on both sides were already at odds before the game even started, and each tried their best to overpower the other in terms of momentum.

Portugal has a small number of people, and the number of fans who came to watch the game was not as good as that of Spain, so they were slightly at a disadvantage in terms of momentum. However, when they saw Ronaldo and others on the stage, they all shouted like they were on a chicken blood. The screams actually briefly suppressed the Spanish fans.

This is especially obvious when playing the national anthem before the game. Spain’s national anthem has no lyrics, so everyone, including the players, only listens but does not sing.

On the other hand, in Portugal, tens of thousands of them sang the national anthem in unison, overwhelming Spain in an instant.

At the side of the court, Bosque, who had just walked over to shake hands with the opponent's coach and was walking back, felt a little uneasy after feeling the momentum of the Portuguese fans.

The atmosphere of the game still has a great impact on the players. If the Portuguese players take advantage of this momentum and launch a fierce attack on Spain at the beginning, even if they have arrangements before the game, they may not be able to withstand it.

However, what surprised him was that after the kick-off, the Portuguese team did not rush to attack. Instead, they took the initiative to shrink their formation and put on a defensive posture.

Seeing this scene, Del Bosque was a little stunned: Could it be that what the guy said before the game was true? Is he really going to set up a bus in the final?

In the stands, the fans were also very surprised after seeing the Portuguese defensive formation.

Spain hasn't even started attacking yet, but the Portuguese are eager to retreat into their penalty area. Are they really so afraid of Spain's attack?

If the opponent does not take the initiative to attack, Spain naturally cannot waste time in the backcourt.

They began to try to push forward and launch a tentative attack on Portugal.

Spain has encountered this tactic of placing buses many times, especially in the past few years.

After they defended the European Cup and the World Cup, other teams, as long as the gap between their strength and strength was a little bigger, they all put up an iron barrel formation when they met Spain, not seeking to win, but seeking not to lose, at least not to lose. Too ugly.

Not to mention, this trick is actually quite effective.

If these weak teams dare to let go and compete with Spain, Spain has the ability to score four, five or even more goals.

But if they set up a bus, Spain's number of goals will be greatly reduced, and it may even be tied.

After all, breaking through dense defense is a worldwide problem!

Back to this game, although Portugal is not the top team in Europe, it is not weak either. If they are determined to set up a big team, Spain will be really difficult to play.

In the first ten minutes, Spain tried to attack from the wing and the center, but they were blocked by Portugal's airtight defense.

During this period, they only had three chances to shoot, and none of them were good opportunities. Among the three shots, except for Lin Quan's shot in the ninth minute, which was on target, the other two shots failed to pose any threat.

For a time, the Spanish team was helpless against its opponents.

The opponent's choice was obviously somewhat beyond Bosque's expectations. He had previously guessed that the opponent might use their physical advantages to press them from a high position and engage in a war of attrition with Spain, but he did not expect that the opponent would be so negative.

Now the Spanish team is in a bit of trouble. The longer this game drags on, the worse it will be for them because their physical fitness is not as good as their opponents.

If they are forced to drag it on, the opponent can completely exhaust their physical energy, turn around and overpower them.

At that time, just one goal will kill the game and make Spain lose in despair.

Del Bosque didn't believe that the Portuguese really wanted to drag the game into a penalty shootout, but he definitely believed that the opponent wanted to drag the game into overtime!

Since time is not on your side, you must score the goal as soon as possible and take the initiative.

Thinking of this, Bosque called Ramos over and gave him some instructions.

Soon, everyone at the scene noticed the change in Spain's formation.

During the attack, their defense completely overwhelmed half the court, and Ramos was as aggressive as a full-back, frequently jumping in to participate in the attack.

Ramos once played as a full-back, and allowing him to participate in the wing attack can further increase the Spanish team's offensive threat on the wing.

In this game, Portugal's starting defender on the left is 24-year-old Cedric. He is only 1.71 meters tall and has great flaws in fighting for high aerial balls.

Bosque obviously wants to take advantage of this to make a fuss!

After Ramos participated in the attack, Spain's defense line became even thinner. Once the opponent launches a sneak attack, it is likely to pose a huge threat.

Therefore, Bosque's decision is very risky!

Bosque felt uneasy and couldn't sit still at the moment, so he stood on the sidelines and watched the game.

On the other side, Portugal coach Fernando could not sit still.

After Ramos came up, Portugal's left wing endured huge defensive pressure.

Originally, the presence of Lin Quan disturbed their side, but now there is another Ramos, causing Nani, Sanches, William and others to invest more energy in participating on the left side. defense.

Although Nani is not as famous as Ronaldo, he is a key part of Portugal's counterattack because he is very fast and can pass the ball well.

Without Nani's assistance, even with a goal-scoring machine like Ronaldo on the front line, the Portuguese team would not be able to mount a threatening counterattack.

Even though Portugal has set up an iron barrel formation, this does not mean that they are really negative.

In fact, Fernando has great ideas about offense.

It's just that his idea is to rely on quick counterattacks to sneak attacks, rather than an upright confrontation with Spain. After all, the last team that dared to compete with Spain has been carried away!

However, due to the fall of the left wing, his plan completely went bankrupt.

The reason why Cedric was chosen for this game is because he is short and fast. He can keep up with Lin Quan when defending, Nani when attacking, and can keep up with Nani on the wing. Form cooperation to ensure that Portugal can launch a quick counterattack.

But unfortunately, Cedric's offensive talents were not displayed, but his defensive weaknesses were exposed.

Although his speed is not slower than Lin Quan, it is still too difficult to keep up with Lin Quan's rhythm.

Lin Quan spiked the ball and changed directions very frequently when dribbling. Cedric could barely keep up at first, but after playing for more than ten minutes, he couldn't keep up.

If it weren't for the help of his teammates, the left wing would have been completely lost.

Now, after Ramos came on the court, another shortcoming of Cedric was exposed.

Limited by his weight, he is not very good at physical confrontation and ball protection.

Ramos does not need Lin Quan's strong ability to change. He can easily gain an advantage in the confrontation just by relying on his physical and height advantages.

After Spain found the Portuguese team's weakness, they naturally would not show mercy and would beat them to death if they caught them on the left.

Starting from the 15th minute, the Spanish team's offense was almost always launched from the left.

Even with the help of his teammates, Cedric struggled to defend. In the 18th minute, he received the first yellow card of the game.

It was already a bit unpreventable, but now it has been hit again. Portugal's defense on the left is in danger of completely collapsing.

Seeing this, Fernando could only ask all players, including Ronaldo, to retreat and participate in defense.

I want to put aside the matter of counterattack. Now we must first fill in the hole on the left.

The Spanish side played very lively, but the advantage on the wing was not able to be converted into a victory.

Portugal's goalkeeper Patricio performed very well today. He blocked the ball with high passes and destroyed several scoring opportunities that the Spanish team finally got.

With the outstanding performance of the goalkeeper, the Spanish team still failed to break the opponent's goal when the first half was played for 30 minutes.

Spain couldn't defeat its opponents, and the Portuguese team wasn't much better.

At 30 minutes, they only completed two shots, and both of them missed the target.

Obviously, the high-quality counterattack the Portuguese wanted did not come out.

After thirty minutes of intense attack without any results, Lin Quan began to control the rhythm of the game.

The fierce attack just now consumes a lot of physical energy of the team, and if it cannot attack for a long time, it is easy to lose the ball. It must first slow down and then reorganize the attack.

Seeing that the Spanish team stopped attacking, the Portuguese team also breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the ball was not conceded, it was not pleasant to be surrounded by the opponent.

So they took advantage of the Spanish team's retreat and began to push forward to restore the flexibility of the defense line to prevent the three lines from being compressed into one line.

Seeing the opponent expand their formation outwards, Lin Quan had an idea in his mind.

The opponent's weakness on the left has been completely exposed, and since he appears on this side again, the opponent will probably think that they will continue to attack from the left.

But this time, Lin Quan planned to do the opposite.

In the 33rd minute, the Spanish team suddenly picked up speed. Lin Quan dribbled the ball past Nani, who was attacking him, and then passed it to Pedro's feet.

Pedro ran wildly along the wing, attracting several defensive players, and Lin Quan was ambushing behind him. When Pedro was blocked and forced to pass the ball to Lin Quan, many people had gathered around him. Up to five Portuguese players!

good chance!

Without even thinking, Lin Quan made a long pass and moved the ball to the other side.

At this time, Portugal's defensive formation has completely shifted to the left, and there is a large space on their right.

When Lin Quan passed the ball, David Silva had noticed his gesture and started to accelerate before the ball flew over.

And Fabregas, Busquets and others also moved towards the right.

The Portuguese players were shocked when they saw this and hurriedly returned to defense.

However, how can a person's speed match the speed of a ball?

Before they could get back in position, David Silva, who received a pass from Lin Quan on the wing, had already begun to cut inside and prepare to shoot.

Full back Rafael and center back Jose hurriedly stepped forward to block, but David Silva just made a feint shot and passed the ball back to the center when the opponent blocked it.

Since there were no defensive players around, Fabregas followed up with a kick from a long distance!

This long-range shot was of extremely high quality and hit the dead center of the goal!