Chapter 325 European Red Dragon

At 7 pm on July 6, the first semi-final of the 9 European Cup started between Portugal and Wales at the Stade de Lyon in Lyon.

When Bruno and his teammates were warming up at the Stade de Lyon, he saw that the stands were full. The fans wearing burgundy jerseys support Portugal, and there are about 20,000 of them. Those wearing crimson jerseys must be Welsh fans. There are about 20,000 of them. As for the fans wearing colorful clothes, they are all non-Portuguese and Welsh fans.

However, the colors of the jerseys of the players on both sides today are a bit surprising. Although the Portuguese team was drawn as the home team, they chose a green away jersey during the game, while the Wales team also wore their black and gray away jersey.

Portugal and Wales quickly ended their warm-ups and returned to their respective dressing rooms. After resting here for twenty minutes, they will step onto the court again, and the game will officially begin at this time.

When the European Cup reached the semi-finals, each team experienced varying degrees of attrition. This includes both absences due to injuries and suspensions due to accumulation of yellow cards.

For Portugal, defense backbone Pepe is out due to injury, while midfielder William Carvalho is suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards.

Wales also has major players suspended. Main left back Ben Davis and midfield playmaker Ramsey are both suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards.

The performance of the Welsh team in this European Cup is amazing. After reaching the main match of the European Cup for the first time, the Red Dragons are unstoppable. They first defeated England in the group stage to win first place, and then defeated Northern Ireland in the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, they defeated another dark horse team, Iceland, with a score of 3:1.

This showdown with the Portuguese team will also be full of highlights. The battle between the top scorers of the two teams, Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are also Real Madrid generals, may have a major impact on the trend of the game.

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When Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale led their respective teams into the stadium, the fans at the scene let out deafening cheers.

Next, the captains of both sides exchange team flags and guess the side of the coin.

Cristiano Ronaldo still remembered the words of head coach Santos, asking the team to attack as much as possible and keep attacking, so he deliberately lost the right to pick the side, allowing Bell to get the right to pick the side, and he won the right to kick off.

Then Ronaldo waved his teammates to surround him. He looked at his teammates and said to them without any extra words: "On offense in this game, you can score as many goals as you can, guys!"

It's useless no matter how many beautiful words you say. Leaders must lead the team with actual actions. This is the difference between "follow me" and "follow me." Ronaldo knew this very well, so he just reminded his teammates and said no more.

Players from both sides returned to their respective positions and stood still waiting for kick-off.

Ronaldo and Nani went to kick off the ball. Bruno gestured to Ronaldo from behind, telling him to rush forward as soon as the ball kicked off and break through the middle.

Ronaldo nodded to show that he understood.

After the referee and the fourth official off the field checked the time, he blew the whistle to start the game.

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After Bruno got the ball, he did not pass the ball forward directly, although the Portuguese football style is to pass as little back passes and cross passes as possible, and pass the ball forward desperately. But Santos also gave Bruno absolute tactical freedom on the court. He could decide what to do next, so it didn't matter even if he passed the ball back.

For Bruno, Santos trusted him so much that he didn't even give him a specific position. In the formation shown to outsiders, Bruno is the attacking midfielder, but his teammates all know that Bruno is the most special person in the team. He has no specific position at all, left, center, right, front, back, middle, as long as He is free to move as he feels necessary.

If he sits deep, he can maintain contact with the back line and solidify the defence. Moving forward, he can maintain a compact formation with Nani, Sanches and Ronaldo to press the opponent's defense.

Santos rarely talked to Bruno about specific tactical requirements. He would only tell Bruno a rough idea of his before the game, and Bruno would be responsible for showing all the details during the game.

After two years of running-in, Bruno is now much better at understanding Santos's tactical requirements than at the beginning, and the two are working together more and more tacitly.

After Bruno got the ball, he observed the situation, turned around and passed the football back.

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After three passes from defenders, the football returned to his feet. At this time, Wales' originally tightly compressed three-line formation had been torn apart. They rushed forward in a swarm, wanting to, as head coach Chris Coleman said, "keep the pressure on Portugal and prevent them from turning over." .

Seeing this, Bruno passed the football to defender Cancelo who was on the wing, and he also ran forward.

Cancelo and Joao Mario played a one-two on the wing and continued to break forward. Just when everyone thought he would cross the ball at a 45-degree angle, he suddenly swept the football sideways to the center of the penalty area.

Bruno did not hesitate after receiving the ball, but directly took a long shot. The football was hit by the instep of his right foot and flew towards the goal with a bang!

The football was like a cannonball, whizzing past the ears of Wales center back Collins. The Welshman even felt his ears hurt from the wind.

Welsh goalkeeper Hennessey watched the football fly towards him, but he had no time to make a specific save and just raised his hand as a reflex. Then he felt a pain in his wrist, and the football made contact with his hand...

In his sight, the football hit his raised hand, then jumped high, crossed the crossbar, and landed on the billboard behind him.

<divclass="contentadv">"Bruno's shot! It's so powerful! It's a pity that it's too good..."

"Bruno unexpectedly took a long shot, and Hennessy didn't even react. It's a pity... but this long shot is so beautiful!"

The commentators all unanimously gave Bruno praise.

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Hennessey held the wrist that was hit by the football with one hand, looked at Bruno, and thought that this kid's shot was so powerful, it seemed that he should pay more attention during the game.

Then he turned his head and shouted: "Corner kick! Pay attention to defense!!"

Bruno retracted his gaze that had been staring at Hennessy and slowly walked into the penalty area, ready to fight for the top.

This long shot was not meant to make Hennessey pay more attention to himself, because it was not a warning. , it’s the Charge, telling his teammates that the general attack has begun!

Bruno's long shot gave the Portuguese team a chance for a corner kick, but his teammates did not seize the opportunity. After the football was kicked out by Nani, no one grabbed the ball. The football was firmly held by Hennessey who attacked.

Then Wales tried to launch a counterattack, but they all still remember what coach Coleman asked them before the game: they cannot shrink their defense, but must attack their opponents. Only offense can prevent themselves from being suppressed.

However, their offense did not achieve any satisfactory results. The attack went through and soon ended with Robson Kanu shooting the football into the stands.

The Portuguese team reorganized their attack.

Bruno signaled goalkeeper Patricio to pass the football to him, and the Portuguese goalkeeper obediently passed the ball.

After Bruno received the ball, he turned around and led forward, and then played a one-two against the wall with the young player Sanches who came back to meet him.

Bruno passed the football to Sanches and then continued to run forward. Sanches didn't turn around and knocked the ball directly with the instep of his outside foot.

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Bruno received the ball and met Welsh midfielder Ledley.

The 29-year-old Ledley was born in Cardiff City's youth training camp. He made his debut for the Welsh national team in 2005 and is the main defensive midfielder of Wales. He has excellent defensive ability and is especially good at marking. He is a typical engineering midfielder.

Seeing Ledley rushing up, Bruno first made a gesture to pass the football to the right. When Ledley's center of gravity moved a little in that direction, he suddenly stepped on the football with his left foot and pulled the ball back. Ledley missed, but Bruno calmly pushed the football forward with his left foot, then started and passed the opponent.

Bruno, who passed Ledley, did not pass the ball, but strode towards the ball directly towards Wales' ribs.

When Wales player Andy King saw Bruno's posture, he thought he was going to break through from the ribs and rushed to stop him.

Bruno has been waiting for this opportunity. Ever since he passed Ledley, he has been calculating the development of the situation on the field in his mind.

He noticed that after Sanches played one-on-one with him, he ran to the right wing, while Joao Mario moved closer to the center.

So he looked up to observe the opponent's situation while dribbling the ball. He found that after Ledley was passed by him, Wales' defense seemed very thin. As long as the pass and run are appropriate, he can easily find the gap.

So he began to intentionally take the ball to the ribs on the right.

After Andy King came up, Bruno did not continue, but passed the football to Sanches who was pulled to the wing.

After receiving the ball, Sanches did not make a breakthrough from the wing, but suddenly cut inside. Just when Wales full-back Neil Taylor and center back Collins were paying attention to him, Sanches suddenly passed the ball. A through ball from the outside, the football rolled past the outside of Wales left-back Neil Taylor and into the penalty area.

Neil Taylor and Collins turned around at the same time and saw that Joao Mario, who was still in the center of the penalty area just now, had received the ball!

A beautiful direct pass and diagonal penetration!