Chapter 546: Psychological Tactics Before the Finals
In the hotel where the Portuguese team was staying, most of the Portuguese players did not rest on time, but stayed in front of the TV and watched the match between France and Spain.
It’s no wonder that they attach so much importance to this game. After all, the result of this game will determine who will be their opponent in the final.
From the perspective of the Portuguese players, they would rather face the French team.
The French team is very strong, but it also has weaknesses, that is, there are many young players in the team and they lack experience in major competitions.
Portugal's hard power may not be as good as the opponent, but its experience in major competitions is not bad. If it can make good use of it, it is not impossible to defeat the French team in the final.
But Spain is different. This team has rich experience in major competitions.
In addition, there is Lin Quan in the Spanish team who is willing to kill anyone who stands in their way, which makes the Portuguese players unwilling to face Spain from the bottom of their hearts.
But the final result still disappointed them. After all, the French team failed to complete the task of stopping the Spanish team and unfortunately fell at the feet of the Spanish team.
In this way, Portugal has got a hellish scenario of facing the world champions! "Don't be discouraged, I don't think this Spanish team is anything special!"
"That's right, their lineup is aging badly. A large number of top stars in the team have retired or been injured. Their fighting power is no longer what it used to be!"
"Although the French team lost, they also exposed the weakness of the Spanish team to us. In the next game, as long as we seize this weakness of the opponent and beat the Spanish team to death, we may be able to defeat the Spanish team!"
"That's right, there is no undefeated team. No matter how strong the Spanish team is, they can't dominate the football world forever. There will be a day when they will be overthrown!"
"Haha, then let us be the Spanish gravediggers!"
Cristiano Ronaldo, Quaresma, Nani and other players who performed well in the previous game saw that their teammates were in low morale and lifeless, so they stood up to calm everyone's emotions.
There was some deliberate exaggeration in what they said, but part of it was true.
In terms of dominance, the current Spanish team is obviously not as good as the Spanish team in 2014.
With the departure of a large number of veteran players, the Spanish team's strength has declined visibly.
Although the La Liga is still prosperous, there has not been a surge in talent like in the past. There are many young players in this Spanish team, but not many of them can take on important responsibilities.
What Bosque relies on is still the same group of veterans from that year.
After these veterans have gone through the fierce fighting and exhaustion in the group stage and knockout stage, their current condition is definitely not as good as when the competition started.
Portugal was well-rested, having had one more day of rest than Spain. Their lineup was also younger and their physical condition recovered faster.
In addition, Portugal won the previous game relatively easily. All in all, their advantage in physical fitness is quite obvious.
In the next game, as long as they don't make the same mistake as the French team and get cards too early, which leads to reduced manpower, they can use their physical advantage to do a lot of things.
Atletico Madrid's successful experience in La Liga has told the world that if you lack strength, you can make up for it with physical fitness.
Relying on a lineup far inferior to that of Real Madrid and Barcelona, Atletico Madrid achieved results that were not inferior to the two giants of La Liga.
The secret of Atletico Madrid's success is not that complicated. It can be summed up in two words: running! Simeone's tactics are still very practical for mid- and lower-level teams.
Compared with the Spanish team, Portugal is naturally a relatively civilian team, so it is not surprising that they refer to Simeone's tactics.
…
After the team returned to the base by bus, Bosque asked the players to take some time to rest.
There are less than 3 days left before the finals, leaving them with little time to recover their strength.
After a night's sleep, many players still looked tired when they woke up the next morning. During the morning recovery training, they walked with heavy steps and lacked energy.
This situation has caused the Spanish coaching staff, including Bosque, to be worried.
"Coach, the main players have consumed a lot of energy and are not in good condition. Should we reduce the amount of training to give them more time to recover?"
Seeing the listless players on the training ground, physical coach Mignano offered suggestions.
"Well, the outdoor training in the afternoon is cancelled. Let the physiotherapists massage their muscles and relax them!"
Bosque also knows that the team has a lot of veterans and their physical recovery is slow.
Most of these people are main players. If they are not helped to recover their physical strength as soon as possible, Spain may not even be able to arrange its lineup in the final.
"How is Iniesta's injury recovering? Can he play in the next game?"
Bosque is very concerned about Iniesta's injury. Although Iniesta's performance at Barcelona was not good last season, he is still an indispensable member of the Spanish national team.
Without him, the Spanish team's offensive threat has decreased a lot and they are more vulnerable to targets from opponents.
"I'm afraid it's a bit reluctant. If we force him to play, it might leave a big hidden danger!"
The team doctor looked a little embarrassed. From his point of view, he didn't want the players to fight with injuries before fully recovering.
Because this will only aggravate the injury and seriously affect the player's future career.
However, when it comes to national team games, many players still choose to do so without hesitation even though they know the consequences of playing with injuries are serious.
The most typical example is Kaka in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Knowing that his old meniscus injury had not healed, Kaka insisted on playing with the injury, which caused the injury to worsen.
After the World Cup, his form plummeted and he disappeared from Real Madrid.
Thinking about the fact that the Son of God who once dominated San Siro fell in the golden period of his career, many fans sigh every time they think of this, and Kaka's fans are even more sad.
Bosque was silent for a while, and then he asked, "What did Iniesta say?"
From the perspective of the head coach, Bosque hopes Iniesta will play because the team needs him.
But this is related to Iniesta's future career after all, so Bosque finally chose to respect the player's own opinion.
"Iniesta said he can play with a closed face!"
The team doctor's words shocked Bosque, and several assistant coaches also showed surprised expressions on their faces.
…
As the time for the final gets closer, the hype about the final showdown becomes more and more intense.
Spain VS Portugal, C Ronaldo VS Lin Quan.
Such a straightforward title is enough to attract the attention of fans.
As neighboring countries on the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal and Spain have nothing noteworthy about their economies and are even nicknamed the Five Pigs of Europe by Europeans.
But when it comes to football, everyone has to admit that the football strength of these two countries is very strong.
Spain, in particular, is world-famous for its delicate footwork and exquisite coordination.
The midfielder from Spain has become synonymous with top midfielder.
In the past few years, major teams would be embarrassed to go out and show their faces if they did not have a Spanish star in the midfield.
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The emergence of a large number of top players has made the Spanish national team's strength soar and dominate the football world! If we count from the World Cup in South Africa, the Spanish national team has dominated the football world for six years.
Is this the most dominant team in the world since the Brazilian team of the last century? Before the game, major TV stations conducted a random interview survey on the streets of Paris.
Among the fans interviewed, except for the Portuguese fans, most of the neutral fans are more optimistic that Spain can win the championship.
Spain's performance in the past few years has been brilliant, and as a result it has accumulated a large number of fans around the world.
Also, because Spain has already won the European Cup in 2008 and 2012, if they can defend the title again this time, it will be an unprecedented three consecutive championships.
So many fans came from all over the world just to witness this historic moment with their own eyes.
Compared with the highly-watched Spanish team, the spotlight on Portugal is obviously much dimmer.
Even if some people paid attention, most of the shots were focused on Portugal's top star Cristiano Ronaldo.
This kind of differential treatment made the Portuguese players very unhappy, and they wanted to prove themselves with practical actions on the court!
After Portugal's head coach Fernando noticed the players' emotions, he not only did not appease them, but instead praised the Spanish team heavily during an interview.
"This game will be very difficult for us. They are the world champions, the best team in the world, and they have top players like Lin Quan. We will focus on defense and do our best to protect the goal."
The reporter heard Fernando's words and asked in confusion: "Do you mean that Portugal will park the bus in the next game?"
Fernando nodded: "Yes, when facing a top team like Spain, I think parking the bus is the best way to deal with it, because even if we can't score, as long as we can drag the game into a penalty shootout, both sides will have equal chances of winning!"
The Portuguese coach's interview has caused an uproar among football fans all over the world.
"Why does it feel like the Portuguese team has already surrendered before the game even started?"
"Haha, that's right, they actually wanted to decide the outcome through a penalty shootout!"
"This old man is really bold. 90 minutes of regular time plus 30 minutes of overtime, 120 minutes, can't the Spanish team break their goal?"
"Given the offensive firepower of the Spanish team in the previous few games, it will be very difficult for Portugal to win by relying on defense!"
Fans are not optimistic about the Portuguese tactics. If they were facing the previous Spanish team, this tactic might really be useful.
The previous Spanish team, although it had the most luxurious midfield configuration in the world, its forward configuration was rather bleak, and it was famous for its weak forward players.
But since Lin Quan joined the Spanish team, the Spanish team's offensive system has been fully activated, and its offensive firepower is the best in the world. It has never been shut out before.
At the World Cup in Brazil, there were teams that thought about using defensive counterattacks or even parking the bus tactics to deal with Spain, but in the end, without exception, all of them failed, and they generally conceded a lot of goals.
Portugal had a top scorer like Ronaldo but chose to play passive defense instead of using the bus. They were dreaming of winning in this way. The opponent's head coach's statement before the game not only affected the fans, but also the players of both sides.
The Portuguese players were naturally indignant about this. They couldn't believe that they were so terrible in front of the Spanish team that they would be forced to park the bus.
So all the players put their best efforts into the game, intending to teach the Spaniards a lesson.
When the Spanish players saw that the opposing coach was so humble, they couldn't help but become a little complacent, as if victory was already within their grasp.
Lin Quan and some veteran players in the team were keenly aware of the arrogance and complacency among their teammates, so they reported the situation to the coaching staff while reminding their teammates not to fall into the opponent's trap.
"This is just a psychological tactic by the Portuguese. The purpose is to make you let your guard down. If you really think that the other side is vulnerable, then we will suffer a big loss in the next game!"
Lin Quan, Casillas and others said to their teammates with serious expressions that Portugal's road to promotion does seem a bit bumpy.
But as long as we carefully study their performance in the past few games, we can see that the team's condition and morale are on the rise. They are getting braver and braver, and their current condition is no longer the same as that in the group stage.
If you still think Portugal is a weak team, then you are in for a treat! "Lin and Igor said it well, don't fall for the enemy's arrogant tactics. Since the Portuguese used such psychological tactics before the game, it means they have ideas for this game!"
An old fox like Bosque would naturally not be fooled by Fernando's little tricks.
The other side spoke nicely on the surface, saying that they would rely on defense to delay time and win through penalty shootouts.
But Bosque felt that this was most likely a smokescreen. The opponent was likely to use such words to confuse the Spanish team, and then send in heavy troops to launch a massive attack at the beginning of the game to catch the Spanish team off guard.
If the Spanish team had really been careless before the game and underestimated Portugal, they might have really fallen into the opponent's trap.
If the opponent scores a goal and then retreats to park the bus, it will be difficult to turn the game around.
After listening to the analysis of the captain and the head coach, the players no longer dared to underestimate the enemy.
"Tomorrow's game will be very difficult. Portugal has more energy than us. They will definitely use their energy advantage to deal with us. Everyone must be fully focused. This is the last game and also the last national team game for many of you. I don't want you to leave with regrets."
(End of this chapter)