Chapter 109
In the second half of the game, the two teams exchanged goals.
“Welcome back to the second half of the World Cup quarter-finals! The main lineups of both sides did not make any adjustments. Cristiano, who was seriously fouled twice in the first half, still insisted on staying in his position despite the injury, and the same was true for Van Bommel, who was also tackled twice!”
The commentator also returned to the official commentary of the game.
"Ronaldo was double-teamed on the right! He successfully stole the ball! He passed it to Deco! Portugal's passing and control was very smooth!"
"Deco dribbled the ball outside the Dutch penalty area. It's dangerous! Pauleta has already headed into the opponent's penalty area!"
Deco made a cross, Pauleta passed the ball back in the penalty area, and Nuno cut in and scored!
A counter-attack led by Cristiano in the midfield quickly and effectively opened the Orange Army's goal again in just one minute!
This round of attack was as fast as lightning. The commentator took a breath and shouted loudly: "The second half of the game has just started for less than five minutes! Portugal scored another goal! The score is 2-0! "
Nuno excitedly rushed to the billboard area outside the stadium, while the Dutch team was silent for a while.
When Cristiano got the ball in the center circle again, Carvalho immediately followed Cristiano, just as Figo had said in the locker room before.
Braruz came over and Cristiano passed the ball to Carvalho.
After the two of them cooperated to dribble past Braruz, Carvalho passed the ball back to Cristiano's feet.
"Cristiano is running with the ball so fast! Is he going to take the ball out of the penalty area? Figo has already come up...Cristiano was knocked down again!" The commentator hissed, and it was obvious that the boy looked a little bad when he fell to the ground.
His partner also said: "It's still Van Bommel! Was Van Bommel only focusing on Ronaldo in this game?!"
Cristiano was caught off guard and Van Bommel kicked the ball away from the side. At the same time, the opponent's body rushed over hard, and his elbow and knee hit the same thigh muscle where Cristiano was already injured.
"Ugh!" Cristiano screamed in pain, fell to the ground in agony, and curled up, holding his legs tightly.
He lowered his head and pressed it tightly against the grass, rolling from side to side. His neck turned red and veins bulged.
Van Bommel quickly raised his hands to indicate that he had just tackled the ball.
Scolari took a deep breath on the sidelines and quickly called for the team doctor to go on the field to check the situation.
To add insult to injury, it was in the same spot, and Cristiano was in so much pain that he couldn't control his tears at all.
He heard Figo, Deco, Costa, Carvalho... his teammates walking up to him one by one.
He choked and buried his face in the grass. He knew he had to leave the field. He couldn't continue playing. It was like going back to his previous life.
He cried silently, but his shoulders shook violently with sobs and he was almost out of breath.
Soon, Figo pulled Cristiano's face out of the grass. He brushed off the sweaty grass debris on the young man's face, and saw this, he tensed his face and pursed his lips tightly.
"Good boy, good boy." He patted Cristiano's head in a low voice, grabbed Cristiano's hand, pulled the boy up from the grass, handed him to the team doctor, and asked the team doctor to take Cristiano off the field.
Cristiano grabbed Figo's hand and hugged him suddenly. He tried hard to hide his tears, leaned on Figo's shoulder, and whispered in Figo's ear: "Remember what we said in the locker room!"
Figo responded softly.
With the help of the team doctor, Cristiano limped slowly to the sidelines, while Deco and others took the opportunity to replenish their water and rinse their mouths.
Figo walked over and Deco whispered, "Fuck you."
"Don't you want to play in the World Cup final?" Figo glanced at Deco, patted several people on the shoulders, suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "Control yourself."
After hearing this, Deko and the others paused for a moment, spat, and said nothing more.
Simao ran onto the sidelines as a substitute for Cristiano. He patted Cristiano's shoulder gently, rubbed the boy's curly hair comfortingly, and trotted into the field.
Chris moved his injured thigh to sit on the bench. Scolari quickly came over, sat next to him, and asked the team doctor about his injury in a low voice.
The team doctor said a few simple words and Scolari breathed a sigh of relief. The situation was better than he had imagined, but he would have to wait until the game to do a more professional and comprehensive examination to know the details.
Seeing Cristiano was still wiping tears with his hands, Scolari cursed the Dutch again in his heart, and whispered to comfort him: "Chris, you performed very well in this game, I am very satisfied. I know you are in pain, don't worry about the injury, we will take good care of you, okay?"
Cristiano didn't answer. He just looked at the players running on the field, as if he was ignoring something.
The Portuguese teammates who were also sitting on the bench bent over and moved over, patting the boy on the shoulder to comfort him.
"Poor guy, he was kicked around like a ball."
"I haven't seen Figo so angry for a long time. I think he can't hold it back anymore."
"Carvalho, Deco, those guys with bad tempers must not be able to hold back."
The voices of his teammates whispering reached Cristiano's ears. He felt even more uncomfortable while gasping for breath to adjust his chaotic breathing.
Cristiano sat on the bench and tears began to fall again. He hated the feeling of being unable to change, especially in such a crucial game.
Scolari didn't expect that his little boy would suddenly start crying while sitting there. He hurriedly took out a few napkins and gave them to Chris. The most annoying thing was the cameras on the sidelines, circling around them like flies.
Even the broadcast room switched to the bench when the game was paused due to a foul.
Carvalho stretched his legs to shovel the ball away outside the penalty area and knocked down Dutch striker Van Persie, and the referee gave him a verbal warning.
"Ronaldo kept crying after he was injured and left the field. Indeed, for a young player who is participating in the World Cup for the first time, this may very well be his last game in this World Cup. It is really a pity." said the commentator.
His partner nodded in agreement and was about to say something when the camera switched back to the audience.
"Is it Sir Alex Ferguson?!" He was a little surprised. "Sir Alex Ferguson is also watching the game? Wow, Sir Alex Ferguson doesn't look very happy."
"It seems that the media's description of 'spoiling' Ferguson is not an exaggeration at all. Didn't he watch the match in England?"
"My dear friend, he is Scottish." The commentator said, raising his eyebrows, "But speaking of this, the current Manchester United No. 7 and the former Manchester United No. 7... If England also advances this time, then it is not impossible for these two to face off? That would be interesting!"
Cristiano was also surprised to see the camera on the big screen in the stadium cut to coach Ferguson. He was so surprised that he even forgot to cry. His eyes widened. The boss's expression looked like he had lost the game.
The next second, Ferguson seemed to notice the camera on the field. He raised his hand slightly to signal, his face still gloomy and expressionless.
The camera didn't stay on for too long and soon cut back to the scene.
Cristiano couldn't help but turn his head to look for Ferguson's seat, but unfortunately there were so many people that he couldn't find it after looking around.
Scolari couldn't stand it anymore and pulled his boy to sit down: "Don't move! Your leg is still injured!"
Damn Scotsman, he actually came here to bewitch his little Chris!
Cristiano sat back in his seat, sniffed, and stopped moving.
Sir Alex Ferguson was sitting in the VIP stands, and God knows he was cursing all those Dutch and Portuguese people indiscriminately in his heart.
Hell, he had never let Ronnie get hurt like this in the club! Damn the Portuguese, damn Scolari, for not taking good care of his boy!
The game on the field was still extremely intense. Both sides tried many shots and fouls were common. Ivanov's frequency of giving cards doubled after Cristiano left the field!
"The Netherlands team has an attacking opportunity! Kuyt fights for the ball and passes it straight to the middle, and Robben follows into the penalty area!" The commentator suddenly became excited, and even Cristiano, who was sitting on the bench, couldn't help but lean forward.
After Robben got the ball, Cristiano couldn't help but stand up from his chair again. He stared at the field nervously, and saw Portugal's brave defender Valente kick the opponent in the chest.
Scolari cursed violently.
However, referee Ivanov did not give a red card warning and penalty kick. He determined that Kuyt's previous foul was the first one, and only gave a verbal warning for Valente's large-scale steal.
The Dutch team expressed great dissatisfaction with the penalty. The Tulip Army, which was already two points behind and eager to attack, became more aggressive in their moves.
Van Basten looked at the field with his arms crossed and an expressionless face. The situation on the field was becoming increasingly out of control. The emotions of the players were like erupting volcanic lava. He gave several orders from the sidelines but none of them were fully executed.
"The number of cards in this game is likely to break the record... Portugal and the Netherlands have received a total of ten yellow cards in this game!" The commentator couldn't help but say, "I have to say, it's a good thing Ronaldo went down early, otherwise he would have been more seriously injured?"
"Deco also received a yellow card now. Scolari exercised his right to make substitutions and replaced two players! Deco and Nuno, who scored the goal, each received a yellow card. It was a very wise decision to replace them now!"
Scolari stood on the sidelines and the linesman raised a sign to signal a substitution.
Deco and Nuno slowly walked to the sidelines, clapping and gasping for breath.
The two players who were replaced quickly sat next to Cristiano. Deco winked at Cristiano and gently patted Cristiano's leg: "Look at your expression, why are you so surprised? By the way, how about your injury?"
"No! I am happy!" Cristiano said immediately, Scolari made an extremely wise decision!
In the previous life, his teammates received red cards, but this time Scolari's early substitution avoided such a situation!
Cristiano was visibly happy to be back.
Deco laughed. What was there to be happy about?
The team doctor came over and did some simple muscle relaxation and examination on Deco and Nuno, and also answered questions about Chris' injury.
If they can advance in this game, then Cristiano will still have a great chance to play in the next quarter-final. Nuno and Deco felt relieved when they heard that.
The game has now reached the 80th minute. Even if there will be a lot of injury time in the second half, it will not be easy for the Dutch team to equalize the score in the last little time.
Portugal's win was huge.
Nuno pulled Cristiano's face and joked to Chris: "Look at you crying, you look like my daughter's doll."
Deco turned to Nuno in confusion: "What's the connection?"
"Look at his eyelashes, so long and curled, and they are more obvious when they are wet. And his face is as red as the two blush on a doll's face." Nuno stretched out his hand and pointed at Cristiano's face.
"That's right, no wonder the media always likes to take pictures of Cristiano." Deco agreed.
Cristiano snorted in dissatisfaction and slapped Nuno's fingers away: "Hey! I'm not a doll."
"That's right, you are more resistant to falling than a doll." Nuno grinned. Teasing Cristiano was one of the things they enjoyed doing most, especially when they saw that the other had regained some energy and spirit. Nuno and Deco looked at each other.
Scolari couldn't stand these three childish guys. He shook his head, drank some water and walked back to the coaching area.
On the Dutch team's side, while Bullaluz was defending Figo on the wing, he hit Figo's face with an inconspicuous elbow.
Figo fell to the ground and covered his face in pain. The defender, who should have been sent off for kicking Cristiano in the first half, received another warning yellow card.
Two yellow cards turned into one red card, and the Dutch team had one player sent off!
With one man missing and not much time left, the Tulip Army was like a broken jar. In less than five minutes, Ivanov was shown another red card, and Portugal also "reaped" one loss after another.
Van Persie and Robben launched several threatening long-range shots towards the Portuguese goal, but they were bravely saved by goalkeeper Ricardo.
After all, the goddess of victory is on Portugal's side.
"The game is over! Portugal defeated the Netherlands 2-0 and advanced to the quarterfinals!"
"Ivanov issued a total of thirteen yellow cards and two red cards in this game! To be honest, Ivanov should have shown himself a red card." The commentator said half-jokingly.
If a red card warning had been shown when Braruluz fouled Cristiano at the beginning, there would not have been such a "hot" scene later.
When Cristiano heard the whistle, he immediately jumped up from his chair and excitedly rushed into the court, jumping and skipping on his injured leg.
Scolari kept shouting anxiously behind Cristiano without stopping. Deco, Nuno and others smiled and ran into the field quickly.
The moment the whistle blew, the players on the field, whether they were wearing red jerseys or white jerseys, almost simultaneously fell to the ground, looking up at the sky and gasping for breath.
"Luis! Luis!" Cristiano shouted loudly and limped into the stadium.
When Figo heard Cristiano's voice, he sat up from the ground, turned around and saw Cristiano running towards him dragging his injured leg.
Figo immediately got up, ran over, and caught the young man who was rushing towards him.
Cristiano hugged Figo tightly, his eyes and face flushed with excitement, his eyes were almost wet, and he hugged Figo's neck tightly: "That's great, Luis! That's great!"
Figo laughed. He felt the warm wetness on the side of his neck. He hugged the young man tightly and patted the back of Cristiano's head: "Chris, you are strangling me to the point of suffocation."
Cristiano let go of his hand awkwardly, and the next second, he was hugged by Figo: "Just kidding, Chris, we won! Are you ready to go to the semi-finals?"
Cristiano nodded vigorously, the heat in his eyes uncontrollably reddening, he pursed his lips heavily and said loudly: "Ready!"
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