Chapter 131 Prophecy of the Emperor (1)

On June 12, at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto, the opening ceremony of the European Championship began in an elegant and grand manner. The commentator at the venue kept explaining various Portuguese characteristics, and the program broadcast in the venue explained the origins and significance of these things from a historical perspective to the audience.

“The blue ocean and white sailboats symbolize the Portuguese people’s desire to sail and conquer nature in the 15th and 16th centuries. Portugal was one of the first countries to conquer the sea, and there are footprints of our ancestors throughout the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Oceans and even all over the world…”

"Please look at the orange square of 2,400 people, which is in neat formation and forms the logo of this European Cup. We are a country with a thousand-year-old cultural tradition and a strong football atmosphere. This is Portugal, a country full of vitality and romance."

Various programs with ethnic characteristics were constantly being performed on the court. The most eye-catching of these were a few dolls dressed as yellow cartoon tigers. They kept circling the venue, and the fans in the stands nearby also threw flower petals in their hands at them.

After Wang Li attended the team presentation, he sat on the players' stands on both sides. This was the first time he had seen such a grand ceremony since his rebirth. All kinds of interesting things were very attractive to him.

"This opening ceremony is so boring. During the Sydney Olympics, the Australians talked about the politics of racial integration, and the Portuguese started showing off their ancestors' discovery of the New World. It was so boring." Ashley Cole commented impatiently, sitting sideways.

"This kind of performance has no creativity at all. It's better to go to a middle school sports meet. Look, the commentator has been praising Portugal. He is so shameless and doesn't feel ashamed at all." Rooney stretched and took over the conversation. He even felt that the opening ceremony of Everton Football School Sports Meet was more interesting than this.

Wang Li was a little dumbfounded watching the show and listening to his teammates' comments. He felt that he should watch more TV shows or go out to gain more experience. Every time he encountered such a thing, his ideas were far different from those of his teammates.

…………

In Rooney's words, this old-fashioned and boring opening ceremony is finally over. Next is the opening match between Portugal and Greece. At this time, all the players can stay to watch the game or go back to rest.

However, Eriksson told the English players that they could not go out before the game, so most of the players stayed in the stands. No one expected that the game would go beyond most people's expectations. The first opening match at the Dragon Stadium turned out to be a big upset!

Just six minutes into the game, Greek midfielder Karagounis seized the opportunity of a Portuguese defender's pass error and scored with a long shot.

Shortly after the second half began, substitute Cristiano Ronaldo committed a foul in the opponent's penalty area, and Basinas scored a penalty kick. Before the end of the game, Figo took a corner kick, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who was 19 years, four months and seven days old, headed the ball back to score a point, becoming the second youngest scorer in the history of the European Cup finals.

Portugal lost 1-2 to Greece, and Greece was the first to get three points and take the first place in Group A.

Before the game, Portugal coach Scolari said: "For many years, Portuguese football has been regarded as the Latin school of Europe, famous for its delicate techniques. As the host of the 2004 European Cup, the Portuguese team will interpret the new Samba style to the world."

But in the actual game, in front of more than 50,000 fans, Portugal suffered a big setback!

1:2. This score was something no one expected before the game. Before the game, the Portuguese media was full of confidence in the team and even predicted that this game would be a big win. Logically speaking, as the host country, it was natural for them to win a big victory in the first game against a weak team like Greece.

But that's how it is on the football field, anything can happen, and Portugal can only swallow its own fruit and study the next games carefully. Losing to a team like Greece in the first game means their performance is definitely not optimistic. If they cannot win the next game against Russia, perhaps Mr. Scolari can consider resigning.

………...

Rooney and Wang Li walked out of the stadium arm in arm, following the crowd and went straight back to the hotel.

The England team did not have any matches these two days, but starting from the afternoon, they will have to train for two hours every day on a training ground in the Stadium of Light to prevent them from losing the feeling of playing football during the game.

"Alan, I didn't expect you to be right." As soon as I walked to the second floor of the hotel, I ran into Bridger who was walking towards me with a snicker. "Portugal really lost. Let's see what the media will say tomorrow."

On the second day after the England team arrived in Lisbon, the Portuguese media began to laugh at him. "A black-haired kid from the England team actually said that Portugal would lose tomorrow's opening match. This is the most ridiculous statement I have heard this year. According to investigations, he is just a lucky kid who has just landed in the Premier League for less than half a year. I don't know why Eriksson would let such a player join the England team. Does England have no one left?"

This is just a corner of the report. Although the media are still mainly reporting on the European Championships, this kind of gossip is very eye-catching. Various Portuguese newspapers have mentioned Wang Li's name to a greater or lesser extent. Of course, the comments are all unanimous in sarcasm and ridicule. Perhaps, only Greek players have a good impression of him.

"What else can I say? They will definitely describe Wang Li as the spokesperson for Eris." Rooney joked. According to legend, Eris is the woman of Knys, the goddess of the night, and is in charge of curses, discord and revenge.

"Alan, maybe now that you are famous, there will definitely be more media interviewing you tomorrow, because before the game you were the only one who said Portugal would lose!"

"Go back quickly, we have to go to training soon." Wang Li did not comment or deny the media's statement. When the media interviewed him, he was just in a hurry to pack up his things and said it casually. He didn't know that what he said came true.

…………

Bridge's guess was very accurate. Early the next morning, a large group of reporters gathered in front of the England team's hotel. They wanted to interview Wang Li by name. Eriksson was very surprised when he knew about this. Wang Li was a very secret card of the England team. How did these Portuguese media know him? With Wang Li's reputation, it was impossible for him to affect Portugal.

After asking carefully, he finally understood the whole story. In order to get rid of these annoying reporters, he could only ask Wang Li to come out for an interview.

"Mr. Allen, can you predict the results of today's two games?" a reporter from The Public asked immediately.

Wang Li was stunned. He really didn't know which team was participating in the game today. "What game?"

The reporters nearby looked at each other in bewilderment, but the reporter from the Morning News was the quickest to respond, "It's Russia vs. Spain, and Switzerland vs. Croatia."

"Oh, predict the score? All right then." Wang Li rubbed his head and thought for a while, "Russia and Spain... I think Spain will win. As for Switzerland and Croatia..." He frowned. He didn't know anything about these two teams. "A draw!"

Since he didn't understand anyway, he might as well just give a random answer. As long as his prediction failed, these annoying reporters would definitely not come to him again. That's what Wang Li thought.

"What about England? Do you think England will win the game the day after tomorrow? You know, the opponent is the defending champion France." A reporter from Express asked with a sly grin. This question made the surrounding reporters' eyes light up.

"Of course I will win, there is no doubt about it!" Wang Li said without even thinking about it.

This sentence was hyped by the Portuguese media as England's victory declaration.