Chapter 133: The Anglo-French War (1)

After the players of both teams took their positions, referee Collina blew the whistle to start the game amid the cheers of 70,000 fans in the stands.

While the two teams were testing each other at the beginning of the game, Sky TV commentator Graham also brought up the topic of interest to the fans. "According to Portuguese media reports, before the game, young player Alan Wang guessed the results of the game three times in a row, and one of them was even a big upset. Before this game, he also vowed that England would win. We sincerely hope that his prediction will come true."

At this time, Sky TV's camera also switched to the England team's bench. Wang Li was seen holding his chin with one hand, as if staring at the court in a daze. "Look at Alan's expression. It seems that he doesn't care about the game at all. Does he really have confidence?"

"But speaking of it, Rooney and Allen are called England's twin stars. I really hope to see them play together soon. The striker combination of these two players represents England's offensive power for the next ten years. You know, they are both under 20 years old. We even..."

At this point, Graham suddenly stopped and said, "Look, danger! France's right back Gallas broke through and made a cross! Fortunately, Cole cleared the ball in time, otherwise it would have been really dangerous!"

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Just two minutes into the game, Gallas broke through on the right and was about to cross the ball, but his ball was cleared by Ashley Cole and went out of bounds, giving France a corner kick to the right side of the goal.

Pires walked to the corner flag and took a corner kick. Rooney overpowered Henry and jumped up to block the ball out of the penalty area, but the ball fell at Zidane's feet.

Zidane, who is 32 years old this year, has won almost all the honors in the field of football: World Footballer of the Year, France's Most Popular Player, Champions League Best Player, World Cup, etc. He even won the award for the best player in Europe in the past 50 years this year, and his skills are definitely comparable to these honors.

After getting the ball, Zidane did not rush to pass the ball, but moved the ball forward. Facing two English defensive players, he suddenly stepped on the ball with his left foot, then turned nimbly in the air. After landing on the ground, he rubbed the ball with his right foot, and the ball passed between King's feet. Zidane twisted his body and caught up with the ball again.

Marseille turn + crotch pass!

Zidane, who is over 30 years old, is still as good as ever. This series of wonderful moves won unanimous applause from all the fans. He is truly a master of art on the football field!

Zidane brought the ball to the front of the penalty area and passed it to Gallas, who knocked it back and Vieira received it. Vieira was 20 meters in front of the goal, and before the England team could return to defense, he raised his right foot and shot hard, but perhaps because he had not found the feeling of shooting, the ball went straight into the air.

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From the beginning, the French team launched a series of attacks around the England goal. From the scene, it seemed that England had almost no ability to fight back. The fans were always nervous. Perhaps they had experienced too many failures and were ready to experience failure again.

In the twelfth minute, Makelele made a diagonal pass from the left, and Zidane shot with his right foot from 25 meters in front of the goal, but the ball went wide of the right post.

Just two minutes later, Vieira took the ball on the right and made a diagonal pass into the penalty area. Trezeguet broke away from King's defense, turned around and headed the ball at the penalty spot, but the ball flew over the crossbar and out of the field.

In the 18th minute, Makelele broke through the left rib and stopped suddenly to get rid of his club teammate Lampard, and shot high with his right foot on the penalty area line.

In the 20th minute, Gallas and Pires played a wall pass from the right, and Campbell shoveled the ball out of the bottom line near the goal post. Pires took a corner kick from the right, which was cleared directly, but the ball fell to Makelele's feet. He shot low with his left foot from 20 meters in front of the goal, but it hit the defender.

Although the ball was passed back and forth in England's backcourt, the French players seemed to have no shooting boots today. In the first 20 minutes of advantage, all their shots missed the target and not a single one entered the goal frame. However, this also made Eriksen on the sidelines worried.

"We are confident that we can defeat all opponents!" Eriksson said this before the game, but no one expected that England would encounter a strong defending champion in the first game. After more than 20 minutes of the game, it seemed that England's goal was about to be lost.

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However, everything is possible on the football field, and the England team is by no means a soft persimmon that can be easily bullied. France failed to score a goal in the opening offensive wave, and the England team then launched a fierce counterattack.

In the 25th minute of the game, Scholes intercepted Pires' breakthrough in the backcourt and made a long pass in preparation for a counterattack. Gerrard got the ball and cut into the penalty area from the left. When he was about to shoot, Gallas cleanly shoveled the ball out of the bottom line.

Just three minutes later, Scholes took a long shot with his right foot from the penalty area, and the ball hit the post and flew out of the bottom line.

In the 38th minute, Gary Neville made a straight pass from the right, Beckham was pushed down by Lizarazu behind him, and the England team got a free kick on the right side of the penalty area.

The position of the free kick made the French players nervous. What is Beckham's famous skill? Anyone with some knowledge of football knows that it is a curved free kick, also nicknamed the "Beckham Arc". The position of this ball is exactly the position that Beckham is best at!

Wang Li on the bench also stared at the ball, looking forward to Beckham's free kick. He was not interested in Zidane's football art. Technically, although he could not reach Zidane's level, it was not difficult to pass if he had the inner strength. However, free kicks were his weakness. He always envied those beautiful arc free kicks, but it was difficult for him to kick such a ball in practice alone, not to mention in the game.

After the French players formed a wall, Beckham took two steps, looked at the direction of the goal, and kicked the ball with his right foot. To the surprise of most people, the ball was not shot directly at the goal, but passed to the front of the penalty area, where Lampard was!

Lampard jumped ahead of Sylvester and headed the ball seven meters in front of the goal, and the ball went directly into the left corner of the goal!

"Lampard, it's Lampard!! Gooooooooo...al!! The ball goes in!! England leads 1-0. This goal ended France's streak of more than 1,000 minutes without conceding a goal. Beckham and Lampard have such a good understanding with each other! I can't believe that one of them is in the Premier League and the other is in La Liga!" After England scored, Graham was very excited and kept shouting. For English TV stations, the commentary of this kind of game is not neutral at all.

Wang Li narrowed his eyes and looked at the players celebrating on the court, shaking his head helplessly. Although he really wanted to play in the game, he didn't want the England team to be in a passive situation. For the substitute players, this was really a dilemma.

But at this time, Eriksen pointed to the bench and nodded to Hargreaves. Wang Li turned his head to look at the court in confusion. Scholes was limping towards the bench. He seemed to be injured.

In the 43rd minute of the game, England made a substitution, Hargreaves replaced Scholes who was injured.

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