Chapter 134: The Anglo-French War (2)

During the half-time break, Eriksen did not make any adjustments. The team was now in a leading position. According to England's style of play, both offense and defense were very stable, so there was no need to make any adjustments. He just told the players to defend well in the second half and look for opportunities to counterattack.

Watching these main players return to the locker room and sit there panting to recover their strength, Wang Li was very envious. He was so high-spirited in the Premier League, but now he is in the embarrassing situation of having no ball to play.

At this time, Michael Owen walked towards him, breathing heavily, "Allen, maybe you will have a chance in the second half. I can't keep up with my strength." After saying that, he turned around and left.

"Oh, okay." Wang Li was stunned for a moment before he reacted. However, he immediately looked at Owen's back in confusion, 'Is he trying to show me his goodwill? Or, has his foot injury not healed yet?'

In fact, Irving has been injured since he joined the professional league, and he knew that he would not be able to last the entire game. But he took the initiative to tell Wang Li, his competitor, the news, which is thought-provoking.

But no matter what, Wang Li has developed a great liking for Irving. At least he now knows that he has a chance to play in the second half.

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Owen Hargreaves, mentioning his name may even make many English fans feel confused, but he must not be underestimated.

In May 2001, Hargreaves replaced the suspended Effenberg in the Champions League and helped Bayern eliminate Real Madrid, becoming famous in one battle. He can play all positions from midfield to backcourt, and is Eriksson's first substitute for the England team.

Never underestimate the 'first substitute'. You know, Wang Li is also on the bench, but he rarely gets a chance to play.

Just as the second half started, Hargreaves received a pass from his teammate. Seeing him carrying the ball forward from the left, Makelele immediately rushed over fiercely.

Facing this burly man from Chelsea, Hargreaves did not panic. He circled the ball back and forth with his legs. Suddenly, he changed his posture, used his body to tightly protect the ball, and quickly moved towards the baseline.

Before joining Chelsea, Makelele was Real Madrid's top defender with rich match experience. When Hargreaves stopped the ball and wanted to pass it, he immediately made a beautiful sliding tackle and the ball went out of the baseline, which was a corner kick for England.

Hargreaves took a corner kick and Lampard jumped up to head the ball, but failed to hit it straight and the ball hit the right post and went out of the bottom line.

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After goalkeeper Barthes restarted the game, the French team launched a fierce attack.

This attack was launched from the backcourt. After Thuram received the ball, he kicked it to Sylvester. Sylvester got the ball, waited for Rooney to run up, and then kicked it to William Gallas on the wing.

Gallas is an extremely versatile defender in European football. He is very good at breaking through on the wing and his offensive ability is no weaker than that of an average winger. This season, after Abrahammovich moved into Chelsea, he cleared out most of the players but still chose to renew Gallas' contract, which is a good example.

This time, he still chose to break through from the left. After dribbling the ball across the center line, Ashley Cole immediately ran over to intercept. He crossed the ball with his left foot, drew a circle on the ball, and then quickly dribbled the ball to the left front, until he attracted Campbell again, and then kicked the ball back to Zidane who had just crossed the center line.

Facing the double-team of the England team, Zidane was not in a hurry. He pulled the ball back, picked up the ball diagonally with his right foot from behind, and took advantage of the moment when the defender was stunned to pass the ball from the air to the right, where Pires was unguarded.

After Pires stopped the ball with his chest, he kicked it straight and the ball brushed the grass and rushed into the penalty area!

Henry, it's Henry!

Even though he didn't perform well in normal games, Henry's ability was unquestionable, and even Arsenal fans called him 'Henry the Great'!

He followed the direction of the ball's roll, turned around and shook off King's close defense, and with his right foot, the ball slowed down slightly before he swung his foot and shot, this time with his left foot! For Henry, he could still shoot with his left foot!

"Pires made a cross and Henry... shot!... The ball hit Gary Neville and bounced out of the bottom line. What a lucky guy!" Graham breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the ball didn't go in. But then there was an uproar in the stadium. He looked at the stadium and continued in confusion: "There seemed to be a dispute in the penalty area. Pires was talking to the referee. Is there something controversial about this ball? Let's watch the replay on the big screen."

"Oh my god, the ball hit Gary Neville's arm. I hope Collina didn't see it clearly in the chaos, otherwise it might have been a penalty."

In fact, Collina saw it clearly, but he hesitated and did not award a penalty because he felt that the handball was unintentional.

"You'd better shut up!" Faced with Pires' incessant verbal harassment, Collina stopped and warned. At this time Henry immediately pulled Pires away. He didn't want his teammate to receive a yellow card in vain when the team was behind.

For the French team, this was indeed an excellent opportunity to equalize the score. If Gary Neville had not blocked it, Henry's shot would almost certainly have gone in. So, Jacques Santini on the bench was very angry. He ran to the sidelines and grabbed the referee and started chattering again, but Collina ignored him at all. The fourth official hurried over and pulled him away.

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After this controversial goal, the game became full of tension.

In the 60th minute, the French team, as the defending champion, was still one point behind, and the ball just now was obviously a penalty kick, which made the French players a little irrational.

In the 64th minute of the game, Gallas broke through on the left and passed the ball to Henry on the edge of the penalty area, but the latter was blocked by Gary Neville. Henry pushed hard and stretched out his left foot to hook the ball, but he hit Gary Neville's forehead. Gary fell directly to the ground. When he got up, he saw that his head was bleeding. The players of the England team immediately surrounded them. The referee Collina also hurried over and gave Henry a yellow card, ending the farce.

In the 68th minute, Vieira got the ball on the center line and was about to turn around to pass the ball, but Ashley Cole tackled him from behind and knocked Vieira down. Collina hurried over and directly gave him a yellow card.

In the 71st minute, England got a free kick. Beckham took the penalty from 30 meters in front of the goal and kicked a beautiful arc ball, but it was saved by goalkeeper Barthes and went out of the bottom line.

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During this period, referee Collina became the busiest person in the stadium. He kept running back and forth to put out fires, proving with facts that "wherever there is a need, there I am."

In order to tie the score, the French players almost surrounded the England team's half and launched a fierce bombardment, but this disorderly attack was unlikely to produce any results.

In the 78th minute, Beckham cleared the ball with a long kick in the penalty area and England counterattacked!

Rooney hurriedly shook off Thuram from the left midfield and ran towards the penalty area. The ball was passed to Michael Owen. At this time, there was only one Sylvester in the French team's backcourt, and England formed a two-on-one situation in the frontcourt. This was an opportunity to determine the score!

Owen dribbled the ball forward from the right side of the penalty area, and seeing Sylvester rushing to grab the ball, he kicked it to Rooney who came in from behind. After Rooney got the ball, Sylvester turned and ran towards him. After he received the ball at the front of the penalty area, he did not choose to pass it back to Owen, but suddenly changed direction and broke into the penalty area. Sylvester, who was left behind, had no choice but to stretch out his foot to trip Rooney.

Penalty, this is undoubtedly a penalty!

Seeing England get another penalty kick when they were leading, the French players were a little desperate. If they conceded another goal, they would definitely lose and the rest of the game would become garbage time.

At this time, Wang Li, who was on the bench, was very conflicted. He wanted the ball to go in, but he also wanted to play when the team was in a passive situation. Perhaps all the players on the bench had this conflicting feeling to a greater or lesser extent.

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As the referee blew the whistle, David Beckham, who was standing in front of the ball, looked up in the direction of the goal, took two steps, and then stepped out with his "priceless golden right foot".

Under the gaze of everyone in the stadium, the ball whizzed towards the upper left corner of the goal!