Chapter 141: Great Victory (1)
At 10 o'clock in the morning on the 17th, at a small training ground in the Stadium of Light, the England team was doing some adaptive training. The players were all in high spirits because they would face their second opponent in the group stage - the Swiss team - in the afternoon.
"England is the birthplace of football. What every English fan wants to see most is the revival of English football!" After training, Eriksson gathered the players and said, "And you are the seeds of this hope."
"In every game, there are tens of thousands of English fans cheering for you. On the British island, there are tens of millions of fans squatting in front of the TV, watching your performance and pinning all their hopes on you. What should you do?" After saying this, Eriksson stared and waited for the players' answers.
“Play hard!”
"Win!"
"Score more goals!"
…
These big-name football stars were obviously not as good as a well-trained army, and their answers were a mess. However, the shouts from the bottom of everyone's hearts still made the serious Swede nod with satisfaction. "Although we beat the French team, the players who played should know that it was just luck, so we must not underestimate the enemy in this game."
"As long as we can win the game, England will be able to advance to the next round, which will also satisfy the fans. Do you have confidence?"
"Yes!" This time the answers were very consistent.
In the 2004 European Cup qualifiers, the Swiss team was not favored, but Kuhn's team finally finished first in Group 10 and successfully advanced to the final stage of the competition.
Many critics believe that the main reason for Switzerland's success is the decline of its two rivals in the same group, Russia and Ireland. Although the two teams have more talented players, Switzerland's performance proves that they are also a very good team. Especially their forward line. The partnership of veteran Steven Chapsett and Alexander Faure averaged more than two goals per game in the qualifiers. This efficiency is also top-notch in the world.
Therefore, if the England team underestimates their opponents, it will easily add another upset to the European Championships.
…………
After taking a cold shower in the bathroom, Wang Li wrapped himself in a bath towel and walked into the locker room. After every training session, no matter what the weather was like, he liked to take a shower, which could greatly increase his body circulation, make the flow of internal force more active, and help recover from fatigue.
"Haha, Alan, did you provoke the reporters from Lusa yesterday?" Bridget walked in from outside with a newspaper in his hand. When he saw Wang Li, he immediately smiled with glee.
"Reporter?" Wang Li was stunned for a moment, thought for a moment, and then frowned and said, "It seems that there was a guy with two mustaches who insisted on interviewing me, but I ignored him."
"That's right, take a look at this report." At this time, the teammates next to him also came over curiously. When Bridget spread the newspaper on the table, Wang Li noticed the big headline in the lower left corner of the "News Agency Newspaper" - "A Clown Seeking Attraction".
'There are many hard-working rookies, respectable veterans, and successful stars in the football world, but in this atmosphere, there are still many clowns, yes, clowns. They are incapable of defeating their opponents on the football field, and are incapable of gaining the recognition of the fans, so they find many ways to attract the audience's attention and gain fame, such as performing circus performances on the field, making unconventional shots on their own initiative, and even this still cannot satisfy their vanity, so they have to use some ghost stories to attract attention outside the field. '
'It's hard to imagine why such a player is qualified to join the national team. Is it because of blood relationship? Or some other behind-the-scenes event? If such a clown who does whatever it takes to become famous is allowed to run rampant in the beautiful field of football, it's hard to imagine what world football will become. '---Kurier.** Sandro
This report did not mention any names at all, but people who are somewhat aware of recent news will of course think of Wang Li. Faced with such naked personal attacks, he had no way to deal with it because the report did not mention any names at all. Even if he went to court, it would be difficult to succeed. This is the important reason why Kuliait was blacklisted by the Portuguese club.
Wang Li clenched his fists tightly. Although his heart kept telling him to stay calm, anyone who appeared in such a newspaper and suffered such insults would feel uncomfortable. If it were the Song Dynasty, he would have killed the reporter with a knife without even thinking about it. Unfortunately, it was the 21st century now.
"Don't worry about it. This reporter has a very bad reputation. He makes a living by insulting players. I have also heard of his name. He has a bad reputation throughout Portugal. Fans read his reports just to kill time." Michael Owen looked at Wang Li's flushed cheeks, patted Wang Li on the back worriedly, and comforted him.
"He's a clown who's trying to attract attention, Alan, it's okay."
Wang Li turned his head and forced a smile, "I'm fine, thank you." Although he said that, he was very angry in his heart. As a professional football player, he could only fight back against such criticism with his performance on the field, just like the tragedy of Francisco Farfis last time. SIC TV station even made a ten-minute short film for him. In order to let Harry, who was more than one meter tall, ride on him, he knelt on the ground and got under the sheepdog.
However, because of this, his reputation has become even more popular now. It is said that SIC intends to invite him to be a commentator for the sports column.
There is always a loss...
…………
At 17:50, at the Coimbra City Stadium, the match between England and Switzerland was finally about to begin.
"1, 2, 3, come on!" On the field, the England players formed a circle and, under the leadership of captain Beckham, cheered for the team and themselves. In this game, Wang Li was still placed on the bench, but he was very lucky, as another striker, Vassell, has not yet made the team's roster.
Graham is still the commentator of Sky TV. His commentary is really popular with the fans. According to the survey, 93.7% of the fans are very satisfied with his commentary. Before the game started, Graham hurriedly introduced the Swiss team's roster. "The Swiss coach Jacob Kuhn arranged a 4312 formation. The goalkeeper is the team's captain No. 1 Still. No. 5 Murat Yakin leads the defense line. There are also No. 2 Haas, No. 20 Miller, No. 17 Spichel, No. 16 Celestini as the defensive midfielder, No. 18 Hugel and No. 16 Celestini as the left and right sidebacks, No. 10 Hakan Yakin as the attacking midfielder, and No. 11 Chapuisat and No. 9 Alexander Frey as the forwards."
"It seems that Kuhn has great trust in Chapuisat. The veteran started again. In the qualifiers, this forward duo was very efficient. It's just not clear whether Chapuisat can play the whole game. You know, he has already passed his 35th birthday. The veteran's physical condition is indeed worrying."
"This game is very important for both teams. Switzerland drew with Croatia in the last game. If they lose this game, their chances of qualifying will be very small. As for England, as long as they can win the game, they will become the first team to qualify among the four groups. This is of course what the Swedes want. We are looking forward to the performance of these boys in the future."
Just as Graham was chattering away, the referee Ivanov looked down at his watch, walked to the center circle, put the whistle to his mouth, "Beep..." With the sound of the whistle, the game began.
Owen swung his right foot and kicked the ball to Rooney, who passed it back to Gerrard behind him and headed straight towards the Swiss team's half.
England made several passes in the backcourt, and after pulling the Swiss formation apart, Lampard passed the ball to Beckham on the right. Beckham got the ball, but surprisingly did not pass it, but broke through the center line from the right.
After realizing it, Hugel immediately ran over to intercept, but Beckham was dribbling the ball slowly, and suddenly he accelerated and changed direction and passed Hugel very cleanly and beautifully, and continued to dribble forward. As the captain of the England team, David Beckham is not only good at passing the ball. Although it is rare to see him break through, it does not mean that he does not have this ability. You should know that when he was not famous, he often performed a good show at Old Trafford.
After passing Huger, Beckham looked up at the front court, swung his right foot and made a long pass, and the ball flew towards the small penalty area.
At this time, in the penalty area, Rooney was double-teamed by two defensive players, but his body was indeed an advantage. He squeezed hard and created a small space. Then he jumped up and headed the ball. The ball changed direction in the air and flew towards the left side of the Swiss team's goal.
Unfortunately, the ball hit the goal post and flew out of the bottom line, causing sighs of regret from the audience.
Just over a minute into the game, England used a thrilling header to give Switzerland a warning. Wayne Rooney, who was only 18 years, 7 months and 24 days old, almost scored his first goal in the European Championship finals.
PS: Thanks to Guo Nuge for recommending this chapter.