Chapter 143 Post-match anecdotes

England defeated Switzerland 4-0 and became the first team to get a ticket to the knockout round of the European Championship finals. On the way back to the locker room, Wang Li, Rooney, Lampard and others were surrounded by reporters. In addition to being happy, they also accepted on-site interviews from these reporters.

The biggest contributor of this game is undoubtedly Rooney. Facing the interviews of reporters, big-name stars such as Beckham, Gary Neville and Owen also happily praised the young striker. "I am very happy that I can score two goals in this game. This is the first time. Thank you for the support of my teammates. Without them, I would not be able to score goals." He said truthfully.

Of course, Wang Li was also among the interviewees. No matter what, he also added icing on the cake for the team in the final moments, which made him tied with Rooney, Larsson and Zidane for the first place in the scorer list. Among them, Wang Li only played for 23 minutes. This efficiency amazed the media and also reminded them of Manchester United's first substitute - Solskjaer.

"Congratulations on scoring another goal in the game. Do you think Mr. Eriksen will consider letting you replace Owen in the starting lineup in the next game?" A cunning Portuguese reporter looked at Wang Li with interest.

After hearing his question, the reporters nearby immediately fell silent, and the experienced Beckham immediately waved his hand behind Wang Li, signaling him not to talk nonsense.

"These are issues that the head coach should consider. Regardless of whether I can play or not, I will accept the command of Mr. Eriksson. Besides, Michael is my idol. He has always performed very well, hasn't he?" Wang Li could of course hear that this question was quite divisive. If England qualified as the first in the group, the first opponent they would face would most likely be Portugal. These local Portuguese reporters were hoping for some conflicts within the England team. He would not be fooled.

"Based on observations of the two games, you and Rooney did not have a tacit understanding on the field, and the so-called England's 'double star combination' failed to exert its due power. What do you think about this?" In fact, it is true. The biggest problem why Eriksson let Owen and Rooney partner up is also this. Although Wang Li on the field has good personal ability, there are still big problems in his cooperation with his teammates. If he partners with Rooney, the positions of the two people will overlap somewhat, and it is not as threatening as using his long-range shooting and dribbling ability to play as a winger.

Wang Li thought about it, suddenly smiled, and said: "It's because of my lack of ability, so Mr. Eriksson asked me to play as a substitute now, isn't it?"

After hearing his answer, everyone around him laughed, and these reporters also had some good feelings towards Wang Li. It is very rare to find Europeans who can be humble, and they don't understand the meaning of humility. Wang Li's statement made these people think that he is very aware of his level and will continue to work hard to fight for a position in the future.

Yes, it’s just because Wang Li is only 17 years old. If he was a few years older, these reporters might think he is not ambitious...

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England won two consecutive games in the group stage. The English fans at the Coimbra City Stadium ran into the stadium to celebrate wildly until the stadium security came to stop them. And in the whole of Great Britain, countless fans indulged themselves that night, causing beer sales in various bars to rise sharply.

For the English, football is an indispensable part of their lives. They will be excited or sad for the success or failure of the team. This is England and this is European football.

At the press conference after the game, Eriksson brought Rooney, Gerrard and Wang Li to attend. This time was different from the press conference of the previous game. Eriksson was in a very good mood without the pressure of the group stage. As a winner and the first head coach to lead a team to qualify for the knockout stage, he fully demonstrated his confidence in the team and respect for his opponents. Before the reporter asked questions, he took the lead in praising the Swiss team, "The Swiss team is very strong. The reason why we were able to win was that the game was played too smoothly. Mr. Jacob Kuhn is a respected predecessor. I still need to learn from him."

Since entering the coaching industry, Jakob Kuhn has been coaching in the lower leagues in Switzerland. It was only in the past two years that he entered the Swiss Super League. He also became the first local coach of the Swiss national team. However, this achievement is far from that of Eriksen. You know, Eriksen has become the head coach of the England national team and is 18 years younger than him.

"Before the start of the European Cup, the England team trained for more than a week and took part in two warm-up matches. We made sufficient preparations. The team is in good shape now, and fortunately, the substitute players have performed very well too. We are confident of achieving better results." After saying this, Eriksen took a sip of the mineral water and waited for the reporter to continue asking questions.

"Mr. Eriksson, can you comment on the performance of the two young forwards? It is said that the English media calls Rooney and Allen the twin stars of England. What do you think about this? In the next game, will Allen Wang still be able to start? You know, he scored two goals in 20 minutes."

This question touched Eriksson's heart. In his opinion, the bold choice of 17-year-old Rooney last year and 17-year-old Wang Li this year were his wisest decisions in the England national team. He smiled and replied, "I am very satisfied with their performance. Their outstanding performance has greatly enhanced the England team's offensive ability. Whether they can start or not depends on their performance in normal training. My team will not have a situation where they perform well but cannot play. For example, Wayne started last year."

These reporters asked for a long time, and although the cunning Eriksen said a lot, in fact, there was no point at all. To sum it up in one sentence: I am very satisfied with the victory of the game, I am also very satisfied with the good performance, but I am not sure whether I can start the game. He was simply trying to fool the reporters.

Seeing this, the reporters lost confidence in getting news from him, and immediately turned their attention to Rooney, Wang Li and Gerrard, who scored today. However, Gerrard was treated coldly compared to the other two, because as an old man in the England team, he had no explosive news to dig up. But Gerrard didn't care about these, he had already passed the stage of Wang Li and Rooney, and for him now, the team's victory and honors were the most important.

On the contrary, Wang Li ran into trouble because these reporters seemed to have lost interest in the competition and instead began to care about his personal issues. Their topic kept on the relationship between him and the little princess Angela. There was even a tabloid reporter who heard the news from somewhere and asked about his agent Rita, which made Wang Li a little overwhelmed.

However, he did not lose his composure. Although he was panicking inside, he looked nonchalant and answered politely. If his ambiguous relationship with Rita was reported in the newspapers, he could not imagine what would happen when Angela got the news. He had no experience in this area.

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After two rounds of group matches, the situation in Group B has become clearer. England is certain to appear as the first in the group because in the match that just ended, the tragic defending champion France drew 2:2 with Croatia and only scored one point. With the advantage of the number of goals, they are ranked third in the group ahead of Switzerland. They may win the next game, but whether they can appear depends on the mood of the England team, which makes everyone in the England team happier.

As for Wang Li himself, he has become a hot figure in the football field recently. He scored two goals in 23 minutes and ranked first in the scorer list. The first goal was the goal that decided the game. This made his fame soar and many local Benfica fans knew his name. This made Rita's work even busier. Now she has no time to go sightseeing and have fun with the members of the wives' group. Various companies have come to her, and even leading sports brands such as Nike and Adidas have been "harassing" her every day, wanting to sign a contract with Wang Li.

The competition between the two companies is very fierce. They both want to be the first to sign Wang Li, a potential stock, but the cunning Rita always refuses. She is very clear about Wang Li's potential. If he can continue to perform well, after this European Cup, she will definitely be able to take advantage of Wang Li's skyrocketing value after this European Cup and get a big contract that she had never dared to imagine before.

However, Wang Li was indifferent to this. Although the more money the better, he believed that Rita would arrange everything. This woman, who was very sensitive in business, would do a good job for her own benefit.

The thing that made him happiest recently was that Eriksson announced the roster for the next game against Croatia. Among them, the usual substitutes such as Vassell, Wang Libridge and Phil Neville were on the list, while Owen, Beckham and other players were excluded from the roster.

It seems that the Swede intends to use this unimportant game to train his troops, which means that Wang Li will get the chance to start in the next game.

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