Chapter 155: In memory of the fans who died

"Since 1961, England has won three games, drawn five games and lost one game against Portugal. It seems that they have a clear advantage, but in fact, the strength of the two teams has always been similar. Although Portugal has some disadvantages in the past, today, as the host team, with the support of local fans, they may be playing against England at home. Who will win or lose is very suspenseful, so let's pay attention to this afternoon's battle." - "News"

"Now the team is fully prepared, we are full of confidence and will work hard to win." - David Beckham.

"I have a lot of teammates in England, I hope they can go easy on the court! I am looking forward to this game, I hope Portugal can win, I will try my best. By the way, I don't know if England's Alan Wang can play, I am looking forward to playing against him again, you know, I lost last time, yes that's right, I lost to him, this time I must win back." - Cristiano Ronaldo.

"I just have to do what I am supposed to do. As for who wins or loses in the end, it depends on luck. Everything is possible in a football match, and I think the level of the two teams is about the same." - Scholes.

"David told me that if England won, he would treat our family to a vacation after the European Cup. Of course, I wouldn't be defeated by such a sugar-coated bullet, haha." - Luis Figo.

It can be seen that many players of the England and Portugal teams are very familiar with each other. They are either in the same team or are simply friends. Therefore, there was no conflict between the players before the game, but they just greeted each other cordially, which made the reporters who hoped to see "Mars hitting the Earth" extremely disappointed.

However, because of another incident, their attention was immediately diverted from here.

…………

At 10 o'clock in the morning, the England players drove into the Stadium of Light for pre-match warm-up.

In the group stage, most of the matches were held at 6 o'clock in the evening, but once entering the knockout stage, it attracted the attention of more fans around the world, so the focus battle in this quarter-final was scheduled at 2:30 in the afternoon, and the venue was the Luz Stadium.

"Everyone cheer up, we still have a game in the afternoon!" Captain Beckham shouted to his teammates after kicking the ball hard towards the goal.

"Okay, Captain!"

"We will win, for the fans!" Good old Scholes raised his right hand and shouted to the audience.

"Yeah! Come on!" Wang Li also joined in the fun, and with a 'dong', he kicked the ball directly into the net from the midfield, even though there was no goalkeeper there.

…

The England team's training ground was surprisingly quiet today, with a complete absence of the usual laughter and joy. Even Bridge, who always loved to joke, was jogging and doing some warm-up exercises on the side because they heard some infuriating news this morning.

"Yesterday, a fan was stabbed to death on a street near the Coibra Municipal Stadium. It is reported that the man was an English fan who went there to watch the match between Germany and the Czech Republic. On the way back to the hotel, he was ambushed by thugs. According to police investigation, the murderer is likely to be two German fans who were venting their anger after drinking. However, as of 5 o'clock this morning, there has been no progress in the case. The police are contacting the German side to try to jointly solve the case." - Express

Another fan became a victim of off-field violence, and he was an English fan. How could the England players be happy when they learned about this!

…………

"Now I'm going to announce the starting lineup for this game. Goalkeeper James, defenders Gary Neville, Terry, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, wingers David Beckham and Scholes, midfielders Lampard and Gerrard, forwards Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen." In the locker room, Eriksen finally announced the starting lineup for this game. Wang Li felt a little regretful that he still didn't start in this game.

"Don't worry about it. I don't even have a chance to be a substitute." Paul Robinson next to him looked at Wang Li's expression, patted his shoulder and comforted him.

"Thank you!" Wang Li turned around and smiled at him. What he said was true. His national team career had just begun. Even if he performed well, it would be impossible for him to gain the absolute trust of the head coach, let alone replace Rooney or Owen.

Wang Li turned around and looked at Bridge, Dyer, Butt and others. He felt that he was still very good in the team. At least he was the first substitute on the front line, wasn't he?

It has to be said that Wang Li has only been in this world for more than 10 months, but he has already learned a "great" self-protection ability - the Ah Q spirit. The vivid character created by Lu Xun has spread all over the world and is loved by the majority of losers.

Of course, this is just a joke. In fact, Eriksson wanted to let Wang Li start in this game. Against a technical team like Portugal, sending a technical striker like Wang Li might have unexpected results. However, considering the uncertainty of the situation and the coordination problems between Wang Li and his teammates, he finally chose Owen.

…………

At 2:10, each of the starting players of the two teams was accompanied by a ball boy. Since 1996, this has become a common practice in international A-level competitions. Children are innocent and pure, so the significance of doing this is to promote the purity and friendship of football.

"David, are you ready to lose today?" In the player tunnel, Fick, the captain of Portugal who plays for Real Madrid, walked towards Beckham and gave him a warm hug.

"I'm just trying to win a few so as not to embarrass you!"

Although the players of both teams did not say much in front of the media before the game, they still began to look each other in the player tunnel.

Wang Li was standing at the back of the team, happily chatting with Phil Neville beside him. At this moment, he felt a reckless gaze on his face. He turned around and saw that it was a Portuguese player with short spiky Moganshi hair and big eyes. It was Cristiano Ronaldo. Wang Li smiled at him and returned to chatting with Phil. He didn't want to waste time on "eye-to-eye". It was meaningless.

However, C. Ronaldo didn't think so. He felt that this black-haired boy looked down on him. He actually turned around and smiled, then turned away immediately. It seemed that he was being ignored?

'He's just a substitute. He may not even be qualified to play. What's the big deal?' Ronaldo turned his head away angrily, thinking.

…………

Following the signal from the fourth official, the main players of both teams, each leading a caddy, walked into the court.

As they entered the stadium, the cheers from the audience immediately became deafening. At this time, the stands were clearly divided. The east and south stands of the stadium were occupied by Portuguese fans, who occupied at least half of the space, while the west stands were occupied by English fans, who occupied only about 30% of the space, and the rest were all neutral fans.

However, what surprised most people was that every player of the England team wore a black veil on the field. After the live commentator shouted at the top of his lungs, they realized that this was to mourn an England fan who was unfortunately assassinated yesterday.

This approach of the England team won the hearts of more neutral fans, and many England fans at the scene were even more excited. Fans are full of emotions for their favorite team, and they certainly hope that the team will care more about themselves. Now the England team is wearing black veils to mourn the dead fans, which makes them feel a kind of excitement spreading in their bodies, making the shouts even more enthusiastic, and for a while the cheers even drowned out the east stand of the stadium.

Then the two teams stood in a row and the national anthem began to play. This was the only time in the entire game that the game was the most orderly. Almost everyone kept silent or sang along with the national anthem, so it sounded like there was only one voice in the entire stadium.

After completing these rituals, Beckham and Figo went to flip a coin to allocate the stadium and the right to kick off.

Finally, the England team got the right to choose sides, and the players ran to the east half, took their positions, and waited for the game to begin. The head coaches and substitutes of both teams were already sitting on the bench.

Wang Li sat there with several teammates, holding his chin with his hands and looking at the court. He hoped that time would pass quickly until he could play. He had really had enough of being on the bench.

…………

The referee of this match is Pierluigi Collina from Italy. This very famous bald referee is well-known all over the world. He is also very interested in this quarter-final, so he submitted an application himself to officiate this match.

“Beep…”

Hearing the whistle, C. Ronaldo kicked the ball to Gomez, announcing that the game that attracted the attention of the whole world had finally begun.

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