Chapter 157 Substitute
In the first half of the game, although the situation seemed a bit passive, England actually had no fewer chances to score than the opponent, so during the halftime break, Eriksson did not make any additional tactical arrangements. He just asked Phil Neville to replace the physically exhausted veteran Scholes to play as left back.
In the England team, physical fitness is indeed a serious problem. Due to the intensive league matches, the players generally feel tired in international matches. In the locker room, even Rooney, who is full of energy, was panting and sitting on the chair with his head down, slowly recovering his strength. This is a clear example.
"The only problem we have to solve now is that we must try to recover our strength as soon as possible. After playing 90 minutes against Croatia, the players need to recover. This is the most important thing because we have one day less time to recover than Portugal." Eriksson said a little worriedly when interviewed by reporters before the game. This was also one of the important reasons why he sent all substitute players to play in the last game of the group stage.
But to Wang Li's disappointment, Eriksson just glanced at him but still did not choose to let him play in the game.
Fifteen minutes passed quickly, and Wang Li returned to the court with his teammates. Of course, he had to walk to the bench sadly and continue to sit quietly.
"Alan, the boss is really stubborn and refuses to let you play. You should go and talk to him. I think Michael and Saul can't run anymore. This is all for the team to achieve better results!" Bridget muttered as soon as he sat on the bench.
Wang Li rolled his eyes. He knew that Bridget was thick-skinned, but he didn't expect him to be so thick-skinned. He clearly wanted to play, but he wanted to use himself as a gun. "I don't have any hope of playing."
"Can you bear to watch the team fall into a passive position?" Bridge shouted subconsciously, causing the other players on the bench to look over here. Even Eriksen turned his head to take a look. He immediately lowered his head and whispered, "Look at the female fan over there, how pitiful she is!" As he said that, he pointed towards the north stand.
Wang Li turned around and gave a bitter smile. Although he didn't care about these female fans, they came to cheer for him anyway. But he didn't even have a chance to play, which made him feel depressed to some extent.
However, he would not go to the stubborn Swede for this, because that would definitely not lead to any good results.
At this time, Portugal completed another attack on the field. This time, the shooter was captain Luis Figo. He shot low with his right foot from 26 meters in front of the goal. James made a desperate save and the ball rolled out of the baseline. In Wang Li's opinion, the shot was very accurate and powerful, and went straight to the left corner of the goal. However, the "nervous knife" James seemed to be in good shape today. He had saved two goals that Portugal must have scored. If he keeps this level, his reputation may be on par with Kahn and Buffon.
At this time, a puzzling scene appeared. The fourth official on the sidelines raised the substitution card, and Figo, who had performed well, was replaced by Postiga. It seemed that Scolari was still somewhat dissatisfied with him.
Figo took off the captain's armband with a solemn expression and handed it to Gomez, then went straight out of the field from the baseline and walked out of the field with his head down. His somewhat lonely back seemed to be announcing the fall of another superstar!
Luis Figo!
This may be his last European Cup trip!
Looking at his back, Wang Li thought of himself at the same time, 'Will I be like this one day? ' He immediately laughed and said self-deprecatingly: 'I haven't reached that level yet! ' Yes, from the World Youth Championship to the World Footballer of the Year, Figo has received countless honors in his life, while Wang Li has almost never received any honors. This is the gap between stars and ordinary players.
"Alan, go warm up!" Just when Wang Li was still lost in thought, a majestic voice pulled him back. Warm up? That means you have a chance to play?
Wang Li looked at Erickson in surprise, and immediately replied: "Oh, oh, OK, boss!"
However, when he turned his head and looked in the direction of the stadium, his face immediately turned gloomy. In front of the Portugal team's goal, Rooney was lying on the ground with his hands on his knees and his eyes closed in pain. It was obvious that he was injured!
Relatively speaking, Wang Li hopes to get a chance to play with his own strength rather than his teammates getting injured!
Wayne Rooney is his best friend in the team. He doesn't want anything to happen to Rooney, even if it means he has to stay on the bench for the entire European Cup. In the eyes of a man of the Song Dynasty, friends are the ones who will stick by you at all times.
In the 67th minute of the game, England made a substitution. Wayne Rooney was injured and replaced by No. 21 Allen Wang!
Seeing Wang Li come on the field, the commentator immediately introduced: "The England team replaced No. 21 Alan Wang. According to the information, he is only 17 years and 135 days old. What is surprising is that he played for 71 minutes in three group matches and scored 4 goals. Now he is ranked first in the scorer list, surpassing Henry, Rooney and Zidane. This goal efficiency reminds us of Solskjaer of Manchester United, but he belongs to the England team!"
The English fans in the audience were a little depressed when they saw Rooney injured and left the field, but they became excited again when they saw Wang Li come on the field. Although this black-haired boy did not have much playing time and his physique was not outstanding, his goal efficiency was the highest. Moreover, in England, he and Rooney are both famous stars. Although it is a pity that we couldn't see the double star combination play together, the cooperation between him and golden boy Owen is also worth looking forward to!
Come on, Alan, you are the best!
Alan, come on, you are the most handsome!
Come on, Alan, we all love you!"
At this time, a burst of uniform female voices came from the east stand of the stadium. Everyone in the stadium was attracted by this special cheering. It turned out to be the female fans on the east stand of the stadium!
As soon as Wang Li stood on the sidelines, they immediately stood up with great enthusiasm, held up the "Allen, Allen, Kiss You!" stickers high in the air, and began to shout in unison. Seeing their orderly appearance, it was obvious that they had been rehearsing for a long time. It seemed that Wang Li's female fan group had begun to take shape and was likely to expand again.
Back on the court, Wang Li stood in Portugal's penalty area, but he was really not used to this center position. Not long after the game resumed, he unconsciously returned to the edge of the penalty area.
Seeing this, Eriksson outside the court frowned. In fact, he had already expected this situation to happen, that is, Wang Li and Owen's positions overlapped somewhat. Both of them played as shadow forwards. If Wang Li was to replace Rooney as center forward rashly, he would definitely not be able to adapt.
But after observing for these days, Eriksen also roughly knew Wang Li's characteristics: speed, long-range shooting and dribbling. These three abilities allowed him to perform well in the shadow striker position and he always had the opportunity to score goals.
On the other hand, Michael Owen is best at passing the ball, which means that he can only perform better when paired with a center.
The two have completely different technical characteristics, but they are both very suitable for the position of shadow striker, so every time Eriksen will let Wang Li replace Owen, but he would rather see these characteristics appear in one person, so that maybe he doesn't have to worry.
'Maybe if I stay in the England team for a few more years and wait for this kid on the field to grow up, I will have such a comprehensive shadow striker? ' This idea suddenly popped up in Eriksson's mind. Perhaps for these world-class coaches, having an almost perfect player under their command is what they are most happy to see, which will make them more comfortable and relaxed when formulating tactics.