Chapter 564 Beckham's Yellow Card
July 6th, Allianz Arena, Munich.
The stadium was already packed with fans. This match might be considered an unusual one for the England team. In previous matches, England fans always had an absolute advantage, but this match was different, as there were more French fans at the scene.
Before the game, FIFA's ticket allocation plan allocated more than 20,000 tickets to both French and English fans. But in reality, the day before the game, many French fans bought up tickets from neutral fans at high prices, which resulted in more French fans than English fans, a number that reached several thousand or even more.
French fans are going crazy!
The most important reason is that the French team is likely to lose this game. This reason has attracted more French fans, which seems strange, but in fact, most French fans came to watch the game just for Zidane.
Zinedine Zidane!
Zidane's football career is simply difficult to describe with the word "legend". On the pitch, Zidane's skills are extraordinary, and off the pitch, Zidane is also an outstanding person. Zidane has performed well in both aspects. In his 18-year professional career, he truly set the standard for contemporary fans of a truly excellent player.
Throughout Europe, if you mention La-Castellane, many people will subconsciously tell you that it is a concentration camp for hooligans, thieves and liars. But now, people will add a sentence behind this sentence - there is also the king of football.
La-Castellane, located in the suburbs of Marseille, is a famous North African immigrant settlement in France. In the 1960s, when Zidane's father, Smolyan, an Algerian Arab from a remote mountain village in Algeria, moved here, he had no idea that his son would go out into the world from here and become the pride of the entire French football.
Growing up in the dusty streets of Marseille, Zidane fully unleashed his talent. The poor life did not suppress his love of football, but made him remain humble and simple after becoming famous. Although he was born in Marseille, Zidane never played a game for Marseille. Before he was brought to Italy by Juventus for 3 million euros, he played for Cannes and Bordeaux.
In 2001, Zidane, who had become a world football artist, was brought to Spain by the Spanish giants Real Madrid for a then world record fee of 64 million pounds.
There, he and a large number of world-class players - Ronaldo, Carlos, Figo, Beckham, Owen and Raul - presented fans with one wonderful game after another.
The most memorable club match in Zidane's career was the 2002 European Cup final, in which Zidane scored a breathtaking half-turn volley against Leverkusen to help Real Madrid win the European Championship. This shot was affectionately called "Fairy from the Sky" by Real Madrid fans.
Zidane himself completed the coronation ceremony of the modern football emperor.
In the hearts of French fans today, Zidane's status far exceeds Platini. He is the most outstanding representative player of contemporary French football, no doubt about it!
Zidane is the pride of the entire French football!
Before the game, Zidane announced that he would retire after the World Cup. He would not only withdraw from the French national team, but also from all competitions and retire completely.
This news is very shocking.
Although Zidane is 34 years old this year, and all fans know that Zidane is old, his condition is still very stable. Whether in Real Madrid or in the French national team, Zidane's performance is very good. At the age of 34, he can still firmly hold his position in the national team and Real Madrid. This is evident.
However, now Zidane has announced that he will retire after the World Cup, which has caused an uproar among fans.
French fans, in particular, cannot believe that such a leading figure in French football is about to retire. Now that the French team is facing England, more media and fans believe that the French team will be the loser, so this game is likely to be Zidane's last game.
The significance of this can be imagined, which is why so many French fans came to watch this game.
Wang Li and Beckham both felt a little regretful about this. No matter what, the relationship between Zidane and them was still good, but now they were opponents on the court, and Zidane's last game might really end in their hands.
In the last game of a professional league career, losing may not be a big deal, the key is to lose brilliantly and magnificently. So at the press conference before the game, Wang Li and Beckham complimented Zidane, praised his performance at Real Madrid, affirmed Zidane's contribution to European football and all the achievements he has made, and declared that although the relationship between the two was good, they would definitely work hard to win.
Zidane was very grateful for such remarks.
In fact, the one who felt the deepest was of course Zidane himself. After nearly 20 years of football career, it is absolutely impossible to say that Zidane could have the heart to retire directly without any nostalgia.
However, a game is a game and it is impossible for it to be terminated directly because of Zidane's retirement match.
When the two teams stood together in the player tunnel, Zidane also expressed his gratitude to Wang Li and Beckham. No matter what, Zidane knew in his heart that what these two people did was for him and was completely well-intentioned.
"However, you may lose the game, and I am afraid I still have a chance to play in the next final!" Zidane joked.
Wang Li and Beckham both smiled and shook their heads.
It's not just the media that has confidence in the England team. In fact, England fans are even more confident about the game. Even without Wang Li, the strength of England's lineup in other positions is not worse than that of the French team. What's more important is that the average age of the French team is too high. Their starting players are all around 30 years old. Facing this team full of "old and weak" players, England is full of confidence.
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Even if they beat Brazil, so what? It's just that Brazil played badly.
This is not a direct statement. In fact, in the last match between France and Brazil, Brazil's performance was indeed not very good. It was normal for them to fall in the quarterfinals. Even if England met such a Brazilian team, it would not be difficult to win.
And more importantly, when Wang Li participates in the game, the England players are always full of confidence. They believe that England will be the final winner.
However, even though they thought so, at least in the player tunnel, the atmosphere between the two teams was quite harmonious. Many of them knew each other and had met each other more than once or twice, so the player tunnel seemed to have become a place for the two teams to reminisce about the past. It seemed as if they were old friends who came here to reminisce about the past rather than to play in the World Cup semi-finals.
However, when the two teams walked out of the tunnel, no one spoke to the other team again. From that moment on, they became absolute opponents and were about to engage in an absolute contest of "either you die or I die".
While the players from both teams were entering the field, the on-site commentator began to introduce the starting lineups of the two teams.
The French team used a 451 formation, with Arsenal's top scorer Henry at the front. The five midfielders were Dorasu, Vieira, Zidane, Makelele and Franck Ribery. The defenders were Silvestre, William Gallas, Thuram and Sagnol, and the goalkeeper was Barthez.
In this lineup, the midfield and backcourt are almost all veterans, and the only highlight worth mentioning is winger Franck Ribery. This strange-looking scarred boy was worth only 1 million euros before the opening of the World Cup, and the media predicted that the Marseille winger's value would increase by at least 1,500% to 15 million euros after the World Cup.
It is said that many clubs are very interested in Ribery recently. With the progress of the World Cup in Germany, Ribery has become a rising star of the new generation in France.
The England team still has a solid 442 formation. Since Rooney was suspended in the last game, the frontcourt combination became Harrison and Michael Owen. The midfielders were Beckham, Wang Li, Gerrard and Joe Cole. The defenders were Gary Neville, John Terry, Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole.
After the on-site commentator introduced the starting lineups of the two teams, the game was about to begin. With the referee's whistle, Harrison kicked the ball to Irving and went straight to the frontcourt, which also opened the curtain of the game.
I have to say that the media's evaluation of the French team is still very correct, at least the England players who are attacking feel this way.
The French team now lacks a kind of vitality. After the English team used short passes to attack the French team's hinterland, the French team's midfielders and backfielders ran very little and did not chase the ball after being passed. This kind of game state and fighting spirit gave people a feeling of twilight. This greatly increased the confidence of the English players in the game.
But in reality, it is not easy for England's offense to get shooting opportunities.
Although the French players seem to be in their twilight years, Domenech has his reasons for trusting these veterans. The French team has been able to hold on until now and directly reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, which must be due to their abilities.
The biggest advantage of the French team is that their players have so much experience in major competitions.
In the midfield, there is no need to say much about generals like Zidane and Makelele. These two players have even won several European Champions League titles. Their game experience means that even if they put in 50% of their effort, they are much better than many people with the same skills who put in 100% of their effort.
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More importantly, both of them are world-class players. Whether it is Zidane's skills or Makelele's ferocity, they are unique in the world.
As for Vieira?
He is definitely one of the best defensive midfielders in the world today. Vieira has excellent physical fitness, superb confrontation ability, flexibility and good footwork, and is a nearly perfect defensive midfielder.
With three of these world-class midfielders standing in the French team's midfield, one can imagine how difficult it is for England to attack.
Considering the rich experience of several veterans in the French backcourt, it is not easy for England to use the British "rough play" tactics to penetrate the French team's defense.
Therefore, before the game started for long, the English players consciously changed their tactics. Under the leadership of Wang Li, they reduced the short passes in the frontcourt and appropriately increased the long passes and lobs towards the penalty area.
In other words, they went from a seemingly technical team to going straight back to England’s inherent style of play.
Perhaps only Wang Li has the reputation for making such on-the-spot tactical changes, making all the players on the field obey his commands. Even David Beckham cannot do this, because many people in the team are not completely convinced of Beckham, but they are absolutely convinced of Wang Li, because whether it is club games or national team, Wang Li's number of goals is too many, so many that they can't even look back at him.
Faced with a player they can only look up to, they will never choose to obey.
This tactical change made it difficult for the French team to follow. Just now, the English team was still playing short passes to penetrate, but was intercepted by the French team again and again. However, after several waves of attacks, England's attacking style changed fundamentally, and they began to seek attacks from both wings to the center.
At this time, Wang Li also rushed into the penalty area.
It seems that England wants to use a method similar to long passes to completely defeat the French team. They use different tactics according to the team they meet. Facing the French team with strong backfield interception ability, short passes are not a good choice.
Before the French team had adapted to this tactical change, the English team had already seized the opportunity to strike first.
In the 14th minute of the game, Beckham was dribbling the ball on the right. When Makelele rushed over to intercept him, Beckham did not stick to the ball, but directly kicked the ball to the right.
A large-scale transfer!
"Beautiful!" the commentator almost blurted out.
As he said this, the football fell directly at Joe Cole's feet on the left.
Seeing this pass, England coach McLaren in the coaching booth was completely relieved. Before the game, he had been worried about Beckham's condition, because in the match against Portugal, Beckham's condition was not very good. Many media gave Beckham a pitiful score of only 5 points after the game.
This is almost the lowest score for both teams.
McClaren didn't want Beckham to play in this game, but for the England team, Beckham played a very important role, especially when he was in good shape, his long passes would bring great benefits to the team's offense.
Therefore, McLaren thinks that Beckham should be given some time to see his condition.
If it really doesn't work, then it won't be too late to replace him.
Now that Beckham has shown his form, McLaren is relieved.
But the game on the field would not end because of a beautiful pass. After receiving the pass from Beckham, Joe Cole stopped the ball, cut inside and shook off Sylvester, then kicked the ball into the penalty area.
Harrison found the spot, ran over and shot directly!
Unfortunately, French goalkeeper Barthes was in good shape, and the veteran dived and threw the ball back into the penalty area. But it didn't matter, Wang Li had already walked to the ball with a light step, and then sent the ball into the net with a light low shot.
The English fans in the Allianz Arena went completely crazy. After seeing Wang Li's goal, almost all of them stood up from their seats and clapped their hands to cheer for the goal. Many French fans kept booing to resist the cheers of the English fans.
However, for the players on the field, the game had just begun, and even Wang Li, who scored the goal, did not feel much.
Both sides tacitly placed the ball in the center circle, and with the referee's signal, the game started again.
Perhaps Wang Li's goal had some impact on the French team, and they began to automatically strengthen their attack.
In this game, the French team actually played a defensive counterattack tactic. Domenech was not arrogant enough to think that the French team's offensive ability could be compared with England. It is unrealistic to win by playing offensive football.
However, the characteristic of the French team's defensive counterattack is that it is very stable. Compared with the French team two years ago, the current French team looks more stable.
In this stability, the French team has a bit of activity, and this person is Franck Ribery on the wing.
Now watching the match between England and France, if you are a neutral fan, you will definitely choose to support England, because England's offensive football is obviously more beautiful.
If he is a French fan, he will support the French team, but he will definitely be dissatisfied with the performance of other players on the French team. Then, he will find a bright spot in the French team's offense - Franck Ribery!
In the French team's counterattack, perhaps only Franck Ribery's performance was the most outstanding, because he often launched offensive storms on the wing, and his dribbling always caused shouts from the French fans in the stadium. His skills were outstanding.
At least on this point, Beckham can only feel ashamed of himself. From the beginning of the game to now, this world-wide "heartthrob" has been fooled by Ribery countless times.
This may have greatly satisfied Ribery's pleasure.
Ribery seemed to have become addicted to the pleasure of abusing Beckham. As a result, when he tried to dribble past Beckham for the nth time, he was tackled to the ground by the latter.
Without a doubt, this is a yellow card!
However, Beckham also breathed a sigh of relief. As a superstar who was the focus of the whole world, he could no longer tolerate being fooled by such an unknown little player so many times.