Godfather of national football

Chapter 588 Battle against Portugal ([-])

Fernando Santos looked at his watch. It was already 80 minutes, and it had been 10 minutes since he changed to No. 5. The score was still 1-3.

To relieve tension, Fernando Santos had been drinking water, but his trembling hands holding the water bottle were caught on camera.

The vibrating appearance of the water bottle made many people feel sorry for the old coach, but this is football. In 2002, the European champion France returned home from the group stage, and the head coach immediately changed from a European Cup hero to a national sinner.

Football still speaks with strength, and losers are not entitled to sympathy. At the same time, the live director showed Li Guo the camera, and the two formed a sharp contrast.

Li Guo was chewing gum, chatting happily with his assistant Chen An.

Since Li Guo led the team in 2007, the Chinese team has not performed well in the first game of the competition. Two years ago, the first game of the Copa America was lost. This is the first time that the Chinese team has won the first game of the competition, and it has won two.

Of course, the game is not over yet, maybe the Chinese team will score, maybe Portugal has not given up.

There was a commotion at the scene, what happened?
Li Guo turned his head and saw that the bandaged Ronaldo limped back to the field. He heard that the team fell behind 1-3, so he would come back to help the team no matter what.

"Don't give up, think about the European Cup, how difficult it is for us, in the third game of the group stage, we were almost eliminated,"

"There is still the final, Edel, by the way, you saved us."

"Cristiano, stop shouting, the pitch is too loud for them to hear," said the coach.

Ronaldo is like a child, he is anxious, there are still 10 minutes, plus injury time, if the offensive efficiency is higher, maybe it can be miraculously equalized.

The Portuguese players on the field also saw Ronaldo limping back. In the European Cup, Ronaldo fought side by side with everyone on the sidelines with his broken leg.

Li Guo stood up suddenly, he knew what Ronaldo wanted to do, that was to play the trick of underdogs winning, standing pitifully on the sidelines, if the Portuguese players on the court gritted their teeth and tried their best, it would be difficult for the Chinese team.

Li Guo pointed to Ronaldo at the fourth official, "I remember Portugal has only one head coach, who is this?"

As soon as this remark came out, half of the players on the Portuguese bench rushed out. Li Guo was clearly provoking trouble.

Unexpectedly, only one person rushed out from the Chinese team, and that was Ji Ke, who stood behind Li Guo.

The fourth official stood in the middle, signaling to both of you not to cause trouble for me. He specifically told Li Guo, "I know you like to make trouble, but I hope you don't participate in this game, otherwise I can guarantee that the consequences will be serious."

Li Guo raised his hands horizontally, meaning that I will definitely not cause trouble.

But being played by Li Guo like this, Ronaldo was also disgusted, and he felt uncomfortable. What was originally a bitter drama turned into a palace fighting drama.

Ronaldo returned to the bench and sat down.

Fernando Santos stretched out three fingers on his left hand and four fingers on his right hand. The formation on the field became 343, and a person rushed forward from the back line. This person was Pepe.

Now Portugal is smashed by Pepe and Edel's double center.For the Chinese team, Zhou Dun also retreated to the back line. This is the cruelty of the cup game. Every game is a life-and-death battle. You have to work hard, and the opponent has to fight you.

"Portugal won a corner kick," Liu Jianhong said, and at the same time, the fourth official also raised the sign for injury time, which was 4 minutes.

Li Guo was so nervous that he kept pacing on the sidelines in stoppage time. In the history of football, there are too many stories about stoppage time.

In the Nou Camp in 1999, Manchester United reversed Bayern with 2 goals in stoppage time. In 2014, Real Madrid evened the score in stoppage time in the Champions League, and finally reversed in overtime.

Goalkeeper Patricio also rushed up, the penalty area was full of people, and Nani went to the corner flag area to prepare for this corner kick.

Nani held up two fingers, which means the second tactic. The arc of the ball was very large. When it reached the penalty area, Pepe and Zhou Dun were fighting for points. In the end, they touched the ball almost at the same time, and the ball flew out of the baseline.

Pepe ran back quickly, there was nothing behind Portugal, and even the goalkeeper came up, just when Wang Dalei was about to kick the goal kick, the referee listened to the assistant referee's opinion, the ball was Zhou Dun's last touch, that is to say, Portugal continued to take the corner kick.

Nani ran to the other side to take a corner kick, and Ronaldo stood on the sidelines again, "Come on, score one."

Nani looked at the middle and took a deep breath. This time Nani kicked the ball high, the ball turned very fast, and the arc was very large.

Among the crowd, there was a burly man jumping high. He was Fonte, the tallest in Portugal, and he headed the ball to the back point.

Generally, there are small people next to the goalposts. At this time, Mu Fei of the Chinese team and Portuguese left back Guerrero are standing next to the goalposts.

Guerrero stretched out his foot before Mu Fei and hit the ball into the goal. The ball went in?
The reason for the doubt is that the players of the Chinese team are protesting, because Mu Fei and Guerrero are foot-to-foot, and this ball can be regarded as a pedaling foul by Guerrero.

At this time, it depends on how the referee decides.

Liu Jianhong watched the replay, "This is definitely pedaling, this is a foul."

But in the end the referee ruled that the goal was valid, and Portugal pulled one back, 2-3.

The audience burst into cheers, Ronaldo looked at the time, there is 1 minute and 30 seconds left, will a miracle happen?

The Chinese team did not go to argue with the referee. Anyway, after the kick-off, the ball belongs to the Chinese team. As long as the ball is not lost, there is not much time left.

Chen Gelin kicked off the ball in the middle circle and handed the ball to Qu Bo. After Qu Bo took the ball, he ran to the sideline. The Portuguese players immediately understood what the Chinese players wanted to do, which was to go to the corner flag to protect the ball and waste time.

This trick is a bit mean, but it works, and it is usually used in the last moments of the game.

Qu Bo faced the corner flag and protected the ball. Cedric and Carvalho flanked each other. Qu Bo bowed to protect the ball. He must not lose it.

Cedric pushed, and Carvalho cut the ball away, but at the same time, the referee’s whistle blew, and Carvalho kicked the ball away angrily, and received a yellow card. Carvalho knew that there was no chance. The Chinese team won a free kick.

Sure enough, Zhou Dun and Chen Gelin came to take a free kick, Chen Gelin pushed it, and then Zhou Dun bowed to protect it.

The audience booed everywhere, the Chinese team was too rascal, and the Portuguese fans were particularly angry. Ronaldo on the sidelines didn't think so. He could only say that the Chinese team was too old-fashioned.

The referee whistled three times, and the game was over. The Chinese team won the first match of the World Cup. After the game, Li Guo raised his head to the sky and screamed.

(End of this chapter)