legendary player [football]

During the halftime break, the players returned to the locker room one after another. Everyone sat in front of the cabinet marked with their jersey number and no one spoke.The atmosphere was awkward for a while, until Deschamps walked in from the outside.

"I didn't have the one-sided advantage you expected, but I was beaten by the Irish team. How do you feel now?"

Another awkward silence.

Deschamps glanced at the superstars from the giants one by one. In the club, they all have thighs. When they return to the national team, they are waiting for others to stand up and lead the rhythm.He turned and fiddled with the tactical board.

The assistant coach announced the statistics of the first half to everyone. From the perspective of ball possession time, the French team has a ball possession rate of 68, but the number of passes is only 518. Pogba ranks first with 66 passes and 58 successes. One, Leo made 58 passes, followed closely by 56 successes.The latter time was Griezmann, Payette and Koscielny.

This shows what shows that the French team has the ball but can't control the scene.Pogba is now the absolute core of the field, but his personal desire for performance is too strong, and the core value cannot be reflected at all in the data.

Whether it is Matuidi or Leo in the starting lineup, judging from the three games in the group stage, the French team is not suitable for the 433 formation at all. Several narrow victories were played 4231 after substitutions to open up the situation on the court. However, Germany Shang is so stubborn that it makes people hate him. People who know football say every day that 433 is not good, but he wants to prove to you that it is really not good.

On the right of Leo sits No. 9 Giroud. Da Giroud tilted his head and whispered to him: "Actually, I think we played well in the last few minutes."

Leo also replied to him: "The characteristics of the Irish players are very specific to us."

When Deschamps turned his head, he happened to see them whispering to each other, so he named Leo and asked him to talk about his views on the game.

Although classmate Leo doesn't like to talk, it doesn't mean he has no ideas. He knows Deschamps prefers the 433 formation, but he still speaks out his thoughts: "The two full-backs from Ireland, Bugatti on the 18th and McLean on the 11th. He is tall, strong, and fast, which has a great impact on our two sides. I suggest changing formations and playing 4231, which can protect the two sides to a certain extent and reduce bacary Sarnia and Patrice. Fora's pressure gave them the opportunity to go forward and make an assist."

Evra and Sarnia, one is 35 years old and the other is 33 years old. In fact, what Leo means is that they played all three group matches, and they are both over 30 years old. Amazing collision of two lads.But he can't be too straightforward. The twilight of a hero always makes people sad. No one can accept that they are getting old. Besides, the veteran is still working hard on the field. It seems that the defense of the French team has indeed reached its limit. The point where people are available depends on Koscielny alone.

Leo thought for a while, and then said: "Maybe, I can exchange positions with Diitrie Payette, and he can play a greater role on the wing."

In fact, what Leo meant was not to say that Payette was more suitable for the wing position than himself. He was fast, delicate in technique, strong in breakthrough ability, and had a good cross.He just thinks that Payette's position in the front midfielder is not ideal. Judging from the pass data in the first half, he was completely restricted by the opponent and did not show organizational ability at all.

Although Leo himself prefers to stay on the front line, he has and Pogba.Martial has the same mentality, advocating offense and dislikes defense.But for the sake of the team's overall situation, he is willing to sacrifice part of the offense to become the team's brain and effectively organize offense and defense.This may be the most essential difference between him and other young players, his strong self-discipline and team spirit.

Isn't this what Zidane did in the French team more than ten years ago? I have to say that Leo's idea is very good, but he is not sure whether he has such ability now.But he has to try anyway, and if he doesn't stand up and take on this responsibility, the hosts will be eliminated by underdogs at home.

Deschamps nodded, turned around and gesticulated on the tactical board to detail the dispatch of the second half to everyone and clarify their responsibilities.Pogba needs to strengthen defense, Griezmann and Payette increase off-ball running, Rami reduces his food, and Kanter sticks tighter

Finally, when the players stood up and walked outside the locker room, Didier Deschamps added: "Less long passes, try to organize the offense through the midfield, and let Leo get the ball more."

This is undoubtedly the coach's greatest trust in his players, especially in the star-studded French team. After all, Pogba is still sitting there. He is Manchester United who spent 1 million euros and waited for the transfer door to open in July to bring them back to Manchester. superstar.

When he walked out of the player tunnel, Leo felt someone pat him on the shoulder behind him. Looking back, Kanter smiled at him with his big white teeth.

There was a huge disparity in height between the two of them, and Leo had to lower his head to see him.Kanter is an honest man, sincerity in the eyes of an honest man will not lie.

Although Kanter didn't say anything, Leo understood what he meant. The beast who helped Leicester City win the Premier League championship in history probably wanted to say: "Don't worry about your back, I will do all the dirty work." .”

The adjustment of the formation obviously made the French team, which was sluggish in the first half, take on a new look. Pogba received a pass from Sagna shortly after the opening and completed a shot, but was blocked by the opponent's defensive player and failed to pose a threat.

Ireland was obviously suppressed by the French team. For a long time, the ball almost didn't even have a chance to pass the center line. Even if it did, it was controlled at the feet of the French players.Kanter, Koscielny, and Rami will pass to the midfield to find him as soon as they get the ball.

In the 3rd minute of the opening game, after Leo received a pass from Kanter with his back on the left, an Irish player intercepted him head-on. is on.This action was very dangerous, and the fans in the nearby stands let out a burst of exclamation.

But Leo's super dynamic vision and muscle control once again played a key role. He immediately pulled the ball back with his right foot, supported it with his left foot, and turned 360 degrees.The Irish player looked around in confusion, as if he didn't quite understand how the opponent disappeared from his eyes.

Ireland's defense in its own half is very good. As long as the French team has the ball, two or three players must come up to outflank it.After Leo got away, he didn't dare to stick the ball, so he immediately gave it to Payette. The moment the latter got the ball, two players of the Irish team wanted to close the door, but Payette was faster. In desperation, the opponent had no choice but to drag him fall.

The French team won a free kick in the front court. After a brief discussion, Payette stood in front of the penalty spot.The Irish team's positions in the penalty area are particularly dense, and their physical fitness has an advantage.Leo and Giroud were grabbing points in front of the goal, and at the same time gestured for their opponents to outflank the back point.

When Payette's free kick was passed, all the defenders thought that Leo or Giroud was going to head the goal directly. When all the attention was attracted by the two, Leo lightly rubbed the back of his head. Passing the ball to the back point, Koscielny dived to the top from a small angle but missed the goal frame under the interference of the opponent's defensive player.

This time the indirect free kick team cooperated quite tacitly, and the outflanking in front of the goal was also very layered. Some of Leo's careful thinking on the field was also supported and implemented by his teammates. As a newcomer, this made him feel a little flattered.

In the eyes of some media and fans, Zidane still has a dominant influence on French football ten years after his retirement. Leo can dominate many superstars and seniors of the French team on the field. Not a single goal.This overshadows Martial and Koeman, who are similar in age but more famous than him, and both play for European giants.

The second half lasted more than ten minutes. Although the French team had an absolute advantage in terms of situation and statistics, they failed to score.Ireland were increasingly conservative in front of the hosts, in stark contrast to their heroic performance in the first half.They no longer played against the French team, but set up a bus, and the offense drove straight to the frontcourt.Their high-impact physical fitness began to become fragile, and even a small bump could fall to the ground. Leo and Kante received a yellow card one after another. The game was repeatedly suspended due to the Irish player's injury treatment.

This delay of play attracted the dissatisfaction of the French fans present, who expressed their protest with boos.But the game is like this, especially in the knockout stage of a major competition like the European Cup, every team has tried every means to win.Looking at it from another perspective, Irish fans still think that the host's actions are too dirty and fouled intentionally.

The turning point came in the 60th minute of the game. The two crosses of the French team were destroyed by Ireland. Payette passed the ball back from the front of the penalty area. He and Koscielny made a mistake in the cooperation. K6 failed to get the ball. The ball almost went out of the touchline in the backcourt of the French team.

Leo was not impatient at all, and organized the attack again very patiently. He handed the ball to Pogba, who got the ball and stuffed it straight into the penalty area. After Griezmann got the ball, he was surrounded by three Irish defenders. Clipping, he had to pass the ball back to Payette after trying to turn to no avail.

Because Griezmann supported into the penalty area, leaving a large open area on the right, Leo quickly moved to the side after passing the ball, and there was no one guarding him at this time.Payette's vision is fairly wide, and he immediately distributes the ball to the right.

Leo has already observed the situation in the penalty area when receiving a pass from his teammates. As a standing center, Giroud is not as good as Benzema in front of the goal, but his physical condition and impact are naturally top in the world.The high-altitude ball passed from the wing, everyone would naturally think that it would be passed to the front point where Giroud was standing, so several Irish defenders surrounded Giroud by coincidence.

However, without hindrance or interference, Leo, who kicked off calmly, sent the ball accurately behind Giroud and in front of Griezmann.Xiaoge jumped up in the air and headed the ball far away from the goal, beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.

For this ball, Leo's passing route was regarded as excellent. Giroud attracted the opponent's three defensive players to press Ireland's defense towards the goal, while Griezmann stood almost unguarded near the penalty spot.The tacit cooperation between the two good friends from La Liga helped the French team equalize the score.

After scoring the goal, Griezmann pushed away Pogba and Payette who rushed forward to celebrate with him, and rushed straight to Leo, threw himself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Leo was hugged too tightly by him, a little out of breath, patted the back of his head, and said softly: "Calm down, this is just the beginning."