From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 625: The Highest Stage of Football

The World Cup final against France was held on the evening of July 7. This match attracted much attention, and both France and Portugal paid close attention to it. Many big names appeared in the stands, including the leader of the host country Russia.

The Luzhniki Stadium, which can accommodate 80,000 spectators, was completely full. In addition to a large number of fans from the host country Russia, there were also many fans from both Portugal and France.

The Portuguese media started hyping the final against France from the day the semi-finals ended. After all, Portugal is about to usher in a historic moment.

The French media was also not idle, with "revenge" being their key word. In the European Cup final two years ago, Portugal defeated France 3:1, preventing France from becoming the team with the most European Cup titles, along with Germany and Spain.

In this noisy external environment, the Portuguese national team focused on preparing for the game.

Santos is under less pressure now. Except for the people inside the team, no one knows that they regard the championship as the ultimate goal. The Portuguese Football Association once set a goal of reaching the semi-finals for the Portuguese team in Russia. The current Portuguese national team has already exceeded the goal, so for the outside news media and leaders, even if the Portuguese national team loses the final, Santos' position as coach will not be a problem.

In this last match, Santos can accept whatever the result is.

Of course, if we can beat France again and win the World Cup, that would undoubtedly be the perfect result!

After all, this is the highest tournament in world football. Who wouldn’t want to lift the World Cup?

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Every football player has a complex about winning the World Cup, and so does Santos. He never played in the World Cup when he was a player, but now as the head coach of the Portuguese national team, he hopes to lead the team to win the highest honor in football and make up for this regret.

Now it seems that he has a great opportunity because he has two superstars, Bruno and Ronaldo. After the test of major competitions in recent years, the Portuguese national team with Ronaldo and Bruno as the core can play a very strong strength, far exceeding the limit that this team should have.

Previously, European media described Bruno like this: "Some players need the cooperation of the whole team to perform well; some players seem unknown, but they can make their teammates around them perform well; and some players can not only perform well themselves, but also motivate their teammates to perform well. Bruno belongs to this third type of people."

Yes, this World Cup has proven this point very well.

Bruno not only performed well himself, but also led the Portuguese national team to perform at a very high level, defeating strong opponents and finally reaching the final.

Santos hopes to use the World Cup to lay the foundation for Portugal's status as a top football team in the world.

Although Portuguese football has always been regarded as a strong team in world football and an important force in world football, there is still a big gap between it and the giants.

With Portugal's surprise win at the European Championship two years ago, Portugal already has a certain foundation as a top club. If it wins the World Cup today, Portugal's status as a top club in football will be completely confirmed.

Such temptation is irresistible to any Portuguese football player.

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The coach always has to think further ahead than the players.

Bruno did not think about such long-term things. On the one hand, it was because his soul came from the East and he had not yet completely realized that he was a Portuguese. Even when he represented Portugal in the national team, he had a very awkward feeling every time he heard the Portuguese national anthem.

Bruno knew very well that it would be impossible for him to wear a jersey and hear the song he had been dreaming about in his lifetime.

Now he just wants to play well in this World Cup final.

It was his last game in this World Cup and he had to win.

At this moment, he was standing in the player tunnel, at the end of his team, with his teammates in front of him and enemies beside him.

Looking at Griezmann, the top player of the French team standing next to him, and listening to the thunderous cheers from the fans of both teams outside, Bruno clenched his fists, full of fighting spirit.

This is the highest honor in football, and Bruno doesn't want to go back empty-handed.

He always wins the championship in every final he participates in. This is "Bruno's Law", and he hopes that it will continue this time.

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The stadium outside was very noisy, but it was very quiet inside the corridor. Whether it was the Portuguese national team or the French team, everyone was in the game state, standing in the corridor, looking at the stadium outside the corridor, without saying a word.

Maybe he was looking forward to the game that was about to start.

Bruno could have exchanged a few words with Griezmann, as they both speak English, so communication was not a problem. But after the two of them greeted each other, there was no other exchange of words.

National team matches are different from club team matches. This is a game related to national honor. What's more, the Portuguese national team and the French team are sworn enemies. So there is no intimate pre-match greeting.

Both sides regarded each other as enemies and wished to eat their flesh and blood.

The referees came out of the locker room, walked straight to the front of the team, and said to the two captains, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lori: "Follow me."

The two captains turned around and shouted to their teammates: "Here we go! Follow us!"

The other players also shouted excitedly.

For a moment, French and Portuguese were heard one after another.

The corridor, which had been somewhat quiet just now, became lively. In such a warm atmosphere, the players from both sides walked out of the corridor and onto the court.

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The noise in the stands suddenly increased and reached a peak.

As Bruno walked out with the team holding the little player's hand, he heard huge cheers coming from outside. It was the fans of both sides welcoming their teams into the stadium.

Although this is the fourth time that Portugal has played in this stadium during this World Cup, and it is definitely the team that has played the most games in this stadium among the 32 teams, but today, everyone has a different feeling.

Bruno let go of the little player's hand, trotted a few steps, and jumped onto the stairs. The huge stands and green grass field appeared in front of him, and his vision suddenly became clear.

However, what is more eye-catching is not these, but the Hercules Trophy placed on a platform in the center line. The golden cup can reflect the surrounding media, the green stadium, the full stands, and of course the players of the two teams participating in the final.

Every Portuguese player who walked past the championship trophy couldn't help but take a look at this glittering golden trophy. Ronaldo even reached out and touched the trophy, then he turned around and smiled happily at Bruno.

Bruno didn't touch the trophy. He planned to wait until the game was over before touching, feeling and holding it openly to feel the trophy, no matter whether it was cold or hot.

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The young players around him kept looking at him, obviously curious about this Portuguese guy.

Bruno felt the curious gaze of the Russian boy, and he lowered his head and smiled at him.

The players of the two teams led their respective young players into the designated positions from both sides of the World Cup trophy, and stood in a row for the media to come up and take pictures and films.

In front of them, the World Cup trophy was very eye-catching and attracted attention.

There was some greed in everyone's eyes when they looked at it, as if they were looking at a beautiful woman who had taken off all her clothes and was posing in various seductive postures in front of them.

This has been their goal for four years, and they will have to fight for at least another ninety minutes to get close to her.

A lot can happen in these 90 minutes, but there can only be one winner. For this trophy, any price can be paid!

Bruno clenched his fists, and when he heard a low groan from the side, he realized that he was still holding the boy's hand... It seemed that he had hurt him.

He lowered his head and apologized to the young player whose name he didn't even know, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was distracted..."

Seeing Bruno taking the initiative to talk to him, the young man became bolder and asked, "Can you be distracted during the finals?"

Bruno did not answer his question, but smiled and turned his gaze back to the trophy.

It is precisely because it is the final that such a move is made.

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Bruno looked at the three rows of cameras in front of him, some were kneeling down to take pictures, some were standing on chairs to take pictures. The flashes went on and off, which was really overwhelming.

I have played football for six seasons since I started playing for Novara in Serie B. This is the first time I have encountered such a scene. Even when I represented Udinese and Manchester United in the Champions League finals, there were not so many reporters. It turns out that the World Cup final is different.

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

Next to him stood Bernardo Silva, looking serious. Captain Cristiano Ronaldo was on the other side of the team, looking expressionless.

At this time, the stadium radio broadcast the sound of "Play the national anthem", and the first to be played was the national anthem of today's visiting team, France.

The stands, which had been noisy before, suddenly became quiet, and soon the majestic "Marseilles March" sounded.

After the French national anthem ended, it was the turn to sing the Portuguese national anthem "Portuguese". Although Bruno didn't know how to sing, several Portuguese teammates around him sang loudly along with the music.

Bruno kept his mouth shut and waited quietly for the national anthem to finish.

After the national anthem was played, Ronaldo led the Portuguese players to shake hands with the referee and French players.

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