[football] walk side by side

Confirming that he successfully "dragged" Senna and Silva out, Cyril crossed to Cristiano non-stop while running.

At this time, what appeared in front of Cristiano was an empty sidewalk.Although Senna and Silva began to chase after Cyril's pass, they could only be thrown farther and farther by Cristiano at full speed!

Under the excited or terrified eyes of the fans, Cristiano picked the ball and lobbed it!

"...Ronaldo lob! The ball... ooohoooooooo!!! Igor Casillas!!! An impeccable save!! San Igor saves Portugal's must The ball!! He saved Spain again!! Iker Casillas has used his strength to prove that he is worthy of the position of captain of Spain!"

Cristiano turned his back, sweat rolled down his forehead, he clenched his fists tightly, but he could only sigh helplessly.

This should have been a good opportunity, and there was no problem with his shot, but the opponent had a good enough goalkeeper, and he threw the ball away abruptly.

The Spanish fans in the stands applauded thunderously. In many cases, what can boost the morale of the fans does not have to be a goal.Sometimes, saving a deadly ball can also cheer up one's own side while damaging the opponent's morale.

Portugal's attack this time is also a fast break. At this moment, only Cristiano is in front of the penalty area, so he can't compete with Spain for the spot where Casillas made the ball. It's under control.

Casillas, who managed to save the ball with great difficulty, still had some lingering fears. He took a deep breath and roared loudly: "La-Mo-s—!" Get back! !

He didn't really yell out the following words, but apparently Ramos already understood what his captain meant.He touched his nose, knowing that he was wrong, so he rolled back embarrassingly.

Scolari looked at the stadium and let out a long sigh. It has been 90 minutes since the start of the game, and it is stoppage time, but the score on the field has not changed at all.

"Mr. Scolari?" As soon as the assistant coach Pigna looked up, he found that Scolari had turned around and walked to the bench before he knew it. He was stunned, and stopped Scolari in surprise inside.

Scolari shook his head: "It's time to prepare for extra time."

Pigna said in astonishment: "But, the game is still..." It's not over yet... Before he could say anything, he heard the commentator in the stands praise loudly: "Beautiful job!!! Spain's defense is impeccable! Even if there are occasional players who can break through the defense line, they can't pass Casillas' five fingers, this team is so strong that it makes people desperate!"

Such straightforward praise made Piña stunned, and his eyes shifted to the court.He thought it was just an exaggeration from the commentators, but it was true on the field—at least in terms of the expressions on the players' faces, everyone looked very frustrated.

Originally, the strength is not as good as that of Spain. Occasionally, luck + strength can tear apart the opponent's defense, either hitting the goal post or falling into the hands of Casillas. Portugal can only make effective shots. None of his shots turned into goals.

This feeling of not being able to change the score no matter what you do is just too frustrating.

If it weren't for Spain also failing to seize the opportunity to break Portugal's goal, the mental state of the players might be even worse.

This is trouble.

"The referee blew the final whistle, 90 minutes of regular time and 5 minutes of stoppage time have passed, the two sides still failed to break the deadlock, the score is still 0-0, the coaches of both sides have started to prepare for extra time players replaced."

Taking advantage of the gap in the middle, Cyril drank a few sips of water to rehydrate, and walked slowly on the sidelines. After a while, he saw Scolari walking towards him.

"How do you feel? Do you still have the strength?" Scolari asked.

Cyril nodded.

"no problem."

Thanks to Mourinho's frequent extra training during the Chelsea period, his physical reserve is much better than that of ordinary players. Although he also feels slightly sore muscles and exhausted at this time, there is generally no serious problem. Minutes are no problem.

Scolari nodded slightly. He lowered his head and looked at Cyril, as if inadvertently said: "You have done a good job, don't put too much pressure on it."

Cyril was stunned, and subconsciously said: "No, I didn't..." Before finishing speaking, Scolari patted him on the shoulder, and turned around to walk towards another player.

He looked so calm, and for a moment, Cyril couldn't tell whether Scolari had deep meaning or just said it unintentionally.It stands to reason that he should not care, as he tried to explain to Scolari-nothing.

But in fact, until he returned to the court, that sentence still lingered in his mind.

In the 97th minute of the game, Moutinho gave the ball to Cyril. Cyril kicked a long diagonal pass near the center line. Gomez, who was cruising outside the penalty area, did not stop the ball and swept a direct pass to the side. Cristiano on the road, the latter dribbled the ball to the right and pushed away Ramos who was marking him, and pushed the far corner from the edge of the penalty area!

The ball bypassed Puyol, but failed to bypass the palm of the Spanish goalkeeper. Iker Casillas accurately saved the ball. Gomez lost to Ramos in the competition for the first spot. The player drove the ball into the midfield with a big foot, and instantly moved away from the threat.

Watching the football being dispelled by Casillas again, Cyril rubbed his forehead, feeling heavy in his heart.

He is really helpless.

Although the commentator's praise is exaggerated, it is not too much strictly speaking-because this Spanish team is so impeccable, it is difficult to break through the Spanish midfielder, which is equivalent to blocking Portugal's important center. Simao on the road couldn't beat Capdevila. As for Cristiano, Senna, Silva on the left, and Ramos who could follow up at any time were specially prepared for him.

How to do?

Since recent years, Cyril has rarely encountered such a situation that made him feel at a loss in the game. During the Chelsea period, the strong opponents he encountered were actually on par with Chelsea in terms of strength. The strength is stronger than Chelsea, and the midfielder may not be able to match his partner with Lampard. In addition, Chelsea's defense is abnormal, which gives Cyril enough time and energy to move in the midfield and pull , and even advanced by himself to help the frontcourt further tear apart the defense.

But not this game.

Spain's overall strength is stronger than Portugal's in many ways.

On the front line, Torres alone may not have enough firepower, but Cesc Fabregas in the midfield, Capdevila in the defense, Ramos, will also go forward from the wing from time to time, Iniesta The partner with Harvey can also easily and adequately send shells to the frontcourt. It seems that the firepower is insufficient, but in fact Spain's offense is more blooming.

On the Portuguese side, the defense is not very strong. Since the beginning of this season, Ferreira's side has been losing the chain. In the midfield, Moutinho is not a player who is good at defense. The overall midfield interception ability is inferior Going to Spain, in this situation where hard power is not as good as Spain, it is already a miracle that Cyril can assist Portugal's defense and keep 0 goals conceded.

In the early stage of the game, he was still able to observe Spain's running position and make judgments accordingly. Sometimes he instigated the team to attack, and sometimes retreated to the backcourt to assist Pepe and others in defense. , Spain's defense gradually gained a firm foothold. Compared with Portugal, which was exhausted for defense and took a long time to catch a counterattack opportunity, Spain began to have more manpower and energy to participate in the offense.

This was almost fatal to the consumption of Cyril.

So far in the game, keeping the 0-0 score is almost the acme of Cyril. It is necessary for him to defend at this intensity and at the same time move forward, using the cooperative movement with his teammates to tear Spain's defense...

Can't do it at all.

This incomprehensible situation made him feel a little anxious.

How to do?

Before the start of overtime, Scolari told him, "You have performed well, don't put too much pressure on it." At this moment, Cyril recalled this sentence, only feeling more at a loss in his heart.

Are you doing well?Maybe.But if there is no pressure... how is it possible?

There is no way, and there is no spare energy to do anything for the team. I don't know how to win this game, and even start to feel at a loss and uncertain about the outcome of this game. How can he be without pressure like this ?

In the stands of fans at the Ernst Happel Stadium, Mourinho leaned back slightly and slowly leaned on the back of his chair. There are regrets and regrets, but more of them are deeply helpless.

"really……"

As an assistant coach who has always followed Mourinho, Faria is also a very good friend in life. Now that Mourinho is watching the game in the stands, Faria will certainly not be absent.Seeing Mourinho's sigh-like exclamation at this time, he couldn't help being a little surprised.

Although there are quite a few players who are running on the field under Mourinho, Faria knows that there is only one person who can arouse his emotions-he is also unambiguous, slightly surprised , and asked directly.

"So what?" Faria couldn't help but said: "Cyril's performance is very good, is there anything wrong with that?"

Mourinho nodded slightly: "You are right."

"what?"

"You're right, Cyril has performed very well," Mourinho said. "He has always been able to integrate himself into the team very well. Since Porto, this has been his strength. Being able to use Portugal The defensive restraint against Spain and the 0-0 defense until now is enough to prove his ability."

Faria was a little confused: "Then why do you..."

"Everyone thinks his performance is good enough - except himself." Mourinho said, but his thoughts returned to the summer in Porto many years ago, when the young man was still an immature boy, looking old Sensible, but with an inexplicable cautiousness, afraid that some "individualism" of his own will bring unnecessary trouble to his teammates.

Although the current Cyril is no longer worried about the trouble of becoming a teammate for a breakthrough in personal style, the cautious mentality is still there. As an organizational midfielder, he is used to standing up when the team is in a bottleneck. Use your overall view, vision, passing, and running positions to help the team open up the situation and score goals.

From the beginning of the European Cup to the present, on the surface, Portugal’s best and most glorious performance is their frontcourt superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, but as long as you look at Cristiano’s highlight performance, you can find that most of the goals , Of course, there is a direct reason for Cristiano's extraordinary sense of smell in front of the goal and comprehensive scoring methods, and it is inseparable from Cyril's excellent scheduling and assists.

In the game against the Czech Republic, he stood up when the whole team was in an impetuous mood, calmed down the emotions of his teammates with rational analysis, and re-established the connection between the midfield and the frontcourt.

In the match against Germany, Scolari’s tactical error caused Portugal to lag behind Germany by two goals. Cristiano’s insistence made them close to elimination. It was Cyril who used the pass to help Portugal open the situation after an unknown forward move , This is why Cristiano's hat-trick...

There are still many situations like this, whether it is in Portugal or Chelsea, Cyril is used to thinking on the field, observing the opponent's loopholes, and then giving a fatal blow.These crucial transformations were almost all done by him.

Because of this, when he found that he could no longer rely on his own ability to change the team's plight, take advantage of the field, and then rewrite the score, he would feel at a loss.

"Actually, Cyril doesn't have to do anything." Mourinho said softly: "In the case of losing to Spain in the midfield, he abruptly dragged the 0-0 score to overtime. It's been great, but now..."

This dazedness and powerlessness has begun to directly affect his performance.

"Cyril, are you okay?" Cristiano finally couldn't help asking when the two were getting closer.It seems that the pass that Cyril just handed over is still accurate, but as the receiver of the ball, Cristiano knew that if he hadn't noticed something was wrong and accelerated to grab the ball before Ramos, the ball would have been basically lost .

This kind of passing is not at all Cyril's normal level.

Facing Cristiano's worried gaze, Cyril was silent for a while, and finally shook his head: "Probably because I can't keep up with my physical strength, sorry, I will pay more attention next time."

Cristiano frowned. It was not the truth when he heard it. He would be a ghost if he believed it.But at this time, time was running out on the court, and he had no choice but to say something, "If you feel uncomfortable somewhere, please call me." After saying this, he couldn't delay any longer, and hurried ran back to his position.

The game continues.

Scolari stood on the sidelines, looking hesitant.

Pigna is standing by his side. After a quarrel with Scolari just now, he knows exactly what the Portuguese coach is hesitating at this moment.In his opinion, this kind of hesitation is completely incomprehensible. He thinks that Scolari who has this idea is simply unreasonable: "Replace Cyril? Are you crazy?"

"Our defense has been able to last until now because of Cyril. Now that Cyril is replaced at this time, what about the defense in the backcourt? Who will replace the defense in the backcourt? Even if Cyril is there, based on the current Spanish defense Firepower, we may not be able to defend for a long time, replace Cyril, UEFA will immediately announce that Spain is the champion!"