[Football] Crown of Thorns

Before the start of the World Cup, Portugal was not optimistic about the prospects of the national team led by C Ronaldo in this World Cup, and even many media have been looking down on the national team. During the previous training period, many media have hyped C Ronaldo. Selfishness, flying to and from the training base, discord with teammates, etc., especially the "Competition", which even published an article before the game that Portugal has no golden generation. In the article They touted the achievements of the golden generation, but severely criticized Ronaldo's national team after he became the captain of the national team. For other players, Ronaldo put himself above all his teammates and said that he must have "team spirit", but he ignored his teammates on the court and just fired freely.In the report, they criticized the problem of the Portuguese national team because of its outstanding individualism. Ronaldo harmed himself because of his personal heroism in the last World Cup, and there were endless scandals off the court. Without any honor in hand, he is not qualified to be Figo's successor and so on!

The famous Portuguese coach Mourinho publicly declared that "a Ronaldo can't support Portugal!" "He can't win the world championship even if he speeds 100 kilometers per hour."

Gama has seen these reports. Of course, during the training camp, it is estimated that every teammate has read these media reports, including Ronaldo himself. However, on the surface, their captain does not seem to have written these reports. Take it to heart.

But Jia Ma felt that the captain was just holding his breath and wanted to prove himself in the competition.

Just like now, in the 7th minute of the opening, No. 5 Zokola of Côte d'Ivoire brought down C Ronaldo. While Zokola was warned by a yellow card, the Portuguese team got a free kick opportunity.

However, this free kick is nearly 40 meters away from the goal, and under normal circumstances, the method of direct shooting is not suitable.

C Ronaldo stood behind the football, posing with a standard compasses stance but sent a ground ball, which hit the wall directly.

The captain was a little anxious.

Gama licked his lower lip and sighed silently.

I always feel that the Portuguese domestic media's reporting on the national team is like an undercover enemy, and they will not stop until they unbalance the mentality of the players.

After the World Cup in Germany, Portugal's "golden generation" withdrew from the national team. The newly appointed team captain led the team to the 2008 European Cup. They lost to the "German Chariot" in the quarter-finals and were eliminated, which was the worst result in three consecutive competitions. C Ronaldo only scored one goal in 4 games. What is even more puzzling is that since the European Cup, C Ronaldo has fallen into a scoring drought in the national team until he scored a penalty against Finland in February 2009. Penalty kick, this is also his only goal in the national team in two years.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored goals in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers like cutting melons and vegetables, but failed to score a goal in 2010 games in the 6 World Cup qualifiers.

As a result, the industry circulated the ridicule of "Portugal qualifying, Ronaldo's meal", and the Real Madrid striker's leadership ability has been questioned.

Therefore, in this first game with Côte d'Ivoire, C Ronaldo seemed a little eager to score.

The referee blew the whistle to start again, Gama ran up, and stopped when passing by the captain, "Captain, relax, I will pass the ball to you."

The captain blinked, and the corners of his lips twitched, "Hurry up and return to your position!"

The starting lineups for this match:

Côte d'Ivoire: 1-Bari, 20-Demer, 4-Kolo Toure, 5 Zokola, 17-Tien, 19 Yaya Toure, 21-Eboue,

No. 9 Tiot, No. 10-Gervinho, No. 15 Tyndane, 8- Kalou.

Portugal: 1-Eduardo, 3-Ferreira, 2-Bruno, 6-Carvalho, 23-Coentrao, 20-Deco, 8-Pedro. 16 - Meirelles,

7-C Ronaldo, 9-Lidson, 10-Gama.

Côte d'Ivoire performed well in a series of warm-up matches before the World Cup. In 8 games, the Elephant Corps recorded 3 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss.

The Portuguese team remained unbeaten in the last 8 warm-up matches with 6 wins and 2 draws.

Before that, Côte d'Ivoire and Portugal had never faced each other in history.

Therefore, this game is a test for both sides.

In the starting lineup of this game, Drogba, the leader of the Côte d'Ivoire team, did not start the game because he was fractured and injured for only 10 days. Therefore, Gervinho replaced Warcraft, Kalou and Din Dane to form a trident. Guarded by the Toure brothers in the backcourt.

In the 7th minute of the first half, Ronaldo's long-range shot and strong low shot were blocked, and the game restarted.

Gama seldom encountered opponents like the Toure brothers before. After he failed to walk the ball from the middle, Gama made a gesture with his palm down to walk to the side.

In the Portuguese team's starting lineup today, Gama, Deco, and Meireles formed the middle group partner. They are not inferior to their opponents in terms of technology, but there is still a certain gap in terms of body.

For several minutes, the two sides confronted each other, and it was obvious that they could not resist from a physical point of view.

Then you can only rely on technology to move your position!

Gama smiled slightly, hooked the ball under his feet, and made several fake movements of swaying and swaying, leaning forward. This movement drove the opponent's footsteps to the pace, but Gama pushed the ball with the outside of his left foot. , Passed the ball to Deco on the other side.

This is a very beautiful outside instep pass.

Deco, who received the ball, started instantly, rushed past the defense on the opponent's side, and entered the penalty area from the sideline.

Gama and Meirelles also started running at the same time, and the players in red rushed into the defense of the Elephants in an instant.

When Deco crossed the middle, he kicked the ball back to Gama, who was rushing from the back. Gama didn't stop the ball, and passed the ball directly to the feet of Meireles on the other side, and Meireles turned sideways. After receiving the pass, they made a straight pass. The pass was 30 meters away. Their team leader made a beautiful move to get rid of Yaya Toure. After receiving the ball, he made a domineering Explosive shot, the ball hit the left post hard and bounced out.

The audience exclaimed and then sighed. It was just a little bit short, it was a shot that fully conveyed technology and strength.

What a pity.

The sighs heard in the broadcast room of Portuguese National Television made many people feel the same.

At the game scene, the live broadcast footage of the Mandela Stadium not only immediately shot to the fan area in the auditorium, but also pointed the camera at the bench of the two teams at the same time. On the bench, Drogba also secretly thanked the goal post, and he also made a prayer gesture of "Thank God".

Although the ball failed to score, Ronaldo was still very satisfied with the passing of his teammates just now, and he gave his teammates a thumbs up.

This happened in the 11th minute of the first half. After 1 minute, in the 12th minute, Portugal's Bruno knocked down Tete d'Ivoire's Gervinho in the backcourt for a foul. Tian's No. 17 volleyed with his left foot from 26 meters away and missed it slightly.

The two consecutive shots set off a small climax in the stadium. The fans in the stands shouted wildly, and Zura's whining roar made the noise in the stadium hard to hear.

Jia Ma rubbed his ears, good guy, that Zulawuwu is really scary.

"what happened?"

Gama, who was retreating, was asked by Carvalho when he passed by.

Gama made a face, "I'm going deaf!"

This made Carvalho burst out laughing.

The game continued. In the 17th minute, No. 9 Tiot of Côte d'Ivoire caught the ball in front of the penalty area and shot a cold arrow. The ball flew out slightly above the crossbar.

Eduardo, who retrieved the ball, patted his chest, which really scared him to death.

Eduardo sent the ball, the Portuguese passed the ball near the center circle, and Gama got the ball.

Gama raised his head and stared at the opponent's half. The Ivorian players reacted very quickly, and two players quickly surrounded them.

It's now.

Jia Ma, who was waiting for their siege and double-teaming, moved his feet. The moment he dribbled the ball and seemed to be breaking through the double-teaming, he kicked the ball with his heels, and the football circled around in an arc. The opponent flew to the feet of teammate Pedro.

Pedro took the ball two steps without hesitation and then made a diagonal pass, and the ball flew to the feet of Lidsson in front.

Lidsson raised his foot and made a shot, which attracted the opponent's defender to shovel directly.

However, Lidsson's action was just a fake action. He pulled the ball in the air and leaned back before standing down for a direct pass.

It was C Ronaldo who received the ball again.

Ronaldo turned his body sideways and shot angrily, and the football hit Kolo Toure and flew out of the baseline.

Ronaldo was a little disappointed, he shook his head, exhaled, turned and walked away.

In the next few minutes, the two sides attacked each other, but neither was able to break through the opponent's defense.

In the 21st minute of the first half, Ronaldo, who broke into the opponent's penalty area with the ball, was directly tackled by the opponent's No. 20 defender Demel in front of the penalty area.

The Portuguese team captain was very angry and had a dispute with Demel, and was finally issued a yellow card by the referee alone.

"Oh, yellow card!"

Gama, who ran over, looked at the yellow card in the referee's hand, dumbfounded.

Don't be so strict, okay? It's just a few words of praise!

The referee in black snorted, turned around and left.

Looking at the background of the proud referee, Jia Ma's lips twitched and he turned to look at his team leader.

The calm-faced squad leader was muttering something else, and Jia Ma stroked his forehead helplessly.

"Captain, this is the first half!"

"hateful!"

The squad leader glared at Jia Ma.

Jia Ma spread his hands, "You are the captain!"

"Hey Cristiano, you need to relax."

Meirelles yelled.

The squad leader pouted, but he didn't say anything more.

Gama followed him and walked back, "Captain, the Côte d'Ivoire team's tactics today are very clear, which is to use aggressive defense to limit our technical performance and your personal restrictions." Gama looked at him sideways, "Captain, You have to trust us!"

Hearing what Jia Ma said, the team leader looked at him with embarrassment, "I see."