Gelsenkirchen, Schalke Stadium.

With the referee's whistle, the match between England and Portugal officially began, and the opening commentator introduced the starting line-ups of both teams.

Portugal's formation is still the 433 they are good at, goalkeeper Ricardo, defenders Miguel, Meera, Carvalho and Valente, among the four defenders, the biggest name is Carvalho, who joined Chelsea with Mourinho in Porto, and the other three defenders are all playing in the Portuguese domestic league, which is not much more famous.

Midfielders Petit, Maniche and Thiago, this midline combination may also become a back three, before they were more defensive in the game, not much support for the front, especially Maniche, who is the core of the team's offensive and defensive transitions, and his more tasks are also defense.

Portugal's front three are Luis Figo, Pauletta and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Compared with the other two fronts, Portugal's three forward (forward) combination is quite gorgeous, the captain of the team, Luis Figo, is definitely a world-class player, he was once the first value player to transfer to Real Madrid, and he is also the bargaining chip for Florentino to form the Galaxy Battleship, C-Ronaldo is a new generation of Manchester United stars, and Pauletta is the player with the most goals in Portugal's history.

The forward line of the trio is still quite strong.

On the other hand, England is still in a 451 formation for this game, in fact, Eriksen has no better choice, the only thing worth mentioning is that Rooney came on, he played as a striker on the top line, and Zhang Tiehan was placed in the midfield, his two partners were Gerrard and Lampard, and the two wing-backs were still Joe Cole and Beckham, and this midfield line basically did not change.

Such a starting lineup. Many media commentators complained, 'Eriksen has no other means', the starting lineup has basically not changed, Beckham and Joe Cole are still the main players, and the coexistence of Frank Lampard and Gerrard has not tried to solve it, and many people are disappointed in the England starting lineup.

……

The game on the pitch has begun.

Zhang Tiehan kicked the ball out. With the flash lights shining on the spot. The sky above the stadium is like a starry sky, and the football is also illuminated like a popular landing, constantly rolling in the stadium, with this kick, this high-profile game finally begins.

England and Portugal, who will win in the end?

A lot of people are looking forward to it.

At this time, the commentator began to introduce the lineup, and after the introduction was completed, five minutes had passed in the game, and in these five minutes. Neither team has anything surprisingly impressive.

They were all making tentative attacks, and neither side was rushing to attack.

At this time, the focus of the various commentators is still on the introduction of the two teams, the scene is not attractive, they naturally have to use other topics to attract fans, and both teams on the court are in the tentative stage, each other's defense is very cautious, and no one cares what the commentator says.

England organised a frontal push and the attack on Portugal was a bit careless. As a result, Frank Lampard found an opportunity to poke the ball in front of Zhang Tiehan. Zhang Tiehan took it into the penalty area, but was caught by two players on the other side, Zhang Tiehan had no chance to shoot, he could only cross and transfer, and Gerrard, who was inserted in the middle, got the opportunity and kicked the ball towards the Portuguese goal with a strong shot. It's a pity that the force of the football kick is too great, and the angle is not very good, and the shot did not hit the goal frame at all, but flew directly out of the crossbar.

"I didn't hold it down." Gerrard said to his teammates with some embarrassment.

It was also the only shot on goal in five minutes.

Although both teams started cautiously, each team was trying to play the game. But the two teams are still playing fiercely, especially in the midfield, and they let go of their hands and feet, so that the fierceness of the scramble soon spread to the whole field, and the game became more and more intense.

Fierce often brings more intense scrambles.

Before you know it, the two teams soon fell into this situation, the players of the two teams became more active in defense, and then you went back and forth, and all the players in the field moved a little big, whether attacking or defending, they were very resentful of the opposing players around them - the two teams had already played a grudge.

In the next ten minutes, the referee issued three yellow cards in a row!

Three yellow cards, three fouls, two of which belonged to Portugal and one to England, England received a yellow card for Hargreaves, who came on as a full-back and made a tackle in a defense, which was considered by the referee to be too big, plus the previous warning, he received a yellow card; The yellow card for Portugal is much simpler.

They're serious about defending.

But Zhang Tiehan is not so easy to restrict, Maniche's action in the middle is a little big, he saw Zhang Tiehan with the ball by himself, and after judging the position, he directly came to a tackle, but Zhang Tiehan reacted first, passed the ball out in advance, and Maniche directly shoveled his right leg.

It was a yellow card that didn't have a lot of suspense.

Another yellow card is fullback Thiago Mendes, Mendes was defending Beckham, the action was really big, he kicked Beckham barefoot, and Beckham lay directly on the ground, Mendes was directly carded by the referee.

The English players all gathered around.

The Portuguese players also came over, stopped Mendes behind, the players of the two teams confronted each other, pushing and shouting, the smoke has spread, at this time the referee in the adjustment, signaled the team doctor to come on, after a short examination, Beckham is injured in the right knee, should have just fallen injured.

The English players are a little controlling, and the Portuguese side is not to be outdone.

At this time, Beckham stood up, but his steps staggered, and Zhang Tiehan went over to help him, "How is it?" David? Can it continue? ”

Beckham pushed Zhang Tiehan away, "I'm fine. ”

But his movements were not like this, he couldn't walk at all, he got used to it for a long time, Eriksen watched worriedly from the field, he shouted for the players to get back to position, and at the same time ready to make substitutions. Despite Beckham's repeated insistence that he was okay, he had to be substituted for a more comprehensive examination, and Eriksen eventually replaced Beckham with Lennon.

"Don't care. We're going to win the game! Zhang Tiehan said to Beckham with certainty.

Beckham had tears in the corners of his eyes.

In this kind of brutal game of the knockout round, losing means being eliminated, he knows very well what it means for him to go down, he has no chance to fight for victory with everyone, he can only pin the victory on his teammates, so can he have a chance to play in this World Cup. I don't know.

He pretended to be strong and nodded, but the tears still couldn't help but stay.

Portugal did not urge, and the fans in the stadium also watched this scene, and on the two big screens, Beckham's tear-stained face was touching.

David Beckham walked off the pitch.

After only two steps, he remembered something from each other, turned around and took off his teammate's armband, and walked back to Zhang Tiehan to bring it, Zhang Tiehan hurriedly refused. Even if he looks good, but the captain or something, he didn't think about it at all, in the England team, he is a newcomer, and it is more suitable to hand over the responsibility of directing the game to someone else, and he doesn't even recognize everyone in the team.

But Beckham stopped, "Zhang." Here you go. You bring it, I'm sure after I'm down. Only you can lead your team to victory! "He was resolute.

Zhang Tiehan was slightly moved.

He was silent for a while, then finally nodded and took the captain's armband, "Thank you." He didn't know why he said that, but he couldn't help but say the word.

Beckham smiled.

Next, he walked off the field with the support of the team doctor, and the picture on the big screen switched to Zhang Tiehan. I saw that his face was shining with determination, and he wore the captain's armband on his arm as he walked.

He knows very well that this is not only a symbol, but also a responsibility!

Before, as an ordinary member, he only needed to care about his appearance. What about his teammates, what the whole team is like, that's not about him, but now he's a teammate on the pitch and he needs to be responsible for the team's table on the field.

……

Many commentators were discussing the scene just now, and the BBC radio and television commentator said movingly, "Beckham is gone, I hope he is not injured." He gave the captain's armband to Zhang before he walked off the pitch, and I think it was the right choice. ”

"Zhang is the best player in the team, he is the top scorer and the most expensive player, although he has only officially entered the England team before the World Cup, he has already scored seven goals in the four games against Ecuador in the group stage, which is even more than most teams combined."

"You can see that Zhang has his team-mate's armband, and the other players in England have nothing to resist, so we hope he can do better......

And so it is.

Originally, after Beckham went off, the captain's armband should have been given to Gary Neville, who is the team's vice-captain, but Gary Neville was not on the pitch at this time, so it would be Lampard's turn, Gerrard's or Terry's turn next, and any one of the three would be eligible to be the captain on the field.

Because of this, Zhang Tiehan wore the captain's armband, and no one resisted.

Gerrard will not fight with Zhang Tiehan for this trivial matter, because he is not the only player who can wear the captain's armband, Lampard and Terry will not do that, they are about to become teammates with Zhang Tiehan, there is no need to fight with Zhang Tiehan for this matter, there is no benefit to doing so, but it will offend many people, at least Beckham, who handed over the captain's armband to Zhang Tiehan, will definitely offend, not to mention, no one cares about the captain on the field in a game.

And Zhang Tiehan's table is really speechless for others, and now among the players on the field, he is only older than Rooney, but his table is the best, so everyone recognizes him.

Before the game started, many people went up and said the last sentence-

"How does it feel to be the captain?"

"Haha! Sheet! You're our captain! How do you feel? Let's talk about it! ”

"Congratulations on your promotion!"

In the face of his teammates' ridicule, Zhang Tiehan just responded with a smile, but he turned his head to look at the Portuguese team, his face looked very resolute, this revenge battle, he was looking forward to it for a long time, not only for the team, he and C-Ronaldo also have a bit of personal grudges, whether it is the team, the game, or the grudge, he can't accept defeat.

The next thing he has to do is to lead the team to victory over Portugal!

……

Soon the game continued.

Due to the clash just now, the game is now full of gunpowder, and the actions of both teams have become a lot bigger, and the scramble has become more intense.

But this is something that Erikson would love to see.

Portugal are a technical team, although they are also European teams. However, the style is more South American, and many of the players in the team have good foot skills, while England are the opposite, England are better at physicality and tend to be more comfortable in high-intensity games.

He's hoping for a more intense and hot game.

Such a game is clearly in England's favour and Portugal boss Scolari is clearly aware of that. He shouted from the sidelines to remind the players to be calm, to be calm in defense and to be calm in attack, so that they can please the current situation, they have already had two yellow cards, and if they are sent off again, the game will be too difficult to play.

He was even considering replacing Maniche.

Maniche's position is too crucial, the player in the middle of the midfield, the heart of the team's offensive and defensive transitions, and the player in this position has a yellow card on his back. If you have scruples because of this, it will have a very big impact on the team's table, but if you don't have scruples, you will be sent off if you eat a card again...... Then the impact is even greater.

In short, a dilemma.

However, in the end, Scolari did not do that, because it was still early, England made a substitution because Beckham was injured, but he had no reason to convince himself that he had to make a substitution so early, and it would take at least the first half to make adjustments.

But he soon broke out in a cold sweat!

At this time, the action of both teams on the field is not small. In such a game, the English players are very adaptable to playing, and this time in attack. Rooney was marked by Maniche, the ball flew from the middle, it was a long pass and hung high, Rooney squeezed the opposing defender, found a position to jump up to complete the header, but the body of the opposing player was not balanced. He couldn't control it at all in the air, and in the end he could only barely push the ball out of the penalty area.

Zhang Tiehan ran to get the ball.

Almost at the moment of receiving the ball, Zhang Tiehan did not let the opponent have a defensive moment, and directly completed the shot on the periphery of the penalty area, and a muffled sound sounded. The shot was quite powerful, and the ball flew straight for Portugal.

The ball speed is very fast!

It's a pity that this shot was a bit hasty, the force of the shot was not suppressed, and the ball rushed out directly half a meter above the crossbar.

"It's a pity ......"

"Zhang's shot is quite threatening, his cooperation with Rooney is also wonderful, Rooney's header found a shot opportunity for Zhang, before that, Zhang has been caught in the middle of the fence and has no space to shoot, this shot is only close to scoring, it's a pity that it didn't hold down the power."

"Judging from this attack, our players are not bad, although the game is full of gunpowder and the fight is very fierce, the team can still play some dangerous combinations, and it is very difficult for Portugal to deal with it properly."

When many fans heard the commentator's words, they all smiled and agreed, and the commentator's analysis seemed to make sense, but if Zhang Tiehan heard it, he would definitely scoff at it, not to mention other people, the sentence 'very good cooperation' is completely wrong.

If Wayne Rooney finds space and puts the ball back in the box and he happens to be running that way, that's a good fit, but obviously not.

The cooperation just now was only because he used to see through, observed the landing point of the football, and then ran over first, his explosiveness was very strong, so he threw off the defenders at the first time, so that he had a chance to shoot, rather than a tacit understanding with Rooney or something.

But he must also admit that Rooney can still jump up and push the ball out under the two of them, which is already quite good.

Then England's advantage seems to have grown.

In the fierce scramble between the two teams, the English players are getting more and more adapted, and at the same time, the team is really like the commentator said, playing a few waves of good attacks, Portugal's defensive action is very large, but it also failed to intercept directly, and as a result, the England team frequently creates a threat to the Portuguese goal.

Off the pitch Scolari was very worried.

He made a lot of preparations before the game, and he knew the playing style and weaknesses of the England team early, in his opinion, the advantage of the England team is that there are many stars, and the individual ability of each star is not bad, and most of them rely on their bodies to eat, but the skills are average, so it is difficult for the England team to play a wonderful attack, and the tactics are simple, because of this, in the face of the England team's attack, the defense is still very good.

England need to score goals, relying more on individual performances, such as David Beckham's free-kick. Gerrard, Frank Lampard and others' long-range shots, scrambling for set-pieces, corners, and the individual play of Zhang Tiehan, the most valuable and outstanding player, etc., did not use the combination to score the ball very often.

If it's easy to attack, it's easy to defend.

But the simplicity of the tactics is also good, and most of the players in the England team are not in form. It doesn't affect their overall performance, because the way they focus on scoring goals is not cooperation, but pure individual play and team play.

At the same time, defensively, England have been doing well, which is a bit of a headache.

Sometimes in attack, the England team creates a threat very quickly, and even makes the opponent unable to react, for example, the England player in the back often breaks the ball and directly kicks it. This is more about giving the ball to the opponent, but blind can also run into a dead mouse, in case a big foot happens to the feet of their own players in the front, the threat is great, especially the England team has a Zhang Tiehan, who has dominance in the penalty area and can complete extremely threatening long-range shots outside the penalty area.

Scolari has a headache. ????

What now?

The Brazilian coach was a little flustered, but in the end he wanted to wait and see. After all, the first half was just over halfway through, so it's a bit too early to make adjustments. He wants the players to get used to the game and play a little bit of a game, he just needs to remind everyone to be calm and pay attention to the defense so maybe the situation can come back.

But it didn't take long for him to regret it even more.

Take advantage of the team's situation to suppress the opponent. England's attack is getting more and more fierce, everyone wants to take advantage of the opportunity to score first, and the attack is naturally more and more threatening, and when attacking, they press very forward. With only two centre-backs at the back, the rest of the wing-backs Hargreaves and Ashley Cole both ran near the halfway line.

England's main point of attack is in the middle.

Zhang Tiehan, Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney in front, the offensive performance of the four people is still very ferocious, although Lampard and Gerrard's appearance has always been very ordinary, but with Zhang Tiehan in the middle as the core attacking point, the two of them are also good to assist.

In the 31st minute of the game, Lennon completed a diagonal pass on the wing, and the football reached the feet of Lampard outside the penalty area, Lampard controlled the ball for two or three seconds, hurriedly handed the ball to Gerrard, and then pushed it to Zhang Tiehan.

Zhang Tiehan is in the middle of the pitch and he is flanked by two Portuguese defenders, Carvalho and Maniche.

Carvalho will be his future teammate, Zhang Tiehan can recognize it, they have fought a few times, both sides are very familiar, and Maniche focuses on defending him in the game, the two have been fighting, after Zhang Tiehan got the ball, Maniche forced from the left side, Carvalho was cautious to hold the front, he knew Zhang Tiehan very well, so he would not give Zhang Tiehan space to move forward, nor would he recklessly steal.

Such a defense is quite threatening.

He was very sad to pass one of them, Maniche's direction was not suitable for breaking through, and Carvalho would not give him a chance at all, even if he forced a breakthrough, it would be impossible for him to get rid of Carvalho in such a small space.

Their defensive approach is to compress the space in which he can get the ball.

There is no space, there is definitely no chance to shoot directly, and there are not many opportunities to break through, at this time Zhang Tiehan seems to have the only choice is to pass the ball back, and his actions are the same, Maniche saw Zhang Tiehan's movements, and listened for a moment, at this time the experienced Carvalho immediately shouted and reminded, "Attention!" ”

Too late!

Zhang Tiehan just made a feint to pass back, but he went diagonally to the side of Maniche, and when Maniche was stunned, he went directly between Carvalho and Maniche like a bull, which gave people the feeling of being really 'unreasonable'.

But football is at his feet!

As long as the football is at the feet, such an action is within the reasonable collision range, it will not be a foul, even if it is a foul, it should be Carvalho and Maniche blocking the foul, and Zhang Tiehan is the active side, and the referee will naturally not stop it.

Then everyone in the audience and in front of the TV saw that Zhang Tiehan rushed out of the encirclement directly, Maniche was squeezed like this and almost fell to the ground directly, not to mention what to follow Zhang Tiehan to defend, Carvalho was slightly better, he was prepared, and after stabilizing his body, he wanted to go over to defend again, but at this time Zhang Tiehan had already taken the ball to the penalty area.

The on-site commentators had to sigh, "Zhang's excellence is really ...... It's unreasonable! ”

No matter what he said, the England fans at the Schalke Stadium were already excited, because Zhang Tiehan took the ball into the penalty area, Carvalho had not yet followed, and there was only one Mela in front of Zhang Tiehan, and he met him and was ready to intercept.

Facing Mera, Zhang Tiehan knew that he had no way to continue.

Although there was only one man on the opposition, Carvalho was behind him, and it was too difficult to free up space and angle to shoot with his feet in such a small area in the box.

But with 'control', he is definitely looking at the six ways.

Frank Lampard had already run up from the right and Zhang Tiehan didn't hesitate to push the ball over, as Portugal simply didn't have time to defend in that direction.

As the football rolled, it was only then that everyone noticed Frank Lampard.

Of course, Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo was among them, but at the sight of Frank Lampard, his nerves immediately tensed, because Lampard had already lifted his foot, his face shining with a little excitement, and then his right foot made a fierce contact with the football.

Volley hard!

Ricciardo's ability is not bad, his reputation is much better than that of England goalkeeper Robinson, but in the face of a powerful volley from close range of around 10 meters, he is unlikely to respond in any case.

His only hope was that Frank Lampard couldn't shoot from a good angle...... For example, shoot the ball directly into his arms, but God doesn't seem to be behind him.

As a result, he could only watch the football fly into the goal from the right side, and the only thing he could do was to subconsciously wave his arm, of course, that would not have any effect. (To be continued......)