Chapter 1294: Penalty Shootout (Medium)

PS1: This is Friday's update.,It's a little late.,I hope you don't care too much about the update time.,I promise not to break the update......

PS2: Let's talk about the book friend group here, the group number is three, seven, zero, five, four, nine, nine, one, nine, nine, verifies that the answer is NTR knight, well, that's it.

The fact that this semi-final will drag on until the penalty shootout to determine the winner is really beyond the expectations of many people. After all, despite Portugal's obvious shortcomings in terms of player set-up, it is clear that the hosts can minimise the impact of this disadvantage when playing at home and with a clear advantage in the schedule, coupled with the strategy of coach Scolari. Not to mention their semi-final opponents, reigning European champions Italy, who had played the Netherlands for a full 90 minutes just four days earlier, will inevitably be in a slump in their form.

Therefore, in the eyes of many people, the Portuguese team, which has the advantage of time and location, should have easily defeated Italy, which had been running around for half a month, at the Alvalad Stadium to get the ticket to the European Championship final.

However, the reality is that the hosts were trapped in this game Italy twice ahead, relying on Ronaldo's two outbursts to barely succeed, which made many people unconsciously lower their psychological expectations for Portugal. After all, with so many advantages in the face of almost being overturned by Italy, Portugal's true combat power is really worrying.

Despite being pushed to the edge of the cliff twice by the Italians in the game, Portuguese fans were not worried about the fate of the team at this time. After all, most fans have basically heard of Italy's glorious record in penalty shootouts. It is precisely because of this that Portuguese fans will behave so calmly, if it is the German team that plays a penalty shootout with Portugal this time, I am afraid that these fans will have to pray for God in their hearts.

However, when Trapattoni used up the last substitution in his hand, Portuguese fans suddenly felt that this time in the penalty shootout, Portugal wanted to win Italy, I am afraid it will not be an easy thing......

"I'll it, this old boy Trapattoni is too shady, and he actually chose to change the goalkeeper at this time!" Like the terrified Portuguese fans in the stands, the World Cup-winning coach's heart was also messy, "Are you so sure that Erdo can play like he did four years ago?" You know, Portugal is not the soft-footed shrimp of the Netherlands on penalties! ”

It turned out that after Cristiano Ronaldo equalized for Portugal for the second time, Trapattoni, who realized that a penalty shoot-out was inevitable, finally used up the last substitution in his hand before the end of extra time. It's just that this time, the replacement of the old handsome is really unexpected by many people. Because Trapattoni did not replace a player who is more sure of taking penalties as usual, such as Inzaghi or Vieri, but replaced the team's main goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon with Toldo on the bench!

After seeing the number plate held by the fourth official on the sidelines, and Toldo standing on the sidelines, Buffon, who has always been calm on the field, also looked a little unpleasant - replacing himself with Toldo before the penalty shootout, isn't this clearly telling everyone that Toldo's level of saving penalties is better than him?!

Although he was extremely dissatisfied with Trapattoni's move, after Nesta came forward to appease him, Buffon quickly calmed down and accepted the reality of being replaced by Toldo. After all, Buffon can see Trapattoni unhappy and even fight him off the field for 20 rounds, but Nesta can't help but give him face. Because with Nesta's current seniority and prestige, whether at Fiorentina or in the Italian national team, he can make any player honestly obey the command and not cause any chaos within the team.

That's what a dressing room boss can do. As long as they are present, no one dares to question their decisions, not even their opponents.

For example, if Raul chooses to stay at Real Madrid when Florentino enters the palace for the second time, then who of the Barcelona players would dare to stir up trouble in the national derby, and even need to make Casillas apologize after the game? Raul went up directly and slapped him, even Puyol and Xavi would never dare to say anything.

The first to take the penalty for Italy was Andrea Pirlo. Obviously, Trapattoni is hoping that the Italian player with the highest penalty kick percentage in training (Pierrot was not selected so he is not counted) will give his team a good start to this penalty shoot-out!

Looking at Pirlo, who had already placed the ball on the penalty spot and retreated unhurriedly, Ricardo, who was standing in front of the goal, slapped his hands twice fiercely, putting on a fierce expression, hoping to interfere with the opponent's judgment and increase his chances of saving the penalty.

At the same time, the Portuguese fans in the stands were clamoring loudly in an attempt to put psychological pressure on Andrea Pirlo in this way, thus giving Portugal a better chance of winning the penalty shoot-out.

In the face of the bursts of boos from tens of thousands of Portuguese fans in attendance, Pirlo was unmoved. After the referee's whistle blew, Pirlo tricked Ricardo into moving his center of gravity early with a simple change of speed during the run, and then sent the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal with a clean push before the opponent adjusted his center of gravity back!

1 to 0! Italy, which has always been regarded as a penalty sufferer, scored the first goal and made a good start to this penalty shootout!

Portugal's first penalty was Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored twice in the game. When Ronaldo appeared at the penalty spot, the Portuguese fans in the stadium first let out bursts of cheers, and then quickly quieted down, for fear of bringing additional psychological burden to the young man because of his relationship.

This is a testament to the advantage of playing at home, at least in critical moments like these, when the players are not distracted by the fans, they just need to concentrate on the goalkeeper in front of them and find a way to get the ball into the back of the net.

Although Ronaldo had already become a member of the Purple Lily when Toldo was still playing for Fiorentina, the two had little in common. Moreover, because Fiorentina has a good penalty taker, Ronaldo does not take many penalties, and there are only a handful of information that can be collected.

As a result, Toldo, who is not very familiar with Ronaldo's shooting habits, also failed to save the ball shot by Ronaldo, and was pierced by the opponent through the door guarded by himself!

One-to-one! Pirlo and Ronaldo, who were the first to play on both sides, did not miss a beat, and the two teams are still on par on the field!