Fans and media alike focused on France's attacking talents, whose goals and assists delight the senses. But anyone who really understands football knows that the biggest contributor to the French team's ability to win like this is not Benzema, nor Gourcuff, but the most inconspicuous little black man in the midfield - Rasena? Diarra.

The 31-year-old Diarra is in his prime and for him, this European Championship is also his best chance to win World Series honours. But if you want to make your wish come true, there is one person who can't avoid it.

George? A year younger than him, Wood is recognised as the number one midfielder in world football today, and although the club's poor results in the past two years have affected his performances, he is a worthy core of the England national team. He has yet to start the tournament and has only played in the first two games, with a combined total of 45 minutes. But that short playing time is enough to prove that George? How good Wood is.

The dialogue between the midfielders is not of interest to the media. Diarra, however, is well aware that this opponent carries a lot of weight.

He doesn't know George? Will Wood start tonight's game or come off the bench. If Wood is going to play, then I have to keep an eye on him, because George? Wood is no longer the blue-collar worker who can only defend, he is also responsible for organizing the offense. How else could he be said to be at the heart of England? A reckless man who can only defend cannot be the core.

With eight hours to go, the media paid special attention to England's starting line-up. Don has no intention of releasing it yet, and it seems that he will not announce the starting list until the team enters the locker room.

Media from all over the world gathered outside the England team's hotel in the hope of digging up valuable news from the players. It's a pity that the players themselves don't know about the starting line-up.

There is naturally only one reason why the media is so concerned about the starting list - George? Will Wood be able to start today's game?

Donn insisted on bringing Wood to Spain, saying that Wood's foot injury would heal after reaching the knockout rounds and would not affect the game. So the quarterfinals should be the day of Wood's comeback. As a result, Wood's first appearance came in the final round of the group stage against Germany. It was considered an early comeback, but this made him postpone his official comeback, and he continued to sit on the bench in the game against Sweden until the second half.

Will he start against France?

England's players shook their heads and said they didn't know.

Actually, Mitchel knew, but Wood had warned him not to mention it to others, which was the boss's request. Mitchel, who admired the leader quite a lot, naturally kept his mouth tightly shut.

The media knew he was in the same room as Wood, so they came to ask him. He just smiled and shook his head: "I don't know, I haven't heard of similar rumors...... Of course I want George to play, but I'm not a doctor or a manager...... That's all I can say. ”

Don had been taking a coffee break in the hotel lobby, but none of the media came forward to interview him. They all know that if they can't dig up information from the players, they won't want to ask for any valuable news from the mouth of the manager. This person has always had a great prejudice against the news media, and if he doesn't want to say it, you can't scare him even if you move out of "freedom of the press", and the information that the media can get is basically what he wants to say. Thinking about it this way, the news media is really a tragedy, just like a dog raised by his family, when he is in a good mood, he has to wag his tail happily when he is in a good mood, and if he is in a bad mood, he can't complain if he is locked up for ten days and half a month, otherwise he will be locked up for a longer time.

Unlike England, France's starting line-up was announced when they set off for the pitch, and it was no different from the line-up for the previous games, and Puel didn't change anyone.

The French team played 451, and the forward at the top was Benzema, and behind him were three attacking forwards lined up, with Gourcuff in the middle, Nasri on the right, and Ben on the left. Alpha. Behind the three attacking forwards are two central midfielders, Flamini on the left and La Sena on the right? Diarra. The left-back is Clichy from Arsenal, the right-back is also from Arsenal's Sagna, and the two central defenders are 26-year-old central defender Mamadou, who plays for Serie A giants Juventus? Nicolas Sacco and the other is Merkses, who plays for Roma. The goalkeeper is Lloris.

Even if it's just the time of the announcement of the starting list, the French can find a sense of superiority. They claim that the early announcement of the starting XI shows that Puel's side are confident and not afraid of any team's challenge, which is the mentality of a championship-caliber team. And Tony? Donn has been hiding his starting list, which just shows the panic and helplessness in his heart. Until now, I didn't dare to make the starting list public, does it just mean that George? Wood's foot injury hasn't healed yet?

A group of French people began to make a move, and they started to knock out England to reach the semi-finals, and then beat hosts Spain to the final, and finally met Italy in the final, beating Italy 3-0 in the final, avenging Germany's dream of losing the World Cup final ten years ago.

※※※ "England's starting line-up has not been announced for a long time, I think George? Wood's injuries were the only cause. Based on the analysis, we can conclude that Wood has not recovered from his foot injury. "In a special program on France Télévisions before the game, two experts were analysing the match for the French audience, and in general they were saying good things about the French team, with all the negative factors on England's side.

"If George? Wood's foot injury is really healed, and I believe Tony? Tang En will definitely announce it as soon as possible, so as to serve the purpose of striking at the enemy's psychology. "Another one who claims to be to Tony? An expert who Tang En knows quite well also analyzed. But there is no news so far, only that Wood's foot injury is not good enough to start the game. I think Done's intention for this game is the same as in the first two games, to bring Wood in the second half, so we have to take the lead in the first half and it was crucial for us to score early......

On the large TV wall behind the studio, the two teams are being broadcast live. Naturally, the buses of the French team appeared frequently, and England only gave a few shots when they arrived at the stadium.

The host was chatting with the experts for a while about the upcoming game, with a smile on his face, completely devoid of the nervousness and anxiety before the big battle. Maybe they're all seasoned veterans, maybe they think their team is better than England and it won't be a problem to beat them.

However, their smiles all froze after getting the England starting XI list from the reporter from the stadium in front of them.

As a live show, the cold scene is very bad. But now the host is cold...... He was stunned with the list in his hand, while the two experts around him didn't understand what was going on, and were still smirking beside him.

The host, who soon realized that he had lost his temper, hurriedly made up for it, and he coughed: "We...... We just got the starting line-up for England......" he looked at the two experts, who immediately made a "I'm interested" expression.

"George? Wood starts. After the host said it, the expressions of the two experts changed instantly. It's as if someone has just stuffed a bunch of live flies.

"This ......" one stood on the spot, and the other reacted quickly, and immediately answered: "Looks like Tony? Don is going to give it his all......"

England's starting line-up was played on the big screen, George? Wood sits in the middle of midfield and partners Steven Gerrard.

Like the presenters and experts on this French show, the media from all over the world were surprised. The English reporters couldn't even believe it when they saw the list, and after reacting, they didn't dare to think on the bright side, thinking that Donn was taking a risk, and Wood's injury was not good at all, but Donn was forced to choose in order to win against the French team.

"Even if we win against France and make Wood more injured, how can we play Spain in the semi-finals?"

"Don is too inconsiderate to do this!"

"Did Wood voluntarily call for war or did Donn force it? We'll have to look into it......"

While the reporters were talking, the England players in the dressing room were also surprised.

They looked at Donn, who was standing in front of the tactical board, and then at Wood, who was sitting on the side. Just now, the boss announced that among the starting midfielders of this game, George? Wood.

"Are your feet healed? George? Rooney got up and asked, which was also a concern for everyone.

"No problem." Wood replied.

In fact, this morning, the team doctor White also gave Wood a special check-up, and thought that Wood had recovered well from his foot injury and was ready to start the game. Don's heart can finally be completely let go.

Wood's return was originally a very happy thing, but thinking about the abnormal words and deeds of the head in the past few days, everyone's hearts have sunk to the bottom again - is it because the head is worried that the current squad will not be able to beat France, so he let Wood force the start?

The men looked at Wood with a little more confusion in their eyes, and they didn't believe that Wood's right big toe was really okay now.

Don knew what the players were thinking right now, of course, but he didn't see it, he didn't explain it. Now the players are quite dissatisfied with the French team, and of course they are dissatisfied with him himself, but this dissatisfaction can be turned into motivation, and it is not interesting to say it.

After he introduced the starting list and repeated yesterday's tactical arrangement, Don clapped his hands: "Good luck to you." ”

He didn't give a long and passionate speech, and that was the end of his final preparations before the race.

But no one cared about his strange behavior, anyway, now that they were all on fire, it was better for him to talk less.

Don didn't stay in the locker room and now has a few minutes to play. Walker walked out together, leaving space for the players.

As soon as the leader left, the players suddenly became active and gathered around Wood: "Is it really okay, George?" ”

Wood nodded affirmatively, "It's okay." ”

"I'm very unhappy with the performance of the boss these days...... "Some people looked at the door of the locker room, frowned and said: "He clearly looks down on us, aren't you angry George?" ”

Wood shook his head: "If you think he's wrong, just show him the proof of winning the French team." ”

Wood is the one who knows what Donn is up to, and as captain he has an obligation to help the manager successfully implement the tactical arrangements, including lying.

When England's players gathered around Wood to ask this and that, in the dressing room of the French team, they also got Georges? News that Wood will start.

Puel was a little surprised, he didn't expect Wood to start. However, this also cites his previous analysis from another side - Tony? Donn's fear of the French team is real, not made up by him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked Wood starting. George? Wood was Donn's only trump card and he had to bring on Wood, who had not fully recovered, in order to win against France.

Thinking of this, Puel's heart quickly settled, a George? Wood can't turn the sky upside down, and the mighty French team has nothing to worry about.

He went on to tell the players what to look out for when they played. But he didn't notice that there were people below who were absent-minded...... There aren't many Frenchmen happy with Wood's start, but Rasena? Diarra must be in this minority.

Sitting next to Diarra was midfielder Feghouli, who did not start. He soon notices Diarra's strangeness.

Diarra's body, with her head down, was trembling slightly, and the knuckles of her hands were white.

"Hey, Russ. What happened to you? Feghouli gently touched Diarra beside him and asked with concern.

Diarra stopped the slight trembling of his body, raised his head and grinned at Feghouli, showing a mouthful of white teeth: "It's nothing, I'm a little excited to think of winning England and being able to reach the semi-finals......"

Feghouli thought Diarra's answer was a little funny, he is not a newcomer again, a 31-year-old veteran, is he so excited to reach the semi-finals?

Diarra ignored Feghouli's eyes. Not everyone can understand the feeling of longing for the opponent, and it is useless to explain more. Now he's happy anyway, George? Wood started and the game made a lot more of sense.

(To be continued)