Volume 7 The Heart of the Lion King Chapter 117 The Group of Dead Dead Who See the Hell
Today's scene must have taken everyone by surprise, especially the English players who were still playing games at the Camp Nou last night while warming up.
In their minds, Wales are ants that can be crushed with just one finger, and this game is for conditioning.
But now the ants are holding the trunk of the English elephant and biting hard. The elephant was so hurt that tears were falling.
Three minutes ago......
Tony. Done knows that Wales will choose a more conservative tactic against England, and it would be a good result to be able to draw with England and get a point. So he also changed his tactics and didn't let the team continue to defend and counterattack. Defensive counter-attacks are weapons used against strong teams, or those who consider themselves strong. Fight the weak team and take the initiative to win the game.
So the scene of this game and the previous game was reversed. In the last game, Portugal played against England almost the whole game. In this game, England will have to show the fans around the world and even in front of the TV that they are not weak in attack.
When the other party can't threaten him, Don will also do some "face engineering".
But England was met with unexpectedly big resistance.
Wales must have carefully studied England's recent games, particularly their wins over Argentina and Portugal, before stealing England's 'defensive counter-attack' in training.
Breaking down dense defence is a problem for coaches around the world, and Donn was proud that he had stumped Queiroz in the last game, and he will have to face such a problem in this game.
What should I do if I can't get into the restricted area? Donn asked the team to step up their long-range shots. However, only Gerrard is a good long-range shooter in the team, and there are few attacking points, so Wales can easily target Gerrard and organize him to shoot from a distance.
Rooney will also pull out a long-range shot, but it won't do much. Mitchel simply disappeared into the opposition's dense defense.
Wales defended successfully. In terms of attack, they don't seem to have a center of gravity, as long as they have physical contact with England players, they will fall out of ten.
The referee also seems to be biased in favor of the weak. More than half of the physical contact between the two sides resulted in a foul by an England player. Wales won a number of set-pieces as a result. It's just that they are not very close to the goal, and they are not in the effective range, so there is no way to directly threaten the England goal. The English also did not take it to heart.
Donne, of course, could see Toshak's fancy. But he wasn't worried. It is not easy for Wales, who are weak in attack, to get a free-kick that can directly threaten the goal. After his roaring reminders from the sidelines, the England players were always mindful of where their fouls were and tried not to give Wales set-pieces in the danger zone. Even corners are rarely given to the opponent.
The first half was a dull one. England couldn't score and Wales couldn't fight back.
Just four minutes into the second half, Wales took advantage of their kick-off to attack aggressively and finally won a set-piece straight on target.
'This is the best free-kick Wales have ever taken in the position! It's a little far, 30 meters, but it's right in front of the goal, left and right. Wales should be able to threaten England's goal if they take their chances. Let their offensive frenzy converge a little. "Even Wales' own TV commentator doesn't expect Wales to score, for him the Welsh tactics are just to ease the pressure on their defence.
Seeing that his team had finally won a well-placed free-kick, Toshak got up from his seat and walked to the sidelines, looking nervously at the pitch.
They endured it for forty-nine minutes...... No. Since the match against the German team, I have been pretending to be a grandson and endure until now, it's time!
He saw Gareth. Bale walked over the ball to the foul spot and carefully placed it on the ground.
As an experienced veteran coach. He also felt a little nervous.
Among those who are as nervous as Toshak is Tony. Dawn. As the person who personally dug Bale from Southampton to the forest, he knows how good Bale's free-kick ability is, he was very good "before", and then he has deliberately cultivated it even better.
Sitting on the bench all the time without moving, like a wax statue of George. Wood's expression also changed, and he raised his head and stared at the field with some concern. His brow furrowed slightly.
Thirty meters may seem like a bit far, but for Gareth. For Bale, it was just his best range. Bale's free-kicks are fast, powerful, and lethal with the right curvature. He's not the kind of free-kicker who wins purely by arc. Therefore, it is more helpful for him to play at a distance, and if he is too close, he will either hit the wall or directly rise above the beam. Thirty meters...... That's a good distance.
Bale placed the football on the ground and got up to look at it. Leaned over and rearranged it again. Put the adidas logo right in front of the goal. Then he got up and walked away, not staring at the goal and the wall. Instead, he turned his head to look at the sidelines.
He saw Wales manager Toshak and Tony Toshi, who was also standing on the sidelines. Dawn.
Meeting the leader in such an important competition was indeed something he didn't expect. He promised that the leader would definitely go to Spain, but he never thought of becoming the leader's opponent in Spain......
Don noticed that Bell was looking at him, and a smile crooked into his tense face so that he wouldn't let the little monkey see his nervousness.
England's human wall was finally put in place and the referee stepped back to signal that he had to wait for his whistle to blow before taking the free-kick.
Bell didn't pay much attention to it.
He noticed that before the free-kick, a lot of distractions popped up in his mind. He thought about a lot of things, from his first meeting with the boss outside the training ground at Southampton, to his first professional contract signing and his first goal against Chelsea, who promised to show him a celebration with even more personality than Jose Mourinho.
In the twelve seasons at Nottingham Forest, as long as the memories related to the leader, always happy. That feeling made him reluctant to give up.
But at this time, it is not right......
Bell shook his head. I want to get these messy thoughts out of my brain. You know, it's a game right now, how can you let something like this interfere with you?
Gareth. Bale stood in front of the ball and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He muttered silently, "We are enemies now, ...... leader"
In Tony. Donn taught him that he never let his players let out of the water when facing an enemy.
Because Don instilled a sense of pride in the Nottingham Forest players, such a thing as deliberately releasing water would never have been possible for the proud Nottingham Forest players. No matter where you go. Nottingham Forest's origins make them proud and make them stand out from the crowd. Unruliness and arrogance are their collective trademarks. This is the momentum that has been informing European football over the past decade. Even if the boss is gone, this momentum will remain in the hearts of those old Nottingham Forest players.
The referee's raised arm was lowered and he blew the whistle in his mouth.
Bale glanced at the positional relationship between the human wall and the goal and goalkeeper, and after deciding in his mind how he was going to play, he started to run.
The Welsh fans in the stands clapped rhythmically and chanted: "Bale! Bel! Bel! Bey—"
I'm Gareth. Bale, I'm from Nottingham Forest and I've been with that championship team for over a decade. Now take a look at a floating nest!
Thirty metres seemed like a blink of an eye, and the Englishman hadn't even reacted when the ball was already spinning in the net inside the goal.
The ball went in like that?
It's too easy, too easy, isn't it?!
"Gareth. Bel! In the deafening cheers of the audience. The Welsh TV commentator had to desperately raise the volume of his shouts so that the Welsh TV viewers who were watching the game could see his excitement. "A nice free-kick! He shot through England!! 1:0! Wales lead England! ”
Bale was thrilled to see the free-kick go in, tearing desperately at his shirt. Soon overwhelmed by the same excitement of his teammates.
Seeing Bale's free-kick go in, George Brown. Wood leaned back into his seat. He guessed the result because the position was too good......
The boss may have guessed it, but he must not want to admit it.
Tony. Don was depressed about the goal conceded, not angry, but depressed. He leaned back and cursed. The man who scored the goal was Gareth. Bell, he couldn't have scolded too badly. But for the reality that the team is lagging behind. He's still upset.
"It was an unexpected game, Wales were pressed by England for 50 minutes and then they were ahead of the opposition! The game is reminiscent of the match between England and Portugal five days ago! Could England be repeating the mistakes of Portugal? ”
Gareth. Bale finally broke free from the crowd and reached out to the Welsh fans in the stands to keep cheering and cheering for the team. So the stands "Wales! Wales! The shouts were louder again.
As he ran back to his own half surrounded by his team-mates close to the touchline, he passed by the England dugout.
Don didn't set his sights on him. Rather, they were gesturing to the English players on the pitch. Signalling them to step up their attack and not give Wales set-pieces like that. He had to make some adjustments.
Bell in the crowd. Glancing at Don. He saw Donn's anxious look. What if England did win this game? The thought popped through his mind.
Bell and Donn pass by. He high-fived Toshak, who had walked to the sideline, and ran back to the court.
England launched a frantic counterattack, and in the time they had just conceded the goal, they pressed all the team, so that the Welsh could not find a chance to counterattack, and football could not get past half time. England showed their strong side, but Wales defended in a woeful manner. But it's done very well.
Players such as Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have repeatedly shot from distance, but they are nothing more than squandering their chances. Under the close interference of the opponent, even Gerrard's long-range shots lost their accuracy.
Wales defended more tightly and annoyingly than England defended against Portugal, and they didn't want to leave the slightest chance to the English, even if it was rolling on the ground, to make the English players feel their presence when they shot.
Pushing, tripping, colliding...... Everything was done with only one purpose - to stop England's attack. Don't let them get up and shoot comfortably.
Donn then replaced Rooney, who had lost control of his temper due to repeated misses, and brought on Abonlaho. Allowing the team to reduce the number of long-range shots, and frequent kick-off crosses from both flanks allowed Mitchel to compete for headers.
Mitchel was effective in the middle of two strong centre-backs, and luck was completely out of England's side today – Mitchel managed to grab the spot, but with a back-to-back header that hit the crossbar......
As time went on, England became more and more impatient. It's out of Donn's control, and every England player on the pitch has only one thought in their head when they get the ball – shoot!
As for the positioning. Passing the ball or something, you have to give in to this idea. So we saw that even centre-back John Terry rushed up and shot a shot.
Donn was thunderous underneath, and such a shot only gave the opposition a fighting spirit and made England lose confidence in winning.
To do this, he had to replace Michael, who had completely lost his bearings. Johnson.
In the 87th minute, England was still trailing Wales with a score of 0:1. Donn thought about it for a moment and replaced Mitchell with James. Vaughn. Without height, England could no longer threaten the Welsh goal and the Welsh could already start celebrating.
On the bench in Wales. The players stood on the sidelines, put their arms around each other's shoulders, and just waited for the final whistle to blow before rushing onto the pitch to celebrate the stunning victory.
"It's unbelievable, but that's the biggest thing about football. England, who swept Portugal 4-2 in their last game, were helpless against Wales, the weakest side in the group, and fell behind 0-1. It looks like they have a good chance of losing to Wales. This should be the biggest upset of this cup so far! ”
Bale was completely out of attack and was a wall in front of goal with his team-mates, blocking every attack from England with his body. The white away shirt has long since turned grass green, which speaks volumes about how many times he has fallen on the ground.
The fourth official held up a sign on the sidelines for three minutes of stoppage time, and England fans in the stands booed, unable to accept the reality that England had lost to their weaker neighbours Wales......
What is there about them that would be a reason to overcome us?
'Wales only had one decent chance to attack in the whole game and they took it and now they are 1-0 up! Busty Tony. Don also had to lower his head......"
Don in the TV camera is looking straight down. Pinch your chin with one hand. Seems to ponder - why did the game turn out like this? An opponent they didn't pay attention to at all, instead trampled them under their feet.
With his head down and pondering for a moment, Donn turned and walked to the dugout. Walker shrugged at Walker, who was looking at him, spread his hands and said, "We lost, Des." Once again, it turns out that if you keep your head held high, you will trip over the stones under your feet. It's a pity I always forget that......"
Walker was also helpless about this result, and he shook his head slightly: "We are all underestimated, it's not your responsibility......"
Behind Donne, the referee, after looking at the watch three times, finally blew the whistle for the end of the game amid the cheers of the Welsh fans!
"It's over! Wales beat England and got the three points! This rekindled their hopes of qualifying from the group! ”
Bale excitedly looked around for a hug after the game, happy as a seventeen or eighteen-year-old child. This does not match the calm temperament he showed in the game.
After he hugged all his teammates, he remembered that he should go and say a few words to the leader. But England don't have Tony in front of the dugout. Donn's figure.
Tony at this time. Done was reviewing his mistakes in front of reporters: "I underestimated the opposition, Wales are a good team, they have good players and coaches. We lost because of this, nothing to complain about......"
A reporter asked: "Mr. Donne, the loss to Wales has cast a shadow on the team's prospects of qualifying. What was your strategy for the last match against Germany? ”
"I don't know yet. The reporter asked Donn about his sore spots. Originally, the game was won against Wales, and his team qualified early, and in the last game, they could use all the substitutes to eliminate the yellow card. Now it looks like the game against Germany should be a do-or-die match......
If the goal is only to qualify from the group, third place in the group is acceptable. But Donne's eyes are on the champions, and England will of course be aiming to top the group in order to meet a better opponent in the knockout rounds.
But it's not like there's no chance at all. If Germany had beaten Portugal later in the game and won both games, then there should be no reason for them to fight England to the death in the final game, which would have worked in England's favour.
The reporter still wanted to ask questions, but Don, who was in a bad mood, pushed them away and hurried away.
While Bell was looking for Donn, Wood was watching him from the sidelines. I looked at him silently for a while, and then walked away.
The defeat to Wales put a question mark over England's qualification from the group. George. Wood has been waiting two games, is the final game going to make the wait for those two games pointless?
Wood clenched his fists so white that his knuckles turned white as he walked to the locker room.
Three and a half hours later, Donn watched another game of the group in his hotel room.
The German team lost 1:2 after playing against Portugal.
Donn gave the Germans 90 minutes of refueling and couldn't change the scoreline. Looking at the frustrated Germans on the TV screen and the ecstatic grape players, he also pinched his temples in pain and felt like his head was big.
"This hellish group of death......" he scolded, slumped on the couch.