Chapter 15 Playing Tiger (3) The second red card
There was chaos on the pitch and a lot of noise in the stands. The Portuguese players are still a little resentful, and they all feel that they have been treated unfairly. Oliveira, who was on the sidelines, rushed to the fourth official in a rage and shouted: "What is he doing, is he blind?" "If it hadn't been for the assistant referee to send him off in time, maybe even Oliveira would have been sent off with a red card. The fourth official reported to Sanchez about Oliveira's situation, and the result was another yellow card.
"What is Sanchez doing, it's a shame. This is not a mentally retarded penalty that should be seen on the stage of the World Cup. Does he want to make headlines?! The Portuguese commentator was not calm at this time. If the previous punishment can be explained by the lax enforcement scale, then it doesn't make sense at all now. According to the scale of enforcement at this time, Joao simply does not have a yellow card.
Now Portugal are playing with 10 men, and there is no shortage of managers at this time. In just a few minutes, Alexis Sanchez showed a straight red card and two yellow cards to Portugal. For a while, Sanchez became the focus of attention of all cameras, so murderous. On the football field, the referee is inviolable, and Sanchez should be fortunate to have this rule, otherwise he may have been directly singled out by the Portuguese team.
At this time, Lao Lei's heart was already full of anger, and he looked coldly at what Sanchez had done. Lao Lei is not stupid and knows that this is not the time to go up on the hard top, which can only make the situation worse. He also made up his mind, and that mask card was used in this game. Originally, Lao Lei was still hesitating, he originally wanted to use the knockout round, but he didn't think so now, he wanted to leave a mark of shame on the South Korean team and Sanchez.
After the game resumed, South Korea, which had the advantage in numbers, naturally had even more morale, and the soldiers were pressing. On the other hand, 10-man Portugal had to regain and play a defensive counterattack that was not their worst. The Koreans, with the help of Sanchez, used their own ferocious fouls to suppress Portugal. At this time, South Korean fans sang an improvised ballad: "Oh oh oh, who is Remaier, where is Portugal, oh oh oh ......" This made the already unhappy Portuguese team even more emotionally unstable.
Oliveira blushed and looked at the situation on the field. From the moment Joao was substituted, he felt that something was unusual, and he already had a very bad guess in his mind. He just didn't mean it, otherwise Portugal would be really hanging in the air in this game, and what's worse is that if his main team eats cards again, it will be very disadvantageous to Portugal in the next knockout round.
The only good news for Portugal now is that Poland on the other side is already 2-0 ahead of the United States, and only a draw against Portugal in this game can qualify for the first place in the group. And now the situation on the field is that Portugal can only hold on very hard. After all, an offensive superstar like Figo really doesn't play much role on the defensive end, more often than just a team.
In the 30th minute, Portugal received another yellow card. Beto tackled Xue Qixuan, who was dribbling the ball, down the left flank, and was booked by Sanchez. And because he had already received a yellow card in the first game against the United States, he will definitely miss Portugal's 1/8 final. South Korea dismissed a free-kick from the left, which was too close to the goalkeeper. So in the penalty area, Baia has already jumped up and picked up the football. At this time, Choi Jin-cheol, who was from the Korean team, suddenly rushed out and hit Baia, hitting Baia's waist. Baia was immediately knocked to the ground, the ball was out of his hands, and Xue Qixuan, who was at the back post, got the football. He saw his team-mates in action and didn't stop the attack, but just knocked the ball into the empty net.
Thankfully, referee Alexis Sanchez blew the whistle to signal that the goal was invalid and the goalkeeper was the first to run. You must know that the road is in the penalty area, and the goalkeeper is absolutely protected. The players of the South Korean team, hearing the referee's whistle and seeing his gestures, rushed to Sanchez with excitement to express their incomprehension and anger. Sanchez looked at the South Korean players in front of him, and said in his heart that you are really stupid, if this ball is not blown, then I will really be stinking for 10,000 years, no need to continue to mix, this ball is already taking care of you without giving you a yellow card.
At this time, Baia was still lying on the ground, clutching his waist, motionless. Portugal's team doctor has also entered the field to treat it. The dissatisfaction of the Portuguese players has reached the extreme at this time, and such an obvious and big action of attacking the goalkeeper is not enough to deserve a yellow card. Figo and the others surrounded the referee again, next to the players of the Korean team who were still unrelenting.
Lao Lei didn't surround him, just stood aside and looked coldly, with a disdainful sneer on his lips. At this time, Hiddink was dissatisfied, and rushed to the fourth official to complain, thinking that it was a good shot. Oliveira, who was on the side, resisted the urge to go head-to-head with Hiddink, but he couldn't be impulsive at this time, and who knows if Sanchez would still have no scruples about issuing another yellow card and sending him off in the stands. It's a small game, and it would be bad if Portugal didn't have a manager in charge of the knockout rounds.
After the restart of the game, the South Korean team, which had been attacking for dozens of minutes, also needed to slow down a little and weaken the offensive slightly. The Portuguese team also took advantage of this opportunity to exhale a few times and relax the nerves that were too tense a little. Just when the situation on the field became a little dull, Lao Lei, who received a pass from Rui Costa, suddenly made a long pass with a big foot and drove towards the front.
All of a sudden, there was an exclamation. The ball went straight behind South Korea, and Pauletta was turning and cutting forward, ready to take the pass. This sudden long pass obviously caught the South Korean team's backline a little off guard, and the thinking has not yet detached itself from the onslaught of the previous period, and the pressure is a little high. Pauletta got a head start and looked like she could touch the ball first. Pauleta's biggest feature is that he is good at shooting in a variety of ways. This time he jumped straight up and wanted to shoot with a pad.
The ball hit his instep and bounced towards the goal, making an eerie arc as he drifted towards the back post. South Korea's goalkeeper Lee Yun was shocked, he had already moved to the near post, and it was too late to turn his center of gravity and catch up. He could only leap to his right, stretching out his right hand as best he could to touch the football, but it was more like the dying throes of a drowning man. The ball went past his hands and continued to run, but the last hit hit the far post of the goal and bounced off the line.
This made Oliveira, who was already about to jump up in celebration, wave his hand in frustration. Pauletta, who fell on the court, also covered her face with her hands, immersed in regret, and couldn't get up for a long time. Of course, the South Korean team broke out in a cold sweat, and there was a sound of happy breathing in the stands. Lao Lei saw that the ball did not score in the midfield, and he waved his hand regretfully, this long pass was his flash of inspiration, and he was only a fraction away from the goal. If this goal can be scored, it will reduce a lot of pressure on Portugal in the second half for 10-man matches, but there is no regret medicine in time, there is no time machine, and football is often full of regrets.
"Ah!! It's a shame that Pauletta's cushion shot was only 5cm away and we were able to take the lead. In that case, we can take the initiative on the field, so that we can play more easily with 10. The Portuguese commentator also said with regret, accompanied by the sound of hands slapping the table, wine glasses slapping the table and people screaming in regret from various viewing points in Portugal.
After the restart of the game, the South Korean team, who were shocked into a cold sweat, retracted slightly at Hiddink's request for the rest of the game, and the last time of the first half was wasted. And Portugal, who are 10 men, will not take the initiative to attack, the most important thing for them now is to cherish their physical strength, and the game will have a full half time left. With both sides in such a state, the time of the first half passed very quickly.
Back in the dressing room, Joao had not changed his shirt and put a towel over his head. It can be seen that he is still regretting that irrational tackle, which was not a valuable red card-level foul. However, everyone also understands Joao, no one can stay calm forever on the pitch, and after coming in, Figo and others came forward to comfort Joao. But it didn't seem to have much effect, at this time Lao Lei also walked over, sat next to Joao, and said to the senior of the national team: "Joao, watch the game well in the second half, I have a 'gift' for the Koreans." “
After hearing this, Joao was obviously stunned for a while, thinking that Lao Lei wanted to use fouls to help him get angry, and also appeased Lao Lei and asked Lao Lei to calm down. Lao Lei also knew what Lu Dao Joao meant, but he didn't explain in detail, after all, he didn't know that Lu Dao had a cover card against the sky. Oliveira did not make any other set-ups and substitutions for the rest of the game, because judging from the situation in the first half, Portugal's defense could hold on, and at the same time, they could be dangerous on the counter-attack. This is already the best configuration in such a situation.
The 15 minutes of the intermission passed quickly. At the start of the second half, Portugal launched a quick attack, trying to sneak up on South Korea before they could get their spirits. As soon as the South Korean team kicked off in the second half, Lao Lei quickly pressed down and cooperated with Figo to cut off the football. After passing back to Rui Costa, he played a long ball to the right, and Concei-sang's speed escaped Kim Tae-young's interference and burst forward quickly. When you get to the edge of the box, you cut inside and shoot with your feet. It was a shot of a very high standard, but unfortunately it was not on Portugal's side, and the crossbar again denied Portugal's shot.
Hiddink was shocked by the shot, jumped up, and rushed to the sideline to scold angrily, cheering up his South Korean teammates. On the Portuguese side, he could only cover his head again and lament his bad luck. However, this shot also brought some confidence to the Portuguese fans, and their team did not completely fall into the wind.
And after this shot, Portugal played a very happy defensive counterattack. In the Portuguese half, the two sides were locked in a dogfight, and neither side had a good way to deal with each other for a while. Lao Lei is also waiting for the opportunity to counterattack, and he can use a mask card to kill South Korea with one blow.
However, that soon changed, and on 66 minutes Beto hooked Song Jong Kook with a wide defence and was shown a yellow card by Sanchez again.
A bright red card, Portugal only had nine men left on the field.
This is already the worst-case scenario, for Portugal.