Full-Level Pass, Please Call Me The Boss Of The Three Lions

The first time was a good time to play.

Chapter 352 Dream Upper Half! Advance to the Quarterfinals!

As the number of participating teams in this cup has expanded from 16 to 24, the qualifying rules have become more complicated than in previous years. In addition to the direct promotion of the top two teams in the six groups, the four third-placed teams with better performance in each group will also get tickets to the knockout stage.

And it is in this form that the competition in the group stage has become more exciting, intense and full of variables.

However, the situation in Group B has become clear early due to England’s unexpectedly strong performance.

Complete victory over Russia, reversal of Wales, and easy victory over Slovakia

The Three Lions sang all the way in Lingfeng and finally won an amazing record of undefeated group matches!

This is also the only team that won all the group matches in this European Cup!

Not only that, winning all three games, scoring eight goals and conceding only two goals, also set the best record in England’s history in the group stage of the European Cup!

This is a feat that the golden generation of that year could not do!

However, it is often a good thing to be in shape too early in large international cups.

In the history of the European Cup, a total of ten teams have won all the group matches.

But only France in 1984 and Spain in 2008 finally lifted the championship trophy.

Therefore, in the press conference after the game, facing the congratulations and flattery of the media, Hodgson only appeared very humble and cautious:

“The group stage is completely different from the knockout stage. We must play well in every game to win the opportunity to go to the Stade de France!”

This statement seems to be modest at first.

However, if you think about it carefully, you will know what this sentence represents

The Stade de France is the venue for the final of this European Cup.

In other words, as the head coach of the Three Lions, Hodgson’s goal is to reach the final!

As the flash lights flashed one after another, major media rushed to report, exposing Hodgson’s naked ambition!

Hodgson was very calm about the media’s hype.

Coaching in England would have been put under the flash and microscope.

Anyway, the chairman of the English Football Association, Dyke, has publicly stated that the team can win the championship.

Even if he shouted the slogan of reaching the final, it would not change anything.

Besides, since there is an opportunity to lead the team to participate in international competitions such as the European Cup, it would be a lie to say that he does not want to win the championship.

Even though he is nearly 70 years old, Hodgson’s inner desire for the championship is no less than any other young head coach.

As the saying goes, an old horse is still ambitious!

A coach who does not want to win the championship is not a good head coach!

However, he does not know whether he can lead the team to make a breakthrough in this tournament.

Who can guess the future?

All are just trying their best

. . .

With the Three Lions firmly taking the top spot in the group, the other three teams in the group can only fight for the second place in the group.

In another last round of the group match that ended at the same time, Wales defeated Russia 3-0 in Toulouse, with two wins and one loss in three games and six points, and was able to qualify as the second in the group!

As for Slovakia, the third in the group with only three points, it will have to compete with the third in other groups.

Whoever has a better record can enter the knockout stage through the reform of the competition system.

Of course, for the Three Lions and Ling Feng, this has nothing to do with them.

With the full victory, the Three Lions players who just returned to the hotel were warmly received by Prince Harry and the chairman of the English Football Association, Dyke.

Then, everyone also tasted a very sumptuous French meal.

After feasting, Hodgson also announced publicly that as a reward for the full victory in the group, they will get a day off!

They can use this day to go out and visit the “fashion capital” Paris, or meet with their family and girlfriends to express their longing for each other.

Of course, at the end, Hodgson did not forget to remind his disciples who had already forgotten about it happily:

“Remember, don’t cause me any trouble! Otherwise, you won’t have to play in the next game!”

He knows the character of his disciples very well.

Except for a few players like Ling Feng, Kane, Rashford, etc. who don’t like or are not old enough to go out, the others are loyal fans of nightclubs and bars.

Especially if the disciples spend all their energy on women, where on the court

Still have the energy to run? !

With the end of all the group matches of the European Cup, the top 16 teams in the knockout stage have all been born!

The first place in the six groups is France, England, Germany, Croatia, Italy, and Hungary

The second place in the six groups is Switzerland, Wales, Poland, Spain, Belgium, and Iceland

The third place in the four groups with the best performance is Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Portugal!

The result of the promotion is not surprising. The traditional strong teams basically advanced to the knockout stage.

Among them, the most thrilling road to promotion is naturally Portugal, which has Real Madrid’s top star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Portugal’s start is far less strong than England’s, but very bumpy.

In the first round against Iceland, they were tied by the Vikings who participated in the international competition for the first time.

In the second round against Austria, Cristiano Ronaldo still created a penalty kick despite being closely guarded by the opponent.

However, the Real Madrid superstar with a very high penalty hit rate shot the ball on the post.

Even though they scored a goal in the end, it was offside and was ruthlessly blown off.

In the end, Portugal, whose attack was fruitless, could only draw with Austria.

It was not until the last round against Hungary that Ronaldo finally burst out with super energy!

After falling behind in the first half, Ronaldo was like a god in the second half!

With a header and a wonderful heel goal, the score was tied to 3-3!

And this game was also called one of the best games of this tournament so far by the media.

In the end, under Ronaldo’s god-like descent, Portugal, which had tied three consecutive group matches, was able to get the last ticket to the knockout stage with its record advantage!

However, in addition to helping Portugal advance at the last moment, another football superstar, the Swedish god Taib, who once staged a peak duel with Ronaldo in the qualifiers, ushered in a tragic moment in his national team career in this European Cup.

With one draw and one loss in the first two games, Sweden’s qualifying situation is precarious.

Before the last round of the group stage, Ibrahimovic suddenly announced at a press conference that he would retire from the national team after the end of this European Cup!

Once this news was announced, it became the focus of public and media attention.

At that time, when he learned of this news,

In Ling Feng’s view, Ibrahimovic’s original intention of announcing the heavy news on the eve of the battle might be good.

He hoped to use his last battle to inspire himself and his teammates before the life-and-death battle against Belgium.

However, the gap in strength between Sweden and Belgium is too big.

Even if Ibrahimovic and his teammates fought a desperate battle.

But they could not knock on the door guarded by Courtois.

In the end, with Nainggolan’s world wave long shot, the proud Swedes were sent back to the cold Nordic countries.

And the famous “king of forcing” Zlatan Ibrahimovic also bid farewell to his national team career with a cruel defeat.

However, Ling Feng knew very well that Ibrahimovic’s football legend had not yet ended.

Veterans will not die, they will only slowly fade away!

. . .

As the top 16 came out, the results of the knockout matches were also announced:

Due to winning the first place in the group, England did not enter the lower half of the strong teams as in the original history, but entered the upper half of the overall weaker strength!

And their opponent is Northern Ireland, the weakest among the top 16!

And the opponents in the same upper half are Switzerland or Poland, Croatia or Portugal, Hungary or Belgium!

Comparing the opponents in the lower half, the majority of English fans slid on their knees in their living rooms to celebrate!

Because, compared to the upper half where the underdogs gathered, the lower half can be called the death half!

The eight teams in the lower half are Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Wales, Slovakia, Ireland, and Iceland!

Especially Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, these four teams have ten World Cup titles and nine European Cup titles in total!

So terrifying!

The British media was singing and dancing about the team’s entry into the dreamy upper half, and began to conduct detailed analysis and discussion around the topic of “Can England win the championship”:

Among the opponents in the upper half, only Croatia, Portugal and Belgium can pose a threat to England.

And in the quarter-finals, Croatia and Portugal will decide the winner, and only one team can enter the next round.

So, strictly speaking, only Belgium and the winner between Croatia and Portugal can prevent them from entering the final stage!

And in the death

In the lower half, there will be at least one match between two top teams in each knockout round.

In comparison, they are simply too happy!

Even the Guardian, which has always been rigorous and fair, said bluntly:

“This may be the best opportunity for England to reach the European Cup final!”

You know, England’s best result in the European Cup was only the third place in the first European Championship in 1968.

They have never reached the final!

While the outside world was making public opinion, the Three Lions players welcomed a short vacation after a month.

During the short one-day vacation, Ling Feng, like many of his teammates, chose to spend it with his family and girlfriend.

As a member of the England wives group, Barbara would wear Ling Feng’s No. 7 jersey in every game and cheer for her boyfriend in the stands with Ling Feng’s parents.

After a brief meeting, Ling Feng walked out of his girlfriend’s hotel room with lipstick marks all over his face, and then he got a small task from his girlfriend:

“He has to score the next goal as a gift to her under the eyes of the whole world!”

Ling Feng naturally agreed to this.

Soon, three days later, he had the moment to complete the task.

The second quarter-final of the European Cup, England vs. Northern Ireland, was held at the Parc des Princes of Paris Saint-Germain!

Like Wales, Northern Ireland also made it to the finals of the European Cup for the first time.

In the group stage, Northern Ireland was in the same group as Germany, Ukraine and Poland.

As a newcomer to the European Cup, Northern Ireland lost to Germany and Poland by one goal, and defeated Ukraine 2-0, and was able to enter the knockout stage as the third of the four best groups.

The most famous player in this Northern Ireland team is Jonathan Evans, the older brother of the “Evans Brothers”!

Apart from central defender Evans, who once played for Manchester United and won the Premier League and Champions League with the team, only a few players in the team played in the top five leagues.

The overall lineup is dim and the players’ levels are uneven.

In this game, facing England, which sent all its main players, Northern Ireland showed its determination to unite as one.

Unfortunately, the gap in strength between the two sides is too big.

In the 27th minute of the first half, Northern Ireland’s goal was declared lost!

And the one who opened the door to victory for England was “the sharpest sword of the Three Lions” wearing the legendary No. 7 jersey – Ling Feng!

“Wow!”

“Smooth cooperation!”

“Kane knocked the ball back, Ling Feng shot it, the ball was like an indestructible sword, piercing the heart of the Northern Irish people without mercy!”

“This England No. 7 scored the third goal of this European Cup!”

“Currently ranked second in the scorer list, second only to Bale who scored three goals in three games!”

“At the same time, this talented super golden boy sent four assists in three games, also the top of the European Cup assist list!”

“Goal and assists, the new No. 7 of the Three Lions has become the most indispensable member of the team!”

After scoring, Ling Feng also came to the sidelines as soon as possible, and then blew a kiss to his girlfriend in the stands!

The live broadcast camera was also aimed at Barbara as soon as possible.

I saw this Hungarian supermodel with smoky makeup, regardless of the eyes of the millions of fans around and in front of the TV, she also blew a few kisses to Ling Feng in succession.

After taking the lead, England played more relaxed.

Ling Feng, Sterling, Kane and Rooney in the front field also frequently made empty runs to support and played continuous short passes.

Such a scene also made some old English fans feel incredible.

Is this still the England with rough skills in their impression?

In their memory, England’s rough guys can only make long passes and crosses from the side after flying on both wings.

But now, they are playing the ground control of Spain? !

Of course, they soon found out that it was all thanks to Ling Feng!

The British No. 7 kept running and connecting in the front field, allowing the ball to be continuously transmitted!

In the first half, England took advantage and entered the locker room with a one-goal lead.

In the second half, England attracted the opponent’s formation by controlling the ball, and then suddenly changed the rhythm and penetrated the goal of Northern Ireland again!

After Ling Feng and Rooney switched positions and came to the right, he played a wall pass with Rooney and then broke into the penalty area from the ribs between the full-back and the center back.

He looked at the goal, pretended to shoot, and suddenly sent a penetrating inverted triangle cross pass.

This game defeated Valdena

Kane, who got the chance to start, did not disappoint Hodgson!

He took a step back, got rid of the defender who was following him, and then swung his foot and shot the ball into the lower left corner of the goal!

Ling Feng and Kane, who completed the pass and shot, also hugged each other with smiles on their faces.

This frontcourt offensive combination that once led England U21 to the top of the European Youth Championship also continued their extraordinary chemical reaction in the adult national team.

When the game came to the 83rd minute, seeing that there was not much time left, and already leading by two goals, Hodgson replaced the core of the team Ling Feng who completed the pass and shot again in this game, and let him accept the applause of the fans.

In the end, it was with the pass and shot of Ling Feng and Kane that England easily defeated the “little brother of England” Northern Ireland 2-0 and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals!

(End of this chapter)