From the man behind the football king to the football king.

With Portugal defeating Croatia 1:0, the top four teams of this World Cup have been decided. The semi-final matchups have also come to a conclusion, with France VS Belgium in the upper half and Portugal VS England in the lower half.

Whether it is Portugal or England, the two opponents are very familiar with each other's players, because many Portuguese players play in the Premier League or have played for Premier League teams.

Because of the familiarity, everyone knows that the other party is a very difficult opponent.

On the evening of July 7, Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

World Cup semi-final, Portugal vs England.

A day ago, the French team finally defeated Belgium 1:0 and became the first to enter the final of this World Cup, waiting for Portugal and England.

After winning the game, Mbappe called Bruno and Kane respectively, and showed off to them, saying that if Bruno or Kane advanced to the final, he would not show mercy in the game and would have a good fight with them.

In this game, both head coaches sent out their main players.

For England, Southgate fielded his usual 352 formation, with Pickford as goalkeeper, Kyle Walker, Maguire and Stones as the three defenders; the five midfielders from right to left were Trippier, Lingard, Henderson, Alli and Ashley Young, and the two forwards were Harry Kane and Sterling.

On the Portuguese side, Santos once again made major adjustments to the team's lineup, fielding a 4321 Christmas tree formation. The goalkeeper is Patricio, the four defenders are Cancelo, Pepe, Fonte and Guerrero, the three defensive midfielders are Joao Mario, Moutinho and William Carvalho, the two attacking midfielders are Bruno and Bernardo Silva, and Ronaldo is the lone striker.

This is a brand new attempt for Santos and Portugal, after all, they have never played in such a formation before.

………………

Not long after the game started, Portugal suffered a heavy blow: in the 3rd minute, they lost the ball!

At that time, Joao Mario committed a foul, giving England a free kick in an excellent position. Trippier took the penalty and the shot went straight into the net, Portugal 0:1 England!

"Oh my! What a great start! England took the lead just three minutes into the game! Great!" England commentator Andy Gray shouted, "It looks like they will win this game easily! Portugal, who tried a new formation, obviously couldn't stop England! After the game, Santos will definitely be bombarded by Portuguese fans and media!"

The Portuguese players looked very frustrated after conceding the goal. Losing the ball so quickly is very demoralizing.

Santos sat in the coaching booth without any comment. When deciding to use the new formation against England, Santos was already prepared to lose the ball.

Although the 4321 Christmas tree formation has a balanced offense and defense, with a large number of players in the midfield, it can occupy the number advantage in the middle of the midfield, which is conducive to ball control and offensive organization. This helps to reduce defensive pressure and enhance the team's control in the midfield. But its disadvantage is also very obvious, that is, there is a high probability of loopholes on the wing. This time, England's goal was a free kick obtained through a wing attack.

Bruno cursed on the court: "Damn it..."

From the three-minute match, it can be seen that because this was a completely new formation, the original tacit understanding between the players was disrupted. The free kick England got just now was because of a problem with the pass, and Joao Mario had no choice but to commit a foul.

It is indeed difficult to win if we keep playing like this!

………………

"The start was not favorable for Portugal. Portugal tried a new formation today. I don't know what Santos was thinking. Did he want to catch England by surprise? But for now, it seems that the Portuguese were fooled by their own surprise!"

While the England players were celebrating, Bruno called together Bernardo Silva, Ronaldo, Joao Mario, Ray Moutinho and William Carvalho.

These are all the attacking players of Portugal on the field. Although Ronaldo is the captain of the team and often does some morale-boosting actions on the field, he is not good at tactical things. When encountering such problems, either the team coach Santos will make adjustments, or Bruno.

Bruno said to Bernardo Silva: "We should simplify some of the offensive coordination. If there is a chance, we should pass the ball quickly."

Bernardo Silva's skills are so good that he tends to show off his footwork, which results in him losing some good passing opportunities. This may be the difference between a player with good skills and a player with average skills.

Of course, Bruno is an exception. He is also very skilled, but he never sticks the ball to his feet and does some fancy moves before passing it. As long as he sees the right opportunity, he will pass the ball immediately.

………………

If someone else said this to Bernardo Silva, he would definitely frown and retort. But it worked well for Bruno, and Bernardo Silva nodded without objection.

"Cristiano has a strong body and can protect the ball. We should cooperate with him. Once he gets the ball, everyone should actively step forward to support him." Bruno told everyone his plan. No one objected.

"Cristiano, you also need to pay attention to our position."

Ronaldo nodded.

Although he is a veteran with experience in dealing with various situations, today's game is different. This is the World Cup semi-final, which determines whether he can enter the final. Ronaldo couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

For him, who is already 33 years old, today's World Cup semi-final may very well be the last World Cup semi-final of his career.

After all, he will be almost 4 in the Qatar World Cup four years later, and it is still unknown whether he will be able to play then.

"If the chance is better, you can shoot it yourself, don't pass the ball. You are a center forward!"

………………

The England players finished celebrating and the impromptu meeting of the Portugal attacking players also ended.

Bruno returned to his position, then turned and gestured to the two full-backs behind him, asking them to actively join in when the team attacked.

Anyway, we are already behind, so there is no point in defending. This is not the Champions League, with a home and away system. The World Cup is a single-elimination match, and losing this game is equivalent to losing all the games.

"We have no choice, let's attack!" Bruno clapped his hands and shouted to the people behind him.

After the game resumed, Portugal obviously stepped up its attack, and England did not back down, and fought back against Portugal, which was very exciting for a while.

First, Ali passed three players and broke into the penalty area, but was stopped by the defender at the last moment. Then Bernardo Silva shot from outside the penalty area, forcing England goalkeeper Pickford to make a wonderful save.

Then Henderson fouled Bruno and received a yellow card. As a result, Ronaldo took the ball and made a powerful long shot.

His shot did not penetrate the human wall, but directly hit Ali in the human wall. Ali fell to the ground on the spot, and the team doctor came on the court for a long time before he recovered.

………………

Near the end of the first half, Bruno suddenly pulled to the wing, and after a series of wonderful passes, he pushed the ball diagonally into the penalty area. Ronaldo broke out from between the defenders, received the ball, and faced the goalkeeper directly!

"This was Portugal's best chance in the first half! Cristiano's one-on-one chance! He shot - but it went wide! What a pity..."

Ronaldo seemed to lack confidence in the face of the attacking goalkeeper Pickford, and his shot missed. The ball went out of the goal, which was very regrettable. He also held his head in his hands, very frustrated.

Not long after this shot, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

Portugal temporarily fell behind England by one goal in the first half.

During the half-time break, Santos did not criticize anyone. Instead, he was satisfied with the team's performance in the first half.

"We were only one goal behind and we had chances in the second half. As long as we were patient enough."

Santos did not say much about the chance Ronaldo missed in the final stage of the first half, but only told Ronaldo that he should have more confidence when facing such opportunities in the future.

The team's performance in the first half was indeed good. Although they were trying a new formation, they were able to quickly adjust their mentality after losing the ball and tied with England. There was nothing much for Santos to adjust, so they just had to let the players continue to play like this.

………………

After the start of the second half, the England team wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to launch a fierce attack, score again and completely destroy the morale of the Portugal team.

The Portuguese players were of course well aware of this. If they conceded another goal, they would not have to play the game.

In such an important match as the World Cup semi-final, the two teams are equally strong and the difference of two goals is enough to destroy the Portuguese team, so they cannot lose the ball at all costs.

The Portuguese team then defended the penalty area, and even Ronaldo consciously retreated to the penalty area to help defend.

Fifteen minutes passed without England scoring a goal and Portugal began planning a counterattack.

In the 67th minute, Portugal attacked. Bruno passed the ball to Bernardo Silva in front. Bernardo Silva did not continue to dribble the ball. He saw the right opportunity and passed the ball to Ronaldo who was running in front.

Ronaldo took the ball with his back to goal. England defender Maguire pressed against him, preventing him from turning around. But he also couldn't easily steal the ball from Ronaldo's feet.

This is Ronaldo's special role in the Portuguese team. It can be said that in the entire Portuguese team, Ronaldo is the only one who can play the role of a fulcrum in the frontcourt.

After protecting the ball, Ronaldo waited for his teammates to come up and support him.