long live football

When the game is at a stalemate, long shots and set kicks are magic weapons that can open up the situation.

Beckham sent a 45-degree slanted kick into the Spanish penalty area. Rooney rushed towards the football landing point aggressively. Pique took the first step to take off. The football hit his shoulder and bounced out of the baseline.

The referee signaled for a corner kick.

Beckham stands at the flagpole and prepares.

The Spanish fans in the stands behind him collectively raised their vuvuzelas and blew violently.

"Woooooo-"

The Spanish fans wanted to use the noise to disrupt Beckham's corner.

This kind of trumpet, which is more than one meter long and produces a sound of over [-] decibels when it is blown, can shake the entire stadium to the point of falling apart. It is not one of the most annoying instruments in the entire World Cup in South Africa.

In the World Cup group match, the vuvuzela attracted complaints from coaches and players from various countries. Although the organizers began to prohibit fans from bringing it into the stadium after the group match, the stadium was crowded with people before the game.

Especially in the second half of the World Cup, some fans tried every means to sneak vuvuzelas into the stadium, because they found that teams outside Africa, especially European players, were particularly sensitive to the sound of vuvuzelas. Even if they can only make their opponents lose their minds for a second and panic for a second, they can still count as a profit.After all, on the football field, flustered or distracted one second before an attack may bring a completely different result.

But no matter what the Spanish fans brag about, Beckham's posture doesn't seem to be affected.

The corner kick he took was beautiful and flew straight into the middle of the penalty area.

Rooney grabbed the first point and headed the ball. The football did not fly to the heavily guarded goal, but fell towards the weakly defended back point.

Just after the point, Irving took off and outflanked!

Puyol saw that the situation was not good and jumped up, he deliberately pushed Owen with his chest!

Owen, whose center of gravity was knocked off a few inches, regrettably missed the ball and missed a wonderful chance to shoot.

The Spanish team took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack.

A vengeful England team set a lot of checkpoints in their attacking route.

Xavi made a lateral cut from the left and was intercepted by Beckham. He staggered and almost lost the ball. Feeling uneasy, he wanted to pass the ball to his teammate. When he looked around, he found that his teammate Iniesta was also surrounded. among.

Damn it!The passing route was predicted and blocked in advance again!

Harvey cursed secretly in his mind.

Spain has a sharp frontcourt attack, and more than half of the credit should be given to Iniesta, because he did a great job of splitting the ball and breaking through.

Even if Iniesta is off the ball, he is regarded as deadly. The Spanish team's offensive power in the frontcourt has been cut by half.

On the next break, Harvey struggled.

Harvey risked a long-range shot after being nearly cut off by Terry yet again.

The technical content of this shot was not high, and Joe Hart threw it down easily.

Hart kicked the ball quickly to Lampard.

The Three Lions blew the horn of counterattack!

Lampard sent a direct pass from the backcourt, and Rooney got the ball and fell into an offensive and defensive battle with Busquets.

Alonso and Iniesta were approaching from a distance to outflank, Rooney saw that the timing was not good, shifted his center of gravity to the right, and poked the ball to Owen from the left when Busquets was a little dazed.

Busquets reacted quickly. He immediately turned around and chased the ball. Rooney took the first step to block him.

Owen avoided the walking route of Alonso and Iniesta, and broke through from the right to the front of the penalty area.

Deliberately wandering around the penalty area, after attracting the firepower of Pique and Ramos, Owen raised his foot sideways and hit the football vigorously, and the football flew horizontally to the left of the penalty area!

Beckham appeared in the penalty area!

Facing the flying football, Beckham raised his foot and volleyed!

Puyol, who hadn't run far, changed his face drastically, and rushed towards the ball!

"Bang!" The football just hit Puyol's head, and he was pushed out of the bottom line!

Another corner!

Standing at the corner kick, Beckham made a move that was different from the last corner kick, and deliberately looked up at several teammates crowded in the Spanish penalty area.

Because of his action and expression, several Spanish defenders judged that Beckham's corner kick should be different from the last time. Seeing that Rooney ran to the forward point, they also ran forward.

Beckham kicks the ball up!

The football fell into the middle of the penalty area again!

Irving took off under the eyes of everyone!

The defensive forces in the Spanish penalty area swarmed towards him.

Owen pointed his head at the football and wiped it lightly!

Casillas immediately took off in the middle of the goal!

Owen didn't shoot directly, and the direction of the football flying was the back point!

No direct shot, no pass to the line, but the ball directly to the back point!

Lampard was there!

Volley shot!

The football easily passed through a large gap beside Casillas and entered the goal!

The cheers suppressed by the England commentator for 10 minutes were finally able to shout: "GOOOOOOAL! Great teamwork! England finally leads!"

……

"As long as we get the lead, we have a [-]% chance of winning."

This is what Karl said in the locker room at halftime.

The next sentence is: "Don't be impulsive after leading, and don't be too happy to think about taking the opportunity to score another goal and quickly shrink the defense. It's time to play hard to get for Spain."

In such a game that needs to be cautious and cannot take a wrong step, whichever team gets the ball first will have the absolute initiative.

Doesn't Spain like possession of the ball?Don't you like to make opponents anxious by turning your back in the backcourt?

Then enjoy the ball go.

With England leading the way, it will be up to who is in a hurry in the end.

Lampard's goal undoubtedly gave Carl a reassurance.

When he saw that the players were not impulsive after taking the lead, but instead shrinking the defense step by step as his midfielder said, Karl became more calm.

The England players guarded their own half of the court in a well-behaved manner, and easily refused to take half a step forward.

The Spanish players also tried to open up the situation with long shots, but every time their players broke into the England half, whether they had the ball or not, they would be guarded very closely by the English players.

Players from the Premier League are simply too experienced in defensive marking, sticking to each other, hands and feet, and verbal provocations.

And the Spanish team has nothing to do with this barbaric style.

Unable to start the game for a while, the Spanish commentator was angry: "The style of play is too rough! The movements are too rough! The English players seem to have traveled from the wild age!"

Are England rough?In fact, no, if the action is too big, they will have been dealt countless cards by the head coach. They will not directly foul the Spanish players, but will be aggressive, showing a bloodthirsty expression and intimidating.

Time continued to pass, and by the 65th minute, Spanish coach Del Bosque couldn't sit still.

He first replaced Pedro with Navas.

5 minutes later, seeing that the substitution had no effect, Del Bosque replaced Fabregas for Alonso.

Karl has been watching the Spanish coach from the corner of his eye.

After these two substitutions, Bosque was seen walking back and forth twice in front of the coach's bench without a word.

Carl smiled slightly, and he completely understood what Bosque was thinking.

Spain really wanted to drag the game to a penalty shootout.

After all, in public opinion, and the game data of the past 20 years can fully prove that the England team was extremely unlucky in penalty shootouts, and even flattery could not keep up with the Spanish team, which is becoming more and more good at penalty kicks.

So after seeing England leading by one goal and then shrinking the defense line without arrogance or impetuosity, Bosque was a little restless?

He is probably very afraid that the England team will continue to park the bus and defend the 1:0 score to the death.

Karl recruited Jagielka from the bench, whispered a few words to the opponent, and then asked the opponent to warm up.

In the 75th minute, England also made a substitution, Jagielka replaced Ferdinand.

This is to supplement the strength of the defense.

After Jagielka came on the field, he followed Karl's instructions, whispered to his teammates, and strengthened the team's defense.

Karl waited for the Spanish team's reaction.

In the 78th minute, the score was still 1:0, Bosque made a few gestures towards the field.

Spain's offensive suddenly became fierce.

Cal relaxed, and quickly gestured towards the field.

This is the agreement he made with the players before the game: if England leads the score and Spain strengthens its attack at the last moment, it means that the opponent is under tremendous pressure, and they are not calm, and they want to equalize the score as soon as possible At this time, although Spain looks fierce and amazing on the surface, it must have been strong on the outside. England must not be flustered by the opponent's attack, as long as it continues to resist with all its strength, and wait until the opponent is impatient and even starts to make mistakes. Here comes England's chance.

In the 80th minute, Portillo passed the ball in the middle and then passed the ball to Navas. Navas volleyed from the front of the penalty area and the football was bravely saved by Joe Hart.

In the 82nd minute, Capdevila, who was in possession of the ball in the midfield, was negligent and almost sent the ball to Beckham's feet when passing the ball. Fortunately, Harvey made a timely remedy and intercepted the ball halfway.

In the 83rd minute, Portillo's long-range shot hit the post.

The temperament of the Spanish team has become more and more impetuous.

In the 84th minute, Puyol passed the ball to Pique. When Pique turned around and dribbled forward, he stepped on the ground for some reason, and the football suddenly slipped three meters away!

The opportunity is coming!

Owen's eyes lit up suddenly, and he rushed out like a cannonball before Pique turned around to chase the ball, kicking the ball with his toes!

The football was still under the feet of Spain a few seconds ago, but now Irving was suddenly sent to the densely populated area of ​​​​English players, and the Spanish defense suddenly panicked!

Rooney ran away to the Spanish restricted area!

Beckham dribbled the ball from the right into the Spanish half, and then passed the ball to Rooney before encountering an interception!

"Capdevila shoveled away! Beautiful! Rooney continued to dribble forward! England's attack is so fast, look, Spain's defense is in a mess!"

When Rooney dribbled the ball forward at high speed, Owen and Lampard also inserted into the penalty area.

At the front of the restricted area, Rooney stopped slightly.

"Pass the ball? Or shoot directly? Rooney's choice may determine the fate of England!"

The choice of country or individual was entangled in Rooney's mind for less than half a second, and Lu Xiaopang made his choice!

He crossed the ball into the middle of the penalty area without hesitation!

Irving volleys the ball!

The world held its breath.

The Spanish goalkeeper Saint Cassie made the correct saving posture, but because Owen was too close to the goal, it was too late when he took off!

The football goes through the goal like lightning!

"GOAL! GOOOAL! GOOOOOAL!"

“2:0！2：0！比赛剩下不足10分钟，两个进球的领先，已经没有任何东西可以阻挡住英格兰的晋级了！！！”

Shocking cheers erupted from the stadium buzz!

The England players seemed to see the door of the World Cup final slowly opening in front of their eyes.

The Spanish players were dumbfounded.

They feel that the colorful colors of the world seem to have left themselves at this moment.

Only black and white remained.

It was bitterly cold.

……

There is a Spanish proverb: For dreams, fight to the death.

The Matador Corps came to South Africa with the same goal as other national teams, which is to win the World Cup.

But now the chances of them achieving their goals may have dropped to one percent or even one thousandth.

Watching the countdown on the timing board change from tens to tens to single digits, the fact that the game is about to end has strangled many people's necks and made them feel suffocated.

Despair gradually devoured the sanity of most people, and what little sobriety they had left could only keep the team in a state of not collapsing, but nothing more could be done.

There are not many Spanish players who can maintain a strong desire to attack at this time.

Javier Portillo certainly counts as one.

Many Spanish players who have lost their fighting spirit looked at Portillo, even though he was sweating and panting, he was still running non-stop, constantly reaching out to his teammates for the ball, and perseveringly to the England half-court Breaking through, I don't understand where the opponent's fighting spirit comes from.

"There are more than four minutes left in the game, but Portillo has not given up on the attack. Just when Iniesta wanted to pass the ball back, he stretched out his hand and took the ball to his feet. Iniesta Star gave him a helpless look, but passed the ball to his national team-mate."

The tone of the England commentator was full of doubts, and perhaps a little bit of admiration could not help showing: "Portillo is doing useless work, he must understand this, England's defense is not weak, unless they are willing to go to their own goal Otherwise, Spain — bah, bah, bah, I didn’t say that — in short, Portillo is not capable of turning the tide, Spain is doomed to be eliminated today, but why is he still so persistent?"

Regardless of whether Spain wins or loses in the end, Portillo will fight until the last minute.

Not only for the team, but also to be worthy of his identity as a professional player.

After all, there was a time when he didn't even dare to dream that he could appear in the World Cup.

The player's career is not long, and the middle is full of unknown ups and downs. Cherishing every minute he has now is the vow Portillo made to himself since the early spring of 1.

So no matter what others do, in order to fulfill his promise, he must persist until the last minute!

Being intercepted, blocked, and tackled, even though he saw England's defense blocking his passes and shots again and again, even though his legs were already heavy as if they were filled with lead, Portillo still gritted his teeth , clenched his fists, recovered as quickly as possible, and continued to fight.

Everyone was shocked by this tenacious spirit.

Karl stared at his former disciple intently.

Then it was sad and gratifying to find that during the time of separation, everyone has been constantly becoming more mature.

The brilliance that Portillo bloomed became more and more dazzling.

And in the process of his change, he did not lose his most precious qualities.

Although Portillo is attacking England's goal at the moment, Karl especially wants to say cheer for the opponent.

And he did it in the back of his mind.

"Portillo took the ball! He chose to break through from the left this time, a beautiful move! Lampard's tackle was empty!"

"The speed of the breakthrough is really fast. It's hard to imagine that Portillo still has the strength to run so fast at this time... Oh! His foot slipped! When avoiding Terry's sliding tackle, Portillo's foot For a moment, I stepped on the air, and even dribbled the ball and slipped!"

"God, Portillo is standing up again! Standing faster than Terry! Just when he was falling forward with the ball, he controlled his body and landed on the ground with his knees and hands. The football was just caught What a smart choice he made between his limbs!"

Portillo quickly got up from the ground and temporarily passed the ball cautiously to his teammates.

At this moment, the fourth official off the court held up a sign for 3 minutes of stoppage time.

In 3 more minutes, the game is over!

"England! England!"

"England! England!"

There was no longer any sitting England fans in the stands. They were all standing, applauding excitedly and stomping their feet. After the last 3 minutes passed, one of the places in the finals would belong to England!

After the ball was handed over, Portillo once again hinted to his teammates that he wanted the ball.

Iniesta sprints towards the England half with the ball.

He decided to help Portillo fight until the last second.

Although knowing the overall tactics of leaving the team, it is a very impulsive decision to rush the ball into the England half, and it may even cause bad consequences-the Spanish team conceded the second goal because they wanted to attack, but they were conceded by England. It only appeared after a successful counterattack by seizing the loophole-but Iniesta did it without hesitation.

Because moved.

When the vast majority of Spanish players had given up hope from the bottom of their hearts, Portillo's persistence shocked them.

Now that victory is hopeless, let them be worthy of the Spanish jersey they wear.

He dribbled the ball horizontally to the middle, and then passed the ball to Iniesta in the face of Beckham's impact, and then found the right time to tiptoe the ball to Portillo.

1 minute left in stoppage time.

Portillo sprinted to where the football landed at high speed, hooked the ball before Lampard kicked it away, pulled it back, and easily stepped on the ball.

He turned to face the English half, looked at the densely packed English players running inside and outside the penalty area, and took a deep breath.

In the next second, he was already stepping on the football, rushing towards the entire back line with an indomitable momentum!

40 seconds.

Step on the ball with left and right feet alternately, turn around 180 degrees when you are about to collide with Johnson, stretch your feet to pull the ball back, and get rid of Johnson.

After a Marseille roundabout, the ball continued to move forward.

When Ashley Cole came up, another Marseille round was born at the feet of Portillo.

20 seconds.

Portillo's footsteps are incredibly light.

like a butterfly.

Like fallen leaves floating in the air.

Everyone was mesmerized by his dance moves.

Even enemies.

15 seconds.

Portillo finally reached the penalty area, and a drop of sweat dripped from the corner of his clothes and landed on the grass.

With all his muscles screaming to strike, Portillo exhausted all his strength and swung his legs towards the goal!

He closed his eyes when he shot.

Let this ball be decided by God!

ten seconds.

Portillo, who didn't hear any football hitting, opened his eyes. He skipped over the England goalkeeper's body in disbelief and looked behind him.

The football lies in a net.

When he felt the football rubbing against his fingertips and flew into the goal, Joe Hart thought to himself: This goal is probably appointed by God, and I can't stop it.

The fans in the stands were stunned.

The reporters in the media area were stunned.

The coaches and substitute players on the bench were also stunned.

It was an extremely quiet moment inside and outside the stadium.

"Clap clap clap."

The crisp applause startled everyone in the mixing zone.

British and Spanish coaches, substitute players and the media followed the voice and looked towards the sidelines.

They saw the back of the England coach.

A figure clapping from behind.

Standing on the same level as Karl, Bosque, who was not far away, was the first to react, and he quickly applauded this wonderful goal.

Because of the geographical advantage, Bosque also caught a glimpse of the expression on Carl's face.

If Bosque suspected that the England coach was hypocritical in the last second - he won the game and applauded the opponent for a goal that is not to be feared. Possessive—then at this second, Bosque dispelled all the dirty thoughts in his mind.

Although he only saw a brief profile, Bosque can be sure that what just flashed across the face of the England coach...is pride.

Plus the applause that reacted faster than anyone else.

Auston really applauded Portillo.

Realizing this, Bosque felt much better.

At the same time, he was a little surprised: the relationship between Auston and his former disciples was indeed as close as the media reported.

"Javier Portillo—!!!"

The commentators from various countries who had just come to their senses immediately raised their voices and shouted.

Inside the stadium, the referee's final whistle rang together with the cheers of the fans.

The English players on the field have long hugged together, cheering and jumping for joy.

The Spanish players did not cry as outsiders expected. Some of them were emotional, but most of the players looked calm.

Because in this game, they tried their best.

As long as you do your best, you won't regret it.

"The game is over! England eliminated Spain with a score of 2:1 and advanced to the final of the World Cup in South Africa!"

"Congratulations to England, whether it is the players or the head coach, they performed flawlessly in this game. There is no turning the tide or a savior. England, as a team, defeated the mighty Spain with flawless tactics and execution. !"

"Spain don't have to cry tonight, because you didn't lose unjustly, and in the last minute, Portillo contributed the most exciting closing performance for the Spanish team since this World Cup! The Spaniard should be proud of him! Looking forward to 1 In the European Cup in 12 and the World Cup in Brazil in 14, you can still see this Real Madrid superstar."

"Finally, please look forward to the Johannesburg Stadium three days later! England and Germany will fight there for the World Cup crown!"

"Who is the strongest team in the world? Who will win the Hercules Cup? All the answers will be revealed in three days!"