The Young Lion

Thanks to Thieves and Natsuki Bryant for their rewards!

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After all, Pires is a first-class player. Even if he is uncomfortable in a non-club position, he gradually develops after a short period of adaptation, and his presence in the frontcourt becomes stronger.

After 20 minutes in the first half, Pires made two consecutive crosses to create Trezeguet's header. Although there was no goal, the threat came out.

And another forward on the French team's front line, Henry, gradually lost his way.

Henry needs one of two things in order to play. Either, there is space, or, there is a pass.

Pires' cross from the right found Trezeguet, and Henry was notoriously bad at headers.

And Henry is in the area to the left of the front line. If Lizarazu does not come up on this side of the backcourt, Zidane will make a surprise attack here and encounter a strong sniper, and it will be difficult for Henry to get pass support from his teammates.

It can be seen that the England team cut the French team's frontcourt offensive formation, so that they can form a local connection, but there is no way to activate all points globally!

With Pires' awakening, the French team's attack on the left was frequently frustrated, so the whole team took the initiative to shift their offensive focus to Pires' side. The ball cuts inside.

In the 31st minute, Ashley Cole stepped forward to assist and launched a threatening offensive. The ball passed Lampard, and Scholes quickly hit the ball to the front line after transferring. The ball chose to hit the goal by itself, but the ball missed the post. Unfortunately missed the goal.

The French team immediately launched an offensive. Hit behind Ashley Cole. Zidane's long pass from the midfielder instigated this attack. Unfortunately, the long pass found an opening, but the ball was passed a little deep.

Near the bottom line, Pires rushed to catch the ball. At the same time, Southgate pointed directly to Ashley Cole to signal the opponent to return to the defense and run to the waistline. Hargreaves retreated to fill the gap in his defense. Location.

The situation is clear at a glance. If Hargreaves goes to help defend the bottom line and the wing, it will be too late. When he rushed over, Pires had already waded into the penalty area, and he had to form a frontal interception deterrent to Pires before he adjusted, otherwise he might pass a beautiful cross.

Southgate arranged everything in an instant and rushed towards Pires. Trezeguet caught the space behind him and waited for Pires to send him a wonderful pass.

He expects Pires not to stop the ball,

Don't adjust, it's better to sweep the ball straight into the box so that Hargreaves can catch the ball before he is in position!

Southgate just ran out of the penalty area. Suddenly staggered, this time he burst into a sprint to help defend. He didn't expect an unexpected situation!

Suddenly, there was a continuous stabbing pain in the back of his right thigh, which was so painful that he was instantly pale and sweating.

Southgate seems to be injured! His footsteps are messy and he slows down obviously, staggering as if he is about to fall!

Pires also planned to cross directly, but after taking the ball and seeing Southgate's obvious strain, he changed his mind again!

Get into the restricted area!

At this time, Southgate was only 3 steps away from Pires, and Pires slanted the ball to change direction, and Southgate finally fell down!

However, Southgate fell into the path of Pires' change of direction, and extended his arm to touch the ball at Pires' feet!

After doing all this, Southgate made a substitution gesture towards the sidelines, then lay on his back on the turf, covering his face with his hands.

The ball, which was deliberately opened by his hand, escaped Pires' control, and Lampard, who returned to defense, kicked the ball out of the sideline with a big kick.

Pires and some French players excitedly raised their hands at the referee to signal that Southgate was intentionally handballing!

On the way Pires rushed towards the referee, Lampard blocked him. Without saying a word, he used his body to block him from protesting to the referee. Pires pushed Lampard away...

Santini was also protesting to the fourth official on the sidelines, thinking that Southgate's foul should be shown a red card!

Aldrich stood on the sidelines, motionless, his head was buzzing, and his expression suddenly looked a little sad.

Southgate is injured! He is injured! This is an injury in a non-confrontational situation. Such an injury is usually a serious injury! The captain who led the England team to win the World Cup is 34 years old in three months. In the past season, he worked hard and performed steadily in Millwall. However, he is no longer 24 years old, no longer 30 years old. His body can no longer allow him to persist in such intense games for a long time. Occasionally, even if Sir Hall rested many of the main players before the European Cup, he still could not offset the accumulation of continuous combat fatigue for up to 9 months! Once confirmed as a serious injury, Southgate's European Cup is over, and at the same time Yes, and possibly his national team career, because, in the next World Cup, he will be almost 36 years old!

The referee showed a yellow card to Southgate, who was lying on the turf and covered his face with both hands, which still made the French players aggrieved. Probably the referee took into account that Southgate fell and was injured, so he would show mercy. In other words, If Southgate is shown a red card when he is seriously injured, the game may be completely out of control, because the England team will inevitably not be able to accept this cruel penalty.

When the team doctor came in to diagnose Southgate's injury, Henry did not participate in the debate between the two teams. He squatted beside Southgate and reached out and patted Southgate's shoulder lightly.

The England fans in the stands fell silent.

They stared at where Southgate lay on the pitch.

England captain, can no longer burn his life for the Three Lions!

Everyone knows that the European Cup is the last stage for Southgate to play for England.

He will be 34 this fall.

England's back line will definitely be updated. The lifted Ferdinand, Chelsea captain Terry, Liverpool defender Carragher, Arsenal defender Campbell, each of the top teams in the Premier League, and Millwall's Southgate represents an era. The end of a glorious pinnacle of memory.

Thinking back to the sinner who missed a penalty kick in the local European Cup, Southgate led his team to the top of the world in the World Cup two years ago, and Southgate completed his redemption. Also fulfilled his duty.

He is the captain of the Three Lions.

A great captain who is enough to go down in the annals of history and be remembered forever.

Aldrich's sad expression came from here. Many years of coaching experience. He didn't need to be notified by the team doctor. He could foresee that Southgate's fall this time was not only the curtain call of the national team, but he might also completely retreat to the second line in Millwall after recovering from serious injuries!

Despondent lovers, the only difference!

Aldridge could never imagine that the farewell between Southgate and the Three Lions was not a fantasy. But this moment of sadness.

When being carried off the field on a stretcher, Southgate still covered his face and did not want the outside world to see his expression, but when he was carried close to the sidelines, he straightened up and put his hands down.

At this time, his face was captured by the camera, covered with tears, his eyes were red, and he took off the captain's armband. Turning his head and looking to the side, Xiao Bei came over. Southgate personally put on the captain's armband for him, and then, instead of lying down, he lowered his head and raised his hands to applaud the stands, with tears dripping down his chin.

From the moment the stretcher was lifted, the Stadium of Light in Lisbon was full of applause. There was no cheering or shouting. The England fans either showed concern or applauded solemnly, and it never stopped.

It wasn't until Southgate also applauded to thank the fans that the stands boiled again, like a lion roaring and shouting.

The spirit of the Three Lions will never die!

Aldridge came to the player tunnel when Southgate was carried off the field. When the master and apprentice passed by, Aldridge reached out and patted him on the back without saying a word.

He didn't know what to say.

Walking back to the sidelines, England will make a substitution before the French team takes a set kick. Terry is about to play. Aldridge explained a few words beside Terry, and then watched Terry come off the bench.

The England team made a passive substitution. Captain Southgate left the field due to injury. Terry from Chelsea took Southgate's place. The Chelsea defender has made great progress in the past two years. Coincidentally, Terry's growth cannot be separated from his learning from the famous French player Desailly, I hope he can maintain psychological stability in today's scene.

Aldridge was caught off guard by Southgate's injury. England's tactical strategy for this game must be changed at least.

Guards change guards, but the characteristics are different.

It can be said that the central defenders of the England team have almost similar characteristics. Only Southgate has played for Millwall for ten years, and his style and characteristics are very different. He is not a perfect defender. Rezeguet was able to successfully compete for headers under his defense, so Southgate's partner, no matter the national team or the club, must be paired with a brave fighter. He may also have his own specialty, that is, predicting interceptions, He did a good job of filling in and assisting defense, whether it was going up or lagging behind, but he was a little weak in point-to-point frontal impact.

In Aldridge's central defender, try to complement each other's advantages and disadvantages as much as possible. Southgate stifled the role of the opponent's counterattack and command defense. No one in the England team can replace it for the time being.

The combination of Campbell and Terry, Terry replaces Southgate, the advantage is that Terry is stronger than Southgate, and Terry should be able to do better than Southgate in point-to-point marking Trezeguet. When it comes to delicate offense, fast and smooth team coordination and impact, whether it is Terry or Campbell, the hidden offensive strangling behind the opponent will not be as good as Southgate.

Under such circumstances, if England wants to guard against the delicate attacking style of the French team, it needs to compress the space in the backcourt. With Southgate, the front rushes wildly. Even if there is some space in the backcourt, Southgate's flexibility will well contain it. The opponent's penetrating offense, but without the well-behaved defense of Southgate, Campbell and Terry, it is very likely that the goal will be exposed.

When Aldridge was thinking about how to adjust, the French team took a free kick from the right outside the penalty area.

Terry touched the ball as soon as he came on the field. Zidane's cross was hoisted to the goal. Terry beat Trezeguet with a header to clear the siege!

The ball that bounced to the outside of the penalty area was caught by Gary Neville first. Before Neville touched the ball, Beckham ran to the right. Neville cooperated with him tacitly and sent the ball to Beckham. front area.

Beckham didn't stick to the ball before Makelele pressed, passed the ball long-distance over the top, and passed the ball directly to the open space exposed by the French team's defense.

Owen, who was at the front, generally rushed forward. Although the England team is also undergoing transformation, they have not lost their old skills, and they are still playing fast, accurate and ruthless counterattacks!

It was a long oblique pass, and Owen moved to the left. Gallas, who was defending on this side, went up to fight for the header before, and is now returning to defense, but it seems that it is impossible to interfere with Owen.

Owen dribbled the ball to the edge of the penalty area and knocked the ball back directly. Lampard, who followed up, stopped the ball, dialed the ball laterally to get rid of Vieira who was chasing back, and before Vieira squeezed him with his body to steal the ball. Forward right.

Gerrard stopped the ball, and Lizarazu and Sylvester were closing the gate to defend. Gerrard suddenly broke out and dribbled the ball diagonally. Go out of the shooting angle and then sweep the ball to the middle of the goal with a strong cross pass!

Owen, who was quick in movement, shot the ball in front of the goal, and Barthez was powerless!

Thuram stamped his feet angrily and shook his hands to express his dissatisfaction!

I think my own players are too slow to return to defense!

In the case of space, Owen rushed forward from the outside, and Thuram really couldn't stop it! (to be continued..) ()