The Young Lion

Portugal is certainly not a football powerhouse in the world.

They will always emerge a handful of talented players at different times, but none of them are enough to support a very luxurious and competitive national team.

Take the World Cup results as an example. In 70% of the World Cup competitions, they either did not participate, or were directly eliminated in the qualifiers. The best result was the semi-finals in 1966. After that, the second best result was to stop in the group stage.

For a country with a population of only about 10 million, the number of football population also determines its stable level of strength. As for those smaller countries that suddenly achieved good results, it is an accidental outbreak and does not have the meaning of overall strength positioning.

The European Cup is less competitive than the World Cup. Even so, Portugal did not perform well in the European Cup before the golden generation represented by Figo turned out. It was only after starting the mainstay that the record stabilized. It stopped in the quarter-finals 8 years ago and was blocked by the black horse Czech team in the semi-finals. It stopped in the semi-finals 4 years ago and was defeated by the eventual champion France in overtime. It took 4 years Afterwards, Portugal also created the history of its national football team. They broke into the final. Regardless of success or failure, this will be a new ranking record for the Portuguese national team in the European Cup.

The European Cup, which has been fighting for three weeks, has finally come to the end of the event, which is also the pinnacle battle.

Fans from England and Portugal flocked to the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

Throughout Portugal and on the land of England, countless fans gathered in bars, squares, and in front of the TV. Everyone is looking forward to the coming of the war.

The stadium of light in Lisbon is undergoing the closing ceremony of the game, and no one cares about the entertainment program before the final. This cannot decompress the fans of both sides. They are all waiting for their own team to make history.

Aldridge appeared on the court early, sat on the coach's bench and waited for the start of the game.

In the stands behind him. Countless England fans cheered his name.

In the VIP box at the stadium, his family was there to watch him.

At this moment, Aldrich is lying to say that he is not nervous. At least, an extremely glorious championship trophy is within reach, and no one will be unhappy.

Perhaps it is for this reason that he did not go to the locker room to infect each other with the team. He was afraid that he couldn't help but repeatedly nag about the pre-match arrangements, that would not do the team any good.

When Scolari walked into the pitch, Aldridge got up and walked over to shake his hand.

Two years ago, the two met in the semi-finals of the World Cup. Scolari was unconvinced by the loss, full of resentment!

And he always believed that the Brazilian team was just out of luck, not how strong England was, but because God was not on the side of the Brazilian team.

Two years later, the old man reunited, and it was in the final of the European Cup. This scene is more attractive than the meeting between Aldridge and Mourinho in the UEFA Cup final and then the Champions League final. The reporters on the sidelines focused on the meeting between the two coaches, shaking hands, and the camera flashes never stopped.

The two had nothing to say. The court etiquette shook hands, patted each other's arms, then turned and left, looking as usual.

But the mood swings secretly are unknown.

Scolari has led Portugal to create a new history, but it is obviously only one step away to make this history be remembered and appear extremely brilliant, winning the European Cup!

at the same time. He did have the idea of ​​revenge of shame in his heart.

History only remembers the victors.

Two years passed by in a hurry. People will mention the majestic 3r combination in the 2002 World Cup, but most of the time they will use it to set off the magnificence of England's golden goal lore at the last moment. When neutral people lamented, they would not say that the Brazilian team performed poorly. Where the strength of the team is, it will naturally rise to the battle between the head coaches. The defeat of Brazil was lost to Scolari and lost to Odry strange.

The old friends reunited in the European Cup, and the two armies faced each other again. England was in full swing. Scolari was no longer leading the Brazilian team, but the fight two years ago was brought up again in the past two days, which seemed to reveal Scolari’s secret Scars, painful memories surfaced in my heart, but the pain that should have been forgotten long ago was faintly aggravated.

Aldrich has a relatively peaceful mentality. He will be aggressive, but he seldom flaunts his power after victory to make trouble. Therefore, he acts like a strong man, and what he does is also the style of a strong man: forget the opponent.

There are countless people who have lost to him, and he will not always take it to heart, and even play down the past victories when they fight again, because every football game is unique, and there is no continuation of advantages and disadvantages Sex, dwelling on the glories of the past, does not do the present nor the future any good.

In the packed Stadium of Light in Lisbon, more than 60,000 pairs of eyes watched the lineups of England and Portugal. Led by the German referee Merk, the players of the two teams walked into the field with their heads held high and their chests held high, launching the final competition for the highest honor in Europe. shock.

The 2004 European Cup has finally come to the final battle! Today will be a day that will be remembered in football history. Not only will the champion of this competition be born, but it will also be a champion that has never been seen before in the history of the European Cup! Portugal and England have never won the European Cup. This is the first time the two teams have reached the final! The record of the two teams is the same. In the previous 5 games, they have 4 wins and 1 loss. Both China and China have made unforgettable performances. Portugal has defeated strong teams like Spain and the Netherlands. England has defeated defending champions France and Czech teams. Therefore, it is these two teams that have reached the final Well deserved!

Ten years later, if people mention the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, they will definitely think that the Netherlands is stronger, but in 2004, most fans would not think that the Netherlands is stronger than the Czech Republic. Together, a shocking reversal has become a classic battle of this tournament. Portugal's road to promotion is to drive low and go high, while the England team played a few games full of gold content, pushing the French team out of the knockout round and perfectly knocking out the Greek team , and finally defeated the Czech team, the England team's varied and completely different skills and tactics have also become their highlight.

Let's take a look at the starting roster of the double.

Portugal team 4231.

Goalkeeper: Ricardo.

Defenders: Miguel, Carvalho, Andrade. Valente.

Midfield: Maniche, Costinha, Deco, Figo, Ronaldo.

Forward: Pauletta.

England 442.

Goalkeeper: Robinson.

Defender: Gary Neville. Campbell, Terry, Ashley Cole.

Midfield: Beckham, Hargreaves, Scholes, Lampard.

Forward: Gerrard. Rooney.

What is more surprising is that the starting striker of the England team, the main force Owen was placed on the bench, and the 18-year-old genius Wayne Rooney made his debut in the final. Maybe it was his last game as a substitute that beat the Czech team. It made Sir Hall look at him differently. Therefore, he is listed as the positive choice as a reward.

The two extremely dazzling superstars in this competition are both on the field, Portugal's Ronaldo and England's Wayne Rooney. Interestingly, both of them are players from the Premier League giants Millwall. After the selection of the best lineup, there was a saying among the fans that 'the half team is the best wild lion', and now Millwall's supernova is shining on the top stage of the European Cup. Not surprisingly.

After seeing Portugal's starting lineup, Aldridge calmed down a bit, and his nervousness disappeared.

The most critical point he focused on was Deco.

Solidarity is an easy word to say. But in fact, it is too difficult. Every family has its own hard-to-read scriptures, and the stronger the team, the more so.

A small team doesn't value fame and fortune, and it's easier for a group of elites to work together to fight the world and unite as one. Everyone doesn't have the capital to think wildly. But the strong team is different, the temptation of fame and fortune goes hand in hand. It is not easy to be able to concentrate on playing football, plus it is a green leaf to contribute to others. The consciousness required is too high and too high.

Portugal also has problems similar to England. Rooney must have some knots in his heart if he wants to play the main force, but what can Aldridge do? He couldn't figure it out by himself, and Aldrich couldn't change anything even if he scratched his lips.

Portugal's problems stem from Deco.

He is a Brazilian who chose to play for Portugal after obtaining Portuguese nationality. Therefore, a familiar master gradually disappeared from our field of vision.

Rui Costa.

Regardless of whether Figo once expressed his disapproval of Deco, or Rui Costa and Deco's cold eyebrows, Scolari still insisted on using the Brazilian fellow, depriving Rui Costa of the main position. Deco's performance is obvious to all. It's not very good, but at least people can't fault it.

Figo, Ronaldo, Pauletta, these are all foreseeable absolute starters for Portugal.

But Deco is still Rui Costa, and Aldridge will be afraid that Scolari will suddenly use Rui Costa, who is sitting on the bench, to start.

The reason is that Deco's passing creativity is not as good as Rui Costa, although other aspects, such as defense, physical fitness, and enthusiasm, are worse than Rui Costa.

But Deco is better than Rui Costa, and may not have an absolute upper hand in front of English players.

On the contrary, Rui Costa's wonderful pass and the ability to tear the opponent's defense with a scalpel-like direct pass are absolutely taboo for the England team!

In the end how to fight Portugal, Aldridge did not think too many complicated things.

History gave him a reference.

Greece told him how to play Portugal.

Anti-reverse!

The Greek team defeated Portugal with anti-reverse, twice!

England's counterattack will be stronger than that of Greece, and they will not be unfamiliar with this kind of technical and tactical play. The World Cup is won by defense.

So leaving aside what style, personal coaching characteristics, and miscellaneous thoughts, Aldridge doesn't need to think hard, racking his brains to think about what tactics to use to deal with Portugal.

Besides, he no longer needed to prove anything.

He just came to plunder the trophy, and it doesn't matter what method he uses.

After the final group photo of the two teams, the game officially kicked off.

When Scolari watched the game for 5 minutes, his face instantly became very ugly.

Mahler Gobi.

Aldridge.

Damn you, why did you fight back again?

At the beginning of the game, the rhythm was not fast. When Portugal controlled the ball and attacked, the England team retreated to the half court.

Although the commentator said that the England team was playing 442, they actually returned to their 433.

Beckham and Lampard are left behind, on both sides of Hargreaves, Scholes is in the central midfielder, Gerrard is in the front right, and Rooney is the arrow.

Compared with two years ago, with the same tactics, England's defense is stronger, because Gerrard's defense is stronger than McManaman's, and Rooney's defensive impact and harassment are more aggressive than Owen's.

Portugal is strong on the wing.

Ronaldo and Figo are inseparable, and the two can switch positions at any time.

But so what if they are strong on the wing?

Still have to go back to the original question, offense, the wing is just an aid, the center decides the game, whether it is inside the penalty area or outside the penalty area, the threat of the center is much higher than that of the wing.

It just so happens that Scolari has a tactical failure, which is the fatal factor that Portugal is most afraid of.

Pauleta played as a lone striker.

For this striker who has flourished in Ligue 1, the best position is the second striker, the shadow striker.

As a single center forward, it is difficult for him to have room to play.

It's not that he's not strong, it's that he's not playing the most powerful role.

Therefore, Portugal's chronic disease is weak front.

This is not a matter of a player's personal ability, just like Gerrard can play as a second striker, but if Gerrard is placed in the center position, the effect will be greatly reduced, and he can only do limited support, facing the goal to score? It is impossible to be very efficient, because he is the opponent's first target, and it is difficult to do anything under the tight double-team defense.

This is the dilemma Pauleta is facing. Someone on the front line will involve him and attract the defense. He can release a huge threat, but it is very difficult to rely on him alone.

Originally, Figo and Ronaldo tended to be on the wing. The threat of Ronaldo cutting inside is higher than that of Figo, but this is not enough. England shrinks back and Portugal needs to activate more offensive points. Candidates.

Deco's speed is relatively stable, and his explosive power is insufficient. His back-up attack is not a fatal threat at first. He still prefers to move in a wide range in the midfield rather than rushing to the front line.

Therefore, Aldridge is more afraid of Rui Costa's starting lineup. Since they are all passes, the characters who pass the deadly threat will naturally play a greater role. In this way, at least when Pauletta is covering for Ronaldo, the transfer of the deadly threat will make England Fear.

After the opening, the focus of Portugal was Figo, who seemed a bit independent.

Frequent breakthroughs on the wing, sticking to the ball most of the time, this is understandable, in today's Portugal, he is the absolute big brother, and everyone else should be his green leaf, even Ronaldo is no exception.

His breakthrough is not bad, but the England team has compressed the space in the dangerous zone. As long as he does not go over the two lines of defense alone, he basically only passes people on the outside, and there is no big threat.

On the contrary, the England team formed a golden opportunity to score in the 7th minute after the opening! (to be continued) r655 ()