Full-level pass, please call me the speaker of the Three Lions

Chapter 354: Traditional arts of Belgium!

Finally, considering that Belgium is also attacking, they will surely attack as well.

In that case, there is a huge space behind the back line, and hitting the ball behind will be very threatening.

Coupled with the changes in the opponent's defense, there is definitely a lack of tacit understanding.

At this time, even if you get the ball in the penalty area a few tenths of a second faster than the defender, it may determine the quality of the attack's outcome.

Therefore, Hodgson still chose Vardy, who is faster and has better pressing ability in the frontcourt, as the starting center forward!
In fact, it is the same principle as the first battle against Russia.

The head coach must adjust his own tactical plan and lineup according to the opponent's tactics and lineup, so as to achieve the effect of restraint!

The day before the game, Hodgson announced the starting lineup in the tactical room.

When the lineup was announced, most of the players had no reaction.

After all, after several games, it has become clear who the main players and who the substitutes are in the team.

But when everyone heard the assistant coach say the last starter's name was "Vardy", they couldn't help but turn their eyes to Kane.

Kane was of course sad about the decision that he could not start in such a crucial battle.

Especially when he scored in two consecutive games as a starter!
However, his expression did not change much. Instead, he quickly accepted the fact and applauded and congratulated his other starting teammates.

At least the one who beat him was Vardy, who is just as good as him.

This also made him feel a lot better.

After all, in the league, Vardy has scored more goals than him and has a higher goal efficiency.

Moreover, Vardy is more effective when dealing with tall and bulky central defenders.

Losing to Vardy in the competition for the starting center forward position made Kane secretly say to himself:
Harry, don't be arrogant, stay patient, keep working hard, and strive to put in a better performance in the limited game time, so that the head coach knows that you are definitely capable of becoming the starting center forward of the Three Lions!

Just like you always do!
Vardy, who had been on the bench for two consecutive games, was stunned when he heard his name appear in the starting lineup.

He thought that Kane, who had started two consecutive games and scored goals and made assists, would continue to start.

He was also mentally prepared to sit on the bench.

The sudden surprise also made him roar with excitement in his heart:

"Yes!!!"

Of course, he still suppressed his inner joy and maintained a polite smile.

Looking around, Hodgson did not forget to remind the Three Lions players:

"Whether we are starting or on the bench, we are a whole. We have only one goal."

"That means winning!"

. . .

July 2016, 7 (local time in France)

Lille.

The Pierre Mauroy Stadium was already full.

More than 10,000 fans from both teams were singing their respective team songs.

In the player tunnel, players from both England and Belgium were making preparations for their final appearance.

An hour before the game, when England announced its starting lineup to the public, it also caused heated discussion in the domestic media.

Tottenham fans naturally felt sorry for Kane.

They think Kane should start!

Of course, the media and fans who support Kane will not question Vardy's ability.

After all, in this season's Premier League and Europa League, Vardy has played the best performance of his career!
He is also the English player with the most goals in the top five leagues this season!
In terms of championship honors and personal data, Vardy is better than Kane.

However, his age is indeed a disadvantage.

They just think that Vardy, who has achieved success late in life, doesn't have much room for improvement.

International competitions like the European Cup should cultivate a younger Kane with more unlimited possibilities.

Currently, the top scorers of the Three Lions are Ling Feng and Kane, who have both scored three goals.

Next was Rooney who scored two goals.

Finally, it was Vardy and Sterling who scored a goal.

The late bloomer Vardy and the rising striker Kane have two of the top scorers in the Premier League.

There is even a Premier League striker like Sturridge sitting on the bench!
The Three Lions seem to have an easy choice in their forward line.

Of course, which head coach would be dissatisfied with having too many good players? !

Therefore, Hodgson also considered whether to let Kane and Vardy play at the same time, and then change the tactical formation to a 442 parallel formation, with Sterling on the left and Ling Feng on the right, to restore England's tactical tradition of flying on both wings.

However, considering Belgium's offensive firepower, he gave up this bold idea.

On the other hand, Belgium's starting lineup did not surprise the media and experts:
The frontcourt is still led by the "iron triangle" of Hazard, De Bruyne and Lukaku.

The combined net worth of the three exceeds 2.5 million!
It is also the most expensive front trident in this European Cup!
It is worth mentioning that the second most expensive front trident is England’s Lingard, Kane and Sterling!

In addition to these three super talents, Atletico Madrid winger Carrasco defeated Mertens in this game and served as the starting right winger.

The two defensive midfielders are Roma's strongman Nainggolan and Russian Premier League's top defensive midfielder Witsel.

The defense line is where Belgium has undergone the biggest changes!

Jordan Lukaku, who plays for Ostend in the Belgian First Division, and Denayer, who plays for Galatasaray in the Turkish Super League, replaced the absent Vertonghen and Vermaelen, forming a four-man defense with Alderweireld and Meunier.

Behind them is the Blues goalkeeper Courtois, who has kept three clean sheets in the last three games!
"Welcome to the elevator and watch the quarter-final of the European Championship in France, England vs. Belgium."

"Based on the starting lineups given by both sides,"

"Belgium captain Eden Hazard, who was rumored to be absent due to injury before the game, is on the list"

The last time the two teams met was in an international friendly match in 2012, when Belgium beat England by one goal.

However, four years later, there have been huge changes in personnel.

The original Three Lions team has long lost the golden generation of players such as Edwin Hitz, John Terry and Ferdinand, and has entered an era of transition;

On the contrary, Belgium ushered in its own golden generation, and in just a few years, it went from being a second-rate team in Europe to a top three team in the world!

This is also Ling Feng’s first match against Belgium representing the Three Lions!
However, he is no stranger to this Belgian team.

Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Alderweireld and Courtois are all opponents playing in the Premier League.

As for other players, as a hardcore fan, he is also very familiar with them.

In this game, the 25-year-old Hazard still wore the armband and became the captain of Belgium.

Judging from his confident look, he seems ready to lead the team to victory.

Looking at Hazard standing at the head of the Belgian team, Ling Feng, who was standing at the end of the English team, couldn't help but curl his lips.

Two days ago, Hazard missed the team's training due to a thigh strain.

At that time, many British and Belgian media reported on it.

The Belgian coach also admitted that he would allow Hazard to recover as soon as possible and catch up with the game.

However, now looking at the lively Hazard, everyone in the world knows that this is just a smokescreen by the Belgians.
In addition, the traditional art of internal strife is even more popular:
Lukaku, the left-back who got the chance to start in this game, commented on the team captain in a previous interview.

He claimed that Ling Feng, the core player of their opponent England, was better than Hazard!
Although Ling Feng is still young, his performance has been very stable both when playing for the club and the national team, and he often stands up in key games.

But Hazard is not stable enough!

If such disrespectful remarks towards seniors happened to other national teams, it would definitely cause an uproar.

Even if what he said is all true!
But when it happened in Belgium, the media and fans just smiled.

So right!

Because, in addition to playing with talent, Belgians also like to engage in internal strife from time to time!

In addition to the well-known hat-trick incident, Hazard is also a troublemaker in the national team.

When Hazard first joined the national team, he fell out with his seniors in the team because he asked for the No. 10 jersey and was almost expelled from the national team.
In the 2012 European Qualifiers match between Belgium and Turkey, Hazard was substituted in the midfield and left the field directly to eat a burger at a burger shop;

In the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals earlier this year, Chelsea was defeated by Paris Saint-Germain at home and was eliminated.

Hazard, who continued to be in a slump, did not have the style of the best player in the Premier League last season. Not only did he fail to break his goal drought in the Champions League, but he also took the initiative to exchange jerseys with the opposing star Di Maria after the first half.

This move also aroused public outrage among Chelsea fans and was criticized by the media, who regarded it as a manifestation of lack of fighting spirit and even regarded it as the culprit for Chelsea's declining performance.

It is an indisputable fact that Hazard is indeed full of talent.

However, his immaturity in character has led many people to be pessimistic about whether he can become a superstar and a team leader like Kompany.

At least for now, he is still far away.
Of course, Belgium coach Wilmots is very caring towards his favorite disciple.

He also publicly supported Hazard at the pre-match press conference, believing that he is an indispensable talent for Belgium and a trustworthy leader of the team.

And he also predicted with great confidence that the team would defeat England and reach the semi-finals of the European Cup again after thirty-six years!

Of course, I say that.

This does not mean that he will underestimate England, a "pseudo-strong team" that always shouts loud slogans in every session but always performs poorly in key games.

Because, this team has the best of the new generation and the strongest player in the Premier League - Ling Feng!
Of course he could see that the most threatening player in the Three Lions team right now was the new number seven.

With Ling Feng's god-like vision and ghostly and precise passing, the Three Lions' front-line offensive firepower is no less than that of Belgium.

Therefore, Wilmots was also very clear that under England's rapid attack, he would definitely not be able to hold his line of defense.

Therefore, he still used the offensive talents of front players such as Hazard, De Bruyne and Lukaku to destroy the Three Lions' defense!

Then let’s see whose attack is more powerful!

. . .

Beep!
With the referee's whistle, the second quarter-final of the 2016 European Cup in France, England vs. Belgium, officially started!
Belgium kicks off first!
With the referee's whistle, Lukaku used a classic left-foot kick and passed the ball back to Witsel.

The next second, De Bruyne, Hazard, Carrasco, and Lukaku, who had just kicked off, all rushed forward.

However, when Witsel, one of the Belgian duo, just stepped on the ball, he saw Vardy rushing towards him!
Witsel, who originally wanted to pass the ball forward and take advantage of the quick attack, suddenly changed his mind and turned around to pass the ball back to center back Alderweireld.

Then, he saw that Vardy did not slow down, but instead accelerated and passed by him.

Seeing Vardy rushing towards him, Alderweireld raised his head and looked around, only to find that the two England wingers had already reached the vicinity of the full-backs.

The triangle formation of midfielders Ling Feng, Henderson and Dale subtly trapped Nainggolan and prevented him from retreating to receive the ball.

With several short passing routes restricted, he had no choice but to make a long pass towards the front court!
The ball drew a streak in the sky above the Mauroy Stadium and landed on the heads of the two people who were entangled in the frontcourt.

Despite Smalling's manipulation, "Little Beast" Lukaku was the first to stretch out his foot and knock the ball back to De Bruyne.

The next second, De Bruyne, who had just stopped the ball, heard Hazard's call from the left:

"Kevin!"

After taking the ball and looking around, De Bruyne immediately made a decision in his mind!

Even though Walker was in front of Hazard and Carrasco was already moving forward at high speed on the right, De Bruyne still passed the ball to Hazard as soon as possible.

Because this is the basic offensive tactic that the Belgian national team has practiced countless times in training and games - give the ball to Hazard!

When the team has Hazard and De Bruyne, the Belgians must be very fortunate that their team has such a dual core.

However, if they were English or Brazilian, they would definitely have heard the stories of the "Double Germany" and the "Brazilian Quartet".

When there are two or even three or four core players holding the ball on the court, if used well, it is called dual-core or multi-core; if used poorly, it is called not having enough points.

The division of labor is not clear, the ball is not divided enough, and there is no internal unity...

This seemingly talented Belgian team has so many problems!

(End of this chapter)