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

Chapter 357 The hero of Belgium, what does it mean to give and you will get!

"The ball went in again!"

"Another victory for England!"

"Gary Cahill's powerful header helped the Three Lions extend the score to 2-0!"

"Ling Feng provided another assist! This is already his sixth assist in this European Cup!"

"This 21-year-old British golden boy surpassed the five assists of his national team predecessor Beckham in just four games. In the European Cup assist history list, he is second only to Czech legend Bobowski's eight assists!"

"Not only that, his six assists also set a record for assists in a single European Cup!"

The entire Pierre Mauroy Stadium was filled with cheers of joy.

That was the emotional outburst of thousands of England fans.
The Belgian fans, on the other hand, were silent and put on masks of pain.

Looking at the black-haired young man who appeared on the big screen and celebrated with his teammates with a smile on his face, they actually felt a sense of powerlessness in their hearts.

Can't prevent it, can't prevent it at all!
If we were to say who was the best player in the first half, it would undoubtedly be Ling Feng who scored a goal and assisted!
Ling Feng, who was cruising in the middle and the right, not only made the left-back Lukaku look like a sieve, but also made the Belgian double defensive midfielders Witsel and Nainggolan look like two random wooden stakes!

Not only did he disrupt the Belgian defense by himself, but even in the final stoppage time at the end of the first half, the two midfielder "partners" had an "internal conflict" on the field!
That was when Ling Feng once again took the ball from Nainggolan, then used his body to withstand the crazy pull of the Roma star, made a fake move, turned around, and passed the ball to Rooney who came over to respond.

Witsel, who was following Rooney, followed closely as Rooney dribbled the ball forward, forced him to the sidelines, then dived down and shoveled the ball out of the sideline.

Originally, this was an excellent defensive performance.

However, Witsel probably couldn't help it anymore, he stood up suddenly, raised his hands, and started to speak in French to Nainggolan:
"Hey! Racha!"

"Can you please not let that number seven get the ball so easily?!"

Don't be fooled by the Belgian defensive midfielder duo, one looks like a man in his thirties and the other looks like he's in his twenties, they seem like people from different eras.

In fact, they are of the same age, only a few months apart!
Facing the accusations from his teammates, Nainggolan was not polite and responded directly:
"Go away!"

"Don't you dare talk nonsense to me!"

"You are so powerful, come and defend him!"

In Nainggolan's opinion, the reason he couldn't defend against Ling Feng was not because he was too weak, but because Ling Feng was too strong.

Besides, when you saw that I couldn't defend him, wouldn't you come over to help?!
You're just going to watch me get passed over and then talk about it after the fact?!

Originally, in Witsel's view, the head coach arranged Nainggolan to guard Ling Feng.

If Ling Feng took the ball easily, it would be Nainggolan's incompetence.

As his partner as the defensive midfielder, there is nothing wrong with him giving him a reminder.

Even if the tone is a bit harsh.
If Nainggolan had lowered his head slightly or raised his hand to signal at this time, Witsel would not have continued speaking.

However, Nainggolan, who is a loner both in the club and the national team, not only did not bow his head, but instead directly fought back.

This made Witsel, who had more experience in the national team, feel embarrassed.

He then took angry steps towards Nainggolan.

Fortunately, Hazard, the captain of the French-speaking faction like Witsel, stepped forward in time to dissuade them, which allowed the two to calm down temporarily.

Afterwards, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half of the game at the right time.

The unexpected first half came to an end
As soon as Belgium coach Wilmots entered the locker room, he dropped the water bottle in his hand.

As the water splashed, the various faces of Belgian geniuses were revealed:

Some had blank expressions, some looked down in frustration, and some looked bewildered.
They never thought that they, a team full of talent, would be completely suppressed by England in the first half.
It was not surprising for them that the head coach was dissatisfied with the team's performance.

"What the hell are you doing on the field?!"

"You don't play like a team that wants to win!"

"Fake!"

As one of Belgium's greatest players, Wilmots can be called the Belgian Maradona.

Therefore, with his qualifications and reputation, it is not difficult for him to suppress the Belgian geniuses who only rely on talent and infighting.

This is also an important reason why the Belgian Football Association appointed him as the national team coach in 2012.

Indeed, after Wilmots took office, the Belgian geniuses put aside their individualities and barely formed a team.

In the 2013 World Cup qualifiers, Belgium qualified undefeated and broke into the top 5 in the world during this period.

Wilmots certainly played a major role in Belgium's initial improvement.

It’s a pity that although he was a very good football player and had a high status in the domestic football world.

However, his coaching experience and level are no different from those of a rookie coach.

You know, before becoming the head coach of the Belgian national team, he was just a member of parliament!
Two years ago in Brazil, Wilmots' true level as a head coach was exposed:
The deployment of troops is chaotic, the tactics are unclear, and they only rely on the individual abilities of the stars.
However, the Belgians' talent is indeed too strong.

Even though the head coach had no experience and no tactics, Belgium, which had a golden generation including Kompany, Hazard, De Bruyne, Vermaelen and others, still stumbled out of the group stage.

In the first elimination round, they met the weak US team, but they were able to advance thanks to the performance of the team's talented players.

In the end, they lost to Messi's Argentina, which was just a test.

However, after Brazil, people naturally have higher expectations for this talented team that has made it into the top five in the world.

Before the opening of the European Cup, many Belgian media and domestic celebrities believed that with Belgium's luxurious lineup, the minimum goal should be to reach the semi-finals!
The betting companies also gave the odds of winning the championship, with Belgium ranking fifth, only behind the four giants of Germany, France, Spain and England.

Before the match against England, Wilmots, who had just led his team to a 4-0 win over Hungary, was still very high-spirited.

Even though England has a new generation of superstars like Ling Feng, he firmly believes that the Belgian geniuses can launch wave after wave of beautiful attacks and overwhelm their opponents!
Unfortunately, after one and a half games and two goals conceded, the arrogant Wilmots and the optimistic Belgians realized two cruel realities:

Denayer and Lukaku Jr. are not even a hair as good as Vermaelen and Vertonghen!
Ling Feng cannot be restricted at all!
His eyes swept over the four starting defenders, Wilmots put his hands on his hips, and he suddenly missed Kompany, the team's stabilizer.

If Kompany was there, together with Vermaelen and Vertonghen, their defense would definitely not be broken by Ling Feng!
As the saying goes, if a soldier is raging, a general will be raging in a nest.

Having a coach like Wilmots who has almost no coaching experience and whose tactical level is not up to standard, Belgium's fate is doomed.

Moreover, he did not learn any lessons from the Brazil World Cup. In this European Cup, there is still no clear tactics and the players played in great chaos.

He was still immersed in the fact that the team had many talented players and that as long as they could play to their normal level, they would be able to defeat their opponents!
As a result, in the first half, the team was restricted and dismembered by the more experienced Huo Taigong's targeted deployment, which restricted and dismembered the connection between the team's frontcourt players, and then used Ling Feng's personal ability to drive the frontcourt offensive coordination, thus gaining a two-goal lead.

Of course, Wilmots himself did not know that it was his own fault that the team was completely suppressed by the opponents. He just felt that the players were in average condition and did not perform well enough.

Feeling the heavy atmosphere in the locker room, Wilmots held back his anger and did what a head coach should do:

"Guys, keep your heads up!"

"The game is not forty-five minutes, but ninety minutes!" "We haven't lost yet!"

Considering that Nainggolan alone could not limit Ling Feng, coupled with his repeated rough defense, he also received a yellow card.

Wilmots made the substitution decision directly:
"Racha, you have a yellow card, you go down and rest. Moussa, you play in the second half!"

Hearing this, Nainggolan didn't say anything, but just lowered his head and took the shin guards out of his socks.

He was very clear that his performance in the first half was a disaster!
Not only did he fail to restrict Ling Feng well, but he also failed to get more involved on the offensive level.

As for why the head coach did not replace Witsel, who also had a yellow card, but replaced himself instead, he also expected it.

Who made him one of the few mixed-race players in the Belgian team who did not belong to the two major factions? He was a marginal player who was not loved by anyone.

Love whoever you want, I won’t serve you anyway!

Tottenham midfielder Moussa Dembele, who was sitting not far away, was cheered up!
However, the coach's next words made him frown immediately:
"In the second half, you will mark the number seven!"

The number seven is naturally Ling Feng, who completed the pass and shot by himself in the first half!

In the Premier League, Dembele once played against Ling Feng.

At that time, he had experienced how powerful Ling Feng was.

He knew very well that he could not do better than Nainggolan in the first half.

However, now the head coach has entrusted me with the important task of defending the opponent's core players. I can't just say "I can't do it"
"If he switches to the right, then you go over and double-team him with Jordan (Lukaku), don't let him get past!"

"Even if it's a foul, it doesn't matter"

Hearing this, Dembele couldn't help but murmur in his heart.

It's easy to say, can that monster be defended by double-teaming? !
Although I thought so in my heart, I still nodded seriously on the surface:

"I see."

There is no other way but to go ahead with it.
After making the substitutions, Wilmots also gave some instructions to Hazard and De Bruyne, asking them to get closer and play more passing and cutting.

In response, Hazard and De Bruyne both nodded slightly to show that they understood.

The Belgian duo looked at each other and saw the unwillingness to admit defeat in each other's eyes!

. . .

".Let's go back to the Stade Pierre Mauroy to watch the second half of England's match against Belgium"

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again.

However, the situation on the field has undergone earth-shaking changes:

With a two-goal lead in hand, Hodgson made conservative changes.

He ordered the entire England formation to retreat to the midline, and then only let Vardy roam in the frontcourt, ready to counterattack at any time.

However, this defensive strategy actually gave Belgium more opportunities to control the ball and attack.

So, at the beginning of the second half, the fans who had just returned from the toilet were surprised to find that Belgium began to press England in the half and rubbed against them fiercely!

Hodgson's tactics and strategy are absolutely correct.

When leading by two goals, the most stable strategy is to play a defensive counterattack.

However, he still overestimated the team's defensive ability.
You know, the team they are facing has the most valuable front trident in the entire European Cup!
When Belgium's two front-line players were unable to perform, Belgium, which was in trouble, desperately needed a hero to stand up at this moment.

This person is the little beast Lukaku who has nicknames and titles such as "Belgian Soup Brother" and "Everton Striker". He is obviously a center forward but likes to play on the wing!

When the game came to the 63rd minute, Belgium finally found a great chance to score:

Hazard dribbled the ball on the left and quickly reached the frontcourt.

This time, he did not indulge in "passing Walker", but after attracting two defensive players, he suddenly sent a cross pass to the middle.

The one who responded to him was another player from the Belgian dual core - "Blue Moon Signing King" Kevin De Bruyne!
"Kevin!"

Hearing the shouts from the front, De Bruyne made a straight pass without stopping to Lukaku on the penalty area line.

Then he immediately moved forward to divert the defensive attention of England's midfielder Dale to help Lukaku.

Lukaku, who got the ball, had a chance to face off against central defender Smalling!

He first leaned his back against Smalling, then suddenly turned half way and shot!
The force was so great and the hit came so suddenly that Joe Hart was too late to get to the ground.

He could only take a step subconsciously and watch the ball stick to the grass and quickly go into the goal from the near corner!

"Goal!!!"

"Lukaku stepped up when the team needed him most! His powerful shot helped the team score a goal!"

"The Belgians haven't given up yet!"

Yes!

What does it mean to give and you will get?

Just as Lukaku was cheering excitedly after scoring the goal, he saw De Bruyne waving at him not far away:

"Romelu! Are you still celebrating?! Go pick up the ball!"

Hearing this, Tie Hanhan finally reacted and rushed towards the goal.

What’s funny is that, perhaps to look cool, he stretched out one hand and tried to pick up the ball, but he failed.

Watching the ball slipping away from his hands, he hurriedly chased after it with a little embarrassment, picked it up with both hands, and ran towards the center circle.

Fortunately, his complexion was darker, so others couldn't see that he was blushing.
Seeing that they had scored a goal and the difference between the two sides was only one goal, the morale of the Belgian players was boosted.

But at this moment, Wilmots, the head coach, made the second substitution of the game:
Replace Witsel with another fluffy-haired Fellaini, and then push him to the front line, forming a double striker with Lukaku, one tall and one fast!

Then the formation changed to 4-4-2, with De Bruyne and Dembele controlling the midfield and sending the ball to the two flanks when there was a ball.

Let the two wingers Hazard and Carrasco take the ball and break through, then make high crosses to Lukaku and Fellaini in the penalty area!
Looking at Belgium's sudden tactical change, Ling Feng had a strong sense of déjà vu.

Why does this tactic look so familiar? !

After thinking about it, he realized:

"Isn't this Leicester City's desperate 4-4-2, 45-degree cross bomb?!"

(End of this chapter)