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

Chapter 360: Enemies Meet Again, When Will the Penalty Curse Be Removed?

Ling Feng just smiled slightly at Mendes' words, and then asked:
"Jorge, are you already impatient for me to join Manchester United?"

Hearing this, Mendes on the other end of the phone also laughed and said:

"Haha, actually Jose just called me today and asked me to persuade you again."

"Of course, I firmly believe that if you and Jose join forces, you will definitely lead Manchester United to dominate the Premier League again! And you two are my most important clients, so I will naturally be very excited!"

“You know, personally participating in this great plan to revive the Red Devils is a precious opportunity that not everyone can get.”

Mendes' words are as tempting as ever.

Ling Feng, who has worked with Mendes for more than two years, has long been immune to these tactics.

However, since he has already planned to join Manchester United and let the other party sign Kante first, Ling Feng has been paying close attention to Manchester United's news recently.

Since Mourinho officially took office at the end of May, he has begun recruiting players in the summer window.

His first signing after taking over the Red Devils was to buy 22-year-old Ivorian central defender Eric Bailly from La Liga's "Yellow Submarine" Villarreal!
Ling Feng had played against this old man in this season's Europa League.

As a hardcore football fan, he knows quite a bit about Bailly.

Bailly can be said to be a player emerging in La Liga now, with outstanding physical fitness and excellent ability to steal the ball.

He just happens to be a perfect match with Smalling in Manchester United's lineup, forming a complementary relationship.

And now they have signed super center Ibrahimovic for free to strengthen the team's front line.

Of course, these two operations were within Ling Feng's expectations.

It can be seen from these two operations that Mourinho has his own clear and definite ideas for team building.

Of course, as one of the most famous and outstanding coaches in world football, the "Madman"'s team building ability is definitely one of the best today.

The team-building process of several teams he coached can also be traced.

Starting from Porto, the team's youth training and a group of unknown players reached the top of Europe.

Deco, Carvalho, Ferreira, Maniche and Costinha also grew into famous stars under Mourinho and were favored by wealthy clubs.

Then came Chelsea's "Car Phase One" era.

Mourinho, who was strongly supported by Abramovich, brought in Drogba from France, and his old players from Porto, Carvalho and Ferreira.
These players brought him two Premier League titles and also allowed Chelsea to break Manchester United and Arsenal's monopoly in the Premier League!

After coming to Inter Milan on the Apennine Peninsula, Mourinho introduced Ghana's beastly midfielder Montari, Lucio, Eto'o, Milito and others.

With a group of frustrated veterans, they defeated the Barcelona and returned to the top of Europe!
Then he moved to Real Madrid and then to Chelsea.
After careful analysis, it is not difficult to find that in Mourinho's tactical system, central defender, defensive midfielder and center forward are the three most critical positions and the central axis that a team relies on.

In Porto, it was Carvalho, Deco (Costinha), and Delray;

In the first period at Chelsea, it was Terry, Lampard (Makelele), and Drogba;

At Inter Milan, it was Samuel (Lucio), Cambiasso, Eto'o (Milito)

At Real Madrid, it’s Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Cristiano Ronaldo;
In Chelsea's second phase, it was Terry, Matic and Costa.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that the players in these three positions determine the height of the team. It can only be said that the players in these three key positions can guarantee the lower limit of the team’s record.

In addition to this central axis, Mourinho will also introduce some organizing midfielders depending on whether the team lacks creativity.

For example, Sneijder of Inter Milan, Erdogan of Real Madrid, Fabregas of Chelsea II
Some media also summarized Mourinho's tactical system. In short, it is iron-blooded defense plus efficient counterattack!

Therefore, in his lineup, there must be an iron-blooded defense line, a meat-grinder-type sweeping midfielder, a strong wing attacker and a top-notch powerful center forward.

After taking over the Red Devils Manchester United, he also recruited players according to this team-building ideas and priorities.

Therefore, Bailly (defensive stalwart) was the first to arrive, followed by Ibrahimovic (powerful center forward)

Add in Kante (a sweeping defensive midfielder) who is currently under negotiation, and it’s basically complete!

Of course, when recruiting players, he also has to consider the team's current lineup and shortcomings.

Manchester United's defense did not have any major problems last season, and there was no need for a major overhaul and reconstruction.

But the team's offense was really painful to watch.

Before Ibrahimovic joined, the team already had wing attackers like Martial and Rashford.

I don't know if it's powerful or not, but it's definitely enough.

With a winger and a strong center forward, next he needs an organizing midfielder who can link up the frontcourt offense and create opportunities!

Therefore, Mourinho has long taken a fancy to Leicester City's Ling Feng and identified him as the team's first choice to improve its offense!
It can be said that Ling Feng is the first person on Mourinho’s transfer list for Manchester United!
Since the two met at Mendes' wedding, Mourinho would send text messages to congratulate Ling Feng when he won the championship and won individual awards this season.

After defeating Belgium and advancing to the semi-finals of the European Cup, Mourinho also sent him a text message.

However, perhaps out of respect for Ling Feng's conditions, or perhaps in order not to disturb Ling Feng's preparations for the European Cup, since taking over Manchester United, he has not taken the initiative to call Ling Feng and invite him to join.

Just let Mendes act as a middleman to persuade Ling Feng to join Manchester United from time to time
. . .

On July 7, all four quarter-final matches came to an end.

Portugal beat Poland on penalties, England beat Belgium, Germany eliminated Italy on penalties, and France swept Wales
In the end, the four teams that made it to the 2016 European Cup in France were the "Three Lions" England, the "Five Shields" Portugal, the "Germanic Tank" Germany, and the "Gallic Rooster" France!
The semi-final matchup list was also released:

England VS Portugal!
Germany VS France!

The Anglo-Portuguese War!

Germany vs. France!

The word "revenge" has become the most frequently used word in the British media.

After all, there are too many grievances and hatreds between England and Portugal.

In the 2004 European Cup in Portugal, the Three Lions, which had a golden generation, fell to Portugal in the quarter-finals and unfortunately stopped in the quarter-finals.

In that game, the two sides fought to a penalty shootout, and the Three Lions captain Beckham missed the penalty and became the sinner.

Two years later in the World Cup, England and Portugal met again in the quarter-finals.

The two sides fought to the penalty shootout again, and then England was trapped in the penalty curse again and was eliminated by Portugal again!

It is worth mentioning that this classic duel also gave birth to the famous football scene of Manchester United’s twin stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney turning against each other!

It can be said that Portugal is definitely England’s victim!
When it comes to penalty shootouts, we have to talk about the penalty curse that has plagued England for twenty years.

All this can be traced back to the 1996 European Cup in England
In that European Cup held in England, England, which had stars such as Alan Shearer, Gascoigne, Adams and McManaman, made great progress all the way. First, in the quarter-finals, they eliminated Spain through a penalty shootout.

But in the semi-final against Germany, the two sides once again entered a brutal penalty shootout.

This time, the English lost. It is worth mentioning that the "culprit" who missed the penalty was the current England U21 coach Southgate!

For many old English fans, the scene of Gascoigne angrily throwing a water bottle is still fresh in their memory.

Since then, England has generally lost every time a national tournament went into a penalty shootout.

In the 1998 World Cup quarter-finals, they lost to Argentina on penalties;

In the 2004 European Championship quarter-finals, they lost to Portugal on penalties;

In the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals, they lost to Portugal again on penalties;

2012 European Championship quarter-finals, lost to Italy on penalties
In the penalty shootouts of several international competitions in the past twenty years, England has participated in six and won only one!
For the English, penalties are their lingering nightmare and many bitter memories.

Fortunately, in this new Three Lions team, except for Rooney, Milner and Joe Hart, they have basically not experienced defeat in the previous penalty shootouts.

So, in a way, this is good news.

The new generation of lions, led by Ling Feng, can meet new challenges with a brand new look.

This time, in the semi-finals of the European Cup, England once again faced its old rival Portugal, and the British media inevitably began to hype up this fateful battle.

They firmly believe that this Three Lions team, which has many players participating in the European Cup for the first time, has the lion-like courage and ambition to win, and can sweep away Portugal, which has many veteran players in the team, with a storm of youth!

What's more, they also have the best performing players in this European Cup!
That is the core of the team wearing the number seven shirt - Ling Feng!
So far, Ling Feng has played five times for England, not only scoring four goals, but also surpassing a number of stars such as Bale, Ronaldo, Kane, Griezmann and others who scored three goals, and topped the scorer list.

And with six assists, he is far ahead in the assist list!
This is also the first time that a player has ranked first in both the scorer and assists lists in the European Cup!

They believe that with Ling Feng's amazing performance, the Three Lions will definitely be able to defeat Portugal, which has an aging lineup!

. . .

For Ling Feng, the 2006 World Cup in Germany, which the English people still held a grudge against, was the opportunity for him to fall in love with Beckham.

Whether it was the Three Lions' handsome pure white jerseys or Beckham's passing and temperament on the field, he became a fan of the Three Lions captain.

So, when Beckham missed the penalty kick with his golden right foot, the young boy Ling Feng, who was sitting in front of the TV, couldn't help feeling sad.

However, Ling Feng did not have much feeling towards Portugal, England's old rival.

However, Portugal is definitely a difficult opponent to play against.

Although judging from the strength on paper, Portugal is the weakest among the other three opponents.

However, Portugal has one of the strongest players in today's football, the best player in Portuguese history and three-time Ballon d'Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo!

What makes Ling Feng excited is that this is his first confrontation with one of the two greatest players, Cristiano Ronaldo!

Although only at the national team level.

However, two and a half years after his debut, he was finally able to stand on the stage of the European Cup and compete with Cristiano Ronaldo, who is at the top of the football world.

This is of great significance to Ling Feng!

However, Ling Feng doesn't care about the so-called "old enemy" and "penalty curse", but it doesn't mean that the English people don't care.
Considering that Portugal had fought its opponents into overtime in two consecutive knockout matches, and that both teams were relatively cautious in their tactics in the tournament, it is very likely that the game will have to go into a penalty shootout to decide the winner.

After a tactical meeting, the England coaching staff led by Hodgson unanimously agreed that penalty kicks must be practiced!

It doesn't matter if we lose to our opponent in regular time or overtime.

But they must not fall on penalties again!

So, in addition to resuming training, the Three Lions began to practice penalty kicks.
For Ling Feng, the penalty kick attribute he just obtained from Balotelli came in handy.

At the Burgundy Stadium outside Chantilly, Ling Feng showed his terrifying penalty kick ability to the coaching staff and teammates for the first time.
Standing on the penalty spot, looking at Joe Hart chewing gum on the goal line, Ling Feng felt very fresh.

This was the first time in his career that he had practiced penalty kicks.

In the club, whether it was the Pearson era or the Ranieri era, the team never practiced penalty kicks.

Even before the most crucial Europa League final in the team's history, Ranieri did not lead the team to practice penalties.

In response to this, Ranieri gave an answer at the tactical meeting.

The reason why he did not practice penalty kicks was that he hoped the team would have an unyielding determination to move forward and strive to defeat the opponent in regular time.

It is precisely this kind of teaching that has allowed the Foxes to be invincible in the cup competitions this season, without ever dragging a game into overtime or even a penalty shootout!

Although I have never practiced penalty kicks.

However, in the FA Cup final two years ago, he participated in the penalty shootout and took the important task of taking the final penalty.

What's more, Ling Feng now has the penalty attributes and experience of the "penalty expert" Balotelli, so he can handle the situation with ease.

Swish!
Ling Feng shot the ball accurately into the lower right corner of the goal.

Joe Hart misjudged the direction and dived to the left.

At this time, no one would think that it was a big deal for Ling Feng to score the goal.

But, the second, third, and fourth kicks.
When Ling Feng scored all five consecutive penalty kicks, both the coach on the sidelines and his teammates who were queuing up were shocked:
"Fuck!"

“So accurate?!”

"When did you secretly practice penalty kicks?!"

Facing Vardy's curiosity, Ling Feng's eyes turned and he suddenly said mysteriously:
"Someone taught me."

"Who?"

"Mario Balotelli!"

Hearing this, Vardy was stunned, and then asked: "Huh? You actually know him?!"

However, Ling Feng's answer was once again beyond his expectations.

"do not know."

Vardy, who was already confused, was even more bewildered.

"Then how did he teach you to shoot penalty kicks?"

Ling Feng smiled slightly and answered half-truthfully: "I taught myself by watching his videos!"

(End of this chapter)