John Motson laughed out loud in his commentary, "Does Queiroz think that Twain will attack him? Didn't he claim to know Tony Twain the best? How can he not even remember Twain's biggest characteristic? Defensive counterattack, defensive counterattack! Haha! "
If Queiroz could hear Motson's mockery, his face would be even uglier.
It was not that he did not think about guarding against England's counterattack. He could not control the players' clock in his hands in the beginning. After more than 20 minutes of siege, it was normal for the players on the field to relax. Who would have thought that England would really seize such an opportunity and kill them in one shot?
Falling behind was very disadvantageous for Portugal. Now Queiroz had no other way but to let the team continue to attack. It was impossible to retreat. The word "retreat" did not exist in Portuguese football.
After taking the lead, England did not take advantage of the situation to attack and try to increase the score. They retreated in front of Portugal's offensive. In the face of England's dense defense, Portugal's star players felt powerless. This defensive lineup had trapped Messi's Argentina, so Twain was not afraid of Portugal.
"Damn it! This bunch of cowards! "
Zé Castro scolded in the back. Now he did not dare to rush up. Even if his feet were itching, he had to stay at the back and protect the backfield with Pepe.
The goal concede just now was because he rushed forward, lost his position and could not return to defend in time. He had to take full responsibility if he was to be held responsible. It was not easy for him to gain a foothold in the national team's main center back position. He did not want to lose his main position because of this mistake.
Pepe heard his partner's complaint and he shrugged next to him. He was no stranger to this scene. When he was on the side, such a defense would give him a sense of security. But now … To be honest, he also hated the dense defense.
It was fine if it was just a dense defense. What was more annoying was that they still had the ability to counterattack. It really made people restless. Boss …
Pepe was actually a center back who liked to go forward to assist. He also had a masterpiece of dribbling the ball for long-distance attacks in the Portugal national team and then personally scoring the ball into the goal. But in the face of England … No, to be exact, in the face of Tony Twain, he had to let go of his desire to attack and defend seriously and carefully.
The game was in a stalemate. The Portuguese players were at their wits' end in the face of a tight defense, and England's few counterattacks were quickly futile under the defense of Pepe and Zé Castro.
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Queiroz believed that since England was playing defensive counterattack, then a score of 1: 0 must be what they were after. After that, they would not be able to make any big moves. For the rest of the time, the England team should focus on defense. A harmless counterattack was not a threat to their team at all. He was considering letting the two full backs actively assist again — after the goal concede just now, he roared on the sidelines to get the two full backs to restrain themselves a little and focus on defense.
Now it seemed that without the support of the full backs, Portugal's offense lacked layers, and it was impossible to break through England's defense.
When the two Portuguese full-backs rushed up, the pressure on the England team's defense increased sharply.
Tang En could see clearly from the sidelines that Portugal had the upper hand during this period of time. They had already hit the goalpost twice in a row. If this went on any longer, it was hard to say whether England would be able to hold on.
He whistled to the players on the sidelines and then gestured for them to fight back.
In the 36th minute, England found another opportunity to fight back. Gerrard did a long pass from the backfield, and Downing ran wildly along the sidelines to chase the ball. This time, Pepe was also prepared in advance. He let Castro protect at the back, and he rushed up himself.
Gerrard's long pass was a little wide, and the football went straight to the corner flag. Most people would choose to give up in the face of such a pass. At most, they would give a thumbs up to their teammate who passed the ball, against their will, to indicate that his pass was great. But Downing did not do that. He sprinted at full speed toward the point where the ball fell.
This also made Pepe dare not be the slightest bit negligent. If Downing received the ball, then he would be directly facing the goal …
The two men soon met, and Pepe unceremoniously squeezed Downing out.
Downing was closer to the football than Pepe, but under Pepe's close pressure, he was not sure that he could control the ball. Even if he controlled the position, it would not be conducive to his next move — the two of them were almost at the corner flag.
In a moment of desperation, Downing jumped up and swept the football that was still in the air toward Pepe. The distance was too close, and Pepe could not dodge in time, and the ball was blocked out of the sideline. Downing turned an out of bounds ball for England, and at least he did not let this counterattack go to waste.
Even when it was time to send out the out of bounds ball, the England team did not turn out in full force to press forward. Joe Mattock went up to throw the out of bounds ball, and the other three defenders stayed in the back half of the field. Michael Johnson also helped them defend at the back — no matter what, they had to ensure that there were enough people in the back so that they would not be afraid of Portugal's counterattack.
Other than these four players, the others rushed to the front to participate in the attack. Rooney and Mitchell were in the penalty area, and Gerrard was lying in ambush at the top of the arc, ready to wait for an opportunity to shoot. Walcott also leaned towards the middle, intending to grab the point and pick up the loose ball, or organize a second attack.
Downing went up to receive Mattock's out of bounds ball.
Pepe's height of 1.86m was already the tallest height in the Portugal rear defensive line, and he naturally had to defend against Mitchell, who was the tallest height in England.
Mitchell broke free from Pepe's hand, "Pull me again, be careful that I don't fall, Pepe!"
Pepe smiled and was not angry. He put his hand on Mitchell again, "Be careful that you don't get a yellow card for diving."
Pepe knew that he did not have an advantage in terms of height. If his hands did not move, he was not fit to be a center back. No matter what method he used, he must not let Mitchell get the ball. He was very familiar with his former teammate. He was 2.01 meters tall, and he was not like those tall players who could not jump. His jumping and headers were both excellent.
Veloso also returned to the goal and stood on the other side of Mitchell. He and Pepe had a tacit understanding of Mitchell in the middle. The two of them played for AC Milan, and they still had this bit of tacit understanding.
Mattock looked at the situation on the field. The only person who could receive his pass was Downing, but Downing was pressed tightly by the opponent. Even if he received the ball, he might not be able to turn around. So, the ball still had to be passed back to him. So what should he do next? Bring it out or pass it out? Where should he pass the ball to?
He had to think about it in advance so that he would not be at a loss after the football was thrown. He raised his head and looked at the penalty area. Mitchell was very eye-catching. His height was simply too outstanding ….
With a plan in mind, Mattock threw the football to Downing and at the same time made a gesture for him to pass it back to him.
Downing knew what to do without him making a gesture. Antunes kept colliding with him from behind, and he was not confident that he could control the ball well in such a situation. So, he did not wait for the ball to hit the ground and directly knocked the ball back in the air to Mattock.
Mattock stopped the football, and at this time, Downing was still helping him block Antunes. He did not hesitate and took a step back to widen the distance before directly raising his leg to pass the ball into the middle!
It was a really simple tactic.
But it was very effective when used on top of Mitchell's head.
Seeing the football fly in the air toward the goal, Pepe used all his strength to grab Mitchell's shirt, while Mitchell struggled hard, trying to break free from the encirclement of Pepe and Veloso.
The goalkeeper, Patricio, did not just stand by and watch. He planned to find the right time to jump up and confiscate the ball.
All of this happened in a flash. When Pepe and Mitchell jumped at the same time, the football had already flown over the goal.
Patricio jumped a little late, and he was beaten by Mitchell and Pepe. Now he could only pray that Pepe could stop Mitchell, or that Mitchell would head the ball away under Pepe's interference.
He was disappointed.
Mitchell completely surpassed Pepe. He was now at the first height, and the football was in front of him. There was no better opportunity than this! No one could stop him! Not even Pepe!
"Aaron Mitchell swings his head to attack the goal! The ball is in! A clean goal, beautiful! "John Motson cheered again.
The England fans in the stands sang the song "God Save the King" to cheer for England.
"In the 37th minute, England leads Portugal by 2: 0! This is really an unexpected game! From the looks of the situation, Portugal has the absolute advantage. They hold 67% of the ball possession. But the score is England leading by two goals! "
After the goal, Mitchell ran to the corner flag with open arms and hugged Joe Mattock and his other teammates.
The Portugal players, on the other hand, were stunned on the spot as if they were struck by lightning. They probably could not believe until now that they, who had the advantage, would be trailing by two goals to England before the end of the first half …
What's going on?
From the looks of the situation, from the technical statistics, Portugal should be in the lead …
Did something go wrong?
What exactly went wrong?
Some of the players turned their eyes to their manager, Queiroz.
At this time, Queiroz did not kick the mineral water bottle away ungracefully like he did in the first goal he conceded. He stood on the sidelines in a daze, just like his players. He was also thinking about what went wrong …
Pepe might know what went wrong — he was no longer young. If it had been him two years ago, he should have been able to rely on his superb physical fitness to make up for the height difference between himself and Mitchell and interfere with the opponent's header. But this time, he could do nothing but raise his head and watch the other side smash the ball into the goal.
"Damn it!" He clenched his fist and wanted to punch something. But there was nothing else beside him except the goalpost.
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The Portugal players seemed to have lost their souls, while Tang En laughed non-stop in the middle of his technical area, "Haha! They think defensive counterattack is equal to a 1: 0 doctrine? How childish! Who says defensive counterattack can't score a lot of goals? I'm going to prove it to you today! "
People were always used to extrapolating the process from the score. Whenever they saw a 1: 0 score, they thought the process of the game must be extremely dull, full of ugly defense and negative attitudes. When they saw scores like 4: 3 or 6: 0, they thought it must be a hearty offensive battle, overflowing with passion and exhilarating.
But the reality was so cruel — defensive counterattack could also play a high score, at least for the time being … And the side with the advantage was definitely not the side with the lead.
"3: 0! 4: 0! Don't let go of any chances to score! I want the Portugal's UEFA European Championship journey to end from the beginning of this game! Aha! "
Tang En clenched his fists and spun in a circle. He could not hide his excitement when he saw his team leading Portugal by two goals so easily.
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England's two-goal lead over Portugal, who was not weak at all, surprised the German coach who was watching the game in the stands. He felt that with the strength of the two teams, it was only natural for them to fight to the death and both sides to suffer. He did not expect Tang En's team to claim victory almost without bloodshed. It was beyond his expectations, and he believed it was beyond the expectations of the German coaching staff. It looked like they had to re-evaluate Tony Twain's ability …
It was not just the Germans. There were also the French, Italians, Dutch, and Spaniards in the stands for this game. They all wanted to see what kind of sparks would come out of the collision between England and Portugal. But they did not expect to be hit hard by Tony Twain's defensive counterattack.
Everyone was thinking about such a question — if it was our own team, in the face of England's stubborn defensive counterattack, would there be a way to crack it?
It was a world-class problem to break through a dense defense and at the same time to guard against a quick counterattack.
The Italians were a little less worried, because they were used to using this trick. If they were unlucky enough to meet with England, it was guaranteed that England would become Portugal.
The English walked into the locker room with a two-goal lead, while the Portuguese walked out a little despondent. Anyone who saw them would feel that the game was already over early and there was nothing to look forward to in the second half.
An Italian "intelligence agent" stood up and stretched. He put away the camcorder in his hand. He decided to leave early. There would be fewer means of transportation to choose from if he was late. Coming here was just a routine anyway. He did not think it was possible for England or Portugal to meet with Italy in advance — by the time they met, it would already be in the final.
Was it possible for England or Portugal to reach the final? Without George Wood, England should first think about the top priority of advancing from the group stage. As for Portugal … a team that was beaten to this state by England without George Wood, was there still a need to worry that they would threaten Italy?
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As the manager, Queiroz should have been furious with the inexplicable two-goal deficit in the first half, but that was not his style. His style was to calmly think about what the problem was and how they should deal with it.
He felt that he had already understood what went wrong.
"I think we were too optimistic in the first half and thought too simply of our opponents. The unscrupulous pressure caused the back defense to be empty. The first goal was the key. It disrupted all our plans. "Queiroz, who had calmed down, analyzed for the dejected players. He was the first to admit his own problem, even though he had dragged the whole team to serve as a foil …
"But I'm not going to be conservative in the second half, never!" He raised his voice a little. Because he thought of Tang En's cheerful look after the goal. It was like a sharp knife that pierced his heart. That's right, he did not like that man at all. Anything that made that man happy would make him very unhappy.
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