Today's scene must have surprised all the Englishmen, especially the England players who were warming up while playing games at Camp Nou last night.
In their minds, Wales was an ant that could be crushed with only one finger. This game was used to adjust their state.
But now the ant hugged the elephant's nose and took a hard bite. The elephant was in so much pain that tears fell.
Three minutes ago …
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Tony Twain knew that Wales would choose a more conservative tactic when facing England. It would be a good result to be able to force a draw with England and get a point. So, he also changed his tactics and did not let the team continue to defend and counterattack. Defensive counterattack was a weapon used against strong teams, or those who thought they were strong. Only by taking the initiative to attack against a weak team could they win the game.
As a result, the situation of this game and the last game were reversed. In the last game, Portugal pressed on England almost the entire game. In this game, England wanted to show the whole stadium and even the fans around the world in front of the television that their offensive ability was not weak.
When the other side could not threaten them, Twain would also do some "face engineering."
But England was met with unexpected resistance.
Wales must have carefully studied England's recent games, especially their wins over Argentina and Portugal, and then stole England's "defensive counterattack" during training.
Breaking a tight defense was a problem for coaches all over the world. Twain was still proud of himself for stumping Queiroz in the last game. He would face such a problem himself in this game.
What if they could not hit into the penalty area? Twain asked the team to strengthen their long shots. But only Gerrard was good at long shots in the team. There were few offensive points. Wales could easily mark Gerrard and organize him to shoot long shots.
Rooney would also pull out long shots, but it was not very effective. Mitchell simply disappeared in the opponent's tight defense.
Wales' defense was successful. In terms of offense, their players seemed to have no center of gravity. As long as they made physical contact with the England players, they would fall nine times out of ten.
The referee also seemed to have a mentality of favoring the weak. In the physical contact between the two sides, the England players would be awarded fouls more than half of the times. Wales thus obtained a lot of free kicks. It was just that they were not very close to the goal and not within the effective range. There was no way to directly threaten England's goal. The English did not take it to heart.
Twain certainly saw Toshack's cunning mind. But he was not worried. It was not easy for Wales, who was lacking in offense, to get a free kick that could directly threaten the goal. After he roared off the field to remind them, the England players were always very concerned about where they committed the foul and tried not to give Wales a free kick in a dangerous zone. Even corner kicks were rarely given to the other side.
The first half was very dull for both teams. England could not score a goal, and Wales could not fight back.
Just four minutes into the second half, Wales took advantage of their kickoff to attack for a while and finally got a set piece facing the goal.
"This is the best free kick that Wales has received so far! The distance was a little far, 30 meters, but it was facing the goal, so it was fine to move left or right. As long as we seize the opportunity, Wales should be able to threaten England's goal and make them restrain their attacking frenzy. " Even Wales' own television commentator did not expect Wales to score. To him, Wales' tactics were just to reduce the pressure on their defense.
Toshack saw that the team finally got a free kick in a good position. He got up from his seat and walked to the sidelines. He watched the field nervously.
They had endured for forty-nine minutes … No, since the game against Germany, they had been pretending to be weak and enduring until now. It was time!
He saw Gareth Bale carry the football to the spot where the opponent committed the foul and carefully place the football on the ground.
As an experienced old manager, he also felt a little nervous.
Tony Twain was also as nervous as Toshack. As the man who personally headhunted Bale from Southampton to the Forest team, he knew how good Bale's free kick ability was. It was very good "before" and later, after his deliberate training, it became even better.
George Wood, who had been sitting on the bench without moving like a wax figure, also had a change in expression. He looked up and stared at the field with some concern. His brows furrowed slightly.
The position of 30 meters might seem a little far, but for Gareth Bale, that was just his best range. Bale's free kick was fast and powerful, and coupled with the appropriate arc, it was very lethal. He was not the kind of free kick player who relied purely on the arc to win. Therefore, a distance was more conducive to his play. If it was too close, he would either hit the human wall or directly over the crossbar. Thirty meters … It was really a good distance.
Bale placed the football on the ground, got up to look at it, and leaned over to rearrange it, with the ADIDAS logo facing the goal. Then he got up and retreated. He did not stare at the goal or the human wall, but turned his head to look at the sidelines.
He saw the Wales manager, Toshack, and also saw Tony Twain, who was also standing on the sidelines.
He really did not expect to meet the boss in such an important game. He had previously promised the boss that he would go to Spain, but he did not think he would become the boss's opponent in Spain …
Twain noticed that Bale was looking at him, so his tense face crooked into a smile. He would not let the little monkey see his nervousness.
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England's human wall was finally set up. The referee stepped back to indicate that he had to wait for him to whistle before the free kick could be kicked.
Bale did not take it to heart.
He found that a lot of distracting thoughts suddenly popped up in his mind before kicking the free kick. He thought of a lot of things, including his first meeting with the boss outside Southampton's training ground, his first professional contract, and the first goal he scored in the game against Chelsea. The boss promised to show him a celebration with more personality than Mourinho's.
During his 12 seasons at Nottingham Forest, as long as it was a memory related to the boss, it was always happy. That feeling made him reluctant to part with it.
But it was not right for it to appear at this time …
Bale shook his head, trying to get these messy thoughts out of his mind. He knew that he was in a game now. How could he let such things interfere with him?
Gareth Bale stood in front of the ball and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He muttered soundlessly, "We're enemies now, boss …"
In Tony Twain's teachings, he would never let his players go easy against the enemy.
Because Twain instilled a sense of pride in the Nottingham Forest players. Deliberately going easy was something that the proud Nottingham Forest players would never do. No matter where they went, Nottingham Forest's origins made them proud and made them stand out. Unruly and arrogant were their collective trademarks. This was the aura that a team that had dominated European football in the past decade should have. Even if the boss had left, this aura would still remain in the hearts of the old Nottingham Forest players.
The referee lowered his raised arm and blew the whistle in his mouth.
Bale glanced at the position of the human wall, the goal, and the goalkeeper. After determining in his mind how he was going to kick, he began to run up.
The Welsh fans in the stands clapped rhythmically and shouted, "Bale! Bale! Bale! Bale — "
I'm Gareth Bale. I'm from Nottingham Forest. I've played for that championship team for more than ten years. Now please look at the pride of a Nottingham Forest player!
Bale muttered this sentence in his heart and swung his leg to kick the ball.
The football quickly skimmed over the jumping human wall and drilled into the net before the goalkeeper, Joe Hart, could react at all!
The distance of thirty meters seemed to be covered in the blink of an eye. When the football was already spinning in the net inside the goal, the Englishmen did not even have time to react.
The ball went in just like that?
It was too easy, too simple, right?!
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"Gareth Bale!" Amid the deafening cheers of the entire stadium, the Welsh television commentator had to desperately raise the volume of his shouts to let the Welsh television audience who were watching the game experience his excitement. "A beautiful free kick! He shot through England's goal!! 1: 0! Wales is ahead of England! "
Bale looked very excited when he saw the free kick go in. He tore at the jersey in front of his chest with all his might and was soon drowned by his equally excited teammates.
George Wood leaned back in his seat when he saw Bale's free kick go into the goal. He had guessed this result because the position was too good …
The boss might have also guessed it, but he would certainly not want to admit it.
Tony Twain was depressed about the goal concede. He was not angry, but depressed. He leaned back and swore under his breath. The person who scored was Gareth Bale, and he could not scold too harshly. But he was still very upset about the reality of the team falling behind.
"It's an unexpected game. After being suppressed by England for fifty minutes, Wales is actually ahead of the other side! The trend of this game reminds us of the game between England and Portugal five days ago! Will England repeat the mistakes of Portugal? "
Gareth Bale finally broke away from the crowd. He reached out to the Welsh fans in the stands and called on them to continue cheering and cheering for the team. So the stands shouted "Wales! Wales! "the cry grew louder.
As he ran along the sidelines, surrounded by his teammates, back to his own half of the field, he passed by the England team's technical area.
Twain did not look at him. Instead, he gestured to the England players on the field to signal them to step up their attack and not to give Wales such a free kick opportunity. He had to make some adjustments.
Bale glanced at Twain in the crowd. He saw Twain's anxious look. What would happen if they really beat England in this game? Such a thought suddenly flashed in his mind.
Bale brushed past Twain. He high-fived Toshack, who had walked to the sidelines, and then ran back to the field.
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Trailing behind, England launched a frantic counterattack. During the time when they lost the ball, they pressed on with all their troops so that the Welsh could not find a chance to fight back. The football could not cross the half of the field at all. England showed their strong side, but Wales' defense, although disheveled, did a good job.
Gerrard, Rooney and other players repeatedly shot long shots, but they were just squandering opportunities. Under the interference of the other side, even Gerrard lost his accuracy when he shot long shots.
Wales' defense was tighter and more annoying than England's defense against Portugal. They did not want to give the English any chance to kick. Even if they had to roll and crawl on the ground, they wanted the English players to feel their presence when they shot.
Pushing, tripping, colliding … There was only one purpose – to stop England's attack and not let them comfortably lift their legs to shoot.
Twain then replaced Rooney, whose temper had become uncontrollable because of his repeated shooting mistakes, and replaced Agbonlahor. He wanted the team to reduce the number of long shots and frequently pass from the two flanks, letting Mitchell fight for headers.
Unfortunately, Mitchell was effectively sandwiched by two strong center backs, and luck was not on England's side at all today — Mitchell managed to grab the ball with great difficulty, but a backward flick of his head smashed onto the crossbar …
As time went by, England became more and more impatient. This was out of Twain's control. Every England player on the field had only one thought in their mind when they got the ball — shoot!
As for the positioning and coordination, passing the ball and so on, they had to give way to this thought. So we saw that even the center back, Terry, rushed up and shot a shot at the goal.
Twain flew into a rage below. Such a shot could only increase the opponent's fighting spirit and make England lose the confidence to win.
For this reason, he had to replace Michael Johnson, who had completely lost his direction.
When England still trailed Wales with a score of 0: 1 in the 87th minute, Twain thought for a while and replaced Mitchell with James Vaughan. Without height, the England team could no longer threaten the Welsh goal, and the Welsh people could already start to celebrate.
On the Welsh bench, the players stood on the sidelines with their arms around each other's shoulders, waiting for the final whistle to blow before rushing into the field to celebrate this remarkable victory.
"It's unbelievable, but this is precisely the greatest charm of football. England, who swept Portugal 4: 2 in the last game, was helpless against Wales, the weakest team in the group, and trailed 0: 1. It looks like they are very likely to lose to Wales. This should be the biggest upset in this tournament so far! "
Bale was no longer involved in the offense at all. He and his teammates formed a human wall in front of the goal, using their bodies to block every attack from England. His white away jersey had long turned grass green, which fully showed how many times he had fallen on the ground.
The fourth official raised the sign for three minutes of injury stoppage time on the sidelines, and the England fans in the stands booed. They could not accept the reality that the invincible England had lost to their weak neighbor, Wales …
What reason did they have to beat us?
"Wales only had one decent opportunity to attack in the whole game, and they seized it. Now they are leading 1: 0! Even the proud Tony Twain has to lower his head … "
Twain happened to have his head lowered in the television camera, one hand pinching his chin, as if in deep thought — why did the game turn out like this? An opponent they did not take seriously at all had trampled them underfoot.
Twain lowered his head and pondered for a while, then turned to the technical area and shrugged at Walker, who was looking at him. He spread his hands and said, "We lost, Des. It has been proven once again that if you keep walking with your head held high, you will trip on the stones under your feet. It's a pity I always forget this … "
Walker was also helpless about the result. He shook his head gently and said, "We all underestimated our opponent. It's not your fault …"
Behind Twain, the referee finally blew the whistle to end the game amidst the cheers of the Welsh fans after looking at the watch three times!
"The game is over! Wales defeated England and got three points! This rekindles their hopes of advancing out of the group stage! "
Bale excitedly went around looking for people to hug after the game, happy like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old child. This did not match the calm temperament he had shown in the game at all.
After he had hugged all his teammates, he remembered that he should go and say a few words to the boss. But Tony Twain was no longer in front of the England technical area.
At this time, Tony Twain was reviewing his mistakes in front of the reporters. "I underestimated our opponent. Wales is a very good team. They have excellent players and coaches. We lost the game because of this. There's nothing to complain about … "
A reporter pressed, "Mr. Twain, losing to Wales has cast a shadow over the team's prospects of advancing. May I ask what strategy you have for the last game against Germany? "
"I don't know yet." The reporter hit Twain's sore spot. Originally, with the victory over Wales in this game, his team would advance ahead of schedule. They could send out all the substitutes for the last game and eliminate the yellow cards. Now it looked like the game against Germany should be a battle of life and death …
If the goal was only to advance out of the group stage, third place in the group was acceptable. But Twain's eyes were fixed on the championship title. In order to meet a better opponent in the knockout stages, England certainly had to fight for first place in the group.
But it was not as if there was no chance at all. If the Germany team defeated Portugal later in the game and took the lead by winning both games, then they should have no reason to fight to the death with England in the last game. This was to England's advantage.
The reporters still wanted to ask questions, but Twain, who was in a bad mood, pushed them away and hurried away.
While Bale was looking for Twain, Wood was watching him on the sidelines. He looked at him silently for a while before he also walked away.
The loss to Wales put a question mark on England's chances of advancing out of the group stage. George Wood had waited for two games. Would the last game make the wait for these two games meaningless?
Wood clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white on the way to the locker room.
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Three and a half hours later, Twain finished watching the other game of the group in the hotel room.
After the confrontation with Portugal, the Germany team was defeated by a score of 1: 2.
Twain cheered for the Germans for 90 minutes, but it could not change the score. Looking at the dejected Germans and the ecstatic Portugal players on the television screen, he also pinched his temples in pain and felt his head swelling.
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