The fans and the media were focused on the French team's star players with offensive talents. Their goals and assists could bring sensory pleasure to the fans. But those who really understood football knew that the biggest contributor to the French team's continued victories was not Benzema, nor was it Gourcuff, but the most inconspicuous little black man in the midfield — Lassana Diarra.
The 31-year-old Diarra was in his prime. For him, this UEFA European Championship was also his best chance to win in a major international competition. But if he wanted to fulfill his wish, there was one person he could not avoid.
George Wood was a year younger than him and was recognized as the world's number one defensive midfielder. Although the club's poor results over the past two years had affected his performance, he was fully deserving of being the core of the England national team. He had not played in the starting lineup in this UEFA European Championship. He had only played in the first two games, and the total time he played was less than 45 minutes. But the short time he played was enough to prove how good George Wood was.
The media was not interested in the conversation between defensive midfielders. Diarra was well aware of the importance of this opponent.
He did not know if George Wood would play in the starting lineup or come on as a substitute in tonight's game. If Wood was to play, then he had to pay close attention to him because George Wood was no longer a blue-collar worker who only knew how to defend. He also shouldered the responsibility of organizing the offense. Otherwise, how could he be said to be the core of the England team? A boorish man who only knew how to defend could not be the core.
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There were still eight hours before the start of the game. The media was particularly concerned about England's starting lineup. Until now, Twain had no intention of releasing it. It looked like he would wait until the team entered the locker room before he announced the starting lineup.
Media from all over the world gathered outside the hotel where the England team was staying, hoping to dig out valuable news from the players. Unfortunately, the players themselves were not clear about the starting lineup.
There was naturally only one reason why the media was so concerned about the starting lineup – would George Wood be in the starting lineup for today's game?
At the beginning, Twain insisted on bringing Wood to Spain. He said that Wood's foot injury would recover after entering the knockout stage and would not affect the game. Therefore, the round of 16 should be the day of Wood's comeback. As a result, Wood's first appearance occurred in the last round of the group stage, in the game against Germany. It was considered an early comeback, but it delayed his official comeback. He continued to sit on the bench in the match against Sweden and only got a chance to play in the second half.
Would he be in the starting lineup for the match against France?
The England players shook their heads and said they did not know.
In fact, Mitchell knew about it, but Wood had already reminded him not to mention it to others. It was the boss's request. Mitchell, who worshipped his boss a lot, naturally kept his mouth shut.
The media knew that he was sharing a room with Wood, so they all came to question him. He just smiled and shook his head. "I don't know. I've never heard of such rumors … Of course I hope George can play in the game, but I'm not the team doctor or the manager … That's all I can say."
Tang En had been drinking coffee and resting in the hotel lobby, but none of the media came forward to interview him. They all knew that if they could not dig out any information from the players, they could forget about getting any valuable news from the manager. This man always had a great prejudice against the media. If he did not want to say anything, even if you mentioned "freedom of the press", it would not scare him. And the information that the media could get was basically what he wanted to say. Thinking about it this way, the media was really a tragedy. It was like a dog that he kept at home. When he was in a good mood, he would feed it something and it would wag its tail happily. When he was in a bad mood, it could be locked up for ten days to half a month and it could not complain. Otherwise, it would be locked up for even longer.
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Unlike England, the France team's starting lineup had already been announced when they set off for the stadium. It was no different from the lineup of the previous games. Puel did not change a single player.
The French team played 4-5-1. The striker at the front was Benzema. Behind him were three attacking midfielders in a row. In the middle was Gourcuff, on the right was Nasri, and on the left was Ben Arfa. Behind the three attacking midfielders were two center midfielders. On the left was Flamini and on the right was Lassana Diarra. The left back was Clichy from Arsenal. The right back was Sagna, also from Arsenal. One of the two center backs was the 26-year-old center back Mamadou Sakho, who played for the Serie A powerhouse Juventus. The other was Mexes, who played for Roma. The goalkeeper was Lloris.
Even if it was just the announcement of the starting lineup, the French could find a sense of superiority. They claimed that the announcement of the starting lineup in advance showed that Puel's team was confident and not afraid of any team's challenge. This was the mentality that a championship-level team should have. And Tony Twain had been hiding the starting lineup. This behavior just showed the panic and helplessness in his heart. Until now, he did not dare to release the starting lineup. Did this mean that George Wood's foot injury had not recovered?
A group of French players began to get restless. They began to dream about eliminating the English team to enter the semifinals, and then defeating the host team, Spain, and finally meeting up with Italy in the final. They would beat Italy 3: 0 in the final and avenge their loss in the World Cup final in Germany ten years ago.
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"The England team's starting lineup has not been announced. I think the only reason is George Wood's injury. According to the analysis, we can conclude that Wood's foot injury has not recovered. " In a special program on French television before the game, two experts were invited to analyze the game for the French audience. Overall, they were saying good things about the French team. The unfavorable factors were all on England's side.
"If George Wood's foot injury has really recovered, I believe Tony Twain will announce it as soon as possible to achieve the purpose of striking a blow to the enemy's mentality." Another expert who claimed to know Tony Twain well also analyzed. "But there is no news until now. It can only mean that Wood's foot injury has not recovered to the point where he can be in the starting lineup. I think Twain's plan for this game is the same as the previous two games. He will only send Wood up in the second half. So, we must establish a lead in the first half. It is important for us to score as soon as possible … "
On the big screen television wall behind the studio, there was a live broadcast of both teams arriving at the stadium. The French team's bus naturally appeared frequently, while the England team only gave a few shots when they arrived at the stadium.
The host was chatting with the experts for a while about the upcoming game. His face was full of smiles, completely without the nervousness and unease before the big game. Perhaps they were all experienced veterans, or perhaps they thought from the bottom of their hearts that their team was stronger than England, and that it would not be a problem for them to defeat England.
But after they received the England starting lineup from the reporters in front of them, all of their smiles froze.
As a live broadcast program, the awkward silence was very fatal. But now the host was awkward silence …
He was in a daze with the list in his hand, while the two experts beside him did not understand what was going on and were still giggling at the side.
Very soon, the host realized that he had lost his composure and hurriedly tried to make up for it. He coughed and said, "We … we just got the England starting lineup …" He looked at the two experts, and they immediately made an expression that said "I am very interested".
"George Wood is starting." After the host said it, the expressions of the two experts changed instantly. It was as if someone had just stuffed a bunch of live flies into their mouths.
"This …" One of them was stunned on the spot, while the other reacted quickly and immediately said, "It looks like Tony Twain is going to go all out …"
The big screen showed the England starting lineup, with George Wood in the middle of the midfield and partnered with Gerrard.
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Like the host and the experts in this French program, the media from various countries were also surprised. When the English reporters saw the list, they could not believe it. After they reacted, they did not dare to think positively. They thought that Twain was taking a risk. Wood's injury had not recovered at all, and Twain was only forced to make this choice in order to defeat the France team.
"Even if we win against France and aggravate Wood's injury, how are we going to play against Spain in the semi-finals?"
"Twain is too inconsiderate in doing this!"
"Did Wood volunteer to play, or did Twain force it? We have to investigate this properly … "
While the reporters were discussing, the England players in the locker room were also very surprised.
They looked at Twain standing in front of the tactical board, and then looked at Wood sitting on the side. Just now, the boss announced that George Wood was one of the four players in the starting midfield for this game.
"Is your foot better, George?" Rooney got up and asked. This was also a question that everyone was concerned about.
"It's no problem," Wood replied.
In fact, this morning, the team doctor, Wright, had specially done a checkup on Wood and thought that Wood's foot injury had recovered smoothly and could already be in the starting lineup for the game. Twain's heart could finally be completely put at ease.
Wood's return was originally a very happy thing, but when they thought about the unusual words and actions of the boss in the past few days, everyone's hearts sank to the bottom again — could it be that the boss was worried that the current lineup could not beat France, so he forced Wood to be in the starting lineup?
These people looked at Wood with an additional trace of doubt in their eyes. Now, they did not really believe that Wood's right big toe was really fine.
Of course, Twain knew what the players were thinking now, but he just pretended not to see it and did not explain. Now the players were quite dissatisfied with the France team, and of course, they were also dissatisfied with him. However, this kind of dissatisfaction could be turned into motivation, and it would be meaningless to say it out loud.
After he finished introducing the starting lineup, he repeated the tactical arrangements from yesterday. Twain clapped his hands and said, "I wish you all good luck."
He did not give a long and passionate speech. Just like that, he ended the final preparations before the game.
However, no one cared about his strange behavior. Anyway, now that they were all angry at the boss, it would be better if he spoke less.
Twain did not continue to stay in the locker room. Now that there were still a few minutes before the appearance, Twain and his assistant manager, Des Walker, walked out together, leaving space for the players.
As soon as the boss left, the players suddenly became lively and surrounded Wood, "Is it really okay, George?"
Wood nodded with certainty, "It's okay."
"The boss's performance these few days has made me very unhappy …" Someone looked at the door of the locker room and frowned, "He's clearly looking down on us. Aren't you angry, George?"
Wood shook his head, "If you think he's wrong, then win against the France team to prove it to him."
Wood was someone who knew what Twain was planning. As the captain, he had the obligation to help the manager successfully implement the tactical arrangements, including lying.
While the England players surrounded Wood and asked this and that, in the France team's locker room, they also received the news that George Wood would be in the starting lineup.
Puel was a little surprised. He did not expect Wood to be in the starting lineup. However, this also quoted his previous analysis from another angle — Tony Twain's fear of the France team was real and not something he made up. Otherwise, he would not have risked letting Wood be in the starting lineup. George Wood was the only trump card in Twain's hands. In order to win against the France team, he had no choice but to send Wood, who had not fully recovered, on the field.
Thinking of this, Puel's heart quickly calmed down. One George Wood could not change the sky, and there was nothing to worry about against the strong France team.
He continued to tell the players what to pay attention to in the game later. However, he did not notice that there were people below who were not paying attention …
There were probably not many French people who were happy that Wood was in the starting lineup, but Lassana Diarra definitely belonged to the minority.
The player sitting next to Diarra was the midfielder, Feguli, who was not in the starting lineup. He quickly noticed that Diarra was acting strangely.
Diarra, who had his head lowered, was trembling slightly. His hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"Hey, Lars. What's wrong? "Feguli gently touched Diarra beside him and asked with concern.
Diarra stopped trembling slightly and looked up at Feguli with a grin, revealing a set of white teeth, "It's nothing. I'm just a little excited when I think about beating England and getting into the semi-finals …"
Feguli found Diarra's answer a little funny. He was not a new player. He was a 31-year-old veteran. Was he that excited just to get into the semi-finals?
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