After the start of the game, in accordance with the usual practice, both teams did not go all out, but tested each other.
Although England and Italy had played against each other in the World Cup semifinals six years ago, that England team was completely different from today's England team, and that Italy team was not the current Italy. Especially for the team led by Twain, they had to test it out. Who knew what traps he had waiting for them?
After five minutes of testing, Italy began to put on a steady defensive counterattack posture. They were not in a hurry to attack, but to first stabilize their defense and station their troops in the middle and back field. This was within everyone's expectations. Li Dai Li had been in the Italian team three times, and his favorite tactics had long been known by everyone. He himself knew that it was difficult to surprise in this regard, so it was better to play a tactic to the extreme.
It was not that he had not tried to make Italy play better and more active, such as when he used the highly offensive 4-3-3, which ended up being humiliated by Brazil with three goals in the Confederations Cup. That game also completely cut off his idea of playing beautiful football. He thought defensive football was safer and easier to win the game.
In this regard, he and Twain were the same kind of people.
Everyone clearly saw it that way. Therefore, they also thought that in the final, Twain would not hesitate to choose conservative tactics, strive to make no mistakes or make fewer mistakes, and strive to win the game without conceding a goal.
Then this final would be a dull showdown between the conservatives. They were not competing to see who was more capable of breaking the opponent's goal, but who made fewer mistakes. It would not be a surprising result for the game to last a full 120 minutes, and there was more than a 50% chance that the championship and runner-up would be decided through a penalty shootout. In short, everyone had better be prepared for a prolonged battle. The non-European fans who stayed up late to watch the game were out of luck. They woke up in the middle of the night, yawning and sleepily looking forward to a shocking showdown. They did not expect to see a game that made them even more sleepy. How many people would stare at a pair of "panda eyes" and curse the two conservative managers during the day?
Twain looked at his watch in the technical area. The game had passed five minutes, and the testing phase was basically over. He could start implementing his tactics.
So, he got up from his seat and walked slowly to the sidelines. He did not make any hand gestures, nor did he whistle or shout a player's name. The England players on the pitch just saw him appear on the sidelines and they knew what to do.
Everyone still remembered what Tang En had said to them in the tactical meeting the day before the match. In fact, even if the boss did not say it, they could also guess what tactics the team would use in the match, because the past three days of training had been constantly revealing this and that kind of information.
In the tactical meeting last night, Tang En told his players not to be too conservative in the first half. They still had to actively attack. Try to score a goal first. This way, the game will be advantageous to you. If they could not score in the first half, it would not be too late to play conservatively in the second half.
"… They will definitely think that we will also adopt a more conservative strategy to deal with them. If they think so, we will have the upper hand and use this to catch them off guard!"
As the Italians wanted to shrink their defensive line and not give England too many chances to get close to the goal, their control over the midfield was slightly weaker. George Wood could calmly get the ball in the back, and there was no one who could come up to intercept and interfere.
After his teammates passed the ball to him, England's offense was up to him.
As England's metronome, he grasped the pace of the team's offense. He had the final say on when to be fast and when to be slow. If he grasped the wrong rhythm, not only would he not bring the team a goal, but he would also put the team in a very dangerous situation. How a team played depended on the metronome.
After Wood got the ball, he wanted to directly pass the ball to Rooney in front. He had already seen the gap before he received the ball. But when the ball was passed over, the situation on the field changed again. The gap that he had seen before was filled by the Italian defenders. Rooney was also re-noticed by Criscito. If he passed the ball according to the original plan, the ball would most likely fall into the hands of the Italians, allowing them to fight back. This was not the result that Wood wanted.
He made a feint and kept the ball. Looking to the left and back, he found that his teammates were a little far away from him. This would not do … He made a gesture to come up and support.
Gerrard saw Wood running back to support him from the front. Aquilani, the Italian midfielder, followed along with him.
Wood saw Aquilani, who followed behind Gerrard, did not really pass the ball over. Instead, he suddenly dribbled the ball forward!
He and Gerrard passed by each other. Aquilani was taken aback and hurriedly left Gerrard to pounce on Wood. And this was what Wood was waiting for. After watching Aquilani leave Gerrard, he used his outside instep to push the ball to Gerrard diagonally behind him, while he himself dribbled Aquilani away.
Gerrard turned forward after he received the ball. When Lanzafame closed in on him, he did not stick to the ball. Instead, he passed the ball to Downing on the side of Lanzafame.
He wanted the team to stick to the ball as little as possible when passing through the midfield and mobilize the opponent's defense through quick passes. This move was particularly important against a team with a tight defensive line like Italy, because it was difficult to find a breakthrough point in the chain defense with individual skills alone. Only a quick pass could tear a gap.
Downing had just received the ball when Joe Mattock, who was behind him, suddenly rushed across the center line.
This scene surprised the commentators from various countries in the broadcast box — the full back's assist was very "symbolic" in a football game. It showed that the team's tactical thinking was not conservative, but actively seeking offensive opportunities. Otherwise, the manager would not let the full back plug in to assist so boldly. For example, in the Italian team's game today, the two full backs had not crossed the center line even once.
"Joe Mattock suddenly plugged in and participated in the attack! Will this be a positive sign? "
Lippi's eyebrows rose. He had noticed it too. It was clear that Downing did not break through along the flank after receiving the ball. Instead, he suddenly cut inside and seemed to want to go through the middle. Italy's De Rossi quickly came up to block his way, but it seemed that his real purpose was not there …
Sure enough, the next second, Lippi saw Mattock pass behind Downing at high speed. His move attracted the attention of De Rossi and the Italian right back, Santon — the full back's assist? Although this move was old-fashioned, it was very effective and could be said to be a classic trick.
Now Santon was in a dilemma. Previously, Rooney had been pulled to the flank. Considering the stability of the overall defensive line, Criscito did not follow over and let Santon watch over the other side. Now there was Joe Mattock on this flank. Three people suddenly came into this small space, which immediately made him a little flustered. In fact, Santon's characteristics lay in his offense. He was fast, flexible, explosive, and excellent in passing. His performance in defense was very average and mainly relied on a strong overall strength. Now it was unrealistic for him to face three people alone. De Rossi also noticed this and decided to help Santon.
These thoughts flashed through his mind in the blink of an eye.
Just as Mattock plugged in from behind Downing, Downing made a passing gesture and suddenly rushed diagonally into the penalty area!
De Rossi, who had changed his center of gravity, did not expect Downing to break through so firmly. He watched helplessly as the opponent broke through in front of him from the side and could not do anything.
Before he broke through, Agbonlahor pulled out and headed to the penalty area line ready to receive. And the Italian defensive line also tacitly pressed forward to maintain a line with him. They knew that this man was fast and an effective way to deal with a speedy striker was to let him fall into the offside trap.
Downing saw Agbonlahor staring at Chiellini and passed the football over.
The Italian defender's individual level was quite high, especially as the captain. Chiellini's defense was watertight. Agbonlahor felt that he could not guarantee that he could complete the turn with the football. He was afraid that it would only be intercepted. Fortunately, he saw Downing continue to plug forward after passing the ball. He knew what to do.
Pass the football over immediately!
"Beautiful wall coordination!" Motson shouted.
But he shouted a little too early.
Criscito, the Juventus main defender, had clearly expected England to play such a coordination. He blocked in advance and shoveled the football out before Downing!
"Ah ha! Wonderful defense! "This time it was the Italian commentator's turn to cheer.
But he also shouted too early …
The football that was shoveled out by Criscito did not fall at the feet of Aquilani and the other Italian players. Instead, it was picked up by George Wood …
Wood did not stop the ball and seek to continue the attack. Instead, he took advantage of the fact that the Italian defensive line had not reacted and directly met the ball with a powerful volley!
"George Wood!!"
The football brushed against the goalpost and flew out, hitting the billboard behind it and making a muffled sound. It was as if it hit the Italians in the heart and startled them.
The goalkeeper, Amelia, did not reach the ball even though he tried his best to pounce over. Wood's shot was very fast and he was a little late. If the ball was shot within the range of the goalpost, the result would really be hard to say …
Although there was no goal, Twain still stood on the sidelines and applauded England's attack just now.
He also did not forget to glance at Lippi next door. The other side was sitting on a chair, but looking at his appearance, it seemed that he had the intention of getting up. Obviously, Lippi could not sit still.
This is a gift from me to you. I hope you like it, Old Man Silver Fox.
※ ※ ※
Following the game, England had no intention of holding back at all. Instead, they attacked more and more vigorously. It was not only Joe Mattock who frequently plugged in. Even the right back, Richards, who was stronger in defense than offense, began to try to rush up and coordinate with Walcott.
In the middle, Wood was responsible for arranging and distributing the ball, while Gerrard was more like a shadow striker, using his long shots to threaten the goal guarded by Amelia.
Rooney also used his strong body many times to look for opportunities in front of the goal and snatch the shot.
Only Agbonlahor's performance was more mediocre. On the one hand, he was marked by Chiellini. On the other hand, his specialty was speed and assault, not standing as a center forward. Italy's defense shrank and compressed the space in front of the goal really did not leave any room for him to play …
Seeing his performance, the commentators expressed one after another that they could not understand why Twain did not let Vaughan start in the game and put on such a mediocre and insignificant Agbonlahor. Was it because he was a Nottingham Forest player?
"If England ends up losing the final, I think the starting player in this position will have to bear a lot of responsibility. Tony Twain pushed himself and Agbonlahor into the fire pit."
"Agbonlahor's performance made England look like there were only ten people fighting on the field!"
"So far, his best performance was just to make a wall for Downing and pass the ball. Tsk tsk, what an 'outstanding' performance … "
The commentators from various countries used their language talents to ridicule Agbonlahor's performance.
In fact, Agbonlahor was really under a lot of pressure. Although he very much wanted to be able to play in the final, he did not expect that he would get the chance to play in this way — James Vaughan was more qualified than him, but could only sit on the bench. Could it be that he really benefited from his identity as a "Nottingham Forest player"? This made him feel like a thief, stealing the qualification to start in the final from Vaughan.
How could he play well if he always had this thought in his mind?
Perhaps Twain really made a mistake in letting him play in the starting lineup.
※ ※ ※
On the other side, Agbonlahor was like a sleepwalker. On the other side, James Vaughan sat on the bench and stared at Twain's back with fiery eyes. He had already calculated in his heart that if he failed in the final, he would bombard this headstrong man in front of the media.
He was simply too aggrieved. He did not get any decent opportunities in the previous games. He was unexpectedly in the starting lineup in the semi-final and scored two goals to turn the tide. He had thought that with such an outstanding performance, he could continue to be in the starting lineup in the final and leave his name in the history of English football. He did not expect that the manager's completely unreliable adjustment would continue to press him on the bench. No matter how hot his butt was, it could not warm up this cold bench.
He could not figure out why Twain would make such a decision even if he cracked his head. Now looking at Agbonlahor's terrible performance on the field, he did not know whether he should be worried for the England team or show a little pleasure from his successful revenge.
Twain was not in the mood to guess what Vaughan, who had been left out by him, was thinking. He was taking advantage of a dead ball on the field to shout Agbonlahor's name.
"You better f * * king act like a professional player! Do you want me to replace you?! This is the final! The final of the UEFA European Championship! Do you know how many people want to be in your position, bastard! "
Agbonlahor's performance was somewhat beyond Twain's expectations and made him very angry. His sleepwalking performance was a complete waste of his own arrangements. If he could not play normally, England's offense in the first half would inevitably be hindered. Then he was likely to be forced to compete with Italy in defense in the second half and drag it to the penalty shootout.
Twain's words woke Agbonlahor up. He suddenly understood his situation — that's right. How could he still have the mind to consider whether he should be standing here in such a game? The important thing was that he was already standing here, so he should consider his task here.
All right.
He took a deep breath and tried his best to calm himself down.
Even if I stole this starting qualification, so what? Am I not a member of the England team? Am I not qualified to be in the starting lineup? Am I not allowed to score?
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