"Agbonlahor! YES！ YES！ YES！ Agbonlahor! "
The England fans in the stands jumped up from their seats and raised their arms to cheer for their goalscoring hero. It was as if an earthquake was happening at the Bernabéu stadium. Even the camera lenses were shaking.
Amidst the tsunami-like cheers, Agbonlahor broke away from his teammates and ran all the way to the technical area to give Twain a big hug. Everyone knew that his appearance in the final had a lot to do with Twain. And his goal was also the best reward for the boss's trust.
"Ah ha! Twain's unexpected adjustment left the Italians completely unable to react! In the 24th minute, we're leading by one goal! Well done, Agbonlahor! Well done, Twain! " John Motson did not question Twain's substitution in his previous commentary, so he appeared full of confidence when he said this at this time.
After hugging Twain, Agbonlahor found Mitchell in the crowd and rushed up to hug him again.
"This goal is dedicated to you, Aaron!" The excited Agbonlahor roared in Mitchell's ear.
Mitchell was a little surprised, but he was soon infected by the mood of the players around him. He bent down and hugged his teammate who was 21 centimeters shorter than him. They were double teammates, both for the national team and the club team. He felt that perhaps it was because of this relationship that Agbonlahor took the initiative to hug him after the goal.
"Well done, The Flash! Score another goal for them! "Mitchell affectionately called the nickname he gave to Agbonlahor.
Twain was very satisfied when he saw this scene from the side. The atmosphere in the team's locker room was very harmonious. The team was united. With such a team, he was not afraid of any opponent.
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The English people were cheering for their lead, while the Italians were collectively silent.
Lippi did not fly into a rage on the sidelines because of this goal concede. In fact, no matter what the situation was, it was difficult to see him show his emotions on the sidelines. Now he just sat in the technical area and stared at the field with his eyes hidden behind his gold-rimmed glasses. He was thinking about the mistakes they had made before.
He did not think that Twain would let Agbonlahor start, which was really unexpected. Therefore, in the pre-match preparations, he did not make any targeted arrangements for Agbonlahor. As a result, his players did not know how to deal with Agbonlahor on the pitch. It would have been good if England's number 18 had been more active. The Italian players knew from experience that he was an important figure and would naturally shift the defensive focus to him. But Agbonlahor's previous performance was like sleepwalking, which made everyone, including himself, lower his position several levels in his heart. They thought that this performance was not threatening at all.
Now, it seemed that Tang En was indeed a master of psychological adjustment. He was very good at figuring out the psychology of others. He had guessed her thoughts …
Lippi admitted that he had erred on the side of empiricism. He had taken it for granted when he studied Tang En's starting lineup. James Vaughn had performed well in the semi-finals, and there had been no news of any injuries during the past few days of training. So, he would definitely be in the starting lineup for the finals. Who would have thought that Tang En would dare to press Vaughn to the bench under such immense pressure?
This opponent was interesting.
He got up from his seat, walked to the sidelines, and gestured to the players inside.
He wanted Chiellini to strengthen his defense against Agbonlahor and not give him such an opportunity so easily again. He believed that with the ability of the Italian defenders, as long as they paid attention to Agbonlahor, the opponent should have no room to play.
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Lippi's adjustment was within Tang En's expectations. Because if he remained indifferent after seeing Agbonlahor's active performance and goal, then Lippi's brain must have been swapped by aliens. It was too abnormal.
He was not worried about the fact that Agbonlahor would be closely watched. Now that they were ahead of Italy, it did not matter even if Agbonlahor was subsequently defended until he could not do anything. The important thing was to hold on to this one-point advantage, and then use this advantage to lure the Italians out, so that their tight defensive line would no longer exist.
He only asked the team to pay attention to defense in the ensuing period.
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Lippi did not have the intention of rushing to equalize the score in the first half, although the players would certainly fight back after the goal was lost. But they would naturally come back after a while.
The reason why he was not in a hurry to equalize the score was that a one-point lead would become a huge psychological burden for the England team. Just like in a marathon, it was unwise to be the leader from the beginning. No coach would allow their athletes to formulate such a strategy. The person who really had the ability to win the title must be hiding in the second group, maintaining the pressure on the leader at all times, and only overtaking at the last moment.
Lippi's current thinking was the same as those long-distance running coaches. He wanted to throw the huge psychological pressure of the lead to the opponent. Because this was not an ordinary game. This was the final, the final of the UEFA European Championship. As time went on, a one-goal lead would become a huge psychological burden for the England players. Everyone would think in their hearts – we must never concede a goal, otherwise our title will be gone …
This kind of thinking would accumulate over time and become heavier and heavier until the England team was completely crushed.
Lippi decided to make adjustments during the halftime interval and only exert his strength in the second half. At that time, as long as the score was equalized, the huge psychological advantage would fall to the Italian side, and the situation on the field would fundamentally reverse. At that time, there would be little time left in the game. His side's morale would be high, and the England team would suffer a major blow. The final victory would belong to the Italian team.
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The Italian team organized a few waves of attacks after the restart, wanting to equalize the score. But in the face of the well-prepared England's dense defense, they did not gain any advantage and retreated.
Twain was happy at first – the Italians finally pressed out. But it did not take long for him to discover a problem.
The Italian team did not panic because they lost a goal in the final and rushed up to bombard England's penalty area – even though that was what Twain wanted to see. After a few attacks, they realized that there was no result, so they immediately retreated and returned to their previous defensive counterattack state, as if they were the ones in the lead.
This clearly had something to do with the white-haired old man who directed the game on the sidelines.
Twain lowered his head and pondered for a while. He guessed Lippi's thoughts.
As he often said to the players, "a one-goal lead is the most unsafe score in the world." This was not his original creation, but just a generalization that he summed up. Such a principle was known by football coaches all over the world. Even if it was a 1: 0 purist, they often had to endure the psychological pressure of being bombarded by the opponent around the goal during the game and worry that the score could be equalized at any time.
Lippi must have thought so and intended to pass this psychological pressure on to the leading England team.
From this point of view, it was not a good thing to take the lead too early …
In a long marathon, the England team was the first to rush out of the main force and take the lead. The seasoned Italians, on the other hand, were hidden among the main forces, maintaining a distance that was neither too far nor too close to the leading Englishman. In the beginning, this was a competition of skills and strength. But when it came to the end, skills and strength were no longer important. It was psychology that determined the final championship.
In that case, let the team continue to strengthen the attack and let the one-goal lead become a two-goal lead!
Tang En walked to the sidelines and looked at the field. It was only then that he remembered: After Lippi asked Chiellini to strengthen his marking on Agbonlahor, England's forward line had basically been frozen. Even if he wanted to strengthen the offense, how could he do so?
Twain cursed in his heart, "Old fox!"
Agbonlahor was not a pure center forward after all. Once he was stuck by the opposing defender in the penalty area, the role he could play was actually quite small. At this time, Twain would particularly miss Mitchell. At least his headers would help the team tear apart Italy's defense.
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With the secret battle of wits between the two managers, the rest of the first half of the game was no different from before the goal. England attacked strongly, hoping to score another goal before the end of the first half, while Italy stabilized their defense and accumulated strength, determined not to let the English succeed.
Until the last moment, Twain did not see his team break the goal for the second time.
The England team entered the locker room with a one-goal lead. But the Italians, who were one goal behind, were not very upset. When Lippi walked back to the tunnel, his face was very calm, making it hard to guess whether he was satisfied or dissatisfied with such a situation.
On the other hand, the commentators from various countries expressed their optimism about the England team.
"England is one goal ahead! In such a final, the side that scores first is bound to have the advantage, and what's more advantageous is that they maintain this lead until the halftime interval! "
"England's tactics are quite successful. The Italians did not expect Agbonlahor to become the England team's goalscorer. They neglected to mark him. Although they then closely marked England's number 18, the fact that they are one goal behind has already been established … "
"The first half was wonderful! There was no dull scene as I had expected. England's aggressive attitude won my respect. They also received their reward of course — a one-goal lead! The championship belongs to the aggressive side, it belongs to offensive football! "
Even the England fans were satisfied with the result.
In the stands, Skinny Bill was excited about the first half of the game, "Great! We're actually in the lead! "
"Hey, Bill, what do you mean by that? Shouldn't we be in the lead? "Someone next to him pretended to be angry.
"Nonsense, of course we should be in the lead! I just didn't expect it to go so well! As long as we maintain this result, we can win the championship! Tony was the best at defense. Under such circumstances, he would always be able to win the match! Now it's only an hour before we win the UEFA European Championship for the first time in history … Just thinking about it makes me excited! "Bill did not lie. He was now trembling slightly.
"Tony really had the idea to let Agbonlahor start. Even I, a Forest fan, did not expect it. I think Lippi and the others must not have thought of it either. Otherwise, why was there no one to specifically defend against Agbonlahor? "
"That's right! Before the game, everyone was talking about Vaughan, Vaughan … I'm tired of listening to it. The best result is that England wins the UEFA European Championship, and our Nottingham Forest player scores the only goal, haha! "
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The fans and commentators were very optimistic, but Twain was not optimistic at all. When he walked into the locker room, every England player could see the wrinkles between his eyebrows. Clearly, their boss was not happy with the one-goal lead. On the contrary, he was worried about something.
The players always thought less than the manager because they were players. They were only responsible for implementing the manager's tactical intentions on the field. To put it bluntly, they were tools. The manager was the helmsman of a team. He had to think more than any smart player and see further. Otherwise, his ship would hit a reef that he did not know where it was. At best, he would run aground. At worst, he would sink.
Now, no player could think of the crisis they would face later. Maybe it would not happen at all. But Twain thought of it. Whether it would happen or not, he had to consider it. His task was to try his best to prevent the worst situation from happening.
"We're one goal ahead. That's good, guys. By right, I should be praising you at this time and congratulating you. But I'm sorry, I can't do that at the moment. "Twain said as he shook his head. "I thought of the crisis we might face in the second half. I hope you know that a one-goal lead is definitely not a good thing."
The players thought their manager was going to say "a one-goal lead is the most unsafe score in the world," but he did not.
Twain just said, "The Italian team is used to striking after the enemy. Think about the final of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. How did the Italian team equalize the score after being one goal behind and drag the game into a penalty shootout to finally beat France and lift the Gold Cup? The French team is a lesson for us. We can't be satisfied with this score. In the second half, if possible, I hope you try to seize the opportunities to score … "
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"You did a good job, gentlemen." Lippi said to his players in the locker room. He was not in a hurry. His tone and manner of speech were still elegant. "I'm not being sarcastic. In fact, in the face of England's strong attack in the first half, you only conceded one goal, which made me very pleased. Now, it's time to think about our counterattack. "
"In the first half, we gave England the chance to take the ball at will in our midfield. This situation will not exist in the second half. We have to regain control of the midfield. "He glanced at De Rossi and Aquilani. These two players would be the key.
"Their two flanks are pressed very high up, and we have to take advantage of this when we attack in the second half. Paloschi, you have to run more to the flanks in the second half so that you can get more opportunities. Foti, you continue to stay in the middle. We need you in the middle to receive the transition and try to press their rear defensive line inward to create space for our midfield. "
The two strikers nodded. They were hardly seen in the first half, and some people even suspected that they did not play at all. For them, the forty-five minutes in the first half was really a kind of torture. They desperately needed to perform in the second half. No matter what, this was the UEFA European Championship final. No one wanted to be mediocre in such a game. Just look at Agbonlahor. The kid was like a sleepwalker before, but once he scored, he became a hero.
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"In the second half, we will not continue to attack. We will change to a steady defensive counterattack."
When Twain said so, no one was surprised. Because it was something they had known the day before the game. According to their plan, they would strive for a goal lead in the first half, and then gradually shrink the defensive line in the second half and start to play defensive counterattack. They would either keep this one point advantage, or take advantage of the opponent pressing on to attack and eager to equalize the score to wait for an opportunity to sneak attack and widen the gap.
This was England's wishful thinking, but it was hard to say whether they could succeed.
"You have to be fast when you counterattack …" Twain glanced at Agbonlahor. He would continue to play in the second half and would not be replaced immediately. Because he had an amazing speed, it was a very important weapon in the counterattack.
"Gabriel." Twain called his name. "You don't have to be at the forefront in the second half. You have to actively retreat and come to the midfield to receive the ball. We also try to pass the ball in front of us to give Agbonlahor and Rooney space to run. But if the counterattack is blocked, immediately stabilize and control the ball at your feet. Don't easily waste the opportunity to attack. "
Hearing Twain say so, Agbonlahor knew he would not be replaced early. On the other hand, the other person didn't feel any better.
James Vaughan knew that Agbonlahor would continue to be trusted. He looked down at his jersey. He also wore a T-shirt inside that read "We're with you, Aaron." He had specially prepared it for Mitchell.
But now it seemed that it might not be of much use. He was thinking about whether to take it off later. After all, it was a little hot to wear two T-shirts.
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