Chapter 354 Belgium’s traditional arts!
In the end, considering that Belgium is also holding high the banner of attack, they will definitely attack.
In that case, there will be a huge space behind the defense, and hitting the ball behind will be very threatening.
Coupled with the changes in the opponent's defense personnel, the tacit understanding is definitely not enough.
At this time, even getting the ball in the penalty area a few tenths of a second faster than the defensive player may determine the quality of the end of the offense.
Therefore, Hodgson chose Vardy, who is faster and has better frontcourt pressing ability, as the starting center candidate!
In fact, it’s the same as the first battle against Russia.
The head coach needs to adjust his tactical plan and lineup selection according to the opponent's tactics and lineup, so as to achieve the effect of restraint!
The day before the game, Hodgson announced the starting lineup in the tactical room.
When the lineup was announced, most players had no reaction.
After all, after a few games, it has long been clear who is the main player and who is the substitute in the team.
But when they heard the name of the last starter from the assistant coach was "Vardy", everyone couldn't help but turn their attention to Kane.
Of course Kane felt sad about his decision not to start in such a crucial game.
Especially after scoring goals in two consecutive starts!
However, his expression did not change much, but he quickly accepted the fact and then applauded and congratulated other starting teammates.
At least the one who defeated him was Vardy who was as good as him.
This also made him feel a lot better.
After all, Vardy has scored more goals than him in the league and his scoring efficiency is also higher.
Moreover, Vardy is even more effective when dealing with tall and bulky central defenders.
Losing to Vardy in the competition for starting center, Kane couldn't help but secretly said to himself:
Harry, don't be arrogant, stay patient, continue to work hard, and strive to perform better in the limited game time, so that the head coach understands that you are definitely capable of becoming the starting center of the Three Lions!
Just like you always do!
Vardy, who had been on the bench for two consecutive games, was stunned when he heard his name appeared in the starting lineup.
He thought that Kane, who had started two consecutive games and scored goals and assists, would continue to start.
He was also mentally prepared to sit on the bench.
The sudden and unexpected joy also made him roar excitedly in his heart for the first time:
"Yes!!!"
Of course, he still held back his inner feelings. Joy, maintaining a polite smile.
Looking around, Hodgson did not forget to remind the Three Lions generals:
“Whether we are starting or coming off the bench, we are a whole. We have only one purpose.”
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"Then win!"
. . .
July 1, 2016 (local time in France)
Lille.
The seats in the Pierre Mauroy Stadium were already packed.
More than 10,000 fans from both sides were singing their respective team songs.
In the player tunnel, players from England and Belgium were preparing for their final appearance.
One hour before the game, when England announced the starting lineup to the public, it also aroused heated discussion in the domestic media.
Tottenham fans naturally felt unfair for Kane.
They think Kane should start more!
Of course, the media and fans who support Kane do not question Vardy's ability.
After all, Vardy has played at the peak of his career in the Premier League and Europa League this season!
He is also the English player with the most goals in the five major leagues this season!
In terms of championship honors and personal data, Vardy is better than Kane.
However, his age is indeed a flaw.
They just feel that Vardy, who is a late bloomer, does not have much room for improvement.
International competitions like the European Cup should cultivate Kane who is younger and has more unlimited possibilities.
The current top scorers in the Three Lions team are Ling Feng and Kane, who both scored three goals.
The second is Rooney who scored two goals.
In the end it was Vardy and Sterling who scored a goal.
The late-blooming demon Vardy and the rising striker Kane have two of the Premier League's top strikers.
There is even a Premier League striker like Sturridge sitting on the bench!
The Three Lions appear to be very comfortable with their forward choices.
Of course, which head coach would dislike having too many good players at his disposal? !
Therefore, Hodgson also considered whether to let Kane and Vardy appear at the same time, and then changed the tactical formation to a 442 parallel position, and then Sterling on the left and Ling Feng on the right to regain England's two wings. Flying tactical traditions.
However, considering Belgium's offensive firepower, he gave up this bold idea.
On the other side, Belgium’s starting lineup did not exceed the expectations of the media and experts:
The frontcourt is still composed of Hazard, De Bruyne, and Lukaku. Led by the "Iron Triangle".
The combined worth of the three of them exceeds 250 million!
It is also the most expensive frontcourt trident in this European Cup!
It is worth mentioning that the second most expensive frontcourt trident is England's Ling Feng, Kane and Sterling!
In addition to these three super talents, Atletico Madrid winger Carrasco defeated Mertens in this game and became the starting right winger.
The two defensive midfielders are Roma star Nainggolan and the Russian Premier League’s number one defensive midfielder Witsel.
The defense is where Belgium has changed the most!
Jordan Lukaku, who plays for Ostend in the Belgian League, and Denayer, who plays for Galatasaray in the Turkish Super League, replaced the absent Vertonghen and Vermaelen, and Alder Verelder and Meunier formed a four-man defense line.
And behind them is the Blues goalkeeper Courtois, who has kept clean sheets in the past three games!
“Welcome to open the elevator and watch on time the highlight of France’s European Cup quarter-finals, England versus Belgium.”
“According to the starting lineups given by both sides, ”
“Belgian captain Eden Hazard, who was rumored to be absent due to injury before the game, is on the list”
The most recent confrontation between the two teams was in the 2012 international friendly match. middle. At that time, Belgium beat England by one goal.
However, four years have passed and the personnel have changed dramatically.
The original Three Lions team has long lost the golden generation players such as Shuangde, Terry, Ferdinand, etc., and has entered an era of inactivity;
On the contrary, Belgium has ushered in its own The golden generation, and in just a few years, it has transformed from the second-tier team in Europe to the top three teams in the world!
This is also Ling Feng’s first contest with Belgium on behalf of the Three Lions!
However, he is no stranger to this Belgian team.
Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Alderweireld, and Courtois are all opponents who play in the Premier League.
As for other players, as a hardcore fan, he is also very familiar with them.
In this game, the 25-year-old Hazard still wore the armband and became the captain of Belgium.
Judging from his smug look, he seems to be ready to lead the team to victory.
Looking at Hazard, who was standing at the top of the Belgian queue, and Ling Feng, who was standing at the last of the English queue, he couldn't help but curl his lips.
Two days ago, Hazard missed the team's training due to a thigh strain.
At that time, many British and Belgian media reported on it.
The Belgian coach also admitted that he will let Hazard recover as soon as possible to catch up with this game.
But now, looking at the lively Hazard, everyone around the world knows that this is just a smoke bomb by the Belgians
In addition, the traditional art of internal strife is even more enjoyable to see:
The left-back Lukaku Jr., who got the chance to start this game, criticized the team captain in a previous interview. "Comment"
He claimed that Ling Feng, the core player of England's opponent in this game, is better than Hazard!
Although Ling Feng is still very young, his performance is very stable whether he is playing for the club or the national team, and he is often able to stand up in key games.
And Hazard is not stable enough!
If such disrespectful remarks to seniors were made to other national teams, it would definitely cause an uproar.
Even if everything you say is true!
But when it happened to Belgium, the media and fans would only smile slightly.
So right!
Because, in addition to playing with talent, the Belgians also like to engage in internal strife from time to time!
In addition to the well-known penis hat incident, Hazard is also a troublemaker for the national team.
When he first joined the national team, Hazard had a bad relationship with the seniors in the team because he asked for the No. 10 jersey, and was almost expelled from the national team;
2012 European Qualifiers vs. Belgium During the game in Turkey, Hazard was replaced by the midfielder, and he left the stadium directly and went to a burger restaurant to eat burgers;
In the second leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals earlier this year, Chelsea was defeated by Paris Saint-Germain at home. Saint-Germain was defeated and eliminated.
Hazard, who continues to be in a slump, does not have the style of the best player in the Premier League last season. Not only did he fail to break his personal drought in the Champions League, but after the first half, he took the initiative to exchange jerseys with the opponent's star Di Maria. .
This move also caused public indignation among Chelsea fans and was criticized by the media. It was a sign of lack of fighting spirit and was even regarded as the culprit of Chelsea's decline in performance.
Hazard is indeed full of talent, this is an undoubted fact.
However, his immaturity in character also makes many people doubt whether he can become a superstar and a team leader like Kompany.
At least for now, he is still far away.
Of course, Belgian coach Wilmots loves his disciple very much.
He also publicly supported Hazard at the pre-match press conference, believing that he is an indispensable talent in Belgium and a trustworthy leader of this team.
And he also predicted with great confidence that the team will defeat England and reach the semi-finals of the European Cup again after thirty-six years!
Of course, that’s what you say.
It does not mean that he will underestimate England, a "pseudo-powerful team" that shouts loud slogans in every term, but stretches its hips in every key game
Because, this team Among the team is Ling Feng, the first player of the new generation and the strongest player in the Premier League!
Of course he can see that the most threatening player in this Three Lions team is the new No. 7 of the Three Lions team.
Under Ling Feng’s god-like broad vision and ghostly precise passing series, the Three Lions’ frontcourt offensive firepower is no less than that of Belgium.
Therefore, Wilmots also knew very well that under England's rapid attack, his line of defense would definitely not be defendable.
So, he still used the offensive talents of frontcourt players such as Hazard, De Bruyne and Lukaku to destroy the Three Lions' defense!
Let’s see whose attack is more powerful!
. . .
Beep!
With the referee's whistle, the second quarter-final of the 2016 European Cup in France, England versus Belgium, officially started!
Belgium kicks off first!
With the referee's whistle, Lukaku used a classic reverse foot kick and passed the ball back to Witsel.
The next second, De Bruyne, Hazard, Carrasco, and Lukaku, who had just kicked off, all rushed forward for the first time.
However, when Witsel, one of the Belgian double-headed men, just stepped on the ball under his feet, he saw Vardy rushing toward him!
Witsel, who originally wanted to pass the ball forward to grab a quick break, suddenly changed his mind and turned around to pass the ball back to the feet of central defender Alderweireld.
Then, he saw that Vardy did not slow down, but accelerated and passed him by.
Seeing Vardy swooping in, Alderweireld raised his head and looked around, only to find that England's two wingers were already near the full-backs.
The triangle position formed by midfielder Ling Feng, Henderson and Dier vaguely double-teamed Nainggolan, preventing him from retreating to catch the ball.
With several short passing lines restricted, he had no choice but to directly pass a long pass into the frontcourt!
The ball drew a line in the sky above the Moruwa Stadium and landed on the heads of the two people entangled in the frontcourt.
Under Smalling's hands, "Little Warcraft" Lukaku took the lead to stretch out his foot and knock the ball back to De Bruyne.
The next second, De Bruyne, who had just parked the ball, heard Hazard’s call from the left:
"Kevin!"
After taking the ball and looking around, De Bruyne made an immediate decision in his mind!
Although Walker was in front of Hazard and Carrasco was already moving forward at high speed from the right, De Bruyne passed the ball to Hazard immediately.
Because this is the basic offensive tactic that the Belgian national team has practiced countless times in training and competition papers - give the ball to Hazard!
When the team has Hazard and De Bruyne, the Belgians must be very lucky to have such a dual-core team.
However, if they are English or Brazilian, they will definitely have heard the stories of "Double Germany" and "Brazilian Quartet".
When there are two or even three or four ball-holding cores on the field, if they are used well, it is called dual-core and multi-core; if they are not used well, it is called insufficient points of the ball.
But the division of labor is not clear, the ball is not divided enough, and there is no internal unity...
These are the many problems of Belgium, which seems to be full of talent!
(End of this chapter)