Chapter 83: Biased Referee?
After nearly half an hour of siege, Spain finally broke through.
If they hadn't scored soon, the dynamics of the game would have changed!
Continuing to attack without scoring easily leads to player frustration, which can then be exploited by the opponent on the counterattack!
Seeing the ball fly into the net, coaches Bosque and Tony embraced each other excitedly.
Players and coaches on the bench also rushed out excitedly, some embracing their colleagues.
Some even rushed onto the field to celebrate with the players.
And at the Calderon Stadium, the audience erupted in thunderous cheers the moment Iniesta scored.
Spanish fans were ecstatic, waving their flags and chanting the names of the players on the field.
Despite dominating the game earlier, the team's failure to score had left them anxious.
But now, with a one-goal lead, the fans could finally relax!
Indeed, we are invincible, Spain!
Even top-tier teams like France are no match for us. Who else can stop us?
With these thoughts, many Spanish fans began to fantasize about next year's Confederations Cup or even the World Cup the following year.
Given Spain's current dominance in football, both these events should be well within their grasp!
Spain is highly likely to become the first team in nearly fifty years to successfully defend their title!
On the French side, new coach Deschamps, who took over the national team just this summer, sat on the bench, chin in hand, watching the celebrating Spanish players on the field.
His gaze focused on the number 30 player in the Spanish team, and he couldn't help but mutter under his breath.
His luck was just terrible!
The tactics he had painstakingly developed to counter Spain had been disrupted by this kid.
After Spain won the World Cup and defended the European Championship, the whole world had been studying how to play against the Spanish national team, much like how every club studies how to deal with Barcelona.
The tactics of these two teams are quite similar, and many players overlap.
Therefore, the tactics used to deal with Barcelona at the club level can also be applied at the national team level.
Moreover, the effect might be even better because the Spanish national team's strength is not as strong as Barcelona's, lacking a Messi in the front line!
And the most effective tactic against Barcelona is Mourinho's defensive counterattack!
As early as 2010, he led Inter Milan to eliminate Barcelona in the Champions League and won that year's Champions League.
Last season, the Chelsea team he built, using excellent defensive counterattack tactics, eliminated Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.
And his Real Madrid, which he coached, also snatched the La Liga title from Barcelona last season and even defeated Barcelona away.
It can be said that Mourinho is the most successful coach in recent years in dealing with Barcelona.
Although he doesn't win every time, his success rate is higher than others.
So Deschamps chose to borrow Mourinho's tactics, intending to use defensive counterattacks against Spain.
If this were Spain a month ago, he thought France might have close to a fifty percent chance of winning.
The reason is simple: Spain lacked a strong striker, making it difficult for them to score against France's defense.
But they only needed one chance to win the game.
But now, with the addition of a player in the Spanish team whose playing style is remarkably similar to Messi's, they have solved the problem of a weak striker.
This completely caught Deschamps off guard and disrupted his plans.
Deschamps didn't know if his tactics would still work now!
With Lin Quan in the Spanish national team, they have surpassed Barcelona in terms of strength.
And the French national team obviously doesn't have the strength of Real Madrid.
Last season, Real Madrid won one, lost two, and drew one against Barcelona, clearly at a disadvantage.
Against a French national team weaker than Real Madrid facing a Spanish national team stronger than Barcelona, their chances of winning are probably less than 10%!
With this analysis, the outlook for the match immediately became pessimistic!
Can the French team turn the game around?
"France is tough to play against. With Lin Quan joining, Spain's attacking power in the frontcourt has greatly increased, and the power of the striker-less tactic has been elevated. France's defense is finding it difficult to contain their attacks. If they continue to play defensively, they might concede even more goals."
In the commentary box of Sky Sports, Martin Taylor shook his head and sighed.
He had expected to witness a match of world-class standards, but from the current situation on the field, apart from slightly better defense than Belarus, the French team didn't seem to excel in any other aspect.
Their attacks were struggling to pose a threat, and their defense couldn't hold up.
The number 30 on the opposing team had an unpredictable position in the frontcourt, wandering around, sometimes on the front line, sometimes on the wings, causing significant difficulties for the French team's defense.
Continuing to play like this, the French team was surely heading for defeat.
...
Trailing in score, the situation on the field also trailed behind.
The French players felt frustrated; they had been defending hard in this game.
But simply defending didn't seem to be enough to win the game. To win, they needed to rely on their offense.
So, as the game resumed, Ribery and Benzema decided to put more effort into attacking.
With the team already behind, if they made a concerted effort, they might be able to equalize or even reverse the score. But if they continued to play conventionally, they would surely lose.
As the game restarted, the French team, unwilling to remain behind, noticeably increased their offensive efforts.
Their midfielders lacked creativity, but their physical qualities were excellent. With aggressive pressing, they managed to dispossess the Spanish players.
In the 33rd minute, Cabaye intercepted the ball in the backfield, hoofed it to the wing, finding Ribery.
Ribery dribbled down the wing and sent a cross into the box, where Benzema's low shot was tipped over the crossbar by his club teammate Casillas.
The corner was taken, Ramos headed the ball out, but it fell to the French players' control, and the ball was sent back into the box.
The box was chaotic, with Spain's defender Arbeloa and France's winger Menez both falling to the ground.
The ball was kicked out of bounds, with the French players believing there was a foul by the Spanish defender in the box, surrounding the referee to demand a penalty.
The referee ignored them, giving the ball to France and indicating the game should continue.
The TV broadcast showed that Arbeloa indeed made a pushing motion with his hand, possibly a missed call.
With France pressing forward, their defense became vulnerable.
Spain immediately seized the opportunity to counterattack!
In the 36th minute, Spain swiftly advanced to the frontcourt, and Pedro's shot was single-handedly deflected over the crossbar by the goalkeeper.
Xavi took the resulting corner from the left, Ramos's header in the middle of the box hit the post.
As the ball bounced back, Lin Quan received it inside the box. Without stopping the ball, he directly chipped it with his foot, aiming for the top right corner of the goal.
However, after the ball flew out, it struck the arm of a defending player, bouncing out for a corner.
Spanish players immediately gestured for a handball in the penalty area, and the referee's whistle promptly blew, pointing to the penalty spot.
Spain was awarded a penalty!
The decision was correct, but the French players couldn't accept it.
They felt the referee had missed their previous penalty claim, and if that hadn't been missed, this penalty wouldn't have occurred!
This back and forth essentially gifted the opponent two goals!
So they rushed towards the referee, wanting to argue with him.
Surrounded by French players, the referee stepped back, showing yellow cards to Koscielny and Gonalons among others.
After receiving two consecutive yellow cards, the French players finally calmed down.
But their anger was simmering, like a volcano about to erupt, reaching a critical point.
According to Spain's penalty kick order, Fabregas stood at the penalty spot preparing to take the kick.
Fabregas glanced at the goalkeeper's position and chose to shoot the penalty towards the bottom left corner of the goal.
Lloris accurately anticipated the direction of the shot and dived to palm the ball away.
Fabregas, frustrated, grabbed his head, wearing an expression of disbelief.
He had missed the penalty!
If the ball had gone in, the score would have been 2-0, and Spain would have had the game in their hands.
But now, with the penalty missed, the score remained unchanged, and the French team was thoroughly enraged. The outcome of the game was now uncertain!
(End of the chapter)
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