Chapter 84: Puyol's Heartfelt Speech
When they saw Fabregas standing at the penalty spot, Bosque and the assistant coaches stood up, ready to celebrate what they thought would be a goal to secure victory.
They never expected Fabregas to miss the penalty.
This left them feeling somewhat embarrassed, with Bosque and Assistant Coach Tony exchanging a wry smile.
"Why is it so difficult for these guys to score from the penalty spot?"
"Who's taking the next penalty?" Tony asked.
"Havoc. He's more reliable with penalties. Hopefully, he won't miss," replied Bosque.
Although Bosque agreed outwardly, he had doubts in his mind:
Is Havoc really that reliable?
Penalty kicks seem to be Spain's Achilles' heel. Bosque's era was relatively good in this regard.
During Enrique's tenure, despite practicing penalties 1,000 times before matches, Spain was still eliminated in penalty shootouts, even in consecutive World Cups...
Fabregas missing the penalty didn't affect Spain's morale much, but it had a significant impact on the morale of the French team.
After the restart, the French team pressed forward aggressively, launching consecutive attacks against Spain.
Due to the controversial decisions by the referee earlier, it seemed that after the restart, the referee was intentionally or unintentionally favoring the French team.
In the 41st minute, Ramos and Ribery clashed, resulting in a yellow card for both.
Two minutes later, Lin Quan was almost tripped by a defender in a similar manner, but the referee made no indication.
This naturally angered the Spanish players, with Bosque, Havoc, and others surrounding the referee, believing his decisions were unfair.
Even if he didn't give a card, he should have at least awarded a free kick.
Instead of a verbal warning, the referee immediately showed yellow cards, not to the French defenders, but to Spain's midfield generals Havoc and Busquets.
The crowd of over fifty thousand fans expressed their dissatisfaction with the referee's decisions through boos.
If you count the two yellow cards shown to the French team earlier, the referee had shown four yellow cards in the first half due to protests from both teams.
The existence of these four yellow cards was evidence of the referee's questionable officiating.
Unable to bear it any longer, Bosque rushed out to protest to the fourth official:
"Hey, look at what you've done! That was a yellow card. Instead of punishing the fouling player, you're showing yellow cards to my players. Is this how you officiate?"
The fourth official gestured for Bosque to calm down, suggesting that if there was a problem, he could complain to FIFA. As the fourth official, he couldn't change the referee's decisions.
Bosque knew that protesting to the fourth official wouldn't help, but if he didn't protest, he would feel uneasy.
"I will complain to FIFA!"
After saying this, the veteran coach returned to the bench in a huff.
Perhaps influenced by the booing from the crowd or after making up for his earlier decisions, the referee finally calmed down.
After showing the two yellow cards to Spain, the referee's officiating returned to normal standards.
In the 44th minute of the first half, Spain committed a foul in their own half, giving away a not-so-good free kick to France.
The decision to award the free kick was fair, but the fans now booed whenever they saw the referee make a decision unfavorable to their team.
Unaffected by the boos, the French team went on with their attack, knowing they were not the target of the crowd's ire.
Cabaye took the free kick, opting not to engage in tactical coordination due to the limited time left in the half. Instead, they delivered the ball directly into the box for their teammates to attack.
Benzema, similar in height to his club teammate Ramos, won the first header in the box.
Instead of shooting directly, he passed the ball to his teammate. Menez leaped high from the other side to head the ball into Spain's goal.
It was a brilliant combination, and in the final minute of the first half, France equalized with a header.
But the replay on the big screen showed a suspicion of offside.
At the moment Benzema headed the ball, Menez seemed to be in an offside position.
Now, Spanish fans were even more dissatisfied.
The protests against the referee grew louder, with some conspiracy theorists even suggesting that the referee for this match had been sent by FIFA with a mission.
FIFA didn't want Spain to defend their World Cup title, so they wanted to find an opportunity to eliminate them.
Although this speculation lacked actual evidence, once conspiracy theories spread, more and more people would believe in them.
Even if FIFA were to come out immediately and clarify the situation, it would be difficult to completely dispel the influence of conspiracy theories.
After scoring, the French team was ecstatic, celebrating wildly at the Calderon Stadium amidst the boos of over fifty thousand fans.
For the French team to equalize the score under the circumstances of being behind, unfavorable game dynamics, and perceived unfair treatment by the referee, it was like a shot of adrenaline, making their blood boil with excitement.
Both the Spanish and French teams felt they had been unfairly treated by the referee.
If they lost this match, the French team would surely protest to FIFA as well.
Of course, winning the game would be a different story.
Once the celebration by the French team subsided, the first half came to an end.
After the restart, the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the first half.
Players from both teams left the field one after another, returning to their respective dressing rooms.
On the home side, the Spanish players were frustrated by the referee's decisions in the final minutes of the first half, their faces showing displeasure, and the atmosphere within the team was gloomy.
"Forget about the first half, forget about the referee's unfair decisions. What you need to do is play well and not be influenced by these factors," said Bosque.
Bosque wasn't the type of coach who excelled at pumping up his players or boosting morale in the dressing room. He preferred a more laid-back approach, simply instructing players on tactical adjustments and letting them execute on the field.
It wasn't his style to give motivational speeches like Ferguson.
The motivators in the Spanish dressing room were the senior players, such as Puyol and Casillas.
Seeing that their teammates were somewhat down, Puyol stepped forward:
"Hey, guys, we're not behind. It's not the end of the world. There's no need to be so down!"
"Even if this game ends in a draw, with the advantage of our previous goal difference, we can still top the group and secure our spot in the World Cup!"
The players looked up, listening to the words of their aging captain who hadn't been on the field due to knee surgery earlier in the summer.
Puyol's knee surgery hadn't gone as well as expected, and the recovery hadn't been optimistic.
This World Cup journey might be the last time the veteran captain fought alongside his teammates.
For them, if they missed this World Cup, there might be another chance in the future.
But for the 34-year-old Puyol, there was no next time.
"With our strength and the support of over fifty thousand fans at home, do you really think 45 minutes in the second half isn't enough for you to turn the score around?"
"Is that what you really think?"
"Guys, you are world champions, you are European champions, you are the strongest players in the world. No one can defeat you!"
Puyol recalled the years of fighting alongside his teammates in the national team, lifting trophies and the honors they had earned through hard work and dedication, and said emotionally:
"Maybe many of you know that my knee injury is serious, and I had planned to announce my retirement next year.
But Xavi persuaded me, hoping that I could accompany everyone for another World Cup.
I accepted Xavi's persuasion, not because I think the national team can't do without me, but because I want to witness us once again ascend to the top of the world, creating an immortal dynasty for the Spanish national team!
I hope that after playing in the World Cup and lifting the World Cup trophy, I can announce my retirement gracefully under the spotlight of everyone's attention.
Rather than leaving the field as a loser, tormented by injuries and defeated by illness."
"I can't play in this game, so I can only rely on you guys. Please!"
Puyol's heartfelt speech moved his teammates deeply.
Several old teammates from both clubs and the national team came forward to give him warm hugs.
The gloomy atmosphere within the team had dissipated by now.
Even because of Puyol's public statement about defending the World Cup, a goal that everyone had only dared to keep in their hearts and not speak aloud, the players' fighting spirit was reignited.
The road to defending the title was bound to be fraught with difficulties, not smooth sailing.
The French team was just a stumbling block on the path forward, and there would be many more like them in the future.
If they couldn't overcome even this obstacle, what talk was there of defending the title?
Seeing the renewed fighting spirit of his teammates, Puyol joked:
"Besides, we still have players like Lin in our team. As long as we pass the ball to him, he can work wonders!"