Chapter 322: Half Fire, Half Ocean
"Beautiful interception!" shouted the Portuguese TV commentator into his headset.
Meunier tried to dribble past Nani, but Nani quickly intercepted the ball with a clever poke. He then stepped forward and used his body to shield the ball from Meunier, keeping the Belgian player at bay.
The tables turned, and Meunier rushed forward to try to win the ball back.
"Here!" someone called out.
Nani glanced briefly and saw the red jersey of his teammate, without identifying who it was. He passed the ball and continued his forward run.
Renato Sanches, who received the ball, didn't stop it but quickly passed it back. The two Portuguese players executed a perfect wall pass on Belgium's right wing.
This allowed Nani to completely lose Meunier.
Alderweireld saw the danger and had to leave Ronaldo to intercept Nani, trying to stop him outside the penalty area.
Nani and Alderweireld collided, both falling to the ground.
"Penalty!" Santos raised his hands and shouted from the sideline.
"Dive!" Wilmots also raised his hands, angrily indicating that there was no foul and that it was a dive.
The referee didn't blow the whistle for either a penalty or a dive, instead holding his hands out to signal an advantage.
Before colliding with Alderweireld, Nani had already passed the ball.
Inside the penalty area, Quaresma suddenly appeared at the near post and slid in to shoot.
...
"Damn!" Santos gritted his teeth in excitement.
Quaresma and Ronaldo had gone for the same spot. Initially, Ronaldo was in a better position and had a stronger scoring ability than Quaresma. However, Quaresma had taken the shot.
Of course, you couldn't blame Quaresma for this. He reached the spot, saw the ball coming, and took the shot.
In the heat of the moment, it was common for players to find themselves in the same position on the field.
"Quaresma—" shouted the Portuguese commentator as Quaresma struck the ball.
As Quaresma shot, Courtois moved to make the save.
"He saved it!"
Courtois got a hand to the ball, deflecting it. But before Belgian fans could celebrate, a red figure rushed in, colliding with the ball and the net.
"GOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
"CRISTIANO RONALDO! The Portuguese captain scores on the rebound, 4:3, Portugal leads Belgium again!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo! A beautiful goal, just beautiful! At the start of extra time, Portugal's high pressing led to an interception, followed by a quick attack, and finally, the captain scores on the rebound!"
"Portugal's pressing was very successful, and they scored!"
...
After scoring, Ronaldo hugged Quaresma. He didn't blame him for shooting first, instead, he thanked him for creating the rebound opportunity.
"Hahaha, thanks, man! You gave me an open goal."
On the sidelines, Santos clapped and laughed heartily, more pleased by this display of camaraderie than by the goal itself.
Santos had been worried Ronaldo might be unhappy due to not scoring earlier in the match. But it seemed he needn't have worried.
Wilmots was visibly frustrated by Belgium conceding the goal so early in extra time. He waved his arms angrily on the sidelines.
Wilmots had reason to be upset, especially with Meunier's mistake in his own half.
While Portuguese players celebrated the goal, Belgian players were left stunned, not expecting to concede so quickly.
Goalkeeper Courtois was furious, shouting at Meunier, "What the hell were you doing?"
Meunier looked embarrassed, knowing he had messed up.
"I'll take responsibility," Meunier said.
"Responsibility? What the hell!" Courtois yelled.
"Shut up, everyone! It's just one goal, we can come back!" Vermaelen walked over and shouted.
Arguments after conceding a goal were common, with everyone on edge. It was important for someone to step in and calm things down.
...
Wilmots called De Bruyne to the sideline, giving him instructions on how to handle the match after the goal.
"This goal was unexpected. The game will change because of it. They'll defend more and counterattack. We must push forward."
De Bruyne nodded in agreement.
"Tell Meunier to push forward. Use his passing skills. Jan (Vertonghen) too, should push up," Wilmots said, making a circular motion with his hands, "and let Michy (Batshuayi) stir things up in the penalty area."
De Bruyne nodded. This meant using Batshuayi as a decoy to create space for Carrasco.
Seeing De Bruyne understood, Wilmots added, "When you push forward, be decisive. Shoot from distance if you can!"
Long-range shots were one of De Bruyne's specialties.
De Bruyne glanced at Wilmots, then returned to the pitch.
On the other side, Santos also gave instructions, calling out to Bruno. Seeing Bruno look over, he held up three fingers. Bruno nodded in understanding.
Santos then pulled Ronaldo aside, giving the captain a few more instructions. Ronaldo nodded and ran back onto the pitch.
Bruno received instructions because Santos trusted him most. Ronaldo got special attention because he was the captain, respecting his authority.
...
Santos' instructions were straightforward: Portugal would adopt an even more defensive counterattack strategy.
According to the original plan, Bruno was supposed to push forward and organize the attack, with William Carvalho handling more defensive duties. But now Bruno's attacking role was reduced, involving him more in defense.
Portugal's defense was successful. William Carvalho covered a large area, and with Bruno's help, along with the efforts of Nani and Quaresma, Belgium's attacks, while fierce, didn't produce many scoring opportunities.
Santos sat on the bench, feeling optimistic. The match had reached the 99th minute, and Portugal still led 4:3.
They just needed to hold on for six or seven more minutes until the end of the first half of extra time. In the second half, Belgium would push even harder, and then Santos could reveal his final tactics.
Just then, the referee's whistle blew.
Fonte had fouled Batshuayi, giving Belgium a direct free kick.
Santos stood up and protested loudly, insisting it wasn't a foul but just a physical collision.
"Shut up!" shouted Belgium's assistant coach, furious. "Your guy almost sent Batshuayi flying, and you call it a fair challenge?"
Santos glanced at him but didn't escalate the fight.
"Are you blind? It was your guy who couldn't handle the contact," Santos' assistant coach retorted, stepping in to argue.
The fourth official intervened, and the referee came over, giving both assistant coaches a verbal warning, "Behave!"
The two glared at each other but didn't say more, each spitting on the ground before walking away.
...
Santos was so upset about the free-kick decision because the foul spot was very dangerous, sensing the threat.
De Bruyne was a free-kick specialist, and from that position, he was capable of scoring directly.
The Portuguese commentator shared the sentiment, "28 meters from goal… This is a perfect distance. It's one of De Bruyne's favorite spots."
The Portuguese players delayed setting up the wall, trying to waste as much time as possible.
The coach's goal was clear: to maintain the 4:3 lead until the end of the first half of extra time.
When the wall was finally set, the referee stepped back and signaled Belgium to take the kick.
The whistle blew, and De Bruyne ran up to take the shot.
The shot was powerful, the ball flying like a white streak past the wall, heading for the top left corner of the goal.
Portuguese goalkeeper Patricio gave his all to save it but couldn't reach the ball. De Bruyne's strike was too fast!
As Patricio leaped through the air, he could only watch the ball fly into the top corner of the net.
Portuguese players stared wide-eyed at the ball in the net, while Belgians celebrated wildly.
The Belgian fans erupted into cheers, while Portuguese fans booed loudly.
The stadium was half in celebration, half in despair.
"F**K!" Santos cursed angrily.
Wilmots raised his arms in celebration, accepting congratulations from his assistants, then walked to the sideline to applaud before returning to the bench to jot down notes.
(End of Chapter)
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