Capítulo 81: Black Whistle?
After besieging for almost half an hour, Spain finally broke through.
If they didn't score soon, the variables on the field would increase!
Persistent failure to score is very likely to cause players to become agitated, leading to counterattacks by the opponents!
Seeing the ball fly into the net, coaches Bosque and Tony excitedly embraced.
Players and coaches on the bench also rushed out in excitement, some hugging their colleagues.
Some went directly onto the field to celebrate with the players.
At the Calderon Stadium, the audience erupted into thunderous cheers at Iniesta's goal moment.
Spanish fans were ecstatic, waving flags and chanting the players' names.
Despite having the upper hand earlier, the team's inability to score had made them restless.
But now, with a one-goal lead, the fans could relax!
Indeed, we, Spain, are invincible!
Not even top teams like France could stand in our way, who else could stop us?
Thinking this, many Spanish fans began to fantasize about the Confederations Cup next year and even the World Cup the year after.
With the strength and dominance Spain has shown in football, these two events seemed almost certain!
Spain was likely to become the first team in nearly fifty years to successfully defend their title!
On the French side, the new national team coach, Deschamps, sat on the bench in the summer, watching the celebrating Spanish players on the field.
His gaze focused on the number 30 player in the Spanish team, muttering a curse under his breath.
His luck was just too bad!
The tactics developed to counter Spain were thwarted by the appearance of this kid.
After Spain won the World Cup and European Championship consecutively, the whole world was studying how to play against the Spanish national team, much like how all clubs were studying how to deal with Barcelona.
The tactics used against Barcelona by clubs could also be applied at the national team level.
Even more effectively, as the Spanish national team's strength was not as formidable as Barcelona, lacking a Messi upfront!
And the most effective strategy against Barcelona was Mourinho's defensive counterattack tactics!
As early as 2010, he led Inter Milan to knock out Barcelona in the Champions League and win that year's Champions League.
Last season, the team he built, Chelsea, eliminated Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals with excellent defensive counterattacks.
And his own Real Madrid even snatched the La Liga title from Barcelona last season, having also defeated Barcelona away.
It could be said that Mourinho has been the most successful coach in recent years against Barcelona.
Not winning every time, but compared to others, his success rate was the highest.
So, Deschamps chose to adopt Mourinho's tactics, intending to use defensive counterattacks against Spain.
If this was the Spain of a month ago, he felt that France might have close to a fifty percent chance of winning.
The reason was simple: Spain lacked a sharp striker, making it hard to break through France's defense.
But if they seized one chance, they could win the game.
However, now, with the addition of a player whose playing style was very similar to Messi, the problem of a lackluster attack was solved.
This completely caught Deschamps off guard, disrupting his plans.
Deschamps now wasn't sure if his tactics would work anymore!
With Spain's national team now led by Lin, they had surpassed Barcelona in terms of strength.
While the French national team clearly wasn't as formidable as Real Madrid.
Last season, Real Madrid won one, lost two, and drew one against Barcelona, clearly at a disadvantage.
A weaker French national team facing a stronger Spain national team meant their chances of winning were probably less than 10%!
This analysis immediately made Deschamps pessimistic about the match outcome!
Could the French team turn the game around?
"France is tough to play against. With Lin joining, Spain's attacking power in the frontcourt has greatly increased. The power of strikerless tactics has escalated. France's defense struggles to contain the opponent's attacks. If they continue with defensive counterattacks, they might concede even more goals."
On the Sky Sports commentary booth, Martin Tyler shook his head in sigh.
Expecting to witness a world-class showdown, he saw that, from the current situation on the field, aside from slightly better defense than Belarus, France didn't outperform their opponent in other aspects.
Their attacks were ineffective, and they struggled to threaten, while their defense couldn't contain the opponent.
The Spanish player in the number 30 position in the opponent's half was dynamic, shifting constantly, causing significant difficulties for the French defense.
By continuing this way, France would undoubtedly lose the game.
As the score lagged behind, so did the on-field situation.
The French players felt frustrated; they had defended tirelessly in this game.
However, solely defending seemed unlikely to win the game; victory required relying on the attack.
So, when the game restarted, Ribery and Benzema discussed and decided to focus more on the attack.
The team was already behind, and if they made a strong effort, they could possibly level or even reverse the score. But if they continued to play in the same routine manner, it was clear that they would lose.
The game resumed, and the frustrated French team noticeably increased their forces in the attack.
Their midfielders lacked creativity, but their physical fitness was excellent, allowing them to effectively challenge and intercept the Spanish players.
In the 33rd minute, Cabaye intercepted in the backfield, played the ball to the wing, and found the French winger Ribery.
Ribery received the ball and dribbled down the baseline to cross, but Benzema's low shot in the penalty area was tipped out by his club teammate Casillas.
A corner was taken, Ramos headed the ball out, but the French player controlled the ball, which was sent back into the penalty area.
It was chaotic in the penalty area as both Spain's defender Arbeloa and France's winger Ménez fell to the ground.
The ball was cleared out to the sideline, and the French players believed there was a foul by the Spanish defender in the penalty area, appealing for a penalty.
The referee ignored them, awarded the ball to the French team, and signaled for the game to continue.
The TV camera showed that Arbeloa did indeed make a pushing motion, possibly a missed call.
After the French team's siege, their defense became vulnerable.
Spain immediately seized the opportunity to counterattack!
In the 36th minute, Spain quickly advanced into the frontcourt, Pedro's shot was tipped over the crossbar by the goalkeeper.
Xavi took the corner from the left, and Ramos' header in the middle of the penalty area hit the goalpost.
The ball bounced back, and Lin received the ball in the penalty area. He took a shot without stopping the ball, aiming for the top right corner of the goal.
After the ball flew out and hit the defending player's arm, the referee immediately blew the whistle, signaling a penalty for Spain.
Spain got a penalty!
The decision was correct, but the French players couldn't accept it.
They felt that the referee had missed their earlier penalty, and if that one hadn't been missed, this penalty wouldn't have happened either!
This back and forth was like giving the opponent two goals!
So they rushed towards the referee, wanting to argue with him.
The referee was surrounded by the French players, and while backing away, he showed yellow cards to Koscielny, Gonalons, and others.
After being shown two consecutive yellow cards, the French players finally calmed down.
But their anger was building up, like a volcano about to erupt, reaching a critical point.
Following Spain's penalty-taking order, Fabregas stood at the penalty spot, preparing to take the penalty.
Fabregas glanced at the goalkeeper's position, chose to shoot the penalty towards the lower left corner of the goal.
Lloris accurately predicted the direction of the shot, and timely dived to block the ball.
Fabregas regretfully held his head in disbelief.
He actually missed the penalty!
If the ball had gone in, the on-field score would have been 2-0, and Spain would have had the game in hand.
But now, the penalty miss kept the score the same, and the French team was completely infuriated, making the outcome of the game uncertain!
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