Chapter 242: Chapter 241: Star Shines in the European Cup (23rd Update)
Zidane scored directly from a free kick, putting his team ahead.
Mendieta’s penalty kick helped Spain pull level.
But no avail, as Vieira assisted Djorkaeff, who scored again for France, ultimately leading them to a two-to-one victory over Spain.
At that moment, Guardiola was in tears.
When interviewed, Guardiola expressed his pain, "Zidane is the best midfielder in the world, even the best player in the world."
"I actually understood Deng Kai’s hint, but I didn’t want to believe it. If I could, I would hope Spain never has to face France again—they truly are strong."
This prophecy catapulted Deng Kai’s notoriety to new heights.
Even Zidane, after winning the game, said in front of reporters, "Defeating Spain wasn’t easy; they have many good players. But thanks to our efforts, and thanks to Deng Kai’s good faith in us!"
With these words, considering the context, the French team instantly became Deng Kai’s most favored to win the championship.
After all, Deng Kai had said that if Spain didn’t encounter France, they could win the championship—so, it followed quite naturally that France, having beaten Spain, would win the championship.
June 28th.
It was a sad day for Portuguese fans.
Nuno Gomes, Benfica’s star performing brilliantly in this tournament, capitalized on Deschamps’s mistake to score a beautiful long-range goal. This was the first goal France conceded during open play in this European Championship.
But in the second half, Henry, the young French forward playing for Arsenal, scored a fantastic right-footed shot that went between two defenders, leveling the score.
In the extra time, at the 115th minute, Wiltord’s shot from a tight angle near the base line hit the arm of the Portuguese player Xavier, and the referee awarded a penalty.
The Portuguese players were emotional, and Nuno Gomes pushed the referee’s chest, resulting in a red card.
As Benk reached for his card, Xavier grabbed his arm, attempting to stop the decision.
Paolo Bento, the future South Korean team’s head coach, tried to snatch the red card from the referee’s hand.
Portugal’s star Figo took off his shirt and left the field early to protest against the unfair ruling.
In the end, Zidane struck the penalty kick successfully.
The French team’s Golden Ball defeated Portugal.
This was one of the rare occasions when the Golden Ball rule played a part.
The Golden Ball rule meant that during the extra time, the first team to score a goal would win immediately.
It was intended to encourage more offensive play during extra time and to provide fans with the thrill of a "sudden death" game.
But in practice, it proved to be a very unsuccessful attempt.
Because being the first to score meant winning, it also meant that conceding the first goal would result in a loss.
So, everyone became even more cautious.
Everyone was worried about the first goal being scored.
Before, everyone looked forward to the first goal being scored.
Even the team that conceded could hope for their team to score and pursue an equalizer, or even a comeback victory.
Such turnarounds are what truly make a football match appealing.
After the failure of the Golden Ball rule, the even shorter-lived Silver Goal rule was introduced.
But ultimately, the rule of playing a full thirty minutes of extra time to determine a winner, with a penalty shootout in the event of a draw, became the norm.
This European Championship was one where Portugal’s golden generation made a name for themselves, leaving people with limitless imagination about Portugal’s future.
Ultimately, on July 2nd.
France and Italy met in the final.
In the first half, Italy capitalized on a tactical corner kick, with Totti creating a goal via a backheel pass, and Delvecchio scoring the first goal of the match, bringing the Italians tantalizingly close to lifting the Delaunay Trophy.
However, Wiltord miraculously equalized for France in the 93rd minute.
In extra time, after Pires intercepted Cannavaro’s pass, he crossed to Trezeguet, who had transferred to Juventus and then to Arsenal due to his struggle to adapt to Serie A play, and together with Henry being dubbed the Monaco twins, bent the bow and sent a golden shot into the net, achieving legendary status with a single strike!
France successfully lifted the Delaunay Trophy!
This was a European Championship that shone with stars.
Nuno Gomes scored four goals and was named the Silver Boot winner of the European Championship, starting to become a world-class striker.
Italian substitute goalkeeper Toldo became legendary, and the name "Saint Toldo" spread far and wide.
Future Italian national coach Conte scored a spectacular overhead kick in the match between Italy and Turkey.
Within the champion French team, the young duo of Henry and Trezeguet shone brightly, with the former scoring three goals and earning the Bronze Boot of the tournament, ascending to the ranks of the world’s top strikers!
Although the Netherlands team was stopped in the semi-finals, Cruyff became the top scorer of the tournament with five goals.
Milosevic also scored five goals, sharing the Golden Boot award, and was honored with the Fair Play Award for his protection of the main referee during the matches.
But his most significant record was that he played for four national teams throughout his career, which greatly inspired Deng Kai.
Normally, a player can only play for a single national team, but following a rule change, a player can represent another national team that they hold citizenship for after an eight-year interval.
However, there are some special cases.
For example, if the national team you played for dissolves.
Or, the country that accepts you has not yet registered with FIFA before you join; only after your inclusion does that country become a FIFA member. As an "original player" of that team, you naturally have the right to play for it.
In simple terms, if Deng Kai chooses to represent Portugal in the future, he will essentially have no chance with the Chinese national team.
But... if the Chinese Football Association dissolves and a new football association is established, then theoretically, Deng Kai could seamlessly transition from the Portuguese national team to the Chinese national team.
Deng Kai wanted Chinese citizenship but did not want to play for the national team; he wished to bring pride to Chinese fans and also wanted to enjoy the taste of being World Cup champions with Cristiano Ronaldo, while also hoping for the dissolution of the Chinese FA... What seemed impossible found a seeming solution in Milosevic’s example.
This made Deng Kai feel that the European Championship had not been watched in vain.
Of course, where there’s the rise of shining new stars, there are also old ones dimming.
Nagy led the golden generation of Romania into the knockout stage, but also received the only red card of his career in the match against Italy and announced his retirement from the national team a year later.
The Danish team which Schmeichel belonged to lost all three matches, conceding eight goals, a heavy blow for him. He even doubted whether he should retire immediately, feeling incapable of playing at a high level anymore.
Matthaus likewise began to doubt himself after the German team was eliminated in the group stage, but his age made the lack of young talent in the German team all the more apparent. Led by Beckenbauer, German football magnates expressed criticism and their views on the German youth training system.
The intensive reform of the German youth system thus began, laying the foundation for the German national team’s peak at the 2014 World Cup.
After the tournament, UEFA officially announced the best lineup of the European Championship.
The forwards were Henry and Cruyff.
The midfield consisted of Zidane, Dai Weisi, Vieira, and Figo.
The defenders were Maldini, Cannavaro, Blanco, and Thuram.
The goalkeeper was Toldo.
This lineup also became the buying guide for many major teams after the European Championship.
