Chapter 759: Chapter 758: Kings Don’t See Kings
Portugal team 1 to...
Beep beep beep!
The referee blew his whistle repeatedly, indicating Ronaldo’s goal was invalid.
Because he had committed a foul when he robbed Gallas of the ball.
In an instant, Estádio Alvalade was in turmoil.
The feeling... was extremely unpleasant.
It was almost a dream start.
But Ronaldo’s attack directly triggered a counter-attack frenzy.
Seventh minute.
Zidane delivered a through pass, proving that age has not dulled his skills.
Henry, with his intuitive play on the left, immediately cut inside after receiving the ball.
Kilop sprinted back at full speed, but was still half a step behind Henry.
Henry with a half-breakaway.
On the left!
Breakaway!
Henry!
Portugal’s goalkeeper, Viana, already knew how to position himself.
He closed down the near post, then, at the instant Henri shot, he dived in the opposite direction.
Bang!
"Oh! My God!"
"Henry’s shot was saved!"
"Viana has made a world-class save!"
"What a pity, Henry was so close to giving France the lead."
"This is as heart-pounding as Ronaldo’s earlier disallowed goal for a foul, followed by huge disappointment."
Nineteenth minute.
Ronaldo dropped back to receive a pass from Deco, then turned and delivered a through pass.
Deng Kai sprinted along the flank without the ball.
No tricks, just raw speed.
Thuram, realizing he couldn’t keep up with Deng Kai, decisively chose to pull back to prevent Deng Kai from cutting inside.
On the other hand, since Ronaldo had previously dropped back, he wasn’t yet in the penalty area, so Deng Kai’s cross wouldn’t pose much of a threat.
As one of the world’s top right-backs, Thuram’s abilities were beyond question.
He was the main force in freezing Su Hang in today’s game for France.
Bang!
After catching up with the football, Deng Kai sent a rolling ball across in front of the goal.
Thuram couldn’t interfere with the path of the ball.
But amidst the chaos, the center-back Desailly blocked the football.
The ball flew towards the goal.
And then passed just by the post.
It was nearly an own goal.
"Oh! Desailly made a magnificent clearance."
"Or perhaps Deng Kai, without teammates to pass to, tried to provoke an own goal, but wasn’t successful."
"This is truly a contest between masters, where every player has their own clever plans and also the skills to make those thoughts a reality."
Twenty-fifth minute.
Zidane again, suddenly delivering a outside-of-the-foot lob pass from the left.
Once again, Henry stood out, his bursting power on full display.
However, Henry didn’t have an angle to shoot.
So he directly volleyed the football with his left foot towards the center.
The ball was fast.
And it was a half-high ball.
Difficult for the defenders to handle.
But likewise, difficult for the attackers to handle.
In the end, Trezeguet, utilizing his strong ability to find positions, got ahead of Pepe, and took the chance to shoot with his left foot.
Bang!
The ball soared into the sky.
However, we can’t criticize Trezeguet’s shooting skills because of that.
In fact, Trezeguet was one of the top five finishers in the world at that time.
Moreover, notably, although he was right-footed, his left-footed shooting was also very exquisite, earning him the reputation of being ambipedal in finishing.
Such shooting skills to not control the ball.
It just goes to show the difficulty of Henry’s pass.
Of course, Henry can also pass off the blame.
He, a superb player with twenty-five assists in a single Premier League season, the second-best assist provider in Europe, only behind Deng Kai, would he not know how to pass the ball?
The main issue was Zidane’s lob pass was so unexpected, it fooled the enemy, but it also fooled his teammates.
That Henry even reached it, was already a display of his ability.
Zidane: So are you saying it’s my fault?
The 31st minute.
Zidane received Lizarazu’s pass at the left attacking midfield position.
Lizarazu then ran down the flank to the end line.
Carvalho kept retreating, closely following Lizarazu.
Meanwhile, Zidane cut inside with the ball.
Defensive midfielder Costinha and right center-back Kilop immediately pressed towards Zidane.
Limiting Zidane’s performance was key to defeating the French team.
Just as the key to France’s victory was limiting Deng Kai’s impact.
Bang!
Zidane lobbed a horizontal pass.
The football curved past Costinha like a scimitar to the right, where Pires, who had made an off-ball run inside, was positioned.
Even though at Arsenal he always played on the left.
But in the national team, Pires had to yield his position to Zidane, so he could only play on the right.
Regardless, Pires was still sharp.
Bang!
Pires took a long shot.
But because Pepe was blocking in front, after Pires’s shot avoided Pepe, it also veered outside the goal’s range.
Overall, during this period the French team’s offensive was more aggressive.
This was related to Zidane’s positioning.
Lizarazu, Zidane, Henry—the French team’s left side equipped Zidane with two attackers.
And both were top-notch players.
Zidane had a good environment for outputs.
In fact, in the previous matches of the French team, Zidane had appeared in the midfield.
Then on the left was Pires, and on the right was Ribery.
Makélélé’s position was taken away.
Vieira was the sole defensive midfielder.
The effect was indeed good, and it could release more of Zidane’s energy.
But for this match, after careful consideration, Zidane had still chosen the left side.
Not because he had played on the left for a long time at Real Madrid and played better there.
But because this way he could avoid Deng Kai as much as possible.
Because Deng Kai was also on the left side for Portugal.
The two kept the maximum distance from each other, kings avoiding kings.
It was because Deng Kai had the habit of tracking back to help his teammates, and his running was very active.
And Zidane thought Deng Kai’s defensive abilities were quite impressive.
Although not as terrifying as Makélélé’s, it could match that of an average utility midfielder.
This could affect Zidane’s performance.
However, on the contrary, Zidane found it difficult to exert the same defensive pressure on Deng Kai.
After all... Deng Kai was still a month away from turning 20.
While Zidane had already celebrated his 32nd birthday.
...
The 36th minute.
Portugal launched an attack.
Figo received the ball on the right.
But neither Lizarazu nor Zidane on this side put much defensive pressure on him.
Therefore, after passing the midfield without going down the line, Figo adjusted his position and delivered a low ground pass, directly finding Viana who surged forward on the right.
Bang!
Viana unexpectedly passed a half-volley cross without stopping the ball.
The play was all about speed!
This fast attack instantly tore through France’s defensive line.
Bang!
Deng Kai emerged prominently on the left.
Man and ball arrived together.
He made a quick push to shoot.
However, the football hit Barthez and bounced back.
Deng Kai tried to follow up with another shot.
But Desailly didn’t give Deng Kai the chance, kicking the football out over the end line first.
Corner kick.
"Ah! Deng Kai also misses the opportunity to score!"
"This shot is very similar to Trezeguet’s earlier one, both were too quick, the shooter had no time to adjust, being able to catch up was already good."
"Of course, you can’t blame Viana either, after all..."
Figo: Stop, I get it, according to your logic, in the end it’s my fault. So you mean to say there’s bias against a 32-year-old person, right?
