Football feast, starting from the acquisition of European clubs

Chapter 444 The layout is small
It's Ronaldo!
After heading the ball, it was found that the ball was saved by the goalkeeper of Côte d'Ivoire.

Ronaldo's second reaction was extremely fast. He threw his body out without any hesitation after landing, and with a flying shovel, he stabbed the ball into the goal of Côte d'Ivoire.

"GOAL!!!!!!"

With Ronaldo's super personal ability, Portugal leads Côte d'Ivoire 1:0.

Seeing that the score was behind, the Ivorian players immediately launched a counterattack under the command of Eriksson.

But because Ivory Coast's current center Din Dane, under Pepe's close pressing and Carvalho's defense protection, he can't hold the ball at all, let alone threaten Portugal's goal.

As a result, Côte d'Ivoire's offense has always been thunderous and rainy, and it can only turn around outside the penalty area, and finally ends hastily with a long-range shot.

On the sidelines, Eriksson, who saw all these situations in his eyes, certainly knew where the problem was.

Looking back at the bench in Côte d'Ivoire, Eriksson shook his head secretly.

Wait a minute, Drogba's injury is not completely healed, so try not to let him play if you can.

This waited until the end of the first half of the game.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the score remained at Portugal 1:0 Côte d'Ivoire.

During the intermission, Chen Ran, who was very satisfied with the team's performance in the first half, did not make any substitution adjustments except for praising the players.

In Côte d'Ivoire, the atmosphere in the dressing room over there was a bit heavy.

"Boss, let me play in the second half of the game."

Just when Eriksson was hesitating how to speak, Drogba took the initiative to stand up.

"Didier, are you all right?"

Eriksson was a little moved, but also a little worried.

"It shouldn't be a big problem."

Drogba glanced at his arm and said without hesitation.

"Well, Didier, I leave everything to you."

As soon as the second half started, Chen Ran saw Drogba replace Din Dane in Côte d'Ivoire.

"Boss, as far as I know, Drogba's injury is not completely healed. Now that Drogba is allowed to play with an injury, it seems that Eriksson is going to do his best."

Boas immediately came over to remind Chen Ran.

"Well. Although Drogba is injured now, we must not relax our marking on him because of this. Andre, you go tell Pepe and Carvalho to be more careful. Understand?"

"Understood, boss."

Soon, Pepe and Carvalho, who received Chen Ran's latest order, immediately stepped up their defense against Drogba.

Drogba's performance was indeed affected by the injury.At least when competing for position with Pepe, his broken arm dared not exert strength.

In this way, many balls that Drogba could have grabbed were destroyed by Pepe and Carvalho out of the penalty area.

The Côte d'Ivoire's offensive, although better than when Din Dane was present in the first half, still did not pose too much threat to Portugal's goal.

In the end, with Ronaldo's supplementary shot, Portugal beat Côte d'Ivoire 1-0 in the first game of the World Cup in South Africa, and got the key three points to qualify for the group. Chen Ran also got a "Level [-]" card from the system. Chicken blood card".

"After winning Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal will definitely have no problem qualifying for the group stage. The rest depends on whether there is a chance to win the group first."

"Hehe, is the guy upstairs looking down on the mysterious teacher Joseon?"

"That's right, North Korea only lost 1:2 to Brazil. This fighting power should not be underestimated."

"Ahem, it's actually not that exaggerated. Portugal should be careful. It's not a big problem to defeat North Korea."

Portugal's second match in the group stage was against North Korea, the mysterious division that had just lost a goal to Brazil.

For this match, Chen Ran was not too worried.

In the previous life, the match between Portugal and North Korea was the match with the most goals in the World Cup in South Africa, so Chen Ran was deeply impressed.

The game was normal in the first half, Portugal scored the first goal, leading North Korea 1:0.

But in the second half of the game, North Korea suddenly collapsed for unknown reasons, conceding six goals in a row, and finally lost to Portugal 0:7.

After a six-day break, on June 6, in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, Portugal ushered in its second opponent in the group stage, North Korea.

In this match, Portugal went even smoother than in the previous life.

In the first half, with the goals of Meireles and Ronaldo, Portugal led North Korea 2-0 early.

Shortly after the start of the second half, Thiago and Nani scored another goal.

Seeing that Portugal had already led North Korea 4-0, Chen Ran immediately replaced the main players such as Ronaldo and Deco.

According to past rules, teams that break out prematurely in the group stage usually don't go far.

Chen Ran is still preparing to recharge his batteries and wrestle with the Brazilian team for the first place in the group.

Because, if Portugal advances to the top [-] as the second in the group, then the opponent they will face is Spain, the champion of the World Cup in South Africa in the previous life.

And Portugal, after losing 0:1 to Spain, packed their bags and went home early.

Now, Chen Ran doesn't want to repeat the mistakes of Portugal's previous life.

He must strive to get the first place in the group, and then sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, watching Brazil and Spain die.

In the end, Portugal, which had obviously stopped after a four-goal lead, beat North Korea with a score of 4:0.After winning two consecutive victories in the group stage, he advanced to the round of [-] ahead of schedule, and Chen Ran also got a "Free Kick Master Card" from the system.

On the Brazilian side, they defeated Côte d'Ivoire 3:1 as in the previous life. After two consecutive victories, they won the top [-] places ahead of schedule with Portugal.

Now, who is No.1 in this group depends on the result of the direct match between Portugal and Brazil.

June 6, Durban, South Africa, Portugal VS Brazil.

As a perennial favorite to win the championship, Brazil's strength is beyond doubt.With the support of Chen Ran, Portugal is now regarded as a very competitive team.

Although both teams have already qualified ahead of schedule, this game still attracted the attention of many fans.

"Do you think Portugal can beat Brazil to win the group first?"

"It's very difficult, this is five-star Brazil after all."

"So what about Brazil? This year's Brazilian team is average, especially the forward line, which is quite weak."

"Ahem, the one upstairs is a bit exaggerated, right? Robinho, Fabiano, Grafitte, and Nierma's striker combination is not as star-studded as before, but its strength is still very strong."

"Hehe, Robinho can't stay in Manchester City, and players who are loaned back to Brazil can be selected. Are you ashamed to say that he is strong?"

"That's right. Without using stars like Ronaldinho and Pato, but recruiting a group of unknown civilian players, the head coach Dunga is simply trying to die."

"Haha, isn't that just right? If Dunga recruits all these stars into the Brazil team, it will be really difficult for Portugal to win."

Chen Ran is no stranger to this Brazilian team.

No way, although Dunga's coaching style is very different from those of the previous Brazilian coaches, he relies heavily on these Brazilian players who played for Crystal Palace.

Whether it is Thiago Silva, Maicon and Alves on the defensive line, or Kaka in the midfield, they are the absolute main force in Dunga's lineup.

This time against Portugal, Dunga still used these players as expected.

Forward Fabiano, Forward Nierma
Kaka
Left midfielder Melo, right midfielder Alves

Gilberto Silva

Left back Bastos, center back Thiago Silva, center back Lucio, right back Maicon
goalkeeper cesar

On the Portuguese side, in order to compete for the first place in the group, Chen Ran made some adjustments to some players who were not in good condition, and continued to deploy the strongest lineup.

Left winger Simão, center Ronaldo, right winger Nani

Central midfielder Meireles, Central midfielder Deco, Central midfielder Thiago
Left back Coentrao, center back Pepe, center back Carvalho, right back Miguel.

goalkeeper eduardo
Although the striker of this Brazilian team is not strong, the strength of the midfield is still very strong.

In addition, Dunga is different from the previous Brazilian coaches. He always pays attention to defense and focuses on defensive counterattacks.

This makes it difficult for Brazil to break through Portugal's goal, but it is also difficult for Portugal to penetrate Brazil's defense.

Especially in the defense of the Brazilian team, Thiago Silva and Maicon are Ronaldo's teammates for many years, and they know Ronaldo's technical characteristics very well.

Under the command of Thiago Silva, Lucio is responsible for marking Ronaldo closely.And Thiago Silva himself is always on the sidelines, ready to check for gaps and make up for gaps.

In this way, a few times Ronaldo has thrown off Lucio's marking, and when he was about to hit the goal, Thiago Silva appeared in the most critical position in time, killing the threat in the cradle inside.

Seeing Portugal's repeated attacks to no avail, the game was deadlocked, but Chen Ran was not in a hurry.

巴西队之前2：1小胜胜朝鲜，3：1战胜科特迪瓦；而葡萄牙却是4：0大胜朝鲜，1：0小胜科特迪瓦。

Therefore, even if Portugal draws with Brazil, it can still occupy the first place in the group by virtue of its goal difference advantage.

With this condition, Chen Ran was naturally calm.

But on the Brazilian side, Dunga, who is also aware of the current situation, is a little anxious.

After all, the difference between first and second in the World Cup group is too great, and it can even directly affect how far the team can go in the end.

Until the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the score remained at 0:0 without any change.

During the intermission, Chen Ran didn't make any substitutions and adjustments other than giving the players a bloodbath as usual.

On the Brazilian side, Dunga had to change the defensive counterattack tactics he had always insisted on and began to take the initiative.

Moreover, he also replaced Nierma with Robinho and Melo with Baptista, ready to give it a go.

At the beginning of the second half of the game, seeing the substitutions and adjustments of the Brazilian team, Boas immediately moved to Chen Ran's side again.

"Boss, Dunga is going to put all his eggs in one basket. Shall we increase our defensive strength?"

"Andre, don't worry, let's take a look first. Dunga is not good at offensive tactics. He is now actively pressing the offense, and the effect may not be as good as before."

"Besides, the Brazilian team doesn't have a strong center right now, so it doesn't put too much pressure on our defense. You go and remind the midfielders, as long as Kaka is marked to death."

"Okay, boss."

As Chen Ran expected, when the Brazilian team played defensive counterattacks, Kaka was often able to dribble long distances, posing a big threat to Portugal's goal.

But now that the Brazilian team has moved forward and the overall pressure is on the offense, the midfield is full of people, which greatly reduces the space for Kaka to play his strengths.His threat to Portugal's defense was not as good as in the first half of the game.

Soon, Dunga also discovered this problem.

But he can't let the team go back to play defensive counterattacks in order to play Kaka's specialty, because this runs counter to his current goal of rushing to score.

Then, Dunga was reluctant to replace Kaka and put on a midfielder who was better at organizing attacks. He had been expecting Kaka to create miracles.

As a result, time passed by every minute and every second amidst Dunga's hesitation.

In the end, the two teams of Portugal and Brazil handed in a goalless draw and ended this boring game with a score of 0:0.

And Portugal, as Chen Ran wished, overwhelmed Brazil with the advantage of goal difference and successfully advanced to the top 1 as No.[-] in this group.

Their opponent in the next round is No.2 Chile in Group H.

The Brazil team, on the other hand, met with No.1 in Group H, Spain, the last champion of this World Cup in the previous life.

For this reason, Chen Ran secretly opened a bottle of red wine in the room and celebrated a little.

Of course, only Chen Ran knew that Spain was the champion of this World Cup in the previous life.

Therefore, although the Brazilian team was a little disappointed when they met Spain, they didn't care too much.

After all, before the World Cup in South Africa, although Spain was considered a traditional strong team, the best results in many World Cups in the past were nothing more than the quarterfinals.

"Chen Ran is really awesome! He was able to lead Portugal to push Brazil to second place in the group."

"Of course. In terms of coaching ability, there are not many coaches in football today who dare to say that they are better than Chen Ran."

"Portugal's opponent in the next round is Chile. If there is no accident, it should not be a big problem for Portugal to reach the quarter-finals, but I don't know how far it can go."

"Upstairs, why do you think so much? If you can play a game, maybe you will make it to the final."

"Hahahaha, did you drink too much upstairs? Still in the finals? I think it would be pretty good to make it to the semifinals."

"The pattern is small. If there are chicken thieves, everything is possible."

(End of this chapter)