Soccer: I have the attributes of Messi in his Prime

Chapter 539: Semi-Final Opponent - The French Team!

Germany's elimination is good news for the host team, France. At least one less contender for the title, and judging by Spain's performance in this match, they don't seem as strong as expected. This gave the French confidence, making them believe they had a real chance of lifting the trophy at home.

In the last quarter-final match, France successfully played to their strengths and demonstrated their true level. Facing Iceland, the biggest dark horse of the tournament, the French showed no mercy. By halftime, they had scored four goals—Giroud, Pogba, Griezmann, and Payet all found the back of the net. The French fans at the Stade de France were ecstatic. This was the performance they expected from their team!

Iceland was a bit dazed, conceding four goals by halftime. The sheer power of France's offense was beyond their imagination. With such a huge deficit, the second half became garbage time before it even started.

It wasn't just the Icelandic team that was stunned. Fans from other countries who watched the first half were equally shocked by France's terrifying attacking power. Even though Iceland was a dark horse, they had drawn with Portugal and beaten England, proving they weren't weak. However, against France, they seemed completely powerless, as if the two teams were on entirely different levels.

The first half was so brutal that even neutral fans felt a bit bad for Iceland.

"Too ruthless! France is going too hard!" "At this rate, France might break the European Championship scoring record!" "Very likely! This match already has the most goals in this year's tournament!"

Perhaps due to the comfortable lead, or maybe to conserve energy for the next, more crucial match, France seemed a bit relaxed in the second half. Iceland, knowing they had no chance to advance, didn't give up and continued to push for a goal. They didn't have to wait long. In the 55th minute, after persistent efforts, Iceland scored, making it 4-1.

France responded quickly, and just a few minutes later, Giroud completed his brace, restoring the four-goal lead. Then, France's coach, Deschamps, began making widespread substitutions. Giroud, after scoring twice, was substituted early in the 60th minute to a standing ovation. Soon after, Payet, Griezmann, and others were also taken off.

France's next opponent was the defending champion, Spain. Since Spain had played their match a day earlier, they had an extra day to rest before the semi-final, which was a slight disadvantage for France. So Deschamps wisely substituted his key players early to conserve their energy and give them more rest.

After France subbed out most of their starters, Iceland managed to score another goal in the 84th minute, setting the final score at 5-2. With this match over, the semi-final matchups for the European Championship were set: Portugal, Wales, Spain, and the host nation, France, had made it to the last four.

Because the two teams in the upper bracket weren't as strong, fans focused on the semi-final in the lower bracket. Everyone agreed that the winner of the France-Spain match was likely to be this year's champion. But when it came to who would win between Spain and France, opinions were divided.

Fans supporting Spain pointed out that they had just defeated the mighty German team, proving their strength in a head-to-head battle. Meanwhile, although France had also reached the semi-finals, their opponents hadn't been very strong, casting some doubt on their true strength. Without facing a truly tough opponent, France's combat ability was still unconvincing.

French supporters dismissed this criticism, arguing that France had played tough games in the past few years. England, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Brazil—France had beaten all these teams in the last two years, achieving a ten-game winning streak in various competitions. So, there was no need to question the strength of this French team; they were certainly capable of beating strong opponents.

"Ha, do friendlies count as real matches?" a Spanish fan retorted sharply. "In the past two years, Spain has lost quite a few friendlies, even to teams like Chile and Georgia. Does that mean Spain is weaker than those teams?"

"Friendlies are just testing grounds for tactics, player form, and lineups. The results don't matter at all!" "The real measure of a strong team is always their performance in major tournaments, and France's performance in recent years hasn't been great."

The Spanish fan's counterattack hit the mark, highlighting France's poor performances in major international tournaments in recent years, leaving French fans a bit speechless. France is a traditional football powerhouse, with even more history than Spain. But since the 2006 World Cup, they've been in a slump, failing to recover in two World Cups and two European Championships. It wasn't until Deschamps took over and promoted a bunch of young players that France began to improve.

France's current form was clearly better than during their slump, but without proving themselves in a major tournament and securing solid results, their strength remained in doubt.

...

After learning that their opponent was France, Spain's coach Del Bosque couldn't help but feel concerned. While this French team didn't have many honors yet, Del Bosque didn't dare underestimate them. France was a strong team, no easier to face than Germany. Though Spain had an extra day of rest, they had already faced strong opponents like Italy and Germany, both of which were title contenders. Meanwhile, France's opponents had been weaker, like Ireland and Iceland. France had won more easily and expended less energy. They had even picked up very few yellow cards.

More importantly, this French team was quite young. Key players like Pogba, Kante, and Griezmann were all under 25, and they had the stamina and mobility to cover a lot of ground. Facing such a young and energetic team, Spain's older lineup would have a hard time keeping up.

Del Bosque needed to adjust Spain's tactics to avoid being worn out by the younger French team.

...

While Del Bosque worried about how to deal with France, French coach Deschamps was equally troubled by how to contain Spain's Lin Quan. In their past matches, France had relied on wing play to break open the game. But when it came to wing play, Spain was stronger, especially because they had a player that France found hard to defend. Limiting Lin Quan's influence would be key to France's chances of winning. If they could successfully neutralize him, France had the squad depth to win the match.

Moreover, France had another advantage: their lineup was relatively complete, while Spain's wasn't.

"Have we figured out how bad Iniesta's injury is?" Deschamps asked. After Xavi's retirement, Iniesta had become Spain's most indispensable midfielder. But in the match against Germany, he had to leave the field due to injury. Only two or three days had passed since that match, and if Iniesta's injury was serious, he would definitely miss the semi-final. Without Iniesta, Spain's midfield would be much less dangerous, allowing France to focus more on shutting down Lin Quan.

"Spain has kept the news under wraps, so we're not sure about Iniesta's condition. But I think it's likely he won't play!"

Spain was being cautious, not releasing any information about Iniesta's injury, clearly trying to keep their opponents in the dark.

"Spain's midfield isn't as dominant as it used to be. If Iniesta can't play, we need to watch out for Del Bosque dropping Lin Quan back into midfield as a playmaker," Deschamps warned. He had studied Lin Quan thoroughly and had gathered intel on him from Kante, Lin Quan's teammate at Manchester City. Lin Quan often dropped deep to take control of the game. If Spain made this adjustment, their attack would be weaker, but their midfield would be much stronger.

At just 20 years old, Lin Quan was already far stronger than 32-year-old Iniesta.

After careful consideration, Deschamps made his decision: "Have Kante mark him, and let Griezmann assist Kante. If we can intercept the ball, Griezmann can quickly launch a counterattack and pose a threat to their goal!"

...

With Xavi and Xabi Alonso gone and Cazorla missing, Spain's midfield wasn't as luxurious as it once was. The new generation of midfielders couldn't match the level of Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets. This left Spain with fewer options, and Del Bosque's decision not to call up Diego Costa weakened their attacking options. Morata had improved, but it wasn't enough. He couldn't carry Spain's attack alone.

Before the match, betting companies released the odds. Although many doubted France's strength, the betting companies didn't. The odds for defending champion Spain weren't much better than France's. The handicap was either a half-goal advantage for the visitors or a level spread.

In contrast, the Portugal vs. Wales match had much clearer odds. Although Portugal had struggled in the group stage, barely advancing on goal difference, their knockout performances were solid, first defeating Croatia and then Poland. These two wins changed people's perceptions, and many now expected Portugal to beat Wales.

Before the match, the betting companies had Portugal as a one-goal favorite, showing confidence in their victory.

Interestingly, Cristiano Ronaldo had faced his club teammates all the way through the tournament. In the Round of 16, it was Luka Modric's Croatia, and in the semi-final, it was Gareth Bale's Wales. If Ronaldo managed to defeat Wales, he would have advanced by stepping over the bodies of his teammates.

This situation reminded people of when Ronaldo and Rooney were teammates, and Rooney received a red card in the Portugal vs. England match.

When it comes to eliminating teammates, Ronaldo is an expert.

On July 7th, the Portugal vs. Wales match took place first. Ronaldo lived up to expectations, scoring the opening goal and helping Portugal take the lead. After falling behind, Wales fell apart, desperately trying to fight back but leaving themselves exposed to Portugal's lethal counterattack. Just three minutes later, Portugal scored again through Nani, making it 2-0.

Conceding two goals in three minutes, Wales lost their composure, and their players' morale plummeted. Despite launching fierce counterattacks after falling behind, even Bale received a yellow card for his aggressive play, but their efforts were in vain against the experienced Portugal side.

The match ended 2-0, with Portugal advancing to the final! Despite their poor group-stage performance, they had somehow fought their way to the final, which was nothing short of miraculous!

Even though Portugal had reached the final, the public still didn't consider them title contenders. After all, in terms of strength, Portugal wasn't even in the top four of this European Championship. Belgium, Italy, Germany, France, and Spain—any one of these teams was stronger than Portugal.

"Haha, they just got lucky, advancing by facing weak teams. What's there to celebrate?"

Because Ronaldo was the undisputed core of this Portugal team, many of his haters flooded the internet with sarcastic comments. Of course, some were longtime Messi fans who had battled Ronaldo's fans for years.

(End of chapter)

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