Soccer: I have the attributes of Messi in his Prime

Chapter 545: Spain Eliminates France 3-1 and Advances to the Euro Final

"Wow, is Griezmann really this fierce?"

"I'd call him a mini-Messi!"

"France has got momentum now. If they keep playing like this, they might actually equalize!"

"No way, 11 players against 10, leading by two goals, and they could still lose? If Spain loses this, these players will be remembered in disgrace!"

Fans were shocked by Griezmann's performance. They had thought the match was over after Pogba was sent off and Lin Quan scored his second goal. But Griezmann's resurgence made the game far more unpredictable.

Though Spain still had a one-goal lead, no one could guarantee that France, in their current form, wouldn't equalize or even pull off a comeback.

"Spain needs someone to step up quickly and control the game's tempo. They can't let France keep playing like this!"

Just like calling a timeout in basketball, when one team is building momentum in football, the other team must find a way to disrupt their rhythm.

This is often done through fouls, holding possession in defense, or wasting time.

These tasks used to be handled by Xabi Alonso and Xavi for Spain. After they retired, Andrés Iniesta took over as the team's midfield conductor.

However, in a twist of bad luck, Iniesta was injured in the last match and couldn't play today, leaving Spain's midfield a bit disorganized.

Lin Quan, while stepping in for Iniesta's role, was not a natural midfielder. He played on the wing more often, so it didn't occur to Spain immediately that they needed to regain control of the game.

Fortunately, Lin Quan quickly caught on. After successfully stopping a French attack, he made a gesture, signaling his teammates to slow down the tempo.

Seeing Lin Quan's signal, the Spanish players breathed a sigh of relief.

This fast-paced game was draining their energy, and many players were already out of breath. Lin Quan's suggestion to slow things down was exactly what they needed.

They began cooperating with him, creating safe passing and possession opportunities.

The French players, fueled by adrenaline after Griezmann's goal, didn't feel tired at all.

Seeing Spain trying to control the tempo and waste time, they couldn't allow it!

Led by Griezmann, the French players pressed forward aggressively to engage in high pressing.

Lin Quan saw their aggressive approach and decided not to confront them directly. Instead, he dribbled toward the corner flag.

Griezmann and Giroud charged together from both sides, intending to trap Lin Quan and block his passing and dribbling options.

Their plan was to at least force a corner, if not win the ball directly. With the ball deep in Spain's half, France would have an immediate chance to create danger, and even a corner kick would give them a shot at scoring through a header.

France was desperate to maintain this momentum and equalize as soon as possible.

If Spain managed to stall their momentum and drain their energy, the game would become much harder for the French.

The French players weren't machines immune to fatigue. The adrenaline masking their exhaustion would soon fade.

Once that excitement wore off, they would start feeling the strain, and since they had been running more than Spain, they would feel even more tired.

At that point, with their energy sapped, fewer players, and still behind in score, France would be in serious trouble.

Griezmann knew exactly how dire their situation was, so he pressed aggressively.

But Lin Quan was fully aware of their plan.

As Giroud approached, Lin Quan spun half a turn and kicked the ball at Giroud.

Giroud couldn't stop in time and awkwardly tried to dodge the ball.

However, with his nickname "Big Giroud" and his 1.92-meter frame, dodging wasn't easy.

The ball hit him with a "thud" and bounced out of bounds.

Beep!

The referee blew the whistle, signaling it was a goal kick for Spain.

Giroud, frustrated, glared at Lin Quan.

Lin Quan shrugged, as if to say, "You're so big. Who else was I supposed to kick it at—Griezmann?"

Spain's veteran goalkeeper Iker Casillas, with all his experience, knew that his team needed to waste as much time as possible.

So, he leisurely prepared for the goal kick, moving slowly to delay the game.

The French players protested to the referee, but Casillas timed it perfectly, launching the ball just before the referee could show him a yellow card.

Instead of sending the ball to the middle of the pitch, Casillas kicked it toward the sideline.

Álvaro Morata had already seen Casillas' signal before the kick and positioned himself. He leapt high and, under pressure, headed the ball to a teammate.

Sergio Busquets, receiving the ball, immediately passed it back to Casillas, who had moved outside the penalty box.

Casillas casually dribbled forward a few steps before passing it to Piqué when the French forwards closed in.

Giroud abandoned Casillas and charged toward Piqué, who then passed the ball to Juanfran on the wing.

Juanfran passed it to Lin Quan, who had dropped back to support, and Lin Quan switched the ball to the left, where Ramos was waiting.

Spain was playing keep-ball in their own half, knocking the ball around while frustrating the French players.

Giroud, Griezmann, and others, despite their best efforts, couldn't win the ball back due to their numerical disadvantage.

When most of France's players pushed forward into Spain's half, Lin Quan quickly shifted gears and passed to the overlapping full-back Jordi Alba.

This time, Alba didn't pass back. Sensing a gap in the French defense, he charged forward into their half.

The French players, who had just made it into Spain's half, now had to sprint back again. After a few such sprints, they started to tire.

By the 65th minute, since Griezmann's goal 10 minutes earlier, neither side had produced any significant goal-scoring chances. Spain's only shot had missed the target by a wide margin and posed no real threat.

The French fans in the stands were fuming, gritting their teeth in frustration.

Spain's tactics seemed infuriating—they weren't attacking, but were wasting time and exhausting France's energy.

By this point, the adrenaline had worn off, and the French players were now overwhelmed by fatigue.

Many were panting heavily. Playing with 10 men was taking a massive toll on their stamina. Chasing Spain's passes back and forth had left them drained, with many players now hitting their physical limits.

As their stamina dropped, their ability to press high diminished as well.

Without the pressure of a high press, they couldn't disrupt Spain's passing game and had no choice but to let them control the match.

Deschamps knew his players were at their limit and decided to make substitutions.

He took off Sissoko and brought on Matuidi, and replaced Giroud with Gignac.

The substitutions had some effect. The fresh legs added energy to France's pressing, and they managed to create some danger on the right side with faster counterattacks.

But Spain's coach Del Bosque responded by making changes of his own.

He substituted Juanfran for Azpilicueta and replaced Fàbregas with Koke.

Spain was clearly strengthening their defense.

The substitutions immediately neutralized France's right-wing attacks.

And as time passed, France's numerical disadvantage became more apparent.

With their players' energy fading and their movement slowing, they couldn't keep up with Spain's rhythm, leading to more defensive gaps.

Sensing this, Spain shifted from defense to attack and started pressing France.

In the 79th minute, Spain executed a dazzling passing sequence in the attacking third.

After a quick succession of one-touch passes involving five players, they tore through France's defense.

Lin Quan burst into the penalty area and, just before the goalkeeper could reach him, poked the ball into the net.

The score was now 3-1!

Lin Quan's goal effectively sealed the match, guaranteeing Spain's victory.

After scoring, Lin Quan quickly got up from the grass and sprinted toward the corner flag, pounding his chest with his right hand as he ran.

All the cameras focused on him, capturing his powerful celebration.

No one paid attention to Hugo Lloris, the French goalkeeper, who angrily punched the grass in frustration.

Nor did anyone notice Griezmann, Kanté, and other French players standing near the box with dejected expressions.

Victory and defeat—two sides of the same coin.

In fact, Lin Quan could have added more insult to injury. Normally, when playing away and scoring a hat trick, he would pop his collar and take a lap around the field, performing his "King's Walk."

But he chose not to this time, showing a little mercy to the French.

France's coach Deschamps sat stunned, as if all the energy had been drained from him. He slumped back in his seat.

After finally getting a chance to play at home and reaching the semifinals, France had once again fallen at the hands of their old rivals.

Deschamps felt a deep sense of injustice, but there was nothing he could do now but accept it with bitterness.

In the stands, the French fans had mixed reactions to Lin Quan's third goal.

Some threw objects onto the field in anger, some cursed loudly, others looked heartbroken, and some female fans even wept in sorrow, their tears streaming down their faces.

On the other side, the Spanish fans were celebrating wildly, abandoning all restraint, jumping on their seats and singing in triumph.

As for Spain's coach Del Bosque, the old man was much calmer this time than he had been earlier.

He merely waved his arm slightly in celebration before calmly returning to his seat on the bench, looking like a seasoned coach unfazed by the outcome.

If it weren't for his twitching mouth betraying his emotions and the unseemly celebration he had made earlier, he might have fooled everyone.

In the stands, Pep Guardiola, who had come to watch the game, also breathed a sigh of relief after Lin Quan's decisive goal.

Clapping as he watched, he proudly thought to himself, "That's my boy—he's the best footballer in the world!"

However, with his sharp coaching eye, Guardiola also noticed that Lin Quan still had a lot to learn about playing in midfield.

If Lin Quan were to develop into a midfielder, Guardiola knew he'd have to give him some extra guidance.

"Midfield is a position that requires both talent and experience. I've got 20 years of midfield experience, and I'll teach you what I can!"

Though Guardiola had been a top-tier midfielder in his playing days, he wasn't quite at the level of a midfield maestro.

But having coached several world-class midfielders and drawing on his own insights, Guardiola had become quite skilled at developing midfield talent.

This was why so many midfielders around the world were eager to join teams coached by Guardiola.

…

Although the match wasn't officially over, Lin Quan's goal had turned the remaining time into "garbage time."

France's morale was shattered, and their energy levels had dropped, leaving them unable to mount any serious attacks against Spain.

Spain, knowing the victory was theirs, didn't push too hard either. After all, Portugal had a day's extra rest and would be fresher for the final, so Spain wanted to conserve their energy.

When Del Bosque saw that France had given up attacking, he used his final substitution in the 81st minute, taking Lin Quan off to give him a chance to soak in the applause from the crowd.

Lin Quan's performance had left a lasting impression on everyone watching.

Even the French fans, who might have been expected to boo or jeer, didn't heckle him. In fact, some even joined the Spanish fans in applauding him.

"We didn't lose to Spain; we lost to Lin!"

No one knows who said it first, but after the match, this sentiment quickly spread among the French fans.

After all, all of Spain's goals were scored by Lin Quan. Without him, the French believed Spain wouldn't have stood a chance against them.

Of course, the Spanish fans scoffed at this idea.

"What's the matter? Are we not allowed to have a world-class superstar on our team?"

"You're just jealous. If you want a player like Lin Quan, go and make your own!"

Ahchoo!

Somewhere in the stands, a 17-year-old Black teenager sneezed.

"Just you wait—two years from now, we'll see you at the World Cup!"

Having no more arguments, the French fans left it at that, promising to settle the score in the future.

They could see that Spain's golden generation was fading, and the gap between France and Spain was closing.

Three years ago, France couldn't even touch Spain. But in this match, at least, they had put up a fight.

The gap in strength was shrinking, not widening.

Failing to beat Spain now didn't mean they couldn't win two years from now.

Once Spain's golden generation of veterans retired, even with Lin Quan leading them, France believed they would eventually triumph!

(End of Chapter)

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