Full-level pass, please call me the speaker of the Three Lions

Chapter 545: Five goals per game, ruthless England
The Three Lions won their first match 4-0 against Tunisia, a good start that did not surprise anyone.

There are four teams in Group G, two are strong and two are weak, and the situation of qualifying from the group is very clear.

The “two weak” countries, Tunisia and Panama, mainly came to the World Cup to experience the atmosphere and go through the motions.

The "two strong" powers England and Belgium are certain to advance together.

The only suspense is who will be the leader of the group.

In another match in Group G that took place a day earlier, Belgium defeated Panama 3-0.

Therefore, England temporarily ranks first in the group with the advantage of goal difference.

With the first round of group matches all over, many strong teams have won well-deserved victories.

However, some strong teams also failed.

For example, the defending champion Germany team unexpectedly lost to Mexico 0-1!

For example, Colombia lost to Xiao Ri 1-2!
For example, Argentina was tied by Iceland!

For these three teams, the other strong teams just gave them a look of contempt and silently complained in their hearts:
Tui! Shame on you!
In addition to the upset of the strong team, the host country's 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia at home was also a rather surprising result.

You know, this Russian team is jokingly called the weakest host in history by fans.
However, as the host, it is not surprising to have a little home BUFF blessing
Five days after the victory in the first match, the Three Lions took a bus to Nizhny Novgorod on the Volga River to face the "Son of the Canal" Panama, which made it to the World Cup finals for the first time!

Before the opening of the World Cup, who would have thought that the United States, a world superpower, would miss this World Cup.

What no one expected was that Panama, which is in the same region, qualified.

This is also the first time in their team's history that they have participated in the World Cup.

It is worth mentioning that the whole country of Panama celebrated because of qualifying for the World Cup. Even the country’s President Juan Carlos Varela announced that October 10 would be a national holiday to enjoy the joy of qualifying for the World Cup.

From this we can see that the significance of Panama qualifying for the World Cup is comparable to a certain Eastern power's first entry into the World Cup in 2002!

However, compared with a certain Eastern power, the strength of Panama is very consistent with the identity of a newcomer to the World Cup.

Panama is the cheapest and weakest team in this World Cup.

Although the superiors did not set a strategic goal of "score a goal, get a point, and win a game".

However, Panama also hopes to leave some mark in its first World Cup trip.

Even though their group opponents include traditional powerhouses like England and Belgium, they are the team with the most relaxed mentality.

After all, as the weaker party, they have nothing to lose.
However, no one would think that Panama could gain any advantage against the star-studded England.

On the other hand, England is in some trouble.

It’s not that I’m worried that the opponent is too strong, but rather that the opponent is too weak. I don’t know whether I should use the main force.

England's group stage schedule is very comfortable.

Easy first and then difficult.

As long as they beat the weaker Tunisia and Panama, they will secure their place in the knockout rounds.

In this way, they will be able to make a certain degree of rotation in the third game against Belgium.

Although the opponent in this game is relatively weak and poses no threat to England.

However, after careful consideration, Hodgson still very steadily used the starting lineup of the first round.

First of all, the starting lineup needs to play continuously to improve tactical understanding and coordination.

Secondly, we must win this game in order to secure a place in the group stage in advance.

They don't want to end up in a ditch like Germany did.

Anyway, the opponent is too weak. If they take a few goal lead in the first half, it is not impossible to replace a few core players for a rest at halftime.

In the passionate Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, the Three Lions ushered in the second group match of this cup.

The direction of this game is not much different from the previous game against Tunisia.

As soon as the game started, all Panama players retreated to the half court and set up a solid defense.

England controlled 70% of the ball and pressed Panama in the half.

The Panamanian soldiers worked together, taking advantage of their numerical advantage in defense and filling in for each other in a timely manner.

And coupled with tough confrontational actions, it gives the Premier League stars more intensity.

For the stars of the Three Lions, they certainly don't want to

In some fights for the ball, they were a little hesitant.

Even so, England quickly took the lead by relying on set pieces and long shots, two magic weapons to break through dense defenses!
In the eighth minute of the game, Ling Feng fired directly from thirty-seven meters away from the goal!
Although the ball was moving very fast, the angle was too straight and the Panamanian goalkeeper punched it out with both fists.

However, the flying ball was followed up by the alert Kane, who scored the goal!

Afterwards, Ling Feng cruised to the right and played a wall pass with Sterling, who then made a cross pass to the middle, helping Kane score his second goal!

In the stoppage time, Ling Feng broke through with the ball in the middle, pushed the ball in front of the penalty area, and shot into the near corner, extending the score to three to zero!

As the whistle sounded at the end of the first half, the Three Lions were already three goals ahead of Panama!
Moreover, England completely suppressed Panama and they didn't even get a single shot on goal!

During the halftime, Hodgson also asked Ling Feng if he wanted to rest.

After all, in the first half of 2018, Ling Feng participated in nearly thirty games for the club and the national team.

And they all played the entire game!
Even though we know that Ling Feng has explosive physical strength and even has the nickname "Iron Man", he will not get tired or injured.

However, Hodgson still held Ling Feng in his hands, fearing that he might get injured.

After all, whether the Three Lions can win the World Cup depends 100% on Ling Feng's performance.
As for Hodgson's question, Ling Feng just smiled and declined:
"No, I'm not sweating yet!"

Hearing this answer, Hodgson was immediately relieved and chose to withdraw Henderson and Sterling from the midfield, allowing Ali and Lingard to come up and find their feeling.

With Ali's stronger desire to attack and Lingard, who has better tacit understanding with Ling Feng, coming on the field, the Three Lions' overall offensive became more aggressive in the second half of the game.

Panama's ten-man defense was under great pressure.

The city gate was soon lost again!
And more than once!
In the 52nd minute, the 63rd minute and the 75th minute, the Three Lions scored goals against Panama one after another.

Rashford and Ali, two "British stars", also scored their first World Cup goals one after another.

The one assisting them is still the team leader - Ling Feng!
Finally, Ling Feng was substituted in the 75th minute and received applause from the fans. He played for 75 minutes as a starter and delivered a dominant performance with one goal and three assists, helping England to beat the "Canal Son" Panama 6-0!

At the same time, he was elected the best player of the game by virtue of his absolute core role, surpassing Kane who completed a hat-trick.

And this result is also the biggest score in a single game so far in this World Cup!

After the game, the Three Lions players took a bus, singing all the way back to their base in St. Petersburg.

After two rounds, England scored a terrifying ten goals and did not concede a single goal!
The offensive firepower of averaging five goals per game made fans call it ruthless!
Kane, who scored four goals, and Ling Feng, who provided five assists, the two offensive cores of the Three Lions are at the top of the scorer and assist lists respectively!

This shows how powerful the firepower of this England team is!

Of course, the record of scoring ten goals and conceding no goals in two games is not bad, it is even scary.

However, in the eyes of fans from other countries, Tunisia and Panama are just two of the weakest teams in this World Cup, and scoring goals against such weak teams cannot be called heroic.

English fans also stood up to refute

“As the saying goes, there are no weak teams in the World Cup!”

"What's wrong with bullying weaklings? Why haven't I seen you bullying weaklings? And you're being bullied by weaklings instead!"

"That's right! You don't want to brush it? No! You can't brush it!"

As a country with football hooligans, although in 2016 two hundred Russian fans defeated thousands of British fans, it left a long-lasting laughing stock in international football.

In addition, the UK has restricted the exit of thousands of registered football hooligans, and with strict control measures in place in Russia, large-scale fan fights should not happen again.

However, not being able to use their hands and feet doesn’t mean they can’t use their mouths.

When it comes to online arguments, England fans are absolutely at their best!

Of course.

The noise on the Internet will not affect the good atmosphere within the Three Lions.

With two wins in both games, England has six points and has already qualified from the group.

They can even start imagining their opponents in the knockout rounds in advance.

Belgium, another traditional powerhouse in Group G, also won both games, but is currently ranked second in the group due to a goal difference disadvantage.

Next, the question Hodgson has to consider is whether or not to take the top spot in the group!

As the groups finished the first two rounds of matches, the qualifying situation of many groups became particularly clear.

The situation in the upper and lower half of the group has become the top priority for the teams that qualify from each group.

Take Group G as an example.

The top team in Group G will advance to the upper half of the knockout stage.

It would be a lie to say that Hodgson is willing to advance to the top half as group winners.

You have to know that in this half of the zone, there are strong teams such as France, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, etc., which can be said to be surrounded by powerful enemies. If you are not careful, you may be defeated.

The lower half is different. Apart from Spain and Croatia, there are second- and third-rate European teams such as Denmark, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Colombia from South America. It is a wonderful half no matter how you look at it.

As long as they enter the lower half, England will not encounter strong opponents at least before the semi-finals.

If we use the difficulty of the game as an analogy, the upper half, which is full of strong teams, is the difficulty of hell.

Then, the dream lower half, which only has two traditional strong teams, Spain and Croatia, is of normal difficulty!
If Hodgson had a choice, he would certainly want to avoid the top half.

However, in the third group match against Belgium, they could only give up the top spot in the group if they lost, and thus enter the lower half as the second in the group.

If this happens, will it affect the team's momentum and the players' mentality?

After all, choosing an opponent is a bit unethical.

However, in order to enable the team to go as far as possible in this World Cup, this strategy is understandable!
Although I really want to avoid the upper half of the league where there are many powerful teams.

And it has been decided to rotate the lineup in the third round of the game, allowing the substitutes to come on and play.

However, after careful consideration, Hodgson decided to ask the team captain for his opinion.

"Ling, what do you think we should choose? Should we fight for the top spot in this group, or not?"

Facing Mr. Huo's question, Ling Feng did not answer immediately, but first expressed his support for the head coach's attitude on how to deploy the troops:

"Coach, first of all, I fully support the arrangements made by you and the coaching staff. The players will obey the arrangements. It is normal for the team to rotate the lineup."

"Secondly, I don't think we should think too much about it."

"In a football match, there is only one goal, and that is to win!"

"Our goal is to win the championship, so no matter who our opponent is, we must have the belief that we will win in order to win the game!"

"France? Portugal? Brazil? Argentina? So what!"

"I don't think with the strength of our team, we will lose to them!"

"On the contrary, I think we are the strongest team in this World Cup!"

Although there was no direct answer, Hodgson felt the strong self-confidence and domineering attitude in Ling Feng's words!
Even Hodgson, who is already in his seventies, was infected by Ling Feng's aura and felt an inexplicable impulse!

Yes!

The black-haired young man sitting in front of him is the first person in the world of football to break the dominance of Messi and Ronaldo!
So what if it’s France, Portugal, or Argentina?

Anyway, I have Ling Feng, whoever comes can be destroyed!
"In that case, I understand."

After Ling Feng left the office, Hodgson also called all members of the coaching staff to the office:
"Change of plan! We have secured the top spot in the group!"

Like England, the "European Red Devils" Belgium, led by Spanish coach Martinez, is also discussing whether to compete for the top spot in the group.

The result of their discussion was to rotate the lineup, strive to get second place in the group, and move to the dream lower half!

As long as they avoid the lower half of the group where there are many strong teams, this "golden generation" of Belgium, Denmark, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the like will not be able to stop them.

In this way, they have a great chance of reaching the semi-finals or even the finals!
However, no one knew that this decision by both parties would bring about a drastic change in the fate of the two teams!

(End of this chapter)