From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 890 European Cup Begins

With the end of the Champions League final, all club competitions in the 2020-2021 season have come to an end. The players then left the team one after another and started their vacation.

However, for the players who are national team players, it is not time to rest yet, because this summer, two continental competitions, the America's Cup and the postponed European Cup, will be held in June and July.

According to the group stage draw that took place on December 2019, 12, Portugal, as a first-tier team, was assigned to Group C, along with the Netherlands, Austria and North Macedonia. The first group match will be held at 1 pm CET on June 6, against the host Netherlands at the Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Before this group match, Portugal also arranged two warm-up matches, one away to Spain on the afternoon of June 6, and the other at home against Israel on the evening of June 4.

The warm-up match with Spain was lackluster, with neither side making any progress in the first half. In the second half, Sarabia missed a good opportunity and Morata's shot hit the frame. In the end, Portugal drew 0:0 with Spain away from home.

Bruno did not start this game, after all, he had just played in the Champions League final a few days ago.

In the warm-up match against Israel, Bruno finally started. In the first half, Bruno scored a goal and assisted Ronaldo, helping Portugal to lead 2:0. In the second half, Cancelo and Bruno scored, and Portugal finally defeated Israel 4:0.

So far, Portugal has successfully completed its preparations for the European Cup.

Afterwards, the whole team flew to the Netherlands on a chartered flight to prepare for the upcoming European Cup group stage.

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On the evening of June 13th, at the Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.

Since this European Cup is being held in 13 cities in 12 countries, there will naturally be many home teams. The group Portugal is in has a home team, the Netherlands. So Portugal's first group match will also be an away game.

In the Netherlands starting lineup, Depay led the team, with Frenkie de Jong and Wijnaldum on the list, while De Ligt was absent due to injury. In the end, De Boer arranged a 5-3-2 formation, with goalkeeper Stekelenburg, the back line from right to left were Van Aanholt, Blind, De Vrij, Julian Timber, Dumfries, the three midfielders were Frenkie de Jong, Wijnaldum, De Jong, and the two forwards were Depay and Weghorst.

Portugal also fielded the strongest lineup they could. The goalkeeper was Patricio, the defense was Guerrero, Ruben Dias, Pepe, and Cancelo; Danilo Pereira and William Carvalho were the double defensive midfielders, Bruno was in the midfield with Bernardo Silva and Jota, and Ronaldo was the lone striker.

After the opening, the Netherlands, playing at home, took advantage of their home advantage to launch a wave of attacks. In the third minute, Wijnaldum made a straight pass, Depay got rid of Pepe and passed back, William Carvalho was attracted by Wijnaldum, and Danilo Perreira failed to return to the defensive position in time, resulting in Weghorst being unguarded and scoring with a powerful shot from the center of the penalty area.

1:0, the Netherlands took the lead.

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Losing the ball within three minutes of the start was a big blow to Portugal. Bruno clearly saw that many of his teammates looked dejected.

As the core of the midfield, Bruno knows very well that the current situation must be changed.

So he took advantage of the Dutch players celebrating and quickly walked back to Danilo Perreira.

When the Portuguese midfielder saw him, he immediately lowered his head, looking regretful.

"I was just..."

"I understand!" Bruno interrupted him directly before he could finish speaking, preventing him from continuing.

It's not necessary. If you lose the ball, you lose the ball. It's enough to figure out how and why you lost it. Everything else is unnecessary. The key is to concentrate on playing the next game.

Bruno said nothing, just patted Danilo Perreira on the shoulder and nodded to William Carvalho, who also nodded without saying anything. Everything was understood tacitly.

"Okay, everyone, it's okay if we lost it, but we'll try to get more goals back. Come on!" Bruno clapped and shouted loudly.

"Okay, come on, cheer up!" Captain Cristiano Ronaldo also shouted.

"It doesn't matter, it's just one ball, we can catch it back!" Guerrero responded.

"From now on, the Netherlands will never be able to pass through the midfield again!" William Carvalho even shouted with gritted teeth.

Bruno raised his right fist towards his teammates, nodded in greeting, then turned and walked back to the center circle, signaling to the referee that he should quickly pull the Dutch players back who were celebrating. How could they be allowed to celebrate for so long?

It’s just a goal, is it worth being so happy?

In front of the visiting team's coaching booth, Santos saw Bruno boosting the team's morale. He wanted to speak up, but then he thought better of it, as he felt Bruno had done well enough.

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The game soon resumed and Portugal, which was behind in the score, quickly launched a counterattack.

"Bruno got the ball on the left, faced Van Aanholt and forced a breakthrough..."

"Duck it back and pass it into the penalty area..."

"The ball was cleared out of bounds, Portugal's throw-in."

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"Guerrero threw the ball out of bounds, Ronaldo got the ball in the penalty area and headed it back."

"Jota made a beautiful stop, passed Van Aanholt and cut towards the middle..."

"Straight into the penalty area, Bruno shoots directly!"

"Bruno failed to handle Portugal's first shot in the penalty area and it went slightly wide. But Portugal's attack this time was very distinctive, especially Bruno, who was very active and could be seen in almost every position in the frontcourt."...

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"The Portuguese attack is coming again!"

"It was passed to Bruno who was cruising to the left. Bruno got the ball close to the left sideline, still facing Van Aanholt..."

"Portugal's three midfielders today were very versatile and they switched positions very frequently, which made it difficult for the Netherlands to defend against them in a targeted manner."

"One on one, Bruno dribbled the ball to the baseline, and Van Aanholt clung to him..."

"Both sides have reached the end line... Bruno... nice crotch shot!"

"Bruno passed Van Aanholt and suddenly dribbled past Depay who was returning to defense!"

"Bruno fell in the penalty area and Depay raised his hands high to indicate that he had not committed a foul."

"The referee signaled the game to continue. This was not a foul."

"Bruno looked very depressed. He got up from the ground and kept gesturing to the jersey around his waist, as if to say, look, the jersey is stretched like this. Isn't it a foul?"

"Haha, I have to say, it happened too fast just now, and Depay's action was indeed very covert. The referee didn't see it. Bruno's frustration is understandable. From the slow-motion replay, it was indeed a foul."

"Santos looked very annoyed on the sidelines, while De Boer was applauding and cheering. On the field, it was a contest between two of the world's top teams, and on the sidelines it was a battle between two world-famous coaches."

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"It's still Bruno, still alone on the wing getting the ball."

"Van Aanholt and Blind came over to double-team him at the same time, but Bruno still had the ball, got rid of it and rushed out..."

"Bruno is so skilled and daring. He dribbled the ball out of the double team of two Dutch players and passed it diagonally to the back post."

"Oh, Bernardo, if you were just a little bit faster, you would have scored the goal!"

"Portugal played very aggressively during this period, especially Bruno in the frontcourt, who was very threatening and repeatedly created killing opportunities, but unfortunately, the Portuguese players' ability to seize opportunities was still somewhat lacking, and they missed good opportunities repeatedly."

"Bruno looked very depressed. When facing the Dutch defense, he still showed the strength of a world-class superstar, but his teammates could not keep up with him."

"If the Portuguese players had been better at seizing opportunities, the score would have been tied or even reversed."

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"Bruno failed to get a chance on the left and was forced to pass back to the midfielder."

"The Netherlands deployed a large force on their right side, and Blind, the right center back, seemed to have completely turned into a right back. Especially after taking the lead, Portugal attacked fiercely, and Bruno was very threatening on the left. Not only was Van Aanholt suppressed and unable to move, forcing Blind to frequently come over to fill in the position, but even midfielder De Jong and striker Depay had to retreat to defend."

"Cancelo got the ball, passed it back through the middle and gave it to Danilo Pereira."

"Look here, Portugal's attack is coming again."

"Bruno ran in a very wide range and suddenly started cutting inside."

"Danilo Pereira passes the ball forward and Bruno knocks it back..."

"A beautiful one-two, Danilo Pereira shot directly from the edge of the penalty area..."

"The Dutch defence was very tight and the ball hit De Vrij and bounced to the right."

"It's still Portugal, Bernardo Silva has the ball..."

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Bernardo Silva received the ball without being marked, and looked up at the penalty area. He saw Ronaldo, Bruno and Danilo Perreira, and the most threatening one was Ronaldo because he was in the most threatening area in the middle.

After Bernardo Silva stopped the ball, he sent a cross without thinking. The ball passed Dumfries and fell into the middle of the penalty area.

Ronaldo seized the most powerful position, used his body to block Tingber behind him, and chased after him.

But at this critical moment, Stekelenburg suddenly abandoned the goal and rushed out of the small penalty area, jumped high and shot the ball out.

Obviously, the Dutch goalkeeper was not confident of catching the cross due to Ronaldo's interference.

(End of this chapter)