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

Chapter 891: Powerful Portugal
The ball didn't fly far, Stekelenburg hit it to Van Aanholt on the right.

Van Aanholt's attention was on the ball. Since the ball hit by Stekelenburg was neither high nor low and was difficult to handle, he was waiting for the ball to land and clear it as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, before the ball reached him, Wes Brown heard a reminder from his teammate next to him.

"careful!"

Before he could make out who it was, Van Aanholt felt a flash of light in front of him. A figure in a green jersey rushed in front of him and used his head to push the falling ball forward...

When Van Aanholt came to his senses, he saw his back. On the back of the green jersey was a huge white Arabic number 8, and above the number were the English letters BRUNO!

"Damn it!" Van Aanholt was horrified.

But Bruno reacted faster, and after a header, he caught up with his right foot, stopped, and kicked out with his left foot. The whole process was very neat and tidy, without any pause, as if it was done in one go. The football quickly went into the unguarded goal from behind De Vrij, Timber and Stekelenburg.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"In the 30th minute, Portugal finally equalized the score!"

"Bruno! Goal from Bruno!"

"This was undoubtedly a crucial goal. Bruno, who had just led Manchester United to win seven titles that season, was very active throughout the first half. He was the most threatening player on the pitch and also equalized the score for Portugal."

"1:1, both sides are back on the same starting line."

………………

After Bruno scored the goal, he quickly rushed out of the penalty area with his arms open, like a glider, flying over the Cruyff Arena, receiving cheers and applause from more than 20,000 Portuguese fans in the stands.

The Cruyff Arena can accommodate more than 53,000 fans to watch the game, and during the European Cup, the restrictions on the entry of fans have been lifted. The dialogue between strong teams such as Portugal and the Netherlands is naturally very attractive, which made the stands of this game completely full.

Although the tickets for this game were nominally distributed equally between the two teams, the Netherlands team was playing at home after all, so the number of fans still had a considerable advantage, exceeding 32,000, while the number of Portuguese fans was only around 21,000.

Bruno was also very excited. He stood at the bottom of the stands, looking from afar at the group of crazy Portuguese fans in the stands.

Soon, Danilo Perreira, Ronaldo and other teammates also caught up and surrounded Bruno from behind and on the left and right. Everyone was cheering for his goal.

1:1, Portugal finally equalized the score.

This was really not easy for the entire first half, because after losing the ball just three minutes into the game, the Netherlands began to adopt a tenacious defensive counterattack tactic, which caused a lot of trouble for Portugal. Even though Bruno was very active and created many threatening opportunities, he still failed to break through the Dutch goal.

And now, Bruno kicked the ball himself and equalized the score. The game was finally back to the same starting line and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

………………

"Keep calm, don't rush, there is still an hour left in the game, we don't want a draw, we want to win!"

Bruno hugged his teammates tightly. He couldn't tell who the people around him were. Anyway, anyone wearing a duck green jersey was one of his.

"Today, we're going to make Holland walk in and lie out!"

Bruno's domineering words boosted the morale of his teammates, especially after they equalized the score.

In fact, after conceding a goal, Portugal's midfield was well organized, especially as the game progressed, players such as Danilo Pereira and William Carvalho gradually got into their roles.

The attack in the front court is centered on Bruno, and everyone plays around him. When Bruno is active, the Netherlands has to switch to defense, and the Portuguese players will get more space and opportunities, and naturally they will perform well.

But the Orange Army is no pushover. After conceding a goal and being equalized, the Netherlands still adopted a defensive tactic.

De Boer knew very well in his mind that this Portugal team was very strong. Not only did they have Bruno, the world's number one football player, but they also had the veteran king Cristiano Ronaldo. Having two kings in one team was like holding a trump card in playing poker. For most teams, it was a crushing existence.

Moreover, Portugal is not weak in other positions. The two wings of the attacking line also have Bernardo Silva and Jota, both of whom are the offensive cores of the top teams Manchester City and Liverpool. The defensive players seem to be weaker, but most of them are the main players of the top five leagues. There are Cancelo from Manchester United, Ruben Dias from Manchester City, Guerrero is the main left back of the Bundesliga giants Dortmund, William Carvalho is from La Liga Real Betis, Danilo Pereira currently plays for the French Ligue 1 overlord Paris Saint-Germain, goalkeeper Patricio is the main goalkeeper of the Premier League Wolves, and only veteran Pepe is not currently playing in the top five leagues, but he is also the defensive core of the top Portuguese giants Porto.

This lineup is full of natural cards and trump cards. How can people play it?

The Netherlands team was able to take the lead shortly after the start of the game, which was already a very good result.

………………

In the next ten minutes or so, Portugal launched several impressive attacks but failed to break the Dutch goal. The Netherlands launched a counterattack but still failed to create a threat.

Back in the locker room, Santos was very satisfied with the players' performance in the first half, especially the self-adjustment they made after the team lost the ball and were able to quickly return to normal and get back into the game.

In fact, everyone knows that Santos is praising Bruno without naming him. Although the Portuguese midfielder did not wear the captain's armband, he is the undisputed brain of Portugal on the field.

"There was a very serious problem with our offense in the first half, and that was that our right wing almost didn't create any decent opportunities, and the only one was a goal."

Santos looked at Bernardo Silva, apparently reminding him that he should be more proactive in the second half.

"According to my observation, Depay has begun to run a little bit, so if there is a chance, we should play more boldly on the wing."

"I can tell you that in the second half, De Boer will definitely focus on Bruno on the left to defend. He alone cannot solve the problem, Rafael (Guerrero), you should work harder."

The official formation of Portugal on the field was 4-2-3-1, but in the game, this formation was more like 4-4-2. The defense line was Cancelo, Pepe, Ruben Dias and Guerrero, in the midfield Danilo Pereira and William Carvalho were double defensive midfielders, Bruno and Bernardo Silva were more like two wingers, Jota was like a shadow striker, and Ronaldo was the center forward.

………………

Of course, Bruno's position is not limited to the left, he just spends more time on the left. His activity heat map completely covers any position in the frontcourt.

The Portuguese left-back nodded heavily. His focus in the first half was on marking Depay. Even when Depay retreated to participate in the defense, he did not dare to press too forward for fear of making mistakes.

"Also, the Netherlands' defense focuses on the right side, so their left side is prone to problems, especially when Wijnaldum frequently moves to the left side. The area in front of their defense on the right side is relatively weak. We did not make full use of it in the first half, so we need to pay attention in the second half."

At this point, Santos looked at Danilo Pereira and Bernardo Silva and said, "Bernardo should run more to the middle to create space and pass the ball behind him, while Danilo Pereira should pass the ball more to this side."

Bruno attracted defensive attention and got more opportunities in the middle and right, which has always been Portugal's forte.

The problem was that Bernardo Silva still didn't feel bold enough on the right, which resulted in Portugal's attack leaning heavily to the left in the first half.

To put it simply, it is completely dependent on Bruno.

But what’s interesting is that the only goal came from Bernardo Silva’s cross from the right, which caused Stekelenburg to attack, causing chaos in the Dutch penalty area, and Bruno seized the opportunity.

Therefore, things on the football field are always so unpredictable. Perhaps it is very appropriate to describe it this way: if you plant flowers with care, they may not bloom, but if you plant willows by accident, they may grow into a shade.

………………

After the second half, the Netherlands made substitutions immediately. De Boer replaced Van Aanholt with Wijndal and replaced Blind with Ake.

Obviously, De Boer was very dissatisfied with the two players defending on the left in the first half and directly replaced them. However, the Dutch team still maintained the formation of 5-3-2.

Portugal did not make any substitutions and still used the tactics from the first half, pursuing the Orange Army relentlessly.

De Boer obviously strengthened his defense on Bruno. After the substitution on the left, the Dutch team defended more resolutely. Wijndal and Frenkie de Jong almost made freezing Bruno their main purpose, and Wijnaldum also frequently assisted in defense on this side.

Santos also responded quickly. Bruno and Bernardo Silva almost completed their transformation to wingers. The two full-backs began to move forward more actively. Except for William Carvalho who continued to drag behind, Danilo Pereira also began to push forward actively. Portugal's formation was increasingly inclined to a 4-3-3 with a single defensive midfielder.

(End of this chapter)