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

Chapter 900 Champion Temperament
When the Italians were preparing to take the penalty kick, Bruno was observing. He noticed that the Italians seemed very excited about the penalty kick. Almost all of their players had crossed the half-court, waiting to cheer and celebrate the goal.

Bruno immediately realized that as long as Patricio could save the ball and it did not become a dead ball, in this case, successfully kicking the ball to the front court would be a great counterattack opportunity!
When Bruno had this thought, he looked at Ronaldo.

As the saying goes, great minds think alike. There was no verbal exchange between the two, but Ronaldo understood Bruno's intention. Then Ronaldo withdrew, found Jota, covered his mouth and muttered something.

Among the Portuguese players on the field, Jota is the fastest and is the best choice for counterattack.

Bruno was also very fast when dribbling with the ball, but in this premeditated counterattack, he had other jobs to do and could not be the sharp knife.

"Counterattack! Counterattack! This is Portugal's counterattack! Italy missed the penalty kick, and Portugal's counterattack is here!"

The football was cleared by Bruno. At that time, people thought it was a clearance. Then they saw Ronaldo snatch the ball from Verratti in the midfield. Then Ronaldo half turned around, without even looking forward, and just shook his ankle and sent the ball out!

Jota was already sprinting, he received the ball and was dribbling at high speed, while the Italian players were desperately returning to defense and chasing Jota.

"Go, Diogo!" The Portuguese fans at the scene were excited. After saving the opponent's penalty, their side immediately launched a counterattack. It was simply too cool!

The Portuguese fans in front of the TV were also shouting: Go, Diogo!
………………

When the penalty was awarded, Italy coach Mancini was so excited that he felt he was the happiest person in the world.

Then, the penalty missed, Portugal counterattacked, and Mancini was confused.

At this moment, he rushed to the sidelines, gesticulating and shouting, directing the players to deploy their defenses.

The Italian players were indeed too relaxed just now. They were all waiting for the penalty kick to celebrate.

In the Italian team's half, there were only two defensive players, central defenders Chiellini and Bonucci, and then goalkeeper Donnarumma.

Mancini can only hope now that Chiellini and Bonucci can stop Jota.

Santos was also excited. He stood on the sidelines with his hands in his trouser pockets, leaning forward slightly, staring at the Italian team's half.

"Jota is dribbling the ball, with Bonucci in front of him and Chiellini staying at the top of the penalty area to form the last line of defense."

"It was a smart move, Chiellini is experienced and it was wise for him to stay at the back."

……

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While the Italian commentator was speaking, Bonucci was passed by Jota.

Jota changed his speed while dribbling the ball at high speed and at the same time passed Bonucci with a dribble.

Chiellini immediately took to the field.

Everyone thought Jota would continue to dribble the ball forward, choose to pass Chiellini, and then face the goalkeeper.

There is nothing wrong with this prediction. Generally speaking, many forwards will make this choice in this situation. After all, getting as close to the goal as possible and then choosing to shoot is also the safest option.

But no one expected that Jota had no intention of joining forces with Chiellini. He just passed Bonucci, made a slight adjustment, and suddenly swung his foot.

Is this a shot?
Chiellini was shocked. He wanted to block the shot, but it was too late. He could only watch the football fly off the ground, draw an arc, and fly straight towards the goal behind him.

He can only place his last hope on Donnarumma.

Chiellini turned his head to look towards the goal and saw the football flying straight towards the goal. Donnarumma opened his arms and made a saving gesture. Then the football passed between Donnarumma's hands, fell, and hung in the net.

The goal was scored!

………………

"GOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!"

"Jota! Jota!! Diogo Jota!!! It's incredible, Jota scored a world-class goal, it was such a beautiful goal! 2:1, Portugal has taken the lead!"

"Too dramatic! Too dramatic! Chiesa missed Italy's penalty, but Portugal launched a quick counterattack, with Cristiano Ronaldo assisting Jota to score a wonderful world wave. The situation that should have been Italy leading 2:1 instantly became Portugal leading 2:1!"

"This is football! This is football!! This is the charm of football!!! In just one minute, the situation changed dramatically. It's crazy. This is the charm of football!" He Wei, the commentator of CCTV Sports, shouted, "Patricio made a contribution, Bruno made a contribution, Ronaldo's assist was a stroke of genius, and Jota's final shot choice was beyond everyone's expectations. Maybe Jota felt that the shot into the penalty area and the long shot outside the penalty area, the long shot posed a greater threat to Donnarumma?!"

The commentators from all over the world went crazy at the scene, speaking in all kinds of languages.

They have all commented on countless games and have seen too many big scenes, but they have rarely seen such a dramatic scene as the one before them.

………………This goal by Portugal was a huge blow to the Italian team.

We missed the penalty kick and Portugal counterattacked and scored a goal. That was two goals in total and the situation took a big turn.

It can be said that such a huge contrast may even have made some Italian players doubt their lives.

Jota was running in celebration, he ran towards captain Cristiano Ronaldo who passed the ball to him.

Ronaldo waved to Bruno from a distance, motioning him to come over and celebrate the goal together.

Seeing Jota and Ronaldo hugging each other, and more Portuguese players gathered around to cheer for the goal, the Italian players felt very sad.

If Chiesa's penalty had gone in, they would have been the ones celebrating.

Unfortunately, there is no if.

Little Chiesa put his hands on his hips, watched all this, and said nothing.

Three minutes later, Italy coach Mancini made a substitution, Chiesa was replaced by Juventus winger Bernardeschi.

Chiesa, who was substituted, ignored Mancini's outstretched hand and walked straight to the player tunnel.

The reporters in the media seats were all very excited when they saw this scene, and they had already come up with many headlines and stories in their minds.

………………

The morale of the Italian team was affected and there was obvious brief confusion.

Portugal is considered to be one of the teams in football that is best at seizing opportunities. As the saying goes, "attack while the odds are against you", they will naturally not miss such a good opportunity.

Three minutes later, Jorginho passed the ball to Verratti in midfield.

The intention of this pass was too obvious. Palinha pounced directly on Verratti, forcing the opponent to pass the ball in a hurry. The ball was intercepted by Bruno who had been eyeing it for a long time.

Portugal immediately launched a quick counterattack.

It only took four passes from the interception to the final shot. Finally, Jota passed the ball across the goal, and Bernardo Silva squeezed Chiellini aside and scored with a shovel shot in front of the goal.

"GOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"Bernardo Silva! Bernardo Silva!! Bernardo Silva!!! This could be the winning goal, 3:1!"

"In the 3th minute of the game, Portugal was leading Italy 1:. They were two goals ahead of their opponents and were getting closer and closer to winning the European Cup again and defending their title!"

………………

Santos celebrated the goal by high-fiving his coaching staff on the sidelines.

Once the ball went in, Santos was completely relieved.

It wasn't just because Portugal was leading by two goals, but also because he could see that the Italian team was obviously a little panicked. Although it couldn't be said that they were completely defeated, they were indeed a little confused.

The Italian team has been short of talent in recent years, which has had a significant impact on their performance in recent major competitions, especially their absence from the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which dealt a heavy blow to Italy.

After Mancini took charge of the Italian national team, they quickly recovered. They won ten consecutive games in the qualifiers for this European Cup and three consecutive wins in the three rounds of the European qualifiers for the World Cup. It seems that the results are very good. Many people say that Italy has achieved a revival, but Santos does not think so.

In Santos' view, Italy did not encounter any strong opponents during this period. The opponents in the European Cup qualifiers were Finland, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia and Liechtenstein, and the three opponents in the World Cup European qualifiers were Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania, none of which were considered strong European teams.

Even during the European Championship, Italy had not encountered strong opponents. In the group stage, they faced Wales, Switzerland and Turkey. In the round of 16, they faced the Netherlands, which had a disastrous performance in this European Championship. In the quarter-finals, they faced Belgium, which was known as the king of the qualifiers. In the semi-finals, they faced Spain, which was currently in a period of transition.

Santos does not mean to underestimate Italy, but the biggest difference between this Italy and his Portugal is that they are not good at fighting tough battles!
To put it more bluntly, he just doesn't have the temperament of a champion.

The Portuguese national team has won several world championships in recent years, which has made the players become well-tested veterans.

So many championships have naturally made the Portuguese national team invincible and fearless. Not to mention being two goals behind, even if it is three goals behind, Portugal is able to fight and will not be confused.

But this Italian team clearly can't do that yet.

Italy last won a major championship in 2006, 15 years ago. The members of the original championship team have long since left the football world.

In other words, no one in this Italian national team has ever won a world championship, including their head coach Mancini.

(End of this chapter)