Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

"Ladies and gentlemen, you are watching the live broadcast of the 2004 European Championship Final between Portugal and France. The score is now 2-2 as the game enters extra time."

"France had already used up their substitutions, and now Portugal has also used up theirs. Quaresma replaced Figo, and Rui Costa replaced Viana."

"The French team's attack was very strong."

"The French team launched continuous pressing in midfield."

"Zidane was in superb form, maintaining possession and helping France keep the ball in play."

During the first ten minutes of extra time, the name mentioned most often by the commentators was Zidane.

His performance was outstanding.

It was even more impressive than his usual performance.

On the sidelines, Triguera, watching Zidane's live stats, exclaimed excitedly, "Sure enough, Zidane's started! Hang in there, it's almost there, it's really fast now!"

As the world's number one player in a position that demands the highest football intelligence, Zidane has an exceptionally sharp mind.

A player like that can control the entire game, let alone himself?

He knows exactly how many minutes of play he can contribute to the team.

Know clearly how many minutes you can maintain your peak performance.

In most extra time games, there are only two outcomes: either neither team scores, or one team scores a lot of goals.

The former is that both teams' midfield core players were "out of power".

The latter is that one of the core components lost power.

What?

Is there always power?

Throughout the 120-minute match, the midfield core maintained a high level of performance?

Even Zidane, ten years younger, and Deng Kai today, couldn't do that.

After all, the European Championship final is not just one match; there are six matches before it, averaging one every two or three days, making the workload quite heavy.

And this comes right after last season.

With league matches, Champions League games, domestic cup competitions, and less than a month to spare, plus preparations for the European Championship, I don't know if I'll actually get more than half a month of rest.

In theory, a key player can play the full 120 minutes.

But in reality, they can't do it.

Zidane's current explosive performance proves only one thing.

He knew he was about to give up.

He's about to start gambling.

He needs to unleash his energy completely in a short period of time, and then hand the game over to his teammates.

He should have emphasized this point to his other teammates.

Therefore, the French team was more active overall in the first ten minutes of extra time.

Everyone was cooperating with Zidane.

The 99th minute was also the ninth minute of France's high-speed operation.

Zidane executed a Marseille turn in midfield, getting past Duncan who was rushing in from the side to try and steal the ball.

Zidane began to push forward.

Deng Kai chased back behind Zidane.

Just as they were about to catch up, Zidane suddenly delivered a pass.

Ribery, cutting inside from the right flank, successfully received the ball and, after a few dribbling moves, passed it to Vieira, who was making a run down the right flank.

Don't let Vieira's position as a defensive midfielder and his tall stature fool you; he may appear to be a pure defensive player.

But in reality, Vieira is a standard box-to-box player with strong attacking attributes.

He excels at making runs, taking long shots, and crossing; it just depends on whether he wants to use them.

After passing the ball, Ribery continued to move forward, trying to head the ball on at the near post.

However, Costiani blocked Ribery's path and knocked him over.

The referee put his whistle in his mouth, but made a hand gesture that favored the attack.

Vieira on the wing saw everything and changed the crossing point at the last minute.

boom!

Vieira delivered a cross.

Wiltord went too far.

Henry was a little too far to the side where the ball would land.

But it's okay.

A bald head disappeared into the bottom of the image.

Then he launched a diving header towards the ball!

Swish!

The football broke through Bayern's defenses.

"Goal!"

"A last-minute winner! France leads Portugal 3-2!"

Zidane scores twice!

"Zidane! The invincible Zidane! The greatest player in the history of the French national team!"

"Deng Kai took the titles of world's best and world's best midfielder from him, but now, he wants to take the Henri Delaunay Trophy from Deng Kai!"

"The Gallic Rooster has pierced the Five-Shield Legion!"

"Zidane delivered the fatal blow to Portugal!"

After scoring, the French players celebrated wildly.

But Zidane, who scored the goal, remained remarkably calm, which, in the eyes of outsiders, exuded the aura of a true king.

Even though he had one hand on the European Championship trophy, even though Zidane was the biggest contributor to France's victory, and even though he personally ended the game, he didn't even bother to celebrate!

Simply because he has won every trophy imaginable.

I'm used to winning championships!

But the truth is... Zidane can't afford to waste a single drop of energy.

Nine minutes of relentless attack made this goal significant for Zidane.

Because once ten minutes have passed and the French team fails to score, they will completely tighten their defense, abandon their attack, and drag the game into a penalty shootout, leaving it to fate.

Once more than ten minutes have passed, Zidane's stamina is not only insufficient to support the French team's offensive, but he can't even help the team survive.

His physical condition was meticulously planned, leaving no room for celebration.

"Next, we just need to focus on defense, we absolutely must focus on defense." Zidane quickly confirmed with everyone that the French team would switch entirely from attack to defense.

Meanwhile, on the Portuguese side, Deng Kai also made a gesture to his teammates and Triguera.

The entire team nodded in agreement.

……

In the 100th minute, Portugal kicked off.

Just thirty seconds later, Deco played a through ball, delivering a super-advanced pass to the left flank.

Deng Kai runs the 100-meter dash on the sidelines.

Although he ultimately failed to catch the ball due to Thuram's interference, Thuram exhibited obvious dry heaving after running.

He almost threw up from running.

103 minutes.

Deng Kai once again dribbled past Thuram on the wing.

Thuram parried repeatedly, but his footwork became increasingly erratic, and he was eventually knocked down by Deng Kai.

Deng Kai flicks the ball and cuts inside.

boom!

Ribery, who was tracking back to defend, made a flying tackle to stop the ball from rolling away.

Ribery then stayed in the French half of the field and did not travel to the Portuguese half.

104th minute.

Costinha passed the ball to Duncan, who was calling for it at midfield.

Ribery quickly went over to harass them.

However, Deng Kai flicked the ball backward with the outside of his left foot and turned to slip past it on his right.

Back to the ball, he passed it past the defender!

Ribery immediately pulled Deng Kai aside.

But Deng Kai was almost two sizes bigger than him, and Ribery couldn't hold him back at all.

By the time Ribery completed his turn, he was already half a body length behind Deng Kai.

Over the next stretch of distance, Deng Kai accelerated with the ball, widening the gap between himself and Ribery.

I like playing football on the ground: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him.