959 Move Forward (1/2)

The Spaniards could not have imagined that they would concede the goal in this way. With three consecutive shots, their defenders did not even snapped up a point of fall. They were all grasped by England.

It was very clear that England had thoroughly studied Spain and made the right tactics.

Twain celebrated the goal with excitement not far from the sidelines, while Hierro sat in a chair without even lifting his buttocks once. He was pondering a question - England's change in deployment must have held great meaning, but what was the specific meaning?

From the looks of this goal... was it a coincidence or a premeditation?

It was a far cry from the previous way England had attacked. Rooney and Agbonlahor were two strikers playing as wingers while Gerrard, the former attacking midfielder did not carry out his responsibility as the playmaker... What did Tony Twain exactly have in mind?

”It looks like we bet right!” On the other side, Tony Twain said excitedly to Des Walker, ”The Spaniards didn't think we were going to make such a jump in tactics. They couldn't react in time and find a way to deal with us!”

”If they find a way to deal with us, what are we going to do then?” Walker was not as excited as Twain. He always thought the change in maneuver was too risky.

”I don't think that Hierro will be able to think of a way to deal with us until the end of the first half. . . Even if he has gotten it, he can't implement it.” Twain laughed complacently. He was confident in that. ”He has to substitute players if he wants to deal with us. In the semifinals, he will not dare to make a substitution before the end of the first half. If you look at Spain's current starting lineup, how many players can be replaced?”

Fàbregas and Iniesta were Spain's dual-core players and certainly could not be replaced. Moreover, both players were better at offense and made little contribution to the defense. On the two sides, Silva nor Lago were the kind of players who were good at defense and like to defend. Their task was to attack and attack again. Spain, which was proclaimed to have Europe's strongest midfield, had only Camacho who was a defensive midfielder. But how could he defend against the repeated impacts in turn from Gerrard, Rooney, Agbonlahor and Wood? The goal concede just now spoke for itself: Camacho ran positions with Gerrard, so Rooney was unmarked. Once Rooney took the ball, it attracted the attention of the Spanish defense. Then Vaughan quietly left the Spanish defender's sights. No one noticed him, partly because the defenders were keeping a close eye on Rooney's next move at the point in time, and partly because it was Vaughan's first time in the starting lineup in the tournament. Compared to the rest of England team's players, he was not very famous and lacked a sense of presence in the minds of the Spanish defenders...

Ultimately, Twain's tactic was to use Mitchell to attract the attention of the Spanish defenders. The three midfielders with exceptional attacking ability, Rooney and Agbonlahor, as well as Gerrard, were the real killer move. If Rooney had been lucky, the first shot should have been scored just now, but Asenjo made a world-class save. Instead, it was Vaughn who picked up the bargain.

If Spain were to make adjustments targeting England's tactics, it would be not a question of who should mark Rooney or Agbonlahor, but that they must find someone to entangle with George Wood. Because England's brain was him, and not everyone else. If Wood could not pass the ball properly, England's attack would be paralyzed.

However, Wood's position was as the defensive midfielder, which was positioned far back. Even if he could not move up, he could also achieve the purpose of organizing the attack through long passes. If they wanted to find a person who could defend against him, it could not be said that there was no such player in the world of football. But at least currently in the Spain team, ...it was very hard to do so.

”It's like this... I remember Hierro saying in an interview before the UEFA European Championship that he would give the Spanish fans the best UEFA European Championship to watch. That means he's going to stick to his attacking tactics, and he has brought a lot of attacking players for the reason. Whereas for the defensive players, he only has ...” Walker said contemplatively to this point and suddenly stopped to twist his head to look at Twain.

Twain smiled at him and said, ”That's right. The only midfielder who can really defend is Camacho. Surely Hierro can't have his center back rush to our half to defend against George?”

Once Twain said that, Walker could finally lay his worries to rest. He sat back in the technical area and looked at the players running on the pitch, thinking that Tony was right. Everything about the Spain team is currently within our calculations, and we shouldn't be surprised if they make any adjustments. At least we are safe in the first half.

※※※

The game that followed happened just as Twain had predicted. The Spanish team tried hard to fight back. In fact, they did pose a lot of threats to England's goal in terms of the offensive. But no matter how many shots they did, they did not result in goals. And considering England's offensive, Spain's two full backs were afraid to rush up to assist in the attack. Hierro had specifically instructed them on the sidelines. It was a top priority not to concede the goal anymore until the end of the first half.

The England team was also active in their search for attacks. A one-goal lead was not secured enough. If they could, it would be nice to have a two-goal lead at the end of the first half. Everyone from the coaches to the players thought so.

The game became even better to watch after England's goal, with the Spain team, adept at offense and the England team, eager to attack, having explosive clashes at the Nou Mestalla Stadium.

Both sides played wonderful set pieces, but everyone's luck was just a little worse. The score was still at 0:1 until the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half. The host, Spain trailed behind for the time being.

Although the 1:0 score was still not very satisfactory, to be able to be in the lead was considered a good result. So, Twain did not show any displeasure when he came off the field.

And the Spanish players were not particularly depressed. After all, they were only one goal behind. The manager would certainly make adjustments during the halftime interval. The second half was the real decisive battle!

The two teams left the field in different moods. The Spanish fans in the stands were not as confident about the second half as their team was, with the vast majority of Spanish fans worried about the team's fate. And the favorite thing that the England fans wanted to do now was talk about the naval battle that happened 500 years ago.

It was in that naval battle that the Royal Navy defeated the then world's number one invincible fleet of Spain, thus allowing Britain to replace Spain as the maritime overlord and laying a solid foundation for Britain to establish the ”the empire on which the sun never sets” in the future.

The glorious history was familiar to every Englishman, and it was just too fitting when put together with today's game.

※※※

”We're one goal ahead, but now is not the time to celebrate, guys.” In the locker room, Twain was talking to the team, ”You know...”

”A one-goal lead is the most dangerous score in the world!” Some of the players already helped him to yell out the words.

Twain laughed, pointing to those players and saying, ”Good, good, you have learned to answer first...”