Chapter 150: Respond to the relatives

In fact, Tang En himself was a little nervous. But it was not as serious as some players. He had participated in the finals of important games many times, and he was just a little nervous about his first time - the first time he led the national team to the finals of a world competition.

As a head coach who was a Chinese fan, he has a bit of a "World Competition" complex. National team events such as the World Cup and the European Cup have been the themes of his football career for a long time. He even once thought that the national team was better than the club team because it was a team that represented a country's highest level.

Later, all these became jokes. But he was still a little excited to be able to stand in the finals of a large-scale event like the European Cup.

In order to prevent himself from being nervous, he chose to walk out of the empty locker room and stand on the sidelines to observe the players' warm-up situation. Work can make him forget other emotions.

The players' warm-up situation made him very satisfied. Everyone was very excited in the face of such a final. He didn't have to worry about lacking fighting spirit. He just needed to worry that someone might get injured in the warm-up because he was too excited.

The coaches were responsible for the warm-up. Tang En turned his attention to the stands. The Bernabeu Stadium, which can accommodate 80,000 people, was basically full. The scene was filled with people, millions of flags fluttered in the wind, and even impatient fans set off small fireworks in the stands.

When the England team was seen appearing on the court and start warming up, the English fans in the stands began to sing in unison.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

This song gave English players a home feel. In fact, there were almost as many fans on both sides entering the court today. The Spanish team failed in the semi-finals, most Espanyols lost interest in the finals. The English fans who had just flew from England to Spain before the finals were blessed. There were many Spanish ticket-selling outside the Bernabeu Stadium the day before the finals. Of course, for Italian fans who came from Italy, they were also lucky.

In this game, the neutral Spanish fans in the stands became supporting roles.

As soon as the English fans started singing, Italian fans also began to sing. The two sides held a "singing ceremony" across the stadium.

When the players of both sides started to warm up on the court, media from all over the country also began to get busy.

"This is the Bernabeu, the temple of Spanish football. Today, under the gaze of the crowd, there will be a heavyweight duel here!" China's national TV station CCTV5 also sent commentators and reporters to the scene to explain and report the game. Although the football level in the country is very low, Chinese fans are still happy. The developed TV and the Internet allow them to see the best events in the world, and they are basically free.

"England will wear white home jerseys in this game. But it is said that their head coach Tony Donne hopes that the team can wear red jerseys because red is his lucky color. It is the same color as the jerseys in Nottingham Forest. Now his wish has not come true..." A reporter from Spanish TV is introducing some details of today's game to the audience, such as jerseys. "Italy wears their traditional blue jerseys and white shorts. When they won the World Cup championship ten years ago, they were wearing blue jerseys. And sixteen years ago, when they lost to France in the European Cup final, they wore white jerseys. Perhaps for Italians, blue is more auspicious than white. "

"The temperature at night is 31 degrees, not too hot, but not too cool. It's very hot during the day. The aftermath of the scorching sun has not yet dissipated, which will somewhat affect the performance of the players on both sides. The humidity of the venue..."

Although their teams were eliminated, TV stations from various countries still attach great importance to final reports. There are as many as 27 satellite carts parked outside the Bernabeu stadium, and it is spectacular to park in a row.

"We saw players on both sides appear on the court and they are warming up. We have already won the starting list of Italy. But England's starting list is still missing... Tony Donn doesn't seem to announce the starting list until the last moment. Compared with Lippi, who has experienced many battles, he seems to be a little too cautious..."

"From the list we have obtained, Italy has sent their strongest lineup. The goalkeeper is Marco Amelia who plays for AC Milan. The left back is Simone Vitale from AC Milan, and the right back is David Santon who plays for Inter Milan. The two center backs are Juventus combination - Giorgio Chiellini and Domenico Criscito. The midfielder is Sebastian Giovinco who plays for Juventus from left to right.

Roma's Daniel De Rossi and Alberto Aquilani are also from Davide Lanzafame in Juventus. The two forwards are Alberto Paloschi in AC Milan and Salvatore Forti from Juventus. We can see from this starting lineup. Compared with those mid-season Serie A teams, Lippi trusts players from strong teams, and the starting lineups are all players from the top four in Serie A last season. In these semi-finals, he prefers players who use Juventus..."

When the English players finished their warm-up and returned to the locker room, the media finally got the list of England's starting points released by Donn. Donn did not surprise everyone like in the previous games. His starting lineup was not much different from the pre-match experts' predictions. It just did not make Vaughan's starting point, who performed well in the semi-finals, slightly beyond everyone's expectations.

Not to mention the media, even the English players themselves. They didn't know until now who started the game.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart is the most suspenseful person in the starting position. Almost all other positions have been changed in this competition, but the candidate for his position has not changed. As long as there are no major mistakes and no injuries, the starting goalkeeper will hardly be replaced.

The right-back is still Richards who started after the game against Wales. Donne values ​​his defensive ability. The left-back is Joe Matok. In the European Cup, Mattock stood the test and performed satisfactorily. It is natural to continue starting in the finals. Just like Lippi prefers the Juventus players he has coached for many years. Donne also prefers the Nottingham Forest player he has led.

The central defenders are John Terry and Stephen Taylor. The central defenders combination has been with England since the first game to the present, and their cooperation is trustworthy.

The midfielder is Gerald and Wood. Donn's "Doune's "Double Germans" are much more effective than the "Double Germans" in the era of Erikson and McLaren. Because he has a universal George Wood who can be the core and assist others, so that the English midfielder will not be too many cores. Some teams can have dual cores, but England is absolutely not.

On the right is Walcott, who returned from injury, started the game. The right forward is troubled by frequent injuries in the competition and is the position with the most exchanges. What makes Walcott more advantageous than Bentley and Mock is that he has speed and dribbling, and is more agile.

On the left is Downing from Middlesbrough. Like Walcott, he has speed and dribbling skills. Due to Don't's tactics in this game, he returned to the starting lineup.

The most eye-catching one is the forward candidate. Mitcher has been suspended due to cumulative yellow cards, so this place has become the most competitive place. Everyone wants to start in such an important final, and Rooney is undoubtedly selected. As the most experienced player on the England front line, Don needs him very much.

And who is the one who partnered with Rooney?

James Vaughan is very popular with his two goals in the semi-finals. He himself also believes that he is in excellent form recently and should be able to start in the finals. So when Don began to announce the starting list, he looked forward to hearing his name.

After pronounced Rooney's name, the last person was left. Vaughan sat upright and straightened his body to prepare for a historic moment - he would become the starting striker in the final of the European Cup.

“Abanglaho.”

But the name that came out of Tang En's mouth made him stagnant.

He didn't expect that Tang En would choose Abang Lahoe, who performed mediocrely, instead of himself. He looked at Tang En incredible, but in the end he said nothing, lowered his head again, and clenched his fists unwillingly.

Tang En's decision also surprised other players. Before, everyone thought that the position of another starting striker must be James. Even Abang Laho himself did not expect that he could start in such an important game. The surprise and joy were intertwined, which made him feel very complicated. He even didn't dare to look at Vaughan sitting next to him.

"Why is Abanglaho starting?!" When I saw this list, all reporters asked such questions.

"From his recent state, James Vaughan should obviously start with Rooney. If it weren't for his two goals in the semi-finals, Spain might have entered the finals!"

"I can't figure out why Tony had to arrange this..."

"Hi, what can't figure it out? Just look at Lippi. These more successful coaches will do this in important games - they would rather choose players they are more familiar with and liked than perform better. Empiricalism. Abanglaho is a Nottingham Forest player and admires Don Eun very much. Don Eun likes him very much. Compared with Vaughan. Don Eun is more familiar with him, so he started."

Many reporters were talking about it. For a time, the "nepotism" gained the upper hand in the hearts of the reporters.

After reading the starting list, Tang En looked at the players, and he saw and remembered all the expressions of them.

"This is the starting list."

The specific tactics have been mentioned at yesterday's tactical meeting. Although no one knew who would start at that time, this tactic requires everyone in every position to remember.

"I hope everyone on this list will remember what happened last night and let us surprise them!"

This starting list has had a huge impact on everyone, so they have not completely listened to what Tang En said later. Vaughn is their target of concern.

Don Eun had to let them put their minds back on the game, so he clapped his hands and raised the volume: "What? Did the tension make you a little absent-minded before the final?"

The players could easily hear from it that their boss was a little dissatisfied. So no matter how unfair Vaughn was, they could only hold their resentment in their hearts and put their minds back on the game.

But after the starting list incident, they had long forgotten the nervousness. They were just a little confused. Why did the leader of each player who has always been impartial in the team make such an obvious mistake? They didn't think that Abanglaho shouldn't start, but even a fool can tell that Vaughn, who is in a very good shape, is much better at starting than Abanglaho. Didn't he want to win this game? Is it really because he wants his own troops to leave their names at such an important historical moment? Then why didn't Mok, Cohen and Bentley start all the way? Aren't they also players in Nottingham Forest?

With such doubts, a group of people walked onto the final court.

"They are out! Let's welcome eleven starters from England!" John Motson's voice sounded passionately, and he began to introduce each English player to the fans.

Although Abanglaho's starting lineup also surprised him, his tone when he read Abanglaho's name was not at all different from before.

To be honest, Don Eun's starting lineup is basically not what Lippi expected. Only at the forward position, he did not expect Don Eun to abandon James Vaughn in very good form in the semifinals and let Abang Raho start. This change also made him unable to understand. As a forward, Abang Raho's shooting skills are not as good as Vaughn. Abang Raho basically has no other advantages except for fast speed. It is more appropriate to put it in the flank than in the middle. For this reason, the Italian team has specially studied Vaughn, but he did not expect Don Eun to let him start!

Although he was surprised, Lippi also had a strong interest. It means that this game would be very interesting. As his last game before retirement, he no longer simply pursued the results, and it would be best that he could never forget.

Tony Donn and his England team are obviously qualified to be his farewell opponent.

Let's have a grand final and we won the championship.

This is Lippi's last wish.
Chapter completed!