champion godfather

Chapter 973 Volume Seven Lion King's Heart Released
Fans and the media focus on the attacking talents of the French team, whose goals and assists can bring sensory pleasure to fans.But anyone who really understands football knows that the French team can always win like this. The biggest hero is not Benzema, nor Gourcuff, but the most inconspicuous little black man in the midfield—Lasena Dia pull.

The 31-year-old Diarra is in his prime. For him, this European Cup is also his best chance to win the honor of the World Series.But if you want to realize your wish, there is one person you can't avoid.

George Wood is one year younger than him and is recognized as the No. 45 midfielder in world football. Although the poor performance of the club in the past two years has affected his performance, he is a well-deserved core in the England national team.He has not started this European Cup yet, and only played in the first two games, and the combined time did not exceed [-] minutes.But that short playing time is enough to prove how good George Wood is.

The media are not interested in the dialogue between the midfielders.Diarra is well aware that this opponent is very important.

He didn't know if George Wood would start this evening's game or come on as a substitute.If Wood is going to play, then he has to pay close attention to him, because George Wood is no longer the blue-collar worker who can only defend. He also shoulders the heavy responsibility of organizing offense.How else can he be the core of England?It is impossible for a reckless man who can only defend to become the core.

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There are still eight hours before the start of the game, and the media are paying special attention to England's starting list.Up to now, Tang En has no intention of releasing it. It seems that he will wait until the team enters the locker room before announcing the starting list.

Media from all over the world gathered outside the hotel where the England team stayed, hoping to dig out valuable news from the players.It's a pity that the players themselves don't know about the starting list.

There is naturally only one reason why the media pay so much attention to the starting list—whether George Wood will start in today's game?
At the beginning, Twain insisted on bringing Wood to Spain. He said that Wood's foot injury would heal after entering the knockout round and would not affect the game.So the quarter-finals should be the day when Wood comes back.As a result, Wood's first appearance took place in the last round of the group stage, against the German team.It was an early comeback, but this made him postpone his official comeback. He continued to sit on the bench in the game against Sweden, and didn't get a chance to play until the second half.

Will he start the match against France?
The players in England shook their heads and said they didn't know.

In fact, Mitchell knew about it, but Wood had already reminded him not to mention this matter to others, which was the request of the boss.Mitchell, who admired the boss, naturally kept his mouth shut.

The media knew that he and Wood shared a room, so they all came to ask him.He just smiled and shook his head: "I don't know, I haven't heard similar rumors... Of course I hope George can play the game, but I'm not a team doctor or a head coach...that's all I can say."

Tang En had been resting in the hotel lobby drinking coffee, but none of the media came forward to interview him.They all know that if they can't dig out news from the players, let alone ask any valuable news from the mouth of the head coach.This person always has a great prejudice against the news media. If he doesn't want to talk about it, you can't scare him even if you mention "freedom of the press", and the news that the media can get is basically what he wants to say.Thinking about it this way, the news media is really a tragedy, just like a dog raised by his family. When he is in a good mood, he will feed him something and wag his tail happily. If he is in a bad mood, he will be closed for ten days and a half months. longer.

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Unlike England, the starting lineup of the French team was announced when they set off to the stadium. It was no different from the lineup of the previous games. Puel did not change anyone.

The French team played 451. The top striker was Benzema, and behind him were three attacking avant-gardes lined up. Gourcuff was in the middle, Nasri was on the right, and Ben Arfa was on the left.Behind the three attacking midfielders are two central midfielders, Flamini on the left and Lacena Diarra on the right.The left back is Clichy from Arsenal, and the right back is Sagna from Arsenal. The two central defenders are Mamadou Sakho, a 26-year-old central defender who plays for the Serie A giants Juventus. One is Maxes who plays for Rome.The goalkeeper is Lloris.

Even if it is just the announcement time of a starting list, the French can find a sense of superiority.They claim that the announcement of the starting lineup in advance shows that Puel's team is confident and not afraid of challenges from any team. This is the mentality that a championship-level team should have.And Tony Twain kept hiding from the starting list. This kind of behavior just showed the panic and helplessness in his heart.Didn't dare to disclose the starting list until now, does it just mean that George Wood's foot injury is still not healed?

A group of Frenchmen began to move around, and they eliminated the English to enter the semi-finals, and then beheaded the host Spain, and finally met Italy in the final. The dream of losing the champion's revenge.

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"England's starting list has not been announced for a long time. I think George Wood's injury is the only reason. According to the analysis, we can draw the conclusion that Wood's foot injury has not recovered." In a special program on French TV before the game, The two invited experts are analyzing the game for the French audience. Generally speaking, they are all talking good things about the French team, and the unfavorable factors are all on England's side.

"If George Wood's foot injury is really healed, I believe Tony Twain will announce it as soon as possible, so as to attack the enemy's psychology." Another expert who claimed to know Tony Twain quite well also analyzed. "But there is no news so far. It can only show that Wood's foot injury is not good enough to start the game. I think Dunn's plan for this game is the same as the previous two games. He only sent Wood up in the second half. So we had to take the lead in the first half and it was crucial for us to score early..."

On the large-screen TV wall behind the studio, the scenes of the two teams coming to the stadium are being broadcast live.The French team's bus was naturally frequent, and England only gave a few shots when they arrived at the stadium.

The host was chatting with the experts about the upcoming game, with a smile on his face, without the tension and anxiety before the big battle.Maybe they are all experienced veterans, maybe they think in their hearts that their team is stronger than England, and it is not a problem to beat England.

However, their smiles froze after they got the England starting list from the reporter in front of them from the stadium.

As a live broadcast program, the silence is very terrible.But now the host is in the cold...

He was in a daze with the list in his hand, while the two experts around him still didn't understand what happened and were still giggling beside him.

The host, who soon realized that he had lost his composure, hurriedly made amends. He coughed: "We...we just got the starting list for the England team..." He looked at the two experts, and the other party immediately said, "I very interested" expression.

"George Wood is starting." After the host said it, the expressions of the two experts changed instantly.It was as if someone had just stuffed a bunch of live flies.

"This..." One stood dumbfounded on the spot, while the other reacted quickly and immediately continued: "It seems that Tony Twain is going to give it his all..."

England's starting XI was played on the big screen, with George Wood sitting in the middle of the midfield, partnering with Gerrard.

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Like the hosts and experts in this French program, the foreign media were also surprised.The English reporters couldn't even believe it when they saw the list. After they realized it, they didn't dare to think positively, thinking that Twain was taking a risk, and that Wood's injury was not healed at all. The team was forced to choose.

"Even if we win France and make Wood's injury worse, how can we play Spain in the semifinals?"

"Twain is too thoughtless to do this!"

"Did Wood voluntarily ask for the battle or Dunn forced it? We need to investigate carefully..."

While the reporters were talking, the English players in the dressing room were also surprised.

They looked at Dunn who was standing in front of the tactical board, and then at Wood who was sitting on the side.Just now, the boss announced that George Wood is among the four starting midfielders for this game.

"Is your foot okay, George?" Rooney asked, getting up, which is also a question of concern to everyone.

"No problem," Wood replied.

In fact, this morning, the team doctor White also performed a special examination on Wood, thinking that Wood's foot injury has recovered very well, and he can already start the game.Tang En's heart can finally be completely let go.

Wood's return was originally a very happy thing, but thinking about the abnormal words and deeds of the boss these days, everyone's hearts sank to the bottom again - is it because the boss is worried that the current lineup will not be able to beat France? That's why Wood was forced to start?

These people looked at Wood with more doubts in their eyes, and they don't really believe that Wood's right big toe is really fine now.

Tang En certainly knew what the players were thinking now, but he just pretended not to see it and didn't explain it.Now the players are quite dissatisfied with the French team, and of course they are also dissatisfied with himself, but this kind of dissatisfaction can be transformed into motivation, and it would be boring to talk about it.

After he introduced the starting lineup, he repeated yesterday's tactical arrangement. Tang En clapped his hands: "I wish you all good luck."

He delivered a passionate speech without a long speech, and just ended the final preparations before the game.

But no one cared about his strange behavior, anyway, they were all angry with the boss now, it would be better if he talked less.

Twain did not stay in the locker room. There were still a few minutes before his appearance. Twain and assistant coach Des Walker walked out together, leaving room for the players.

As soon as the boss left, the players immediately became active and surrounded Wood one after another: "Are you really all right, George?"

Wood nodded with certainty: "It's okay."

"The behavior of the boss these days makes me very unhappy..." Someone looked at the door of the locker room and frowned and said, "He clearly looks down on us. Aren't you angry, George?"

Wood shook his head: "If you think he is wrong, just win the French team and prove it to him."

Wood was the one who knew what Tang En was planning. As the captain, he was obliged to help the head coach successfully implement the tactical arrangements, including lying.

When the England players gathered around Wood to ask this and that, in the dressing room of the French team, they also got the news that George Wood would start.

Puel was a little surprised, he didn't expect Wood to start.However, this also cites his previous analysis from another side - Tony Twain's fear of the French team is real, not something he made up.Otherwise, he wouldn't let Wood take the risk of starting.George Wood was the only ace in Tang En's hands. In order to win the French team, he had to use Wood who had not fully recovered.

Thinking of this, Puel's heart quickly settled down. George Wood can't turn the sky, and the strong French team has nothing to worry about.

He continued to tell the players what to pay attention to when playing for a while.But he didn't notice that someone was absent-minded below...

There may not be many Frenchmen who are happy with Wood's starting game, but Lacena Diarra must belong to this minority.

The person sitting next to Diarra is the midfielder Figuli, who did not start the game.He quickly discovered the strangeness of Diarra.

With her head down, Diarra's body was trembling slightly, and her knuckles were turning white.

"Hey, Lars. What's the matter with you?" Figuri asked with concern as he lightly touched Diarra beside him.

Diarra stopped the slight trembling of her body, raised her head and grinned at Figuli, showing a mouthful of white teeth: "It's nothing, I'm a little excited when I think of winning England and being able to enter the semi-finals..."

Figuri thought Diarra's answer was a bit funny. He is not a rookie anymore, he is a 31-year-old veteran. Is he so excited just to enter the semi-finals?

Diarra ignored Figuri's eyes.Not everyone can understand the feeling of longing for an opponent, and it is useless to explain more.He's happy now anyway, George Wood starts and the game makes a lot more sense.

(End of this chapter)