"Spain's back line is wide open, and Quaresma only has one center-back to beat as he cuts inside.
In the end, the Portuguese superstar showed off his trademark outside-of-the-boot strike.
Spanish center-back Nami accidentally blocked goalkeeper Pepe Reina's line of sight. By the time Reina spotted the shot, the ball had already begun to curl.
Reina stretched out with everything he had, but the ball still slipped past his fingertips.
"GOAL! Superstar! That is the work of an absolute superstar!"
"Quaresma has scored a golden goal, and it's incredibly important for Portugal."
"He has lived up to the special treatment and expectations placed on him. He has given Portugal a chance to start over."
"If that goal hadn't gone in, Portugal would have been nothing more than meat on the chopping board—ready for Spain to slaughter."
"Arteta's small mistake earlier might have been related to the many times he had been knocked down in Portugal's half. His footing clearly took some impact."
"From now on, if nothing unexpected happens, Portugal will probably stay deep in their own half."
"They might even aim directly for a penalty shootout."
Huang Jianxiang clearly understands football.
Because that was exactly what Violante emphasized during halftime.
Defense, defense, and more defense!
When you clearly know you can't beat the opponent, a draw is already a great result.
Lower your stance first, then maybe you'll find a chance.
After all, the stronger Spanish side obviously cannot accept a draw.
On the Spanish bench, substitute goalkeeper Víctor Valdés shook his head slightly.
He felt Reina's reaction had been slow—that was why he failed to stop the shot.
If it were him, he believed he could have saved it.
He had always thought his reaction speed was better than Reina's.
But Reina's physical attributes were superior, so both the club and the national youth team favored Reina over him.
Valdés simply lacked an opportunity.
Second half.
After ten minutes of sleepy, meaningless passing, even the Spanish players began to lose patience.
They started pushing forward more frequently into Portugal's half—only to run into another round of brutal pressing.
67th minute.
Postiga knocked Arteta to the ground.
Two minutes earlier, he had already flattened Gabi once.
Arteta jumped up and started arguing with Postiga. The referee hurried over and gave Postiga a warning.
If he kept destroying Spain's attacks with these rough challenges, a card would definitely follow.
Postiga spread his hands helplessly, clearly not taking it seriously.
He knew his playing time was almost up anyway. If he left the pitch without at least one card, it would feel like a waste.
Violante had already told him at halftime that he would be substituted around the 70th minute, because his stamina wouldn't allow him to keep pressing Spain at high intensity beyond that point.
Sure enough, the referee's warning seemed like a countdown.
70th minute.
Even though Iniesta had already released the ball, Postiga didn't slow down. He charged straight through and knocked Iniesta down with both arms and body.
Iniesta lay on the ground with a painful expression, cursing in his heart.
He knew the Portuguese were shameless, but damn, he didn't expect them to be this shameless.
At that moment, Gabi rushed in and slammed directly into Postiga.
Both players were built like bulls, and neither was backing down.
Kai immediately ran over and pulled Postiga away.
Inside his head he was also cursing.
Damn it, the Spanish player was being sneaky as hell. They were clearly trying to provoke Postiga into getting a red card.
If that happened, Portugal would be screwed.
Sure enough, Gabi refused to let it go and tried to stir up more trouble.
Arteta also reacted and moved in to surround Postiga.
Fortunately, Cristiano Ronaldo caught the signal from Kai's eyes and stepped in to block Arteta and Gabi.
Even though Ronaldo was one or two years younger, his body was already tough enough to match them.
Normally he hated physical confrontation.
But if it was for Kai, Ronaldo was ready to throw hands.
Nonsense!
Who said he was doing it for him?
He already had another dog outside.
Hathaway: Who the hell are you calling a dog? She's obviously KaiKai's warm little kitten!
Beep!
The referee blew the whistle and showed Postiga a yellow card.
But Iniesta and the others were clearly unhappy and demanded a red card.
Kai, Ronaldo, and Quaresma immediately stepped forward to defend the referee, and both sides argued fiercely for a while.
"If we keep using this standard, this match will explode sooner or later," Iniesta warned the referee. To be fair, he wasn't entirely wrong.
"So what, you want the referee to suddenly change the standard just because you can't handle the current intensity?" Kai shot back coldly.
"Maybe you should hit the gym and lift some iron instead of trying to teach the referee how to do his job."
That line completely choked Iniesta.
The referee quickly stepped in and separated everyone.
Another step and he would start handing out yellow cards like candy.
Iniesta stormed away angrily.
The atmosphere of the match was heating up.
72nd minute.
All the Portuguese players were packed inside their own half.
Spain slowly passed the ball around, inch by inch, before sending it back again.
When the ball came near, Cristiano Ronaldo rushed up to press.
The Spanish players casually passed the ball around him in circles.
Ronaldo ended up spinning around like a damn monkey chasing shadows.
After a moment he couldn't hold it in anymore and angrily threw up his hands.
Even if you know your team is under pressure, when someone is clearly mocking you with the ball, it's hard not to want to rush in and beat the hell out of them.
"You look like a lost dog!" Gabi shouted at Ronaldo after passing the ball.
Ronaldo glared at him fiercely but stepped back.
74th minute.
Iniesta took the initiative to challenge Postiga, but since Postiga was already on a yellow card, he didn't dare make another rough move.
Using Postiga as a temporary screen, Iniesta found a passing lane and slipped the ball to Torres on the right.
Torres crossed the ball into the box, but Fonte deflected it away.
Violante immediately made a substitution.
Substitute striker Lorenzo replaced Postiga.
Iniesta's expression darkened.
A brand-new defensive forward had arrived.
Even faster than Postiga.
Damn it!
Lorenzo clearly had zero intention of scoring after coming on.
Portugal had already made up their minds.
They were dragging this game all the way to penalties.
Time kept ticking.
The Spanish players became increasingly impatient.
They also grew more easily angered by Portugal's constant fouls.
76th minute.
Gabi received the ball.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been waiting for this chance for a while, slid in hard and knocked Gabi flat with a fierce tackle.
"So who's the lost dog now?" Ronaldo said as the two rolled on the ground.
Gabi immediately grabbed him, and the two started wrestling on the turf.
Players from both sides rushed over instantly, forming another chaotic confrontation.
The referee felt his head about to explode.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered Iniesta's earlier warning.
But unfortunately…
Once the situation had escalated to this point, it was already too late to pull it back.
The referee showed Cristiano Ronaldo a yellow card, judging the tackle to be retaliatory.
Gabi absolutely lost his shit.
"A yellow card?! That should be a red, you blind bastard!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
I upload 2 chapters daily on Patreon!
There are 140+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
📢 Check out my new Naruto fanfic!
[One Piece: Pirate Chat Group]