Chapter 66 We want to help Kane win the Golden Boot
Chapter 66 We want to help Kane win the Golden Boot
Since the beginning of the new century, the England national team has never won all the group matches in either the World Cup or the European Cup.
The most embarrassing times were when they could only qualify as second in the group or were unfortunately eliminated despite being favored by the outside world.
So don’t underestimate the possibility that Li Chen will lead the team to three consecutive wins in the group stage this time.
This has refreshed England's record in the international competition group stage since the new century.
So it is not difficult to understand the excitement of English fans now.
Just pity the Welsh supporters.
Wales hasn't even won a single game in this World Cup, but they are already facing the cruel situation of being eliminated.
The once high-spirited Bell now only had relief and helplessness on his face.
For him, it was just like when he led his team to the final four of the 2016 European Cup, setting a new record in team history and his personal career.
Now being eliminated from the World Cup group stage by his opponents is also a stage he must go through.
The stage towards the end of a career.
The mature Bale continued to comfort his young teammates during the halftime break.
The future of Wales lies in them, and today, he and his old partners are destined to help these young Welsh players shoulder the pressure.
The pace of the game slowed down a lot in the second half.
England chose to control the ball more, instead of defending, and Wales did not have much courage to counterattack.
However, England still broke through Wales' goal for the fourth time in a corner kick in the second half.
The player who scored the goal was Kane, who was sent on as a substitute by Li Chen and continued to maintain his game feel.
Kane, who scored five goals in three games, once again became the focus of the game.
He is currently leading the World Cup scorer list, and none of his five goals were penalties, so the goals are of great value.
After the final group match, media and fans from all over the world were not only enthusiastically discussing England's full-fire state, but also marveling at Kane's sudden outburst.
If he continues this scoring form, Kane has a great chance of winning the World Cup Golden Boot.
If England really wins this World Cup, then the Ballon d'Or at the end of next year...
Many fans feel that Kane, England's top scorer and representative star, is likely to win the Ballon d'Or after England wins the title with the honour of being a World Cup champion.
But there are also many fans who think that Kane's club honors are too lagging behind.
His personal statistics have been good in recent seasons. This season, he and Manchester City's new signing Haaland have been scoring a lot of goals, and they are heading towards 30 goals in the league.
But no matter how good the personal data is, it is always unconvincing if you can't win the championship at the club level. Can you really win the Golden Ball Award with a World Cup championship and a World Cup Golden Boot?
That's a bit far-fetched.
The fans' advanced discussions affected Kane, who was enjoying a rare day off.
As one of the current football superstars, he can be said to be the representative with the least personal temper and seemingly the least ambition.
But in fact, being honest and kind does not mean that Kane has no pursuit in his career.
He certainly also wants to improve his team and personal honors.
And they have already fought hard to become football superstars. Who hasn’t dreamed of winning the Ballon d’Or and becoming the best player of the year?
This great opportunity, which may only come once in a lifetime, is right in front of him, and Kane cannot calmly watch the opportunity slip away.
He really wants to fight for himself and seize the opportunity to take his career to a higher level and become a historic Ballon d'Or winner.
So he became a little restless and wanted to do something.
But creating hype is not what he is good at, and his brother, an agent, is even more unreliable.
Last year, it was his brother who repeatedly gave wrong information, which resulted in the negotiations between Manchester City and Tottenham being unable to get on track. This was also one of the important reasons why Kane's transfer to Manchester City fell through.
After much thought, Kane did not discuss the matter with his brother, but went directly to Li Chen.
"This is not like your style, Harry. Why, you can't sit still this time? This is a rare opportunity."
Li Chen's teasing made Kane only laugh dryly. He didn't know how to let Li Chen continue to maintain his position as the core of the offense in the subsequent tactical settings.
He has never done such a thing before. In the past, he has always relied on his own performance to win.
Fortunately, Li Chen did not continue teasing him. He saw through his thoughts and gave him a promise directly.
"You should have done this a long time ago, Harry. There are some rights that you must strive for, because you have the qualifications and ability to do so. Don't worry, I will try my best to help you win the World Cup Golden Boot. All you have to do is maintain your form. You know, I have always placed high hopes on you."
Li Chen's promise and encouragement gradually calmed Kane's restless heart.
Kane doesn't need to worry about publicity and promotion. Li Chen directly told him that the English Football Association will focus on him in future publicity and promotion.
"Tottenham's reputation is not big enough, but the Premier League is big enough in football. The FA will be responsible for keeping a close eye on this matter. After all, the Premier League has not produced a Ballon d'Or winner for many years.
But after that you have to ask your agent brother to behave himself and let the official help you build momentum, and you don’t have to say too much. At this time, the more you say, the more mistakes you will make, and you have to be mentally prepared.
If we can win this time, everyone will be happy, but if we can't win the World Cup, the hype and propaganda of the British media during this period will backfire on you.
This is both your opportunity and a test of great risk. If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Harry, do you understand this truth?"
Kane looked at Li Chen's solemn eyes and nodded firmly without hesitation.
He has been waiting for such an opportunity for 12 years since he officially entered the professional arena.
This time, he vowed to fight for himself with all his strength, no matter if the road ahead was the road to heaven or the abyss of hell, he was determined to go on.
He has no regrets.
……
After the group stage, the England team was given five days of rest.
Their opponent in the first round of the knockout stage is Senegal, the second place team in Group A.
Compared with teams like Australia, the United States and Poland, Senegal is undoubtedly stronger.
Even though their top star Mane withdrew from the World Cup due to injury, the African kings still managed to beat two opponents in the group stage, and only lost to the Netherlands in the end to rank second in the group. In the direct dialogue with the Netherlands, Senegal's performance was not bad either. They created more shooting opportunities, more shots in the penalty area and more shots on target.
The two teams had similar ball possession rates, but Senegal ultimately lost due to its poor finishing efficiency.
It is conceivable that if Mane could participate in this World Cup normally, Senegal would not necessarily lose to the Netherlands in a head-to-head confrontation.
Li Chen also attaches great importance to such a strong opponent, so he formulated a penetration tactic that pays more attention to ball possession than in the group stage.
On the evening of December 12th, the 4/1 knockout match between England and Senegal continued at the Bay Stadium.
In the three 1/8 knockout matches that have been played, the Netherlands, Argentina and France have all taken the lead in breaking through.
According to the already divided half-zone matches, if England beats Senegal in this match, they will have to face France, one of the favorites to win this World Cup, in the quarter-finals.
For the England team at this moment, they are facing double pressure in the game.
Many English fans are also worried that the team will have problems performing in the match against Senegal.
Fortunately, after the game started that night, England, who patiently controlled the game, did not seem to be affected by the off-field public opinion.
Maddison, who played as a central midfielder today, and Foden, who played as a wing midfielder, dribbled the ball very steadily and almost perfectly controlled the tempo of the game.
Senegal seemed very afraid of England's offensive firepower and was not in a hurry to press forward and fight against England.
Their excellent overall confrontation and running ability are enough to support their organizational advancement to snipe England layer by layer starting from the midfield.
But England was not in a hurry to open up the game and was more patient than them. It kept passing the ball on the wings and on both sides of the midfield, slowly looking for space to cut in.
Compared with the fierce and aggressive forward pressure in the group stage, England obviously played more delicately and patiently on the offensive end after entering the knockout stage.
Playing like this will definitely create fewer offensive opportunities than in previous games.
But aren’t the England team’s frontcourt stars good at improving offensive efficiency?
The gap between stars and ordinary players is more reflected in the ability to seize fewer offensive opportunities to break the deadlock in the game.
In the first three group matches, Kane, Maddison, Saka and Foden all stepped up to prove this point.
Bellingham, who made threatening passes in consecutive games, was joked by many fans, saying that he played like a king of football.
They certainly have the ability to bring out their star attributes in the more important knockout matches and turn those seemingly non-chances into goal threats.
In a formal battle, the purpose is to overwhelm the enemy with force.
My team's overall ability is stronger than yours, and it has more superstars than you, so there's no need to use any tricks to lure you into a trap.
Li Chen gave enough patience to the players who started today.
He doesn't care whether the team can score a goal in the first half of the game. As long as the situation can be opened up and he is satisfied, it's ok.
In the positional battle, Saka, whose personal abilities were further unleashed by Li Chen, was the first to show his strength.
There is a tacit understanding between him and Ben White, and the efficiency of the two in tearing apart the opponent's defense when attacking together is the best in the England team.
Not to mention that today Li Chen also arranged an offensive engine for their side, Madison.
The three of them gradually got into the game state, and with their combined efforts, they quickly broke through Senegal's defense on the left half through small-scale quick passes.
As Senegal continued to add defensive forces to the left half, Saka played more and more fiercely, performing a series of one-on-one and even one-on-two successful breakthroughs!
This made Senegal head coach Cisse feel very uneasy.
Senegal's overall strength is indeed quite good in international football.
But their lineup structure is that there is a superstar in the front and back, leading other strong players to increase the overall strength.
Except for Mane in front and Koulibaly behind, it is difficult for the rest of the players to maintain their position when they encounter a star player who performs explosively.
And what about England, whom they are facing today?
The starting players in every position on the field are all famous stars in the football world.
You said that we need targeted defense, so who should we target?
Just like now, when Senegal was focusing on defending Kane, Saka was the first to explode.
This made Cisse deploy his troops and signal the defenders on the left to limit Saka's performance, while at the same time praying in his heart that Kane and Foden would not be able to play well at this time.
His prayers had some effect, because apart from Saka's brilliant breakthroughs on the right, Foden and Kane looked normal.
But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Bellingham, who had joined the attack from the middle, received a cross from Madison and hit the far corner post of the Senegal goal with a long shot!
Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy didn't even react!
In other words, if Bellingham's long shot had rotated slightly inward, the ball would have most likely gone in!
Cisse was startled and cursed a few words. He paced on the sidelines and signaled the two midfielders to stand a little forward so as not to give Bellingham such an easy chance to shoot.
But they have to help their teammates on the left defend and keep an eye on Bellingham in the middle. Such a defensive task is too heavy for Senegal's two midfielders.
The gap in front of the penalty area left after they expanded their defense line was just seen by Madison.
In the 27th minute of the first half, Saka took the ball from the right and cut inside, using the rhythm of his dribbling to shake off the positions of two Senegalese defenders!
However, due to Koulibaly's early interception, Saka was unable to find a chance to shoot and could only choose to knock the ball back to Madison.
At this moment, Madison made a tactical gesture to Bellingham and passed the ball quickly horizontally.
Senegal's right midfielder Sis rushed forward to steal the ball, but Bellingham chose to pass the ball back to Madison without stopping it.
This time, after getting the ball, Madison decisively made a precise diagonal pass, and Sis, who had lost his defensive position, belatedly realized and accelerated back to defense.
But Kane, who had already retreated to the edge of the penalty area to receive the ball, did not give him any chance to make amends!
After one step of adjustment, Kane drew his bow and shot the ball directly into the lower left corner of the Senegalese goal with a tricky low shot!
Mendy's save was still a little late this time. He guessed the direction of Kane's shot, but he did not catch the ball.
Kane, who scored his sixth goal of this World Cup, excitedly rushed to the Senegal baseline, jumped high, turned around and punched hard!
The rest of the England players rushed forward and patted Kane's head and shoulders passionately to congratulate him!
Li Chen also stood up and applauded with a smile, looking very satisfied with Kane's performance.
"You've deserved all this a long time ago, Harry. Of course, it's not too late now. As long as you are willing to fight for it, I will do my best to help you win the World Cup Golden Boot!"
(End of this chapter)