Chapter 551 Exposing a Huge Problem

The football hit the snow-white net with overwhelming force, and the tense emotions of Spanish head coach Enrique suddenly burst out. He rarely celebrated the goal, half-knelt in the home team coach command area, looked up to the sky and roared, venting the pressure brought by the goal.

As the head coach of the Spanish national team, the pressure is even greater than that of being the head coach of Barcelona.

"What a bad moment!"

Sky TV commentator Andy Gray said regretfully, and the commentator Martin Taylor frowned and said: "Compared to losing the ball, I personally feel that the mentality of the English defensive players is more important. The negligence during this period caused the final loss of the ball! There are about five minutes left in the first half. I hope they can make a good summary. The score is still leading, so there is no need to be too anxious..."

Saul did not celebrate the goal. He bypassed the English defenders and ran to the kick-off point in the middle circle with the football before Pickford. He just high-fived his teammates while running back, which was a simple celebration of the goal.

"aooaoaooaooaooooo——"

The huge shouts like a tsunami resounded throughout the Benito Villamarín Stadium. Li Qing was about to say something to his teammates, but the captain Harry Kane took the initiative to walk towards his teammates and encouraged them loudly.

However, through his keen observation, Li Qing found that his teammates had not actually changed, and they still had that casual attitude.

Head coach Southgate also found the same problem, but he did not scold on the sidelines. In fact, it is very normal for players to have such thoughts, commonly known as glory saturation. Participating in the World Cup is already a stage that many professional players dream of, and the World Cup champion is the peak that many players dare not even think about.

England won the World Cup this summer, and the mentality of many players has changed. This can be seen from the fact that many England internationals signed a better contract with the club this summer.

We are all adults, and many times saying too much will have the opposite effect.

Everything is up to the players to understand.

"Beep~"

Accompanied by the whistle of the referee Cakir, the third round of the fourth group of the 2018-2019 European Nations League A-level match between Spain and England was announced to restart.

England, which still had a one-goal lead, was not in a hurry to pass and organize the attack. Li Qing saw Saul and Asensio rushing over at the same time, and hurriedly signaled Barkley not to pass the ball. Barkley did not turn back after shooting the arrow, and the football rolled quickly along the ground towards Li Qing who was not fully prepared to receive the ball.

Saul and Asensio divided the work and cooperated with each other. Saul took the initiative to seek physical confrontation with Li Qing. Even if Li Qing was ready for the collision, he staggered. It became unrealistic to use his super explosive power to get the ball before Asensio. He had a strong sense of responsibility and had no choice but to stretch his foot behind him to trip Asensio who was stealing the ball.

Referee Cakir blew his whistle, indicating that Li Qing had committed a foul. Perhaps considering that Li Qing rarely committed fouls in the game, he did not give Li Qing a yellow card, but a verbal warning.

Seeing that there was no yellow card, Li Qing breathed a sigh of relief, and then made a double-palm downward motion to his teammate Barkley, meaning not to rush to pass the ball. Barkley was quite self-aware. He was indeed a little anxious to pass the ball just now. He nodded slightly, but he was now quite arrogant after transferring to Chelsea, and he still did his own thing behind the scenes.

The Spanish players who narrowed the score were full of fighting spirit and their enthusiasm was greatly improved, as if they had seen the hope of equalizing the score.

Although time was passing by second by second, they firmly believed that the next game would develop in a good direction. Li Qing, Southgate and Harry Kane felt more and more pressure.

Before the end of the first half, Spain had a good opportunity to equalize the score.

Maguire made a mistake in his defense and Rodrigo let the ball into the penalty area. Aspas, who cut in diagonally to the right side of the penalty area, took the opportunity to move the ball forward. Joe Gomez, who was defending, had already made a tackle on the ground. It was too late to take it back. His right foot kicked Aspas' left foot, which was dragging behind.

Referee Cakir blew his whistle and gave Joe Gomez a yellow card.

Pickford was under great pressure during this period. He disagreed with Cakir's judgment and was very emotional. Captain Harry Kane couldn't push him.

Cakir's judgment would naturally not be taken back. The matter ended with Pickford, who was too emotional, receiving a yellow card. After all... the authority of the referee should not be violated.

In addition, according to the slow-motion replay given by the on-site director, Joe Gomez did kick Aspas, and Cakir's judgment was correct.

"apappapapapaaaaa——"

The Spanish fans at the Benito Villamarín Stadium gave thunderous applause to the discerning referee Cakir. It was a pity for them that the English players calmed down quickly and did not do anything illegal.

England coach Southgate shook his head helplessly. Fortunately, the first half of the game was about to end, otherwise the game would be in trouble.

The player who took the penalty kick was Ramos. He was very excited with the support of the Spanish fans. He took a very spectacular spoon penalty kick. Pickford chose to dive to the right side of his body, so he was powerless to face the football flying to the middle of the goal.

"Spoon penalty kick! The ball went in!"

He Wei, the commentator of Tianchao Channel 5, raised his voice by eight octaves: "Ramos is really big-hearted! He dared to take a spoon penalty in this situation! He is indeed a player who has won the Grand Slam! His psychological quality is great!"

"aooaoaoaooooo——"

Accompanied by the huge and violent shouts like a tsunami, the live DJ at the Benito Villamarín Stadium shouted at the top of his lungs: "The goal was scored by Sergio——"

More than 40,000 Spanish fans shouted in tacit agreement, almost crazy: "——Ramos!"

Ramos, who scored the goal, was very excited. He ran all the way with his arms open, venting the huge pressure brought by the goal. It takes great courage to take a penalty kick, especially a spoon penalty.

Other Spanish players could no longer suppress their ecstasy and celebrated the goal crazily in the fanatical atmosphere.

From two goals behind to equalizing!

This kind of joy from the bottom of the heart is difficult to calm down, and the head coach Enrique even played a sliding kneeling celebration.

This shows what this goal means.

In sharp contrast is England coach Southgate, but there is good news for him. It is too early to expose the problems now, and there is still room for maneuver in the game.

All problems can be solved during the halftime break.

Whether it is the England fans at the scene or in front of the TV, they are a little slow to react. How long did it take for the score to be equalized after leading by two goals?

BBC commentator Lineker said in a deep voice: "The defensive players obviously relaxed psychologically in the last few minutes, which did not exist in the past. It is not difficult to see that there is a problem with the mentality of our players. I hope Gareth Southgate can solve the mental problems exposed during the halftime break."