Soccer: I have the attributes of Messi in his Prime

Chapter 548: Stunning Goal from a Zero Angle in the Euro Cup Final!

Just when everyone thought Fabregas' long-range shot was about to score, Portugal's goalkeeper, Rui Patrício, seemed to be aided by some divine force. He leapt into the air and managed to tip the ball over the crossbar.

The Spanish fans, who were ready to celebrate, were left in disbelief. They held their heads in shock, eyes wide open, as if they had just seen a ghost. It wasn't just them—several Spanish players closest to the goal, including Fabregas himself, also stood stunned.

That shot was aimed for the corner! How did he save that?

Who exactly is this goalkeeper?

The Spanish players now looked at Rui Patrício differently. He was playing out of his mind, yet internationally, not many people knew who he was.

But after this match, not only Spanish fans but also viewers from around the world would remember his name. If Portugal managed to defeat Spain, he would undoubtedly be the hero of the match.

Rui Patrício's incredible save was not only a huge blow to Spain's morale but also a massive boost for his own team. Portuguese players nearby rushed to high-five him, and some even gave him excited hugs.

Rui Patrício himself was thrilled. He could sense that this was his moment to make a name for himself. If he could maintain this level of performance, his market value would soar, and he might even attract offers from major clubs over the summer.

While Rui Patrício and the Portuguese players were basking in the joy of thwarting Spain's attack, Lin Quan had already made his way to the corner flag, quietly receiving the ball from the ball boy and preparing to take the corner kick.

Once his teammates noticed Lin Quan's movement, they quickly snapped back into focus and began positioning themselves according to their planned corner kick tactics.

In situations where the opposing team is densely packed in defense, set pieces are one of the most effective ways to attack, so Spain took this corner kick very seriously. Tall players like Ramos, Morata, and Piqué all moved into the box, ready to contest the aerial battle.

The Portuguese defenders were also on high alert, with even Cristiano Ronaldo returning to help defend in the penalty area.

Spain's strategy for this corner was to place three players at different positions in the box: front, middle, and back. The tallest, Piqué, was positioned at the near post, very close to the goal. If the ball reached his head, he wouldn't even need to jump—he could just flick it in.

Because of Piqué's obvious threat, the Portuguese goalkeeper focused heavily on him, positioning himself closer to the near post.

Seeing that his teammates were in position, Lin Quan took a few steps back and signaled with his hand, indicating the ball would go to the near post.

As soon as Lin Quan kicked the ball, Piqué stepped forward and made a backward header, flicking the ball towards the goal. The move was perfectly executed. Lin Quan's corner kick was precise, finding Piqué exactly, and Piqué barely had to jump to make contact.

The ball, spinning from Piqué's header, flew towards the far post. The Portuguese goalkeeper, who had been guarding the near post, couldn't react in time and could only watch as the ball headed towards the goal.

It seemed certain that the ball would go in, but then bang! The ball struck the crossbar and bounced back into play.

The ball rebounded into the box, and Morata's hurried follow-up shot was blocked by a Portuguese defender, sending it out for another corner kick.

The Portuguese players were drenched in cold sweat—what a close call! Had it not been for the goalpost, they would have fallen behind.

On the sidelines, Spain's coach, Del Bosque, was on the verge of pulling his hair out. How could their luck be this bad today? Two almost guaranteed goals, yet neither went in!

Was Lady Luck truly not on their side?

Meanwhile, on the Portuguese bench, coach Fernando Santos had gone pale. Even though Spain hadn't scored, it was terrifyingly close. A few more chances like that, and his heart might not be able to take it.

"Mark their near post better! Don't give them any space to win headers!" Fernando shouted, urging his players to tighten up their defense against Piqué. Spain's corner kick tactics had already shown how dangerous Piqué could be in the box. If they didn't keep a closer eye on him, Portugal was bound to suffer.

"Their corner delivery is too accurate, like it's laser-guided!"

After assigning two players to sandwich Piqué and prevent him from jumping, Fernando finally felt a bit more at ease. Still, whenever he thought about Lin Quan's perfectly placed corner kick, he couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.

Sure, they had marked Piqué out of the game, but Lin Quan could still target other players like Morata or Ramos. Fortunately, those two were further back and well-marked by defenders, and the farther the ball had to travel, the harder it would be for Lin Quan to deliver it with pinpoint accuracy like before, right?

Having witnessed Spain's effectiveness from corners, the Portuguese team was now on high alert for the second corner. They locked down Piqué, Ramos, and Morata tightly, making it difficult for Lin Quan to find them.

Seeing the situation, Lin Quan quickly made a decision. He signaled for a near-post delivery again, prompting Piqué to struggle and try to break free from his markers.

The Portuguese players, seeing Lin Quan give the same signal as before, naturally focused all their defensive efforts on Piqué. Even their goalkeeper positioned himself more towards the left, closer to Piqué's area.

Heh, trying the same trick again? In your dreams!

The Portuguese defenders felt confident this time that they had Spain's corner kick threat under control. No one noticed that Lin Quan had stepped back further than usual.

Tweet!

The whistle blew, and Lin Quan began his run-up.

Bang!

The ball left the corner flag, soaring towards the penalty area.

As soon as the Portuguese players saw the ball's trajectory, they realized they had been fooled. The ball wasn't heading for the near post!

"Cover the far post!"

Pepe shouted, trying to alert his teammates while jumping to intercept the ball. But he was just a little too short—the ball barely grazed his hair as it flew past him.

At the far post, both José and Ramos jumped for the ball, but neither could reach it.

The ball wasn't aimed at the far post either!

Was it a bad corner kick?

Portuguese players started to wonder why none of Spain's three top aerial threats had been able to head the ball. But when they tracked the ball's flight path, their expressions changed instantly.

No way!

The ball was curving towards the goal!

Rui Patrício realized it too and frantically tried to shuffle across his line, but he was just a fraction too late. The ball, with a swish, flew into the net just before he could get there.

The stadium fell into a strange silence.

Both sets of fans were stunned. Nobody expected this outcome.

A corner kick goal?

Could that really happen?

From such an impossible angle, with the goalkeeper and so many defenders in the way, scoring directly from a corner seemed almost impossible—a feat of nightmarish difficulty.

But there it was, right in front of them. It was no wonder everyone was in shock and disbelief!

Even the referee was momentarily frozen. But he quickly gathered himself and blew his whistle to confirm the goal.

Hearing the whistle, the Spanish fans finally realized what had happened and erupted into a frenzy, celebrating wildly in the stands. Meanwhile, the Portuguese fans were still too stunned to react, struggling to accept the reality of what had just happened.

Cristiano Ronaldo stood in the penalty area, hands on his hips, looking at the ball rolling inside his own goal. Then he glanced over at Lin Quan, who was celebrating by the corner flag.

This kind of goal left him speechless.

Rui Patrício, frustrated, kicked the ball that had rolled into the net. He couldn't believe his goal had been breached in such a way.

The opponent was too cunning! They had signaled for a near-post corner but instead went for a direct shot. The trick fooled not only their opponents but also their own teammates.

"Well played, kid! You even tricked me!"

Piqué was the first to run up and celebrate with Lin Quan, giving him a high-five while laughing.

Piqué genuinely believed Lin Quan would pass the ball to him for a header, so he had used all his strength to jump and contest for it between two defenders. It didn't really achieve much, but his effort still distracted the Portuguese players and stopped their goalkeeper from moving quickly to the far post.

"You don't understand, the trick is to fool the enemy by first fooling yourself!"

Ramos, laughing, joined in, wrapping his arms around both Piqué and Lin Quan.

In truth, Ramos and the other Spanish players had also been fooled. But it was precisely because they had been tricked that Portugal was caught off guard, allowing Lin Quan to score such an unexpected goal.

"Haha, who cares how it was done! The ball went in, and that's all that matters! Didn't they want to sit back and defend all day? Well, let's see what they do now!"

Iker Casillas, who had run all the way up from the back, chimed in after hearing the conversation.

"Now the tables have turned! We'll hit them on the counterattack, and with the coach worried about our stamina, we can save energy by using a more defensive strategy!"

…

After taking the lead, Spain didn't immediately pull back into a defensive stance. Instead, riding the wave of momentum from the goal, they continued their aggressive attacks against Portugal.

Portugal, on the other hand, was shaken by the goal and seemed disorganized. The team's mindset wasn't unified either.

Some players wanted to launch an immediate counterattack to equalize the score. Others thought Spain's offensive pressure was too intense and wanted to focus on defense first before thinking about counterattacking.

This lack of unity led to their defense becoming less solid than before.

In the ten minutes after Spain's goal, Portugal's defense made several errors that almost allowed Spain to double their lead.

Fortunately, after some instructions from the Portuguese coach, the team's mindset began to align again.

After weathering Spain's storm of attacks, Portugal started pushing their formation forward and committed more players to the attack.

Portuguese players didn't have the technical advantage over their Spanish counterparts, but they still had a fitness edge. Their game plan was simple: use their superior stamina to speed up the pace of the game and force Spain into making mistakes on the counterattack.

The strategy made sense, but Spain wasn't falling for it.

As soon as Portugal started pressing forward, Spain didn't engage them in an all-out battle. Instead, they dropped back, setting up a defensive formation and preparing to hit on the counterattack.

Now it was Portugal's turn to struggle against a defensive wall.

In the final stages of the first half, Portugal's shot count increased, but none of their attempts posed any real threat. Many of the shots were rushed, a result of frustration.

These hasty shots had little chance of beating Spain's goalkeeper, while Spain's counterattacks, particularly down the flanks, continued to look dangerous.

In the dying minutes of the first half, Spain even created a clear-cut chance for Pedro, but his one-on-one attempt was again saved by Rui Patrício.

Spain missed a golden opportunity to extend their lead, but they still entered halftime with a one-goal advantage.

Despite leading, the Spanish players didn't look relaxed. Many still had serious expressions on their faces, and the same was true for Portugal's players, who looked even more tense.

Portugal's frustration was growing, especially as their attacks kept falling short in the final moments of the half.

This year's Spanish team had been nearly impossible to come back against once they took the lead. The only time they were reversed was during the group stage, but Lin Quan hadn't played in that match, so it wasn't an accurate reflection of the team's true strength.

Now, many of the Portuguese players were beginning to doubt whether they could equalize or even come back at all.

Spain's dominance over the past few years had already been proven, and against such a strong opponent, it was hard not to feel overwhelmed. Once doubts about whether the opposition is unbeatable start to creep in, it weakens a team's belief in victory.

And once they lost their confidence, winning would become that much harder.

(End of Chapter)

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