Chapter 1 Riviera Stadium

The sea breeze whipped at the corner flags.

Turkish fans had already left the stadium.

Having experienced the tragedy, the Star and Crescent Tyrant, Terim, took a deep breath and adjusted his emotions slightly. He then walked to the Spanish coaching bench with great poise and shook hands with Del Bosque.

If you can't pick it up, you have to put it down.

A thick and heavy stroke has been added to the history of grievances between the two countries.

For coaches and players, victory and defeat are common occurrences in military affairs... There are too many factors that can affect the outcome of soccer. Who knows when Turkey will be able to slaughter Spain and complete its revenge?

In the player tunnel.

Minyano whispered, "Boss, do we need to control our qualifying ranking in the last round of the group stage? And we need to observe the players' physical condition..."

Del Bosque waved his hand, full of confidence: "No need! A victorious team never has to worry about who the opponent is! Controlling rankings and points is just a speculative approach, and it will eventually be punished!"

The Spanish assistant coach smiled wryly: "Germany drew with Poland in an upset, and the qualifying situation in the group with Italy and Belgium is even more chaotic... Plus, the new rule about the third-place team qualifying..."

Del Bosque scratched his head and said after a moment of silence, "Hmm? Then we still have to be careful to avoid Italy!"

Competing against the Italian team, using data such as possession rate and the amount of time spent pressing the opponent as technical references is an absolute mistake.

The only thing to learn from confronting the Italians is: Can you score a goal?

Coupled with Conte's disgusting three-center-back system, who knows, the Azzurri's current defensive line... might be even more resilient than Juventus.

....

On the green field.

Li Kang and his teammates gathered together to thank the Spanish fans who had traveled far and wide to be beaten.

De Gea hadn't touched the ball much. He felt that playing like this could save the national team a lot of money on latex gloves.

Ramos and San José continued to discuss the topics they hadn't finished talking about during the game.

Only Saúl, Koke, and Juanfran, the three "Atlético Madrid gang" players, were covered in mud and their jerseys were soaked in sweat.

"Li, you're very likely to break the European Cup assist record."

"The Czech Republic is a tough nut to crack."

"Even if we draw with them in the last round, we'll still be first in the group. The coaching staff should make large-scale rotations."

.....

Stade de France.

Germany vs. Poland.

The referee blew the whistle to end the match, with the two sides drawing 0-0.

Many fans in front of the TV were wailing and howling.

A big upset!

The food delivery market suffered a cold winter tonight.

The camera moved to the sidelines.

Löw reached into his crotch, then put his hand to his nose and smelled it, and shook hands warmly with Lewandowski, who was passing by.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries.

The Polish striker smiled and scratched his butt as he left.

The German coach's thoughts had already drifted far away. He was already considering the knockout stage... even the quarter-finals.

As the World Cup champion two years ago, the German team was still strong at that time.

The coaching staff wasn't Guardiola either, and wouldn't conduct tactical experiments in key battles.

The only regret was Klose.

Since winning the World Cup in 2014, after he retired from the national team, Germany had to find a replacement.

The result of the draw somewhat affected the team's morale.

Only Müller was waving his arms and interacting with the fans.

...

"Kid, don't be nervous! Where's that energy you had when you played Bayern?"

Boateng threw Havertz a bottle of water and encouraged him loudly.

He didn't understand why the national team would bring this young player from Leverkusen to the European Cup.

It was a pity.

Reus always got injured before major tournaments.

Götze's fighting power was limited.

Lewandowski wasn't German.

Havertz muttered in a low voice, "The German team doesn't have Li..."

Having been called up to the national team for the first time, he didn't learn anything from the older players... except how to play cards.

Schweinsteiger smiled and scratched his head: "We have Kroos."

Yes.

Modrić's Croatia couldn't cause trouble for the Spanish team.

But Germany was different.

Kroos could control too many resources for deployment.

Almost all teammates came from the German youth training system, seamlessly integrated.

The overall strength was explosive.

The World Cup lineup hadn't experienced large-scale aging, and the rigorous coaching staff wouldn't play "experimental tricks" like Guardiola.

Apart from the lack of a recognized center forward, there were almost no weaknesses.

They were still that unstoppable invincible force.

However.

The German tank and the Matador army might not meet in this European Cup.

.....

Italian residence.

Inside the tactical room, the lights were dim.

Conte and the coaching staff were engaged in a heated discussion.

"What's going on! Has Spain become Atlético Madrid?"

"In the game against Turkey, Del Bosque didn't field any Barcelona players."

"It doesn't matter, hurry up and review the game between Atlético Madrid and Juventus. We're very likely to meet Spain in the knockout stage."

"Li didn't use his full strength in the past two rounds of the group stage..."

....

Clairefontaine.

The filming crew of *Le Figaro* arrived at the national team's residence with the consent of the French Football Federation.

Deschamps frowned.

In order not to affect the training of other stars, he asked the outstanding Pogba to be the player representative to be interviewed.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Pogba nodded seriously.

A moment later.

The reporters began to ask, "Paul, your hairstyle is very cool today."

Pogba nodded as a matter of course and said:

"Hurry up, I know what you want to ask. France will be the champion, Messi will never be able to beat me in the European Cup!"

"That Spanish kid? You've been comparing me to him since the Champions League... um..."

The national team assistant coach next to him quickly covered his mouth.

"Don't record this! Cut it out!"

....

The next day.

A series of European Cup news items topped the online trending charts again.

*The European Cup's Assist Quadruple!*

*He is not the new Xavi! The genius midfielder coordinates the overall situation and leads an efficient tactical massacre of the Star and Crescent Army.*

*Simeone: Li Kang is the player in the world who understands Atlético Madrid the most.*

*Barcelona coach witnesses Spain's victory and falls into a coma from excessive excitement!*

*French genius-Pogba: I have admired Li Kang since the Champions League stage.*

Children all over the world hugged their soccer balls and fought to play the midfield position when they gathered to play.

"Marseille turn!"

"Zidane turn!"

"Tiger through ball!"

“

Livestream.

After the starting lineup appeared, the number of viewers quickly decreased.

-【Without Li Mingdeng, can Spain still beat the Czech Republic?】

-【Hard to say, if the opponent doesn't park the bus, and Spain can't control the speed and rhythm, they'll be skinned alive.】

-【Look who the goalkeeper is, it's Čech!】

-【So what if it's Čech? He doesn't have Chelsea's defense to protect him, no... it's Arsenal's defense.】

-【Spain can massacre Turkey, but they may not be able to bite the Eastern Europeans... this Czech team is really tough.】

.....

Li Kang and Diego Costa sat on the bench.

In the coaching staff's match arrangements, the possibility of the two of them coming on as substitutes was very low.

Minyano looked a little nervous, and he was always paying attention to the scores of other groups.

Del Bosque sat upright on the coaching bench, still looking sleepy.

In the distance.

Czech coach Vrba's face didn't show much change in expression.

...

Beep!

Along with the referee's whistle.

The match officially began!

Spain in possession.

Morata kicked the ball back to the backcourt with his weaker foot.

Isco touched the ball with one foot and passed it to Busquets.

He's a Barcelona fan.

The team he dreamed of joining as a child was Barcelona.

His footwork also fits the characteristics of Barcelona's passing and control.

Contrary to everyone's expectations.

The usually aggressive Czech team didn't invest too many players in the frontcourt to press.

They steadily retreated.

The Spanish team easily controlled the situation.

...

Time passed.

The four stands of the Atlantic Stadium gradually fell silent.

The scene was too dull.

"The rhythm is a bit slow!"

"Spain's attack lacks speed and changes in rhythm."

"The Czech team has set up a bus in front of the penalty area."

"Oh, Italy is behind!"

The screen in the lower left corner suddenly showed the results of other groups.