I don’t want to say much about the game process. I think every fan who watches football in the middle of the night will be so excited that he can’t sleep.

One hundred and twenty minutes of fierce fighting, four goals, quick offensive and defensive conversion, injury, and final penalty. This is a game that matches the nature of all classic games. Many years later, people will never forget this quarter-final when talking about the 2004 European Cup.

England and Portugal teamed up to contribute a classic game to the fans. It should be said that England's premature goal quickly led the game to a white-hot turning point, while Rooney's premature ending made the game lose some excitement. England had to shrink its defense early because Vassel, who replaced Rooney, was just a tactical striker. In the past, his appearance was just to fulfill the coach's tactical requirements, so Eriksson cannot be blamed for being conservative, because he was really helpless. If it weren't for Rooney's injury, England would definitely win the game. I have this confidence to see how Portugal performed in front of England without Rooney. He shot countless times in the game, but only scored one goal within 90 minutes. Their offensive efficiency was far inferior to England.

I guessed everything, the only thing I didn't guess was unexpected. Rooney was injured outside of the game, and his premature ending was all-round to the England team. Rooney's brave performance in the previous game made England suffer from Rooney's dependence unknowingly. Although Irving returned to his peak in this game, Rooney was still a guarantee of confidence in England and a major threat to the Portuguese defense line. Moreover, his injury disrupted the tactical deployment that Erixon had begun, so that although England had begun to take the lead, they were already passive too early in the game. This is very unfavorable, because in the past, England only had to start defending in the last thirty minutes, but today they had to defend a full 87 minutes. This is a great test for the psychology and physicality of the English team members.

The game was too intense, and the hosts' home fans were too fanatical, so England only lasted for 83 minutes and their city was captured.

The subsequent overtime can be considered classic. When Rui Costa surpassed the score, the benefits of the silver ball system were fully utilized. The Englishman were only ten minutes left. When Irving was exhausted and Vassel would not shoot, they did not give up. Really, at that time I said to myself to the TV: "You have no reason to give up, otherwise you will be sorry for the silver ball system!" Sure enough, Lampard's goal made me yell in the middle of the night, and a friend of mine sent a text message at this time, with only five words on the text message: "It's so fucking satisfying!"

This is football, this is passionate football!

Beckham's corner kick really showed his strength, and a precise pass made a beautiful cooperation between the two Chelsea.

After scoring the goal, the commentator said: "Actually there are no real losers in this game." This sentence made me relieved for more than a hundred minutes. Indeed, seeing the players on both sides compete to this extent, can you say whoever should be eliminated? They are all qualified to stay in the European Cup and go further, but only one team can be left in the knockout round. The cruelty of football is fully displayed in this game. Therefore, I told myself, no matter who it is, if you lose the game, don't cry, and walk out of the Light Stadium with your head raised!

The final penalty shootout... You can't blame Beckham, nor can you blame Wassel. After more than a hundred minutes of fighting, they still have the courage to come here, which is something that should be respected. In front of the penalty kick, no matter how big a star you are, it is useless. This is no longer a simple game of fighting skills or strength. Sending a penalty kick is not a shameful thing, nor should you be cursed. I can only say that God is not on the side of the English. Although they lost, they have won respect.

The defensive counterattack is not conservative, and Eriksson's conservativeness in this game is a last resort. If Rooney had not ended too early, the English would not let the host drag the game into a penalty kick. But who else could have expected this? So this is football, and you have to win or lose, right? But this time it was England.

Although Portugal went to the semi-finals, I still didn't like them. Figo's actions bought a time bomb for Portugal, and it would always explode. Maybe Portugal was injured, maybe only Figo was injured. No matter what, they should do it themselves. A team that always stumbled into the market is not without problems. They have big problems, but victory can cover up everything. Maybe when it explodes, the damage will be a hundred times that of now.
Chapter completed!