Soccer: I became Bruno Fernandes.

Chapter 328: Two Tigers Cannot Share One Mountain

In this match, Wales had started with just one defensive midfielder, Ledley. However, in the first half, he was completely outplayed by Bruno, unable to keep up with Bruno's elusive movements and unpredictable pace.

Bruno was everywhere on the pitch — sometimes in Wales' penalty area, sometimes at the edge of the box, sometimes on the right wing, and then suddenly on the left. He frequently dropped back only to surge forward again. This left Ledley completely bewildered and out of position.

Poor Ledley... He was actually a decent defensive midfielder.

Now, Coleman was considering adding another player to help defend against Bruno.

He looked at his list of available players.

The substitutes were outside warming up. Besides the eleven starting players, the locker room was empty. He needed to find a suitable player from the available substitutes.

To contain Bruno, a defensive player was necessary, so Coleman focused on the defensive midfielders.

Each team in the European Championship finals has a 23-man squad. This is the pool of players available for each match.

Due to two players being suspended for accumulated yellow cards and two others being injured, Wales had 19 players available for this match. Besides the eleven starters, there were eight substitutes.

Among them, there were two who could play as defensive midfielders: David Vaughan and David Edwards. Both play in the Championship, for Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers, respectively. They were both key players for their clubs last season with similar performances.

However, compared to the more attack-minded David Edwards, David Vaughan had better defensive skills.

Vaughan was particularly good at tackling, which made Coleman very optimistic about him. With Vaughan and Ledley together, they should be able to contain Bruno.

...

Thinking of this, Coleman instructed his assistant coach, "Bring Vaughan back."

The assistant coach left to carry out the task.

During this time, Coleman explained to the players how they should play in the second half: "We can't just defend; we must attack!"

When David Vaughan returned, sweating from his warm-up, Coleman had already briefed the other players. He glanced at Vaughan, then called both him and Ledley over.

"You two have a very important task in the second half," Coleman began directly.

He didn't criticize Ledley for being outplayed by Bruno in the first half. He knew this wasn't the time to blame his players.

"The core of Portugal's team is their number eight. I want you two to work together in the second half to completely freeze him out."

Even though the coach hadn't explicitly criticized his first-half performance, Ledley still felt embarrassed.

Initially, his job was to mark Bruno, but he had failed completely, allowing Bruno to constantly organize dangerous attacks. Now, the coach was bringing on another defensive midfielder to help him, which essentially acknowledged his failure in the first half.

Ledley was currently playing for Crystal Palace in the Premier League but wasn't a regular starter, mostly coming off the bench. He had made 19 league appearances last season, eight of which were as a substitute. At thirty years old, he was entering the decline phase of his career, especially as a defensive midfielder.

"Bruno covers a lot of ground. You need to stick with him, using all your energy. As soon as he gets the ball, double-team him!" Coleman clasped his hands together to illustrate the point.

The two nodded, indicating they understood.

"Most of Portugal's play goes through him. You need to try and intercept the ball from him directly and then use that opportunity to counter-attack."

They nodded again.

"The key to the second half lies in containing him, remember that."

...

While Wales' coach was carefully planning how to deal with Bruno, Bruno was in the locker room answering Ronaldo's question.

"I'm curious, how did you know I was going to shoot when your back was to me?"

Despite scoring, Ronaldo was more puzzled than ever.

This wasn't the first time it had happened. During their extra training session, he had also suddenly shot the ball, which Bruno dodged in the same way.

Was it really a coincidence? But how could a coincidence happen twice?

Moreover, Ronaldo felt that even if they tried it again, Bruno would still dodge it.

To clear up this mystery, he had approached Bruno right after the first half ended.

Bruno shrugged and said, "Instinct."

Ronaldo didn't believe him. He stared at Bruno, his eyes filled with doubt.

"Instinct" seemed too mystical to him, like someone winning the lottery every time they played and then claiming it was just luck. Anyone would be suspicious.

Seeing Ronaldo's disbelief, Bruno found it hard to explain. He couldn't exactly tell him it was because of a system, could he?

After four years of systematic training, many of Bruno's abilities had become almost supernatural, difficult to explain with science or traditional training methods.

As he trained longer under the system's guidance, his understanding of the game's rhythm and dynamics had improved greatly. He knew when to pass, when to dribble, when to advance, and when to retreat.

To outsiders, his quick and accurate decision-making under complex circumstances seemed impressive and almost effortless.

...

"Alright, Cristiano, why do you care how Bruno does it? We're ahead, and you scored a goal. Isn't that good enough? Haha!" Nani interrupted, putting an arm around each of their shoulders and trying to lighten the mood.

"Nani's right! We're in the lead, and we have the upper hand!" Cancelo chimed in.

If two years ago, when Bruno first joined the Portuguese national team, he was simply Ronaldo's sidekick, his role had since become more complex due to his outstanding performances over the past two years.

Especially after Bruno won the FIFA Ballon d'Or earlier this year, beating both Messi and Ronaldo, many in the Portuguese national team noticed a change in Ronaldo's attitude towards Bruno. It wasn't as friendly as before.

This shift led to numerous media reports about a potential rift between Ronaldo and Bruno, further complicating their relationship.

The Portuguese players didn't think these media reports were baseless. The saying "Two tigers cannot share one mountain" existed not only in the East but also in the West and in Portugal.

Especially since Ronaldo, the older "tiger king," was known for his intense competitiveness. Could he truly accept Bruno's rapid rise and potential challenge to his status in the team?

...

Given the situation, the Portuguese players had been careful to avoid this topic since they assembled for this national team stint.

Seeing the tension between the two, they quickly tried to change the subject, hoping to prevent any real conflict.

"It's nothing. Ronaldo and I were just having a normal conversation. There's no need to be so tense," Bruno said, patting Ronaldo on the shoulder. "Right, Ronaldo?"

Ronaldo, after a moment's pause, nodded, "Yes, it's nothing."

Hearing this, the others breathed a sigh of relief and dispersed, returning to their discussions about the first half.

So far, Portugal's performance in this European Championship had been outstanding. They went undefeated in the group stage, won a tough match against Belgium in the first knockout round, and then beat Poland, led by Lewandowski, in the quarterfinals. In this first half against Wales, they were not only leading by two goals but also dominating the game.

This made the Portuguese players very enthusiastic as they talked about their performances, full of excitement and animation.

Cancelo didn't join the conversation but instead patted both Bruno and Ronaldo on the shoulders, saying happily, "This is great! This is great!"

Though he didn't specify what was great, both Bruno and Ronaldo knew exactly what he meant.

...

Soon, coach Santos walked in, and the noise in the locker room lowered slightly but didn't stop until Santos clapped his hands.

"Well done, gentlemen," Santos praised his players first.

"In the second half, we need to keep it up. Remember, a two-goal lead is never safe. There's no such thing as a safe score. If we can, we need to widen the gap. If there's a chance to score, don't hesitate. So, in the second half, let's not worry about what Wales does. As soon as it starts, we go on the attack. Bruno, your job is to keep creating scoring opportunities."

"Yes, sir," Bruno replied.

"I know I don't need to say much to you," Santos smiled, increasingly fond of Bruno.

Since taking over the Portuguese national team two years ago and working with Bruno, he realized how fortunate it was to coach someone like him. Bruno was always thinking, a smart player, making communication effortless.

Bruno smiled confidently.

Santos then turned to the players, "We're in the semi-finals of the European Championship. I know there's been a lot of talk about us. I also know you don't agree with those opinions. Today is a great opportunity to beat Wales! Show them we're not a joke; we're here to win the championship!"

(End of Chapter)

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