Bruno Fernandes took the football and came to the goal. Opposite him stood Argentina's old goalkeeper Romero.
In this game, the starting goalkeeper of Argentina is actually Martinez who plays for Aston Aston Villa team.
But in the 120th minute of overtime, Argentina head coach Scaloni used his last substitution and replaced the 35-year-old veteran Romero on the field.
Maybe in the eyes of the head coach, Romero may be more suitable as the goalkeeper in the penalty shootout!
In a fleeting shot before, a very interesting little detail was captured.
Romero is drinking water from a kettle in his hand, but in the camera lens, the surface of the kettle in Romero's hand seems to have a sticky note or something like that, with some words densely written on it, but I don't know what is written on it.
When he saw Bruno Fernandes walking over, Romero picked up his kettle and glanced at the contents on the paper, with a hint of understanding in his eyes.
Throwing the kettle aside casually, Romero clapped his hands twice, moved his body, and stood on the goal line, looking at Bruno Fernandes with sharp eyes.
Bruno Fernandes placed the football on the penalty spot, stepped on the turf next to it twice, and then started to take a few steps back.
Bruno Fernandes stood on the line of the penalty area and looked coldly in the direction of the goal.
The referee blew the whistle and Bruno Fernandes started to run.
Romero bent down slightly, like a cheetah getting ready to attack.
Bruno Fernandes arrived in front of the football and without any hesitation, he directly volleyed the football towards the goalkeeper's lower left corner.
At the same time as he took the kick, Bruno Fernandes looked at goalkeeper Romero. What made his pupils dilate was that Romero seemed to have predicted the situation and quickly flew towards his lower left corner.
Amidst the exclamations, Romero's finger touched the football, but because Bruno Fernandes's kick was strong enough, although Romero judged the right direction and touched the football, it still failed to prevent the football from getting into the net.
Romero looked at the football that crashed into the net, and slapped the turf hard with regret on his face.
If I had moved earlier, I would have definitely been able to save this ball!
However, Romero was not discouraged.
On the contrary, Bruno Fernandes, who scored the goal, did not immediately start celebrating the goal, but gave Romero a deep look.
What did it feel like just now? It felt like I had been seen through.
This old goalkeeper really has something!
Romero actually correctly judged the direction and angle of his shot in advance. If his shot wasn't powerful enough, it would have been saved by his opponent.
Behind him came the cheers of the Portugal National Team players. Bruno Fernandes also took a deep breath, roared angrily, and waved his fist fiercely.
Don't scare yourself, Romero must be deceived!
Bruno Fernandes comforted himself, slowly ran back to the center circle, and high-fived his teammates in celebration.
0:1, Portugal National Team is currently leading by one goal.
Argentina National Team The second player to play is Dybala, the forward of Juventus.
Portugal Goalkeeper Lopez is very active. He has just saved Aguero's penalty kick. This is a huge psychological pressure for the players who Argentina National Team's penalty kick.
Lopez couldn't help but applaud to boost his confidence, and he also used this method to distract the other party's attention.
In fact, the penalty shootout is a psychological tactic.
The position of goalkeeper is very important.
Many classic penalty shootouts end with the goalkeeper winning the title.
The expression on Dybala's face did not change at all, but his eyes did not look at Lopez, but kept looking at the football at his feet.
The referee blew the whistle and Dybala slowly started to run.
During the run-up process, Dybala raised his head and glanced at the position of Lopez.
Dybala pushed and shot, Lopez did not judge the opponent's direction again, but rushed to the other side.
Dybala's penalty kick hit the goal.
1:1, Argentina National Team equalized the score.
Lopez got up and shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
For a goalkeeper, it is normal to be unable to save a penalty kick.
If you save one by yourself, it's already pretty good.
The Argentina fans in the stands finally let out excited cheers.
Argentina In the history of World Cup, there have been five penalty shootouts. Except for the penalty kick lost to Germany National Team in 2006, in the other four penalty shootouts, Argentina had the last laugh.
In the history of Portugal and World Cup, there was only one penalty shootout, also in 2006, when they defeated England National Team.
This time, the two teams will use this cruel method to determine the final spot.
Portugal's second free throw player is Andre-Silva.
When he saw Andre-Silva walking toward the goal with the football in his arms, Argentina goalkeeper Romero picked up his kettle again. He did not drink the water, but looked at the small note on the kettle again.
At this time, everyone discovered Romero's little move.
Could it be that there is any mystery on that little piece of paper?
Could it be that every Portugal player's penalty kicks are mostly directed in which direction?
In fact, this is not the first time. Many times, goalkeepers collect intelligence like this before a penalty shootout.
Some people stick it on their water bottles, and some people put it in their socks.
However, this kind of cheat sheet sometimes works but sometimes doesn't work.
De Gea, the goalkeeper of team Manchester United, had such an embarrassing experience.
After reading the cheat sheet, he failed to pounce in the right direction five times in a row.
Therefore, not everyone can use it well.
However, this seems to be the first time on the World Cup stage.
Romero seemed to have discovered Andre-Silva's penalty kick habit. He took a satisfied sip of water and threw the kettle aside.
Andre-Silva put the football on the penalty spot, took a few steps back, took a deep breath, and looked at Romero.
Romero pointed to his lower left corner and made a "please" gesture, indicating to Andre-Silva to shoot that place.
The referee blew the whistle and Andre-Silva started to run.
Arriving in front of the football, Andre-Silva pushed the ball towards the lower left corner pointed by Romero.
Andre-Silva, this is confidence in his own footwork.
What made his expression change drastically was that Romero actually pounced towards the lower left corner.
Romero's save this time was more resolute than the last time. His center of gravity sank quickly, his legs kicked off, and he flew out.
Romero's eyes were fixed on the football flying close to the ground, and he showed a smile of success.
"I pounced! Romero, amazing!"
"Unexpectedly, Romero guessed the right direction again. This time, he didn't let the football break his goal!"
"Andre-Silva's shot was saved!"
"Both sides are back on the same starting line!"
"I'm so nervous, my heart is going to stop beating!"
Andre-Silva grabbed his hair hard, with a trace of regret on his face.
Romero, on the other hand, looked up to the sky and roared. This ball was a psychological game between himself and the opponent, and he won.
After two rounds of the penalty shootout, it was 1:1. A player from each side had his penalty saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.
The atmosphere at the scene has been tense to the extreme, and the air is filled with tension.
Many fans no longer dared to watch anymore, burying their heads on the shoulders of their teammates and praying silently.
Li Mingyu also felt out of breath.
This is a penalty shootout.
Although Li Mingyu did not go on the court to play, he felt that if he were on the court now, he would probably not be able to move.
Penalty kicks were the biggest nightmare in his football career.
Even if he obtains the system, he obtains countless skills.
Li Mingyu can definitely be said to be a player with a big heart in the game now.
But only when faced with penalty kicks, Li Mingyu still found it difficult to face the nightmare in his heart.
I wonder if the goalkeeper who is still in the Real Madrid youth training camp still remembers the Li Mingyu game in which he saved three consecutive penalty kicks?
The atmosphere on the court became increasingly solemn.
Argentina's third penalty kicker held the football and slowly walked into the penalty area.
Argentina's midfield general, Paredes.
Although Portugal's goalkeeper Lopez correctly judged the direction of Paredes's penalty kick, the intensity and angle of the shot had reached the extreme. He could only watch the ball slide past his fingertips and hit the goal.
2:1, Argentina National Team leads by one goal.
Argentina National Team's players hugged each other in midfield.
Messi couldn't help but raise his arms and shout wildly.
At this moment, every additional goal is a huge psychological pressure for the opponent.
Sure enough, the pressure came to Portugal National Team's side.
Today Portugal National Team's goalkeeper is not very good, so their players must work harder.
Portugal National Team The third player to appear is their midfielder Bernardo Silva.
This midfielder from Manchester City looks very stable.
Romero looked at the information on the kettle in his hand again.
However, this time, Romero was not able to determine the opposite direction.
Moreover, Bernardo Silva used a shocking spoon penalty this time to deceive Romero and easily kick the ball into the goal.
Seeing this easy penalty kick, Li Mingyu in the stands couldn't help but stand up and applaud his club teammate.
Such a big heart, in such an important game, dares to use this kind of spoon to take a penalty kick, it is simply that he has extraordinary confidence in his own strength.
Admire, admire!
"Oh, it's Li. It seems that Li is very satisfied with the performance of his club teammates!"
"Li is applauding his teammate Bernardo Silva. It seems that their relationship in the club is still good!"
"I don't know if Li hopes Portugal will enter the finals, or if he hopes Argentina will enter the finals?"
"I also think Li still hopes to have another World Cup duel with Messi."
"I think Portugal is more likely to advance!"
2:2, Bernardo Silva used his big heart to help the team equalize the score again.
Now both sides still have two free throw opportunities. If the winner still cannot be decided, then there will be an even more suffocating way of deciding life or death with one goal.
The penalty shootout came to the critical fourth round.
Argentina National Team sent out their midfield general Palacios.
Palacios, who is only 24 years old this year, plays for Bayer Leverkusen and is the future core of Argentina National Team's midfield.
Facing Portugal National Team's goalkeeper Lopez, Palacios chose to defeat Palacios with one force and shoot straight away.
However, what made everyone sigh was that the ball was kicked into the stands by Palacios.
The young Palacios paid a heavy price for his youthful comeback.
Seeing himself kicking the ball away, Palacios couldn't bear the pressure and squatted on the ground covering his face.
In the distance, the Argentina players all looked in pain.
2:2, the score has not changed, but Portugal's advantage has arrived.
Portugal fans cheered excitedly.
The fans of Argentina put their hands together with solemn expressions, hoping that Argentina's goalkeeper Romero could save Argentina National Team again.
Portugal National Team The fourth player to appear is their defensive midfielder Ruben Neves.
Needless to say, Ruben Neves's footwork goes without saying. In Wolves, he is the team's first penalty kicker.
Argentina's goalkeeper Romero used his kettle magic weapon again. After a closer look, he should have kept Ruben Neves's penalty kick characteristics in mind.
Ruben Neves stood there expressionless, looking at Romero coldly.
Romero stood on the goal line, waving his arms constantly, trying to distract Ruben Neves.
Ruben Neves's eyes were firm, and he was not affected by Romero.
As the referee blew his whistle, Ruben Neves took firm steps and came to the front of the football. He pushed and shot, and the football flew towards the right side of Romero.
And Romero seemed to have already known the direction Ruben Neves was going to kick. The moment Ruben Neves shot, he started to move to his right, and with an easy side dive, he held the football directly in his arms.
Ruben Neves looked at all this in disbelief, standing there with a dull expression on his face, and slowly held his head with his hands.
He failed to seize such a good opportunity to take over.
At this time, the camera shot directly to Cristiano Ronaldo, who was standing near the center line, and a trace of astonishment appeared on Cristiano Ronaldo's face.
Even Cristiano Ronaldo didn't expect that Ruben Neves's penalty kick would be saved.
It can be said that among Portugal National Team, Ruben Neves's penalty kicks are definitely one of the best.
Due to the wonderful performance of Argentina goalkeeper Romero, currently, before the final round of penalty kicks, the score on the field is still 2:2.
In the end, hope must be given to the future of both parties.
Messi.
Cristiano Ronaldo.
Who among them can lead the team to the finals of World Cup?