Chapter 53: New and Old Tsars

Chapter 53: New and Old Tsars

In the 1960s, the Soviets once stood on the highest podium in European football. In that era, neither the arrogant Italians nor the originator of modern football, England, could break through the gate guarded by Yashin. The European Championships, carefully planned by the Western Europeans, inadvertently made the Soviets, whom they looked down upon, achieve success.

From then on, the Soviet Union was a team that could not be ignored in European football. Until the 1988 European Cup before the disintegration of the 1990s, their performance in the final also amazed the Dutch who eventually won the championship.

In fact, the talents displayed by the Soviet people in football are no less than those of other countries, but because they pay more attention to tactics and discipline, this often gives people the feeling that they are not creative enough.

When the Soviet Union turned into fifteen countries overnight, their football was also severely affected. People were more concerned about whether they could have enough to eat and whether the economy could recover. Football had already become a phenomenon in those years. Not that important.

Later, because of Shevchenko, Ukraine seemed to be the true successor to the Soviet football legacy. In the first round of the European Cup group stage, Shevchenko's performance really moved everyone, but the 35-year-old Ukrainian nuclear warhead finally He is getting old and his career will end after the European Cup.

Fortunately, Eastern European fans don't have to worry about the idol vacuum. At the European Cup, which was held for the first time in Eastern Europe, Russia's new tsar Zagoyev emerged from the sky like a rocket. He shocked the whole of Europe just like Arshavin four years ago. He also told People all over the world, Russian football is truly connected by blood to Soviet football.

In the first round against the Czech Republic, Zagoev scored twice and became famous in Europe. After the second game, he and Deegan were tied for the top scorer list.

In the second match of Group A, Poland ended up drawing with Russia. The host country still failed to win a victory, and Russia failed to continue the good momentum of winning in the first round to secure qualification in advance.

Judging from the game process, Poland, which occupies the advantage of home court, has a greater advantage. As the elite of the Polish team, Dortmund's top three are still eye-catching. Lewandowski, Blaszczykovski, and Piszczek All the team's attacks were handled by one man, including captain Blaszczykovsky's world-shattering shot that shocked everyone.

In this game, although Russia was far inferior to Poland in terms of offense, its ball possession rate and number of passes were much higher than those of the host nation. Coupled with the genius of the new Tsar Zagoev, Russia finally Got one point.

The goal came in the 37th minute of the first half. Arshavin took a free kick from the left side of the penalty area. Zagoev got rid of the defender like a ghost again, cut into the small penalty area, and hit the goal with a powerful header. Succeeded, Zagoev has scored three goals in the two group matches, and is obviously the number one star of the Russian team.

He made his debut in the Russian Super League at the age of 17, and received a ticket to the national team just a few months later. Zagoev's rise was so rapid that although he once gave up CSKA's main position to the Japanese Keisuke Honda last year due to injury, This season he has re-emerged as the team's core figure.

Before the start of the European Cup, Zagoev was selected as the most noteworthy new star of this tournament. After the first round, he scored twice and his dazzling brilliance was far better than that of Balotelli and Balotelli who were thinking about life. Gotze, who had no chance to play, and Chamberlain, who only had a glimpse, became the top favorites for the Golden Boot.

In the Russian team, which has an average age of 28 and looks very old-fashioned, Zagoev has brought a new trend. Kozakov broke the historical record of missed shots in the European Cup in the first round. Behind him, Zagoev was several times more efficient. He took six shots in two rounds, five of which were on target, and all of his first three shots were on target.

The last time a new star like Zagoev shocked Europe was Rooney in the 2004 European Cup. At that time, the England little king, who was only 18 years old, single-handedly scored the ball after the Three Lions lost to France in their first game. The team was sent to the quarterfinals. In the two Tianwangshan battles, he scored two goals to help England sweep Switzerland with three goals. In the final game of the group stage, he once again scored two goals to help Eriksson's team reverse Croatia.

Now that there is one round left in the group stage, Zagoev still has a chance to surpass Rooney's performance of four goals in three games, and whether Russia can qualify also relies on his young shoulders.

Arshavin once recommended Zagoev to Wenger. However, with the super performance in this European Cup, it is conceivable that CSKA's asking price for Zagoev will at least double, which is something Arsenal cannot afford. It's a luxury, and only clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea that write checks without looking at numbers can afford it.

In the past season, CSKA Moscow's Zagoev continued to improve. Everyone believed that he was destined to have a glorious future, but Zagoev couldn't wait any longer. He scored two goals in the first game and another in the second game. After scoring a goal, this post-90s generation represented all the post-90s generation in the European Cup and issued a declaration to challenge his predecessors.

Perhaps by the time of the next major competition, the post-90s generation will take over the European Cup and World Cup. After all, young people will surely become the masters of this world.

However, for now, it seems that the veterans are not willing to withdraw from the stage of history so early. Although before the start of this cup, some veterans have been labeled as "no longer good". In the football world, there are some Such players perform like gods in the club, but are somewhat unsatisfactory in the national team. The representative is obviously Messi. There is another type of player. In the words of the media, his performance in the national team is "evident to all", but when he returns to the club, his performance is "horrible". The representative of this type of player is the old Russian Tsar Arshavin.

In this European Cup, Zagoev, a genius born in the 1990s in the Russian team, emerged and scored consecutive goals. Just when many media crowned him the "New Tsar", the real Russian Tsar showed one thing: he did not Not going to give way.

After Arshavin's world-class performance in the first game against the Czech Republic, he once again provided a wonderful assist in the second game.

To be fair, Arshavin was not in good condition today. The rumors before the game that he had a minor foot injury were not like smoke bombs.

Although the old Tsar ran wildly all over the field in this game, the success rate of one-on-one confrontations was far not as high as in the first game. Moreover, the Russian team lost the ball because Arshavin's pass in the frontcourt was too wide and was intercepted. Poland Due to the counterattack, but even such a Arshavin, who is only half in shape, is still an indispensable tsar of Russia.

In addition to assisting Zagoev, Arshavin also passed several threatening balls in the game, three of which were winning opportunities.

The first time was in the eighth minute of the game. Arshavin made a direct pass and Kerzhakov had a near-single chance against the goalkeeper. Unfortunately, the Russian forward handled the ball too complicatedly and missed the opportunity.

The second time was in the 25th minute. His cross from the left allowed Kerzhakov to head over the line in the small penalty area. Unfortunately, this opportunity was missed again.

Fortunately, Arshavin's third wonderful pass resulted in a goal. In the 37th minute, Arshavin's precise free kick created an opportunity in the penalty area, and Zagoev successfully scored.

Of the past seven goals of the Russian team in the World Series, five were related to Arshavin, one was scored by him and four were assisted by him.

In the face of such data, people have to admit that the Russian captain is the real leader of this team. Although Zagoev's performance is good enough, the difference between the attacker and the core is that although the former is currently the team's number one "Pioneering general", but only the latter is the real "emperor" and "handsome". Arshavin's status in this Russian team is beyond doubt.

Arshavin's wonderful performance has aroused heated discussions in the British media. Arshavin turned out to be a star in the 2008 European Cup and shocked Europe, so he chose to join Arsenal.

However, although Arshavin had a wonderful performance of "Big Four", in the later period, due to his constant guest center and other roles, Arshavin gradually became marginalized in the team. Now he is loaned out of the team and is likely to end up at the Emirates Stadium.

After watching Arshavin's wonderful performance in the European Cup, will Wenger change his mind?

Arshavin himself made it clear in an interview that he still hopes to return to Arsenal. However, the mainstream British media are not optimistic because Wenger has always been relatively "ruthless" towards veterans.

Of course, even if Arshavin cannot stay with the team, Wenger would like to see him perform like this. After all, it would be good to get more transfer fees.

When Arshavin was like a hero in the national team, he destroyed the city and made extraordinary achievements. The whole world was lamenting: Why was such an outstanding star not played in Arsenal?

This is not important. What is important is that under the premise that Russia has bright prospects for qualifying, the Tsar will continue to bring greater tests to more teams in the European Cup.

Although the second game only resulted in a draw, there is no doubt that Russia will continue the madness of four years ago in this European Cup. The old tsar is in the center to provide support, and the new tsar charges into the battle. Such a formation and equipment, People have reason to give the Russian team more expectations.

Perhaps the once-sinked Russian football has really reached the time to be envied. The old tsar Arshavin is still brave, and the new tsar Zagoyev is already eager to take over.

However, it may be a little early for this young man to surpass his predecessors and completely become the protagonist. Arshavin, whose performance is getting better and better, is also using one report card after another to tell people who like football around the world: From now on From 2008 to 2012, the Czar has been proving to the world that the European Cup is my place!

At the post-match press conference, Russian coach Advocaat believed that his team performed better, and also praised the outstanding performance of Arshavin and Dzagoev, the old and new generations of czars.

"The Polish team played well tonight. They played very bravely, but Russia was the better team. We created more opportunities, but unfortunately they were all missed one by one. We allowed our opponents to attack a little bit, which made them Got a lot of good chances, which means the team's defense needs to strengthen, but overall, I think the draw is a good result, you know it is equivalent to an away game, they have the support of 40,000 fans behind them , I am very pleased with the performance of Arshavin and Zagoev today, they played their best, which is very important!"

In addition, Advocaat also explained why he did not replace the exhausted Arshavin: "Arshavin should stay on the court. He is the team's most threatening player. He may have made some mistakes defensively, but once he wins When he gets the ball, chances will be created. I did consider changing him, but every time he got the ball, I gave up the idea."

Immediately afterwards, Advocaat was asked about Belgium, the last opponent in the group stage. Deegan reappeared in the starting lineup, and when playing against the Czech team, he completely dominated the game. This made Advocaat I felt a lot of pressure instantly: "Belgium with Deegan and Belgium without Deegan are completely two teams. However, this is not a reason for us to give up. We will try our best in the last round of the group stage. Belgium is very strong." , our strength is not bad, they have Degan, and we also have Arshavin and Zagoyev. I think the odds of who wins and who loses in the last round of the group stage are 50-50!"

The reporters present couldn't help but feel a little disdainful, 50/50, you are too brave, right?

If you say it, you haven't said it yet!

But then Advocaat kept silent, and reporters had to go to Poland coach Smuda for news.

Later, the Polish team's coach Smuda also affirmed the team's performance today: "We played very actively and bravely on the court today and created some opportunities, especially that goal. I want to thank my captain. , he completed a great game, and now we have two points, but if we want to appear, this is obviously not enough, we need more points. In the last game, we will face the Czech Republic, and the Czech Republic is A strong opponent, but I have great confidence in my team. We are always doing better and better. Today's game proved this. The team is fully capable of winning the Czech Republic in the next game. Now Everyone has seen the hope of advancing to the knockout rounds and will definitely try their best to fight for this opportunity. Of course, our fate will depend on another game. I don't think there will be a draw in that game. Belgium and Russia are still There is a danger of being eliminated, so they will definitely try their best in the game!"

Smuda is singing praises for Belgium and Russia!

Of course, what is more worrying is that the two teams will really have a tacit match. In that case, Poland, which has the lowest goal difference, will be in tragedy.

Originally Group A was known as the most balanced group in this European Cup. However, after Deegan returned to Belgium's starting lineup, this balance was destroyed. The current form of the four teams is completely unsightly. Understand.

The host Poland was able to lead by one goal and was besieged and equalized by Belgium, which was missing Deegan. In the end, it even almost lost the game, but then it was able to suppress Russia, which bloodied the Czech Republic in the first game.

The Czech Republic was defeated by Russia, and then was completely defeated by Belgium, which had Degan. The once-famous Czech team completely lost its prestige, and its early exit was also a display of strength.

After Belgium was tied with Poland in the first game, Belgium welcomed Deegan again. It was like a major change of blood, and they immediately defeated the Czech Republic with three goals.

After Russia bloodbathed the Czech Republic in the first game, they almost lost to the obviously weaker host Poland in the second game.

The ups and downs of performance prove that the strength of the teams in this group is indeed not much different, and the four teams are far from mature. The level of performance in the game will also change greatly due to different situations.

In other words, any outcome of the clash between these four teams is possible. No team can say before the game that it will definitely beat the other team. For example, Russia played against Belgium in the last round of the group stage. , which means that the qualifying situation of this group is still unclear after two rounds, and a small accident may lead to earth-shaking changes.

Currently in the standings of Group A, Russia and Belgium are leading the group with one win and one draw with four points. Poland has two draws with two games and ranks third in the group. The Czech Republic has lost two games and ranks fourth with zero points. Get out early.

Obviously, from a mathematical point of view, the team with the leading points has the upper hand in the qualifying competition, especially Belgium and Russia only need to score one more point to ensure qualifying, and if Poland wins the Czech Republic, and Belgium and Russia's If the game is decided, there is a high possibility of qualifying.

In the final round, there was a head-on battle between Belgium and Russia, while the host's opponent was the Czech Republic, which had limited strength. Obviously, Poland had a slightly greater hope of winning at home than the Czech Republic.

But the game hasn't started yet, so no one can tell what will happen now, but some people are unwilling to continue to struggle with this issue.

"There's nothing to think about. We will definitely win the last game, and then we have to consider our opponents in the knockout rounds. As for what happened within our team, it's not time to talk about it yet!"

The person who said these words was, of course, Deegan. Only this madman would book victory before the game started, and no one dared to refute it.

Because facts have proven that no one who plays against Deegan will have a good result in the end. Ibrahimovic running naked and journalists from many countries partying in groups are precedents.

Didn't you see how miserable Deegan was in Barcelona in the past two seasons? Apart from Catalan reporters, few people dared to criticize him?

In the end, Deegan came on as a substitute in the Champions League final and scored two goals in a row, causing the reporters to have their cheeks swollen.

It's better to keep your mouth shut for now, and wait until the moment the mystery is revealed. Whatever you have to say is stored in your stomach, just wait for that moment to come out.