Chapter 189 Group D
Chapter 189 Group D
The decisive battle of the group of death has come to an end, and the qualifying Dutch and Italian teams are waiting for their opponents.
After the first two rounds of group matches in Group D, the Spanish team won two games and accumulated six points to qualify ahead of schedule. Before the game, the head coach Calagones said that he was facing the last group match opponent, the last European Cup champion Greece At that time, a large number of starting players will be replaced.
Since the first position in the group has been locked in advance, and in order to prepare for the 1/4 knockout match with Italy, the Spanish team has no reason to take a risky move in this game.
Moreover, the team is not without injuries. Puyol's right foot and David Silva's toes have been injured. Harvey and Cazorla have also suffered collision injuries to varying degrees. In addition, players with yellow cards in previous games will not play. The wily Calagones naturally knew all of the above.
"I will make adjustments to the starting list for this game, and strive to give every player the opportunity to show their talents in the European Cup."
In this European Cup, the Spanish team can be said to have a strong lineup. Players like Alonso and Cesc Fabregas can only play as the "B team". Therefore, even if it is the second team, it is impossible for the Greek team to retreat unscathed. .
Qualifying ahead of schedule allowed Calagones to rotate freely. Xavi Alonso, who came off the bench in the first two games, finally started. It's a very important game for us."
Alonso, who served as the defensive midfielder, did not break his promise. Although it may not look amazing, Alonso played a key role in Spain's reversal process.
With his outstanding performance on both ends of the offense and defense, Alonso was officially selected by UEFA as the best player of the game after the game. Liverpool's midfielder also issued a victory declaration to Italy after the game: "Although Italy struggled at the beginning, they They are still world champions, there is no doubt about their level and level, but we are very confident and we are ready for everything."
The Spanish team flourished in three games and qualified with their heads held high, while the defending champion could only go home with a loss in all three games. Four years ago, the Greeks surprised the world. Today, four years later, the defending champion His performance was once again jaw-dropping.
After the first two rounds, Rehhagel's team lost consecutively without scoring a goal, and this campaign? This campaign faced Spain's substitute lineup. If Charisteas hadn't scored a goal, the defending champion would be in the The pillar of shame in the history of the European Cup is even more deadly.
Looking at the performance of the Greek team in the three games, compared with four years ago, the aging Aegean team can be said to have more energy than energy.
Facing Sweden in the first game, the Greek team did not lose to the Vikings in all technical statistics, but the overall strength was dragged down by individual weakness.
Ibrahimovic had a flash of inspiration, and a clearance error with Setaridis made the Greeks only lament the bad luck.
Facing Russia in the second game, the aggressive football that Rehhagel emphasized, the players did not bad, and the Greeks even had a slight advantage in terms of absolute scoring opportunities.
However, the fatal mistake of goalkeeper Nicopolidis made the team lose again. While losing the game, the Greek team's European Cup tour has also ended early.
Against Spain in this scene, the team's only goal is to score goals and points. Charisteas' goal did give the Greeks a glimmer of hope to score points.
But like the first game, the Spanish players have the advantage in personal quality, so that the Greek team can only watch the opponent complete the reversal.
When the Spanish teenager De La Reid kicked the goal, when Guisa reversed offside and realized the reversal, neither Basinas nor De Las could be seen from their backs." yesterday".
After this defeat, Greece lost all three games and only scored one goal, which has created the worst record of the defending champion in the history of the European Cup finals.
Objectively speaking, it is a miracle that this Greek team can return to the main match as the first in the group in the preliminaries. This team has not changed much in terms of personnel in the past four years, and the tactics There is no innovation. I believe that the most optimistic Greek fans will not have much hope for the team's defense before the start of the game.
Although the Greek team has been eliminated and created the worst record, fans should not be surprised. Throughout the history of the past 12 European Cups, no team has been able to defend the title. This has become one of the curses of the European Cup.
In the past four European Cups, except for the last France, the three defending champions failed to qualify in the group stage of the main match. In 1996, Denmark returned home with 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss and 4 points in the group stage. After 2000, the German team smashed the golden signboard of the German chariot with a humiliating performance of only 1 point in 3 games.
But Greece and the above-mentioned teams are far from the worst defending champions in history. In the European Cup held in Germany in 1988, the defending champion France did not even qualify for the main match. The Gallic Rooster thus became the history of the European Cup The only defending champion in the world that failed to make it out of the qualifiers.
Compared with the French team back then, the "achievements" of today's Greek team should not allow them to bear more blame. After all, the quality of the championship four years ago was not too high.
The Greek team went home, and at the same time, another life-and-death battle that didn't need to be judged by people's faces also started at the same time.
The amazing coach Hiddink has led different teams to qualify for the group stage in the three World Cups. Will Russia, which was considered a dark horse before the game, continue this law.
In Hiddink's view, the Swedish team is a very strong team. Many players have played in the top European leagues. Moreover, as the oldest team in this European Cup, the team's personnel have cooperated with each other for a long time and have a good relationship. tacit agreement.
But this by no means means that the Russian team will be caught without a fight, and the Swedish team can keep a tie, but Russia must win, and this game should be played as a knockout game, winning or going home, there is no other choice.
After defeating the defending champion Greece in the last round, Hiddink's team has basically come out of the shadow of losing to Spain by a big score in the first game, and the team's morale is now high.
At the press conference before the game, Hiddink repeatedly emphasized that he must stare at the opponent's number one star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and that he will arrange special personnel to stay close to him, and emphasized that he will not offend Spain in defending Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Vicki's mistakes gave the Swedish tower so much room to play.
Hiddink seemed very confident about the appearance of the group. As early as when Russia beat England to advance and eliminated the latter from the qualifiers, Hiddink once released a bold statement: "We will surprise the world in the finals next year!"
Of course, Hiddink absolutely has the confidence to say such a thing. For more than 10 years, he has proved his magic again and again.
For more than 10 years, no matter which team Hiddink leads, he will be able to qualify for the group stage in the competition, which has almost become an iron law.
In 2008, he once again challenged a new goal, leading the Russian team. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Russian team has never reached the quarter-finals in the European Cup. Moreover, Russia participated in the 1994 World Cup and the 2002 World Cup. He went home after the group stage, which can be called the "lost star" of the competition, but this time, Hiddink firmly believes that he can succeed.
In fact, Russia's performance at the beginning of this European Cup was quite bad. After the 1:4 loss to Spain, many people predicted that the strength of the Russian team was overestimated by people, and Hiddink was nothing more than that.
But looking at it now, Russia's sluggish performance in the first game is exactly like Hiddink's "Tian Ji horse racing" trick. Due to the suspension of the midfielder Arshavin, Hiddink chose to hide his strength in front of Spain and go all out to play. The strategy of the two wars, now, this strategy is both reasonable and successful.
In this game, Hiddink defeated the Swedish coach Lagerback, and the Russian team has an overwhelming advantage. This is not only a victory for the players, but also a tactical success for the coach.
2:0!
This complete victory proves that Hiddink was able to create so many myths, and it is by no means in vain. It can no longer be explained by the word luck alone.
Hiddink's magic in this game, the most important point is his use of Pavlyuchenko. The tall center is often called "the king of the restricted area" by the fans, but if this air fighter is still like a "fox in the restricted area" If so, then he must be a rare and outstanding striker. There is no doubt that what Pavlyuchenko played in this game is such a striker.
In the game against Sweden, Russia almost completely controlled the process of the game, and it was Pavlyuchenko, the big fox who can always show his strength stably, who converted the advantage into victory.
The match between the Swedish team and the Russian team is directly related to who can get the last ticket to the quarter-finals of this European Cup. The Swedish team can't help but work hard in the game, but the Russian team seems to be quite relaxed on offense.
Only in the 24th minute of the game, Pavlyuchenko was in the penalty area, received a pass from his teammate, and made a sideways shot at the first time, converting the Russian team's fierce offensive into victory.
Judging from the running route of this goal, the tall Pavlyuchenko did not let himself become a fortress-like figure. He first made a small sprint to the back of the penalty area, and then immediately ran back to the penalty spot. A simple move will get rid of the man-marked Swedish defender and create an opportunity for himself to single out the goalkeeper without marking.
Pavlyuchenko's performance in this goal is actually just a microcosm of his flexible running position. From the perspective of the whole game, Pavlyuchenko has almost never been matched by the opponent in the penalty area. From this point of view, Pavlyuchenko is definitely a fox-like figure in the penalty area, a very smart forward on the field.
After the game, the Russian media also regarded Pavlyuchenko as the team's hero, "Russia's national hero", "20 years ago, the Russians once again appeared in the European Cup knockout guide", and there were countless words of praise. But for them, Pavlyuchenko's performance is something they are used to. For the description of Pavlyuchenko's wonderful running position, the media unanimously used the sentence "as smart and outstanding as ever."
Pavlyuchenko's cleverness is not only reflected in creating shooting opportunities for himself. As the team's center and offensive fulcrum, Pavlyuchenko's performance can be compared with Italian center Toni.
The Italian has completely become a heavy artillery for the team against the French team. Most of the passes from his teammates are concentrated on his head and feet, but Tony's performance seems to be a bit disappointing.
In this game, Pavlyuchenko is more like a pawn in a team's overall offense. While looking for shooting opportunities, Pavlyuchenko is still working hard to pull back and forth to create opportunities for his teammates to score goals.
It can be said that Pavlyuchenko's flexible movement as a center is the main reason why the Russian team's offense can show such power. Too much.
Pavlyuchenko knocked on the door of victory for Russia, but another person injected soul into this Russian team. This person is Arshavin, the new czar of Russian football after Mostovoi.
Because of being suspended, Arshavin failed to participate in the first two group matches. In the game against Sweden, Arshavin showed his comprehensive abilities to the fullest.
For the Russians, they must win to qualify from the group. Before Pavlyuchenko's goal, the Swedish team had no decent offensive, but when Russia took the lead, the Swedish team gradually strengthened its offensive.
But Arshavin's goal in the second half made the Swedes completely lose hope of an equalizer. His goal also completely laid the foundation for the Russian team to reach the top 8 knockout rounds of the European Cup for the first time in history.
Arshavin's role in this goal is definitely more than just a goal scorer. From the time when the midfielder intercepted the ball, the Russian team only used three passes and one shot to complete the goal. This goal is not only the goal scorer of the team, but also the planner of the goal.
With the goals of Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin, the Russian team advanced, and then Hiddink will face his homeland, the Netherlands.
Russia advanced and Sweden was eliminated, which also marked the end of Ibrahimovic's second European Cup tour.
After the game, Gazzetta dello Sport used "Ibra was eliminated", not "the Swedish team was eliminated", and made a discussion: a bad Swedish team, and an excellent Ibrahimovic Say goodbye to the contest together.
Indeed, Zlatan Ibrahimovic played very well in this cup, but after all, he only has two legs. His performance in this competition is enough to shake off the hat of "opportunity-wasting shooter" on his head .
After three games, Ibrahimovic scored two goals, one was a long-range shot from outside the penalty area, and the other was a chic shot from inside the penalty area. Such efficiency is enough to prove that Ibrahimovic's talent is outstanding. However, unfortunately, Ibrahimovic got too few opportunities, and he couldn't get the support of his teammates at all.
After being out, Zlatan Ibrahimovic also seemed very angry. He, who has always been outspoken, bombarded everyone who he thought should be in charge after the game: "I don't understand why the one who was eliminated in the end It will be us, I tried my best in the game, but some people just hang out on the court for 90 minutes, but such people can get the chance to start consecutively, while some originally talented players, but Just sitting on the bench and someone has to be held accountable for that."
Everyone knows who Ibrahimovic is referring to. He has always been dissatisfied with Ljungberg holding the main position of the team. He has complained before, but this time, it just exploded.
But no matter what, the game is over, and Ibrahimovic can only accept the result helplessly.
The smoke cleared in the European Cup group stage, and the knockout stage will begin immediately.
Belgium vs. Germany, this is a contest between the same style of football, but Belgium is now welcoming Digan back, and the outcome of this game is full of variables.
No one can ignore the power of Deegan, even the proud Germans, when they learned that their team will face Belgium in the knockout round, the coach of the German team Loew couldn't help but feel a little disappointed: "Belgium is a very difficult team to deal with. Opponents, if they add Degan, they will have the ability to challenge any team in the world, we really need to prepare well for this game!"
The Germans really have to be cautious. If they continue to continue the state of the previous group stage, the weak defense line will not be able to withstand Digan's crazy impact.
However, the tough nerves of the Germans is also a factor that cannot be ignored. No one knows whether they will suddenly explode into a small universe in the knockout round and kill Belgium in a team football game.
In the contest between Turkey and Croatia, people have always been optimistic about Croatia, thinking that Croatia will be black to the end and reproduce their magic in 1998.
Netherlands vs. Russia, this will be a contest between the Dutch team and the fake Dutch team, and it is really impossible to tell who is real and who is fake. Basten has injected the practicality of Italian football into the Netherlands, and Hiddink It brought the essence of Dutch football Total Football to Russia.
Finally, it is Italy and Spain. Italy has never lost to Spain in previous competitions, but Spanish football players have never looked down on Italian football style. In the contest between the two, who will win the final victory? Whether the Spanish spears are sharp or the Italians are solid shields, this will be tested by the competition.