Chapter 46: The German-Portuguese War

After the battle between the Netherlands and Denmark, another contest in Group B followed, Portugal vs. Germany. This game was also a competition between the two top strikers Kimaro and Gomez. In the end The Portuguese striker failed to make a difference in the match as he lost to Gomez, who scored with a powerful header to help his team secure an important victory.

Some media commented after the game that Golden Mauro's performance in this game was completely unsatisfactory and was far inferior to the level he showed in Real Madrid last season. When the team needed him most, Golden Mauro disappeared. In fact, every time Putting on the jersey of the Portuguese national team, Mauro's performance will always be dark gray.

From the beginning of this game, Portugal made it clear that they were going to play around their number one star, Golden Mauro. After the Real Madrid star received the football for the first time in this game, he faced Boateng, who was defending him, and performed an amazing performance. His dazzling cycling skills, however, the football he passed out was missed by Postiga, and the ball was also destroyed by Ram.

After that, until the start of the second half, Golden Mauro disappeared for such a long time. It was not until the 64th minute of the second half that Golden Mauro got a second better chance, Moutinho passed the ball diagonally. , Kimaro broke into the left side of the penalty area and prepared to shoot, but Boateng took the first step and shoved it out of the baseline.

When the German team broke the deadlock and the team fell behind, Golden Mauro also had several opportunities to threaten the German team's goal, but in the end he failed to help the Portuguese team equalize the score. Golden Mauro's 2012 European Cup started with a defeat and zero goals. Start.

This has to be said to be a very strange phenomenon. In the club, Mauro played very well. He won the Ballon d'Or award when he was at Manchester United. In three seasons at Real Madrid, he scored in 144 games. Scored 146 goals, averaging an astonishing 1.02 goals per game.

However, in Portugal, Mauro's scoring efficiency has dropped significantly. Including this game, he only scored 32 goals in 91 games, averaging 0.35 goals per game, which is almost only 1/3 of his scoring efficiency in Real Madrid.

Spanish media once said that it seems difficult to find a reasonable explanation for the fact that Mauro's scoring efficiency in the national team is so much lower than that in the club, even if the strength of the Portuguese national team is indeed much worse than Real Madrid.

Historically, in general, great stars have performed equally well whether in the national team or in the club, such as Pele, Eusebio, Charlton, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Van Basten, Ma This is true for Ladonna and Baggio. If we talk about it now, the best example is Deegan. When he was in Florence, he helped the team dominate Europe, and then helped the team dominate the world in the national team.

Di Stefano is an exception, but that is also because he suffered an injury when he was preparing to represent Spain in the 1962 World Cup.

However, in recent years, in world football, apart from Deegan, the three talented players Kaka, Golden Mauro and Messi have performed far less well in the national team than in the club. However, Kaka still has time to shine in the national team. Now Messi is also starting to find his feet in Argentina, while Mauro seems to still be a little lost.

So what's the problem with Kimaro in the national team?

It's obviously a problem with his mentality. Portugal's biggest problem now is that it lacks a leader in the creative area. The team does not have the great passers it had in the past, such as Rui Costa.

Golden Mauro needs such a passing specialist to avoid turning himself into a selfish person again. If there is such a passer, then Golden Mauro does not have to find the football, pass the ball, and then single-handedly score the goal.

Although Kimaro is excellent, he also needs huge support behind him so that he can play an important role and complete wonderful actions. He cannot always rush around the court and do everything by himself.

When playing for the national team, Kimaro cannot think that he can be superior to other players. His role in Real Madrid is very important. He plays freely in the frontcourt and the entire team is behind him. .

In the national team, Kim Mauro obviously also hopes that the whole team will do their best for him, but this is not the case. Portugal as a whole cannot provide the support of Real Madrid as a whole. Therefore, when he comes to the national team, he cannot have the idea of "I must be the best." He must be the best for the team and cannot be the best for himself.

But in fact, Kimaro came to the Portuguese national team with the idea of "I must be the best". He hoped that everyone would serve him, but it was obvious that he was a little wishful thinking.

So, the final result is just like the result of this game!

Look up to the sky and sigh, look up to the sky and sigh, look up to the sky and sigh, look up to the sky and sigh!

This is Golden Mauro in the 2012 European Cup!

All four shots hit the German team's goal frame, but failed to penetrate Neuer's fingers. Coupled with the incompetence of his teammates around him, the Portuguese captain only felt depressed and disappointed in a defeat!

The most efficient goalscorer in the history of Real Madrid, who has great fame in the club, has a habit of shutting down when he comes to the national team. The defeat in the first game not only cast a shadow on Portugal's qualifying for the group, but also made Mauro's long-awaited Ballon d'Or award a possibility. unstable.

Don't be afraid of opponents who are like gods, but be afraid of teammates who are like pigs.

Mauro, who was admired by all the stars in Real Madrid, seemed very tired when he returned to the national team. He not only had to create opportunities, but also had to complete the final blow himself. He once again lost himself in the choice of organization and finishing.

Postiga's goal-scoring ability on the front line is average, and he mostly just disturbs the opponent's defense and creates opportunities for his teammates. Coentrao played hard and actively, but he was exhausted under the repeated attacks of Ozil and Muller, which really gave him a good performance. Kim Mauro's support is very limited. At this time, Kim Mauro must be thinking: How great it would be to play in the European Cup with Real Madrid!

Because of the lack of a midfielder who can send the final pass, the main route map of the Portuguese team's offense is drawn by the wing. Ferreira and Coentrao serve as full-backs, and Nani and Kimaro serve as wingers, allowing the Portuguese national team's The tactics tend to be from the outside in, placing speed and crossing in a very important position.

However, only the wing but lack of support from the center is also a major weakness of the Portuguese national team. The result of repeated crosses that ended up being fruitless was that Portugal's entire offense was in vain, and the team ended up with 0: 1 lost to Germany.

Before the game, Portugal national team coach Bento expressed concerns about the team's lack of offensive strength: "We hope to be a team in control of the situation. Because of the characteristics of our players and the specific circumstances of the game, we must fight back. But we will not rely entirely on counterattacks. We have to organize the offense so that when the team loses the ball, it must become very strong to quickly complete the counterattack. The wings and the center must be combined. It is impossible to have only the wings without the center. I hope the team can absorb this concept."

The most criticized aspect of Bento's team during the qualifying stage was the team's inability to open up the opponent's defense without giving the opponent space.

The Portuguese team does not lack defensive strength. In the midfielder position, it can arrange the three midfielder combination of Veloso, Meireles and Moutinho. Their running ability is very good, but they lack rhythm. They couldn't keep the tactics balanced when the ball was on the ball.

Being placed in the death group with the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, the Portuguese team had to pursue more tactics, which made the German team quite difficult to play against Portugal.

However, although Portugal is indeed a very deep team, the team has always been affected by the lack of a strong center. This is an area that Portugal has never been able to strengthen.

Although Portugal has Postiga and Almeida, these two players are in average condition and cannot be called first-class centers. Although Portugal also has Kim Mauro, an absolute superstar who has scored countless goals in Real Madrid, this Real Madrid star is also He has no skills at all. Without the support of his teammates, he cannot take care of both positions.

"For many years, everyone has been saying that Portugal lacks a good center, even when Pauleta was still playing. You must know that he is the player with the most goals in the Portuguese team. We do not have a natural center, but those who Players who play out wide can easily score goals."

Bento tried to cover up the team's shortcomings in this way, but it turned out that people's concerns were not groundless. In the game against Germany, Postiga only shot once and failed to hit the goal. Substitute forward Almeida even more Zero shots, lack of defenders in the middle, and lack of finishing touches became a major reason for the Portuguese team's defeat.

In sharp contrast to Portugal is Germany, where Gomez used a powerful header to prove that powerful centers still have a huge role in modern football.

Focusing on the wing is Portugal's current tactic, but the role of the wing must ultimately be reflected through the center. However, neither Queiroz nor Bento has solved the center problem.

Portugal has not produced an outstanding center for a long time. From Joao Pinto and Sa Pinto in the 2000 European Cup to Gomez and Pauleta, none of them are strong centers.

Almeida fits the characteristics of a strong center, but neither Queiroz nor Bento appreciate him very much. As a regular player of the Portuguese team, Postiga has now obtained a main position, but he still cannot change the softness of Portugal's forward line. The problem.

The Portuguese media pessimistically expressed that the national team may never be able to solve this problem. Therefore, what Portugal urgently needs now is Mauro's goal, not his cross.

It can even be said that how many goals scored by Mauro will determine how far Portugal can go in this European Cup.

The Group of Death, the first showdown between two strong teams, was much duller than expected. The German team, which had the control, had no more threats except scoring goals, while the relatively inferior Portuguese team, Instead, they found more scoring opportunities. Fortunately, the German team's goalpost helped twice. This was God's will.

But the human factor is more important. Neuer's god-level performance killed the Portuguese's possibility of equalizing or even overtaking. It can be said that although there are not many high-light shots, Neuer is the most important player in the first four games of the European Cup. Play your best.

Neuer's first real save in this game actually came around the 81st minute of the second half. It was difficult for Neuer to wait so long to show off his skills as he moved around the goal line.

At that time, Camaro rushed forward with a ball from the left, and then suddenly fired a low ball. The ball went straight to the dead corner near the goal. This was a skill that Camaro frequently used in the league and the Champions League.

Due to the fast speed of the ball, the goalkeeper often saves it and triggers the opponent's second attack. Neuer is so prepared. He lowers his center of gravity as quickly as possible and dives out with a carp posture, with a soft hand. With strength, there is a kind of relaxation of gently teasing the water, and there is also a vigorous strike like Chinese Kung Fu. Why is it so complicated?

Because blocking out is only the foundation, hitting the ball to a non-dangerous area is the foundation. The golden mano was holding his breath when he saved the ball. He is the most powerful candidate for the Ballon d'Or this year. He finally made a common shot in the league, but was slapped by Neuer. "Eliminate"!

But there is no doubt that blocking Varela's shot at the last minute of the game was Neuer's best gift to the German fans who longed for victory.

The Portuguese team rarely made a straight transition in the German team's penalty area. From left to right, it completely broke the German team's defense. When the ball reached Varela's feet, the angle he could choose was any angle of the goal. No one was interested in him. Ability to implement effective defense.

At this time, Neuer truly showed the ability of a world-class goalkeeper to attack one-on-one. Instead of judging which direction to start the shot, he would have fully stretched his body and rushed towards the ball winner with a complete horizontal split.

This move is the greatest psychological shock that a goalkeeper can give to a single shooter, forcing the person who gets the ball to shoot in a hurry. Sure enough, Varela hurriedly chose a corner approach when Neuer rushed over desperately and Lahm tackled from the side. Shooting, which is the most common one-on-one shooting method, how can it escape the "drag and earth net" created by Neuer? !

This god-level save made Jin Maoluo, who was watching from the sidelines, look up to the sky and sigh, as if the fighting spirit in his heart had dissipated. With such a godly goalkeeper here, it would be in vain to score a goal today!

In such a group of death, it is too difficult to score more goals, and conceding fewer goals is still worth fighting for. Judging from the first round of competition, Neuer should be the most reassuring among the four goalkeepers. of.

With such a goalkeeper, Loew can take more time to study the offense. A German team that cannot produce mercury leakage effect is not a real German team. Once it encounters a strong team with full offensive firepower, it cannot rely on Neuer. You can pass the test if you save it!

Neuer's performance ensured that the German team did not lose the goal, while Gomez's performance directly helped the German team win this victory.

I still remember that in the last European Cup, Gomez, who had high hopes at the time, performed like a disaster. Loew entrusted him with an important task, but he failed to score a goal. Release earth-shattering anti-aircraft cannons.

There was also a very dramatic scene in this game: when the German team was unable to attack for a long time, Loew decided to replace the forward Gomez with veteran Klose. However, Klose was already standing on the sidelines. At this time, Gomez broke the deadlock and scored with a header.

Loew said after the game: "Gomez's goal is very important for the entire team, which allowed us to win 1:0, and victory is undoubtedly the most important!"

He did not deny the decision at the time: "I have decided to replace Gomez with Klose because I think I should bring some fresh power to the team near the end of the game."

I believe that with this goal, Gomez's situation in the national team can also be changed. At least he no longer has to bear the name of incompetence.

At the end of the game, another strong team in the same group, the Netherlands, was unexpectedly defeated by Denmark, which gave the winning German team a very advantageous position.

"After the first round, the losing team will obviously face a very difficult situation," Loew said, commenting on the situation after the first round of the death group. "The Dutch team is now facing particularly high pressure, and we have to be optimistic. Much more, but we have to keep working hard because the game has only just begun."

"This was a very tough game," German team captain Lahm also said in an interview in the mixed zone after the game, "but winning the game is the most important, and victory belongs to the entire team."

Gomez admitted after the game that he did feel pressure when he saw Klose standing on the sidelines: "I know this very well, Klose will play, so I need to thank the coach even more for trusting me. , gave me enough time."

Khedira, who provided assists for Gomez, said: "Today's game is very important, and it is particularly demanding physically. This made us feel a little exhausted in the final stage, but we did not relax, although the Portuguese team was very prepared. Not enough, but we won!"

Compared with the joy of the German team, the Portuguese team erupted with discordant voices. The reason is that after the first half of today, as the team's top star Kim Mauro returned to the locker room, he didn't want to In order to help the team win, he took the time to change his hairstyle.

After the game, some media also showed the different looks of Jin Maoluo in the first and second half. For a while, the world was in an uproar.

Jin Maoluo, you came to the European Cup, are you here to compete, or are you here to show off? ?

When a reporter interviewed Jin Maoluo about this issue, he did not feel sorry at all. Instead, he said: "As a public figure, I always ensure my appearance. Is this wrong?"

All right! What you said makes sense!

But now it's better to think carefully about what to do to help the team get out of the predicament.

As for the issue of hairstyle, let's put it aside for now!

Even head coach Pinto, who has always regarded Kimaro very highly, criticized: "He should say something more appropriate at this time!"

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