Chapter 191: Black to the End

Chapter 191: Black to the End

In the first quarter-finals, Croatia played against Turkey. Before the match, almost everyone was optimistic that Croatia would be able to advance. Leaving aside the record in the group stage, the grid team was far better than the Xingyue Iron Cavalry just because of the neatness of the personnel.

In this game, Turkey's former main goalkeeper Demirel was suspended, and the second goalkeeper Vulkan was injured, leaving only one old goalkeeper Rustu. Nei drew with Croatia, and finally eliminated Croatia with a penalty shootout.

Croatia played very well in this game, especially Digan's little brother Modric in Florence. Almost all of Croatia's threatening offenses were initiated by Modric.

Especially in extra time, at the last minute, Modric launched a deadly attack and passed a through ball to Klasnic, almost stuffing the first European Cup semi-finals in Croatian history into his pocket inside. However, Modric, who was the first to play in the penalty shootout, accidentally missed the penalty and fell from a hero to the world.

However, after the game, the Croatian coach Bilic did not blame his lover, but still praised him: "Luka is a very good player. I have always believed in this very much. He is Cruyff and Zoe. Not only that, but Modric is a player who can run all over the pitch, Croatia has never had a midfielder like that."

To be compared to either Cruyff or Zola is already a supreme honor for a young player, and it is amazing that Modric has the quality of both players at the same time.

Bilic's praise for Modric may be out of support for his compatriots, but "Gazzetta dello Sport" also gave Modric an amazing description, even more than Bilic.

"Cruyff's comprehensiveness, Zola's imagination, Pirlo's organization and overall view, Deco's infinite motivation, Gattuso's fighter spirit."

Although he lost the whole game in the penalty shootout and stopped in the quarter-finals of the European Cup, it could not cover up the performance of the Croatian. The core Modric even contributed an excellent performance. In the battle with Turkey, Modric can be said to be a hero The transformation from sin to sinner is instantaneous.

Modric, who was the first to stand on the penalty spot, chose the same direction as the Austrian penalty kick in the first game of the group, but this time the ball missed the goal, and although Srna scored the second penalty kick, Reluctantly, Rakitic and Petric followed Modric's bad luck and missed a penalty kick. The Croatian could only watch the Turk complete the reversal.

Modric, who walked off the field, looked very disappointed, and there were tears in his eyes before accepting the reporter's question: "When the opponent equalized the score, we had already fallen to the bottom. The moment I stood at the penalty point, my mind was blank. , I don't know why I chose that angle, and I don't know how to take the penalty kick. Even after losing the game, I woke up from the stiffness, and I couldn't remember everything I did before. This is my opinion of this game. The feeling of the game, it seems that the first 117 minutes have been forgotten, and only remember what happened in the last two minutes."

The other players in the Croatian team almost felt the same as Modric, standing on the penalty spot in a daze, and the only thing waiting for them was loss.

To sum it up in a sentence from coach Bilic at the post-match press conference: "After 120 minutes, I can already see that the players will face failure!"

However, Modric's performance in the entire European Cup was remarkable. The two games in the group stage were the best in the game. Kill" and "Final Four" are only the last twelve yards away.

Sadly falling to the penalty shootout caused many Croatians to shed sad tears, how cruel it was for this talented team to be eliminated.

A defeat cannot conceal the progress of Croatia's overall strength. After winning the third place in the world in 1998, Croatia finally returned to the ranks of world-class teams after a 10-year hibernation.

Olić, Modric, and Srna, known as the new "Three Musketeers" in the team, are similar to Prosineski, Boban, and Suker back then. There are still infinite possibilities for Croatia in the future .

The Turks won. The last time they met Croatia was at Euro 96, when the Xingyue Legion lost 0:1. Rustu is the only player in the Turkish national team who has participated in that game.

Demirel's suspension and Vulkan's hand gave Rustu a chance to premiere in this competition. 12 years later, Turkey No. 1 came with a very dramatic "The Revenge of the Old Prince" ".

The 2002 World Cup was the pinnacle of Rustu. The Turkish goalkeeper conquered fans all over the world with his image of a fighter like William Wallace in the movie "Braveheart". He led Turkey to the third place, and was finally selected into the FIFA All-Star team .

The trip to Barcelona in the 03/04 season was a turning point in Rustu's career. He was in full swing, but he was coldly received due to injuries and restrictions on non-European quotas. In the summer of 2004, he had to return to China to join Fenerbach.

The experience of La Liga made Rustu seriously injured. After failing to help Turkey qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals, Rustu gradually lost his position as the absolute main force. During the qualifiers, Demirel and Vulcan played in rotation. Although they came to the European Cup, Rustu just became an iron bench.

However, Demirel was suspended, Vulkan's red card made Rustu, and Turkey's No. 1 continued to set a record for the national team.

Since the European Cup in 1996, this is the first time Rustu has played in a major competition as a substitute goalkeeper. He is obviously ready to fight when he comes.

Rustu contributed a lot to Turkey's ability to last until overtime. Gokhan made a header error in 50 minutes. Rustu, who attacked quickly, grabbed the ball in front of Olic's header and touched the ball with his fist. Four minutes He then saved a low shot from Kranjica's penalty area. In the 82nd minute, Srna turned a free kick to the far corner guarded by Rustu. The Turk, who had shifted his center of gravity by mistake, still turned around and dived to hold the ball out of the baseline with one palm. In the 89th minute, Rustu saved Olic's shovel shot in the small penalty area, and two minutes later he put Srna's direct free kick under him.

The pressure of the subsequent penalty shootout was suffocating, but for Rustu, who had experienced countless big scenes, it was nothing. When Modric and Rakitic took penalties, Rustu judged On the ball, under the strong pressure he exerted, the two Croatian teenagers missed the penalty kick.

Petritsch is obviously not Rustu's opponent either, the Turk blocked the fourth penalty of Croatia with a perfect side throw. At the moment he soared into the air, no one could see that this was a 35-year-old veteran.

In the final four, Turkey made history. After winning, Rustu wanted to shake hands with the referee Rossetti, but a few seconds later, he was surrounded by his teammates like heroes.

Turkey's next opponent will be the winner of Germany and Belgium. Although Demirel will end the suspension, with his outstanding performance in this game, Rustu will definitely continue to start the game.

In the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, Turkey was blocked by Brazil from the final gate. Rustu missed the chance to reach the top of the world. Now he and his Turkish team have reached the final gate again. As long as they cross the semi-finals, the The old goalkeeper will have the opportunity to challenge the Delaunay Cup. For this veteran who is about to quit the national team after the European Cup, the only pronoun for miracles is the championship!

The Turks are not lacking in courage, but again, they are also facing difficulties. In the quarter-finals against Croatia, due to injuries and suspensions, the Turkish team had only 17 players left. After the game against Croatia, the promoted Turkish team had a few more unlucky ones. In the semi-finals, the Turkish team will face a more difficult lack of people.

Before the start of this game, Turkey was already full of injured soldiers. Defender Setin's knee was almost scrapped, and his whole body was covered with injuries. It was already very difficult to play in the following games. Emre's muscles were torn, and there was nothing left to hope for. Mei Ting's groin problem, everyone knows that this is not an injury that can be recovered in a short time. In addition to Ganker who was carried off the field in the group stage, coupled with the suspended players with red cards, the Turkish team had only one goalkeeper and 16 players in other positions before the quarter-finals.

This is not the worst thing. In the quarter-finals against Croatia, eight of Turkey's starting players played with a yellow card.

In fact, Trim has no choice. It is obviously unrealistic to consider further semi-finals. It seems more realistic to pass Croatia first.

As a result, in the game, Tuncay, Turan and Asik received yellow cards one after another, and they were destined to miss the semi-finals. At the last moment of the game, Nihat was also replaced due to injury. Coupled with the three accumulative yellow card suspensions, the Turkish team can still support the starters in the semi-finals, and now no more than 15 people can be identified.

Perhaps the first thing Trim did when he returned to the hotel was to pray to God that his wounded would recover quickly. Against Croatia, Trim was still able to stick to his usual tactics.

In the current situation, I am afraid that the Turks want to reproduce the magic, and the tactical arrangement of the players on the field is also unsustainable.

Perhaps it is impossible for Turkey to become the final winner of this cup, but at least the memory left by the Turkic cavalry in this cup is enough to be comparable to the champion.

Surviving four times of adversity, it is not so much that Allah is helping the Turks, it is better to say that those who help themselves are helped by God. The tenacious Turks have perfectly completed the task of the semi-finals in the case of extremely disorganized personnel. When facing Germany or Belgium in the semi-finals, the Turks who played were enough to deserve the applause of the fans anyway.

Since the reversal of Belgium in the first round of the group stage, Turkey has faced life-and-death battles every game, and the physical and energy consumption of the players has been huge.

The bloody Turkish players are sometimes too tough, and they often suffer from red and yellow card suspensions if they can't control their emotions.

It is no exaggeration to describe the current Turkish team as tired and exhausted. The three lines of the Star-Moon Legion have all suffered serious injuries. Rustu is enough to replace Demirel as the main goalkeeper, but the absence of Ashke, Setin and Gankel makes the team's defense stretched.

Emre's injury left a big hole in Turkey's defensive midfielder position, and his substitute Metin was also out with a groin injury, and Trim had to pass right-back Altintop and midfielder in order to keep the team running. Chai is pulled to the midfielder position. Fortunately, the defensive midfielder Aurelio, who was suspended for two yellow cards in this game, will return against Germany. He and Topal will form a defensive midfielder combination, and Altintop will return to the more familiar position of right back.

At any rate, the midfielder and backcourt can gather a group of people, but on the offensive line, Trim has reached the end of his rope. Nihat's injury made Semih the only available striker, and the top scorer in the Turkish Super League didn't even have a substitute. Tuncay's breakthrough and Turan's point-grabbing are important means of attack for Turkey, but they will both be suspended in the next game. "Lalang Pei" has now become Trim's main business, perhaps "Tinker" The reputation may soon be snatched from Ranieri by Trim.

No matter who the opponent is in the semi-finals, judging from the current personnel mix and injury situation in Turkey, Turkey obviously cannot be compared with the powerful Germany and Belgium with Digan. The Moon Legion is by no means inferior to anyone.

Altintop's words can best represent the voice of the Turkish players: "My mood is hard to describe. If we can go on with such confidence, then anything can happen."

Since both Danish fairy tales and Greek myths can be staged, the Turks are certainly qualified to continue dreaming and let the miracle of Allah come to the European Cup. On the track of making history, they only have two battles left to conquer.

After the war between Turkey and Croatia, it will be time for Belgium to play the next day. Degan will usher in his debut in the European Cup.

"I can't wait to play now. I don't care who the opponent is. In my opinion, there is only one difference between any opponent. Those who have won and those who are ready to beat. People are talking about the German team. They will regain their form after breaking through the group and go all the way, but what I have to do is tell everyone that even if the Germans played 100% in this game, the Red Devils in Europe In front of them, the only thing they can accept is the fate of failure!"