Chapter 155 Moving On

Chapter 155 Moving On

When everyone thought that Portugal would end the Belgian dark horse trip, the Belgians once again had the last laugh. Although the Portuguese team used various means to try to turn around, the opponents on them were too heavy.

For the first time in history, the Belgian reached the final of the World Cup. After the game, the Belgian also received congratulations from FIFA President Sepp Blatter: You deserve it.

On the road to the promotion of the Belgian team, the corpses of three representative teams of technical streams were left behind. France was the first to fall. This was once only regarded as a miracle for humans to land on Mars. Exclaimed, when Portugal had no choice but to retreat, this seems to have become a law that is no longer surprising, and the mighty Belgium has become the nemesis of the technical flow.

Scolari must have had a certain feeling of suffocation on the sidelines. Domenech and Pereira also had this feeling, adjusting the midfielder and replacing the striker, but nothing helped.

In the 90 minutes of the game, except for Proto's shot which gave Figo a chance, it was difficult for Portugal to get a good chance to score. They got nearly 60% of the ball, but they were unable to break through the Belgian in front of the penalty area. Fortress of Liege.

Commenting on the game, Reuters said that Portugal had possession of the ball, but it was the Belgians who really controlled the game.

"Indomitable spirit, tireless running, the Belgians looked in control most of the time, Figo's header was the only scare they experienced."

A similar situation also appeared in the contest with France and Brazil. The opponent had the advantage of possession of the ball, but was unable to break the defensive system of the Belgian team. Degan not only showed his power on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end. Among them, he also made outstanding contributions. Degan's command and wide range of running played the role to the maximum in this system.

In the end, two set kicks brought the Belgian victory, and the opponent was simply "suffocated".

"The most important thing is that our defense is so good," Antiiennis pointed out the key to victory after the game, "After Degan scored a goal in the first half, we defended like eleven lions. "

Excellent defensive system, which was the cornerstone of Rehhagel's creation of the myth of the European Cup in 2004, and now the Belgian team seems to be taking this path again.

Rock-solid and fortified, this is the most feared part of the Belgian team. After three consecutive games, Antiiennis proudly declared that the opponent had no chance, and he did not exaggerate.

The current Belgian team seems to be an "upgraded" Greek team. What's more frightening is that they also have a super killer Digan who may give the opponent a fatal blow at any time.

After the European Cup final two years ago, Scolari sincerely lamented that the Greek team's fighting style posed a problem to the world: "Greece has presented a challenge to the European offensive style of play. They have a perfect set. The defensive system, the way they play is waiting for the opponent to make mistakes, I don't think it's a step backwards in football, but other teams have to find a way to beat that system if they want to win."

Over the past two years, after changing an opponent, Scolari obviously still couldn't find a solution, so he left regrets again. Now, this problem is left to Lippi.

Belgian coach Antiiennis is looking forward to a great final. He believes that Belgium and Italy have left unforgettable memories for this World Cup.

"In this World Cup there were two great achievements, one was when we beat Brazil, which was great because it wasn't something just anyone could do. The other great moment was when Italy beat Germany, because they They did it in a remarkable way, and I take my hat off to them."

Belgium defeated Brazil, Italy defeated Germany, these may be the two most classic contests in this World Cup so far, Digan's hat-trick, the favorite Brazilian fell, the Italian's tenacity, the host awarded the title, and the magical 2 minutes of overtime , these are factors that add to the classic exponent.

Now, Antiiennis can already consider the final, and he will strive to bring Belgium the glory that he has dreamed of for decades.

"Now we have the last game to play, our aim is to win the final, I used to say that our aim is to go to Berlin on July 9, but now I can tell you that we also want to go there to celebrate the victory. "

Belgium and Italy, the two teams that also pay attention to defense, also have excellent forwards. In the final, who will have a harder life? Can the invincible Digan break through Italy's reinforced concrete defenses?

Looking at the semi-finals that just ended, since the World Cup reached the semi-finals, it is said that the teams should no longer have obvious weaknesses. However, Portugal is different. Compared with several other teams, or compared with their own strong midfield, they have to accept the fate of being in the final.

Before the start of the semi-finals, the former Portuguese star Eusebio said in his evaluation of the team: "The current morale of Portugal is high, and it is likely to continue to move forward. If there is anything lacking, it is that the striker's ability to grasp is a little worse. , which requires us not to give each other any chance."

Since Scolari coached Portugal, the core of the 4231 tactics is not offense, but defense instead. When the main central defender Andrade was injured and missed the World Cup, Scolari once lost his temper, blamed him for his carelessness, and gave other players one by one Call to avoid recurrence of the injury.

Fortunately, he discovered Mera, a defender who is tall, has a good sense of position, and is only slightly flawed in speed. Before this game, in the six games that had been played, Portugal had only conceded three goals, and none The game conceded more than two goals.

Compared with a solid defensive line, Portugal is not so commendable in terms of offense, especially the ability of strikers to seize opportunities.

Of the six goals scored in six games, only Pauleta and Simão belonged to the front line, of which the latter scored a penalty kick, and the other four goals were all scored by midfielders.

No wonder some people have such an idea, what would it be like to swap Digan and Pauletta?

Pauletta was the top scorer in Ligue 1 last season. Logically speaking, it should not be "poor" to this point. This has something to do with Portugal's overall style of play. Scolari advocates a single striker, emphasizing the midfielder's pressure and level. This determines that Pauleta can only be a point of striker transition, or a striker who can be useful in counterattacks, not the kind of killer who can score with his back in positional battles. In fact, in Saint-Germain , Pauleta is only the second striker, which has something to do with his physical and technical conditions.

As for Simao, he is not a striker-type striker. Most of his impressions are "masterpieces" like the 30-50 meter long-range lore to kill the Czech Republic and Liverpool. But how many times can such a difficult shot appear in a game? time?

Postiga and Gomez are all available talents, but in Scolari's view, they do not yet have the quality to stand alone as a striker, so at most they can only act as "surprise soldiers" in the second half of the game. Since they are "surprise soldiers" , the probability of a successful attack can be imagined.

The Portuguese players are talented and have good skills at their feet. Coupled with the leadership of tactical and psychological master Scolari, they finally advanced to the semi-finals of this tournament.

However, it was also a tactic designed by Scolari, who used a Pauletta as a "stake", and there were no heavyweight players on the front line, so it is not surprising that he was eliminated by Belgium.

At the end of the 90-minute game, the only chance the Portuguese got was Figo's header. Digan's Belgian team will go to Berlin to compete with Italy for the World Cup championship, and Figo, the last representative of the golden generation, only Can go to Stuttgart to compete with the German team for third place.

When Rui Costa had quit the national team, Figo chose to persevere. Although many people in the outside world believed that he was old and should give up his position to younger players, Figo's performance perfectly countered all question.

Before the semi-finals, Portugal's right back Miguel once said: "If I were to say who is the best player in the World Cup, I would say Carvalho and Mera. If you ask me who is the biggest surprise in the World Cup, This man must be Figo. He is 33 years old, you look at his running, look at his passing, this is Figo!"

Miguel was right. For this semi-final, Figo recovered for three days. It was not until the day before the game that the team doctor confirmed that he could participate.

In the first 30 minutes of the game, Portugal's offense has always had the advantage. In the 16th minute, Figo himself shot a long shot from outside the penalty area and was blocked by Proto. Kompany, who was chasing back, hit him. Figo was forced to be carried off a stretcher. Fortunately, the problem was not big, he Returned to the arena again.

What followed was Carvalho's foul on Degan on the penalty area line. Degan's free kick broke through Ricardo's ten fingers. Figo was a little anxious. He made a mistake in the return pass at the beginning of the second half, which almost made Degan expand the score. .

A veteran is indeed a veteran. He can adjust his mentality on the field. He made a wonderful pass from the left rib. After Pauletta turned around and got rid of Van den Borre, he almost hit a volley.

The best and last chance came in the 77th minute. Ronaldo's free kick hit Proto's chest and bounced high. Figo headed in front of the goal. Regrettably, the ball was higher than the crossbar.

With the whistle of the referee, Portugal's dream of surpassing 1966 and reaching the final fell through, and Figo was blocked from the final. In the 1991 World Youth Championship, Portugal led by Figo and Rui Costa won. The World Youth Championship champion, the Portuguese team was called the "Golden Generation". In the following ten years, this Portuguese team traveled across Europe, and Figo also became a representative of Portuguese football. In his 16-year national team career, Figo only participated in two World Cups, which is indeed a bit cruel for a generation of masters, and the World Cup in Germany will also be Figo's farewell performance on the world stage, which also marks the The golden generation across Europe is about to bid farewell to the stage of history.

Four years ago, at the Suwon World Cup Stadium in South Korea, the 30-year-old Figo set foot on the World Cup for the first time. This is also the World Cup debut of Portugal's golden generation. But fate is always playing tricks on the golden generation. Portugal lost 2:3 to the United States and broke a big upset. As the core of the team, Figo only handed over pale statistics: 0 goals, 0 shots on target, 62 passes times, 1 interception, 0 fouls, and 5 violations.

South Korea's Jeonju Stadium, Figo showed his core value in the game against Poland. His assist in the heavy rain allowed Pauleta to complete a hat-trick, but when Figo and Pauleta celebrated, they might not have thought of four Days later, they will bid farewell to the World Cup in Korea and Japan.

Incheon Monhak Stadium, Figo needs to lead Portugal to beat South Korea to ensure advancement, but the referee's two red cards make Figo gradually away from the top 16. With Figo's free kick in the 74th minute, Portugal is already far away from 16. Far away, as a result, Park Ji-sung's left-footed volley brought Figo's World Cup dream to an early end.

On June 12, 2006, at the Rhein Energy Stadium in Cologne, Germany, the 34-year-old Figo entered the World Cup again. Only Figo was left in the German arena of the former golden generation. In the first game against Angola , Figo made 75 passes, 7 threatening passes, and sent an assist. Figo, in the twilight of his career, interpreted the core concept in his own way.

On June 17, 2006, at the Commerzbank Stadium in Frankfurt, Germany, Figo sent another assist for Deco. Portugal, who had won two consecutive victories, advanced ahead of schedule, completing the task they had not completed in 40 years, and ending the "golden generation" 15 Years of unfulfilled wishes.

On June 21, 2006, Germany proudly went to the Schalke Stadium, Figo took a corner kick to create a penalty kick, Portugal advanced to the top 16 with a complete victory, and the 34-year-old Figo fulfilled his 12-year wish, the World Cup knockout round is like this Walked in front of Figo.

On June 26, 2006, in a game full of red and yellow cards, Portugal beat the Netherlands 1-0 and advanced to the top 8 at the Frankenstein Stadium in Nuremberg, Germany. Figo headbutted Van Bommel in the game, but FIFA did not impose additional penalties on Figo, and Figo was able to continue his campaign.

On July 1, 2006, Germany proudly went to the Schalke Stadium. Relying on the magical performance of goalkeeper Ricardo in the penalty shootout, Portugal advanced to the semi-finals. Every time he takes the ball, he will be booed by the England fans at the scene.

On July 6, 2006, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, a confrontation between the generation of midfielder Figo and the striker prodigy Degan, Portugal finally resented, and the closest Portugal scored in the game was when Figo faced most of the empty goals Figo, the world's top player, missed this rare opportunity, and the last fighter of the golden generation fell out of the final.

For the 34-year-old Figo, there is only one game left in his World Cup. It is a pity for such a great player not to be able to participate in the final. For Figo, the biggest regret in his career is to get the The champion is out of proportion to his own skills. This may be the beauty of Figo's football career.

Portugal lost. However, entering the semi-finals of the World Cup is enough for the Portuguese to leave as proudly as the Germans. The only regret is that after this game, it is finally time for Portuguese football to say goodbye to the "golden generation".

As the organizer of the Portuguese team, Figo's performance is very active. His running and passing make it completely impossible to see that he is 33 years old. But in fact, Figo was exhausted, and the team doctor did not confirm that he could participate until the day before the game.

The Portuguese media gave all the compliments to this mainstay of the "golden generation". In front of the Belgians, there is no regret in leaving.

Scolari likes to play a single arrow, and Pauletta is responsible for this task. The performance of this striker who is also a "golden generation" is disappointing this time.

Yesterday, Pauletta only made an impression with a shot into the side netting, and for most of the rest of the time he was inactive. As the top scorer in Ligue 1 last season, Pauletta is suitable for positional warfare and not for counterattacks. This is incompatible with the overall combat thinking of the Portuguese team.

Obviously, this game is not a game that Pauleta is satisfied with. As the head striker of the "golden generation", it is undoubtedly a pity to bid farewell to the World Cup with only one goal.

After the World Cup, the Portuguese team will bid farewell to the "golden generation". What color will the Portuguese team be after the "golden"?

There is no doubt that this World Cup is a pinnacle of Portuguese football. After the "golden generation" retires, the Portuguese team may not be able to reach this height for a long time.

The real problem of the Portuguese team lies in the front line. Pauleta did not do much in the first place, and after his retirement, the Portuguese team's attack power was even more pale, while Gomez and Simão are difficult to take on major roles. What the Portuguese team needs now is not necessarily a "Figo II", but a real striker.

The number of shots was 12 to 5, the corner kicks were 8 to 3, and the possession time was 59% to 41%. While Portugal fully dominated the scene, they were still unable to score. The key lies in the weakness of their striker.

Portugal, which adopts a single center forward tactic, meets Belgium, which is defending heavily in the middle. It is conceivable that it is difficult to score. When the opponent slightly controls the situation and plays an effective counterattack, the Portuguese's failure is inevitable.

There is no strong center forward to pull the cover in front. Facing the intensive defense of Belgium, Deco and Maniche cannot penetrate from the middle of the midfield, and can only divide the ball to the two sides again and again.

Although Figo, Ronaldinho and Simao, who came on the field later, made breakthroughs with constantly refurbished patterns on the wing, although countless crosses could not find the target, the lonely center forward of the team was submerged in the tight defense of the Belgian. Letta had only one shot in the audience.

What's more, because the Portuguese center -- whether Pauleta or Postiga's fame and stature are too small, when they fall in the opponent's penalty area, they can't win sympathy at all.

The referee waved his hand and the game continued. On the contrary, when Degan staggered on the opponent's penalty area line, the referee bit his whistle and was ready to help at any time.

At the last moment, the Portuguese increased their speed and strengthened their oppression, but the effect was minimal. Watching his disciples create near-misses again and again, and fell on the road of attack again and again, Scola, who has rich command experience Li didn't chatter and rage like usual, he faced the reality calmly and even a little sluggishly.

It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice, and the team's lack of killer reserves made it impossible for him to bet on the trump card at the last moment like Lippi. This time, "Big Phil" lost convincingly.

Figo's World Cup dream is over, but Portugal will continue. After Figo is about to leave, it is time for Portugal to find a new leader for itself.

Deco, who is also from Brazil and has a bitter face, is obviously a good candidate.

In this semi-final with Belgium, Scolari regarded Deco as the key to whether he could advance. He said to Deco before the England game: "We will enter the semi-finals, but after that I need a stronger player." of you."

With the same argument as "Big Phil", Figo also said: "Without Deco, our offense can only get twice the result with half the effort."

As for Deco himself, the desire to fight is also very strong, "I can't imagine not participating in the game. In the World Cup, I only played two games. This time, I will not miss the opportunity again."

In the game, Deco was facing Gour, the veteran captain of the Belgian team. In the first half of the contest, Deco still created many opportunities under Gour's supervision. Only four minutes into the game, he shot low with his right foot in front of the goal. Proto showed a buttery hand, and Pauletta was blocked by Kompany before making up the shot.

Under the coordination of him and Figo, Portugal's offensive was once more efficient and threatening than that of the Belgian team. In the 36th minute, he shot from a long distance by himself. Unfortunately, the ball was too direct and the force was not good. Proto again get.

In the second half, the Belgian team intentionally withdrew the defensive line. Perhaps Degan warned his teammates before the game that "Deco is a player we must focus on". As long as Deco has the ball, there will always be two Belgian players to defend.

His number of passes dropped significantly, with 15 fewer in the last 45 minutes than in the first half. Portugal is not Barcelona, ​​Barcelona can have Harvey to hold the ball, even Edmilson and Van Bommel can organize offenses, but Portugal only has one Deco.

There were 12 passes between Figo and Deco in the audience. After Figo got the ball, 6 times formed crosses and 2 times made long shots.

In the 2004 European Cup, the two didn't make many calls, and now they have become an indispensable pair of important combinations in Portugal's offensive system. However, the outcome cannot be changed, and Deco and his Portugal can only compete for the third place.

Besides Deco, who else can carry the banner of the Portuguese team? People will definitely think of the same answer: Cristiano Ronaldo!

The appearance of Jin Maoluo somewhat gave people a glimmer of hope. Although this scheming teenager was booed by the fans as soon as he got the ball because he flopped too much in yesterday's game, to be honest, his skills , speed and breakthrough ability, can be among the world's first-class.

However, it is obvious that the current Jin Maoluo does not have this ability. How to become a leader, he is really far behind in this regard. Moreover, compared with Digan, Jin Maoluo's impression is obviously much worse.

In today's game, whenever Ronaldo took the ball, some fans at the Allianz Arena in Munich booed, which became more intense after Jin Maoluo fell in the penalty area several times and asked for a penalty kick.

In this regard, Ronaldinho said after the game that he didn't care about it: "I don't care, it doesn't worry me at all, I will just continue to do my job and work hard to help the team."

After Portugal reached the semi-finals, some people accused them of qualifying by flopping and some unsportsmanlike behaviors. Jin Maoluo was one of the main targets of accusation. While his dribbling breakthroughs had crowds cheering, his propensity to go down after light contact also left some with disdain.

In the first half, Figo made a pass from the right, and Golden Mauro flew out and fell to the ground. This caused the Portuguese bench to demand a penalty kick. The same situation happened again in the second half, but this time the intention was too obvious. Scola Nor could he protest to the referee.

Despite this, Ronaldo still thought after the game that today's referee was unfair: "I don't think the referee is fair. There were many fouls in the game that deserved yellow cards, but he didn't give them. However, I don't want to roll too much into controversy."

When Degan endured the injury on his leg, insisted on fighting, tied Fontaine's single World Cup scoring record with two goals, and led the weak Belgium to the final, but Jin Maoluo would only follow the referee. Talking about it, it's no wonder that some people said after the game: The debate about who is the new generation of football kings can now come to a temporary conclusion. Digan is much better than Ronaldo!

The Belgians won, and now no one will say anything about miracles. Although they have eliminated France, Brazil and Portugal in a row under the circumstances that they have not been optimistic, they have set foot on the championship field for the first time in history. But looking at Degan's painful expression when he was carried off the field, this unexpected victory seems to be reasonable again.

So can the seemingly "weak" Belgian hold the Hercules Cup in his arms again?

Judging from the current situation, the outlook does not seem optimistic.

The Belgian team has encountered three major rivals along the way, France, Brazil, and Portugal. Judging from the performance of the game, the Belgian's defense won the victory in the victory over France, and the team's state reached its peak in the match against Brazil. Although they won the semi-final against Portugal, they did not have the quarter-finals. Whose momentum, in other words, the state of the Belgians is declining.

In the final, they met Italy, which has been stable in the World Cup. The Belgians need stronger mental strength to bring their state back to the peak. According to common sense, there is a rebound in this state in a short period of time, and it is back to the peak. Certain difficulty.

Moreover, due to the schedule, the Belgian team had one less day off before the final than the Italian team. For the Belgians, who have a weak substitute and have been relying on 11 main players since the start of the World Cup, this is likely to kill them.

Continuous combat has already brought the Belgians' physical fitness to freezing point. Facing Italy, which also pays attention to defense and overall combat, the Belgians are obviously at a disadvantage in terms of physical fitness.

Of course, nothing is absolute. After eliminating the three favorites to win the championship, whether Belgium will finally explode or hate Germany will be decided on July 10.

Zidane, Henry, Vieira, Carlos, Ronaldo, Figo, one after another emperor superstar has become the sacrifice of Degan. Perhaps, Figo was lucky. As the last representative of Portugal's "golden generation", Figo led the team all the way to the semi-finals, but unfortunately he failed to go further.

Germany in 2006 witnessed Figo's second trip to the World Cup. It is believed that this is also the last time he participated in the World Cup at the age of 34. Four years ago in the Korea-Japan World Cup, Figo made his debut on the stage of the World Cup. At that time, all that was left to the Portuguese was the dark experience of failing to qualify for the group stage.

Compared with four years ago, although Figo lacks his good friend Rui Costa, he is more mature and experienced, and the captain's armband on his arm also makes him more responsible.

As the captain and leader, Figo has integrated himself into the team well. He is Portugal's best player in this World Cup. Being able to win is inseparable from Figo's outstanding performance.

The semi-final against the Belgian team was the 126th time Figo played on behalf of the Portuguese team, tying the Portuguese national team appearance record kept by Eusebio. The third place battle on the 9th will be Figo's victory over the "Black Panthers" best chance.

For this semi-final, Figo spent three full days recovering from his injury, and it was not until the day before the game that the team doctor confirmed that he could play.

On the grass at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Figo was not only very active in offense, but also returned to the backcourt many times to participate in defense. But Figo's last trip to the World Cup failed to create miracles. For Figo, who is about to bid farewell to the national team, his World Cup is not perfect.

Perhaps, in the next battle for third place, Figo still has a chance to keep his goals in the World Cup. However, as a king-level football superstar, it is not enough to only have World Cup goals. There is no World Cup champion. Honor, Figo's football career can only end in an imperfect way.

As the last ray of light of Portugal's "golden generation", Figo will also retire after this World Cup. However, fans all over the world will never forget the breakthroughs, assists, and goals that once belonged to Figo. As FIFA officials said: "Even if Luis Figo quits international football, his outstanding performance is still the same. It will forever remain in the memory of fans all over the world!"

In the confrontation with the tenacious Belgian, Figo was finally defeated. His header missed the goal and the last fighter of the "golden generation" fell out of the final.

Injured Degan scored directly with two free kicks, which decided the final fate of the Portuguese-French battle. The Belgians and Italians joined forces in Berlin, while the Portuguese could only compete with the host German team for third place in Munich.

In fact, the Portuguese team had many opportunities throughout the game, but they also wasted many opportunities. Fifteen minutes before the end of the game, their army pressed forward and attacked frantically. At the last moment, even goalkeeper Ricardo joined in.

However, they lacked a consistent, one-hit striker enough to tear through Belgium's tightly knit defense, which led to Portugal's eventual defeat when they dominated possession.

The Portuguese left, with endless regrets, away from Berlin, while Belgium will continue to move forward to strive for the supreme honor.