Chapter 126 Those who want to win go to fight

Belgium beat Ukraine 4-0 in the first round to get off to a perfect start, and then they will face the challenge of Tunisia, the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations champion. Belgium can qualify for the group stage as long as they win this campaign.

In this game, Belgium maintained the starting lineup when they beat Ukraine in the first game, and Digan was still the single arrow on the front line.

At the beginning of the first half, Belgium quickly used the ball to control the rhythm of the game. In the second minute, Degan took a right corner kick from Simmons and shook his head before the goal.

Four minutes later, Guer made a long pass from the backcourt to the front of the penalty area. Degan could do it with a header. Bufer stepped in and shot with his right foot 20 meters in front of the goal.

However, although Belgium's offensive is very fierce, they also make frequent mistakes. The players on the field seem to be very inattentive. Perhaps the strongest opponent in the group, Ukraine, made them underestimate Tunisia.

In the eighth minute of the game, when Simmons broke through with the ball from the left, the Tunisian defender kicked the ball off and passed it directly to the frontcourt. Jaziri broke through Kompanyder's defense from the right side and broke into the penalty area. Facing the defense of Van den Borre and Van Buyten in the penalty area, he used his personal skills to pass the ball to the center. After receiving the ball, Mnari escaped Gull's sliding tackle, and pushed with his right foot and was blocked by Proto, but Mnari's reaction was quick, and he followed up with his right foot to make up. Although Proto touched the ball with his fingertips, the ball still flew into the net.

Unexpectedly falling behind, the entire Belgian team was stunned, and immediately launched a massive counterattack, but their impatience made their mistakes more frequent. Digan kept yelling to keep his teammates calm, but it seemed that the effect was not very obvious .

The Tunisian team, which had taken the lead, retracted its defense in an all-round way, and seized Belgium's mistakes from time to time, and played several high-quality counterattacks.

In the 18th minute, Namoushi's midfielder slanted behind him, and Jaziri suddenly started the anti-offside and succeeded. Fortunately, Proto made a decisive attack to block the ball to resolve the danger.

In the 30th minute, Trabelsi, the number one star in the Tunisian team, scored a goal and was directly tackled by Van Buyten. Van Buyten was booked for this, and Ayari took the free penalty The ball was lifted out of the baseline by Proto's single palm.

In the stoppage time of the first half, Mnari took advantage of the corner kick again and scored a header, which was cleared by Van Buyten. In the first half of the game, Belgium fell behind Tunisia 0:1 and entered the half-time break.

Boom!

In the locker room in Belgium, Degan kicked the cabinet out of a depression, looked at his teammates angrily, and the atmosphere in the locker room became tense instantly.

In the forty-five minutes of the first half, he was basically in a state of alone in the frontcourt, and he couldn't get a few supports at all.

Especially after the team scored a goal, he failed to receive a pass from behind. The only corner shot was after he fought hard in the midfield and went all the way to the front of Tunisia's penalty area. Under the double-team, he barely shot wide.

Do you think that after defeating Ukraine, we are already world champions!

Degan roared loudly. Among his teammates, even old players like Simmons, Gull, and Van Buyten seemed shiveringly silent in the face of Degan's anger.

Look at our performance in the first half, we are like 11 puddles of shit piled on the field. The purpose of our coming here is to moisten the turf of the field! Gentlemen! I would like to ask another question now, do you think that the goal has been achieved by winning one victory, or do you think that our opponent in the World Cup is only Ukraine! ?

No one speaks!

Everyone knew exactly what their performance in the first half was like!

I don't want to say extra words, I just want to tell you one thing, I'm here to win the championship, not to score a goal, draw a game, win a game, what happens in the group, only the championship! If you think I'm delusional, you can continue your poor performance in the second half. I will only bring people who want to win to the game. If you don't want to win, get out of here! I don't want teammates who sleepwalk on the field!

If it was someone else who said these words, Van Buyten's fiery temper would have blown up long ago, but facing Degan, he couldn't even say a word to defend himself.

After the opening of the second half, Belgium obviously strengthened the control of the midfield, and the players calmed down after being scolded by Degan in the locker room.

In the forty-eighth minute, Degan made a return in the penalty area. Gul followed up with a right foot shot and was bravely blocked by Tunisian goalkeeper Boomniger.

Four minutes later, Van Buyten suddenly advanced into the Tunisian half. After receiving a pass from Digan, a strong shot from outside the penalty area was blocked by Bumniger's double fists.

After regaining their composure, Belgium played more and more fiercely, with waves of offense higher than waves, while Tunisia fully retracted its defense, hoping to hold a one-ball lead.

However, Belgium, which has recovered, obviously cannot be blocked by a strict defense. When the game progressed to the 71st minute, Goul made a diagonal pass from the midfielder to the right, and Bufer took the ball and crossed it. Goul kicked a long shot, the ball was blocked by Bumniger, Degan inserted in time, and evened the score with Trabelsi's shovel. This is Degan's fourth brother goal in this World Cup ball.

In the seventy-sixth minute, the Belgian pair made a comeback. Goul's midfielder made a wonderful long pass to ground the ball. Digan crossed into the penalty area obliquely.

In just five minutes, Belgium scored two goals in a row and overtook the score. Le Maire was a little panicked and ordered the team to attack. But after defending for so long, it is not easy to attack.

When the game progressed to the 90th minute, Belgium sealed the victory, and it was Digan who scored the goal. Simmons passed a diagonal pass from the left to a far point. Scored a goal and completed a hat-trick in two consecutive games.

In the final game, with Degan's three goals in the second half, Belgium finally reversed Tunisia 3:1 to advance one round and became the eighth team in the German World Cup to advance to the top 16.

In another match in the same group, Ukraine, led by the nuclear warhead Andriy Shevchenko, scored four goals in the first round, but then beat Saudi Arabia 4-0 in this round, which made the team's prospects brighten up.

After two rounds, Belgium won both games, scoring 7 goals and conceding 1 goal to advance to the next round. Ukraine ranked second with 3 points after 1 win and 1 loss. Tunisia and Saudi Arabia both had 1 draw, 1 loss and 1 point. It has 2 more grains than Saudi Arabia, so it occupies the third position, and Saudi Arabia temporarily ranks at the bottom.

Except for Belgium qualifying ahead of schedule, the other three teams also have a chance to qualify. In the third round, Belgium will play against Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia will play against Ukraine. Judging from the current situation, Ukraine is in the best position to qualify.

If Ukraine beats Tunisia, their points will also reach 6 points. Since Belgium currently has 6 goal difference in hand, while Ukraine currently has a goal difference of 0, so in fact, as long as Belgium does not lose to Saudi Arabia, then they will be able to win. Will definitely qualify as the top of the group, and Ukraine will advance to the second place in the group.

If Ukraine draws with Tunisia, then Ukraine will have 4 points. At this time, it will need to see the result of another game to decide whether Ukraine can advance. If Saudi Arabia can beat Belgium, then their points will also reach 4 points. After two rounds, Ukraine's goal difference is 0, and Saudi Arabia's goal difference is -4. That is to say, Saudi Arabia must beat Belgium by five goals to beat Ukraine.

If Ukraine loses to Tunisia, then Tunisia will have 4 points. Similar to the second situation, whether Tunisia can advance depends on the results of Saudi Arabia and Belgium. If Saudi Arabia wins, then the two teams will have 4 points. Now Tunisia has a goal difference of -2, and Saudi Arabia, which has a goal difference of -4, also needs to beat Belgium.

In short, after two rounds in Group H, Belgium has basically secured the top spot in the group, while Ukraine can basically guarantee a pass as long as they draw. The requirements are also almost harsh, so cruel that Saudi Arabia can already prepare a return ticket.

Although the group appeared ahead of schedule, after the game, Belgian core player Digan severely criticized the whole team, thinking that the team had become lax after winning the first game with a big score, which he absolutely could not allow.

I will only fight with those who want to win!

Degan delivered an ultimatum directly to his teammates.

Although Degan's qualifications are the lowest in the current Belgian team, his strength and reputation are obviously higher than those of his teammates. In addition, he is the captain of the Belgian national team. But no one dared to refute.

Antiiennis, the head coach of the Belgian national team, was also dissatisfied with the process of the game at the post-match press conference: I predicted before the game that this would be a very difficult and complicated game. In the first half Tunisia scored and then they defended with all their might, there wasn't really much we could do. Faced with such a situation, we must make adjustments to change it. In the second half, we made adjustments to the players, gradually began to control the initiative of the game, and paid more attention to using the pass to open the gap, while emphasizing the breakthrough and cross from the two wings. Then we found a chance to score. Fortunately, Rhodes seized the opportunity. Successfully equalized the score, and then helped the team overtake, and finally sealed the victory. However, we only played a good half of the game today. Our performance in the first half was very bad. Most of the players were out of shape, and after conceding the ball, they seemed very impatient. This is where we need to improve in the future! Although we were behind in the early days, we have been working hard to get back the score, and finally it paid off, we completed a wonderful comeback. It was a tough game, but the three points we got were the most important for us. After such a game, I think the players should also calm down. If we want to go further in the World Cup, the first thing we need is to face ourselves!

Belgium's final team appeared, and Degan naturally contributed a lot. After this game, surrounding Degan's next season's whereabouts, it caused a new round of heated discussions in European football.

Degan has a strong body and excellent skills. He is a rare and comprehensive center forward. He can shoot with both left and right feet, and his header is his strong point. In the opponent's penalty area, he has an extraordinary calmness. Once an opportunity arises, he can always rush to seal his throat with a sword. It is precisely because he has all the qualities of an excellent striker that he quickly stood out in this World Cup and became the most popular candidate for the best shooter with six goals.

When Degan talked about his performance after the game, he also expressed his basic satisfaction: Our victory in this game today was very difficult. The most important thing for the team is to believe in our own style and keep calm all the time. We committed a foul in the first half. I made a lot of mistakes, but fortunately they corrected them in time in the second half, and finally the goal came. We know that sometimes games are easy and other times are very difficult, like today. But this is the World Cup and we have to be mentally prepared. For goals, there is nothing to brag about, I hope my teammates can score goals, and it would be even better if one of us can be the best shooter, because this indicates that the Belgian team can go far.

The Belgians can celebrate the victory, but for the Tunisians, this game is full of bitterness. They led by a goal in the first half, but were reversed by their opponents in the second half. Tunisian coach Le Maire is obviously disappointed with this score.

In the first half, Tunisia's performance was very good. They went first and did not give the Belgian team too many chances. However, in the second half, the team failed to resist the Belgian attack and eventually suffered a reversal.

Le Maire told reporters after the game: I am very disappointed, especially the performance of the team in the second half. We made careful arrangements before the game, and I asked the players to defend with all their strength, but individual mistakes destroyed our entire game.

Le Maire said that Degan's goal to tie the score was the turning point of the game: It is too difficult to completely defend Degan in a game. Fortunately, we are not out yet, but the situation is not good for us. The team The last game against Ukraine is decisive and it will not be an easy game for sure, but we still have chances and we hope to win.

Tunisian core player Mnari also told reporters after the game: Our performance was very good for most of the game. We did not let Belgium play its own characteristics. Belgium tried to use speed to control the initiative of the game, but our defense was very poor. good. But unfortunately, we didn't stay focused throughout the game, and as a result, Belgium scored two goals in five minutes. In the next game against Ukraine, we will definitely go all out.

Belgium appeared smoothly, but faced the next Saudi Arabia with a more relaxed attitude. Anyone who has watched Belgium's previous two games knows that Saudi Arabia's desire to beat Belgium is basically a fantasy.

In the final round of the group stage, Antiiennis rotated most of the players, Degan also sat on the bench, and the Mponsa brothers partnered as strikers.

In the final game, Belgium beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 with a goal from Mponsa Jr.

In another contest in group h, Ukraine defeated Tunisia with Shevchenko scoring twice and advanced to the round of 16 as the second in the group.

So far, the group stage is over, and the sixteen teams that have advanced to the knockout round will face each other. Among them, the host Germany will face the Vikings Sweden, the South American powerhouse Argentina will face Mexico from North America, and England, who will always be the platinum generation Face-to-face competition with Ecuador, Portugal and the Netherlands will face each other, Italy will face Australia from Oceania, Switzerland and Ukraine will face each other, and defending champion Brazil will face the challenge of Ghana. Belgium will face a strong enemy France.

So far in this World Cup, nothing unbelievable has happened. South Korea, which was in the semi-finals of the last World Cup, had no use for their shameless skills. After the group stage, they went back home for plastic surgery.

Ghana, the only dark horse, faced the defending champion Brazil in the first round of the knockout round.

At the same time, this cup has once again verified the crow mouth of Pele, the king of the ball. Before the start of the game, he said that Côte d'Ivoire would surprise the world football. After being eliminated tragically, Bailey's law is still continuing. Even the teams that have advanced to the top 16 are still praying at home now, hoping that the bad mouth of Bailey King will never pronounce his name.

In the list of shooters, Digan, who had a truce in the last round of the group stage, still ranked first with six goals, followed by Klose and Shevchenko with four goals. The best shooter in the World Cup is already in Degan's pocket.

However, it seems that there is still a lot of difficulty in surpassing Fontaine's record of 13 goals in a single World Cup. After all, once it reaches the knockout stage, there are basically no underdogs, and Digan will become more and more interested in scoring goals. difficult.

Especially for the strong enemy France they will face next, it is not an easy task for Degan to challenge Thuram's leading defense.

And according to the memories of previous lives, although this year's French team is far from being able to compare with the luxurious lineup in 1998, after the end of this World Cup, France will emerge a large number of talented young men, including Ribery, Abi Dahl and Malouda are even more outstanding. It seems that Belgium has many difficulties to step on France and continue to move forward.