Chapter 164: Euro 2008 [Part 1]

Chapter 164: Euro 2008 [Part 1]

The thirteenth European Cup in 2008 is the second time jointly hosted by Switzerland and Austria after the joint hosting of the Netherlands and Belgium in 2000. Sixteen of the best national teams in Europe will participate in the Delaunay Cup competition .

Among the four groups, Degan's Belgian team was placed in Group A, and Belgium was in the same group as the host Switzerland, Turkey, and the traditional European Czech Republic.

Switzerland is one of the two hosts of the European Cup. Compared with the Austrian team's weak performance in the big competition, the Swiss team seems to be considered the best among the European mid-range teams.

But when it comes to the real rise of Swiss football, it still began in the European Youth Championship in 2002. In that cup, the Swiss u17 national team won the championship in one fell swoop. Two years later, the Swiss national team reached the finals of the European Cup in Portugal, ending the dark age of missing the World Series for many years.

Four years later, the Swiss national team with the U17 national team as the team shocked the world in the World Cup in Germany. They did not concede a goal in 390 minutes in 4 games including the group stage and the quarter-finals. They were only eliminated in a penalty shootout.

In the last European Cup, Switzerland had one draw and two losses in the group stage, ranking second to last among all 16 participating teams. Such results obviously did not satisfy the Swiss.

"The situation is different now. We have the ability to reach the knockout round." The core player Senderos said confidently, "Many of us have been playing together since we were 14 years old. We know how good we can be. The World Cup in Germany is an example."

All Swiss are looking forward to this European Cup, although the most popular sport in Switzerland is not football, but skiing, although the Swiss favorite athlete is not from football, but tennis king Roger Federer.

But just like the Swiss national team coach Kuhn said: "I can feel the passion of the fans, maybe because we are tired of always using the quiet cow as the symbol of the country, we hope Show the world something new, something less seen, like a raging bull."?? Stadium Maniac 164

For the mid-range teams that have always been like this, the quality of the grouping can often determine their record, and the "weird" team classification in the 2008 European Cup may bring a lot of trouble to the Swiss team.

In addition to facing the competition of strong enemies, the injury problem in the team is also a major problem that plagues the head coach Kuhn. The overhaul of the top star Frey? Overhaul, it is still unknown whether he can participate in the group stage. The Swiss team is not rich. To make matters worse, and captain Vogel is also plagued by injuries, which will greatly affect the team's impact on higher honors.

Because they are opponents in the same group, Degan naturally pays attention to the Swiss team, because as the host, they do not need to participate in the qualifiers, and the warm-up match has become the main way for other teams to observe them. In the recent friendly matches, the Swiss team performed well. , This also makes this team still reveal a lot of ambitions in an unfavorable situation.

"The top four is the primary goal, but we must work hard to achieve a bigger dream, meet challenges with confidence, and complete self-transcendence." Bishop Kuhn said when looking forward to the team's prospects.

In addition to the host Switzerland, which has a home court advantage, Belgium led by Digan obviously cannot ignore the Eastern European cavalry Czech team that sent away the golden generation.

Although countless talented players have emerged in history, the decline in the level of Czech football is helpless. After its stunning debut in 1996, the Czech team, which was once full of geniuses, suffered a lot of fate. Wade, Kuka, Smicer and others have all left. In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Czechs completed their last battle, and the golden age of Czech football came to an end. The fragile knee of the new core Rosicky may make the team lose control of the midfield at any time.

This European Cup is the first match of Czech football after entering the "post-golden generation". Judging from the qualifiers, this brand new Czech national team did not perform well, although it finally beat Germany to qualify as the first in the group However, this is largely thanks to the Germans' laxity after getting the right to qualify in advance. Except for Rosicky and Petr Cech among the Mesozoic players, no one has reached the level of the "golden generation" of the year.

However, the Czech team obviously does not intend to sit still. The core player of the team Cech said in an interview after arriving in Switzerland with the team: "Compared with the European Cup in Portugal and the World Cup in Germany, the luck of the Czech team in the group draw this time It has improved. Belgium with Digan is worthy of respect, but it is not invincible. Turkey and Switzerland are both tenacious, but they lack talented teams. The most important thing in the group stage is the second game against Belgium. If we lose, we It is very likely that we will be "forced" to the point where we must win Turkey in the final round, but I still firmly believe that we have a great chance to break through the group, but how far we can go after that depends on luck."

Cech is full of confidence, but obviously they are not the main focus of Degan. If there is any team in this group that needs special attention, it is only in the 2000 European Cup that they had a grievance with Belgium of Turkey.

After spending decades in confusion, Turkish football has re-emerged in recent years and has proudly ranked among the international powerhouses. The Turkish team participated in the 1996 and 2000 European Cups respectively. After that, they ushered in the team's historic "glorious" moment in the 2002 World Cup, reaching the semi-finals and finally winning the third place.

However, in this European Cup qualifier, Turkey's road to qualifying can be described as twists and turns. After winning the first four rounds, it lost points to the underdogs in the penultimate third round at home. After losing to Greece, the Xingyue Legion was already in jeopardy. Fortunately, Turkey, which had a last stand, defeated Norway in an away game in the Battle of Tianwangshan, and then beat Bosnia and Herzegovina at home in the last round, taking the last train of the European Cup with a one-point advantage.

Before the Turkish national team announced the preparation list for the European Cup, in this list, most of the players played in the national league, the two domestic giants Fenerbahce and Galatasaray occupied the national team half of the country. However, on the front line, Turkey still has to rely on the pair of Nihat and veteran Suker to attack the city. Altintop Jr., who played for Bayern, will become the core of the midfield. In the 2000 European Cup, Turkey once overwhelmed The host Belgium team has qualified, and this time they still hope to play the role of dark horse again.

Finally, there is the Belgian team led by Degan. After the qualifiers, this team unexpectedly started a big change. The former meritorious players were excluded from the selection range of the national team and replaced by a large number of young players. people.

Perhaps this national team, which is mainly composed of young people, lacks experience, but there is Degan, the hottest striker in world football, on the front line. What kind of performance this team will show in the European Cup finals is still very impressive. expect.

In terms of clubs, Degan's achievements are enough to make any world-class star ashamed, and now he is looking forward to a breakthrough in the national team. ?? Stadium Maniac 164

The four teams in Group B include the other host Austria, the European powerhouse Croatia, the three-time European Cup winner Germany, and the qualifier king Poland.

When mentioning Austria, people first think of music and art, not football. This country has produced too many musical geniuses in history. Perhaps it is the development of art that makes it difficult for this country to achieve great success in sports. Achievement.

For the Austrian team, "mediocre" is the most appropriate evaluation. Before the game started, Austria has been called the weakest seeded team in the history of the European Cup. It is not easy to score points, let alone qualify. In the previous warm-up match, they had lost nine games in a row. In the final round of the European Cup, how to avoid being exploited by powers such as Germany and Croatia has become the most concerned topic of the national media. Perhaps the Austrian players pulled their feet. The violin is much better than playing a ball with your feet

Being in the European continent is perhaps the greatest tragedy of Austrian football. Before this European Cup, they had bid farewell to international competitions for nearly 10 years. The last time they appeared was in the 1998 World Cup in France.

The last two opportunities to participate in the 2004 European Cup qualifiers were lost to the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. The 2006 World Cup qualifiers had a good start. In the end, they still missed the qualifying stage and were taken away by Poland. Both qualifiers finished third in the group. Perhaps from this point of view, Austria is not yet a purely poor player.

Most of the players in the Austrian team are mixed in the small and medium leagues, and only a few can climb high branches. Pogatz is in Middlesbrough in the Premier League, Gricos is playing in Empoli in Serie A, and Iberzberg is in Serie A. Freiburg in the Bundesliga.

These three defensive players, together with the senior midfielder Weissingberger born in 1975, and the 20-year-old young striker Hanik, are all the players of the Austrian national team playing in the five major leagues.

However, one thing to note is that there are no longer a small number of players born around 1985 in the team. It seems that the head coach is also conscious of cultivating new players.

This competition is also the first time in the history of Austria to advance to the final stage of the European Cup, but it is a pity that it relies on the identity of the host. Without going through the long qualifiers to train the team, just relying on some low-value friendly matches to warm up, there are more losses than losses.

"This is a process of constantly facing and overcoming difficulties and setbacks." Even their head coach Hickelsberg was cautious in his words, but in order to encourage most of the young players in the team, he immediately became bloody ' said, "Austria and Switzerland, as the hosts, will create an exciting match. I firmly believe that we will make history and enter the quarter-finals."

All right!

Maybe even he didn't believe it himself.

However, the strength is not enough, but the attitude has to be bad. As the saying goes, the stupid bird flies first. Austria, which is recognized as the weakest of the top 16 of this European Cup, started training earlier than other teams, trying to make up for the innate with hard work. lack of.

In the latest national team ranking announced by FIFA, Austria ranked 43rd. Although they are not the lowest ranked in the top 16 of the European Cup, there is another host behind Switzerland, who is at the bottom of 48, but even the Austrians I know that this is just a false name, like a cloud in the sky, Switzerland is at least one of the top 16 in the 2006 World Cup, and if it is not for Austria's status as the host country, I don't know how long it will take to participate in the European Cup.

After being poisoned by Austria, the team that will play next will definitely make people excited instantly, the world powerhouse German team.

As the top players in the world who have won the World Cup three times and the European Cup three times, although the honor of their predecessors is far away from them, in every world competition, the German tank will be regarded as the biggest favorite to win the championship.

Delicate and calm, pursuing precision and depth, with a rigorous scientific attitude and order, the Germanic spirit is also reflected in German football.

Three consecutive European Cups were accompanied by the death group, and the last two were simply dead in the group stage. Maybe UEFA also felt guilty for this big player. This time they gave them the most ideal lottery, and finally no longer be reduced to death. In the group, they could not meet the traditional strong team until the final.

Unlike the previous competitions, the depth of the German team's lineup has improved this time. The striker no longer relies on Klose alone. Gomez, Podolski and Kuranyi can already play their own roles.

Ballack is still the only world-class star in the German team. In the two World Cups in which he served as the core, the German team has gone very far. Now what the Germans need is to move forward in a down-to-earth manner.

If there is a penalty shootout on the road ahead, its opponents will start trembling. Since 1976, the German team has participated in 6 penalty shootouts in the World Cup and European Cup. With the will of steel, they won 5 of them, with a winning rate of 83%.

In this European Cup, the German Football Association blew the horn of the European Cup in a way that shocked the world. There is no doubt that this is a very smart decision. Accompanied by the press officer, German coach Joachim Loew announced the German team's 23-man roster to the world at the highest point in Germany, the Zugspitze. This move indicates that the German team is eager to reach the top of the European Cup.

In this list, the loss of the national team's frequent visitor and Valencia goalkeeper Hildebrand is the most surprising. Due to the continuous internal turmoil in Valencia this season, and was swept by opponents many times in the second half of the season, as the main goalkeeper, Hildebrand's status in the national team has plummeted.

Goalkeeper coach Kopke said Leverkusen's young goalkeeper Adler "deserves to go to the European Cup" due to his stable performance in the past year. Even in the competition with the veteran Enke, Hildebrand also failed to gain favor and eventually became a spectator in the European Cup.

Shortly after the draw, the famous European bookmaker William Hill announced the winning odds. In William Hill's view, which country is most likely to win the European Cup next year?

The answer is Germany, Loew's team ranked first with 1 loss 4. Of course, Germany should be able to rank first thanks to their good luck. The remaining three teams in the same group as Germany, Austria, Croatia and Poland, do not seem to be Germany's opponents. There is no problem in qualifying for the group stage. As for the future, it depends on whether the Germanic chariot is fully fueled.

Poland, this is an ill-fated country, they have countless steely warriors. The revival of the veteran powerhouse Poland in the past two years is eye-catching. After 40 years of qualifier shock, Poland will appear on the stage of the European Cup for the first time. Although this team does not have many stars, it has been more than 30 years. The magical old coach Benhak, who traveled around, magically kneaded the whole team with the three cores, goalkeeper Boruc, "midfield bull" Kzhinovic and "strike swingman" Smolarek. Together, they overwhelmed Belgium, Portugal in qualifying. More importantly, the Polish Football Association, the media, players and even the fans all have great trust in Benhak, and the unprecedented unity atmosphere has added victory to the Polish team's trip to the group stage.

Although they lost 1:3 at home to Belgium, which lacked Digan, in the first match of the qualifiers, suffered a "open door", and Matushak's goal in the second round failed to help the team win, but then Benhak's team started to win. A wave of six consecutive victories, beating Lithuania 1:0 away, Portugal 2:1 at home, and finally advanced to the top of the group.

However, this season, Polish football has suffered a heavy blow. The match-fixing scandal almost wiped out the First Division. The two-year investigation led to the relegation of four First Division teams and two Second Division teams. The defending champion Lu The Bing Basin Club was given a "death reprieve". Just because of the excitement of successfully bidding for the 2012 European Cup, it was washed away by this storm. The Dutch coach of the Polish team, Benhak, even once planned to resign because of this.

The preparations for the European Cup of the Polish national team started in this "chaotic" situation. It is worth noting that the Brazilian Roger Guerrero, who played for the Warsaw Liege team, joined the Polish nationality. After permission, he was finally selected for the Polish national team. Guerrero will be the biggest highlight of the Polish team in this European Cup.

Croatia was finally assigned to this group. In 1996, people saw Croatia for the first time in a world football match. On November 21, 2007, at Wembley Stadium, a heavy rain did not extinguish Croatia. The human "torch" abruptly rushed England's promotion hopes into the sewer of the stadium.

The Red and White Plaid Army, nicknamed "Torch", will be led by Marshal Bilic, who is a bachelor of law, rock youth, language expert, poet and "personality", against the host Austria, the favorite Germany and Eastern European powerhouse Poland challenge.

"Youngness" is Croatia's advantage. Among the rising stars, Modric and Cole Luka are gradually becoming big players. Kranjca and Rakitic also played well in the European League. Srna and Petric and others Several "early 80s" players are already considered veterans, plus veterans like the Kovac brothers and Simic, the Brazilian Da Silva is even more divine, with the charm of Suker in the past. The torch of the England team will become a fire in the summer and continue to burn in Austria. Maybe they can repeat the great achievements of the Croatian team in 1998.

In addition, unlike England, Croatia seldom "loosen the gas in the second half" after leading. This is what McLaren envied the most. The team is full of resilience. Macedonia's first game was particularly classic. It reversed its opponent at the last moment, showing the maturity of Croatia after the World Cup experience. People who are fans of England and Beckham may be able to hate Croatia, but they cannot deny their strength.

More than a month before the opening of the European Cup, the head coach of the Croatian national team, Bilic, announced the final list of 23 players to participate in the European Cup, becoming the first among the 16 national teams participating in the final stage of the European Cup. team.

In this list, there are only two players from the Croatian domestic league, and the rest of the players are playing in other European leagues. Among them, the most eye-catching player is undoubtedly the "Little Cruyff" who just won the Triple Crown with Fiorentina Modric.

"I don't want to disclose our goal, but I think we can accomplish it through hard work." Bilic said confidently, "A lot of difficulties are waiting for us, but as long as we can get a little bit of luck." , we have a chance to triumph."

Like previous international competitions, the group of death is always an unavoidable topic, and it is the same in this European Cup. Group C has become a veritable group of death.

The top spot in the death group is undoubtedly the World Cup champion Italy. Looking at the history of Italian football, the last European Cup champion was 40 years ago, but this does not affect the fans' love for them in the slightest.

When the Italian team appeared, all the tactics and formations became unimportant, the most important thing was to enjoy quietly, especially when the national anthem was played at the opening, the ten seconds when the camera swept over the athletes was the most important thing to miss, because those one by one A handsome, resolute face, glamorous and incomparable.

The Italian team in this European Cup qualified first in the super death group of the qualifiers, and was then divided into the death group. However, as the 2006 World Cup champion, there is no reason to exclude the Italian team from the favorites outside.

Although Maldini is far away and Baggio's back is somewhat blurred, as long as the Italian team plays, they will bring the sunshine of the Apennines.

But after a peak, it is often followed by a period of low tide. Especially for a nation like Italy, which is free and undisciplined by nature, after winning a great victory, they often choose to revel rather than make further progress. Therefore, after winning the World Cup in 1982, they failed to reach the finals of the European Cup in 1984, which was a shame.

This time Italy almost made the same mistake. Lippi's rapid retreat after the World Cup is not a good signal in itself. The coach of the world champion is always a hot potato. In the end, amidst doubts, the Italian Football Association chose Donadoni, who lacked qualifications. Tired, confused, and suspicious, the world champion started the journey of this European Championship in such an atmosphere.

Drawn by Lithuania in the first game and lost to France in the second game, just as critics feared, Italy quickly pushed itself to the edge of a cliff. Italy looked almost the same as the Azzurri in 1983 amid strong momentum from France and Scotland, and calls for Donadoni's sacking grew louder.

But never underestimate the heart of a champion, Italy survived the crisis this time. After getting through the chaos and discomfort at the beginning, Donadoni and his Azzurri, who gradually entered the role, then temporarily resolved the cloud with a wave of five consecutive victories, especially the victory over direct rival Scotland made Italy took the initiative.

With Scotland's unexpected defeat in Lithuania, Italy's qualifying situation has become clear. As long as they keep a draw in Glasgow, the world champions will be able to break out of the tight encirclement. Italy, which is good at fighting life and death, did not let the opportunity slip away. In a classic Italian game, Donadoni's team defeated Scotland 2:1 and entered the European Cup in 2008 one round ahead of schedule.

It seems that there is no danger, but in fact the life and death of the world champion is on the line. At this time, the Italians don't need to thank God, but should thank Donadoni, who was once suspected by them. This young coach with no experience in coaching a strong team has achieved brilliant success under extremely difficult conditions.

This success not only refers to Donadoni leading the Italian national team out of the qualifiers, but more importantly, under his command, the Azzurri have stepped out of the shadow of Lippi and built a team from personnel composition to tactical play. , with a Donadoni-branded national team that is very different from the German World Cup, which created space for Italy to continue to move forward after winning the World Cup.

Taking over in chaos, starting in a loss, and moving forward steadily amidst criticism and ridicule, Donadoni demonstrated the patience, confidence and determination that a champion coach should have.

What's more valuable is that Donadoni was able to recognize and correct his mistakes in time after making mistakes, which is more gratifying to the Italians than the stubborn old coach Trapattoni.

In the face of Totti and Nesta's repeated hesitation and Del Piero's "verbal warning", Donadoni also showed his tough side, boldly making Italy's most influential player in the past 5 to 7 years The exclusion of the three stars of the national team from the national team has reduced arguments and won a quiet atmosphere for the team.

Donadoni deserved credit, but so did Italy's players, especially the "new" internationals who didn't win the world title.

Ambrosini, Di Natale and Panucci all played a vital role in Italy's qualifying process. Barzagli, who could not be reused under Lippi, also promptly provoked the burden of Italy's central defender. The new wing stars contributed by Fiorentina are also worth looking forward to. Together with those world champions who are still motivated to move forward, these players form Donadoni's team. They have both experience, quality and desire, and they are a reliable team. teacher.

As the World Cup champion, the Italian team is undoubtedly one of the favorites to win the 2008 European Cup. Captain Cannavaro is even more confident that his team will become the final champion in Austria and Switzerland.

Cannavaro, who has played 115 times on behalf of the Italian team, will participate in his last major competition in the European Cup this summer, and in front of him is only 9 games away from surpassing Maldini's national team appearance record milestone.

In addition, the selection of Montolivo, Antonini, Abate, Pacini, Maggio, Ledesma, and the naturalized player Motta also made Fiorentina a major player in the current Italian national team.

However, being in the death group also made Italy's journey full of variables. Coach Donadoni said in an interview with Cai: "This group is very difficult, and the road to promotion will be very difficult. When the lottery was drawn, I I had a premonition of such a bad result, but I didn't expect it to become a reality. Now I don't want to complain. I will work hard with the team. The Netherlands and France are obviously the strongest opponents in the group. After the European Cup, Romania should not be underestimated either, they always like to surprise people."

Romania is indeed ready to give people a surprise. The current Romanian team, under the transformation of the forward-born coach Piturka, has also become a terrifying "Vampire Earl". In the European Cup qualifiers, they beat the Dutch team. First qualifying, scoring 26 goals in 12 games, 11 more than the Dutch team. When the three giants of France, Italy, and the Netherlands in the death group were drawn to Romania, they couldn't help but change their faces.

Although Romania's star players are only Chivu and Digan's striker partner Mutu in Florence, the players selected for the national team are very familiar with each other. According to media comments, "the accuracy of the passing between players , which can be measured in centimeters."

The European Championship qualifiers are over. Among all the Eastern European teams that have advanced, Croatia and the Czech Republic are undoubtedly the focus of attention. The former has defended the honor of Eastern European football with incomparably dedicated sportsmanship, while the latter is the strongest team in Eastern Europe in recent years. However, apart from the two, there is still a team that is enough to become a representative of Eastern European football, and this is Romania.

After nearly a year and 12 rounds of arduous competition, Romania finally defeated the popular team Netherlands to become the first place in the group, and got a ticket to the final stage one round ahead of schedule.

Counting Romania's qualifying process, the home and away game against the Netherlands scored four points, which can be called a decisive battle, which allowed them to directly gain a comparative advantage over the Netherlands, in order to finally overwhelm the Oranje and get through to the final stage of the European Championship The gate laid the foundation.

In today's Romanian team, Mutu, who plays in Serie A, is undoubtedly the brightest star. Today's Mutu is no longer the down-and-out player who took drugs, was suspended and then kicked out by Chelsea.

Coming to Florence, the city of Renaissance, Mutu seems to have embarked on the road of career revival. The golden combination of Mutu and Degan this season just ended can be called the "best partner" in Serie A. Accompanied by Florence all the way Sing forward and win the Triple Crown.

Mutu's performance in the national team is equally wonderful. Whether on or off the field, Mutu has become the soul of Romania. Under the leadership of Mutu, the young player Marica has also made rapid progress. Donets The striker of the Shakers team is fast, proficient in all eighteen martial arts such as dribbling, shooting, and passing. In time, he will definitely become Mutu's right-hand man.

Romania used to be a banner of Eastern European football. Their skilled ground coordination and superb personal skills made them once the best in Eastern Europe and achieved a series of brilliant records.

In the 1994 World Cup, under the leadership of "Midfield Conspirator" Haji, Romania went all the way through and even eliminated the favorite Argentina team. One of the highlights, "Maradona of the Carpathian Mountains" Haji has become a world-class midfielder.

Today, under the leadership of Mutu, who is also talented, the Romanians hope to repeat the glory of the year and let the eagle of the Balkans soar over Europe again.

Another powerful player in the death group is the Netherlands. The enchanting Tulip has many world-class stars with dazzling playing styles. Inexplicably defeated by the underdogs and out of the game, just like the tulips blooming in the Netherlands, they can wither overnight, so the Dutch team has more tragic colors.

In this European Cup, Basten changed the passionate "433" formation into a pragmatic "442". Compared with the Dutch team that was smooth and flamboyant in the past, the current Dutch team is more stable. It is also a little more conservative, and it is unlikely to play the kind of hearty wing attack in the past. Despite this, van der Vaart, Sneijder, Robben, Van Persie and many other midfielders with extraordinary creativity, their offensive organization, creativity, and improvisation on the field are still impressive. expect.

Looking back on the Dutch team's qualifying trip, although the Oranje team performed quite well and calmly, and did not encounter too many troubles on the way out, the team led by the legendary superstar Basten always misunderstood the domestic media and fans. 』Appetite.

The Dutch media has pointed out more than once, "This is not the Netherlands we are familiar with."

After losing to Belarus in the final round of the qualifiers, the Dutch media lashed out at this team that had already qualified ahead of schedule, believing that it was a Netherlands that had "lost the spirit of Total Attack and Total Defense", saying that under the rule of Basten The team is the "lost generation".

Indeed, the Holland fans, whose spirit of total defense penetrates into their bones, are more eager for the exciting scenes of the game than the results of the game. Known as the "Uncrowned King". Except for the European Cup champion in 1988, the honor book of the Dutch national team is blank. The smug Basten certainly wants to change this embarrassing situation. defensive skills.

Facts have proved that Basten's transformation of the team is successful. Although the game scene is ugly, the defensive quality has improved, which is especially important for the Netherlands, which is in the "transition period".

Marshal Basten, who is about to play in the European Cup, is full of ambitions, but just as the war is approaching, midfielder Seedorf suddenly announces his withdrawal from the European Cup.

Van Basten was surprised by Seedorf's decision: "I was surprised by his decision, it was not the news I was expecting, I told Clarence I respect him both as a player and as a person, but He has made his decision."

For Seedorf's voluntary withdrawal, public opinion generally believes that the reason is his dissatisfaction with the coach. Although he returned to the national team, Seedorf believes that he has not been reused by the coach. He has also expressed his dissatisfaction with Van Basten's tactics before. Thoughts of disappointment.

"The team has been plagued by negative factors over the past few days, but we have not learned from the past, which has forced some great players to make difficult choices. I don't want to cause tension in the team, let alone It will affect the future of the team in this competition." Regarding his decision, Seedorf also explained in an interview.

"Civil strife" before the battle is a tradition of the Dutch team. From Cruyff, Gullit to Davis, the core players of previous teams have all chosen to quit the national team because of conflicts with the coach.

For Van Basten, Seedorf is not the first international player to express his dissatisfaction publicly. He even said that as long as Van Basten is in office, he will refuse to play for the national team.

The team's internal turmoil and being divided into the death group, it can be said that the journey of the Dutch team that has not yet started has been cast a shadow. After arriving in Austria, Basten said: "This is too difficult. In the group, there are actually two World Cup champion teams in the same group. Both teams are great teams with great players and rich experience in major competitions. This is a difficult challenge for us. We must first Against Italy, then against France, then we'll know how it ends."

The Dutch marshal said frankly that the team had encountered the death group in the World Cup last year, and this time he encountered the same thing: "In the World Cup in Germany last year, we were in a group with Argentina, Serbia and Côte d'Ivoire. In the group of death, it is the same now, in terms of strength, this time the group is more difficult, and every opponent in the group is very strong."

Basten once played for AC Milan with Donadoni, the current Italian coach. The Dutchman admitted that he is very familiar with his current opponent: "When I was playing football, I once played for AC Milan with Donadoni. For a long time, he was a difficult opponent. Italy has always been a country with a good football tradition. They have been able to reach the final stage in all major competitions. The French team has also performed well in the past few years. This is undoubtedly a Very tough group."

Talking about Romania, the opponent we faced in the qualifiers, Basten said frankly that this is also a strong team: "We have confronted Romania in the qualifiers, and they are also strong. What we can do is hold our chests up. Face it bravely."

Although Basten's words were tough, it sounded like he was saying: "I'm so wronged!"