Chapter 122 Return to Reality

The third round of Group G's contest can be said to be a process of returning from a dream to reality. North Korea, which had shouted to win the championship before the game, has completely woken up. They should also realize that on the football field, they and The gap between the world's top teams, and Brazil and Portugal finally appeared hand in hand without accident.

This direct face-to-face contest between the two teams is the second time that the two Latin football representatives have met on the World Cup stage. The only time they have faced each other before is in 1966. In the group stage, Portugal led by the Panther Eusebio They defeated Brazil 3:1, Pele was kicked and injured in that game, and Brazil was eliminated from the group early.

This time the two teams are fighting again, the situation is quite different. Brazil has already qualified for the top 16, and Portugal has basically secured a place in the top 16. I don't know if it is affected by this. things.

It was supposed to be a battle between two technical teams, but the final result was a boring 0:0. In 90 minutes, the two sides did not create many chances. The more eye-catching ones turned out to be Melo and Pepe's personal grievances and black feet.

Brazil coach Dunga admitted after the game that the game was not exciting, but he shifted the responsibility to Portugal: "They only know defense and only want to get a draw."

In fact, the Brazilian team did not try their best in this game. Robinho was frozen and Melo was replaced early. For the Selecao, this is not a battle that must be won.

In the final stage, when Brazil fell in the midfield, the boos on the court actually overwhelmed the voice of the vuvuzela. Apparently, some neutral fans believed that the so-called "** war" expected before the game had become a Ugly stuffy fight, not worth their ticket money at all.

Of course, it is understandable that Brazil does not try its best and Portugal focuses on defense. Dedicating exciting games to the fans will not be the primary consideration of the coaches of the two teams. They need to make choices based on their own interests.

In the final round of the World Cup group, the objective situation will often affect the team's play style, destroying some famous "** collisions", which has almost become an inevitable formula.

This dull battle between Brazil and Portugal may remind people of the final group match between Argentina and the Netherlands four years ago. When the groups were announced, people were optimistic about the excitement of this battle. It has been determined to qualify, and the motivation to fight hard has been lost. In the end, what people saw was the most dull 90 minutes of this competition.

The pressure of the situation in the last round of the group has created some strange phenomena in the history of the World Cup. Even the Germans, who have always been known for their seriousness and rigor, did not hesitate to distort themselves.

The most famous one is Group B in 1982. West Germany and Austria played a tacit 1-0 in the final round, defeating Algeria with six points. In the second half of the second half, the two teams took turns in the back court The face once made the audience in an uproar.

In the group stage in 1986, West Germany lost 0:2 to Denmark in the last game after being confirmed to qualify in the first two rounds. There was only one goal, to strive for the second place in the group, so as to avoid Spain, who was second in the group d. , to find Morocco, the dark polo team in Group F. In the end, the Germans' plan was a great success. In the 1/8 finals, they defeated Morocco, which was at the end of its strength, while Denmark, which won West Germany and qualified first in the group, was swept by Spain 5:1.

From this point of view, when there is a strong dialogue in the World Cup group draw, the game that people should look forward to should not appear in the last round of the group. The political collision on paper is likely to "smelt" due to various reasons like today's battle between Brazil and Portugal.

In another game, North Korea finally lost 0:3 to Côte d'Ivoire. As I said before, it completely returned to reality. Yaya Touré and Romaric scored two goals in a row. Only won the third place in the group and was still eliminated.

In this game, Côte d'Ivoire had to strive for more goal difference and expect a favorable result in another game, but in the end a miracle did not happen, but despite being eliminated, Ivory Coast coach Eriksson is still very satisfied with the team's performance , he believes that Côte d'Ivoire has been very tenacious and worthy of respect.

"They should be proud of their performance, and the whole of Côte d'Ivoire will also be proud of the team's good performance. This is a very good team. The future of the Côte d'Ivoire team will be very bright. Get stronger."

Drogba has some regrets about the team's failure to qualify: "If we can be more calm and seize the opportunity, maybe we have the opportunity to score more goals. Our World Cup is over, but through these three games, our We have fully demonstrated our strength, and we deserve respect for our performance. Although we are disappointed by being out, we cannot be too sad, because we are in such a death group after all."

At the same time, Drogba expressed his expectations for the future of the Côte d'Ivoire team: "For Côte d'Ivoire, entering the World Cup twice is already a very magical performance. Very happy."

Côte d'Ivoire's opponent in this game, North Korea, lost to Portugal by a big score before, and the North Korean team has no burden to play. However, facing the stronger Ivory Coast, the North Korean team did not show the tenacity in the game against Brazil. , perhaps because the first two 180-minute fierce battles have exhausted too much physical energy for this mysterious Asian team. In front of the muscular football of the Elephant Legion, the Koreans who tend to be short in stature are unbearable. hit.

Côte d'Ivoire led by Drogba completely turned the game into a one-man show, but it has to be said that Côte d'Ivoire, who is not good at technology, can play Barcelona-style suppressing football. North Korean team.

Côte d'Ivoire's passing success rate in this game is as high as 90%, which is a rather terrifying statistic. You must know that in this game, the Côte d'Ivoire team did not use unnecessary inversions in the backcourt, but more in the Korean half. Pass in depth. It is not difficult to analyze how bad the North Korean team is in defensive interception, marking and pressing.

Look at their 541 formation. Except for the sharp-edged Zheng Dashi who has been cruising in the frontcourt, the North Korean team is defending with nine players most of the time. What do so many people do on the field?

It can be said that the North Korean team in this game is completely different from the North Korean team that surprised people when they faced Brazil.

In the battle against Brazil, if it wasn't for Maicon's zero-angle volley that violated the principles of physics, helping the Brazilians break the deadlock early and take the lead, I am afraid that this mysterious East Asian team will expose the biggest upset in this World Cup.

But why in just one and a half weeks, the North Koreans behaved like this?

The reason is very simple. Mystery was their biggest asset, even their weapon, in the previous games. Before the first match, no one knew how deep their water was. , Even their basic style of play, offensive routines and even formations are ignorant.

Zhuge Liang tricked Sima Yi with "The Story of the Empty City", and this trick is still effective today after a thousand years. This time, the Brazilian team played Sima Yi as a cameo. The Samba Army, who couldn't figure out the routine, could only play in a conventional way. , was also held back by the North Koreans for a time, and the two sides were in a balance of power.

But the North Korean team is not Zhuge Liang after all, and Maicon is the point that broke the balance. The mysterious veil of the Koreans brought them a story, but did not bring them an end. It was uncovered.

In the second World War in Portugal, the North Korean team had no secrets at all, but they still had their own foundation of the team—spiritual willpower!

It is a pity that the North Korean team, which lost a small goal to the Samba Army in the first game, did not recognize their current situation in time. At this time, their emotions were unprecedentedly high. If they want to qualify from the group, they must win the next match against Portugal.

With that tenacity, the North Korean team's opening performance was no less than that of Portugal led by Kim Mauro, and even suppressed the Portuguese in the first 20 minutes.

But as the game progressed, their technical and tactical disadvantages were gradually revealed. After the Portuguese team's set of combined punches, the Korean team's fighting spirit instantly collapsed. The last layer of "golden bell cover", the weaknesses of the North Korean team are also completely exposed to the opponent: easy to be impatient, weak defense line, lack of experience in competitions, the main goalkeeper Li Mingguo loves to drop the ball, the overall coordination ability is not strong, and the combat thinking is not strong Unified, and the game eventually evolved into a goal performance.

The reason why football has become the most popular sport in the world has its own charm, so there is no shortcut to success on the field. If there is no advanced tactical cultivation, no delicate technique and footwork as the foundation, only relying on a single With mental strength and reckless impulse, it is tantamount to fantasy to break out of the encirclement and succeed.

The fierce battle in Group G is over, and Brazil and Portugal qualify together. This result is expected, but those who have watched the Brazil and Portugal match may have a question, such Brazil and Portugal, even if they appear, what can they do? Woolen cloth?

The Brazil team has lost the passion of Samba, and Portugal has lost the delicacy of Latin football. The rest is rough, muscular, and defense. Don't they want to learn from Germany instead of carrying forward their good Latin football?

After the boring battle between Brazil and Portugal, Degan used the most classic comment: "The Brazil and Portugal I am familiar with failed to come to South Africa!"