Chapter 427 World Cup 14 Finals: Portugal VS Croatia

Chapter 427 World Cup 14 Finals: Portugal VS Croatia
2018年战斗国世界杯结束第三场1/8决赛，夺冠大热葡萄牙3：1轻取东道主。

The fourth 1/8 finals started at pm local time.

The winner of this game will also become Portugal's opponent in the quarter-finals.

After returning to their hotel, the Portuguese team once again gathered in the hotel's multimedia room to watch the 1/8 finals between Croatia and Denmark.

The place is Nizhny Novgorod.

The two teams scored very early. In the 57th second of the game, M. Jorgensen succeeded in a low shot from the melee in the penalty area, helping the Danish team score a lightning goal.

Croatia's equalizing goal was also very fast. Just three minutes later, Rakitic made a pass from the right side of the penalty area. Dalsgao made a clearance and accidentally hit his teammate's back. Mandzukic volleyed outside the edge of the small penalty area on the right. A sweep equalized the score.

In the following eighty minutes, both sides missed many excellent scoring opportunities and had to enter overtime.

In the first half of overtime, both teams were affected by their physical fitness and did not perform as well as they should. It was not until the end of the second half of overtime that Croatia created an excellent scoring opportunity.

Tottenham star Eriksen made a mistake in catching the ball near the arc of the center circle. Modric received the ball and sent a through ball. Forward Rebic got the ball and drove straight past goalkeeper Schmeichel before being brought down. The referee decisively awarded a penalty. ball.

Everyone thought Croatia would beat Denmark, but Modric's penalty was saved by Schmeichel.

As a result, the fourth 1/8 finals, which should have ended in overtime, had to enter a brutal penalty shootout.

The next game was completely a performance by the two goalkeepers.

Schmeichel saved two penalty kicks, while Subasic turned away Denmark's penalty kicks three times.

In other words, Croatia defeated Denmark 3:2 on penalty kicks with a total score of 4:3 and became the fourth top eight team in this World Cup.

The next morning, the Portuguese team took a flight to Sochi to prepare for the quarter-finals against Croatia.

Although they eliminated the host country Fighting Nation, the game was very honorable.

Putting aside Ignashevic's own goal, the team only scored two goals.

You must know that Spain lost 1:5, Morocco was also massacred, and a penalty kick was given at the last moment of the game, so the local fans in Sochi once again gave a warm welcome to the visiting Portuguese players.

The results of the third knockout match day were normal, but the process was slightly unexpected.

Brazil defeated Mexico 2:0.

Belgium allowed two to chase three, especially the go-ahead goal, which is a classic.

Martin simply ignored the first half and only looked at the end of the second half.

In the last minute of stoppage time, Courtois went to the small penalty area line to pick off Honda Keisuke's corner kick. He ran forward while looking left and right. When he ran to the small penalty area line, he saw Deb. Laune started on the right front, quickly threw the football, and launched a quick counterattack.

The physical fitness of the Sakura players has bottomed out, and they simply cannot catch up with De Bruyne, who is still in good physical condition.

Although I saw this goal countless times in my previous life, the excitement I felt when I saw it this time was even stronger.

After all, De Bruyne is now his good friend.

He ran with the ball for forty meters.

He dribbled the ball past the circle of Sakura Junior High School. Facing the defensive player, he used the outside instep of his right foot to pass the ball to the right rib. Meunier, who was running forward at high speed, passed the ball from the front of the penalty area on the right side.

Lukaku, who was outflanking the middle of the penalty area, made an alert move in the passing route. Shadley, who was ambushing at the far end, pushed and shot through the net to complete the real victory.

The Belgian fans in the entire stadium were ecstatic and celebrated with joy.

Sakura National fans were stunned, obviously not yet accepting the reality of being defeated.

You know, they once led the European Red Devils Belgium by two goals.

As a result, three goals were scored in a row.

This goal was also the last goal of the game.

In the end, Belgium achieved a huge reversal and became the sixth team to advance to the quarterfinals.

The fourth match day of the knockout rounds kicked off at the Zenit Arena in St. Petersburg.

The two-Switzerland battle lasted for 66 minutes, and the Swedish team defeated Switzerland 1:0 with a lucky goal in the th minute.

In the evening, the eighth World Cup 1/8 final was held at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow. Harry Kane created a penalty kick in the 54th minute and hit it, raising his personal number of goals in this World Cup to six, thus reversing the C Luo ranked second on the scorer list.

England led 1:0 into stoppage time, and the Colombian player successfully extended his life in the 93rd minute.

Neither side scored in overtime, and eventually the two teams had to enter a brutal penalty shootout.

Pickford saved two penalty kicks, and Martin's club teammate Ospina only saved one penalty kick from Henderson, which means England won the penalty shootout.

With England defeating Colombia on penalties, the national teams that advance to the quarter-finals are all decided.

The World Cup of Fighting Nations has also entered a three-day intermission period, allowing the remaining teams to fully get time to rest.

Only by combining work and rest can a hearty and classic game be played.

In terms of schedule, Portugal has a very advantage.

1/8决赛是7月1日下午五点开踢，1/4决赛是7月7日晚上九点，等于说间歇期长达六天。

There was no great physical exertion in itself. Croatia played another 120 minutes and a penalty shootout. It can be said that they tried their best, so they have certain additional advantages.

最惨的还是英格兰，赛事来到八强战的赛程本身相当密集，7月3日晚上九点踢完120分钟+点球大战的1/8决赛，7月7日下午五点就要跟瑞典踢1/4决赛，等于说休息时间不足四天。

But there is good news for England. The weakest team that has advanced to the quarterfinals is Sweden.

The three-day break is very uncomfortable for fans who are used to watching World Cup games every day. They always feel that something is missing.

Major social platforms have become the best place for these fans to kill time.

Analyze, share, argue, curse...

Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara and Sochi are the cities that have hosted four World Cup quarter-finals. A fanatical football atmosphere spreads in the four cities.

The fans of each team and the traveling fans who joined in the fun fully unleashed their passion and created enough atmosphere for the quadrennial World Cup.

Everyone knows that the next World Cup will have to wait until four years from now!

Many stars are at the end of their careers, and no one knows whether they will be able to see them again in the next World Cup.

Thiago Silva is 34 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo is 33 years old, Modric is 33 years old, Godin is 32 years old, Suarez is 31 years old, Cavani is 31 years old...

The players known as the golden generation of Belgium can be said to be in the best form of their careers in this World Cup. Four years later, it will definitely be a different scene.

At two o'clock in the afternoon on July 7, the Portuguese team went to Sochi's Fisht Stadium for a routine pre-match adaptation to the venue and a pre-match press conference.

As early as around ten o'clock in the morning, Croatia had already participated in the pre-match stomping ground and press conference.

Head coach Dalic and captain Modric who were interviewed by the media fully expressed their determination and belief in advancing. They believe that the team is now united and will definitely defeat Portugal, the favorite to win the championship, in the quarter-finals!

Media reporters have always liked to gossip and exaggerate everything.

Santos and captain Ronaldo, who were interviewed by the media, had already learned about the Croatian's pre-match interview from social platforms, so they did not fall for the reporter's deliberate provocation.

Cristiano Ronaldo also deliberately talked about club teammate Modric, making all kinds of fancy boasts, believing that he is the second best player in football after Martin in terms of midfield organization and opportunity creation.

Finally, I mentioned that Croatia is very strong overall and will definitely pose a huge threat to the team in the quarter-finals...

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the first quarter-finals started in Nizhny Novgorod.

Atletico Madrid's top player Griezmann shines, passing and shooting.

First, he assisted Varane to take the lead in the first half, and his shot in the second half caused the Uruguayan goalkeeper to miss the ball and leak into the goal.

2:0
The French team cleanly defeated Uruguay, led by Suarez and Cavani, within 90 minutes.

At nine o'clock in the evening local time in Kazan, the Belgian and Brazilian teams tried their best to get a ticket to the semi-finals.

However, in the past ten years, the talents of the Brazilian team have gradually withered, and the only stars that can be used are Neymar, Marcelo and Coutinho...

There are actually three players in the 23-man roster from the Dragon Super League, among whom Paulinho and Augusto are still the main players.

It can be easily seen from this that the once star-studded Brazilian team has gradually become civilians.

Belgium's starting 11 are almost all the main players of the five major leagues, and their abilities and tactical qualities are naturally better than those of the Brazilian team.

The process and results also show that the Brazilian team is indeed inferior to Belgium's golden generation.

In the 13th minute of the game, Belgium got off to a dream start. Shadley took a corner kick from the right. Kompany took off from the front and failed to hit the football. As a result, Fernandinho, who took off immediately after him, was injured. Casemiro finally took advantage of the yellow card accumulation and suspension to start the game. , but was tricked by Jesus who took off at the same time in front of him. The falling football hit his right arm and redirected it into the net.

The Brazilian team, which was lagging behind, obviously strengthened its offensive, but there was no good way to face Belgium's solid defensive system.

On the contrary, in the 31st minute, Belgium scored another victory.

The defensive corner kick in Belgium's backcourt was destroyed, and it happened to be caught by Lukaku. He used his strong body to protect the ball and turned around and broke through Fernandinho's defense. After speeding up, he was like a speeding truck that could not be pulled back.

Dribbling the ball in the middle for nearly 30 meters, Paulinho sent a through ball to the right before he fell to the ground and made a tackle.

The midfielder was out of position, and left back Marcelo was worried about De Bruyne passing the ball to Meunier who was advancing on the right, so he did not dare to step forward to defend.

De Bruyne received the ball and shot furiously from the front of the penalty area on the right side. The football he kicked out was so powerful that Alisson fell to the right and dived to the right, out of reach. He could only watch helplessly as the football stuck to the inside of the left goal post. Hitting the snow-white ball net...

2:0
Belgium took a two-goal lead and maintained it until the end of the first half.

Such a score also means that as long as they don't take the initiative to die, advancing to the semi-finals is certain.

In the history of the World Cup, 130 teams that fell behind by two goals in the first half have never come back to win, with 5 draws and 125 losses, but not counting penalty shootouts.

Trailing by two goals, Brazil had no choice but to launch a flood of offensive attacks in the second half.

Until the 76th minute, Coutinho passed the ball to the right rib of the penalty area from the Chuanyunjian area that belonged to his offensive left rib. Long Chao foreign aid Augusto, who came on the bench, jumped high and headed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal. .

Brazil pulled one back.

In the subsequent game time, there were offenses and defenses, but they were just a few inches away from scoring.

At the end of the game, Belgium defeated Brazil 2:1 and reached the World Cup semi-finals for the second time after the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

As the Brazilian team was eliminated, all South American teams were wiped out. Since the remaining two quarter-finals are European teams, it also means that the championship of this World Cup is in the hands of European teams.

The two quarter-finals have come to an end, and the public's attention turns to the other two quarter-finals on the next day.

Sweden vs England and Portugal vs Croatia.

The most eye-catching match was undoubtedly Portugal and Croatia in the evening game.

Sweden's overall strength is very different from England's, and there is a high probability that it will end with England.

The core players of the Portuguese and Croatian teams are the core of the five major leagues. Croatia is also known for its tough style of play. The quarter-finals with Portugal will definitely be a hearty and high-level event.

Time flies and it’s July 7th in a blink of an eye.

The quarter-finals of Portugal vs. Croatia started at 1 p.m., so there was plenty of time to prepare. You could even make time to pay attention to the quarter-finals of Sweden vs. England.

At Samara Stadium, the match between Sweden and England kicked off.

The disparity in strength between the two sides was evident not long after the game started. Maguire, the heaviest 'aircraft carrier' in this World Cup, headed Ashley Young's header into the lower right corner of the goal in the 30th minute.

For the rest of the first half, England controlled the game very well, and the Swedish team, which was trailing by score, could not find any chance.

If 'Happy Boy' Sterling hadn't missed excellent scoring opportunities in succession, England would have at least expanded the score to two goals in the first half.

In the second half of the rematch, England, with its stronger overall strength, still took the initiative and boiled the frog in warm water in the 58th minute of the game.

Lingard passed the ball from the left side of the penalty area, and Alli headed the ball five yards in front of the goal. He thus became England's second youngest scorer in the World Cup.

With their strong ability to control the game, England defeated Sweden 2:0 and became the third national team to advance to the semi-finals.

Their opponent is the winner of the evening match between Portugal and Croatia.

Just after the game at this stadium, the buses from Portugal and Croatia arrived at the designated parking spaces at Fisht Stadium in Sochi, and then went to their respective locker rooms through the internal passage.

The fanatical atmosphere of the World Cup spread throughout Sochi, and the performance near Fisht Stadium was particularly crazy, with fans singing and dancing.

Fans from both sides of the match were very restrained and nothing unpleasant happened.

At most, they were just talking nonsense, greeting each other's family members, and exchanging international gestures while being isolated by security and police officers.

Neutral fans purely want to enjoy the World Cup atmosphere and watch the games live.

In this context, what is indispensable are the fans holding high ticket slogans.

The capacity of the stadium is limited, and only a few people can grab tickets, so the premium becomes logical.

An ordinary match ticket costs close to 5,000 euros.

As the game gets closer, tickets become more expensive.

There is no shortage of rich people in this world.

Especially those bloggers and Internet celebrities who want to gain traffic can spend huge amounts of money on live game tickets, not to mention the rich second generation who are not short of money?
Not long after the players from both sides entered the stadium to warm up, their respective starting lineups appeared on the FIFA official website.

The starting lineup announced by Croatia is the 4231 formation popular in international football.

Goalkeeper: Subasic
Defenders: Strinic, Vida, Lovren, Vrsaljko
Midfielder: Modric, Rakitic

Midfielder: Perisic, Kramaric, Rebic
Forward: Mandzukic

Portugal also has a 4231 formation.

Goalkeeper: Patricio

Defenders: Guerrero, Font, Pepe, Cedric

Midfielder: William Carvalho, Moutinho

Avant-garde: B fee, Martin, B seat

Forward: Cristiano Ronaldo

The starting lineups of the two teams were reproduced on the official social accounts of major media. Fans all over the world know that the last quarter-finals will start soon...

Both Portuguese fans and Croatian fans felt a little nervous.

Neutral fans are full of expectations and look forward to the exciting games in the future.

The warm-up ball training before the game gave Portuguese fans around the world full confidence.

Both Martin and Ronaldo showed excellent competitive condition.

The Croatian players warming up at Fisht Stadium also noticed the Portuguese players warming up at the other end. Players such as Modric felt sincerely worried.

Martin, who is truly both offensive and defensive, has made people a little desperate. In the past three consecutive Champions League finals, we have seen Martin's dominance of top competitions.

Ronaldo is still in such good shape, how should he play the game?

The Croatian fans in the audience also know football. After noticing that Martin and Ronaldo were in excellent form, they also became worried.

The Maro combination can tear apart any extremely tough defense!
The cooperation between Central 5 and FIFA is very good. The on-site commentator He Wei took the initiative to transform into a reporter and took on the important task of interviewing Martin.

The two have a very good personal relationship, and the interviews were all discussed in advance, so they went smoothly.

Of course, the interview was not very long either.

After all, warm-up before a game is very important.

The two teams' pre-match warm-up time was controlled between forty and fifty minutes, and then they filed back to their respective locker rooms to make final preparations for the upcoming quarter-finals.

The competition in the World Cup is not only about team honor, but also the best place for players to show themselves.

In every World Cup, there are players who have achieved huge value through this stage, and doubling their salary is the norm.

While players are showing off their skills, they also need to take into account their personal image.

Martin and Ronaldo are both players who care very much about their personal appearance. They will carefully arrange their hair before the start of each game. Expensive hairspray is applied to their heads for free, and they nod with satisfaction until they are meticulous.

After the big names finished sorting out their images, the head coach summoned the players and took out the tactical board prepared in advance.

It not only consolidates the tactics formulated before the game but also deepens the impression, and also plays a role in stabilizing the morale of the military.

With about ten minutes left before the start of the game, the game preparation bell rang from the loudspeaker in the home and away team's locker room, reminding the respective starting players to go to the tunnel and prepare to play.

After a while, the starting players from both sides came to stay in the tunnel, and the substitute players went straight into the court and sat on the bench.

Players who have a good relationship with each other will have a friendly exchange and fully implement the core value of competitive sports of 'Friendship first, competition second'.

(End of this chapter)