Chapter 506: The Strongest Spear and Shield: Is a slight attack the limit of this segment?

Chapter 506: The Strongest Spear and Shield: Is a slight attack the limit of this segment?

All eight quarter-finals of the 2022 Qatar World Cup have ended, and fans who are accustomed to World Cup events have to take a two-day break.

Portugal's quarter-final match against Morocco will still be held in Doha, but the venue will be changed from Lusail Stadium to Atumama Stadium, so there is no need to change the hotel.

The fanatical atmosphere in Doha has not subsided as the World Cup entered the intermission. On the contrary, there are fans with nothing to do who are creating an even more fanatical atmosphere in order to kill time.

The hotels where the remaining eight teams were staying and outside the venues for the quarter-finals were filled with large numbers of enthusiastic fans.

They sang and danced, and shouted hysterically, cheering for the team preparing for the game.

The French team, the English team, the Brazilian team, the Argentine team and the Portuguese team are the most popular.

Among them, Portugal received the greatest support.

The reason is simple. Portugal, led by Martin, is the biggest favorite to win this World Cup.

In addition to Portuguese fans, there are also local and global fans who give huge support to Portugal in preparation for the quarter-finals.

Social media platforms have become a gathering place for bored football fans, with all kinds of comments emerging one after another.

When they meet like-minded fans, they will flatter each other. But if they see opinions that are completely opposite to their own, they will inexplicably implicate the other party's female family members.

As time passed, the seven teams except Portugal became more serious in their preparations for the World Cup quarter-finals.

Afraid of being eliminated in the next quarter-finals.

Morocco, which faced Portugal in the quarter-finals, was extremely tense and took training very seriously.

Although advancing to the quarterfinals of the World Cup is already a record in team history, the charm of competitive sports lies in this, and we must do our best for potential better results.

What if they eliminate Portugal, the favorite to win the championship, and advance to the semi-finals?

Although the possibility is small, every Moroccan wants to try it.

Against this backdrop, time has arrived at the first match day of the 2022 Qatar World Cup quarter-finals.

Portugal's quarter-final match against Morocco at the Atumama Stadium was to start at 1pm the next day. According to management, both teams had to complete the routine pre-match press conference on the same day.

Portugal's head coach Santos, who was interviewed by media reporters, was as confident as ever and believed that advancing to the semi-finals was a high probability event.

The player who accompanied him was the vice-captain Martin. Facing the interview of the media, he shrugged and said: "Do you still need to ask me such a question? I think all the practitioners who came to the press conference hall know what kind of answer I will give, right?"

Such an interview content may sound too arrogant, but it is just the truth for Martin, who has become the number one player in the world of football.

He is the kind of boss who can turn his boasts into reality. Any practitioner who dares to bet with him will be the one who gets slapped in the face in the end.

"What I want to say is that football is a game full of uncertainty. Any comments before the game will not have any impact on tomorrow's game. Since we have advanced to the quarterfinals, why not go one step further?"

When such remarks were passed to Morocco head coach Reglaj through the mouths of media reporters, he shrugged and said: "We have the best defensive performance in this World Cup!"

Regeraji's answer immediately caused an uproar at the scene. The local media in Morocco were very satisfied, believing that only if the team had the belief to advance would it have a chance to eliminate Portugal unexpectedly.

Most of the media reporters at the scene thought that Regeragi was sensational. When the Portuguese and Chinese media were about to question him, Regeragi directly announced the end of the routine pre-match press conference...

As a result, there were a lot of "arrogant" remarks about Morocco head coach Reglaj on the world's mainstream social platforms.

The vast majority of media and journalists believe that Regera has gone crazy and will surely pay a huge price for it.

Some Moroccan fans even thought that the answer given in the pre-match interview was a bit too much...

At 12 pm local time on December 9th, the decisive battle will be between Croatia and Brazil.

The competition has reached the quarter-final stage, which means no one can afford to lose.

Besides, there is a saying in the tournament system that only defense can win the championship.

Both teams chose to focus on defense in the game at the Education City Stadium, and their offense was tentative to see if they could find the opponent's defensive weaknesses.

But the problem is that no one put too much energy into offense, which resulted in the defense always being in a strong period.

At the end of the 45-minute first half, both teams focused most of their energy on the midfield battle, with people falling and horses struggling one after another, but the score shown on the scoreboard did not change.

In the second half, the head coaches of both teams made adjustments to their lineups.

Brazil replaced Vinicius and Rafinha with Rodrigo and 'Compass Master' Anthony respectively.

Croatia replaced Kramaric and Pasalic with Petkovic and Vlasic.

Although personnel adjustments were made, the situation did not change. Both sides were unable to create attacks that threatened the opponent's goal.

Until the end of 0 minutes of regular time, the scoreboard still showed 0:.

The two teams had to go into overtime for thirty minutes.

Neither team made any progress in the first half of extra time. In the first minute of the second half, Neymar made a wonderful two-on-three combination with Paqueta in front of the top of the penalty area and cut into the penalty area. He also used his superb footwork to dribble past goalkeeper Livakovic and scored an empty goal.

The entire stadium instantly became a sea of ​​joy for Brazilian fans, while the fans of the Checkered Army of Croatia held their heads in pain, obviously not expecting that the team would lose the ball in the second half of overtime.

At this stage of the match, all five substitutions have been made.

The starting players' physical fitness has also reached a critical point and they may suffer cramps at any time.

Losing the ball in this context means there is a high probability of not being able to equalize the score.

The Brazilian fans at the Education City Stadium cheered and danced the samba.

Unexpectedly, in the 117th minute of the game, Brazil's consecutive attacks were cleared by Croatian players.

The Croatians who survived the war did not resign themselves to their fate. They launched a counterattack when they had only a glimmer of hope.

Orsic got the ball on the left frontcourt, took it to the left sideline of the penalty area and made a decisive low cross.

Petkovic, who came on as a substitute, equalized the score by volleying with his left foot from the center of the penalty area.

As a result, the Education City Stadium was boiling again.

But the crazy fans turned into the previously desperate Croatians.

Brazilian fans were stunned, as if they were stunned by Croatia's equalizing goal at the end of overtime.

There was no more scoring for either side in the rest of the game.

The game had to go into a brutal penalty shootout.

The Brazilian team, whose mentality exploded, had poor performance from penalty kick masters. Rodrigo, who took the first penalty kick, and Marquinhos, who took the fourth penalty kick, both missed.

In contrast, Croatia, which scored the equalizer, scored all of its penalties in the first four rounds, eliminating Brazil with a total score of 5:3 and unexpectedly advancing to the semi-finals.

Fans who watched this game gained a lot.

The Croatian people's never-give-up spirit was fully demonstrated in this game.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the second quarter-final started at the Lusail Stadium.

The match between the Netherlands and Argentina was also full of ups and downs. In the 35th minute of the first half, Messi accelerated to the middle of the field and sent a freehand and penetrating through ball to Molina, who adjusted two steps and pushed the ball into the goal.

In the 72nd minute of the game, Argentine left-back Acuna was kicked down by Dumfries when he dribbled the ball from the sideline of the penalty area. The video assistant referee intervened and decisively awarded a penalty kick. Messi took the penalty and scored to extend the score to two goals.

When everyone thought Argentina would easily advance to the semi-finals, the Netherlands narrowed the gap with an unremarkable cross from the right in the 82nd minute.

The substitute center forward Weghorst headed a difficult ball from the front right side of the penalty area, and Argentine goalkeeper Martin was unable to react in time.

The suspense of the game is back.

The atmosphere also became frenetic.

Players from both sides were getting a little carried away and angry.

The most classic scene happened near the 87th minute, when Paredes tackled Ake on the right side of defense and kicked the ball towards the Dutch bench in anger.

The two sides were on the verge of a conflict, and the Dutch captain Van Dijk accidentally knocked Paredes away when he ran over to question him.

Fortunately, most of the players on both sides were calm and no further conflict occurred.

The Spanish referee Laos may have taken the viewing experience into consideration and gave two players who were worthy of a red card a slap on the wrist. The troublemaker Paredes and the impulsive Van Dijk each received a yellow card.

With time running out, the Netherlands, with only one goal left, attacked more and more fiercely, forcing Argentina to go into a defensive posture for a long time.

In the last attack of injury time, the Netherlands team unexpectedly played a tactical combination after getting a direct free kick in front of the penalty area. Kupmenas, who came on as a substitute, passed a low ball to his teammate Weighorst on the far right of the wall. The latter stopped the ball with his right foot and shot low with his left foot into the lower right corner to equalize the score!
This goal was also a true equalizer.

Neither side scored a goal in the 30 minutes of extra time.

The two teams had to enter the second penalty shootout of this World Cup quarter-finals.

The Netherlands' first two penalties were saved by Martin, while Argentina's only fourth penalty by Enzo Fernandez was saved.

In other words, Argentina performed better in the penalty shootout and eliminated the Netherlands with a total score of 6:5, becoming the second team to advance to the World Cup semi-finals!

Countless fans who were watching the live game in front of their TVs were extremely shocked, and they were still savoring the experience even after the game was over.

The thrilling and high-level quarter-finals made people sigh that the world's number one sport is indeed worthy of its reputation.

Mainstream social platforms are all related to these two World Cup quarter-finals.

But there are also some concerns about the final two quarter-finals tomorrow.

Among them, the most anticipated focus is the evening match between England and France, which is also the last quarter-final of this World Cup!

……

On the afternoon of December 12th, local time in Qatar, a large number of Portuguese fans, local fans, tourist fans and Moroccan fans gathered in the square outside the Atumama Stadium.

Obviously, they are all waiting for the third quarter-final of this World Cup.

However, many media and fans knew that this game was a contest without much suspense.

Portugal, led by Martin, performed really well. Morocco, which is far inferior in overall strength, is unlikely to be upset at the Atumama Stadium.

The game time is 5 pm, and the two teams will go to the competition venue at 3 pm respectively.

With still an hour left before start, both teams had already arrived at the stadium to warm up, and their respective starting lineups were also reposted on social platforms by major media outlets.

Judging from the formation, both teams used a 433 formation.

Morocco:
Goalkeeper: Bono
Defenders: Yahya Arra, Seth, Jawad Yamiq, Ashraf
Midfielders: Onasi, Amrabat, Amara
Forwards: Boufal, En-Nesri, Ziyech
Portugal:
Goalkeeper: Diogo Costa
Defenders: Guerrero, Ruben Neves, Pepe, Dalot
Midfielders: Bruno Fernandes, Martin, Ruben Neves
Forwards: Felix, Ronaldo, Seat B

……

The starting lineups of both teams were leaked, and fans following the game knew that the match was about to begin.

More fans discovered that Ronaldo returned to the starting lineup, which caused heated discussions on social platforms.

With ten minutes left before the start of the game, players from both teams came to the player tunnel from their respective locker rooms.

Martin took the initiative to find Ashraf, with whom he had communicated during his time at Arsenal. The two chatted for a few words, and the referee on duty, Facundo Tello, signaled that the players of both sides could enter the field to prepare for the upcoming World Cup quarter-finals.

When the players from both teams entered the stadium, the crowded Atumama Stadium erupted with tremendous momentum, and the overwhelming cheers came one after another.

The on-site director deliberately gave Martin a close-up shot of his face.

CCTV5 commentator He Wei blurted out: "The intention of this shot is very clear. I think... Martin is the key player who determines the outcome of this game!"

Soon, the competition began.

Morocco, who had the advantage of kicking off, passed the ball back a few times to Ashraf, who made a long pass.

To be more precise, it should be the big foot that cleared the ball.

Nesri, who was at the front of the front line, was obviously no match for Manchester City's main central defender Ruben Dias in the header, and Ruben Dias jumped and headed the ball to his partner Pepe.

Portugal organized the attack from the back and slowly moved forward.

The best defensive performance in this World Cup is Morocco, who conceded only one goal in four games.

It is precisely because of this that Morocco head coach Regera has the confidence to speak so boldly when accepting media interviews.

Morocco, who had a very accurate self-awareness, launched a comprehensive defense from the moment they lost the ball, limiting the space Portugal needed to attack.

Especially the marking against Martin was so intense that Portugal's threatening attack was delayed.

Portugal's half-court attack was almost a drill, but they just couldn't break through Bono's goal.

The time has come to 0 minutes, and the scoreboard still shows 0:
In terms of ball possession percentage, number of shots and number of goals hit, Portugal is far ahead, but... it's of no use.

"This match is the ultimate showdown between the strongest spears and shields in this World Cup. So far, Morocco, who are good at defense, have performed better than Portugal, who have the initiative in offense."

The on-site director gave a close-up shot of Martin, and CCTV 5 commentator He Wei commented: "But I still believe that Martin will suddenly explode at some point in time, catch Morocco off guard and break the deadlock!"

"aoaooaaoooo——"

The score shown on the scoreboard of Atumama Stadium did not change, but the enthusiasm was still there, with one wave of deafening cheers after another.

Another dead ball occurred, and the live director gave Martin a close-up shot again.

What I want to express is simple and clear. I hope Martin can stand up at the critical moment and help Portugal, which has the advantage but cannot score, to take the lead.

Martin, who was under close surveillance, did not take Morocco, who was keeping a close eye on him, seriously.

He knew that scoring a goal was a matter of time.

At this stage, a slight shot from him is the limit of the entire game.

Finding opportunities to score is one of Martin's best technical characteristics.

(End of this chapter)