Chapter 427 The first goal of the World Cup

Chapter 427 The first goal of the World Cup

After the opening ceremony, it was Group F's turn.

The first game of Group F is a focus battle-the defending champion German national team faces the Swedish team!
The two teams have met six times in history, with the German team having an absolute advantage with four wins and two draws.

The last time the two sides met was in the 2013 European Cup qualifiers.

In that game, the two teams fought a battle, and the German team narrowly defeated the Swedish team 5-3!
Five years later, the two teams met again, but this time on the World Cup stage.

Five years later, things have changed. Compared with the lineup four years ago, the Swedish team has undergone huge changes in personnel.

Only six players who participated in the previous World Cup participated in this World Cup.

The German team has fourteen players who participated in the 2014 World Cup. From this point of view, the Swedish team's lineup is younger, while the German team's lineup seems a bit older!
But even so, the outside world is definitely more optimistic about the German team winning.

Among the betting made by several betting companies before the game, more than 70% of the fans believed that the German team would win, while less than 10% of the fans believed that the Swedish team would win.

Although it is not the opening game, this game has attracted a lot of attention. After all, in this group, these two teams are most likely to qualify. Whoever defeats the opponent may win the first place in the group. The sex will be very high.

On the Internet, the number of people discussing the game between the German team and the Swedish team far exceeds that of other games.

At the press conference before the game, hundreds of reporters from various countries poured in.

Faced with such high attention from the outside world, Swedish team coach Andersson said in a very low-key interview with reporters that the German national team is too strong and he has not found a way to deal with the German team, but he firmly believes that his The team will not lose easily to any opponent.

Faced with Andersson's statement, Loew also responded with a smile:
"In the past four years, countless teams have claimed before the game that the German team is very strong and they have not found a way to deal with us.

But when it comes time to play, they always try their best to make us go through a very difficult game.

Listening to Anderson's words brought back a lot of not-so-good memories for me.

So I have a hunch that the Swedish team will definitely cause us a lot of trouble in tomorrow's game!

Of course, no matter how much trouble they bring us, I believe that the boys of the German team can bring victory to the fans and people who love them! "

Loew has the confidence to say this. His team's record in international competitions in recent years is obvious to all.

World Cup, European Cup, Confederations Cup!
One championship trophy after another, the German team's hands are weak.

Countries have not taken targeted countermeasures against them, but without exception, all have failed.

Andersson isn't the first to say this, and he certainly won't be the last.

As for whether Loew's bold words can be fulfilled, it depends on the performance of his players on the court.

On the afternoon of June 17, the German team set off early for the competition venue, which was the Luzhniki Stadium on the outskirts of Moscow. This was also the venue for the opening ceremony of the Russian World Cup.

When the German national team's bus arrived at the stadium, it happened to meet the Vikings' Swedish team's bus.

Players from both teams noticed each other's arrival, looking at each other from a distance, and there was a strong smell of gunpowder in the air.

No one's encouragement was needed, the fighting spirit of the players from both teams was already burning.

During the pre-match warm-up session, the players from the two teams did not communicate at all. Even some players who were teammates in the club or had been teammates had no intention of saying hello to each other.

On this occasion, there was no room for them to reminisce in private.

During the coin guessing session before the game, Neuer chose the right to kick off.

The Swedish team took advantage of the situation and chose the right half as their own half.

For today's game, both teams chose away jerseys.

The players of the German team wore a white base with black stripes, while the Swedish team chose a blue and yellow jersey.

I don’t know if it’s because of the jerseys, but the German team looks particularly tall today, and the players look a lot better than usual.

However, when they stood together and shook hands with each other, against the backdrop of the big Nordic guys from the Swedish team, the players from the German team who were not short in height also looked like they were lowering their heads, and the height gap was a bit obvious.

This scene made Loew frown a little on the sidelines. He confirmed that this was not an illusion. The average height of the Swedish team players on the field was indeed higher than that of the German team!

This phenomenon proves that Andersson chose physical players today, and their attack in the middle will definitely be very fierce!

The chief referee responsible for officiating this game is Golden Whistle Marciniak from Poland.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, with the referee's whistle, the first round match of Group F of the 2018 World Cup officially started.

The German team's formation today is 433, while the Swedish team's formation is 442.

Just by seeing the opponent arrange six players on the defensive line in the midfield and backfield, you can tell that they are preparing for a defensive counterattack.

Andersson was very low-key at the pre-match press conference, and on the field, he honestly placed himself in the position of the underdog.

However, this formation is very threatening when counterattacking.

Their two tall defensive midfielders can go back and participate in the offense without any worries, providing assists to the strikers or midfielders.

Therefore, in this game, the German team's central defense will be under great pressure.

The opponent may frequently launch attacks from both sides of the center to the area where Germany's two assistants are in the penalty area.

Loew obviously knew this very well, so after the start, the German team played very steadily.

They took advantage of their strong midfield strength to fight the Swedish team in the midfield area.

Among the Swedish team's four midfielders, Forsberg is in charge of offense, Ekdal and Sebastian are in charge of sweeping interceptions, and Klasson is good both offensively and defensively, and has good ball protection ability.

Although the German team's formation was 433, it immediately changed to 451 as soon as the game started, and the number of midfielders expanded to five.

With their numerical advantage, the German team quickly gained the upper hand in the midfield.

However, both Ekdal and Klasson played very well in this game. Facing the midfield stranglehold initiated by the German team, they used their active running and tenacious style to try hard to avoid losing control of the team's midfield.

Marcus Berry and Toivonen were isolated in the frontcourt and found it difficult to get the ball.

So they retreated decisively and joined the midfield press.

At the same time, the Swedish team's two full-backs also stepped forward to participate in the defense, and the Swedish team's signature full-body defensive tactics appeared.

The German team quickly took the initiative on the field after the opening and gradually gained some shooting opportunities. In the second minute after the opening, Zhao Jinge made a direct pass to Draxler. This ball was given a little advance, in order to allow Draxler to run and then catch the ball and shoot.

However, the two did not form a tacit understanding. Draxler caught the ball on the spot and lost the chance to shoot. The football was interrupted by the Swedish team.

In the sixth minute of the game, Zhao Jinge was pulled down by Classon when he broke through from the left side of the frontcourt. The German team got a free kick opportunity.

Zhao Jinge chose to take the penalty himself and directly attacked the goal.

The ball was of high quality, but Sweden's goalkeeper Olsen was focused and worked hard to save the ball.

The situation in the game was not one-sided. While the German team was attacking, the Swedish team was also looking for opportunities to launch a counterattack.

In the eighth minute of the game, the Swedish team successfully counterattacked in the frontcourt. Forsberg cut in from the wing and passed directly to Marcus Berry.

After Marcus Berry got rid of Boateng's entanglement, he got a single chance. However, his shot in front of the goal was calmly saved by Neuer.

The Swedish team missed its best chance to score since the start!
This goal shocked the German fans in the stands. The Swedish team's counterattack was like a sharp dagger, hitting the vital point quickly, accurately and hard, making them tremble with fear.

Boateng, who was responsible for guarding Marcus Berry just now, seemed obviously out of shape and did not show his strength as the world's top central defender at all!
In the tenth minute of the game, the German team responded in kind.

After Zhao Jinge passed two people in the middle, his long shot from the top of the arc hit the crossbar and bounced out of the bottom line.

The Swedish team's fans were frightened by the same goal. Many were so frightened that they stopped breathing when they saw the ball flying toward the goal.

It wasn't until they saw the football bounce out that they regained consciousness, breathing heavily.

The pace of this game is very fast, and the offensive power of both teams is very good. If the football is not careful, it can quickly hit the opponent's penalty area in the midfield and form a threatening shot.

The two forwards of the two teams, Marcus Berry and Zhao Jinge, are also extraordinary individuals with extremely strong personal abilities.

The defensive players of both teams tried hard to freeze them, but it was difficult to succeed.

Especially the Swedish team's left midfielder Ekdahl, in less than fifteen minutes of game time, he had been passed by Zhao Jinge five times, and he was almost numb.

The fans who came to the stadium to watch the game were hooked.

It is indeed the strongest battle in Group F. This intensity of the game is much better than the opening game.

The strength is relatively close, so the competition between you and me is exciting enough!

That kind of one-sided game is far less enjoyable to watch than this kind of game.

However, the game lasted for more than ten minutes without scoring a goal, which made the fans feel that there was a slight flaw in the ointment.

As if in response to their calls, in the fifteenth minute, the German team's offense came back again!
Zhao Jinge received a pass from Toni Kroos in the midfield. He seemed to have eyes on the back of his head and avoided Ekdal's attack.

Draxler learned smartly this time and started running early when he saw Zhao Jinge get the ball.

After playing for more than ten minutes, he realized that his teammates were even better than he thought.

Don't worry about how they get the ball to their feet, just run. It's your own problem if you can't run out of position, and it's the opponent's problem if you don't get the ball to your feet.

Zhao Jinge saw Draxler's movement, but this time, he did not choose to pass it to the opponent.

Although Draxler ran away, there were two Swedish center backs in front of him.

With one against two, Zhao Jinge didn't think he had any chance of winning.

However, he still pretended to observe the forward's position and sent a through ball.

When the players of the Swedish team saw Zhao Jinge observing Draxler's movement, they all thought that the ball was going to be passed to the opponent.

Unexpectedly, the ball went to the right!
Royce received Zhao Jinge's pass, and then without thinking, as if from muscle memory, he immediately passed the ball again.

When Royce passed the ball, Zhao Jinge was still behind him, but by the time he completed the pass, Zhao Jinge had already rushed past him.

The tacit understanding formed by the two playing in the national team allowed them to complete this wonderful cooperation.

Sweden's full-back Augustinsson, who was rushing forward, was easily passed by the two of them hitting the wall.

Zhao Jinge received Royce's pass, and there were no defensive players around him!
Ekdal was half a step slower and failed to keep up with Zhao Jinge. Although he was chasing closely at this time, there was at least a five-meter gap between the two.

This distance is enough for Zhao Jinge to complete an attack!

The Swedish team's head coach Andersson smelled the danger, and he stood up from the coaching bench.

He stared at the court with a serious expression, and at the same time he was praying deep in his heart: Don't let that kid score the ball!

Swedish team defender Granqvist had to leave the penalty area and took the initiative to press towards Zhao Jinge.

The double central defender is better. Even if the full back is passed, they can take one of the two central defenders to deal with the enemy's attack.

Although Granqvist had heard of Zhao Jinge's reputation, he knew that Zhao Jinge was very powerful.

But relying on the fact that his teammates were by his side, he had the courage to rush over fiercely, as if he wanted to steal the ball directly from Zhao Jinge's feet.

This choice is undoubtedly very stupid.

Zhao Jinge didn't get used to him either, smashing the ball, accelerating, and changing direction.

With a set of silky small combos, he easily passed the opponent and entered the penalty area.

At this time, a two-on-two situation formed in the penalty area.

The German team has two players, Zhao Jinge and Draxler, in the penalty area at the same time, while the Swedish team only has one center back and one incoming right back.

Lindelof, another central defender of the Swedish team, originally planned to cooperate with his teammates to intercept Zhao Jinge, but he did not expect Granqvist to be passed so quickly, which caught him off guard.

At this time, Zhao Jinge had already entered the penalty area and could shoot at any time. Lindelof had no choice but to move quickly towards Zhao Jinge with his hands behind his back, hoping to block his shot.

Draxler, who was left with only one defender, finally found an opportunity, squeezed out the space with all his strength, and reached out for the ball.

Zhao Jinge glanced at him and pretended to pass the ball to him, but suddenly accelerated, rushed past Lindelof from the left, and finished the shot before the goalkeeper could block it.

This time, Sweden's goalkeeper Olsen failed to create a miracle.

The football rolled close to the ground and into the goal!
(End of this chapter)