Chapter 625: Messi is powerless and Argentina is eliminated

June 29, Kaliningrad Stadium.

The focus battle between England and Belgium is about to begin, and players from both sides are doing their final warm-ups on the court.

After finishing training, Belgium's core midfielder De Bruyne came to the sidelines. Taking the opportunity to replenish water, he looked around the stands as if he was looking for someone.

Someone called him before the game and told him that the other party would come to watch the game and asked him to cheer hard.

This phone call made De Bruyne very concerned, and he urgently wanted to know whether the other party was joking or if he was really here.

After a week of searching, De Bruyne found his target, sitting in the front row close to the pitch.

A smile appeared on De Bruyne's face. He threw away the water glass in his hand and strode toward the opponent's location.

The photographer who was adjusting the broadcast footage noticed De Bruyne's actions, so he curiously took a look in the direction De Bruyne was walking.

You won’t know if you don’t look at it, but you will be shocked when you look at it.

He actually saw Lin Quan and Guardiola, father and son, in the stands.

The photographer didn't think much and quickly turned the camera to focus on Lin Quan and Guardiola.

The audience didn't notice Lin Quan and the others at first, but after seeing the two people projected on the big screen, there was a burst of exclamation.

Lin Quan appears here, is he here to inspect his opponent?

The two teams facing off today are two very strong teams in this World Cup.

Belgium is known as the Red Devils of Europe and ranks among the top five in the rankings announced by FIFA.

England has bottomed out and rebounded. After experiencing the disastrous defeat in the last World Cup, their record in this World Cup has improved a lot. They have already qualified for the group stage. If they are lucky, they may be able to reach the quarterfinals or even the semifinals.

But at this moment, De Bruyne also stepped into the broadcast camera.

He came to the guardrail with a face of surprise and chatted with Lin Quan across the guardrail.

The two seemed to have a pleasant conversation. When they parted, they even bumped their fists. Lin Quan clenched his fists and made a cheering gesture.

After seeing this interaction between the two people, the audience at the scene probably understood that it turned out that Lin Quan came specially to cheer for his friend!

That’s okay!

The Belgian and English fans, who had been worried before, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this.

"The relationship between Emperor Lin and Ding Ding is so good!"

"No, the two of them have been wearing the same pair of trousers since Werder Bremen. It's been five or six years now."

"In my impression, these two people have never been separated, right?"

"Yes? When he left the Bundesliga, De Bruyne returned to Chelsea and was hidden for a season. He only joined Manchester City the following year."

"These two people are mutually successful. Without each other, it would be difficult to reach the current heights."

This statement has been recognized by many people. De Bruyne is Lin Quan's best wingman, providing him with countless wonderful passes and assists.

Lin Quan is also De Bruyne's best offensive partner. Without Lin Quan, De Bruyne's assist efficiency will drop a lot.

Sometimes, when you encounter unreliable forwards, even if you put the pie in their mouth, they will spit it out for you based on their strength.

The striker with the surname surnamed Si calls him an expert!

The game started quickly. After careful testing, both teams began to attack the opponent's goal.

Judging from the lineup, both teams are actually very strong on paper.

Judging from the ball possession rate, number of shots, and number of dangerous attacks of both sides on the court, the two teams are indeed evenly matched in terms of strength.

"This competition is interesting. I feel like anyone can win!"

After Guardiola watched the game for a while, he leaned back and said with a relaxed expression.

"Well, the tactics of the two teams today are not conservative at all. They played very unrestrainedly. They attacked and shot a lot. It just depends on who can seize the opportunity better."

Because both teams have qualified early, the players' mentality is very relaxed.

It is this kind of relaxed mentality that allows them to fully utilize their own strength.

Judging from the situation in the first half, England took the initiative on the scene.

But Belgium's offensive threat was greater. England defender Cahill even made a very thrilling clearance. Without this clearance, the opponent would have been ahead.

However, after the second half, the Belgian side began to increase their intensity.

They increased their pressing intensity in the midfield and frontcourt, and accelerated the pace of their offense, hoping to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes.

This move quickly achieved results. In the 51st minute, Fellaini intercepted the ball in the middle and passed the ball to De Bruyne.

After De Bruyne looked up and observed, he sent a precise pass like a scalpel. The ball passed by three players of the opponent and directly penetrated the England defense, assisting Hazard to score a goal. .

Most of the credit for this goal must be attributed to De Bruyne, because his pass was so beautiful.

Seeing De Bruyne's penetrating pass, even Lin Quan and Guardiola in the audience couldn't help but cheer in unison, not to mention the fans at the scene.

After Belgium took the lead, the Red Devils fans kept chanting the names of Hazard and De Bruyne. Seeing the excitement on their faces, they seemed to be proud that their country had such outstanding players.

The England team, which was lagging behind, immediately launched a comprehensive counterattack, with Kane and Vardy hitting threatening shots one after another.

The England team, which attacks like a mad dog, really has the momentum to score points with the Three Lions.

In the 66th minute of the second half, Rashford swung out of the penalty area and took a long shot to help England equalize the score. The two sides tied at 1:1.

It would have been better for England if both sides had ended the match there.

Although the goal difference and total number of goals scored by both sides are the same, the England team has fewer yellow cards. With this slight advantage, it is able to overwhelm its opponents and advance to the knockout rounds as the first in the group.

De Bruyne stood up again at the critical moment. In the 88th minute, he took advantage of a free kick and scored directly with a stunning elevator ball to help the team take the lead again.

At this moment, De Bruyne's voice on the pitch clearly overshadowed Hazard, and he became the biggest hero in the hearts of Belgian fans.

A few minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

Relying on De Bruyne's outstanding performance of passing and shooting, Belgium defeated England and advanced to the top 16 with a three-game winning streak.

The European Red Devils are very strong, even stronger than the Spanish team.

No wonder so many people were optimistic about them before the game and listed them as the favorites to win the championship.

After watching their performance in this game, I am afraid that the number of people holding this view will increase again.

After the game, Lin Quan and De Bruyne made an appointment to have a meal together.

"If nothing else happens, your next opponent will be either Japan or Colombia."

The results of Group H won't be out until tomorrow, so Belgium's opponents have not yet been finalized.

"It doesn't matter, no matter who these two teams meet, we are confident that we can beat each other."

De Bruyne, who had just led his team to win England, looked confident and did not take these two opponents seriously at all.

"Both the Colombian and Japanese teams are weak teams. You must not overturn. If you accidentally lose to the Japanese team, tsk tsk, that would be fun."

De Bruyne shook his head firmly: "Don't worry, we won't stop until we defeat your Spanish team with our own hands!"

"Hooray? That's not a small tone. You're not going to tell me that Belgium's goal this time is the Hercules Cup, right?"

De Bruyne puffed up his chest proudly: "Of course, the championship is our only pursuit!"

Lin Quan gave De Bruyne a thumbs up: "Okay, if you're ambitious, I'll see you on the field!"

"See you on the field!"

…

With the end of the last group match, the top 16 list of this World Cup has also been released.

In the top 16 list, the German team, the runner-up of the last World Cup, was not found.

The German team lost 0:2 to the South Korean team, which was at the bottom of the group, in the final round, causing the biggest upset of this World Cup.

This defeat also directly caused them to lose hope of advancing to the top 16, becoming the first favorite to be eliminated from this World Cup.

The German team's elimination sent the entire German football world into an earthquake.

After the game, German team coach Loew publicly announced his resignation at a press conference and took the initiative to take responsibility for the defeat.

But there is a big question mark over whether replacing a head coach can solve the problems and troubles German football is facing.

Compared to the German team, which had ruined itself, the other Argentina team, which was in dire straits and had only a glimmer of hope left, beat Nigeria 2:1 in the subsequent round and got a thrilling ticket to qualify. .

In this game, Messi, who had been in a downturn for two games before, finally scored.

Not only is Messi's condition improving, but the mental outlook and attitude of other players in the Argentina team are different from before.

If you compare Argentina before with them now, they are completely different teams.

According to gamers, Pampas Eagle is a typical game that cannot be played without remaining health!

Of course, Argentina can advance to the top 16. In addition to their own outstanding performance and victory over their opponents, there is another key reason why Croatia, which has already advanced in advance, did not let go.

Thanks to their victory over Iceland in the last round, otherwise it would have been Iceland, not Argentina, who would have advanced.

When the top 16 list was released, the matchup situation in the next round was basically clear.

The rules of the World Cup are that the first place in two adjacent groups will play against the second place, the first place in Group A will play the second place in Group B, the first place in Group B will play the second place in Group A, the first place in Group C will play the first place in Group D, and the first place in Group D will play A pair of Group C ranked second... and so on.

According to this matchup arrangement, Spain’s opponent is the host Russia, Argentina’s opponent is France, Portugal’s opponent is Uruguay, and Brazil’s opponent is Mexico…

The first game of the quarter-finals will pit the first place in Group C against the second place in Group D, that is, France vs. Argentina.

Both teams are the favorites to win this World Cup and can even enter the top five.

It has to be said that it is quite regrettable that such two powerful teams met early in the quarter-finals.

Because this means that one of their teams is destined to bid farewell to the World Cup stage after this game.

Of course, for the fans, it is simply a blessing to be able to enjoy such a powerful matchup between Mars and the Earth so early.

And the content of this game did not live up to the expectations of the fans.

After the game started, the French team took the lead in launching a fierce attack. Mbappe frequently attacked Argentina's defense from the wing, leaving the Argentine team helpless.

In the 13th minute of the first half, the French team intercepted the ball in the backcourt and quickly counterattacked. Mbappe broke into the penalty area with the ball, causing Rojo to foul. The referee showed a yellow card to the Argentine defender and awarded a penalty kick.

Griezmann scored overnight and the score became 1:0, with the French team temporarily taking the lead.

The tens of thousands of spectators at the scene were shocked. The scene of Mbappe running wildly with the ball was really a bit blood-curdling.

This guy is so fast, Argentina's defenders can't catch up.

The speed measuring equipment on site measured the speed at which Mbappe sprinted with the ball just now - 39.2km/h!

As soon as this data was announced, it caused an uproar among fans.

I thought he was fast, but I never thought he was so fast!

What a wild horse!

This guy is so fast, how can Argentina's full-backs defend him?

Mbappe is indeed difficult to guard against, and Argentina has no good way to deal with him. In just the first 20 minutes, Argentina received two yellow cards and a penalty kick because of him.

It can be said to be extremely passive!

But after surviving this difficult period, the Argentine team began to launch a counterattack.

In the 41st minute of the first half, Angel Di Maria helped the team equalize the score.

Just one minute after the start of the second half, Messi assisted his teammates to score another victory. The score became 1:2, and Argentina achieved a lead.

Just when all the Argentine fans were relieved and ready to cheer for this victory, the situation on the field suddenly changed.

In the 57th minute, Matuidi made a direct pass, and Hernandez made a pass from the left. Pavard volleyed a kick and a half from outside the edge of the penalty area on the right, rewriting the score to 2:2.

Seven minutes later, the French team made a comeback.

Pogba sent a diagonal pass, Hernandez made a pass from the left, Matuidi's 12-yard sweep was blocked, Mbappe got the ball and broke into the small penalty area with a low shot. At the net, the score became 3:2, and the French team came back.

But the French team's offensive was not over. Just four minutes later, Giroud sent a direct pass. Mbappé faced the goalkeeper and calmly pushed the ball into the far corner, once again sending the ball into the Argentinian goal.

The score became 4:2!

In just 11 minutes, the French team scored three goals in a row, including two goals by Mbappe.

Mbappe's name spread throughout the world almost in just a few minutes and became a household name.

The Argentine players looked at the bright red score on the scoreboard in disbelief. They were clearly in the lead ten minutes ago, why did it suddenly become like this?

Not to mention the Argentinian players who couldn't understand, the fans at the scene were also shocked. Even the fans of the French team did not expect that their team would be so crazy. They punched their opponents and stunned them.

Even now, when they think back on the past ten minutes, they still find it incredible. It's really crazy.

The opponent is Argentina!

After the team fell behind, Messi kept trying to find opportunities to equalize the score.

But the French team's defense was very tight and did not give them many chances.

In the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Messi passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area, and the unguarded Aguero scored with a header, rewriting the score to 3-4.

But the goal came too late, too late.

In the end, relying on Mbappe's superb performance, the French team eliminated Argentina 4:3 and advanced to the quarterfinals first. (End of chapter)