Chapter 313 The first battle in Iceland
Chapter 313 The first battle in Iceland
On June 6, local time in France, the opening match of this European Cup was played between the host France and Romania. In the end, the host defeated Romania 10:2 and got a good start.
The start of this game also means the official start of this European Cup.
In Saint-Etienne, Bruno is also preparing intensively with the team.
According to the schedule, the Portuguese team's first game will be on the evening of June 6, against Iceland.
Currently, Iceland is ranked 34th in FIFA, which is the lowest among the 24 teams participating in the European Cup. It is also the weakest team among the four teams in this group.
In the eyes of Portuguese players, the Icelandic team is undoubtedly a weakling, so the Portuguese are determined to win this three-pointer.
According to the match rules, Portugal's Group F, in the knockout stage, the first place will play against the second place in Group E, the second place will play against the second place in Group B, and the least optimistic is to qualify in the third position , the opponent will be the first place in Group C or Group D.
According to the grouping, the four teams in Group B are England, Wales, Slovakia and Russia; Group C is Germany, Poland, Northern Ireland and Ukraine; Group D is Spain, Croatia, Czech Republic and Turkey; Group E is Belgium, Italy, Ireland and Sweden. .
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According to the analysis and plan of the Portuguese Football Association and the coaching staff, they do not want to compete for first place, which means that they will face the second place in Group E, and this opponent is likely to be one of Belgium and Italy.
Whether it is Belgium or Italy, they are undoubtedly opponents that Portugal does not want to face. Belgium is currently the second-ranked team in the world, and Italy is the nemesis of the Portuguese team.
But third place is also a position Portugal does not want. On the one hand, third place cannot guarantee qualifying. After all, only four of the six third-place teams can qualify, and two unlucky ones will be eliminated. If you deliberately control it in third place, there will be too much uncertainty.
Moreover, there are Germany in Group C and Spain in Group D. These two opponents are also the main victims of Portugal. No matter who they face, Portugal has an absolute chance of winning.
After all, the second place seems to be the most advantageous, and the opponent is only the second place in Group B.
In Group B, England's strength can be said to be outstanding, and it should be a high probability to win first place. Portugal is not afraid of the remaining Wales, Slovakia or Russia.
Even against England, Portugal has an advantage in their past record. Especially in the last ten games against Portugal, they have remained unbeaten.
However, competing for second place in the group is not without its drawbacks, because in the next quarter-finals, they will likely meet the host France.
Although Portugal has won the last two matches, they were all warm-up matches and have little reference value.
In the knockout stages of the European Cup, the French team playing at home is definitely the opponent that the Portuguese team least wants to face.
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After repeated discussions, the Portuguese Football Association and the coaching staff decided to take it one step at a time and try to get second place in the group first. This will not only ensure that Portugal advances to the knockout rounds, but also has the highest possibility of advancing to the quarterfinals.
For the three group matches, the first game against Iceland is undoubtedly what Portugal must win. Because both Austria and Hungary are more difficult to deal with.
In the latest FIFA rankings, Austria ranks tenth in the world, while Hungary is also ranked 20th. Portugal is not sure of winning.
And if they can get 3 points in the game against Iceland, it will undoubtedly be very beneficial to the Portuguese team's plan to control the rankings.
But compared to other people in Portugal who are optimistic, Bruno knows that this Icelandic team is not that easy to deal with. After all, in his memory, this Nordic island team can be called the biggest dark horse of this European Cup. Not only did they defeat Portugal in the group stage and advance as second in the group, they also upset the powerful England in the quarter-finals, causing England's four-year coach Hodgson to resign.
However, in this case, he could not tell others, and could only remind his teammates routinely that they should not underestimate any opponent during the game.
However, it is difficult to guarantee how effective such a reminder will be.
The human heart is the hardest thing to grasp!
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"Bruno, do you think what the coach said is possible?" Cancelo asked in the dark with the lights out.
"The coach didn't say we were going to compete for the championship." Bruno laughed.
"Don't tell me you didn't understand what the coach meant," Cancelo shouted. "The coach just didn't say it directly."
"I agree with what the coach said." Bruno thought for a moment and said, "We'll see again after the group stage."
Cancelo wanted to say something else, but he heard Bruno say: "Aren't you asleep yet? It doesn't matter to me, you have to start tomorrow."
Cancelo chuckled and said: "It seems that in the coach's heart, I am more important than you."
"The coach asked me to rest on the bench and play at critical moments." Bruno said with a smile.
Yes, in the game against Iceland, Santos did not arrange for Bruno to start. In this game, Santos made changes to the lineup.
<divclass="contentadv">Andre Gomez, Danilo Pereira and Joao Mario teamed up as a three-back midfielder. The one who appeared in the front midfielder position was veteran Moutinho, the recent midfielder. The senior, who has been suppressed by Bruno for two years, unexpectedly started in the first game of the European Cup.
Cancelo became the starter at right back.
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"Bruno is on the bench, Moutinho starts, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, who has returned from injury, partner up front. Coach Santos has made significant adjustments to the formation."
"This is a relatively conservative starting lineup."
Santos was sitting on the coaching bench, staring at the field. The game against Iceland was the first game of this European Cup. This start was very critical. If they could not get past Iceland, they would have to face Austria, Hungary, and Portugal back-to-back. The situation will be more difficult.
Santos really took Bruno's warning to heart and was ready to fight a tough battle. He ranked Andre Gomez, Danilo Pereira and Joao Mario in the back three. The waist partner is just to go head-to-head with Iceland.
Santos also glanced at the Icelandic players. Just looking at Iceland's defense, you can tell how tough this team is. Saivarsson, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Arnason, Skurasson , these four defenders are all absolute tough guys.
Gudmundsson, Gunnarsson, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Birgil Bjarnason and others in the midfield are also very capable of fighting and confrontation. Sig Thorson and Sig Thorson on the forward line. Bodvarsson is not a quick-witted player, and he is also the type who can fight against him.
Santos asked Bruno to play as a substitute, partly because of tactical needs, and also because Santos was really worried about Bruno getting injured. Although Bruno rarely gets injured, the European Cup is too important for Santos to take risks.
This is a tough battle!
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As the weakest team in the group, the Iceland team also paid special attention to the Portuguese team and completely treated the Portuguese team as a strong enemy.
They even lowered their profile and did not hesitate to use fouls and destructive tactics to restrict the Portuguese team.
As for the Portuguese team, the back three composed of Andre Gomez, Danilo Pereira and Joao Mario was also very tough. Throughout the game, there were frequent situations where people fell on their backs.
The game scene was very heated, the whistle sounded frequently, and the smoothness of the game was repeatedly broken.
It can be said that just watching this game, you can hardly imagine that this is what fans call the highest level European Cup game in the world, and it is even more like a Premier League melee battle.
Both sides focused more on restricting their opponents and preventing each other from scoring goals, but they were greatly curbed on the offensive end.
The deadlock was not broken until the 39th minute of the first half.
Gudmundsson passed from the right, Cancelo's header went over the head, and Birjer Bjarnason volleyed into the lower right corner, giving Iceland the lead.
This is Birgil Bjarnason’s 48th goal in his 7th appearance for the national team.
When Bjarnason scored, the huge Guichard Stadium burst into crazy cheers.
The 20,000 Icelandic fans who came to the scene were extremely excited. They had no idea that the Icelandic team could take the lead when facing the powerful Portuguese team.
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Santos clenched his fists in displeasure, but finally failed to hold on.
He began to think about how to deal with the second half of the game in a 0:1 situation.
However, Santos soon discovered that the tactics and strategies he had just thought of turned out to be useless, because the Portuguese team quickly scored to equalize the score.
Maybe the goal was finally scored and the first half was coming to an end, so the Icelandic players were a little relaxed.
Therefore, when the Portuguese team organized this offensive and when Cristiano Ronaldo broke through from the wing to the center, Iceland's defensive players did not actively defend. The lax defense allowed Nani to catch Cristiano Ronaldo's pass. Stop the ball calmly at the top of the arc in the penalty area, and then turn around and shoot more easily. The football draws an arc and hits the dead center of the goal.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!"
Santos was stunned for a moment, then clapped excitedly in celebration.
"Well done, Nani! Well done, Cristiano!" He expressed his satisfaction with Nani and Ronaldo for always stepping forward.
"Iceland conceded the goal very quickly and they were only ahead for three minutes!"
"This goal conceded exposed Iceland's shortcomings. After the goal, they relaxed. In addition, Arnason's defensive awareness that was half a beat too slow was really ridiculous." BBC commentator John Mortensen said mercilessly. He said sarcastically, "Arnason is like an 80-year-old man, watching helplessly as Nani turns around and shoots."
