Chapter 621 Advance to the Top 6

The whole of Portugal went crazy because of this victory, this epic comeback.

Excited people set off fireworks in Pedro IV Square in Lisbon.

The bar was packed.

The ships docked in the port sounded their whistles.

The supermarket's "various types of gelatinous items that hinder human reproduction" were almost sold out, and some sexual lubricant products were also very popular.

That night, Lisbon was sleepless, and the whole of Portugal was sleepless!

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In the first round of Group B of the Russia World Cup, Portugal and Spain faced off against each other, and Portugal narrowly defeated Spain 4:3.

Earlier, in another match in Group B, Iran beat Morocco 1:0.

As a result, Portugal ranked first, Iran ranked second, Spain ranked third, and Morocco ranked last in the group.

The carnival and celebration in Portugal continued. For the following week, the whole country was like a carnival.

The Portuguese players were also very excited.

Five days later, in the second round of the group stage, Portugal faced Morocco. At the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, in front of 4 fans, Portugal won the game again. In the th minute of the game, Moutinho took a corner kick and Ronaldo, who was unguarded, headed the ball into the net from the edge of the small penalty area.

This was the only goal of the game, and neither side made any further progress afterwards.

Although only one goal was scored in the whole game, and it was not as goal-scoring as the first round against Spain, it did not affect the good mood of Portuguese fans.

Moreover, because Spain also defeated Iran 1-0 in another match, Portugal, which had won two consecutive games, did not advance to the knockout stage early.

After all, if Portugal loses to Iran in the final round and Spain wins against Morocco, which was eliminated early, the three teams will have 6 points each and Portugal may be eliminated.

This situation kept the suspense of Group B's qualification until the last round of the group stage.

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On the evening of June 6, two group matches of Group B kicked off at the same time. At the Moldova Arena in Saransk, Portugal played against Iran; at the same time, at the Kaliningrad Stadium, Spain played against Morocco, which had already been eliminated.

In another time and space, both games ended in a draw, Portugal 1:1 Iran, and Spain 2:2 Morocco.

Before the two teams met, an interesting "episode" took place outside the stadium. The night before the game, a large number of Iranian fans gathered outside the Portuguese team's hotel. They sang, danced, and made noise with various musical instruments, using the "fatigue tactic" to disturb the Portuguese team's rest.

Ronaldo waved to the fans through the glass window and asked them to be quiet and not disturb his sleep. As a result, the noise from the Iranian fans became even louder.

The actions of Iranian fans affected the rest of many Portuguese players, except Bruno.

When Bruno scored a long-range goal against Iran in the 23rd minute, the game took a completely different track.

All of Iran's previous plans were of no use, and they were completely caught up in the rhythm controlled by Bruno and couldn't extricate themselves.

The lead also boosted the morale and confidence of the Portuguese national team's teammates, and their performances got better and better in subsequent games.

In the end, the Portuguese national team defeated Iran 2-1 under the leadership of Bruno, who scored his second goal of the World Cup, and Quaresma also scored a goal. Iran scored a penalty kick in the final stage of the game.

In the 93rd minute, an Iranian player signaled a Portuguese player for handball in the penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty after repeatedly watching the video assistant referee system (VAR). Iranian player Ansarifard scored in one fell swoop, and the score was rewritten to 1:2.

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In this game, Bruno once again fully demonstrated his talents in both offense and defense. Whether he was attacking or defending, his opponents could do nothing with him.

When attacking, he has a variety of methods. If you defend against his shot, he will give you a long shot; if you are careful of his long shot, he will use exquisite passes to tear through your defense; if you defend against his pass or shot, he can also break through with the ball.

In defense, he always appears in the most critical position in time and then makes the most critical move. The defense of the Portuguese national team is not a solid block, but whenever there is a loophole, Bruno is the first to rush back to fill it.

During the game, the commentator exclaimed more than once that Bruno was so amazing, so much so that after the game someone posted a message online, counting how many times the commentator said "Bruno is so amazing" during the game.

However, Bruno's performance in this game was indeed outstanding. He was awarded the best player of the game by the media after the game. He was the most dazzling star of the game, even without that goal.

He passed the ball to his teammates many times in this game. If his teammates had not been unable to seize opportunities, the game would definitely not have been 2:1.

Judging from the score alone, it is easy to think that Portugal's victory was thrilling or lucky. But in fact, anyone who watched the game would think that the victory was fair to Portugal, for a simple reason, because Portugal has Bruno.

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On the evening of June 6, the matches in the eight groups were all over, the top 28 teams were all decided, and the best lineup of the group stage was also produced.

Portugal, which won three consecutive victories, was one of the best performing teams in the group stage, which also led to two of their players being selected into the best team of the group stage, namely captain and team striker Cristiano Ronaldo, and midfield core Bruno.

Although Ronaldo missed a penalty in the final round against Iran, his role in Portugal is beyond words, and his performance will determine how far Portugal can go.

Bruno's selection is beyond doubt. Not only did he score in the two games, but he also protected Portugal on the defensive end. He can be said to be the number one contributor to Portugal's three consecutive victories.

After the group stage, other teams in the World Cup further realized how important Bruno, the core player, was to the Portuguese national team. As a result, the work of the Portuguese national team's opponents became simple, which was to try every means to contain Bruno.

As long as we can make him perform poorly, it doesn't matter even if he commits a foul. It would be even better if we can get him injured and leave the game.

Santos will of course also pay attention to his most proud disciple. He also knows how Bruno will be treated after his outstanding performance in the group stage, which makes him worried.

Bruno himself seemed to be indifferent and continued training as usual.

The good news is that after three consecutive wins in the group stage, the atmosphere in the team has become more positive, and everyone is willing to believe that under the leadership of Bruno, the Portuguese national team really has a chance to win the championship.

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The knockout round of 16 was announced, and the matchups were also determined. Portugal, the first in Group B, faced the second in Group A, the host country Russia.

This is not a good result for Portugal. On the one hand, the advantage of the host country is hard to explain, and on the other hand, the fighting power of this Russian team should not be underestimated. They are the second team with the most goals in the group stage, second only to Belgium, which scored 9 goals.

When the game officially started, it was obvious that the referee favored the host team. Whenever there was physical contact, the Portuguese team would be called for a foul if it was a Russian player who fell. When the Russian team fouled a Portuguese player, the referee did not say anything and only gave a verbal warning when it was really unreasonable.

Bruno was naturally closely guarded by the opponent and suffered a lot of black kicks.

During the game, Santos was very dissatisfied and rushed out of the coaching seat again and again, protesting to the fourth referee in an emotional manner.

Of course he was anxious. His core player was tortured by the opponent like this, what if he got injured and couldn't play in the next game?

If he is absent, no one can replace him. Moutinho is also an organizer, but his Portugal national team is at best second-rate in the world. With Bruno, the Portugal national team can be among the world's top teams.

All the tactics of the Portuguese national team revolve around Bruno. Without Bruno, it is like a car without an engine and cannot move at all.

Can Santos not be worried?

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However, Santos' protest was of no avail. The Russian players continued to do what they were supposed to do, and Bruno continued to endure all kinds of small moves from the opponent on the court.

Bruno doesn't care as much as his coach does. He rarely complains about the opponent's tricks during the game. Even if he is knocked to the ground by the opponent, he just gets up from the ground. So it is often his teammates who speak up for him, while he just devotes his whole heart to the game.

He knew that one of the purposes of the opponent's foul tactics was to make the offended player lose his composure. If he focused all his energy on arguing with the referee and fighting with the opponent's players, he would lose.

The best way to fight back is to let football speak for you, defeat them on the field and let them understand one thing: fouling is useless against them!

Facing the Russian players' dirty feet and various tricks, Bruno insisted on sending the ball as long as he could. Even if he was entangled by the opponent, he could protect the ball with his excellent physical fitness and then send the ball to where it should go.

The two sides tied in the first half, with the score at 1:1. However, both goals were actually scored by the Russians themselves. Their veteran Ignashevich scored an own goal, and soon after, the Portuguese defense gave away a penalty, and Dzyuba scored a penalty.

The game was not interesting at all, with frequent interruptions.

Of course it was definitely not because Bruno was violated by the opponent, but because of a foul by the Portuguese national team.