Chapter 521: European Cup kicks off, Lin Quan's whereabouts remain a mystery
French coach Didier Deschamps was very dissatisfied with his players' performance. He was always good-tempered, but this time he couldn't help but stand on the sidelines and yell at the players to run, move, and play more actively.
What the hell are you doing? Get your act together, bastards, this is the Stade de France, not Brazil!
The whole country is watching. Are you worthy of the audience and the fans with such performance? Perhaps Deschamps' roar played a role, and the French team's condition has improved.
After blocking the Romanians' three-pronged attack, they once again took the initiative in the game.
In the 52nd minute of the second half, the French team played smoothly. Payet broke through on the left and made a precise diagonal pass near the top of the arc.
Giroud stopped the ball and shot into the far corner, but unfortunately the power was too small and was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.
Five minutes later, it was Payet again. He made another breakthrough in the opponent's half, cleverly dribbled past the defender and then calmly passed the ball back.
Pogba came in from behind and swung his right foot to shoot. The quality of the shot was extremely high, with both the angle and the power being impeccable.
Just when the ball was about to score, the opponent's goalkeeper made a godly save and once again blocked the Frenchman's shot.
Pogba held his head in disbelief, his mouth opened so wide that a goose egg could almost fit in it.
Who is this goalkeeper? How can he save so many goals? Why does he seem to be better than his club teammate De Gea? At this time, the French fans in the stands were already very excited.
If they didn't score again, they all thought the team would lose! Giroud stood up at the critical moment. In the 58th minute, Giroud received Payet's cross from the bottom, regardless of the risk of injury, and headed the ball into the goal before the Romanian goalkeeper rushed out, changing the score to 1-0!
This ball was actually very dangerous. When Giroud headed for the goal, the opponent's goalkeeper's fist had already hit him. If he was half a second slower, he might have been hit directly on the head! With the strength of the goalkeeper's clearance, this punch would have seriously injured him if not killed.
When the French fans saw that their team finally scored a goal, they all breathed a sigh of relief, as if a big stone in their hearts had finally fallen to the ground.
However, after only five minutes, they could no longer laugh.
In the 64th minute, Romania launched a counterattack. France's left-back Evra tripped Stanciu in the penalty area and was awarded a penalty by the referee.
Romanian striker Stancu deceived French goalkeeper Lori and calmly shot the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal, changing the score to 1-1 and returning the two sides to the same starting line.
This time, the French were not happy. There was a lot of noise in the stadium and some people cursed the referee for his unfair whistle.
Some people scolded the opposing players for diving.
There were even some fans who were so disappointed with the team that they even scolded their own team! Deschamps was also very dissatisfied with the players' performance and quickly made personnel adjustments.
Griezmann and Pogba, who performed poorly, were replaced by Coman and Martial.
However, after these two players came on the court, the performance of the French team still did not improve. As time passed, the score on the field remained 1:1. The French fans in the stands were extremely anxious and wished they could go on the court to play for these guys.
The French media's hype about their own team before the game had a serious backlash effect at this time.
The fans watched the game with great expectations, hoping to enjoy a thrilling victory.
So the French team gave them this? This is not a big win, they played like an old lady's foot wrap, smelly and long! The key is that the opponent is not a top team. It's so difficult to play against Romania. What will happen when they meet top teams like Germany, Italy or even Spain in the future? Not only French fans think so, but other fans who have a high opinion of the French team because of the media's hype have also seriously doubted the strength of the French team because of the French team's performance in the opening game that was not as expected.
Although this year's Spanish team has been greatly weakened because the core of the team, Lin Quan, may not be able to play, but judging from the strength shown by the French team in this game, it remains to be seen whether they can defeat Spain without Lin Quan!
As the regular time was about to run out, the French team still failed to take the lead again, and some disappointed French fans in the stands had already begun to leave early.
However, just when the outside world thought that the French team was going to be tied by the weak Romania, they scored again.
In the 89th minute, the French team organized an attack in the frontcourt. Payet received a pass from Kante. Seeing that his teammates' performances were not reliable, Payet decided to play on his own.
He glanced at the goalkeeper's position, suddenly kicked the ball outside the penalty area, and shot at the blind corner of the goal.
The ball came too suddenly. The defensive players and goalkeeper standing in front of him were not prepared at all. In addition, the angle of the shot was too tricky. By the time the goalkeeper reacted, it was too late to make a save.
Then, with a swish sound, the ball went into the net!
Boom! The moment Payet scored, the Stade de France was boiling.
Even Hollande, who was accompanying the Romanian Prime Minister, couldn't help but stand up and applaud Payet for scoring the goal.
Payet, who scored this crucial goal, became a hero in the hearts of the French people, and his status even exceeded that of big-name stars such as Griezmann and Pogba.
What's more, some French Ligue 1 teams took a fancy to Payet's strength and planned to bring him back to Ligue 1 from the Premier League this summer! Although the process was a little bumpy, for the French team, the final result was still quite good.
After defeating Romania at home, they got off to a good start as they wished.
The group stage of the European Cup is the same as the group stage of the World Cup, with four teams playing three games each.
Winning the first game means that the French team has taken the lead in qualifying for the group.
As long as they can beat Albania, the weakest team in the group, in the next game, they will advance to the round of 16.
Shortly after the French team's game ended, another match in Group A started.
Switzerland, which is second only to France in strength in Group A, beat Albania 1-0 thanks to Fabian's goal in the fifth minute of the game.
After winning this game, Switzerland will have the same points as France and will most likely become France's top rival for the top spot in the group.
Switzerland is quite strong, especially their defense, which is very solid. Even some top teams cannot get the upper hand against them.
During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Spain, the favorite to win the championship, suffered a setback and lost 0:1 to Switzerland, which was a huge upset.
Therefore, it is still very difficult for the French team to defeat Switzerland.
Compared with the clear-cut strengths in Group A, the situation in Group B is a bit complicated.
The four teams in Group B are relatively close in strength. England has always been ridiculed by fans as the Chinese team of Europe. It is considered to be the weakest among the six top seeds.
Wales, Slovakia and Russia in the same group are not easy to deal with.
Especially Wales, with Bale and Ramsey, they are even capable of competing with England for the top spot in the group.
However, for the England team, as long as they are not last in the group, they have a chance to qualify.
Unlike the World Cup, the European Cup has 24 participating teams. In addition to the top two teams in each group advancing directly, the remaining four places are given to the third best performing team in each group.
In the first round, only eight teams will be eliminated. As long as England can win the next game, it will have a chance to qualify.
However, in the first round, facing the weakest team in the group, Russia, England had all the advantages, but was defeated by the opponent in injury time and the two teams ended in a 1:1 draw.
This is not the most embarrassing thing. The most embarrassing thing is that during the game, conflicts broke out between fans of both sides.
England's fans took the lead in provoking the team, and after the team was defeated by the Russian fans, they were humiliated by the Russian fans and a fight broke out between the two sides.
The British, who had a clear numerical advantage, were beaten back by the Russians.
The impact of this fan fight was extremely bad. The two sides fought from inside the stadium to outside the stadium and a melee broke out on the streets of Marseille, attracting widespread coverage from major media around the world.
The French were so angry that they dispatched tens of thousands of police officers to arrest people all over the streets, arresting thousands of people in one go! However, what was shocking was that the number of British fans arrested was as high as 2,000, while the number of Russian fans was only 200.
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When this figure was announced, it immediately caused an uproar.
With a ten-fold advantage in numbers, they actually lost. Is this what the famous English football hooligans did? The riots and conflicts between fans were naturally intolerable to the organizers.
After all, if fans of both countries engage in passionate brawls in every match, will the match still be held? Therefore, UEFA issued a stern warning to both sides, permanently banning these troublesome fans from entering the stadium to watch the game, and for those who commit serious offenses, they will be held accountable for their legal responsibilities.
The match between England fans and Russian fans was very lively, and the match between Wales and Slovakia was also very intense.
The two teams' world rankings are very close, one is 21st and the other is 23rd, only two places apart.
In the 10th minute of the game, Bale took the lead and helped the team take the lead and lead the opponent 1:0.
Slovakia was not willing to fall behind and launched a fierce counterattack, equalizing the score in the 61st minute of the second half.
After the score was tied, Wales quickly made a substitution adjustment, without any hesitation, and directly replaced a forward.
This substitution also paid off handsomely, as Wales got off to a good start by defeating Slovakia 2:1 thanks to Kanu's goal in the 81st minute, who came on as a substitute, and temporarily ranked first in the group.
"In Group B, it feels like Wales will qualify as the group leader!"
"Yes, although Wales does not have as many big-name stars as England, their tactical thinking is very clear. They know who the team's pillars are. As long as they hold on to Bale and let Bale use his unreasonable wing breakthroughs to open up the situation, they can win!"
"On the other hand, we don't even know if England has any clear tactical plan. In a word, it's just chaos!"
Fans are not very optimistic about the prospects of this England team in this European Cup.
Everyone felt that, given their current state, reaching the quarterfinals would be the limit.
If we are unlucky and fail to get first place in the group, we might face a strong team in the round of 16 and be sent home.
A truly strong team wouldn't win as hard as England did!
Look, the German team in Group C has set an example for the British.
On June 13, the Group C match started, and the German team easily defeated Ukraine 2:0.
The German team won this game very easily, with a ball possession rate of a terrifying 69% and 22 shots.
And they didn't even have time to play a single card. As the Germans said, they didn't even have time to break a sweat before they defeated their opponents.
"As expected of the World Cup runner-up and the top three team in the world, watching the German team play is such a pleasure!"
"Indeed, the German team coached by Loew is really a pleasure to watch!"
"See? This is what we call a top-tier team. The French and British teams should step aside. Your team is not a top-tier team at all. At best, it is just a fake team!"
There is no harm without comparison. After watching the German team's game, the fans praised the German team and began to criticize the British and French teams.
In their view, when a strong team plays against a weak team, it must show dominance like the German team, otherwise it does not deserve to be called a strong team.
Speaking of top teams, now that the World Cup runner-up has appeared, fans are naturally looking forward to the performance of world champion Spain.
Coincidentally, Group D, where Spain is located, is right behind Group C, where Germany is located.
After the German team's game was over, it was Spain's turn to play! "Hehe, do you think Lin Huang will play?"
"I don't know. I feel that the probability of him playing is not high. After all, the reporters have not seen him participating in the Spanish team's training. In other words, he has not reported to Spain yet. I doubt that Lin Huang may not be in France now!"
"If this is true, then isn't Spain in danger in this game?"
"Not necessarily. Their opponent is the Czech Republic, which is not ranked very high in the world. Even without Lin Huang, Spain should have no problem defeating their opponent given their lineup strength. It's just that without the goal-scoring machine Lin Huang, their offense may not be as sharp as before, and they won't be able to massacre their opponent by a large margin!"
In the last World Cup, the Spanish team scored an average of 3 goals per game in the group stage and knockout stage, often defeating their opponents by a large margin.
However, most of these goals are closely related to Lin Quan. When Lin Quan is unable to play, it is indeed a big question whether Spain's offensive system can maintain such efficient operation.
However, as the fans analyzed, the Czech Republic is not very strong and it is probably difficult for them to pose a threat to the Spanish team, unless they park the bus from the beginning and defend to the end. In that case, the problem of the Spanish team's weak forward force will probably be exposed!
(End of this chapter)