Chapter 527 European Cup Knockout Round Begins
The Italians ultimately failed to achieve their wish as they lost to Ireland with a score of 0:1.
After losing the game, the Italian players were very disappointed, dejected and worried.
They thought: It's over, it's over, the next game is against Spain! But the fans who saw this scene misunderstood the reason why the Italian players were sad.
So, despite losing the game, Italy's reputation on the Internet is very good.
"The mentality of this Italy team is very similar to the Italy team that won the World Cup under Lippi!"
"Yes, it's been ten years, it's time for the Italian team to recover!"
…
For Spain, both Belgium and Italy in Group E are difficult to deal with.
So no matter who it is, it's all the same to them.
After learning that their opponent in the knockout round was Italy, Bosque and the players did not have any special ideas. They just continued to practice hard and seize the time to prepare for the upcoming knockout round.
On June 22, the last two games of the European Cup group stage kicked off.
The plots of these two games were full of ups and downs! In the match between Iceland and Austria, Iceland scored the first goal in the first half, and then gave Austria a big gift, allowing Austria to get a penalty kick.
But the Austrians did not seize this opportunity, and Dragovic, who took the penalty, missed the ball.
However, shortly after the start of the second half, the Austrians equalized the score. If the game had ended with this score, the two teams would probably have been eliminated together.
In the final moments of the game, Iceland launched a desperate attack, and the head coach even replaced three players in one breath.
Finally, in the injury time, Traustasson, who came on as a substitute, scored the winning goal, defeating Austria 2:1 and securing the precious qualifying spot.
The other game was even more ups and downs. Hungary scored the first goal in the 19th minute of the first half, and then Portugal equalized the score.
Just two minutes into the second half, Hungary scored again, putting Portugal into a desperate situation.
At the critical moment, Ronaldo stepped forward and scored his first goal in this European Cup, helping the team equalize the score.
But it was not enough for Portugal, as Hungary took the lead again just five minutes after Ronaldo's goal.
At this time, Portugal had been pushed to the edge of the cliff, and the Portuguese fans in the stands were so nervous that they could hardly breathe.
Countless Portuguese fans are praying silently in their hearts, hoping that someone in the team can stand up and help the team escape the fate of death.
As if he heard the fans' call, Ronaldo stood up again.
In the 62nd minute of the second half, he scored his second goal, helping Portugal equalize the score again! This goal drove all the Portuguese fans at the scene and in front of the TV crazy. They shouted Ronaldo's name and almost worshipped him as a god! It is no exaggeration to say that Ronaldo saved the team single-handedly!
Although both teams tried very hard to change the score, the score of 3:3 remained until the final whistle sounded.
After the two teams tied, Hungary surpassed Iceland with a 5-point and 2-goal advantage, and advanced to the next round as the group leader.
Portugal won the last knockout match ticket with 3 draws in 3 games, 3 points and 0 goal difference, beating Albania and Turkey.
At this point, the list of the top 16 of the European Cup has been released, and the list of matchups for the next round has also been determined: Switzerland VS Poland, Wales VS Northern Ireland, Croatia VS Portugal, France VS Ireland, Germany VS Slovakia, Hungary VS Belgium, Italy VS Spain, England VS Iceland.
After seeing their respective next round opponents, the French smiled and the British also smiled.
Their opponents are not strong, and the probability of defeating them and advancing to the quarterfinals is very high.
The Germans acted calm and composed, as if it didn't matter who their next opponent was.
The Belgians are eager to try, and Hungary's strength is neither strong nor weak, so it feels like a suitable test for them.
The Italians looked solemn because their opponents were Spain.
…
With one week left until the knockout stage, all teams are seizing the time to prepare for the game.
The Spanish side also rarely expelled onlookers and irrelevant people and conducted closed training.
This made the outside world very curious, and they all suspected whether Spain was planning some big move.
When the news reached the Italians, they immediately became suspicious: Could it be that Lin Quan had really recovered from his injury and could participate in the team's training? It must be said that the Italians' intuition was quite accurate.
The purpose of Bosque's closed training is not to let the outside world know that Lin Quan is already able to participate in the team's training.
As a trump card in his hand, Bosque naturally hopes that this trump card can be hidden as long as possible.
As for Lin Quan's condition, after a training match within the team, the coach and all the players in the team no longer had any doubts.
It was obvious that Lin Quan in front of them was in the best condition.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to lead the substitute team to beat the main team 3:0!
…
On June 25, the European Cup quarter-finals kicked off between Poland and Switzerland.
The strength of these two teams is very close. Poland has top scorers like Lewandowski, while Switzerland has excellent defensive capabilities.
This made the game very tense! In the 39th minute of the first half, Poland scored the first goal, and in the second half, Switzerland took advantage of a counterattack opportunity to tenaciously equalize the score.
Neither team scored any more goals and the game went into overtime.
Neither team made any progress in the extra time and the game was eventually dragged into a brutal penalty shootout.
In the penalty shootout, Xhaka, the Swiss player who took the second penalty, deceived the goalkeeper, but the ball he shot hit the post and flew out of the bottom line.
It was precisely because of this goal that Switzerland lost in the penalty shootout and was eliminated in the round of 16.
The Pole successfully made it to the quarterfinals and is waiting for his next opponent.
Three hours later, in another British civil war, Wales defeated Northern Ireland 1-0 thanks to an own goal from their opponent and secured the second spot in the quarterfinals.
Compared with the group stage, the schedule for the knockout stage is very tight.
Shortly after the match between Wales and Northern Ireland ended, the match between Croatia and Portugal started.
Since Portugal's road to promotion was very bumpy, if it weren't for Ronaldo's final burst, they would have been carried away long ago.
On the other hand, Croatia advanced to the next round by stepping on the corpse of the world champion Spain.
So before the game, the outside world was more optimistic about Croatia.
However, this game was much more intense than anyone imagined.
Neither team scored in the first half, and neither team was able to score in the second half.
The game was forced into overtime! In the first half of overtime, both sides continued to make no progress, and in the second half, the plot was exactly the same as before.
Seeing that the game was about to be dragged into a penalty shootout, a player abandoned by Barcelona and Inter Milan, a person who was ridiculed by many people, stood up. His name was Quaresma! In the 116th minute of the game, Croatia took advantage of Pepe's mistake and found an opportunity. Perisic's header hit the post!
Portugal narrowly escaped the disaster and then launched a counterattack. Sanchez quickly advanced and passed the ball to Nani. Nani made a cross and Ronaldo's shot from the back was saved by the goalkeeper. Quaresma easily headed the ball in front of the goal and scored the ball into the empty goal to complete the lore!
Neither team performed well in this game. Maybe it was because the shooters of both teams were not in good shape, or maybe it was because the defense of both teams was too strong. In the first 90 minutes, out of more than 20 shots by both teams, not a single shot was on target.
All we can say is that Portugal had better luck than the opponent. If Perisic's header had not hit the post, it might have been a different story.
But that's how football is. In addition to strength, there is also a certain element of luck.
Croatia unfortunately lost in the round of 16 and failed to achieve further goals.
Portugal, under the leadership of Cristiano Ronaldo, continues to move forward tenaciously.
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On June 26, the knockout round continued, and the French team took the lead! Perhaps because they underestimated their opponent, just 2 minutes after the start, the French team gave the opponent a big gift - a penalty kick! The Irish team accepted this gift with a smile and changed the score to 1:0!
Many French people finally found their seats, only to find out that their team was lagging behind as soon as they sat down.
This made them look confused. Not only them, but also the French players on the field and French coach Deschamps and others on the sidelines were a little confused.
The French were so angry that they even started booing their own players! What kind of shit is this?
Do you want to make a big move at home in front of tens of millions of viewers across the country?
Have some shame!
During the half-time break, Deschamps, who is usually good-tempered, couldn't help but go all out and scolded the players for more than ten minutes, until the end of the half-time break.
Perhaps the head coach's hair dryer worked, or perhaps his own pride was too great to allow them to suffer such humiliation.
After the start of the second half, the French launched a fierce counterattack.
Griezmann scored two consecutive goals in the 58th and 62nd minutes of the second half to help the team complete the reversal.
Seeing the team realize their shame and then turn the game around, the French fans in the stands finally smiled again and happily cheered for the team.
Ireland was a weak team after all, and soon could not withstand the fierce counterattack from the host.
Their central defender was even given a red card for a foul and was sent off.
With the score leading and the opponent one man less, there was naturally no suspense in this game.
France defeated Ireland 2:1 and advanced to the next round.
The French were very happy after winning the game, so they started showing off everywhere.
Facing the French fans who were swaggering around, the Germans calmly said: Let me show you how a truly strong team wins! So they scored one goal after another, and even though they missed a penalty, they still won 3:0.
Slovakia was beaten without any chance to fight back. The entire game was seen as they were pinned to the ground and rubbed repeatedly by the Germans.
Seeing the Germans' fierce performance, the French could no longer laugh.
It was also a victory, but the Germans won it easily.
Speaking of which, Slovakia is much stronger than Ireland!
But they were like three-year-old children in front of the German team and had no ability to fight back at all.
On the other hand, the French team had such a rough time playing against Ireland. If they really met the German team...
While the French were still immersed in the shock brought to them by the Germans, the European Red Devils flashed and used their ultimate power, teaching the whole world a lesson and letting them see what it means to chop melons and vegetables.
Facing the leader of Group F, the Belgians scored a very exaggerated score - 4:0!
In this game, the Belgians scored in many places, with Alderweireld, Batshuayi, Hazard and Carrasco scoring successively.
They fired 26 times throughout the game, beating the Hungarians to a pulp!
Hungary is really not a weak team. Being able to get first place in the group is enough to prove their strength.
But their luck was too bad. Belgium might be the strongest runner-up in all groups except Spain! And Belgium is a top- heavy team. Their offensive firepower is extremely fierce, including Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Carrasco...
As long as these people cooperate well, there will be few teams in Europe that can stop their attack!
Poor Hungary, although they had more ball possession than their opponents and took 15 shots, the offensive efficiency of both sides was not at the same level.
Their team lacks a midfield core like De Bruyne who can deliver surgically precise passes!
After Belgium won this game, the outside world's evaluation of them soared rapidly, and their odds of winning the championship quickly rose to third place, even surpassing the host France team, and second only to Germany and Spain.
Strangely enough, Spain lost to Croatia in the last group match, but their odds of winning the championship increased instead of decreased.
The main reason for this situation is the appearance of Lin Quan. Even though he just sat on the bench and did not play, Spain's odds of winning the championship still increased a lot.
As for whether it can continue to rise, it depends on Spain’s performance in the next game.
After the match between Belgium and Hungary ended, it was Spain's turn to play.
7pm, June 26, Saint-Denis, France.
The match between Spain and Italy started on time.
This match is undoubtedly the focus of this round of knockout matches. The reason is very simple. Spain and Italy were the champions and runners-up of the last European Cup, and they are both favorites to win this European Cup.
For the fans, this is a top-notch audio-visual feast.
Therefore, the tickets for this game were in short supply and were sold out long before the game started. When the game started, the entire stadium was packed with tens of thousands of fans.
In the player tunnel, the Italians looked very solemn.
Their eyes were fixed on a player on the other side, the player wearing the number 10! (End of this chapter)