Chapter 534 Quaresma's Redemption
Before the match between Germany and Spain started, major media had already begun to hype it up.
The German media invited many football celebrities to analyze in detail the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams.
Although the Germans conducted the analysis themselves, their results were relatively objective.
In the opinion of German legends, the German team has obvious advantages in the midfield and backcourt, while Spain has a great advantage in the forward line.
The current German team has a luxurious midfield configuration.
Gotze, Kroos, Ozil, Reus, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Podolski...
Just looking at this list, you can tell how strong this German team's midfield is!
The Spanish team has always been famous for its luxurious midfield configuration, but if you compare the Spanish midfield lineup with the German team, you can find that the German team's midfield configuration has surpassed Spain!
In addition to the strong midfield configuration, the defense line led by Boateng and Hummels is also one of the strongest defense lines in this European Cup so far.
But the German team is not without weaknesses, and their weakness lies in the forward line.
The German team only brought one center forward to this World Cup, and that is Gomez!
After leaving Bayern, Gomez's condition plummeted due to injuries and different environments.
After two poor seasons in Fiorentina, he was loaned to Besiktas in the Turkish Super League.
He found his second spring here and his form improved, which led to him being re-recruited by the German national team.
But Gomez is far away from the top five leagues after all, and the level of the Turkish Super League is definitely far behind the top five leagues.
Therefore, the German team's personnel configuration on the front line seems somewhat out of place compared with the gorgeous midfield. The gap is really too big.
But this does not mean that the German team's offensive power is weak. On the contrary, the past few games have shown that the German team's offensive firepower is not weak at all.
Under the cover of Gomez, Muller, the shadow striker, performed like a fish in water, scored goals frequently and helped the team to capture the city.
On the wing, Sane and Schurrle are threats that cannot be ignored.
Coupled with Ozil, Gotze, Reus and others in the attacking midfielder position, the German team's offensive system is very rich and has almost no shortcomings.
Although Spain has Lin Quan in charge, their overall attacking power may not be stronger than that of the German team.
So the Germans' analysis is actually very humble.
Given that both teams are very strong, after careful analysis, the outside world feels that this game may be very tense.
Although the German team lost to the Spanish team two years ago, things are different now. This German team has a good chance of defeating the Spanish team! …
The focus match between Germany and Spain was scheduled for July 3, while the quarter-finals started on July 1, with Portugal and Poland facing off.
If we say that the match between Germany and Spain is difficult to predict because both teams are very strong.
In this match between Poland and Portugal, the strength of the two teams is so close that it is hard to tell who will have the last laugh.
Judging from the strength on paper, the two teams are evenly matched. Who will win depends entirely on their on-the-spot performance.
Although both teams are not very strong, this game has attracted a lot of attention because of the presence of Ronaldo and Lewandowski.
As two of the strongest top center forwards in football today, the two are inevitably compared.
Compared to the expensive Cristiano Ronaldo, the younger Lewandowski can be considered a good value for money at this time.
Moreover, there is not much time left on his contract with Bayern. For those giants who are interested in strengthening their team's forward line, this summer is a good opportunity to make a move.
Therefore, many scouts from top clubs came to the scene of this game.
Because of his outstanding performance in Dortmund and Bayern, Lewandowski was voted by fans as one of the top three center forwards in today's football.
The other two people selected as the three major center forwards are Barcelona striker Suarez and Real Madrid striker Benzema.
Being selected into this list is enough to prove Lewandowski's strength.
Compared to superstars who cost 100 or 200 million or even more, a star of Lewandowski's level can be bought for a maximum of 100 million euros.
His comprehensiveness and strong adaptability can bring powerful combat effectiveness to those wealthy clubs who are eager to improve their performance.
It is also because of this that giants like Manchester United and Liverpool, who are in urgent need of excellent strikers, are eager to learn about him.
For example, in this game, Liverpool coach Klopp, Manchester United coach Mourinho and others were sitting in the stands.
After an unsuccessful season last year, Manchester United will definitely make big moves in the transfer market this summer.
Mourinho, who is very dissatisfied with Martial, urgently needs a strong striker to help the team solve the problem of weak striker.
Therefore, Lewandowski, who has excellent football skills, superb shooting skills and top shooter ability, is the focus of Manchester United's investigation.
In addition to Lewandowski, Everton's Lukaku is also on the shortlist.
Of course, between these two people, Mourinho will definitely give priority to Lewandowski, but he may not be able to make the decision on this matter. After all, Manchester United's top management has not given him enough power. He often cannot get the player he wants most, and then is given a secondary alternative player.
…
Lewandowski did not disappoint the many fans who came to watch the game just for him. Just 2 minutes into the game, Lewandowski took the lead and helped the team score the first goal.
This goal ignited the enthusiasm of tens of thousands of fans at the scene, especially the Polish fans who came from afar.
If they can win this game, Poland will make history and reach the semi-finals of the European Cup for the first time!
Although it would be difficult for the Polish team to make a breakthrough after reaching the semi-finals, reaching the semi-finals is enough for them.
This European Cup is not only a carnival for Icelanders, but also for Poles.
This is the first time they have made it through the group stage and into the quarterfinals. Today they even have a chance to make history again and advance to the semifinals! Seeing the team's performance improve steadily, Polish fans are naturally ecstatic.
They put up a huge banner that covered almost the entire South Stand.
More than 20,000 Polish fans cheered in unison, calling out the name of each player as if calling a roll.
Inspired by this, the Polish players on the field performed even more bravely. Relying on the momentum after scoring the goal, they suppressed the Portuguese team and at one point formed a siege on the Portuguese goal.
This period of time is the most dangerous for the Portuguese team. If the opponent scores another goal during this period, the game will be over.
Fortunately, with their united resistance, they stubbornly defended the goal and did not allow the opponent to seize the opportunity to expand the score.
After withstanding this round of offensive from the opponent, the Portuguese began to counterattack.
As the opponent's key target, Ronaldo attracted a large number of opponent's troops in the frontcourt.
Taking advantage of the opportunity created by Ronaldo's firepower, Portugal's attacking midfielder Luis Sanchez seized the opportunity, received Ni's pass, and scored the equalizer in the 33rd minute of the first half.
After this goal was scored, both sides returned to the same starting line.
The Portuguese fans in the stands, who were originally worried, could finally release the emotions that had been suppressed for half an hour.
The Poles' momentum suddenly stagnated and they no longer had the same momentum as before.
However, the situation on the field came to a stalemate after Portugal's goal.
Both sides tried their best to break the opponent's goal and secure the victory of the game.
But both sides seemed to lack some luck, especially Ronaldo, who wasted several one-on-one opportunities, making the mood of the Portuguese fans in the stands fluctuate like a roller coaster.
After wasting countless opportunities, the score remained 1:1 until the end.
The game was forced into overtime, and in overtime, although both sides made a lot of personnel adjustments, they still had no way to deal with the opponent's defense.
The game entered a brutal penalty shootout! The penalty shootout was a huge test for the players on both sides who had already played for 120 minutes.
It not only tests the players' physical fitness, but also their psychological endurance.
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As the captain of the team, Ronaldo, who performed poorly in this game, stepped forward and chose to take the first penalty.
Polish fans in the stands booed desperately, trying to disturb Ronaldo.
The Polish goalkeeper was also jumping around on the goal line, putting pressure on Ronaldo.
Ronaldo took a deep breath, eliminated all external distractions, and focused all his attention on football.
Starting, running-up, free throw, Ronaldo's movements were all done in one go, and he steadily sent the ball into the goal, helping Portugal score the first goal.
On the Polish side, Lewandowski also chose to take the first penalty kick. Like Ronaldo, he withstood the tremendous pressure and scored the goal.
The first round of free throws ended with the score between the two teams being 1:1!
In the second round, Renato Sanchez shot into the upper left corner with his right foot, and Milik from Poland also withstood the pressure and scored with his left foot.
2-2!
In the third round, Moutinho calmly shot the ball into the lower left corner of the goal, and Glick deceived the goalkeeper and shot the ball into the lower left corner of the goal.
3-3!
The penalty shootout came to the crucial fourth round. Nani, who had an outstanding performance in this game and provided an assist, calmly shot the ball into the upper right corner.
The penalty kick taken by Polish player Blaszczykowski was saved by Portuguese goalkeeper Patricio who fell to the ground!
4:3!
Portugal has the advantage. As long as they can score the next penalty, they can advance to the semi-finals! For a moment, the fans' attention was focused on the last player of Portugal to appear. This person was none other than Quaresma, who was once a prodigy but was later rejected by a top club.
In an instant, Quaresma felt that the eyes of the whole world were on him, which made him feel tremendous pressure.
Quaresma, who had experienced falling from the peak to the bottom, felt that his legs were almost out of control.
He is scared!
He was afraid that he would disappoint his teammates and miss this crucial penalty.
He was once as famous as Ronaldo, and was even more favored by the outside world than Ronaldo.
However, he messed it all up. First, it was Barcelona, and then it was Inter Milan. He was kicked out by the giants twice.
At this moment, Quaresma felt exactly the same as he did at the beginning.
He was afraid that he would mess up again and become the object of everyone's disappointment or even abuse again.
Just when Quaresma's face turned pale with nervousness, a pair of warm and powerful hands patted his shoulders.
"Go ahead, Ricardo, don't be nervous, I believe in you!"
Quaresma turned his head with difficulty and found that the person who was encouraging him was his good friend Cristiano Ronaldo.
The two have been friends for many years. Even when he was at his lowest point, Ronaldo never abandoned him. He always encouraged him and helped him to get back on his feet and come out of the shadow of failure.
Seeing his friend's sincere and eager eyes, Quaresma seemed to have regained his strength.
He nodded heavily and said:
"I won't let you down, absolutely not!"
Woo! There was a deafening booing in the stands. Polish fans were desperately trying to disturb Quaresma in every way possible, including booing him and even shining laser pointers into his eyes.
They knew very well what it would mean to them if Quaresma scored the penalty.
It is no exaggeration to say that the life and death of the Polish team now depends on Quaresma's audience.
Quaresma imitated what Ronaldo had done before, took a deep breath and stood at the penalty spot.
He didn't even look at the goalkeeper's actions, his eyes fixed on the ball not far away.
At this moment, his mind was clear, as if the whole world had disappeared from his sight, leaving only the football in front of him and the goal not far away.
As long as I can get this damn football into that damn goal, all nightmares will end! This is the only thought in Quaresma's mind at the moment! After the referee blew the whistle, indicating that he could take the penalty kick.
Quaresma moved, but he still didn't look at the goalkeeper, his eyes were still on the football.
The Polish goalkeeper was extremely nervous. He stared at Quaresma's steps, trying to judge which foot the opponent would use to shoot.
Left foot!
Finally, he made a judgment and quickly rushed towards the lower right corner of the goal.
However, when he completed the save, he was surprised to find that the football did not come from this direction, but hit the direction where he had just stood.
The goalkeeper predicted for a long time, but in vain, Quaresma did not even choose to shoot to the sides.
"I really don't know whether to say that this kid is talented and daring, or just too reckless. If he misses this free throw, his future will be ruined!"
In the stands, Mourinho applauded and shook his head.
When he was at Inter Milan, Quaresma gave him a lot of trouble.
Now that he sees Quaresma has completed his self-redemption, Mourinho is actually very happy for him.
(End of this chapter)