The World Cup schedule is still very tight. Taking Group B where Spain is located as an example, the first round of group matches will be held on June 16, the second round of group matches will be held on June 20, and the third round will be held on June 26.
The three games were played within 11 days, an average of one game every four days.
On June 25, the final battle of the group stage kicked off in Group A.
Host Russia failed to continue their previous winning streak. In this game, they first conceded an own goal, then had a player sent off with a red card, and finally lost 0:3 to Uruguay, advancing to the round of 16 as the second in the group.
According to the match order of this World Cup, the host's opponent in the knockout stage will be the first place in Group B, and the first place in Group B has been decided in the last round, which is the Spanish team.
So after the game, Russian fans had very complicated emotions. They were happy that the team successfully advanced to the round of 16, but they were also worried that the team was about to face the defending champion.
But they can't blame anyone else for this result, they can only blame themselves.
If they had beaten Uruguay in the previous match, they wouldn't have had to face the powerful Spanish team.
In complete contrast to the feeling of Russian fans, when Spanish fans learned that their next opponent was the Russian team, they all felt very happy.
The host team is not very strong and can only be considered a second-rate team in Europe.
Given the strength they showed in their loss to Uruguay, it will be extremely difficult for them to defeat Spain.
Therefore, encountering such an opponent in the round of 16 is a huge benefit for the Spanish team.
Although the opponents in the next round are not strong, Bosque did not underestimate them just because they are weaker than himself.
In the final match of the group stage, Bosque deliberately kept a large number of main players on the bench and replaced them with a lineup of half main players and half substitutes.
The purpose of doing this is very clear, which is to give the main players enough time to rest so that they can reserve sufficient physical strength to prepare for the next game.
"Remember, this is the World Cup. Never underestimate any opponent, especially in the knockout stage. Once you make a mistake, you may never have a chance to make up for it. When you look back on it in the future, you may regret it for the rest of your life."
This kind of life-or-death cup competition is full of uncertainty and anything can happen.
Even though they have an absolute advantage, they cannot relax until they have completely defeated their opponent.
"Yes, Coach!"
The players obviously understand this truth as well. The World Cup, held every four years, represents the highest honor in the football world.
Players' careers are short and they don't have many four years to waste.
So they must seize every opportunity, because in the next four years, they are not even sure whether they can still stand on the World Cup stage.
Spain's opponent Morocco has been eliminated early, so this game is a battle of honor for them.
Perhaps because of this, the Moroccan players unloaded all their psychological burdens, played very relaxed, and performed much better than in the previous two games.
Every player participating in the World Cup celebrates what the World Cup means to them, which causes all players to be under great psychological pressure on the field.
Excessive psychological pressure will make them feel nervous on the field, resulting in a series of side effects such as deformed movements and accelerated physical energy consumption.
If their strength can reach 100 points in daily training, then on the field, under tremendous psychological pressure, they can't even perform 60 points.
In this regard, a certain Eastern national football team is one of the best examples, and the players' mentality is terrible.
But now, the Moroccan team on the field, without any psychological burden, played to their 100% strength.
In the 14th minute of the first half, Morocco scored the first goal and temporarily led the defending champion 1:0.
After scoring the goal, the Moroccan players were very excited.
Because this was their first goal in this World Cup, and it was scored against the defending champions.
If they can win this game, then even if they are eliminated, they can leave the World Cup stage with their heads held high.
The Spanish team, which conceded a goal, looked unlucky. They were scored by the team at the bottom of the group, and the players on the field felt ashamed.
So, they fought back and quickly equalized the score in the 19th minute of the first half.
Saul made a beautiful pass from the wing, assisting Isco to score.
This goal was so brilliant that even the main players such as Lin Quan who were sitting on the bench stood up and applauded the players on the field.
Although there are not many main players on the field and most of them are substitutes, but to be able to be substitutes for the Spanish team, their strength is naturally not weak.
So, after Spain equalized the score, they gradually began to control the situation on the field and their offense became smoother and smoother.
The opponents obviously noticed this, so their head coach quickly changed their strategy and began to adopt lethal tactics.
From the 22nd minute onwards, Morocco's number of tackles and fouls on the field increased rapidly.
In just nine minutes, they committed seven fouls and received four yellow cards.
Spanish players can often be seen falling down on the field, which makes the Spanish coach on the sidelines very dissatisfied.
Bosque ran to protest to the fourth official, saying that the opponent was not playing football at all.
"Hey, did you see that? They are coming for our players. They want to destroy our guys!"
Bosque was extremely anxious. The opponent's tactics made the Spanish side very uncomfortable.
Morocco was eliminated, and it didn't matter how many cards they took.
But Spain is different, they still have to play in the knockout rounds!
If a key player of the team is injured by the opponent, it will have a huge impact on their subsequent games.
Bosque's protests had no effect, and the opponent continued to kick roughly.
Threatened by the opponent's killing tactics, the Spanish players on the field played obviously hesitantly.
After getting the ball, the number of times the ball was passed back in safe areas such as their own half increased, and the number of forward attacks decreased a lot.
But in this case, they could no longer maintain their siege of Morocco.
Fortunately, the opponent's offense was also very poor, and both sides were unable to change the score.
The audience at the scene was drowsy because the Spanish team's ball control tactics were really a bit hypnotic, especially when they frequently passed the ball back and forth in the midfield and backcourt and attacked forward very few times. It was really easy to fall asleep while watching this.
Morocco tried to attack but couldn't get the ball.
In the first half, Spain's possession rate exceeded 80% at one point, and the ball appeared at the feet of Moroccan players only a few times.
No wonder many people say that Barcelona and Spain's passing and controlling tactics are a defensive tactic. It's true! Shortly after the start of the second half, Bosque made a series of personnel adjustments.
After replacing key players such as Thiago and Alba, there were only three key players left on the field.
This gave Morocco a chance to counterattack. They seized a mistake by the Spanish team in the 81st minute and scored again, changing the score to 2:1. The Moroccan players were very excited and the fans at the scene also applauded them.
There's no way around it. Everyone loves to watch stories like David defeating Goliath, where the weak triumph over the strong.
Besides, Spain's passing and controlling the ball made everyone sleepy, so not booing the Spanish team was already giving them face.
Bosque put his hand on his forehead. The opponent had scored at this point in time. Are they going to lose the game?
Although they don't really care about the outcome of this game, even if they lose it will not affect their advancement as the group leader.
But if we really lose to the team at the bottom of the group, I will always feel a little uncomfortable.
Thinking of this, Bosque looked at Lin Quan on the bench.
I wondered whether I should replace him.
Including injury time, there were still more than ten minutes left in the game. If Lin Quan was substituted, could he equalize the score? Just as he was thinking this, Spain scored a goal.
Carvajal made a cross from the bottom line, Isco's shot was saved by the goalkeeper, and Asensio made a quick follow-up shot and scored the goal.
After seeing this goal, Bosque gave up the idea of substituting Lin Quan.
Let it be a draw, it’s not unacceptable.
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In the 87th minute of the second half, Spain made its final substitution.
David Silva, who had been recovering from injury and had not played in the game, was substituted in to find the feeling of the game.
David Silva is a key part of the Spanish team and in the knockout stages, the team needs him to step up.
Therefore, Bosque is very eager for him to recover as soon as possible.
After coming on the court, David Silva was very active, showing his superb skills and excellent awareness.
In injury time, David Silva made a two-pass pass with Isco and then dribbled into the penalty area.
But unfortunately, although his shot went past the goalkeeper, it was saved by the opponent's defender on the goal line.
In the end, the two sides tied 2:2, and the Spanish team advanced to the round of 16 with a record of 2 wins and 1 draw.
When the game in Spain ended, the game in Portugal had not yet ended.
C Ronaldo missed a penalty in this game and failed to continue his streak of scoring consecutive goals.
Quaresma once again stood up and scored the only goal for Portugal.
At this time, the game had entered the injury time and the Portuguese fans had already begun to celebrate their victory.
However, just as they were celebrating with champagne, Iran was awarded a penalty in the second minute of injury time...
Iran's No. 10 did not make the same mistake as Ronaldo and scored the penalty kick steadily.
Both sides are back to the same starting line!
At this point, as long as Iran scores one more goal, Portugal will be eliminated.
And Ronaldo, who had performed well in two consecutive games, will also be the culprit for the team's elimination! The whole stadium was filled with a tense atmosphere. Fans of both teams stood on tiptoe, stretched their necks to look at the stadium, and dared not breathe.
This penalty kick greatly boosted the morale of the Iranian team. After realizing that the team had a chance to advance to the knockout stage, the Iranian team went all out, mobilizing all their forces, seizing the last bit of time and launching a crazy counterattack on the Portuguese goal.
As long as they score one more goal, they will be able to break the curse of never qualifying from the group stage! Facing the fierce attack of the Iranian team, Portugal defended with all their strength, using various tactics such as tactical fouls and substitutions to delay time.
After enduring a few long minutes, the long game finally ended when the opponent's winger kicked the ball into the side net.
In the end, the two teams tied 1:1.
Both sides have a record of 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, and even the goal difference is the same.
Thanks to Ronaldo's hat trick against Spain, Portugal advanced to the round of 16 with the advantage of total goals, beating Iran.
The Portuguese players, who had confirmed their advancement, celebrated wildly on the field the moment the referee blew the whistle to end the game.
The Iranian players seemed to have lost all their strength and collapsed on the grass, either lying or kneeling.
Their World Cup journey has once again come to an end.
As usual, they failed to qualify from the group stage this time.
But this time it was so close...
…
The Spanish players were very surprised to learn the result of the Portugal team's game.
Portugal is obviously much stronger than Iran, but this Iranian team plays very tough, has good defense, and is very methodical in offense. They are not a weak team.
If you underestimate them just because they are an Asian team, you will really pay the price.
In the last game, the Spanish team almost lost to them.
"So, never underestimate any opponent on the field, and don't be careless. If Ronaldo had scored that penalty, there wouldn't have been so many problems afterwards!"
Bosque had already been emphasizing the importance of paying attention to the opponent, and after learning the result of the next game, he emphasized this again to the players.
What he is most worried about is that some Spanish players will become complacent and arrogant because of the team's past performance.
This kind of thinking can really lead to trouble, especially when the overall strength of the Spanish team has declined and they have no capital to waste.
…
As there was still a week left until the quarter-finals, Bosque gave the players a day off so that they could have time to spend with their families.
Shortly after the national team players set off, their relatives and friends, mainly the wives, had already set out together.
The players have been in Russia for more than half a month, and it is time to let them go out and pay their dues.
Compared with some teams with stricter management, the Spanish team is relatively relaxed in this regard.
After all, blindly suppressing is not a good thing. Instead of letting the players sneak out and create scandals, it is better to let them be intimate with their wives and girlfriends.
As soon as Bosque announced the news, the animals in the team cheered and ran away in the blink of an eye.
Bosque shook his head repeatedly as he watched: "I forgot to remind these guys to exercise some restraint!"
When I thought about the fact that these people’s girlfriends were either supermodels or female celebrities, with good looks and great figures, I guess it would probably be a waste of time even if I reminded them.
Let them be! As an old man, I should find a place to have a drink and relax! (End of this chapter)