June 29, Kaliningrad Stadium.
The key match between England and Belgium is about to begin, and players from both sides are doing their final warm-up on the field.
After finishing training, Belgium's core midfielder De Bruyne came to the sidelines and took the opportunity to replenish water to look around the stands, as if he was looking for someone.
Before the game, someone called him and told him that the other party would come to watch the game and asked him to cheer well.
This phone call made De Bruyne very concerned. He was eager to know whether the other party was joking or really came.
After a week of searching, De Bruyne found his target, who was sitting in the front row close to the pitch.
A smile appeared on De Bruyne's face. He threw away the water cup in his hand and strode towards the other party's position.
The photographer who was adjusting the broadcast camera noticed De Bruyne's actions, so he curiously looked in the direction De Bruyne was walking.
You don’t know until you see it. It’s shocking.
He actually saw Lin Quan and his son Guardiola in the stands.
The photographer didn't think twice and quickly turned the camera and pointed the lens at Lin Quan and Guardiola.
The audience at the scene didn't notice Lin Quan and the others at first, but after seeing the two people projected on the big screen, there was a burst of exclamations from the audience.
Lin Quan appeared here, is he here to observe his opponent?
The two teams facing off today are considered to be two very strong teams in this World Cup.
Belgium is known as the European Red Devils and ranks in the top five in the rankings released by FIFA.
England has bounced back from the bottom, and after suffering a disastrous defeat in the last World Cup, their performance in this World Cup has improved a lot. They have already qualified from the group stage, and if they are lucky, they may be able to reach the quarterfinals or even the semi-finals.
But at this moment, De Bruyne also stepped into the broadcast camera.
He came to the guardrail with a look of surprise on his face and chatted with Lin Quan across the guardrail.
The two seemed to have a pleasant conversation. When they parted, they even bumped fists. Lin Quan even clenched his fist and made a gesture of encouragement.
After seeing this interaction between the two, the audience probably understood that Lin Quan had come all the way to cheer for his friend! That was fine!
The Belgian and English fans, who had been worried before, all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this.
"The relationship between Emperor Lin and Ding Ding is really good!"
"Of course not. The two have been in the same boat since the Werder Bremen period, which is five or six years now."
"From my impression, these two people have never been separated, right?"
"Yes, right? When he left the Bundesliga, De Bruyne returned to Chelsea and was hidden away for a season before joining Manchester City the following year."
"These two are the type that complement each other. Without each other, it would be difficult for them to reach the current heights."
This statement was recognized by many people. De Bruyne is Lin Quan's best wingman and has provided him with countless wonderful passes and assists.
Lin Quan is also De Bruyne's best offensive partner. Without Lin Quan, De Bruyne's assist efficiency would drop significantly.
Sometimes, when you encounter unreliable forwards, even if you feed the ball to their mouths, they can still spit it out with their strength.
A forward named Si called him an expert! The game started soon, and after careful probing, both teams began to launch fierce attacks on the opponent's goal.
Judging from the lineup, both teams are actually very strong on paper.
Judging from the data such as the ball possession rate, number of shots, number of dangerous attacks and so on, the two teams are indeed evenly matched in strength.
"This competition is interesting. It feels like anyone could win!"
After watching the game for a while, Guardiola leaned back and said in a relaxed manner.
"Well, the tactics of both teams today were not conservative at all. They played very unrestrainedly, with a lot of attacks and shots. It all depends on who can seize the opportunity better."
Because both teams have already qualified, the players are in a relaxed state of mind.
It is this relaxed mentality that allows them to fully demonstrate their strength.
Judging from the situation in the first half, England took the initiative on the field.
But Belgium's attack was more threatening, and England's defender Cahill even made a very thrilling clearance. Without this clearance, the opponent would have taken the lead.
However, in the second half, Belgium began to increase its intensity.
They increased the intensity of their pressing in the midfield and frontcourt and quickened the tempo of their attack, hoping to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes.
This move quickly took effect. In the 51st minute, Fellaini intercepted the ball in the middle and passed it to De Bruyne.
After looking up, De Bruyne made a surgically precise pass. The ball passed by three opposing players and directly broke through England's defense line, assisting Hazard to score a goal.
Most of the credit for this goal should go to De Bruyne because his pass was so beautiful.
Seeing De Bruyne's penetrating pass, even Lin Quan and Guardiola in the audience couldn't help but cheer in unison, not to mention the fans at the scene.
After Belgium took the lead, the Red Devils fans kept shouting the names of Hazard and De Bruyne. Looking at their excited faces, they seemed to be proud that their country has such excellent players.
The England team, which was behind in the score, immediately launched a full-scale counterattack, with Kane and Vardy making consecutive threatening shots.
The England team attacked like a mad dog and really had the momentum of the Three Lions.
In the 66th minute of the second half, Rashford created an angle outside the penalty area and a long shot helped England equalize the score, with the two sides tied 1:1.
It would have been more beneficial for England if both sides had ended the game at this point.
Although both teams had the same goal difference and total number of goals, England had fewer yellow cards. With this slight advantage, they were able to beat their opponents and advance to the knockout stage as group leader.
De Bruyne stood up again at the critical moment. In the 88th minute, he took advantage of the free kick opportunity and scored directly with a stunning elevator ball, helping the team to take the lead again.
This time, the cheers for De Bruyne clearly overshadowed those for Hazard in the stadium, and he became the biggest hero in the hearts of Belgian fans.
A few minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.
Thanks to De Bruyne's outstanding performance of one assist and one goal, Belgium defeated England and advanced to the round of 16 with three consecutive wins.
The European Red Devils are in strong momentum, even stronger than the Spanish team.
No wonder so many people were optimistic about them before the game and listed them as the favorites to win.
After seeing their performance in this game, I'm afraid that the number of people holding this view will increase again.
After the game, Lin Quan and De Bruyne had a meal together.
"If nothing unexpected happens, your next opponent will be either Japan or Colombia."
The results of Group H will not be known until tomorrow, so Belgium's opponents have not yet been finalized.
"It doesn't matter. No matter which team we meet, we are confident that we can beat them."
De Bruyne, who just led his team to beat England, looked very confident and did not take the two opponents seriously at all.
"Both Colombia and Japan are not weak teams. You better not lose. If you lose to Japan by accident, it will be fun."
De Bruyne shook his head firmly: "Don't worry, we won't stop until we defeat your Spanish team with our own hands!"
"Huh? You're so arrogant! You're not going to tell me that Belgium's goal this time is the World Cup, right?"
De Bruyne puffed out his chest with some pride: "Of course, the championship is our only pursuit!"
Lin Quan gave De Bruyne a thumbs up and said, "Okay, you have ambition. See you on the court!"
"See you on the field!"
…
With the end of the last group match, the list of the top 16 teams of this World Cup was released.
However, the German team, runner-up of the last World Cup, was not found in the list of the top 16.
In the final round, the German team lost 0:2 to South Korea, which was at the bottom of the group, which was the biggest upset of this World Cup.
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This defeat also directly made them lose their hope of advancing to the round of 16, and they became the first favorite to be eliminated in this World Cup.
The German team's elimination caused an earthquake in the entire German football world.
After the game, Germany coach Loew publicly announced his resignation at a press conference and took the initiative to assume responsibility for the defeat.
But whether replacing a head coach can solve the problems and troubles facing German football remains a big question mark.
Compared to the German team that ruined itself, the Argentina team, which was in a desperate situation with only a glimmer of hope, defeated Nigeria 2:1 in the next round and got the ticket to the next round in a thrilling manner.
In this game, Messi, who had been in a slump for two games, finally scored a goal.
Not only has Messi's condition improved, but the mental outlook and attitude of other players on the Argentina team are also different from before.
If you compare the Argentina of the past with the Argentina of the present, they are like two completely different teams.
According to the gamers, the Pampas Eagles are a typical example of not being able to play unless they are at low health! Of course, Argentina was able to advance to the round of 16, in addition to their own outstanding performance and victory over their opponents, there was another key reason, which was that Croatia, which had already advanced in advance, did not let them down.
Thanks to their victory over Iceland in the last round, otherwise it would have been Iceland instead of Argentina that advanced.
When the list of the top 16 was released, the situation of the next round of matchups was basically clear.
The World Cup matchup rules are that the first place in two adjacent groups plays against the second place, the first place in Group A plays against the second place in Group B, the first place in Group B plays against the second place in Group A, the first place in Group C plays against the first place in Group D, the first place in Group D plays against the second place in Group C... and so on.
According to this match arrangement, Spain's opponent is the host Russia, Argentina's opponent is France, Portugal's opponent is Uruguay, Brazil's opponent is Mexico...
The first match of the quarter-finals will be between the first place in Group C and the second place in Group D, that is, France versus Argentina.
Both teams are the favorites to win this World Cup, and their chances of winning could even be in the top five.
It is quite regrettable that these two strong teams met in the quarter-finals.
Because this means that one of their teams is destined to bid farewell to the World Cup stage after this game.
Of course, for the fans, it is a great blessing to be able to enjoy such a powerful confrontation between Mars and the Earth so early.
The content of this game did not disappoint the fans' expectations.
After the start of the game, the French team took the lead in launching a fierce attack. Mbappe frequently attacked the Argentine defense line from the wing, leaving the Argentine team helpless.
In the 13th minute of the first half, the French team quickly counterattacked after intercepting the ball in the backcourt. Mbappe dribbled into the penalty area and caused Rojo to foul. The referee showed a yellow card to the Argentine defender and awarded a penalty.
Griezmann scored in one fell swoop, and the score became 1:0, with France temporarily taking the lead.
Tens of thousands of spectators at the scene were shocked. The scene of Mbappe running with the ball was really exciting.
This guy is so fast that the Argentine defenders can't catch up with him at all.
The speed measuring equipment on site measured the speed at which Mbappe sprinted with the ball just now - 39.2km/h!
As soon as this data was released, it caused an uproar among the fans.
I thought he was fast, but I didn't think he was this fast!
What a wild horse!
This guy is so fast, how can Argentina's full-backs defend him? Mbappe is indeed difficult to defend. Argentina doesn't have a good way to deal with him. In just the first 20 minutes, Argentina received two yellow cards because of him and also gave away a penalty.
It was extremely passive! But after going through this difficult period, the Argentine team began to launch a counterattack.
In the 41st minute of the first half, Angel Di Maria helped the team equalize the score.
Just one minute into the second half, Messi assisted his teammates to score another goal, the score became 1:2, and Argentina overtook the opponent.
Just when all the Argentine fans breathed a sigh of relief and were ready to cheer for the victory, the situation on the field suddenly changed.
In the 57th minute, Matuidi made a straight pass, Hernandez made a cross from the left, and Pavard made a half-volley from the edge of the penalty area on the right, changing the score to 2:2.
Seven minutes later, the French team made a comeback.
Pogba made a diagonal pass, Hernandez made a cross from the left, Matuidi's shot from 12 yards was blocked, Mbappe got the ball and broke through to the small penalty area, and sent the ball into the net with a low shot. The score became 3:2, and the French team overtook again.
But France's offensive was not over yet. Just four minutes later, Giroud made a straight pass and Mbappe faced the goalkeeper alone. He calmly shot into the far corner and once again sent the ball into the Argentine goal.
The score became 4:2!
In just 11 minutes, the French team scored three goals, two of which were scored by Mbappe.
Mbappe's name spread around the world in just a few minutes and became a household name.
The Argentine players looked at the bright red score on the scoreboard in disbelief. They were clearly leading more than ten minutes ago, how did it suddenly become like this?
Not to mention that the Argentine players were unable to understand it, the fans at the scene were equally shocked. Even the fans of the French team did not expect their team to be so crazy and to knock their opponents out with a flurry of punches.
Even now, when they think back to the past ten minutes, they still find it incredible. It was really crazy.
The opponent is Argentina!
After the team fell behind, Messi kept trying to find opportunities to equalize the score.
But the French team's defense was very tight and didn't give them too many chances.
In the 3rd minute of injury time, Messi made a diagonal pass into the penalty area, and Aguero, who was unguarded, headed the ball into the goal, changing the score to 3-4.
But this goal came too late, too late.
In the end, thanks to Mbappe's god-level performance, the French team eliminated Argentina 4:3 and advanced to the quarterfinals first. (End of this chapter)