Chapter 97: Chapter 299 The transfer period begins, and Paris Saint-Germain offers Lin Quan 200 million euros!
After the game against Mexico, Del Bosque gave the team two days off as usual so that the players could go out and relax before the quarter-finals.
According to the schedule, the quarter-finals will start a week later.
While the players were resting, the coaching staff took the time to collect intelligence on other opponents.
Although their opponents in the quarter-finals are not very strong, it is not unheard of for the weak to defeat the strong on the World Cup stage.
For Costa Rica to take first place in the group, there must be something special about it.
The Greek team once counterattacked all the way without being favored by the outside world, and won the European Cup while surrounded by strong European teams.
Even if these two teams are not as strong as Spain, they cannot be underestimated too much.
Spain's goal is to defend the World Cup title. They are now only three games away from achieving this goal, so they cannot take it lightly.
So, Del Bosque made a special trip to take Coach Tony to watch the quarter-final match between Costa Rica and Greece.
Before the game, the outside world was more optimistic about Costa Rica and believed that their chances of winning would be greater.
Judging from the situation of the game, it seems that this is indeed the case.
Costa Rica played very proactively in this game and once had a huge advantage.
In the 52nd minute of the second half, Costa Rica's No. 10 player Brian Ruiz scored the first goal, rewriting the score to 1:0.
This goal seemed to mean that Costa Rica would reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup in history.
However, the Greek team is indeed a team that has created dark horse miracles.
They played with great resilience. Not only were they not defeated by the opponent's goals, but they became more proactive.
In the 66th minute, Costa Rica defender Duarte knocked down Greece's Holebas in defense and was shown a second yellow card by the referee.
Two yellows turned into one red. The young defender who played for the same club as Wang Shangyuan paid the price for his reckless behavior.
This red card made the situation of the game confusing. Costa Rica, which was forced to fight with 10 men, gradually lost control of the situation on the field.
The Greek team began to take the initiative and launched fierce attacks one after another.
In the 67th minute, Hollebas made a free kick and Samaras' header missed the right post.
In the 69th minute, Christodopoulos' powerful volley from the top of the arc missed the goal.
During this period, the Greek team's offensive quality improved. Every time they hit the goal, the Costa Rican fans were frightened.
Although they are still leading in terms of score, no one knows how long this lead can be maintained under the fierce attack of their opponents.
Under the opponent's high-pressure attack, the fouls committed by Costa Rica's players suddenly increased.
In the 70th minute, Ruiz brought down Samaras and was shown a yellow card. Two minutes later, Manolas tackled Joel Campbell and was also shown a yellow card.
In order to control the situation of the game, Costa Rica replaced Acosta for full defense.
Greece replaced the veteran general Katchulanis to strengthen the attack.
The two sides are now trying their best to defend and the other to attack, and the game has gradually turned into a half-time offensive and defensive exercise.
This caused the game to become extremely fierce. In the final stage, almost all fans from both sides stood to watch the game.
The Greek team launched its most violent attack at the end of the game. In the 80th minute, Karagounis took a direct free kick from 25 meters away and fired an anti-aircraft gun.
In the 82nd minute, Greece dropped a free kick into the penalty area, and Manolas' header from 6 meters away went over the crossbar.
The Greek team was on the offensive and seemed to be getting closer and closer to scoring a goal.
Seeing that the situation of the game was not good, the players were overwhelmed.
The Costa Rica coach immediately made the final substitution adjustment. They replaced Brenes and replaced the exhausted Bolaños.
Bolaños was dawdling when he came off the field, deliberately delaying time, which made the Greek team players very dissatisfied.
In the 87th minute, Christodopoulos broke through from the right and then passed the ball into the middle. Samaras, who was outflanking the goal, just received the ball and made a single shot!
At the critical moment, Costa Rica goalkeeper Navas made a contribution.
He grabbed the ball before Samaras and defused this extremely threatening attack.
However, good luck always runs out.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Jekas's volley from 8 meters away from the goal was saved by Navas again.
Navas threw the ball away and the ball was still in the Costa Rica penalty area.
Greek defender Papastathopoulos, who played for Werder Bremen with Lin Quan, scored with a supplementary shot, 1-1!
Greece's decisive tie was the first goal in the World Cup knockout rounds in the history of the Greek team, and it was also Papastathopoulos's first goal in 51 national team games!
This golden goal brought the Greek team back from the abyss of elimination!
"Is the Greek team going to the quarterfinals?"
Seeing the Greek team's winning goal, Coach Tony said with surprise on his face, "It is indeed a team that has created a dark horse miracle. This team is so resilient!"
"It is very likely that the game is about to enter overtime. The Greek team has a numerical advantage and their morale is now ahead of their opponents. They have a greater chance of winning!"
Del Bosque nodded seriously. The Greek team is indeed a tenacious team.
Winning the European Cup ten years ago is the best evidence.
Not only the two Spanish coaches think that the Greek team is going to win, but even the Greek fans are so optimistic.
However, the Greek team seemed to have run out of luck after equalizing the score.
Costa Rica's goalkeeper Navas seemed to be cheating. He made four key saves in stoppage time and overtime, shutting out all the Greek team's attacks.
The 10-man Costa Rica team held on until the last minute, and the game was dragged into a brutal penalty shootout.
This is the second penalty shootout of this World Cup.
In the three knockout games so far, there have been two penalty shootouts, and the frequency of penalty shootouts is getting higher and higher.
This also proves how difficult it is to defeat the opponent in the knockout stage.
Both sides scored the first three goals of the penalty shootout steadily, but in the fourth penalty kick, the penalty kick of No. 17 Yekas of the Greek team was saved by Navas.
With this key save, Costa Rica defeated its opponent in a thrilling penalty shootout, setting a record in team history and reaching the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
They are also determined to face the powerful defending champion Spain in the quarter-finals!
In this game, Navas won the man of the match award without any suspense.
The Greek team completed a total of 27 shots in this game, 13 of which were on target, 4 of which were almost guaranteed scoring opportunities.
But Navas saved these shots one by one, saving Costa Rica from the fire and water again and again.
This made him remembered by many fans and even scouts from top clubs!
With the opening of the transfer period, more and more wealthy clubs have begun to send scouts to Brazil to observe the players they like at close range!
With penalty shootouts frequently taking place in the World Cup, some capable goalkeepers took the lead in standing out.
For example, Navas, Bravo, etc.
With their outstanding performance, these two goalkeepers were quickly spotted by wealthy clubs.
Just when Barcelona was in contact with Bravo's agent, Real Madrid also planned to make an offer to Levante to bring Navas back to the Bernabeu to replace the aging Casillas.
However, this transfer may not go so smoothly, because while Real Madrid is taking a fancy to Navas, another club is also taking a fancy to him!
This club is none other than the new Champions League champion Manchester City!
Manchester City's head coach Pellegrini is not very satisfied with the team's current main goalkeeper Joe Hart. He feels that his ability is not strong enough and his condition is not stable enough.
Pellegrini had long wanted to replace Joe Hart, but he had been unable to find a suitable candidate before, and the promoted second-choice player performed even worse, so he could only make do with it.
However, after Manchester City won the Champions League, they have higher aspirations for the new season's team lineup.
If an instability factor in the defense like Joe Hart can be eliminated, it would be better to eliminate it as soon as possible.
Pellegrini wants to introduce an excellent goalkeeper with stronger abilities and a style more suitable for Manchester City to further improve Manchester City's defense.
In addition to introducing goalkeepers, he also plans to examine excellent defenders. If there is a suitable candidate, he will not hesitate to take action.
This season, Mansour's investment in Manchester City is still very large, and he has no intention of reducing his investment just because Manchester City has won the Champions League.
On the contrary, Mansour plans to use Manchester City's opportunity to win the championship to build Manchester City into a top team and establish a wealthy foundation.
There is a huge gap in influence and reputation between a truly wealthy family and an upstart.
What Manchester City lacks most now is foundation. A Champions League trophy can only temporarily get rid of their image as a nouveau riche, but there is still a certain distance before they can truly become a giant.
Therefore, he wants to continue their efforts and let Manchester City try to defend the Champions League. If they can achieve the feat of defending the Champions League that no one has been able to accomplish before, then Manchester City will completely get rid of the image of the nouveau riche and truly become a top giant. .
Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity of hosting the World Cup, Pellegrini came to the scene in person to inspect the players recommended to him by scouts, and to observe closely those players who did not make the inspection list.
The players who can participate in the World Cup are basically the top players on the planet.
Therefore, every World Cup year is a great opportunity for many clubs to recruit players.
On the World Cup stage, those capable players are more likely to seize the opportunity to stand out and win the favor of wealthy clubs.
Moreover, the value of the World Cup is high enough. Players who perform well in such high-intensity competitions will basically not be parallel imports, so there is no need to worry about wasting money.
Because of Lin Quan's relationship, Pellegrini watched more Spanish games. In the group stage, he was deeply impressed by Chilean goalkeeper Bravo.
Bravo's strengths are outstanding: he has a large defensive coverage area and is good at attacking and intercepting.
In addition, he has quick reaction speed, delicate foot skills and strong ball-playing ability. He can calmly participate in backcourt passes and initiate long passes at the right time.
These are all in line with Barcelona's requirements. They need a goalkeeper who has exquisite skills at his feet and can act as a ball point.
Moreover, the advantage of being good at attacking makes it easier for Barcelona to end the opponent's attack when facing counterattacks.
Therefore, Barcelona immediately made an offer to Real Sociedad, intending to bring him back to Camp Nou.
If he hadn't seen Navas' outstanding performance in this game, Pellegrini might consider taking action against Bravo.
After all, Pellegrini and Bravo are both Chileans. Buying a player from their country will give them better control in the locker room.
However, after watching this game, he felt that Navas was also very good.
If you can't buy Bravo, then you have to buy Navas no matter what.
Although Real Madrid also plans to buy Navas, their main goalkeeper Casillas is currently in good condition. After Navas leaves, he will temporarily have to compete for the job.
Cassie's age of 33 is not particularly old. For a goalkeeper, it is not uncommon for him to still play for top clubs at the age of 36 or 7.
For example, Buffon is now 36 years old and is still an unbeatable and absolute main force for Juventus and the Italian national team.
There is also former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. He was 35 years old when he transferred to Manchester United. He played for Manchester United until he was 40 years old before retiring.
With Casillas' current state, it will be no problem for him to play for Real Madrid for a few more years, unless Real Madrid takes the initiative to purge him.
In view of this, Pellegrini is full of confidence. After all, if Navas goes to Manchester City, he will be the absolute main force of Manchester City.
But if he goes to Real Madrid, he is likely to sit on the bench in the new season, waiting until Casillas is injured or his condition declines before he has a chance to play.
On the one hand, he can be the absolute main player with a high salary, and on the other hand, he can be a substitute with a lower salary. Unless he has a very special feeling for Real Madrid, otherwise, he should choose to join Manchester City.
Pellegrini acted quickly. After the game, he immediately asked the club's people to make an offer to Levante, first testing the waters with an offer of 8 million euros to see if the other party could sell it.
If the other party is not satisfied with the price, he can continue to increase the price.
However, Manchester City's current signing strategy has also changed, and it is not as blindly buying people at high prices as before.
In the past, they paid high prices because they had no background, no honor, and could not attract good players.
But now, they hold a Champions League championship and are extremely competitive in the league, making it much easier to attract high-level players to join.
So when they buy people, they don't need to use high premium strategies to impress the other party!
Of course, Manchester City is not short of money, so Pellegrini can accept an offer of up to 15 million euros.
If it exceeds this price, he will reconsider.
After the match between Costa Rica and Greece, Pellegrini went to another stadium non-stop to watch the match between Colombia and Uruguay.
This is a civil war in South America. Both teams are very strong. Colombia has remained unbeaten in the past ten games, but the most recent game they lost was to Uruguay.
Therefore, before the game, many people were more optimistic about Uruguay, because from a paper strength point of view, Uruguay is stronger.
This game attracted a large number of spectators and scouts to watch the game because of the presence of a large number of top stars.
Scouts from giant clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, and Manchester United were present.
The head coaches of Bayern and Manchester City even appeared in the stands in person, and Pellegrini came with his assistants.
Guardiola and Lin Quan came to watch the game together.
In this game, there are three main people worthy of attention: Ronaldo, Suarez, and Cavani.
News has spread outside that Liverpool's leading striker will leave Anfield this season.
The team he is most likely to defect to is La Liga giants Barcelona.
In order to observe Suarez's condition, Barcelona sent senior scouts to watch the game live.
But what disappointed them was that before the game, FIFA announced the punishment for Suarez.
Suarez was suspended for four months by FIFA after biting Chiellini during a match against Italy.
At this moment, Suarez's World Cup journey is directly over, and whoever buys him will be unable to play in at least 9 games in the new season.
If he continues to stay in the Premier League, the number of suspended games will reach 19 games, and he will not be able to play for half a season.
In view of this, Arsenal, which was originally interested in Suarez, directly withdrew from the competition, and the professor was not even willing to give him an offer of 40 million and 1 pounds.
Without Suarez, this game was much less interesting, but Ronaldo used his outstanding performance to firmly attract everyone's attention.
When Monaco spent 45 million to bring him to Ligue 1 from Porto last summer, the outside world generally felt that the Monaco people were deceived by Porto, a long-established black shop.
Because of the language, the Portuguese Super League is the first stop for many South American players to land in Europe.
Relying on this advantage, some teams in the Portuguese Super League have started the business of buying low and selling high.
Among them, Porto is the most famous.
Among the players they have sold in recent years, almost every transaction has made a huge profit!
The most famous one is Carvalho, who joined with zero transfer fee and was sold to Chelsea for 30 million euros!
Falcao was introduced for 4 million euros and sold to Atletico Madrid for 40 million euros!
Ronaldo bought it for 7 million euros and sold it to Monaco for 45 million euros!
If you include Pepe, who was bought for 2 million and sold for 30 million, and Anderson, who was a parallel importer who was bought for 5 million and sold for 31.5 million, the money earned by the black shop in the transfer market in recent years is probably more than 300 million euros. Got it!
Porto are making a lot of money, but the clubs who buy their players are taking a lot of risk.
Among these transactions, Quaresma and Anderson were the most controversial. One of them was sold to Inter Milan at a high price, and the other was sold to Manchester United. In the end, neither of them showed the strength consistent with their worth, so they were criticized by the outside world. Think it is a big parallel import.
Last year, Ronaldo was also questioned by the outside world.
But in his first season in Ligue 1, he dispelled doubts from the outside world with his outstanding performance.
He played 37 times for Monaco last season, scoring 10 goals and providing 12 assists.
This data can be said to be quite outstanding for an offensive midfielder.
If there weren't monsters like Lin Quan among the younger generation of players, Ronaldo would definitely get more attention with these data.
But gold always shines.
Ronaldo performed very well in this World Cup.
Facing Greece in the first round of the group stage, Ronaldo scored a goal for the team in stoppage time. In the second game against Ivory Coast, he opened the scoring for Colombia, helping Colombia win and advance to the top 16 one round in advance.
In the final game against Japan, Ronaldo, who came on as a substitute, scored 3 goals in just 45 minutes to send Japan back home.
If the performance in the group stage was just an appetizer, then Ronaldo's performance in this quarter-finals can be said to be stunning.
In the 28th minute of the first half, Ronaldo shot a flying shot through the Uruguay goal.
Shortly after the start of the second half, he used another header to help the team expand the score!
Facing Uruguay, who was even more optimistic before the game and had many stars such as Suarez, Cavani and Forlan in the team, Colombia defeated the opponent with only Ronaldo, and finally sent Uruguay away with a score of 2:0 , advanced to the quarterfinals with head held high.
Ronaldo, who scored five goals, also successfully entered the scorer list, temporarily ranking second on the scorer list, second only to Lin Quan, who scored 6 goals.
After watching the game live, scouts from all the major clubs were shocked by Ronaldo's dominant performance!
Last year they laughed at the Monaco people who were stupid and had too much money to get cheated by Porto. Now they wish they were the one being cheated!
Based on this game alone, Ronaldo's worth can soar to at least 50 million euros!
If you include his outstanding performance in Ligue 1 and the World Cup group stage, it is generally believed that his worth can reach at least 60 million or even 70 million euros!
In the entire South America, Neymar is probably the only player at his age who can compete with him!
Therefore, after the game, the major clubs took action one after another and submitted offers to Monaco, hoping to take away Ronaldo.
Among them, Real Madrid took the lead in sending people to contact the player's agent and made an ultra-high offer of 80 million euros to Monaco.
This offer was something the Monaco people couldn't refuse. Last year, they only spent 45 million euros on the purchase. They didn't spend a penny in a year and made a net profit of 35 million euros. Good things like this are hard to find even with a lantern!
But before Monaco could accept Real Madrid's offer, Real Madrid's mortal enemy Barcelona jumped out. There were rumors claiming that Barcelona was willing to spend 88 million euros to buy Ronaldo.
Barcelona's offer has not yet been confirmed, and Manchester United has also come out to join in the fun. They have made an offer of 63 million pounds and want to bring Ronaldo back to Old Trafford.
The Red Devils, who aimed to overwhelm their rival Manchester City, immediately started recruiting after signing Van Gaal.
Juventus midfielder Pogba, Monaco star James Rodriguez and even Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria are on their signing list.
Manchester United has just signed a 10-year sponsorship deal with Adidas worth a total of £750 million.
This allows them to have sufficient funds on hand to squander in the transfer market. Van Gaal, who has a lot of money, will naturally not save money for Manchester United.
Manchester City won the championship by burning 1 billion pounds, Manchester United can do the same!
Manchester United had just joined the competition for Ronaldo, and the Red Army Liverpool immediately stepped forward to disrupt the situation.
Seeing Suarez and Barcelona flirting back and forth, he has no interest in the team's contract extension.
Moreover, Suarez always bites people on the field and is suspended at every turn, which is not a problem.
Therefore, Liverpool has already acquiesced that Suarez will leave this summer, and once he leaves the Red Army, Liverpool urgently needs to introduce a high-level offensive player to fill the vacancy left by Suarez.
And Ronaldo, who performed well in this World Cup, is naturally the best candidate they think!
If Ronaldo was the most eye-catching person at the beginning of the transfer period, then with a piece of gossip in France's L'Equipe, the entire football world was shocked!
Paris Saint-Germain made an offer to Manchester City for 200 million euros, hoping to take away their No. 10 player Lin Quan!
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