Chapter 100: Chapter 302 Countdown to the championship, the quarter-finals begin!
In this World Cup, except for the four teams in Asia, the strength gap between other teams seems to have narrowed a lot.
Five of the eight knockout games were dragged into overtime, including two penalty shootouts.
Except for Spain, the remaining favorites: Brazil, Netherlands, Argentina, Germany, and Belgium were all dragged into overtime.
Among them, the Netherlands was eliminated miserably. Let alone revenge on Spain, they did not even make it to the quarterfinals.
This makes every team that has advanced to the quarterfinals be very careful and dare not underestimate any opponent.
Before the quarter-finals, the Spanish coaching staff studied Costa Rica's player characteristics and tactics, and called the players for a meeting to discuss how to limit the opponent's offense and how to break through the opponent's defense.
As they get closer and closer to the Hercules Cup, the team's players have also cheered up, discarded all distractions, and focused entirely on the World Cup.
For many players, there may only be one chance to win a championship in a lifetime.
If you cannot seize such an opportunity, you will live with regrets for the rest of your life.
"Costa Rica's defense is very solid. They mainly use defensive counterattack tactics and will play more cautiously.
However, the transition from defense to offense will be very fast. Therefore, when defending, they must keep an eye on their core midfielder Brian Ruiz and limit his ball play, which can effectively reduce or even contain the opponent. A quick counterattack. "
"In addition to Ruiz who deserves attention, their goalkeeper Navas is also very good. From the group stage to the knockout rounds, his performance has been very stable. This is a person with extremely strong reaction speed, keen prediction and insight. Ability, and a goalkeeper who is good at attacking.
When facing him, you must be decisive in shooting without any sloppiness, otherwise it will be easily saved. "
Overall, there aren't many noteworthy stars in Costa Rica's lineup.
Compared with Spain's star-studded all-star lineup, their lineup is relatively civilian.
Among Costa Rica's 11 main players, only three are from the five major leagues, namely No. 9 forward Campbell, No. 10 midfielder Ruiz and No. 1 goalkeeper Navas.
Among them, although Campbell is a player of the Gunners, he has been on loan and is unable to gain a foothold in the Gunners.
Ruiz played for Fulham and was also unable to play, so he was loaned to PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie.
The only one who can gain a foothold in the five major leagues and play well is Navas.
In the past 2013-2014 season, Navas relied on a super high save success rate of 80.1%, beating Casillas, Courtois and many other more famous stars, and was elected as the best goalkeeper in La Liga with a high vote. .
His performance in the group stage and knockout stages of this World Cup proved that he deserved the award for La Liga's best goalkeeper.
Just looking at paper strength, the gap between the two teams is obvious.
The total value of the Spanish team is almost equivalent to more than 20 Costa Rica players.
However, the World Cup is not about players' worth, but about who scores more goals and who concedes fewer goals.
…
On July 5, the quarter-finals officially started.
The first one to start was the contest between the German and French teams. This was a civil war between European teams.
The two sides have met a total of 25 times in history, with the French team having the upper hand with 11 wins, 6 draws and 8 losses.
However, a year ago, when the two teams last met, France lost 1-2 at home to Germany.
In terms of honors, the French team has only won one World Cup, but the German team has won three Hercules Cups.
In addition to one championship, the French team also has one runner-up, two third-place finishes and one third-place finish.
But the German team has 4 runner-up places, 4 third-place finishes and 1 third-place finish.
The German team has always had an excellent record in the World Cup. Since 1954, they have never missed a World Cup and have reached the quarterfinals in every World Cup.
This is why they have always been the favorites to win the World Cup. The German team's record is too stable!
Of course, after 2014...
Before the game, the outside world was still more optimistic about the German team.
After Deschamps took over the French team, the French team's record did pick up to a certain extent.
But there is still a long way to go before a complete revival, and the German team under Loew may be the strongest German team in the past 10 years.
Therefore, when the French team encounters them, it is likely to be a disaster.
Both teams take this game very seriously.
Both teams arranged a 433 formation. For the German team, veteran Miroslav Klose served as the single arrow, and Lahm returned to the right back position.
For France, Benzema is at the front and Griezmann starts in place of Giroud.
After the game started, both teams played more proactively.
In the 3rd minute, Cross tried a long shot with his right foot from outside the penalty area, but unfortunately it was blocked by the French defender.
In the 7th minute, Valbuena turned around and passed the ball near the left baseline. Benzema shot directly with his right foot in the penalty area, but unfortunately it missed the left goal post.
This was the French team's best chance after the opening, but Benzema's shot was not accurate enough and missed the perfect opportunity to change the score.
After missing the ball, Benzema was very dissatisfied with his performance. He kept talking without knowing what he was talking about.
In the 12th minute, the German team got a free kick opportunity. Kroos dropped the free kick from the left into the penalty area. Hummels squeezed away Varane who was defending him and headed the ball into the goal.
The German team got off to a fantastic start!
After seeing Hummels' goal, Loew clapped so excitedly that his palms turned red without even noticing.
Before the start of this game, he studied the weaknesses of the French team and found that the French team seemed not good at defending set pieces.
Of France's last four goals conceded, three were set pieces.
Therefore, the German team practiced the set-piece tactics before the game. Unexpectedly, the effect was so good. They scored a goal in just 12 minutes!
After taking the lead, the French team tried to equalize the score, but was embarrassed by the German team's counterattack.
In the 24th and 33rd minutes, Klose and Muller fell in the French team's penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty kick.
This caused dissatisfaction among the German fans because it was the same person who fouled the two - Debich, the left back of the French team!
If the referee had awarded a penalty kick for these two fouls, the German team would have already secured the victory.
The French team also had a chance to equalize the score in the first half. In the 34th minute, Griezmann successfully countered offside, reached the front of the penalty area and passed the ball to Valbuena.
Facing Valbuena's close-range shot, Neuer reacted quickly and saved the ball with one hand. Benzema rushed to make a follow-up shot, but Hummels blocked it with his knee.
After missing this opportunity, the German team did not give the French team another chance, and the 1:0 score remained until the moment the midfield whistle sounded.
In the second half, the German team changed sides and fought again, and the German team's defense became more stable.
It was difficult for the French team to penetrate the German team's defense, but the German team frequently made threatening attacks.
It is a pity that Muller, Schürrle and others wasted excellent opportunities one after another and failed to expand the score.
In the last minute of stoppage time, Giroud carried the opponent's defensive player in the penalty area and made a ball for Benzema. Benzema's shot was blocked by Neuer with one hand, and the French team was unable to recover.
Benzema performed poorly in this game and wasted several opportunities, which led to him being attacked by some extreme French fans after the game.
Benzema, who has long been accustomed to taking the blame, did not refute or express his stance on external criticism, but silently endured it all.
Not only Benzema has been criticized, but the French team's coach Deschamps has also been criticized by the outside world. It is believed that his conservative tactics and improper employment led to the French team's failure.
In fact, compared to the World Cup in South Africa, the French team's performance in this World Cup was pretty good.
But the terrible thing is that they lost to the German team.
Because of historical grudges, French fans find it difficult to accept their team losing to the German team, so they vent their emotions by trolling people everywhere.
I don't know what impact this loss will have on the reconstruction of the French team.
As for the German team, after winning this game, they achieved the feat of advancing to the semi-finals in 4 consecutive World Cups.
This is also the first time in the history of the World Cup that a team has achieved this achievement.
The German team, which was the first to advance to the semi-finals, can wait with peace of mind for their opponents in the semi-finals.
After the game between the German team and the French team, another game in the top half came next - Brazil VS Colombia.
This is a civil war in South America!
Amid the cheers of the fans at the scene, the Brazilian team playing at home was in hot form.
Only 7 minutes into the game, Brazil took the lead in scoring from a corner kick.
Neymar's free throw was of high quality. Players on both sides did not compete to reach the front point. After the ball fell into the back point, the unmarked Thiago Silva blocked the ball into the goal with his body.
Thiago Silva's goal made the 60,000 Brazilian fans in the Castellan Stadium collectively excited!
This is the fastest scoring record for the Brazilian team in this World Cup. Taking the lead early made the Brazilian fans who watched the last game feel relieved.
But don't be careless. There is a powerful star like Ronaldo in the opponent's lineup. If you don't pay attention, you may be equalized!
If we can score another goal, it will be even safer!
The prayers of Brazilian fans seemed to have an effect. In the 67th minute of the second half, David Luiz took advantage of a free kick and scored directly, helping the Brazilian team expand the score to 2:0.
This goal can almost guarantee the Brazilian team a place in the semi-finals!
So after David Luiz scored, the Brazilian fans at the scene were excited, the Brazilian fans on the Internet were excited, and all the fans in Brazil were excited!
They saw the hope of winning the championship at home. After reaching the semi-finals, their opponent was the German team that had just advanced.
With the strength shown by the German team in the two knockout matches, isn't the Brazilian team just killing everyone?
However, the Brazilian team soon became extremely happy and sad. Their captain Thiago Silva received a yellow card while defending. He accumulated yellow cards and was suspended. He will miss the next game against Germany.
At the end of the game, Ronaldo, who had scored in four consecutive games before, sent a wonderful pass. Bacca got a solo opportunity, but was tripped by the attacking Brazilian goalkeeper Cesar.
The referee decisively awarded a penalty kick and gave Cesar a yellow card.
In the 76th minute of the game, such a penalty kick made the game that was already decided become confusing again.
Ronaldo took this penalty kick. He calmly used the change of steps to deceive the goalkeeper and score the penalty.
This is Ronaldo's sixth goal in this World Cup, and he is also the only player to score in his fifth consecutive game in this World Cup.
After the penalty kick was scored, Ronaldo did not waste time to celebrate, but quickly rushed into the goal, picked up the ball and ran towards the center circle.
It can be seen from his actions that Colombia has not given up yet. They want to overthrow Brazil and create a miracle!
In the final stage of the game, Colombia's offense was crazy.
In order to delay the opponent's attack, Scolari chose to use tactical substitutions to interrupt the opponent's offensive rhythm.
The Brazilian team made continuous substitution adjustments, and Paulinho and Hulk were replaced one after another. The two also chose to exit slowly in a tacit understanding to give their teammates more breathing time.
The Colombian players were very dissatisfied and the moves started getting louder and louder.
In the 85th minute of the game, Colombian defender Zuniga kneed Neymar from behind, causing Neymar to fall to the ground in pain.
The nature of this foul was very bad. If the top of his knee had been a few centimeters higher, Neymar would probably have spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
After being hit, Neymar could no longer hold on and was carried off the field on a stretcher.
And Damenga, who committed such a serious foul, only received a verbal warning and didn't even receive a yellow card.
This caused serious dissatisfaction among the Brazilian fans at the scene, and boos of protest resounded throughout the audience.
Neymar was diagnosed with a fractured vertebra after the game and will miss at least 2-3 weeks.
This means that Neymar will also miss the next game.
Although the Brazilian team finally defeated Colombia 2:1 with goals from two defenders and advanced to the semi-finals.
But the absence of the two generals has cast a shadow over their World Cup journey.
After the first half of the game ended, the second half of the game also started the next day.
The first game to start is Argentina against Belgium.
Argentina got off to a dream start in this game. Only 8 minutes into the game, Higuain, who had not scored in the previous five games, finally made a mistake.
Belgium was very unlucky. Di Maria's pass was originally intended to be passed to the full-back who came in, but was blocked by the Belgian defender and accidentally landed at Higuain's feet. .
Higuain reacted quickly and shot directly. The ball hit so suddenly that Courtois couldn't make any reaction and could only watch the football go into the net.
This was the only goal in the game. De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku and others made many attempts and efforts in the following 80 minutes, but failed to change the score. .
In the end, Belgium unfortunately fell at the feet of Argentina and failed to reach the semi-finals and join Spain.
After losing to Argentina, De Bruyne sent Lin Quan a message:
Kill Argentina!
Lin Quan, who was about to start the game, had a smile on his face after seeing the other party's news.
"Don't worry, I will avenge you!"
De Bruyne frowned after receiving Lin Quan's reply.
Why does this statement feel so weird? Make it look like they are dead!
Forget it, don't worry about this anymore, just cheer him up and that's it!
At 17:00 on the evening of July 6, the last game of the World Cup quarter-finals, Spain versus Costa Rica officially started.
There was a low-level mistake in the previous chapter. The encounter between Germany and Brazil was a semi-final, not a quarter-final.
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