Costa Rica's second attack failed, and instead Spain scored another goal.
The suspense of this game is basically gone.
Now looking back at Navas's attack just now, from the perspective of God afterwards, there seems to be some problems.
He seemed to be affected by Lin Quan's last goal, and his mentality changed a little, becoming a little impatient.
He is not an impulsive person, but just now he was a little dominated by the desire to win. He seemed eager to defeat Lin Quan, the world's top star, to prove himself.
Navas knows that scouts from many clubs have been scouting him recently, including scouts from some top clubs.
Facing Spain, which is ranked number one in the world, it is another key battle for the team to advance to the semi-finals of the World Cup. While falling behind in the score, they also encountered inspections from other clubs.
The combination of these factors made Navas a little impatient.
Fortunately, he realized this quickly, and his subsequent performance was as stable as ever.
This made the scouts who came to the scene to inspect his condition nodded with satisfaction.
After watching most of the game, they began to write down the results of their inspection of Navas on their notepads.
"Navas has solid skills, quick reactions, and strong prediction ability. He can quickly identify the opponent's offensive line and make the most reasonable choice."
"He appears to be very decisive in attacking, and occasionally a little reckless, but with his superb physical skills and superb goalkeeping skills, he can resolve most crises.
In addition, during the match in Costa Rica, Navas showed excellent leadership skills and did a good job communicating with his teammates, especially the defenders, allowing Costa Rica, which was far inferior to its opponents, to survive the siege of Spain, the world's strongest team. Underneath, deal with it! "
"Overall evaluation: excellent!"
"Transfer price assessment: 10-18 million euros!"
After David Silva scored Spain's second goal, Del Bosque quickly made substitutions.
In the 67th minute, Torres was replaced and Pedro came on as a substitute.
Spain's formation became a forwardless formation, which is the formation they are most familiar with.
In Spain, which uses a forward-less formation, players pass the ball more often and faster.
Costa Rica's players were in a physical bottleneck period at this time. Faced with Spain's approach of once again increasing the pace of the game, they were powerless and unable to keep up.
The result of not keeping up is that there is danger in front of their door!
In the 71st minute, Pedro entered the penalty area and hit the goal slightly wide of the post.
Five minutes later, it was Pedro again. He received Lin Quan's goal and shot a volley from the left side of the penalty area, but Navas narrowly missed it with one hand.
Less than ten minutes after coming on as a substitute, Pedro felt the same feeling his teammates had when facing Navas.
Why does this guy feel like he's cheating and is so difficult to deal with?
Similar to his feeling, the Costa Rican defenders gasped and looked at Spain's No. 30 in disbelief.
This guy, in such a small space just now, two people double-teamed him, but they failed to intercept the ball from his feet, and instead allowed him to pass the ball out.
How on earth did he do it?
What should I do to completely kill him?
Could it be said that we really can't guard against him?
But fortunately, they no longer need to consider this issue immediately.
In the 80th minute, Del Bosque was replaced by Diego Costa, and the one who was replaced was Lin Quan, the core of the Spanish team.
In order to cope with the game against Argentina four days later, Del Bosque wants to reduce the consumption of the team's main players, so that they can be in better condition to face Argentina's challenge.
After Lin Quan came off the field, Spain's offense did not stop.
Diego Costa, who came on as a substitute, performed very actively, running back and forth in the frontcourt without any effort, trying to find a good opportunity to score.
With the assistance of Spain's top midfield masters, he did get several good opportunities.
But unfortunately, he was not able to seize these opportunities. Several shots were either easily saved by Navas, or he kicked the ball crookedly.
Under close surveillance by Costa Rica's defenders, Diego Costa, who had just returned from injury, played awkwardly.
His ability to get the ball in a small area is far inferior to Lin Quan, and it is very difficult to get out of the space like Lin Quan.
Costa Rican players were originally a little afraid of Diego Costa because of his status as Atletico Madrid's striker.
But after playing for a while, they only had one feeling:
That's it?
It feels much weaker than the previous No. 30!
Of course, Diego Costa has completely different characteristics from Lin Quan. Although his dribbling and breakthrough are not as good as Lin Quan, he relied on his strong body to find several opportunities to hit the goal in the penalty area.
It's a pity that these opportunities failed to convert into goals, and it was difficult for Costa Rica's offense to threaten when the core midfielder Ruiz was restricted.
The score of 2:0 remained until the final whistle sounded.
Spain easily defeated their opponents and advanced to the semi-finals with their heads held high.
After the game, the Costa Rican players were a little confused. Some of them had their hands on their hips, some were half-kneeling on the ground, and some were simply lying on the ground with their backs spread out.
Breathing heavily, he looked enviously at the Spanish players in the distance who were high-fiving and hugging in celebration.
The opponent got the last ticket to advance to the semi-finals, which is really enviable!
It's a pity that he is not as skilled as others and can't defeat them. Costa Rica is heartily convinced by this defeat.
After all, they were defeated but still glorious.
Because Costa Rica is the one that has conceded the fewest goals among all the teams that have faced Spain so far.
Coupled with the disparity in player values between the two teams, it is already very good that they can persist to this extent.
At the press conference after the game, Del Bosque, who had just led his team to the semi-finals, seemed very happy.
He answered a lot of questions from reporters in one breath, even some that he would not normally cover.
The reporters saw that he was in a good mood, so they all actively asked questions.
"Coach Del Bosque, your team has entered the semi-finals, and their next opponent is the powerful Argentina. Are you confident in leading your team to defeat them?"
Bosque smiled: "Of course, why not? We are the defending champions!"
Upon hearing his answer, an Argentinian reporter immediately expressed dissatisfaction:
"We have Messi, how can Argentina lose?"
Before Bosque could answer, the Spanish reporter immediately retorted: "Spain also has Lin Quan!"
"Lin Quan has only been in his debut for a few years, how can he be compared with the great Messi?"
"Haha, although Lin Quan has only made his debut for a short time, he has already won the Confederations Cup with the team. Does Messi have any honors in the national team that are worthy of praise?"
Argentinian reporters and Spanish reporters started a heated debate on the topic of who is better, Messi or Lin Quan.
The other reporters at the scene were all watching the excitement and did not take it too seriously. Not only did they not stop the quarrel between the two parties, they even fanned the flames, wishing that the two sides would start fighting directly!
This is a good opportunity to make big news, Spain VS Argentina, Lin Quan VS Messi, with these labels, the topics and traffic are not rising step by step?
Sure enough, after the promotion lists of all the top four appeared that day and the results of the semi-finals were released, fierce debates immediately broke out among fans supporting each team on the Internet.
"Brazil is number one in the world, I hope the Brazilian team will defeat Germany!"
"Haha, the captain of Brazil is suspended and the core of the team is injured. How can you fight with my German tank?"
The semi-finals of the first half are a contest between the host country and the German team. Both teams are very strong.
If Thiago Silva is not suspended and Neymar is not injured, then the suspense of this game should be great.
However, after losing these two offensive and defensive cores, the Brazilian team's strength was seriously damaged.
This makes the outside world not optimistic about the host country. If this is not Brazil, but other countries, then their chances of winning may not even be 30%.
That is to say, because this is Brazil, they have the advantage of home court, so the outside world's prediction for this game is 40-6, Brazil 4, Germany 6.
As for the second half, the match between Spain and Argentina, fans were even more divided.
"With Spain's state of being able to block the murderous gods, Argentina will be in trouble if they encounter them!"
"Indeed, their game was characterized by ease and ease. No matter who the opponent was, Spain seemed to win easily. I have never seen them forced into a desperate situation!"
There are obviously more fans who are optimistic about Spain. Not only the local Spanish fans support them, but also many neutral overseas fans are attracted to them because of Spain's strong strength and gorgeous playing style and become their fans.
"Haha, Spain is only good at bullying, but it may not be that powerful when facing a truly strong team!"
Fans of Argentina and Messi naturally do not agree with this statement. They feel that the reason why Spain's record is so good is entirely because of good luck in signing and not encountering top teams.
Argentina is different from the cats and dogs that Spain encountered before. They are one of the favorites to win this World Cup.
It is not that simple for Spain to defeat them.
What's more, Argentina has Messi!
…
As the World Cup gets closer and closer to the final, the popularity and attention of the game are also increasing.
In football, there has always been a debate:
Is European football stronger or South American football?
European football is famous for its powerful leagues, stable youth training and rapidly innovative techniques and tactics. In recent years, its influence in football has been increasing day by day. In the World Cup, it also achieved two consecutive championships.
South America is famous for producing talented players, and the two world champions are also from South America.
Their league may not be as influential as the five major leagues, but no one can deny the strength of South American players!
As a result, this debate has never been concluded, and fans on both sides have been unable to convince the other side.
The existence of the World Cup has given the two sides a stage for direct competition.
Let them compete directly in the World Cup and use actual results to prove whether European football is more advanced or South American football is stronger.
In addition to this World Cup, in the past 19 World Cups, South American teams have won a total of 9 championship trophies, including 5 from Brazil, 2 from Argentina and Uruguay.
The European teams have won 10 championship trophies, slightly suppressing the South American teams.
But in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, the South American teams not only failed to win the championship, they did not even reach the finals.
Both World Cups ended up being a civil war between European teams, which can be said to be quite disadvantageous for fans who support the idea that South American football is stronger.
Therefore, this World Cup held in Brazil is a great opportunity for South American teams to avenge their previous disgrace.
They are also very competitive. Compared with the previous two World Cups, they have made great breakthroughs this time.
Both Brazil and Argentina teams have reached the semi-finals!
And fortunately, no civil war broke out on either side. The two semi-finals were duels between European teams and South American teams.
This means that as long as their performance is good enough, the two teams can even meet in the final and present a civil war between South American teams to the world.
Of course, if it goes wrong, it will probably be two European teams that end up in the final.
Allowing European teams to meet in the finals for the third consecutive time at their home stadium may disgrace the host Brazil team and even the entire South American team.
Therefore, before the start of the semi-finals, the South American Football Confederation, which was under great pressure, called on fans to go to the scene to cheer for Brazil and Argentina.
The debate in football about the strength and weakness of European football and South American football may come to a conclusion after this semi-final.
And they can't afford to lose!
…
With a bang, the football flew into the goal in a graceful arc, grazing the crossbar in the upper left corner.
Seeing this scene, Messi finally showed a satisfied smile on his face.
After learning that Argentina's opponent in the semifinals was Spain, Messi increased the intensity of his training.
Only after playing in La Liga did he understand how terrifying the Spanish national team is.
If it had been before that guy joined the Spanish team, Argentina might have been able to draw a 50-50 draw against Spain when they met Spain, and even have a certain upper hand.
But now, Messi feels that Argentina may not even have a 40% chance of winning, and their situation may be more dangerous than the Brazilian team in the top half.
Judging from the performance of the German team from the group stage to the knockout stage, their offensive firepower is not as strong as imagined.
As long as the Brazilian team can choose a relatively stable tactic, without Neymar and defense general Thiago Silva, it will not engage in confrontation with the opponent, but choose to control the rhythm of the game and use solid defensive counterattacks to target The words of the German team.
Their chances of winning are still quite high!
But Spain is different!
This team currently doesn't see any major shortcomings. On the contrary, their advantages are too outstanding!
The offensive power is super powerful!
The control is very powerful!
The players have a lot of competition experience!
These three points are all shortcomings for Argentina.
With Messi, Aguero, Higuain, Di Maria and many other attacking players, Argentina's biggest shortcoming is actually its offense!
Their forwards have collectively fallen into a goal drought in this World Cup. The World Cup has been played for five games, and Aguero has not yet started.
Higuain kicked off not long ago, and Di Maria only scored one goal.
Messi, the biggest contributor to Argentina's previous wins, has also fallen into a scoring drought in the last two games.
Compared with Lin Quan, who scores steadily in every game, Messi has not scored for 225 minutes!
This state makes Messi unable to help but feel worried.
He's not sure he can score against Spain, but if he can't step up and help the team, then who can he count on?
Therefore, Messi can only choose to seize the last moment and work hard to improve himself.
What he chose to practice more during this period was penalty kicks and free kicks.
Lin Quan's penalty kick in Spain's game against Mexico impressed Messi.
There are a lot of penalty shootouts in this World Cup, so Messi feels it is necessary to practice.
In this case, if he is really dragged into a penalty shootout, maybe his extra training can achieve miraculous results!