Volume 4 World Cup Legends Chapter 81 The Second Round That Must Be Won
The second round of the group stage still starts in Group A, with Brazil and France, both winners in the first round, battling it out for the top spot in the group.
Brazil and France are old enemies, the powerful five-star champions Brazil are the most successful team in the World Cup, but the only thing they can't conquer in the World Cup is the French team, Brazil and France have played four games in the history of the World Cup, 1-3 behind, and that victory was in 1958, Pele's Brazil team defeated France 5-2 in the distant last century. Then the Brazilian team has never been able to defeat the French team, this time span is 56 years, even counting the friendly match, the Brazilian team has not defeated the French team for 22 years, and the name of France (block) West is really worthy of the name.
From the start of the game, Brazil took advantage of their home advantage to launch an onslaught on France, and the Samba Legion will be hoping to get revenge on their old rivals on their home turf. The French team, whose strength has declined, has a good psychological advantage in the face of Brazil, which is also not as good as that year, and is not impatient to entangle with the Brazilian team in the midfield, waiting for an opportunity to launch a counterattack.
The French team is a European Latin style of play, delicate technology, strong tactical record, the team is also star-studded, if they want to defend, the Brazilian team does not have the strength to eat the French team at all, the game has been deadlocked, both sides have the opportunity to score, but they are afraid of not being able to attack with all their strength, and the two sides are tied in the first half.
In the second half, the French team, which had been defending and counterattacking, suddenly attacked, and the Brazilian team was caught off guard and was attacked by Scar Ribery, and the French team led 1-0.
The Brazilian team was cornered at once, and they immediately caught up and launched a tidal wave of attacks against the French team, and the originally dull game suddenly became lively, and the fans in the stands became much more active.
The Brazilian team, which has always been known for its attack, once attacked with all its might, even Italy, which is known as the reinforced concrete defense line, did not dare to say that it could resist, and the strength of the French team's back line in this World Cup was not as good as the midfield, and they were under the strong attack of the Brazilian team, and finally lost the goal in the 70th minute, and Neymar of the Brazilian team scored an equalizing goal.
After the equalizer, the Brazilian team tried to break the curse of the 56-year winless French team, but was beaten by the French team with two counterattacks, after Benzema did not score alone, the courage of the Brazilian team also disappeared, they won 5:0 in the first round, as long as this game does not lose, the first group can not run, they dare not risk attacking for the sake of a historical record, the Brazilians chose to be pragmatic, slow down the attack, strengthen the defense, the French team is at the door of the Brazilian team, and there is no delusion to continue to win, the second place in the group is also very good, in this mentalityIn the end, the two sides drew 1:1, and Brazil and France were tied on 4 points, but Brazil scored more goals and ranked first.
In the later match between South Africa and South Korea, the two first-round losers had to fight to the death to avoid being the first team to be eliminated.
The last host, South Africa, was average in strength, and was hacked at his own doorstep, with only two of the right time and place, and failed to qualify from the group, while the South Korean team also reached the semi-finals at his own doorstep, which shows that the South Korean team's background is deep and the strength is not weak.
The South Korean team was bloodied by Brazil in the first round, they were ashamed and brave, and they were determined to find a little face on the South African team and play actively, while the South African team saw that there was basically no hope of qualifying, and there was not much motivation to play, so that the tenacious Taiji Tiger won the first victory of the World Cup with two goals, and stayed in the World Cup, and wanted to qualify from the group, so he could only beat the French team in the last round. South Africa became the first team in the round of 32 to book a flight home.
Group B is a complicated affair, with England and Ivory Coast drawing in the first round and Mexico being beaten by Greece, with any of the four teams likely to qualify, and Greece, the best in the game, losing all their advantages.
The second round of matches is played between England and Greece, Mexico and Ivory Coast.
Greece were able to beat Mexico with their height and aerial superiority, but they looked a bit of a big game against their long-passing ancestors, England, and they were knocked to the ground by England in straight sets.
Mexico and Côte d'Ivoire fought fiercely, and Mexico, who had lost one game before, could not afford to lose again, and they used their skillful foot skills and cooperation to attack the African elephants, and Côte d'Ivoire coped patiently, and the game was very fierce from the start. With the goal of Mexican striker Hernandez Jr., the two sides started a goal contest like a plum blossom bamboo, and in the end, neither side could help anyone, and it was tied 3:3.
After the second group game, Group B is still chaotic, with England and Greece with four points, Ivory Coast with two points, and Mexico with one point.
Argentina in Group C is the worst of the four American teams and the only one of all South American teams not to win, although the Czech Republic and Australia in the same group also drawn, but as an old football power, Argentina is a little embarrassed. In the second round against the European Iron Horse Czech Republic, Argentina is bent on winning, and the players have temporarily given up the intrigue and tried their best to deal with the current chaotic situation, no matter what kind of ideas each faction has, it is unacceptable for them not to qualify from the group, and Argentina can only truly unite at this time.
Since the division of the Czech Republic, the strength has declined, and the team has also entered a period of inactivity, but the tiger will not fall, the current Czech Republic still has a certain strength, not a fish belly that can be bullied, the Argentine's onslaught was not able to break the goal early, Messi was seen very dead by the Czechs, the Argentine's strong front field was not supported by the midfield, Argentina had a sharp arrow but was as weak as the first game.
In the 80th minute of the second half of the game, Argentina finally scored, which was Messi using his strong individual ability to get rid of three defenders in a row, burst into the penalty area and was brought down, and the referee awarded a penalty, Messi personally copied the knife and hit the penalty.
Argentina did not relax as much as they did in the first round against Nisillia, and they continued to put pressure on the Czechs before beating the Czechs 3-1 thanks to goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria.
In the other Group C game, Niglia and Wallabies did not take their chances, and they shook hands again and accumulated two points from two rounds, which did not help them much in qualifying.
In the second round of Group D of the Group of Death, South American teams still dominated, with Croatia and Portugal in a slump, and Chile playing passionately against Latin American powerhouse USA, and in the end, Chile came out on top, beating the United States 3-2 to win two games in the group stage, and they were also the first team to qualify from the World Cup round of 32.
Group E of the German team and the Asian Brazilian team said that the first leg of the German team and Sweden played a 0:0 draw, said that the team defeated the African lion Cameroon 1:0 with Roukegang, ranking first in the standings, this game said that the team can fully grasp the initiative to qualify as long as the German team can be drawn.
It is said that the team has a deep technical foundation, the players are united, and they cooperate tacitly, even in the face of the German team, they are not inferior in midfield control, for them is one less striker who can make a final decision, with a good striker they can immediately improve a grade, but they have been lacking strikers for decades, which has become a heart disease of the company.
The German's style of play was simple and practical, and the header advantage was very obvious, and every corner and free kick made the team sound the air defense alarm.
In the 35th minute of the game, the team finally failed to resist the German head team with an average height of more than 1.83 meters, and was defeated by Germany 2:0.
The African Lions Cameroon have no big stars in the team after Eto'o's aging form has declined, and the overall strength has dropped a lot, and they and the Swedish team led by Ibrahimovic are both open and close, and the strength is not much different, everyone wants to win, and the game becomes very lively. In the end, Sweden came out on top, beating Cameroon 2-1 to make Cameroon the second team to exit the World Cup. After the loss, the Cameroonian players cried bitterly and were very dissatisfied with the team's record, but the Cameroonian fans silently accepted this fact and left the game quietly without causing any trouble.
The second round of Group F was played by Spain and Turkey, followed by China and Paraguay, and this game was played between Spain and Turkey in a life-and-death match, and whoever loses will be out. This match between China and Paraguay is especially important for China, as they play Spain in the last round, and when Paraguay plays Turkey in the last round, it is likely that Turkey has already been eliminated.
Spain and Turkey can not afford to lose, can not afford to draw, in the battle of life and death Spain finally broke out of the strong fighting power, they are like matadors teasing the Turkish bull, so that the Turks have no strength but can not show, the possession rate of Spain once reached more than 80 percent, and finally Spain also defeated Turkey with a score of 4:1, saved their fate, and re-became the favorite team to qualify from the group.
Spain's hearty victory greatly stimulated the Chinese team, and the Chinese players and coaches who watched the entire live broadcast in front of the TV were thinking about their position in Turkey, can they do better than Turkey? No, they can only lose unless every time they get the ball and they can turn it into an effective attack and score goals. So the task in front of the Chinese team became to defeat Paraguay with all their might and avoid a death-to-death battle with Spain.
(To be continued)