Chapter 209: European Red Devils VS German Tanks (Part II)

There was still an hour to go before the game, and in the Belgian dressing room, everyone was checking their belongings and making final preparations, whether it was the main player or the substitute.

Coach François is also highlighting some of the issues that the team needs to be aware of when the game starts, although he has been an assistant to Antienes in several major finals, but this time, he has played alone.

"The Germans have a very strong attacking firepower and in this game, our defence will have to be tested more, especially their attacking core Mesut Ozil, and we can't give him too much space when it comes to the game!"

In this World Cup, Ozil is undoubtedly the best player in the German team, and some people even regard him as the core player of the 1990 World Cup, when the German team won the championship, Mateus, although in defense, Ozil is not as good as Mateus, but in attack, Ozil is obviously stronger.

François said a lot, and then it was time for Digan, who stood up topless and looked at his teammates: "Guys! The decisive moment came, four years ago, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Belgium became the world champion for the first time, and now, such an opportunity is in front of us again, originally I thought that after winning two European Cups, a World Cup, my desire for the championship will not be so strong, but when I came here, I found out that I was wrong, I am still full of desire for the championship, this desire is not the number of champions can be satisfied, we are in front of the glittering Hercules Cup, now, All we have to do is beat the Germans, lift that trophy and make our names the ones who created the most glorious moment in the history of Belgian football! ”

When it was time to play, two teams vying for the world's highest honour stood side by side at the entrance to the players' tunnel, with Dhagan at his side as Lahm, a tough little German man.

In this game, the Belgian team once again returned to the 4231 formation they are better at, the goalkeeper is François, the back line is Pokoliho, Vermaelen, Kompany and Van Bitten, the double midfielder is Fellaini and Witsek, the two wings are Hazard and De Bruyne, the attacking forward is Dembele, and the forward Digan.

The formation of the German team and the Belgian team is the same, they are all 4231, the goalkeeper is the best player in this World Cup, Neuer, although this World Cup, many goalkeepers have shown good strength, but Neuer is undoubtedly the most comprehensive, it is because of him that the German team can defeat Algeria to enter the quarterfinals, as long as he can maintain the current high level, he will deserve to be the best goalkeeper of this era, the final against Belgium, Neuer will also be an important factor in the German team's victory, With Manuel Neuer, the German team is like having one more person on the pitch.

Right-back Lahm, captain of the German team, is the most versatile player in the German squad and the best full-back in the world, a position that is very important in a tournament like the World Cup, especially when the opponent is stuck in the middle, he is conscientious in defence and can assist in key moments, and now all Germans expect him to lift the trophy as captain.

Centre-back Hummels, Hummels has been very good at this World Cup, he has put the backline together very well, he is an ideal leader-level player, and he has not only defense but also attack in his head, and the two goals in this World Cup are the best proof of this, and the midfielders will be happy to have such a defender.

Boateng, the centre-back, is one of the best centre-backs in Europe, despite Germany's talent at centre-back, and is undoubtedly Hummels' best partner at the back.

Left-back Hwedes, no one would have thought that Hwedes would be on the World Cup stage, was placed in the left-back position by Loew, Hwedes performed very well in defense, but did not contribute much in attack, but because of the solid defense, he is very trustworthy.

Defender Kramer, before the start of the World Cup, he can be said to be unknown, the main force in this position has always been Khedira, that is, in the previous semi-finals, the main force was Khedira, but in the final, Loew suddenly sent, Cramer, who had not had too many opportunities to play in the previous game, perhaps Loew valued his passion, speed, and excellent steals on the field.

Defender Schweinsteiger, the maturing Schweinsteiger has made great progress in technique, he brings stability to the team on the field, has a good control over the pace of the game, and has hardly made any mistakes on the field, he is a very important part of the team, and is deeply trusted by Loew.

Striker Mesut Ozil, who is at the heart of Germany's attack, is a skilled player with great speed and is also a very good passer, but sometimes he passes too much, many times he can be a little more selfish, and although he has been excellent at the World Cup, he is clearly not at his best, but he has proven his importance to the team.

Striker Kroos, many may have been surprised by his performance at the World Cup, at Bayern Munich, he has always played a supporting role, but at the World Cup in Brazil, he managed to prove himself as an all-rounder in midfield, dangerous from set-pieces and long-range shots.

Forward Muller, Muller's performance in this World Cup has been perfect, both on the right wing and in the forward position, Muller has played very well, especially in this position of right winger, it is difficult to find a better player than him, he is a player who has the ability to decide the game alone.

Striker Klose, people should show enough respect for the veteran, to be able to stand in the World Cup final again, has proven his greatness, for a long time before Klose was just a header machine, but he has also proven his work on his feet in the last few years, the best proof is his goal against Ghana, there are very few strikers in the world who have Klose's nose in the front court.

In the face of such a strong German team, it can be said that Belgium will face the biggest test since the beginning of this World Cup.

With the referee's whistle, the final of the World Cup in Brazil officially began, and the Belgian team took the lead in attacking, and as expected, as expected, the game began to start their best attacking football.

After Digan got the ball in front, he distributed the ball to Dembele, although the German team's youngster Kramer was young, but in the face of such a big scene, he was not frightened at all, and directly knocked down Dembele from behind, giving the Belgian team a free kick opportunity at the top of the arc of the penalty area.

"Belgium got a good chance at the beginning of the game, Kramer's foul just now was a bit reckless, Loew should have warned them before the game, in front of the penalty area, Belgium should not be given a chance to take a free kick, because the European Red Devils have a free kick in the team who can take a free kick as a penalty!"

The referee's whistle sounded, Dembele gently flicked the ball, and then Hazard stepped on the ball, after Digan ran away, he directly hit the door with heavy artillery and broke through the German team's human wall, but unfortunately Neuer's reaction was very fast, a fish jump, the angle of Digan's foot was very tricky, and the powerful shot was directly caught in his hand, after getting up, he threw the ball directly to attack, and the German team immediately played a quick counterattack, Ozil sent a through ball, and the veteran Klose received the ball on the right side of the penalty area, and volleyed from a small angle into the far corner slightly off.

Although neither side could score in the first attack, it set the tone for this World Cup final, telling the world that this game will not become dull.

Both teams represent the highest level of world football today, it can be said that they are opponents, and in terms of strength, the two teams are also evenly matched, and the game is extremely intense.

In the ninth minute, the Belgian midfielder broke the ball and found De Bruyne on the right side for the first time, although the quality of De Bruyne's cross was average, but Degan still grabbed the first point, but unfortunately under the pressure of Schweinsteiger, Degan hit the goal from a small angle and kicked directly in the side netting.

In the 21st minute, Hazard's cross, Kroos grabbed the first drop point, but when the header was cleared, there was a mistake, after Digan took the ball, in the face of Hummels' defense, fake shot and real pass, Hazard was successful in anti-offside, burst into the penalty area, maybe the opportunity came too suddenly, he was a little hasty when shooting, and the low shot with his right foot was missed, missing the perfect opportunity to score.

In the 26th minute, the German team also played a high-quality attacking combination, Lahm ran along the right side for more than 20 meters, and sent a cross at a diagonal angle of 45 degrees, Germany's leading goalscorer Muller volleyed in the middle of the penalty area, which was saved by Courtois, who reacted quickly, and the German team also missed a good chance to score.

In the thirtieth minute, the game ushered in the first goal, De Bruyne crossed diagonally on the right, Digan was in the middle of the German team's penalty area, the header was crossed to the back point, and Hazard, who was outflanked at the back point, pushed the goal, but before the Belgians began to celebrate, they found that the flag in the hands of the linesman was held high, indicating offside, but through slow motion, this penalty is debatable.

Seeing that the goal was blown, the Belgian team was also very dissatisfied, and was about to find a linesman to ask for an explanation, but was stopped by Digan, such an important game, there must not be a little accident.

Deegan communicated with the linesman, and it could be seen that the linesman was also a little hesitant about the penalty just now, and Deegan knew that the penalty could not be changed, but when it was time to apply pressure, he must not be soft.

The German team, which escaped the catastrophe, played a wonderful combination again in the 37th minute of the game, Muller broke through the inverted triangle back pass on the left, Schweinsteiger met the ball and shot angrily, which was blocked by Courtois with both palms.

Immediately afterwards, the Belgian team also played a quick counterattack, pulled to the side of the Digan with the ball inside, rode into the German penalty area, after passing a defender, crossed to Dembele who followed up in the middle, at that time Dembele's speed was a little slow, and when he caught up with the football and was about to shoot, the German team's defenders were already in place, but in a hurry, the shot failed to hit the power, and was cleared by Boateng on the goal line in time.

In the 43rd minute, the German attack returned, Lahm broke the ball on the right and crossed, Klose stopped the ball at the edge of the box and distributed it to Kroos, who followed up on the left, and the latter's right-footed shot was once again saved by Courtois.

In the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Kroos sent a corner from the right to the edge of the six-yard box, and Hevedes cut in to hit the post with a header, and Muller, who tried to make up for it, was offside.

Throughout the first half of the game, although both sides failed to score, the attack played very beautifully, which made the fans in front of the scene and in front of the TV addicted.

After the halftime break, the two sides changed sides in the second half, in the 47th minute, the retreat to the midfield of the digan sent a straight stopper, Dembele received the ball, paused, and then pushed the ball forward, Degan's explosiveness at this moment, fully shown, his speed was fast, the entire German defense line was left behind, while taking the ball, he stepped into the German team's penalty area, looked at the attacking Neuer, directly chose to push the far corner of the goal with his left foot, but at this moment, Neuer made a very critical move, He had already lost the chance to save, but he actually poked the football lightly with his toes, allowing Degan to shoot nine times out of ten, and finally missed.

"Deegan shoots! It's a pity! The Belgian team had a wonderful series of combinations before the shot, and Degan's shot was also very beautiful, but it was a pity that they met a hot Neuer today! ”

Seeing that such an opportunity was ruined by Neuer, Degan couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh, shook his head with a wry smile, turned around and ran towards his own half.

In the 56th minute, the Belgian team made a comeback, Fellaini made a long pass in the middle to find De Bruyne who followed up on the right side, and Neuer, who played the name of a madman in this World Cup, rushed out of the penalty area to save the danger, but the knee hit De Bruyne in the side of the face, but this time the malicious foul escaped the referee's eyes.

This scene is reminiscent of the foul committed by German goalkeeper Schumacher in the 1982 World Cup, which is enough to go down in the history of world football.

Although the Belgian team strongly protested, causing the game to be interrupted for a while, the referee was stubborn and insisted that Neuer had not committed a foul.

The Belgian team obviously suffered a dark loss, but fortunately, De Bruyne's injury was not serious, and after a simple treatment by the team doctor, he returned to the stadium.

The controversial decision clearly affected the mentality of the Belgian team, and in the following period, the German team took the opportunity to play several high-quality attacks, and for a time occupied the initiative on the field.

In the 59th minute, Lahm crossed from the right side, and Klose flanked the header at the back post.

The Belgian players also began to get impatient on the pitch, and in the 64th minute, Fellaini was booked for tackling Klose in midfield, and just a minute later, Kevin De Bruyne was also yellowed for a foul on Schweinsteiger on the wing.

Seeing that the team was passive on the field, François immediately made a substitution adjustment, replacing De Bruyne with Mirallas, who was fouled before, although De Bruyne did not seem to have much of a problem, but the last few receiving errors were obviously affected by that foul.

In the 75th minute, Digan cut inside on the right flank, shook Ozil and Hevedes in succession, and fired a left-footed shot wide of the ball.

In the 82nd minute, Germany created another good chance to score, Lahm's through ball, Muller's pass near the bottom line, Kroos in the front of the penalty area, unmarked, right-footed push, but the ball was deflected.

In the first minute of stoppage time, substitute Klose came on with Gotze on the ball and counter-attacked, and the ball was confiscated by Courtois.

At the end of 90 minutes, the score was still 0:0, and the two sides went into extra time.

At the start of extra-time, Germany launched a fast attack, Gotze broke through to the edge of the line, and substitute Kramer's Schurrle won the ball on the left side of the box, but was once again blocked by Courtois, and Ozil's follow-up shot was blocked by Kompany.

In the 97th minute, Belgium launched a quick counter-attack, Hazard crossed diagonally from the left, and Hummels, who played very steadily throughout the game, appeared to rise to the top, and Digan won the ball to form a one-on-one chance, but he stopped the ball on his chest and although he picked the ball past Neuer, it was wide of the goal.

In the 113th minute, Germany almost broke the goal, Schurrle broke through the cross on the left side, Gotze was leaked in the penalty area, he stopped the ball on his chest, and volleyed with his left foot, Courtois had already given up, but Gotze's shot hit the post, and the German team missed the chance to kill again.

In the next game, both sides seemed to have lost their energy, and the game began to gradually become dull, and it seemed that penalty shoot-outs were inevitable.

"The two sides fought for 120 minutes, although the game was very exciting, and both sides created a few good chances, but in the end they couldn't create a goal, and as the referee blew the whistle at the end of the game, the two sides went into a brutal penalty shootout!"

In the history of the World Cup, there has only been one penalty shoot-out in the final, in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, when the two sides were Brazil and Italy, and now the second penalty shoot-out on the World Cup stage is about to begin.

After a few minutes of break, the penalty shoot-out officially began, with Belgium taking the lead, with Mirallas the first to take the penalty in the second half.

Mirallas's penalty kick, although Neuer judged the right direction, but Mirallas's shot was very powerful, directly grazed the post and flew into the goal.

1:0!

Germany's first to come on was second-half substitute Gotze, who completely deceived Courtois from the penalty spot and landed it safely.

1:1!

Next up was Belgian Marouane Fellaini, who felt rough but had excellent footwork, pushing with his left foot, completely fooling Manuel Neuer and flying into the net!

2:1!

The pressure fell on the Germans again, and the second player on the German side was Kroos, who often took penalties when he was at Bayern Munich, but now that it is the stage of the World Cup final, the pressure can be imagined.

The referee's whistle sounded, Kroos run, got up, shot, perhaps because of nervousness, his shot was obviously insufficient in power, Courtois judged the right direction, and pounced on the left side of his body, seeing that Kroos's penalty was about to be saved by Courtois, but at this time, there was an accident, the turf under Courtois's feet suddenly turned over, making his feet slip, and he could only watch the football fall into the net.

Kroos luckily missed the penalty, which made the German fans in the stands suddenly let out a burst of exclamation, and the German coach Loew on the sidelines couldn't help but lean back, as if thanking God for his favor.

2:2!

Then it was the turn of the Belgian team, their third appearance was Hazard, this demon don't look old, but he is very experienced in the competition, even in the face of penalties are very calm, in the face of this game, and even this World Cup has played extremely well Neuer, Hazard actually took a spoon penalty and successfully deceived Neuer.

3:2!

The pressure was on the Germans in an instant, and their third penalty taker was captain Lahm, who was solid and struck the spot-kick.

3:3!

Then Dembele and Husmer also hit the penalty kicks, and the two sides played 4:4!

Belgium's fifth appearance was their captain, number one star Digan!

This is not the first time Degan has faced a penalty shootout, of course, he is not nervous, but Belgium's luck in today's game is really bad, Neuer's foul slipped away from under the referee's nose, Kroos's penalty just now, Courtois had every chance to save, but the turf helped the Germans a lot at this time.

Take a deep breath, put the football away, take a few steps back, and wait for the referee's whistle!

It was a crucial penalty that went in and the pressure was all on the Germans, and if they missed, then it was up to Courtois.

Beep~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The referee's whistle blows, and Deegan starts running!