Chapter 253: The Quarterfinals Begin!
The quarter-finals are played like this: hosts Germany and South American powerhouse Argentina; Italy, which is mired in the phonegate, and Ukraine, which is making national history; England and Portugal; Five-star Brazil and France. In addition to the huge difference in strength between Italy and Ukraine, other games are full of suspense.
At 5 p.m. on June 30, the match between Germany and Argentina will be played at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Before the game, Maradona encouraged the Argentine players: "Germany is not so scary, it is not a very difficult thing for Argentina to beat Germany and advance to the semi-finals. ”
Many media believe that this game will be the first highlight of this World Cup, and whoever can win this game will have a good chance of winning the final championship. Although the German team has not won any of the 18 meetings with the world's leading teams since 2000, the whole German team is still full of confidence in the victory of this game.
The main striker Klos said: "Argentina are the favourites to win the World Cup, but they were unlucky to meet the German team. Kahn also believes: "Although the Germans have drawn in the last two meetings, we have had a lot of chances to win in the games and if it were the World Cup we would have won them in extra time or on penalties." ”
"Kicker" also summarized the five factors of victory for the German team: first, the blitzkrieg.
Germany scored in the sixth minute against Costa Rica and took the lead in the fourth minute against Ecuador in the quarter-final against Sweden. It was also in the fourth minute that there was a goal. No other team has scored as many opening goals as the German team in this World Cup.
Germany's attacking formation will not change in the match against Argentina. Assistant coach Loew also said: "We will start from the midfield to suppress the Argentine team. ”
Will Argentina be able to withstand Germany's blitzkrieg?
Second, the formation.
In Germany's previous two draws with Argentina, the absolute main players in the German team are now Ballack, Lahm, Klos, Podolski, Metzelde, etc. are not on the field. As a result, Germany have faced Argentina in their first two meetings, although the Germans have not been able to win against their opponents. But that German team at that time. Compared to the current German team, there have been big changes.
On the contrary to the German team, the main players of the Argentine team at that time, such as Abond Dancelli, Heinze, Sorin, Cambiasso, Rodriguez, Riquelme, Saviola and Crespo, are the main players of the current Argentine team.
Third. Berlin home.
In the seven all-time meetings between Germany and Argentina at home. Two victories for Germany. It was all achieved at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, where Germany beat Argentina 2-1 on 12 September 1979 thanks to a goal from Rummenigge. Also on 2 April 1988, Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in Berlin, with Mateus scoring the winning goal for Germany.
Fourth, the head-to-head record with South American teams.
Germany have lost only two of their sixteen meetings with South American teams, but both of them have been World Cup finals: 2-3 to Argentina in 1986 and 0-2 to Brazil in the last World Cup.
Fifth, home field advantage.
Home stadium will mean a big advantage for Germany, and coach Jurgen Klinsmann said: "The whole of Germany is behind us. Assistant coach Loew also said: "The enthusiasm of the home crowd will have a special impact on the team when it comes to the game. ”
"Kicker" believes that the five elements of the German team can completely enable the German team to avoid the "disaster" of going out in the quarter-finals of 1994 and 1998 in tomorrow's game.
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Don is absolutely very concerned about this game, because Zidane once said that a big win is gratifying, but it has an impact on the team's form. In the second game of the group stage, Argentina defeated Serbia and Montenegro 6-0, creating the most disparity in the score of this World Cup.
Klinsmann retained the previous main line-up, while Pekerman replaced Saviola with Tevez. Gonzalez returned to the starting line-up after returning from a groin injury, with Colocini coming in at right-back. In 1986 and 1990, West Germany and Argentina met in back-to-back World Cup finals, winning one game each. In the past year and a half, the two teams have met twice, and the final score was 2-2.
Before the game, the captains of both teams, Ballack and Sorin, read out the anti-racism manifesto. Argentina wore a dark blue jersey. With the whistle of Slovak referee Michel, the battle of the quarterfinals officially began!
As soon as the match began, Argentina launched an attack on Germany. In the opening minute, Tevez knocked back, Riquelme forced a breakthrough and was brought down by Frijns. He took a free-kick diagonally into the box, but the Argentine player was ruled to be fouled. In the third minute, Podolski knocked down Mascherano in front of the field, and Slovak referee Michel showed the first yellow card. Schneider gets into a verbal altercation with an opposing player.
Both teams were cautious in the first half, with only one header from Ballack threatening slightly. At the start of the second half, Sorin blocked Friedrich and was booked and will be suspended for one game. Podolski's left-footed free-kick from the right was confiscated by Abondanseri.
The deadlock was broken in the 49th minute, Riquelme took a corner kick from the right, Crespo cut in the middle to the front post and led away the opposing defense, Ayala headed into the right side of the goal from eight meters in front of the goal, Argentina broke the deadlock 1-0!
Distant Argentina is in ecstasy, and the Olympic Stadium in Berlin turns into a sea of blue and white. Ayala is running crazy on the pitch with excitement!
With the score behind, Germany accelerated the pace of attack. The German fans cheered loudly for their team. In the 54th minute, Heinze fouled in the back tackle, Schneider's free kick on the right side was destroyed, Argentina played a quick counterattack, Riquelme split the ball in the middle, Maxi knocked back on the right side, and Tevez's shot from the edge of the penalty area was blocked.
The German offensive was wave after wave, sixty minutes. Mascherano tackles Schneider and is booked. Podolski's left-footed free-kick from a tight angle is missed. Odonke replaces Schneider to strengthen the impact on the right flank. Schweinsteiger took his team's first corner from the left, but it was still disrupted.
In the 64th minute, Schweinsteiger took another corner from the left, Kolocini nodded the ball but headed it up to the middle, Ballack was eleven meters in front of the goal, and his left-footed volley was blocked by Ayala, and he then headed the header wide of the right post. Cross had cramps when he jumped, and Abondansheri was outstretched by Cross's right knee. The left rib was treated.
Sixty-ninth minute. Max brought down Ballack, at which point goalkeeper Abondancheri could not hold on, collapsed on the turf himself, and was subsequently carried off the pitch on a stretcher. Franco came off the bench. Schweinsteiger takes a right-footed free-kick high from 30 yards from goal on the left. Pekerman replaces Riquelme with Cambiaso.
Seventy-third minute. Tevez breaks the ball up front and splits it to the right. Maxi hit the side-netting with a powerful right-footed volley from 14 meters in front of goal!
In the 79th minute of the second half, Pekerman replaced Crespo with Cruz, and Argentina ran out of substitutions. The German team's hard work has finally paid off. Eighty minutes of the second half. Ballack crossed with his right foot from the left, Borowski shook his head in front of him, Kloss grabbed in front of Sorin, and scored in the bottom left corner from 7 meters in front of the goal, Germany tied 1-1!!
This was Clos' first header in this tournament, and he also became the twelfth player in the history of the World Cup to reach double figures. Of the twelve, Gad? Müller, Klinsmann and Rahn are fellow Klos.
The tenacious Germans equalised ten minutes before the end of the game, much to the relief of the whole of Germany. There was a huge round of applause, screams, and whistles from the German fans at the scene!
In the last 10 minutes of the game, both sides played very cautiously, and neither wanted to concede the ball in the last moments. Ninety minutes were tied and had to go to extra time. Players from both sides take short breaks on the sidelines, and many players use this time to relax their muscles. Ninety minutes of high-intensity play, their energy was almost exhausted.
At the start of extra time, the action between the two sides became more and more intense, and in the 93rd minute, Tevez was tackled by Frins, his nose was hit by Frins's knee and bleeding, and he was treated on the sidelines. In the 95th minute, Cruise struck the opponent in the face with his left arm and was booked.
In the 102nd minute, Neuville took a corner kick from the right and Metzelder headed it high from eight yards in front of goal. In the 105th minute, Tevez's cross from the left was pushed to the back post by Ballack. Gonzalez volleys high from a tight angle.
The air in the stadium was getting more and more tense, and the first half of extra time was unsuccessful for either side, and the two teams changed sides and fought again. In the 113th minute, Tevez sent a low cross from the left, and Coloccini's right-footed volley from 28 meters in front of the goal went wide of the left post. A minute later, Friedrich hooked off Tevez and was booked.
Both teams threaten each other's goals with the last time to come. In the 115th minute, Coloccini hung the goal 40 meters from the goal on the right side, Lehmann did not make a save, and the ball hit the crossbar and bounced off! In the 118th minute, Tevez forced a breakthrough on the left side, coordinated with Maxey to kick the wall, and shot with his right foot from 28 meters in front of the goal.
As the referee's whistle blew at the end of the game, extra time ended with neither side finding the back of the net. They had to go to the most brutal penalty shoot-out. The air at the scene almost froze, and every fan looked nervously at the stadium.
In the first round, Neuville pushed a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner, and Cruise smashed a tricky right-footed shot into the top left corner, 1-1.
In the second round, Ballack hit the left side of the gate with a powerful right-footed volley, and Ayala pushed the bottom right corner with his right foot, but the angle force was not good, and Lehmann fell to the ground and hugged him in his arms, 2-1.
In the third round, Podolski pushed his left foot into the bottom right corner, and Maxi pushed his right-footed shot into the left post, 3-2.
In the fourth round, Borowski deceived Franco with a feint, pushed his right foot into the lower right corner, and Cambiaso's left-footed push was blocked by Lehmann, 4-2!
There is no need to send a penalty kick in the last round, the game is over, and Germany defeated the favorite Argentina in the penalty shootout to advance to the semi-finals!
Argentina's future star, Lionel Messi, has been sitting on the bench for this game. Messi could only watch his teammates fight against the German team and had no chance to play.
At the end of the game, Tang Jue exhaled a long breath, his face was ruddy, and he was completely immersed in the fierce atmosphere of the game. Many people think that there is luck in the penalty shootout, but Tang Juezhi knows that the penalty shootout is actually a contest of players' psychology. The Germans are mentally strong and determined, and they tend to have the best laugh in penalty shoot-outs at major tournaments.
At nine o'clock in the evening, the second quarter-final match takes place between Italy and Ukraine. The game didn't attract much attention. Tang Jue watched the game in Alice's room, and he acted as a commentator during the game to popularize Alice's football knowledge.
Italy finally beat Ukraine 3-0 without any suspense. Italy have reached the semi-finals for the first time in the last three World Cups and will face Germany for a place in the final. Zambrotta opened the scoring with a long-range shot early in the game. In the second half, Toni, who had not scored in the previous four games, scored a brace with an overhead kick, and Lippi's Italian team went unbeaten in 23 consecutive games.
The quarter-finals are in full swing, and four teams are bound to leave the World Cup stage. The first half of the game is over, and the bottom half of the game will be played tomorrow. France's match against Brazil is on the verge of breaking out! (To be continued......)