Chapter 183 The Flame of War (2)

Chapter 183 The Flame of War (2)

After the two rounds, the situation of Group A and Group B is still unclear. Except for Croatia, which has already qualified ahead of schedule, there is also a sad reminder that the host will be eliminated. The rest of the teams still have a chance to compete for the right to qualify. Needless to say, Group C, the veritable group of death, after two rounds of battle, the feeling of this group is still chaotic.

In the first round, the Netherlands beat Italy, and France drew with Romania. In the second round, the World Cup champion Italy will directly confront Romania, a dark horse with full potential.

In fact, the relationship between the two countries is very deep. As early as 1,900 years ago, Romania was even part of the ancient Romans, the ancestors of the Italians.

At that time, the ancient Roman army captured the Kingdom of Dacia, which is now Romania, and made the latter a province of itself, completing the conquest of the Romanians.

Nearly 2,000 years later, the Romanians were given a chance to fight back on the football field, and as long as they did not lose to Italy, they could corner the ancient conquerors.

In Italy, Romanians are one of the largest minority groups. There are more than 500,000 Romanians living in Italy, many of whom have good jobs and social status. In Italy, the two most famous Romanians are undoubtedly Chivu and Mutu, the two captains of the Romanian national team.

It's ironic to say that the Romanians will stop Italy in the European Cup, but their two best stars were both trained in Serie A.

Mutu has moved to many teams in Serie A, from Inter Milan to Verona, then to Parma, Juventus and Fiorentina, with ups and downs in the middle, constantly going back and forth between glory and loss, but there is no doubt that Mutu is the best in his career. The glorious period was spent in Serie A.

From 2001 to 2003, Mutu grew into a world-class star in Verona and Parma, but then lost himself in Chelsea in the Premier League. Drug cases, sex scandals and other troubles almost brought Mutu to a slump, but Juventus rescued Mutu and allowed him to become a real professional player again.

Then in Florence, Mutu rejuvenated the second spring of his career and once again became a hot striker in European football. This season, he partnered with Digan as a striker and brought Florence the glory of the Triple Crown. It can be said that it is Serie A made Mutu mature, and Serie A made Mutu reborn.

In comparison, Chivu's football career is not as rough as Mutu, and he became famous in Ajax in the Eredivisie, but he is actually an out-and-out Serie A manufacture.

At the age of 22, Chivu joined Roma from Ajax. Before that, he was just a new star in European football, but in Rome, Chivu conquered the whole of Europe with his stable and efficient performance. The top giants of China will attack Chivu almost every summer in order to get this all-round player with both offensive and defensive skills. Last summer, Chivu switched from Rome to Inter Milan, and still performed well, becoming the absolute main force of the Nerazzurri's defense.

Serie A has trained two of the world's top stars for the Romanians, and now the Italians have to fight to the death with these two stars from Serie A on the court.

After Italy lost 0:3 to the Dutch team in the first game, a storm initiated by the media, public opinion, and locker room players directed at Italian coach Donadoni officially started.

Donadoni's remedial measure was to put the treasure on Piero, and took the captain's armband off Buffon's shoulders and gave it to Piero.

What was the result?

Piero, still the same Piero. Buffon told the world who should be the leader of the Italian team.

Before the game, Del Piero tried to describe himself as great. He said in an interview with Turin media: "I know I will be the captain. Frankly speaking, I have played in the national team for more than ten years. With the captain's armband, I can still feel the responsibility of the captain."

What he said was very heroic, but obviously, Del Piero forgot two points. First, the Italian team is not his Juventus team. In the Italian team, Del Piero did survive for more than ten years, but in the big competition, he said It is not too much to say that it is always a bad thing to do nothing. Secondly, even if Del Piero serves as the captain, it is difficult to bring any real changes to the Italian team.

However, Del Piero always has the ability to make every national team coach put his treasure on him. The same game was the same as before, Piero used his poor performance to once again disobey the sacred mission that the captaincy should bring.

1:1!

Del Piero's performance on the field can no longer be described as sluggish. During his time on the field, he only had two poor shots, and they sent the ball to the sky in a very exaggerated manner.

When Del Piero went off, he did not forget to wear the captain's armband to Buffon, but in fact, Buffon has been Italy's number one star in this game.

In the first half, Buffon saved a single goal from Mutu. In the second half, Buffon resolved a penalty from Mutu. In the whole battle, the Romanian team hit the goal frame with five shots, almost every time was a threatening lore. Buffon only missed one shot from Mutu, and saved all the other four. Buffon's wonderful performance gave the Italians a chance to equalize the score at the end of the second half.

No wonder some media said after the game: It was Buffon who kept the Italian team in the European Cup!

Del Piero, who was placed high hopes by Donadoni, was once again disappointing.

As we all know, whenever football in this country of Italy falls into adversity, it looks forward to a hero who can stand up and lead the team and lead the team forward.

In history, Italy has many such soul figures, from Rossi in 1982, to Baggio in 1994, to Toldo in 2000. But never, ever, is Piero the hero.

In almost every competition, Del Piero wants to be a hero, but in almost every competition, he becomes a mediocre person. In this game, he took over the captain's armband from Buffon with Donadoni's support. He uttered countless rhetoric, but perhaps only Buffon is qualified to say that sentence: Even without wearing the captain's armband , I can still assume the responsibility of the captain!

Donadoni's national team still failed to win. After the game, he also accepted media interviews rather embarrassingly. He did not make too many comments on his work, but instead shirked all the responsibilities here. The referee of the match.

"I'm not used to talking about refereeing work, I can only say that today was not a good day, Toni's goal was no problem, but he was ruled offside, which is terrible! We deserved to win this game , but obviously luck wasn't on our side, we created a lot of chances but had to settle for a draw and, of course, despite the tough times, we're still here and not knocked out."

After this campaign, the German World Cup champions only accumulated 1 point in 2 matches, 1 draw and 1 loss. The situation in the "death group" is not optimistic. Perhaps as Donadoni said, the Italian team was indeed affected by a misjudgment , but such a record is still embarrassing for a traditional European team. In the last round, they will welcome their old enemy France. Victory is the only chance for the Italians.

However, compared to the embarrassing first game, Donadoni's formation in this game has been greatly improved, but it is still far from being blameless.

In the starting lineup, Donadoni listened to the suggestions of the media and players and made a lot of adjustments. Among them, the substitutions in the defense and the forward line should be said to have a very good effect. In particular, Grosso gave full play to his strong assist ability in the game. His breakthrough and cross were Italy's most efficient offensive methods in the first half.

However, in the midfield, Perotta and De Rossi played together and did not achieve the desired effect. On the contrary, it compressed Pirlo's space to play.

But even so, Italy can still take the initiative in the game, which shows that the overall strength of the world champion is still very strong.

Perotta's downturn is obvious. Although the Roman midfielder runs a lot, it seems very purposeless. Donadoni also realized this problem, but his substitutions in this game became a surprise after the game. The problem of criticism.

The Fiorentina teenager Paccini was used to replace Perotta, it should be to strengthen the offense in a backward situation, but this change was done too late.

After Paccini came on the field, Italy was in a difficult choice of attacking or defending. The tactics were vacillating. Florence's third shooter was on the field, and he couldn't even find his position. For a long time, Paccini Chini switched positions back and forth between striker and midfielder, blurring the positions of other players.

Judging from Paccini's personal performance, he is in good condition, but he does not have a clear tactical idea, which instead affects the team's cooperation.

It is inexplicable to replace Del Piero with Montolivo. Although Del Piero did not perform well on the field, he still has a certain ability to contain the wing. The key problem is Montolivo Tasks after playing.

Montolivo was used as an attacking midfielder in Fiorentina. His technical characteristics are that he is good at two-point offense and has a unique skill with heavy artillery. In Fiorentina last season, although Montolivo also played as a winger location, but it turned out not to work well.

More often, Montolivo was active in the middle of Prandelli's hands. After Montolivo played, facing Romania's shrinking defense, he could have just played his strong ability of grabbing points and long-range shots characteristics, but Donadoni arranged for him to appear more on the wing.

Since Italy lacks a second offensive point other than Toni in the penalty area, even if more crosses are sent from the side, it is difficult to be effective. Therefore, Montolivo's appearance has almost no impact on the game.

But the biggest doubt is that Donadoni replaced Ambrosini at the last moment. Of course, under normal circumstances, there are many reasons for changing Ambrosini. A midfielder as it should be, followed by ac milan's vice-captain who has a header and can be another fort, but the fact is that ambrosini hardly provides any help to the attack, he has stayed in the center since his appearance The backcourt blocked Romania's counterattack. The purpose of Donadoni replacing Ambrosini may be to enhance the interception ability of the midfielder and stabilize the defense.

At the last moment of the game, the score was equalized. It is not wrong to choose a solid defense in this situation, but considering the general environment in Italy at this time, it is puzzling.

Italy lost the first game. If they want to take the fate of qualifying into their own hands, they must defeat Romania in this battle. A tie is nothing more than a "death reprieve" for Italy.

But in such a situation, Donadoni still chose to guarantee not to lose, instead of going all out, it was too procedural and lacked courage.

If the Netherlands puts Romania in the next game, no matter what Italy achieves against France, they are doomed to be out, and Donadoni's substitution will be a fatal mistake.

In contrast, Romanian coach Picchurk's use of troops in the game is undoubtedly better. Although Romania's overall strength is weak, it has adopted effective tactics to fill the gap in strength to a certain extent.

In the first half, Romania defended solidly and only threatened the Italian goal with set kicks. In the second half, when Italy began to lose tactical discipline due to anxiety, Romania suddenly strengthened the strength and dedication of the counterattack, almost stealing a victory from the Italians.

Especially in the final stage, Romania's counterattack was very resolute, not as blindly defending as it did against France in the previous game. Whether it was clear tactics or offensive courage, Pichurk was far better than Donadoni. . Now, Romania holds the initiative, while Donadoni puts his fate in the opponent's hands.

Italy failed to win against Romania. Apart from Del Piero's habitual slump in major competitions and coach Donadoni's substitution mistakes, if you really want to find the number one culprit, it is undoubtedly Zambrotta. The world's No. 1 winger directly "assisted" Mutu in the game to break through Buffon's ten-finger pass, causing the Italian to almost die prematurely.

With long disheveled hair and misty eyes, after finally escaping from the hellish Iberia, Zambrotta failed to return home with a halo. The Italian full-back seemed to have fallen into some terrible curse. The irresponsible pass back in 55 minutes almost sentenced the Italian team to death in advance, and his poor performance in the European Cup made the mouthpieces of Barcelona secretly happy. Is AC Milan going to be taken advantage of again?

Before the match between Italy and Romania, Barcelona officially announced that Zambrotta will transfer to AC Milan for 9 million euros, and if Zambrotta can perform well in the Italian club, the transfer will be added To 11 million euros, considering that during Laporta's tenure, Barcelona showed amateurism in selling players, it should be said that it was able to sell Zambrotta to 11 million euros, which really surprised the Catalan media. After two disappointing seasons at the Nou Camp, there is no Barçaist nostalgic for what was once Italy's best full-back.

The European Cup is undoubtedly the best opportunity for Zambrotta to prove his worth. The Italian defender needs to use his outstanding performance to prove that Barcelona sold him by mistake, and to prove to AC Milan that the 11 million euros are not in vain. However, after two rounds of group matches. However, Zambrotta's performance is completely opposite. Some media have already begun to joke about it. Fortunately, Zambrotta's deal has been completed before the European Cup, otherwise it is not known how much the price will be lowered.

But Gianluca Zambrotta is just an appearance, and his mistake highlights the biggest gap between Donadoni's Italian national team and Lippi's world champion, and the defense is unstable.

In the World Cup, Italy's defense line was considered rock solid and indestructible. It was this defense line that made opponents desperate, which allowed the Italians to embroider the fourth star on their chests.

In fact, the Italians have always been proud of their reinforced concrete defense. The Azzurri are known as the most defensive team in the world, especially the Italian team in the 1990 World Cup. They only conceded 1 goal in 7 games, almost as high as The pinnacle of defensive art.

However, in this European Cup, the defensive line that the Italians are proud of suddenly became a sieve, but they conceded four goals in two games, not counting Buffon's saved a penalty.

Losing the defense they depend on for survival, Italy's results are of course unsightly. The record of 1 draw and 1 loss at the beginning is also the worst record since Italy participated in the European Cup finals. Even four years ago, Italy also failed to qualify from the group stage , At least also scored two points in the first two games.

Italy's defense line suddenly collapsed, what is the problem?

The biggest difference is naturally the presence or absence of Cannavaro. From a technical point of view, Cannavaro is currently the only top Italian defender who is good at man-to-man defense and forward grabbing. He is the glue of the Italian defense. Agent, the only spine that can connect the entire defense line in series.

In the World Cup in Germany, Cannavaro's state reached its peak. Whether it is paired with Nesta or Materazzi, the performance of the Italian captain can only be described as a miracle. This is also the key to the impeccable defense of Italy at that time.

In this European Cup, Italy lost Cannavaro, as if its spine was taken out, and many aspects such as communication and defense have dropped by more than one level. Naturally, it is far less stable than in the World Cup.

However, Cannavaro is only an individual phenomenon after all, the lack of Italian defenders, and the overall lack of talent is the fundamental reason. In the past, Italy's top defenders came one after another. In the past 20 years, from Bergomi to Baresi to Maldini, Cannavaro and Nesta, the Azzurri have never lacked super defenders. It will affect the overall defensive quality of the team because of a core injury.

Even two years ago, the substitute behind Cannavaro and Nesta was Materazzi who was in good condition, but in this European Cup, although Materazzi's condition is obviously not good, Donadoni is still in good condition. In the first game, they still didn't dare to put him on the bench, because Italy really lacks enough influential and experienced Mesozoic defenders.

The current survival situation of local defenders in Italy is that young local defenders with potential are mostly waiting for opportunities in giants, while defenders with stable playing time are mostly playing for small teams, but they are the "defective products" left by giants. ", naturally limited in achievement.

Of course, apart from a Nokia, it is a pity that Donadoni did not trust this young man who had just risen and did not bring him to Switzerland.

Now Italy is creating their worst record in the European Cup finals, but this is only one competition after all. The Italians are all looking forward to a miracle in the last game against France. However, for Italy, the most important thing is to truly realize the problems existing in Italian football through this European Cup.

Losing the defense means losing the history and glory of Italian football. The impact is extremely far-reaching. If the Italians can re-emphasize the cultivation of defensive talents, even if they suffer another defeat in this competition, it will be worthwhile for Italy.

The Italians need to rediscover the bloodlines they depend on for survival, while the French need a complete change of blood. They drew with Romania in the first game and faced the menacing Netherlands in the second round. The French suffered the same fate.

4:1!

The winner is the Orange Corps!

In the first round of the group stage, the French team had a 0:0 tie and was recognized as the weakest Romanian team in the group. Will face old enemies, if the Italian team lost in the first round, if they want to qualify, they will definitely beat France to get points.

Therefore, for the French team, whether the Netherlands can take all three points in the second game is particularly important. Unfortunately, after 90 minutes, Domenech was left with deep helplessness.

Marshal Basten's team had the last laugh. They used a hearty victory to tell the French that their era is completely over.

3:0 victory over Italy, 4:1 victory over France, the former World Cup champion team, in front of the Oranje, can only tremble. Not enough to describe the strength of the Netherlands. The Netherlands in these two games is the best team in the world in recent years, maybe it can be raised a little higher, and it is more accurate to describe it as an alien team.

The knife-like forward Basten, after years of forbearance, finally showed the knife-like Dutch team, and once he made a move, the unknown ghost, a world champion, a former world champion, and the return of world football to Brazil Sten era.

In the face of such a Netherlands, the death group has no cruel breath of death. Even if there is still hope, Italy and France can choose euthanasia.

For example, if the two sides draw, Romania will also draw with the Netherlands, which has been sent off the bench. Italy and France can go home quietly without any regrets, and there will not be too many people regretting for them. The earth team lost to the alien team. , nothing to blame.

Of course, there is another way to die. Italy and France will win and lose with four points, but Romania will beat the substitute Netherlands and score five points. Italy and France will go home.

Who doesn't know how Italy and France will fight next?

Because the loss is not only the game, but more importantly, the psychology. I am afraid that it will be difficult for this group of players to restore their self-confidence for a long time. In their hearts, orange is probably darker than black.

In the first match in Italy, after Van Basten fine-tuned the Dutch team's formation from the "sacred" 433 to 451, he was once severely criticized by Cruyff.

But Van der Vaart shot back: "Is there a real winger today? In my opinion, only Robben is the classic type."

Stubborn Van Basten will certainly not change himself, he sent the same lineup in the game against France and the first game.

Both teams use the most popular formation of 451, but the connotations are different. Two of the five midfielders of the Dutch team put more emphasis on inward cutting, passing and cutting with teammates. The overall moving position of the Dutch players also shows that their running positions are more advanced than France, which also plays 451, and even Italy. It is compact and the cooperation space between players is closer. This is also an important reason why the Dutch team controls the midfield and has a high pass success rate between the avant-garde.

Today, when 451 is popular, people have always worried that football will pay more and more attention to defense, but the Dutch style 451, which was born out of total attack and total defense, is unique and relieves people's worries. The second goal of the Dutch team in this game is Arjen Robben. After the attack, he dribbled the ball into the penalty area and passed it to Van Persie to score.

Although the French team moved from time to time and tried to let Ribery take on more offensive organization, he lacked tacit understanding with the left and right wingers Malouda and Govou, especially the 28-year-old Malouda made a mistake Too many, it is difficult to play the role of Robben.

It can be said that this game is not the final, but it is better than the final.

The 90 minutes between the Dutch team and the French team can be called the most classic battle in the history of the European Cup. Like the first match against Italy, the Dutch team, as always, ushered in a fantastic start. The lagging French team launched a frenzy of attack. But in the end, they did not get rid of the fate of losing. Even against Italy and France, the record of seven goals in the two games, the Dutch team, which had been bad luck in international competitions in the past, washed away the haze of history in the 2008 European Cup, and finally released The brightest light.

Van Basten used the tactical style he learned from Italy to make the Oranje complete a huge transformation, despite the need to face the accusations of the old-timer Cruyff.

But Van Basten still stubbornly abandoned the flashy coat of Dutch football, and firmly implemented the practical football style.

Some veterans left the national team, replaced by a large number of young people, Robben, Van Persie, Van der Vaart began to take on important responsibilities in the national team.

The young people did not live up to the trust of the coach Basten, and they gave back with their best performance on the court.

After the game, Van Basten also said: "These young people will take on the important task of Dutch football's resurgence in the next ten years."

The Dutch are brilliant, but after two games in the European Cup, one draw and one loss, the most champion-looking French team is now at the bottom of the group. They only scored one goal in the two games. The French strikers were weak and unable to break through their opponents.

Perhaps all the responsibility should not be attributed to the forwards, because there is no Zidane behind them. The reason why the French team in the Zidane era was always victorious and undefeated. Compared with other players, Zizou is special in that he has a super ability to read the game and a good view of the overall situation on the field, making him able to become a leader on the field. The core of the offense and the organizer, organize the team's offensive scene in an orderly manner, and often give the opponent the most fatal blow at the most critical time. Regrettably, this is what the current French team lacks the most.

After Zidane retired, French football seemed to have lost its soul. They didn't even know how to fight on the field. Although they had a super striker like Henry, the previous gorgeous offense came from the Gallic Rooster. Disappeared.

Now, the French team at the bottom of the group will face the Italian team in the final match of the group. If you want to qualify, you must not only win the opponent, but also pin your hopes on the Dutch team that has already qualified. It is not weak to win Romania team. In the past, the French team, which almost won the championship in the World Series, had to wait helplessly for the judgment of fate.

Such a result is a bit cruel to both Italy and France, leaving the fate in the hands of others, perhaps these two great powers will really start to decline, and they will be replaced by those mainly young people Emerging forces.

This is the general trend, and no one can reverse it!

After two rounds of fierce fighting in the "Group of Death", people were surprised to find that Italy, the champion of the 2006 World Cup, and France, the champion of the 1998 World Cup, only scored one point, tied for the bottom of the group.

If the Dutch team intends to "release" Romania in the third game, then Italy and France will be eliminated, and the two World Cup champions will be eliminated in the European Cup group stage. This will become a major spectacle of this European Cup.

Looking at history, the teams that have just achieved good results in the World Cup will hardly perform well in the European Cup. The German team, which won the World Cup twice in 1974 and 1990, originally hoped to make persistent efforts to win the European Cup, but in the European Cup in 1976 and 1992, they were defeated by Czechoslovakia and Denmark.

The Italian team, the World Cup champion in 1982, fell to the ground in the 1984 European Cup, and even fell in the qualifiers. In 1966, the England team won the World Cup, but in the 1968 European Cup, they were defeated by Yugoslavia and missed. Championship dreams.

There is only one counterexample in history, which is the French team. In 1998, the French team won the World Cup. In 2000, the French team was lucky to equalize the score at the last minute of the final and beat the Italian team to win the championship through the Golden Ball. This time the double championship is full of luck. , the European Cup since its establishment in 1960, the only time to break the curse.

Perhaps, people have to admit that the World Cup is the World Cup, and the European Cup is the European Cup!

The group of death left the final suspense of death until the last round. Group D, which has the defending champion Greece, has already produced the first unexpected but reasonable death event.

Before the start of the European Cup, the reporter interviewed the coach of the Greek team, Rehagel, and asked him which position he felt most comfortable with in the Greek team. Rehagel answered without hesitation: "Goalkeeper!"

Indeed, as the team's oldest player, nearly 38-year-old goalkeeper Nicopolidis is the god of the Greek team.

But it was the man most assured by the head coach who made a fatal mistake in the second round match against Russia in Group D. It was Nikopolidis' low-level mistake that directly led to the early exit of the defending champion Greece.

In 2004, the Greek team miraculously won the championship. In the summary meeting after the game, Rehhagel made a key point of praise for the 33-year-old goalkeeper Nicopolidis.

The Greek team won the championship in 2004, relying on its unbreakable defense. The Greek team eliminated their opponents with zero goals in the three knockout matches and finally won the championship.

In the three knockout matches, Nicopolidis made four successful saves per game on average. Fatal mistakes are rare.

Four years later, Nicopolidis, who is nearly 38 years old, is still the main goalkeeper of the Greek team. In such a stressful test, Rehhagel's answer is that Nicopolidis is irreplaceable.

On the one hand, this shows that the head coach trusts him and affirms his ability. On the other hand, it also shows that the young generation in Greece grows slowly and has already become embarrassing.

This embarrassment was quickly confirmed in the game. In the life-and-death battle with the Russian team, Nikopolidis made a fatal mistake at a critical moment, ruining the hope of the defending champion.

In the 33rd minute of the game, the Russian team made an oblique pass from the left to the back of the penalty area. The ball was kicked very high and the speed was very slow. It took a long time to judge. At that time, the Greek defender had already followed up and defended, basically standing in Shemak's position. In front of him, for some unknown reason, when the threat was not great and his teammates were in place to defend, Nikopolidis suddenly chose to attack to block the opponent. Shemak turned around and saw Nikopolidis attack. Nikopolidis, who was already wide open, chose an undercut to pass the ball to the goal at the first time. Nikopolidis, who made a mistake in his attack judgment, completely lost control of the ball and could only watch Ziryanov send the ball into the empty goal.

After conceding the goal, the players of the Greek team looked very frustrated. Although no one complained about Nicopolis' low-level mistake, it can be seen from everyone's expressions that they are disappointed with Big Brother.

After conceding the goal, the Greek team began to enter chaos. The offensive and defensive ends were out of touch, and the midfielder did not protect the defense line enough. If the Russian team did not waste opportunities, the Greek team conceded far more than one goal.

Looking back at the two games that have been played, Nikopolidis's reaction and state are far from those of four years ago. It can only be said that he is really old.

An old family is like a treasure. This has always been the truth believed by many teams. Whether it is a strong team or a weak team, every team will have one or two older players. Their experience will be of great help to the team.

But judging from this cup, in the aging teams including France, Italy, and Greece, the role of veterans is becoming more and more limited.

Is it as a surprise soldier to play a role at a critical moment?

Still fighting as the main force, the use of veterans has become a new topic in the construction of each team.

The defending champion Greece was eliminated early and became the third defending champion of the European Cup to be eliminated in the group stage after Denmark in 1996 and Germany in 2000 after the number of European Cup teams increased to 16.

Greece has one more game to go, and if they fail to score a point in their final game against Spain, it will be the worst performance of the defending champions in history.

In addition, after losing to Russia, Greece became the only team that did not score a goal in this European Cup. Greece has always been a team that focuses on defense, supplemented by counterattacks and set-piece sneak attacks. Four years ago they There are several 1:0 lying on the road to defending the title.

Regarding the team's lack of offensive power, head coach Rehhagel also expressed helplessness: "Unfortunately, we failed to grasp the opportunities created, but I have always said that Greece is not a team that is good at scoring. I had hoped to achieve something, unfortunately, that didn't happen."

For this game, Otto the Great believed that there was a problem with Greece's proud defense, which gave the Russians an opportunity: "Most of the responsibility for the goal scored by the Russian team was on our own. Avoided, I think if we can put more pressure on the opponent, maybe we can get a draw, but even so, we should be satisfied, the team's performance is first-class, playing a combination of speed and stability. "

Four years ago, Rehhagel's team staged an incredible Greek myth in Portugal. The coach believes that such a miracle cannot happen again four years later.

"Back in 2004, a miracle happened, but this kind of miracle happened almost every 30 years. If it happened every week, it wouldn't be called a miracle."

Although Russia relied on the opponent's mistakes to achieve this victory, coach Hiddink believes that this is an opportunity for the team to fight for. He praised the players' performance: "Everyone worked hard for a good result, In modern football you have to be very tough and you don't let chances pass you by and I'm happy because I know the players acted when they needed it most. I encouraged them after the Spain game To play this game well, they really did not let me down, they proved that they can also play high-level football."

With a victory, the Russians stripped off the magical coat of Greece, allowing the defending champion to become the second team to be eliminated in this European Cup after the hosts.

Another game in this group will be between Spain and Sweden. This game is also considered to be a battle to determine the top spot in Group D.

Before the game, Ibrahimovic, the star of the Swedish team, said that he would break the Spanish goal with his legs during the game.

In this regard, the Spanish coach Calagones said: "Ibrahimovic is going to break our goal? This is very good! But first he has to bypass the red cape in our hands!"