Chapter 353: Group Qualifiers and Knockout Opponents

In the end, Scolari still didn't bring in a high striker.

First, now that Portugal has a perfect lineup, who will be taken down if Gomez is replaced?

Second, Portugal is not the side behind them, even if they don't score goals anymore with a two-goal lead, it doesn't affect the overall situation!

So, Scolari is left to the players on the pitch and he just needs to be on the sidelines

No matter how you look at Iran, it doesn't look like it can cause trouble for Portugal!

Throughout the first half, Iran's most threatening attack was created through set-pieces, and the corner kick was opened, and the banner player of Iranian football, Ali Daei, actually overtook Carvalho to grab this, but the header was too positive under the interference, and was easily pocketed by the Portuguese international Ricardo.

Towards the end of the first half, Deco stepped in and fired a long-range shot away from Iran to make it 3-0.

At this point, the big picture has been decided!

When they walked off the pitch at halftime, the Portuguese players walked together in twos and threes, very relaxed and excited, as long as they played another 45 minutes, Portugal will be out of the group stage!

You must know that in the previous three World Cups, Portugal has only had one group qualification.

That was 40 years ago at the '66 World Cup, when Portugal reached the semi-finals and finished third, and Portugal's passing star Eusebio came to watch the game today to cheer Portugal on.

And this time, it is the second time that Portugal has broken through from the group stage and successfully qualified.

It's a feast for all of Portugal!

And, they have every reason to believe Portugal can go far and not settle for just getting out of the group.

With Portugal's current performance, it doesn't matter who the opponent is in the round of 16.

Even before the start of the World Cup, everyone thought that it would be difficult for Portugal to play if it met the Netherlands or Argentina, but now the situation has completely reversed, and neither the Netherlands nor Argentina will be willing to meet such a Portugal!

Now, it's your opponent's turn to find a way to avoid Portugal!

......

At this time, in the locker room, Pauletta was embarrassingly apologizing to Quaresma, because he now knew that his goal was actually snatched from Quaresma's head!

It's a bit embarrassing!

For a striker who is determined to score goals, I am afraid that it is too much to rob his goal than to rob his daughter-in-law......

Fortunately, Quaresma is not that kind of person, so he didn't fight with Pauletta, otherwise it would be destined to be another bloody storm!

Pauleta is still embarrassed, wondering how to return Quaresma a goal, but if Quaresma knows what he thinks, I'm afraid he will cry and laugh again!

Do you have the ability to think about how you score goals first, and you still have to worry about my goals?

I, the Premier League Silver Boot, the Champions League Golden Boot, and the World Cup Golden Boot soon, use you to worry about goals?

Am I a little inflated?

Maybe it's because the game is so easy, even Scolari is abnormal!

If it's against an opponent who has to fight hard, then Scolari will have to have an impassioned and generous speech to keep the players on the pitch until the last second.

But now Scolari actually let the players play leisurely, it doesn't matter if they score or not, just don't get hurt!

Even, Scolari wants to shuffle the players who got yellow cards in the last game in this game!

According to the World Cup suspension rules, yellow cards will be accumulated until the semi-finals, and two yellow cards will be suspended for one game, and will be automatically canceled until the semi-finals!

Anyway, qualifying is in sight, let the yellow card players shuffle the cards, and the next game will be suspended, and it will not affect Portugal's exit, so you don't have to worry about being affected by the yellow card and playing the next game when you play the knockout round!

Many times, this kind of shuffling behavior is actually disgraceful, but in front of the team's results, who cares whether others chew or not!

If Quaresma had been in Scolari's place, he would have done it a long time ago!

Talking and laughing with his teammates and walking out of the players' tunnel, Quaresma was still thinking about the shuffle, but suddenly he seemed to be struck by lightning, and the whole person was stunned on the spot!

Nima!

I just said that I always had a feeling of discomfort, and it turned out that it was because of this!

Quaresma remembered!

In his previous life, there was a World Cup match that impressed him very deeply, and yellow and red cards flew all over the sky in the game, which directly broke the historical record of red and yellow cards in a single game, and was recorded in history in an alternative way!

If memory serves, this match is Portugal's round of 16 knockout match against the Netherlands at this World Cup!

That game can't be seen from the perspective of a football game, it's clearly a collection of vice city plots, if you can bring a gun to the field, I'm afraid that by the end of the game, there will be no one on the field who can stand!

How could he have forgotten about this game?

Not to mention shuffling the cards, there will be several people who will be sent off the field directly by the red card when the time comes!

The whole world was shocked by the fact that two teams with technical flow played a miserable game that no physical flow team could play!

What to do?

Quaresma is shaking a little!

The reason why Portugal was not able to go further in the semi-finals in the previous life was partly due to strength, and the other part of the reason must be because of the big injury in the game against the Netherlands, which affected the state in the future, and then a big game with England, it is unknown how much combat power can be left in the face of France!

If this life is the same as the previous life, Quaresma feels that he may be sent straight off with a red card!

You know, he's never been a good baby!

If a teammate is maliciously violated by the Netherlands, can Quaresma stand by and remain indifferent?

You must rush straight to fight for your teammates!

Then, things get bigger and bigger, and in the end, they even fist and kick, and needless to say, the result will definitely be expelled from the game with a red card!

It's inevitable when you think about it!

What can I do?

Could it be that he and his teammates have been holding back their anger and being indifferent to the Dutch who play roughly?

Who hasn't had a little temper yet!

I can endure it once, I can endure it twice, and the third time I will go to the horse!

Quaresma was in a bit of a trance all of a sudden, because he really didn't know how to solve the problem, after all, the Dutch style of play was not something he could control!

Don't say anything about the slap that doesn't make a slap, now Quaresma just thinks about how to get the team through the Netherlands without losing too much!

If memory serves, the Netherlands seem to have qualified second in the group because of goal difference, so they will meet Portugal, who are the top of the group.

Otherwise, Portugal will settle for the second place and qualify for Argentina as the second place in the group?

Looks like a good idea!

Although the outside world is generally optimistic about Argentina, and even Argentina's championship popularity is higher than that of Portugal, in Quaresma's view, in fact, Argentina and the Netherlands are both teams of the same grade, and no one is better than the other!

At this time, Argentina really does not have the strength to win the championship, the core Riquelme is naturally flawed, the little flea Messi is far from entering the peak state, and the strength of the squad is even inferior to Portugal!

Touching Argentina, Quaresma thinks that maybe the Portuguese defense will be tested, but the offensive end will definitely be able to beat Argentina!

It's just that although the idea is good, Quaresma has no way to say it to Scolari!

If Quaresma goes directly to Scolari and says that he wants to touch Argentina in the round of 16 knockout round, Scolari must take off his shoes and slam Quaresma with the soles of his shoes!

What the hell do you want to do?

Steal my job?

Don't say whether Argentina is strong or not, this is something you have to think about as a player?

Scolari just said in front of the media that Portugal didn't want to touch Argentina in the knockout round, but Quaresma was going to do something, and it was strange if he didn't turn his face!

With a helpless sigh, Quaresma's steps on the pitch became uneasy, because he was really unsure!

There are some things that you really can't fix if you play well!

Can you stop the Netherlands from fouling you?

Can you remove the evil thoughts from the hearts of the Dutch players?

After a malicious foul, I am afraid that most of the players on the field will want to retaliate back, and then, the game will collapse!

Quaresma really doesn't want Portugal to get a big win!

Forget it, let's act when the time comes!

For now, let's clean up Iran first!

......

Anxious for the match against the Netherlands, Quaresma unconsciously played anxiously on the field, and when Portugal slowly besieged Iran, he kept sprinting towards his opponent, and even the rhythm of his teammates began to increase, as if the game was just beginning to ensure victory!

His teammates thought that Quaresma wanted to score goals, so in good physical condition, he was still willing to cooperate with Quaresma, especially Pauleta, who also wanted to score a goal for Quaresma!

As a result, Portugal played more oppressively, making Scolari think that the players on the field were going to rebel!

The Iranian team is going to collapse!

That's not how the game is played!

Obviously we are all going to give up, shouldn't we all tacitly slow down the pace together and play slowly until the end of the game?

But what the hell are you kicking so hard?

Why, do you have to wash us in blood?

It's no wonder that Iran is now blindfolded, the last game Portugal played Angola, when the overall situation was decided, Portugal began to paddle, if it wasn't for Angola to find its own death, Portugal would not have the next two goals.

But now that Iran has almost surrendered, why is Portugal still unforgiving?

Did you read the score wrong?

Now the score is 3:0, we are behind, you are ahead, not you are behind!

But the Iranian team no longer understands, and it does not affect the hot attack of Portugal, especially on Quaresma's side, which is simply in a state of full firepower!

In the 56th minute of the second half, Quaresma broke through on the left side continuously, and after cutting inside, he took a big arc, but because of impatience, the arc has a little flaw, and I am afraid that it will miss the goal!

Seeing Pauletta in front of the goal, as he stretched out his head, just like his goal in the first half, I'm afraid the Iranian goalkeeper is still powerless!

However, no one expected that this time Pauletta was indifferent with a smile on her face, as if telling Quaresma: "Look, this time I didn't steal your goal!" ”

Then, Pauletta watched the ball fly out of the bottom line against the post, and the whole person was not good!

There are countless question marks above your head, why didn't you score this goal?

If I had known, I would have made up for it with a header!

Quaresma on the left couldn't help but sigh, he was really defeated by Pauletta, a living treasure!

You have to rob when you shouldn't, and now you're pretty honest when it's time for you to rob!

Can I request a teammate?

Looking at the wide-eyed Quaresma and Pauletta, the fans couldn't hold back and laughed like crazy!

Kicking football, can you be serious, don't always show us comedy all of a sudden!

Enough laughter, the game will continue, but after such a fuss, Quaresma gradually calmed down!

The soldiers are coming to block, one step at a time, it's useless to think too much at this time!

After all, I have crossed over, in case the little wings are fanning, it is not impossible to bring a little change!

Maybe the Netherlands will be eliminated in the group stage and go home!

Speaking of which, I am too disrespectful to Iran, an opponent, obviously playing with them, but I have been thinking about the Netherlands, if I let the Iranian players know, I can't fight with myself?

But now Iran really doesn't have any will to resist, all of them are piled up near the penalty area to defend, and they don't fight back, and after the defense is successful, it is a big foot to drive out, and it can hold for a while!

It's just a broken jar!

When Iranian coach Ivankovic replaced the core player Kalimi off the field, Kalimi was still very unhappy, and he didn't know if it was because he was unhappy with being replaced or because the team was unhappy with playing like this, so he kicked and burst the water bottle placed on the sidelines, splashing Ivankovic all over the water!

It's clearly the rhythm of infighting!

Looking at such an Iran that can only wait for death, everyone's eyes are sympathetic, maybe if they change their opponents, they still have a chance of life, but who let them meet Portugal!

Cristiano Ronaldo on the right side is not willing to be lonely, and from time to time he contributes wonderful breakthroughs, perhaps this kind of game is his favorite at this stage!

Don't think about the result, just show off your footwork, shake the Iranian players and start to doubt their lives, the smile on Ronaldo's face is about to melt the Sahara Desert!

In this regard, Quaresma expressed disdain, because he has passed the stage of showing off his footwork, although the trick is still there, he has rarely used it, and often how to be concise, unless the opponent is too excessive, he will use these fancy moves to humiliate the opponent.

They have already scored a goal and barely reached their goal, although they want more goals, but looking at Iran's current form, it seems that there is no need to irritate them to the point of rage.

And so, Quaresma began to fall silent!

Everyone can see that there will be no more waves in the game, just wait quietly for the game to end!

After playing tacit ball for more than 20 minutes, the referee didn't even care about stoppage time, and directly blew the whistle for the end of the game, and the game was finally over!

Quaresma and his teammates smiled and hugged to celebrate the victory and celebrate Portugal's greatness!

The fans were so excited that they seemed to cry, although the opponents in these two games did not cause too much trouble for Portugal, but in any case, Portugal reached the knockout stage of the World Cup again, and this is the most worthy of celebration!

They have been waiting for this day for 40 years!

Thankfully, the Portuguese national team didn't let them wait any longer.

Before you know it, history has been made again, and for Portugal, it seems like a breeze.

Their goal is not just to get out of the group stage, they have to go further and go all the way to the end!

Under Figo's leadership, the whole team took to the sidelines, and although the number of Portuguese fans in this game was not even as large as that of Iranian fans, they made no less noise than their opponents.

"Long live Portugal!"

"We're going to keep winning!"

"We want a champion!"

......

The fans collectively shouted the names of the players, and at the same time, they also shouted from the bottom of their hearts, believing that the team will be able to achieve their wishes!

Quaresma looked at the excited fans, and the excitement that had gradually subsided came to his heart, and he couldn't help but chant with the fans, this feeling was refreshing!

Thinking about the Viking war cry in Iceland later, even if there is no sense of substitution, I still feel the blood boiling, it is simply a kind of faith!

Although the Portuguese fans do not have a similar unique way of cheering, their love for the team is still from the heart, and Quaresma is equally enthusiastic.

Rest assured, I will bring the championship trophy back to Portugal!

Quaresma couldn't help but mutter, as if he was promising something, and he thought he was setting a goal for himself.

......

Quaresma was dragged by Scolari to a press conference, and it was rare to find a player who worked so well with him, how could Scolari let Quaresma go?

"Iran is too strong, stronger than I imagined!" Scolari's mouth was filled with sarcasm.

Journalists are going to be speechless!

Iran was beaten by Portugal without a fight, the score is not mentioned, and Iran did not have a few threatening shots in the whole game, and your irony is about to lose its meaning.

Quaresma couldn't help but hold his forehead, Scolari was really a vengeful old man, and he still didn't forget to mock him fiercely.

This is simply a whipping corpse!

Iran coach Ivankovic's face is still dark, and from the moment he became Portugal's opponent, his face did not seem to be better!

Whether on or off the field, he was all deflated, pressed to the ground by Portugal and rubbed repeatedly, and he had no resistance at all!

Scolari gave a wave of merry taunts, and finally handed over the microphone comfortably.

After winning, you can taunt the opponent in a wave, which is like a cigarette after dinner, a perfect match!

Originally, Quaresma didn't want to say anything, but under Scolari's "I'm optimistic about you" expression, Quaresma still had to follow Scolari's footsteps and continue to attack Iran!

"Today's match was like a dream, I really didn't expect that we could defeat the mighty Iran and send Iran home!"

"This feeling is even more exciting than beating Barcelona to reach the Champions League!"

"Now, there should be a lot of teams thanking us because we eliminated the biggest favourites and so that we can rekindle our hopes of winning the title and that's the biggest contribution we can make to world football!"

......

Whether Ivankovic wants to kill someone now, Quaresma doesn't know, because the press conference has not ended, the Iranian coach left the seat in anger and ran away in anger!

FIFA officials helplessly looked at the Portuguese masters and apprentices who cooperated tacitly, and they didn't know whether they should go to FIFA officials to sue them!

However, there is not much to see in this game, Portugal playing Iran is not a suspense thing at all, and now Portugal has sent Iran home, isn't it what everyone expected?

Originally, everyone's focus was not on the game itself!

Quaresma scored again, scoring four goals in two games and continuing to lead the scorers' charts, and with this trend, it seems that it is only a matter of time before he gets the Golden Boot!

Portugal are top of the group with two wins in a row, and as long as they don't lose to Mexico in the final round, they can qualify as top of the group, which doesn't seem to be much of a problem.

So, predicting which opponent Portugal will meet next in the knockout round is a game that fans prefer to participate in, whether it is the Netherlands or Argentina, Portugal will face a tough test!

"If nothing else, we're going to run into the Netherlands!" When asked about this by reporters, Quaresma pretended to think for a moment before slowly speaking.

"The Netherlands and Argentina have both won two consecutive group stage games, just like us, so in the final direct confrontation between the two teams, Argentina still has a goal difference advantage to have some advantage, after all, as long as they can draw with the Netherlands, they can qualify as the top of the group!"

"I think, I'm afraid the Netherlands and Argentina don't want to touch us Portugal!"

"The Netherlands is not as hard as Argentina, and the situation is not as good as Argentina, so I think we still have a better chance of running into the Netherlands!"

He's not untargeted, he's stimulating the Netherlands in his own way!

He said that the Netherlands is not as strong as Argentina, just to stimulate the Netherlands to prove itself, if the Netherlands overthrows Argentina, then Portugal's opponent will become Argentina, which is the result that Quaresma hopes for the most!

As for whether the Netherlands can really compete for power, Quaresma is actually not sure, and can only be said to be doing his best to obey the fate of God!

Sure enough, Quaresma's remarks were hyped by the media, which attracted strong dissatisfaction from the Dutch side!

Just as Iranian coach Ivankovic said before the game that Portugal is not as strong as Mexico, which caused Portugal to be dissatisfied, and now the Netherlands is also very unhappy with Quaresma!

Why do we say that we are not as strong as Argentina?

Obviously everyone is on the same level, who is better than whom?

Since Quaresma has said so, then the final round can't be treated sloppily, if it is really suppressed by Argentina and can only advance as the second in the group, wouldn't it directly prove what Quaresma said?

Moreover, the Netherlands really doesn't want to touch Portugal from the bottom of their hearts, in comparison, don't look at Mexico's ranking is quite high, but the strength is really not first-class, if you choose an opponent, it is obviously better to play Mexico!

So, I can only have a good fight with Argentina!