Chapter 565: Egypt and Uruguay
The match between Russia and Saudi Arabia heralds the official start of the World Cup in Russia.
All kinds of heroes began to appear on the stage, what is their state?
The other match in Group A is contested at the Catherine Stadium in Yekaterinburg, Egypt vs Uruguay!
Egyptian football is the undisputed powerhouse on the African football map, but it has not been able to achieve much success in the World Cup.
Now, Egyptian football has a superstar like Salah, which also gives them the confidence to make history.
Salah's fitness and athleticism will determine how far Egypt can go at the World Cup.
Héctor Cooper, the head coach of the Egyptian national team, is an Argentine, a defender in his playing days, and an Argentine fringe international.
In March 2015, Cooper became the head coach of the Egyptian national team, but Cooper remained true to his style of second millennium, losing to Cameroon in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations final to finish as runners-up.
Even so, the Egyptian Football Federation has supported Cooper, who lived up to expectations and led Egypt to world qualification for the first time since 1990
Salah doesn't need much introduction, having debuted at Arab Contractors FC in Nasr, Egypt, and landed in Europe in 2012, with his first stop being Swiss side Basel.
Salah's claim to fame was a two-legged Champions League group stage clash against Chelsea in the 2013/14 season.
In the end, Salah shone at Liverpool, and this season under Jurgen Klopp, Salah's attacking potential has been further developed.
He is almost omnipotent, with terrifying speed reminiscent of Owen and Torres, fast dribbling at his feet reminiscent of Suarez, and diligent running reminiscent of Kuyt.
He's got the best of almost all the great attackers in Liverpool's history, and he's still young.
When he first debuted, people would call him Egyptian Messi, but now people will say: he is not Egyptian Messi, he is Salah.
In the Egyptian national team, Salah is now the soul of the game.
Egypt has a very early history of participating in the World Cup, having participated in it in 1934, but only played one game, and according to the format of the tournament at the time, Egypt was eliminated by Hungary 4-2 in the first round.
Subsequently, the next time the Egyptian team qualified for the World Cup was 56 years later.
In 1990, Egypt reached the World Cup finals, this time with two draws and one loss in the group stage, and the group was eliminated.
Egypt has only participated in the history of the team twice, and this World Cup is the third time that Egypt has participated, and they have not won a game before, and they have never reached the second round.
In this World Cup, the Egyptian team is in Group A, and in addition to the host Russia, they will also face Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.
It should be said that Egypt still has a certain chance in this group situation, if it can win Saudi Arabia, draw with the host Russia, lose a small loss or even draw with Uruguay, Egypt is not impossible to qualify from the group, this is a good opportunity for Egyptian football to make history.
There are only one of the 32 teams in the round of 32 of the World Cup, and Egypt's first opponent is Uruguay's golden generation.
Uruguay are not considered traditional giants in the eyes of fans, even though they have won the World Cup twice, but that is already the history of football in ancient times.
However, the top stars in their squad have always attracted the attention of neutral fans.
In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Suarez, Cavani, and Godin are all over 31 years old.
The national team partners who have played alongside them for many years, such as Muslera, Maxi Pereira, Cristian Rodriguez and Stuani, are also in their prime.
These veterans are still fighting and this World Cup will be their last pinnacle on the World Cup stage.
This time, Suarez and Cavani don't want to leave any regrets.
Uruguay have won their first World Cup, with Argentina playing hosts Uruguay in the final.
At that time, the development of tactics and even techniques in football was still in the ignorant stage, and the two teams that reached the final were the best teams in the world at that time for their excellent dribbling skills.
Uruguay were more technically superior than Argentina, taking advantage of their home advantage to complete a comeback in the second half to make it 4-2.
It is worth mentioning that the goal that sealed the win for them was a one-armed player named Castro.
In the next 20 years, Uruguay did not participate in the World Cup, and the second time it participated in the World Cup, Uruguay became the final winner.
The 1950 World Cup did not have a final, it was a round-robin, and in front of the 170,000 spectators at the Maracanã Stadium, it was also the most spectated match in the history of the World Cup, with Brazil losing 1-2 to Uruguay.
Uruguayan football was a hegemon in world football at a time when information was still very slow, but this was their last.
Since then, when world football has begun to develop rapidly, and the content of football skills and tactics has become more and more abundant, the advantage of the Uruguayans is no longer obvious.
The 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan was the first experience of the World Cup for Chinese fans, and it was also the first time that Uruguayans returned to the World Cup finals after 12 years.
Recoba was the core of the team at this time, and Diego Fran, who we knew very well, was still a little immature at that time.
Despite Forlan's impressive finishing skills in the group stage, Uruguay were unable to make it out of the group stage and were knocked out of both tournaments along with defending champions France.
In 2006, Uruguay missed the World Cup in Germany, and in 2010 in South Africa, Fran's shooting boots began to heat hot after Uruguay's Fernando scored from the group stage with a thunderous long-range strike against hosts South Africa.
After scoring against Germany in the final, Forlan extended his tally to five goals and won the World Cup Ballon d'Or, and his almost perfectly balanced left and right feet, excellent vision and vision, and his signature powerful long-range shot have left him etched in the minds of fans.
Uruguay also reached the last four of the World Cup for the first time in 40 years.
In the 2014 World Cup, although Diego Forlan is old and no longer the courage of the past, the core players such as Suarez, Cavani, and Godin, who are becoming more and more mature, have provoked the backbone of the team.
In particular, in the 2013-2014 season, Suarez, who equalled the Premier League scoring record, brought his fiery form to the World Cup.
After a frustrating loss to Costa Rica in the opening game, Suarez showed his ability to score two goals to help his team crush England.
However, it wasn't just his excellent form that brought him to the World Cup, but also his penchant for attacking opposition players with his teeth.
So Chiellini sat on the ground to complain, and the classic photo of Suarez covering his mouth became the best summary of Uruguay's 2014 World Cup.
Suarez's impulsiveness not only allowed him to miss all the remaining games, but also directly led to his team's loss to Colombia in the 1/8 finals and a hasty exit.
Russia 2018 can be said to be the last chance for Suarez's group of players in the World Cup, and they will definitely not want to make the same mistakes as four years ago.