In the semi-final between Belgium and the Netherlands, both sides looked cautious after the opening, and the first thing they thought of was to strengthen their defense, with Belgium wanting to defend their title and the Netherlands wanting to complete revenge.

The managers of both teams, François and Van Gaal, are well aware of each other's strength, and it is precisely because of this that after the opening, they both seemed a little unable to let go of their hands and feet, first to ensure that their defense did not have problems, and on this basis, the quality of the counterattack was something that both sides thought of.

However, playing like this is not the style of the two teams after all, and as the game progresses, the two teams gradually increase the tempo and the field becomes better.

In the tenth minute of the game, when Sneijder dribbled the ball, there was a mistake, as if he had tripped over something, just as Fellaini cut off the ball, after breaking the ball, he directly plugged the ball and passed the ball to the feet of Hazard's Dembele, Dembele received the ball at the same time, completed the turn, and at this time, Digan and Lukaku had already pounced towards the Dutch team's penalty area.

If Dembele could get the ball out at this time, Belgium would have had an excellent chance to score, but at this time, De Jong, who was the captain of the Dutch team, suddenly rushed from the left and made a vicious tackle.

Seeing this, Dembele wanted to pick up the ball to dodge, but De Jong's tackle came too quickly, and before Dembele could respond, he stabbed the ball away from his feet.

The Dutch fans erupted in applause to encourage De Jong's crucial interception.

That's right! Now this Dutch team in terms of starry, it is true that it cannot be compared with the previous Dutch national teams, it is no exaggeration to say that the stars are bleak, but this Dutch team is the most successful in balancing offense and defense.

In the past, the Dutch team advertised the balance of offense and defense, but in fact, except for the original Cruyff era and the Three Musketeers era, because there were excellent defensive players in charge, who could achieve this essence to the extreme, every other Dutch team was difficult to achieve a real offensive and defensive balance, often in the pursuit of strong attacking power, while ignoring the defense, although all the Dutch team has become the focus of attention of fans in every international competition, attracting countless admirers, but every time the results are not satisfactory.

At the World Cup in South Africa, Van Marwijk began to focus on building the defensive system of the Dutch team, with his son-in-law Van Bommel as the core, on the basis of emphasizing defense, and then launched a counterattack.

After Van Gaal took over, he also continued Van Marwijk's style, and on the basis of emphasizing defense, the team's attacking power was also improved, of course, the most impressive thing about this Dutch team is still the strong defensive ability.

In the next game, even Degan was blocked by several people in the Dutch team when he broke through with the ball several times, which can make Deegan so embarrassed, and the Dutch team can be called unique.

This is also Van Gaal's emphasis on the defense of Degan before the game, Van Gaal is very aware of Degan's threat, so before this semi-final, he focused on practicing the team's defensive routines, and there is no way to prevent Degan alone, this is a recognized fact in the football circle, from the current point of view, the Dutch team's defense is very good.

However, while emphasizing defense, the weakening of attacking power is also inevitable, in the previous games, Van Persie and Robben, who played very well, performed much worse in this game, they lacked enough support from the midfield in the forward line, and in most cases they could only play alone.

As a result, the Dutch attack was largely focused on long-range shots from midfield, and in the thirteenth minute, Kuyt, after pushing some distance along the flank, opted for a cross, followed up by Sneijder, and volleyed a volley from the edge of the box, but failed to reach Courtois and deflected wide of the far corner.

Just a minute later, the Belgian team burned the fire to the Dutch team's half, Vlaar fouled Hazard in front of the penalty area, the Belgian team won a free kick opportunity in a good position, Digan stood in front of the ball, the game started for more than ten minutes, as an important firepower support point for the Belgian team, Digan did not have a shot on goal.

However, this well-placed free-kick also failed to bring Belgium to the goal, and Digan hit the goal with a strong kick, although Sillersson made the first save to get rid of the ball, but the second reaction was very fast, and before Lukaku could make a supplementary shot, a forward pounce pressed the ball under him, and it was safely confiscated.

"The game was played for 15 minutes and from the current situation it seems to be evenly matched, but the Dutch are focusing on the defensive side and that makes them very passive!"

Sure enough, as the commentator said, in the next game, the Belgian team's offensive gradually became fierce, gradually dominating the game, and won consecutive corner kick opportunities.

In the 24th minute, Eden Hazard headed in a corner, Digan nodded the ball in front of him, and Lukaku headed in the goal on the edge of the six-yard box before Vlar cleared the ball, but unfortunately it was slightly high.

In the 27th minute, Deegan pulled to the side to receive the ball, and after breaking through two defenders of the Dutch team in a row, he suddenly chose to cut inside, and after deducting Vlaar, who was supplementing, he volleyed, Sillersson's reaction was very fast, a fall to the side, and blocked the ball with his fingertips, and his second reaction was incredibly fast, before the football was about to roll out of the bottom line, he pounced and pressed the ball under him, and did not even give the Belgian team a chance to take a corner.

Although the Dutch team's defense did a good job, continuously defusing the Belgian team's attack, but Van Gaal on the sidelines saw the team falling into passivity, and couldn't help but be a little anxious, got up and walked to the sidelines, and made a few gestures to the field, after that, the Dutch team's defense suddenly became more ferocious, and many times when the Belgian team just launched an attack, it interrupted the rhythm of the game with fouls, which naturally attracted a boo from the fans at the scene, and even the fans of the Dutch team expressed their dissatisfaction with the Dutch team's approach.

Because people have the impression that Dutch football should be very elegant, not as it is now, it is almost synonymous with violent football.

Although the Netherlands is a small country, it is an absolute giant in the world of football, and has enjoyed a high reputation in world football for many years.

From this fertile soil that breeds stars, dozens of world-famous world superstars have come out. Cruyff, Luther. Gullit, Fan. Basten, Frank. Rijkaard, Dennis. Bergkamp.

Before the 70s of the 20th century, Dutch football has always played a supporting role for European football powers, although as early as the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, there were clubs established in the Netherlands, but for more than half a century, due to insufficient attention and lack of enthusiasm among the people, the level of football has developed very slowly.

Before 1970, Dutch football made little of an impression, and the Dutch team's record of three Olympic bronze medals is worth mentioning. In addition to the 6th Olympic Games, which were suspended due to the World War, the Dutch team won bronze medals at the 4th, 5th and 7th Olympic Games in London 1908, Stockholm in 1912 and Antwerp in 1920. However, in 1908, only the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands participated, and the Dutch team was actually the second-to-last.

However, in the 1974 World Cup, the Dutch team made it all the way to the final, which was the first meeting between the Dutch team and the former Federal Republic of Germany in the history of the World Cup, but this battle opened the prelude to the grievances between the two teams.

At the Olympic Stadium in Munich, the Netherlands lost 1-2 to the Federal Republic of Germany, which had Beckenbauer and Müller, and finished second.

The first-class Dutch team left a glorious mark on the history of the World Cup, just one minute ago, the Dutch team made 16 dazzling passes in a row, Cruyff broke through the defense, Vogts was forced to trip him, Neeskens hit the penalty, the Germans had not even touched the ball, the door was breached, which shows the high level of technical and tactical level of the Dutch team.

From an insignificant third-rate character to a world runner-up, then head coach Michels was a great contributor.

After 1974, the level of Dutch football continued to improve steadily, with stars such as Cruyff, Neeskens, and Rensenbrink becoming more mature, and the powerful Dutch "pirates" once again reached the final of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, against Argentina, who lost 0:4 to the Netherlands in the semi-finals of the 1974 World Cup, and this time it was considered the best time for the Dutch team to be crowned champions.

If it weren't for Cruyff's arrogance and disdain to contribute to the national team, perhaps the history of the World Cup would have been rewritten, and the Dutch would not have been called the "uncrowned king".

The stars are getting old, and to make matters worse, there is a lack of a central figure, and the Dutch team fought hard for 120 minutes, once again being left behind by Lady Luck.

With two shots and one pass from the green fighter Kempes, the Argentine team defeated the Dutch team 3:1 in overtime and "ascended the throne" for the first time in the World Cup.

The Dutch team was devastated by internal attrition, a painful period of inactivity, the Dutchmen were unquestionably strong, but they were never able to unite, which is the main reason why they have been repeatedly eliminated despite being the favourites every time, which is a lesson that any team should take seriously.

But despite this and that problem, football is still the pride of the Dutch, and while the Netherlands exports tulips to the world, it also produces a large number of world-class stars, such as Robben, Van der Vaart, Sneijder, Van Andervaart, Van de Vaart, Van de Vaart, Van der Vaart, V Nistrooy, Huntelaar, the foundation of Dutch football is so strong in the eyes of the world that if it weren't for the internal unity issue, they would have reigned supreme long ago.

Louis van Gaal once said: "Dutch football is football that creates art." ”

But now the Dutch team is difficult to talk about art, although there are enough big stars missing, but the Dutch don't think that they really can't play elegant art football, so when the fans in the stands saw that the Dutch team on the field played so ugly, they finally couldn't help but protest.

But Van Gaal is not moved at all, he has always been a stubborn person, in his team, there can always be only one voice, although at the moment, I am afraid that even the Dutch players on the pitch are dismissive of the football they are playing now, but they can only execute desperately, otherwise, the cold bench is their destination.

Gradually, even Van Persie, who was at the front, retreated to the midfield to participate in the defense, and when defending Degan once, he made a vicious tackle and hit Degan, and was shown the first yellow card of the game by the referee.

There was a burst of boos in the stands, and it looked like even the Dutch fans were about to turn against them, but Van Gaal still didn't mean to change at all.

Until the end of the first half, the Dutch team's defensive statistics turned out to be 19 fouls and 3 yellow cards, which is completely a Dutch team beyond people's impressions, and the unfamiliar ones can't help but make people think that they are disguised by other teams.

After the break, after the start of the second half, Van Gaal quickly made his first substitution, replacing Indy with Janmaat.

And in the next game, the Dutch team showed a completely different style from the first half, if in the first half, the Dutch team almost lost the team's attack in order to strengthen the defense, then at the beginning of the second half, the Dutch team finally reverted to the familiar appearance.

Press on! Offensive!

Originally, Belgium, who was thinking of increasing their attack in the second half and solving the Netherlands as soon as possible, suddenly found that the Dutch team actually started an attack with them, which was a completely unexpected crazy attack, but it disrupted the rhythm of the Belgian team.

In the fiftieth minute, the Dutch team that suddenly accelerated, after a few non-stop passes, suddenly sent the ball to Robben's feet, the rhythm was disrupted by the Belgian team, there was also a huge gap in the defense, after seeing Robben get the ball, he wanted to break through to the penalty area, Vermaelen, who had lost the best defensive position, could only choose to foul Robben and was given a yellow card, and then Sneijder took a free kick directly to the goal, slightly off.

Although this attack failed to score in the end, it sounded the horn of the Dutch team's counterattack!

At the same time, the Belgian team, which gradually stabilized its position, was not to be outdone, and also pressed out and started an offensive battle with the Dutch team.

In the 58th minute, Fellaini at the back sent a through pass, De Bruyne crossed from the right edge of the penalty area, and Digan headed the goal on the edge of the small penalty area.

In the 71st minute, Hazard sent a pass on the wing, Digan headed back, and Dembele's shot from the left side of the box was blocked by Vlaar.

When the game reached the seventy-fourth minute, the deadlock on the field was finally broken, Robben passed, Janmatt crossed from the right, Van Persie's shot was blocked by Courtois, but Sneijder, who suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the landing point of the football, and without waiting for the football to land, he scored the ball directly with a volley, 1:0!

Seeing that the Dutch team was ahead, the Dutch fans at the scene suddenly burst into cheers, and the whole stadium instantly boiled.

But the Dutchman's joy lasted less than three minutes, after the game restarted, Belgium did not seem to be affected by the goal conceded in the slightest, the attack was still very sharp, Dembele split the ball in the middle, De Bruyne won the ball, and sent a cross after a long run along the right side, Digan stopped the ball on his chest at the front point, turned and volleyed, and the football drilled directly into the goal from the near corner, 1:1!

Seeing that the Belgian team equalized so quickly, the fans on both sides were stunned, and the Dutch fans who were still celebrating the goal were even more dumbfounded.

At the same time, Van Gaal, who was originally ready to order to start defending to the death, didn't know what to do now, their original plan was to defend in the first half, and the opponent in the second half to attack, strive for the first goal, and then defend with all their might, consuming Belgium, but before he could fully implement the plan, Belgium scored.

What to do next, the Dutch team, which did not get new instructions, could only continue to play against the Belgian team on the field, and the situation on the field fell into a stalemate again.

The time of the game passed minute by minute, and it seemed that it was about to enter the injury time, and the offensive of the two sides was still very fierce, although Belgium with Digan had some advantages, but the Dutch team that let go of its hands and feet also put a lot of pressure on the Belgian team.

The Dutch team even went into the first minute of injury time, almost completed the stunner, the veteran Kuyt penetrated the Belgian defence, Sneijder's back-heel pass, Robben broke through to the edge of the six-yard box to shoot, François was in a very unsatisfactory position at the time, it can be said that the possibility of saving has been lost, but at the critical moment, Kompany made a contribution, he made a very crucial block.

The game finally went into extra time, and it seemed that the attack just now gave Van Gaal confidence, and at the beginning of stoppage time, he made a substitution adjustment, replacing Van Persie, who had fitness problems, with Huntelaar, who completed the final in the 1/8 final.

In the 99th minute, Sneijder passed the ball, Robben's powerful shot in front of the penalty area on the right was blocked by Courtois, and Huntelaar, who followed up with the follow-up shot, hit the post with a corner kick in the face of such a great scoring opportunity, and the Dutch team missed a chance to kill.

Immediately afterwards, Belgium also fought back, dropping back to midfield, Dugan, cut off Sneijder's ball, and then ran wildly, and fired a long-range shot wide before the Dutch defenders pounced.

In the 115th minute of the Belgian team, it almost completed the stunner, Hazard picked up a pass, Digan rushed into the penalty area, pressed the Dutch defenders, and headed the goal, but it was a pity that Sillersen, who played extremely well in this game, made a save that can go down in history at this time, he completely lost his position, and had already made a wrong judgment, blocked the ball with his foot.

Degan, who missed the chance to kill, also looked very annoyed, and kicked directly on the goal post, making the whole goal shake.

But in the next game, despite the physical problems of both sides, both sides did not give up hope of finishing the opponent, only two minutes later, Belgium burned the fire to the Dutch team's half, the more crazy De Bruyne is destined to complete the transformation from star to superstar in this World Cup, he broke through on the right side continuously, and crossed the bottom, at this time, because of physical reasons, the Dutch team's defense made a serious mistake, and the unguarded Deegan took the ball near the penalty spot. A volley that bounced off the ball, but it was once again confiscated by the equally crazy Sillersen.

Seeing the ecstatic appearance of Silesen, who had completed the crucial save, Degan's mood was only depressed!

Extra-time has come to an end, and almost everyone thinks that the semi-final will be destined to be decided by penalty kicks.

Louis van Gaal also began to direct the squad to shrink and send Krul to warm up, ready to bring on the goalkeeper who had performed well in the knockout penalty shoot-out against Costa Rica.

The referee is also constantly looking at his watch at this time, ready to end the game at any time!

Even Belgium's coaching staff was summoned by François to study the order of the players for the penalty shoot-out.

But at this time, the time has come to embody the ability of a superstar, especially a superstar with the name of the world's football king.

In the 120th minute of extra time, when the referee would stop the game at any moment, Fellaini made a seemingly inadvertent pass and the ball reached the feet of Degan.

The moment Deegan turned around, the hearts of all Dutchmen immediately sounded the alarm, just like there is a Maddie moment on the NBA basketball court, there is also a Deegan moment on the football field, whenever the game is about to end, as the opponent of Degan, the first thing to pay attention to is that this madman has the ability to end the game at any time.

Take the ball and turn around to start!

At this moment, it was as if the race had just begun, and when everyone was running slowly due to physical problems, Degan's speed seemed to be unaffected.

"Deegan breaks through with the ball, oh my God! He's so fast, isn't his fitness affected at all after 120 minutes of play? The Dutch were trying their best to make Degan stop, but Degan showed his terrifying side at this moment, and Vlaar used both hands and feet to make him stop, rush! Keep rushing! Deegan is now going to kill again! ”

ran all the way to the front of the penalty area, and at this time, Sneijder, who was returning to the defense, rushed towards him, and the distance was still far away, and it was directly a flying tackle!