Chapter 61: The mystery revealed
After 90 minutes of play, Portugal coach Bento summed up the Dutch-Portuguese battle with the words "reasonable and reasonable".
'Considering the confidence our players have shown on the pitch and the pressure they have been under in recent times, the 2-1 result leaves the opponent speechless and very fair.
In this game, the Dutch team scored first, but in the end, Portugal responded perfectly from behind.
After successfully breaking through from the Group of Death, Bento was delighted, but also reminded his players and fans not to be complacent about coming out of the Group of Death: "Belgium with Digan are the scariest team in the world, and the last meeting between the two teams left us with very painful memories and we have to concentrate and be in the best shape to beat them. ”
The last time Belgium and Portugal met was in the qualifiers for the 2008 European Championship, when Belgium won away from Portugal in a decisive match on the Tianwang Mountain, which directly caused Portugal to miss the main match of the European Championship four years ago.
Although they will face Belgium, who are the top team in Group A, Portugal's chances of successfully breaking through do not seem to be very good, but at this time, let them celebrate their group qualification first.
For Dutch fans, this European Championship left only painful memories, after the pre-match starting line-up was announced, fans were happy and worried, happy that Van Marwijk finally took his son-in-law Van Bommel, worried that the orange team sacrificed a 4132 risk formation, removed Van Bommel and replaced the attacking striker Van der Vaart, so that the balance of the whole squad has a big problem.
At the World Cup in South Africa two years ago, Van Bommel's outstanding performance in the midfield position was the key to the tulip blooming to the final.
Van Marwijk has not shied away from his family, and his son-in-law has become the hub of the Dutch offensive and defensive transformation, so that the team's three lines are closely connected.
At the European Championships two years later, things have changed dramatically, with Van Marwijk still trusting his son-in-law, but the 35-year-old Van Bommel is a bit old.
The former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AC Milan midfielder was already a little struggling last season and chose to return to PSV Eindhoven next season, knowing full well that the peak of his career is no longer over.
In this case, Van Marwijk still trusts Van Bommel, that is, cronyism, especially the Dutch team's defensive problems have been more serious, left-back veteran Van Blonsk retired, and after Pides was injured, Van Marwijk had no choice but to use the inexperienced 17-year-old Williams, and the central defender Mathieson was trapped in poor condition, De Jong lost his main position in Manchester City, Kuyt's form declined seriously, and the team needed a better capable back to make up for the decline in overall defensive ability.
Van Bommel continued to play as a central midfielder, continuing to be the team's offensive and defensive hub, and the team's pace of play was not only slowed down, but also full of defensive holes, so after the two group games, the most criticized by the Dutch media, including the Dutch media, was captain Van Bommel and Van Marwijk, who insisted on using him.
The success of the World Cup in South Africa cannot hide the incompetence of Van Marwijk in this European Championship, and there are many controversies about the use of Van Bommel at the back, Williams at full-back, and about Huntelaar and Van Persie.
With both group games lost, the Netherlands will indeed have to fight for a win against Portugal and need to have a goal difference of more than two to have a chance of qualifying from the group.
However, the need to attack is not the same as giving up the defence, especially since it is very rare to have five attacking players in the starting line-up, which means that the Netherlands only rely on Frenkie de Jong and four defenders to defend, and it is also a problematic and unreliable defensive line.
When the score was tied at 1-1 and the Netherlands had to score two more goals to have a chance, Van Marwijk needed to adjust the attacking line, but his adjustment was a bit too risky, winger Afelai replaced Williams, using a defensive lineup of three defenders and a back midfielder, and the two wing doors were opened unmarked, knowing that the most dangerous in Portugal were precisely the two wingers of Camuro and Nani.
Just four minutes into Van Marwijk's substitution, Portugal launched a counter-attack when Camuro burst into the box unmarked down the left and his cross set up Nani, who was also unmarked on the right, to get the chance to face the goalkeeper directly in the six-yard box.
It's a pity that the Manchester United winger's must-have goal was saved by Dutch goalkeeper Steglenburg, the Netherlands escaped, and three minutes later, almost the same defensive problems appeared, Portugal launched a counterattack again, this time Camuro also advanced at high speed on the left side, until the penalty area did not meet the defender, after easily deducting Van der Wiel, he shot into the bottom left corner of the goal, 2:1!
The goal was a death sentence for the Netherlands.
Although the Netherlands did need to press out in the final moments, it was clear that Van Marwijk's choice to abandon the wing defense was too aggressive, and the orange team was immediately stabbed to death by the Golden Maur.
If the attacking players are adjusted, or even replaced by De Jong to keep the two wings defended, it may not make the game lose suspense immediately after Van Marwijk's substitution, and the orange may still have a chance to create a miracle.
Of course, everything can only be if.
Van Marwijk, once made the Orange so close to the world champion, but who would have thought that he also made the Orange suffer the worst defeat in history, in this big ups and downs, maybe it was just a trick of fate, and there is no need to deliberately find out who is the culprit.
Another race was played at the same time, and before the start of the race, the Danish press hailed the match as another proof after two decades.
Twenty years ago, it was the Danes who beat Germany to win the coldest European Championship in history, twenty years ago their hopes were pinned on Nelson's team, and twenty years later, for Denmark, it is no less meaningful to qualify from the group with Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal than in 1992.
Against the formidable German tank, the first thing the Danes had to do was to defend, losing to Portugal, starting with the centre-back combination, with Ager and Kjaer unable to stop the goal despite a number of deadly tackles.
However, against the Germans, the Danes fielded the same defensive line-up as Portugal, after all, the combination of Agger and Kjaer was always an indispensable partner for the Danes, despite their slow turns.
The Danes did their best in the game, scoring a goal in the game, but it was the Germans who had the last laugh in the end, with a 2-1 win over Denmark to make it three wins in a row in the group stage, and in the Group of Death, the Germans showed amazing strength, but what was even more terrifying was that their starting line-up set a record for the youngest player in Germany's history to play in the European Championship, at the age of 25.
In fact, in the first two games of this European Championship, the age of the German starting line-up was very young, and in today's game against Denmark, the 1988-born right-back Boateng accumulated yellow cards and was suspended for 1989-born Lars. Bender, which made the German national team's starters drop another notch on average.
At present, the 29-year-old Lahm, 27-year-old Schweinsteiger and Podolski can be said to be absolute veterans, and Podolski has made his 100th appearance for the national team at the age of 27.
It should be said that the current age structure of the German national team is very reasonable, although the average age of the starters is the youngest among the 16 teams in the European Cup, but this does not mean that the German national team lacks experience, Lahm, Schweinsteiger and Podolski are all battle-hardened veterans, they have been the absolute main force of the national team since the 2006 World Cup, and the young generation of Neuer, Gomez, Ozil, Khedira and others have also participated in the competition, with rich experience in the competition.
At the pre-match press conference, the captain of the German team, Lahm, said: "The current German team is very strong as a whole, and the bench is very deep. ”
Indeed, not only is the starting lineup young enough, but if you pay attention to the substitute lineup of the German team, you will find that it is also super young.
Götze, Schurrle, Kroos and others on the bench are all post-90s, also talented and promising.
The 20-year-old has already been a key player in Borussia Dortmund's squad and has helped them win the Bundesliga two years in a row, becoming one of the hottest new stars in European football, but even then he has struggled to find a starting spot in the German national team.
22-year-old Tony. Kroos is also an indispensable midfielder for Bayern Munich, but he also needs to start from the bench in the national team, including the "Rocket" Reuss who has soared this season, and of course, Schurrle, they are all rare talents, and they can't play the main team, all because this German team is too strong.
Looking at Europe, the only teams that can compare to the German team are Belgium and Spain, but the overall age structure of the Matadors is obviously older than the German team, Xavi, Alonso, Arbeloa, Casillas and others are already around 30, and Torres, Iniesta and others are no longer young.
Belgium, although also very young, suffer from severe Digan dependency, as can be seen from the three matches in the group stage.
The current German team is even more perfect, super young and skilled, and the overall quality is super strong, and in terms of young players, the German team seems to be better than Spain and Belgium.
Of course, the German national team can be so young and the team's policy of nearly ten years is inseparable, after Klinsmann took office, the German national team gave up many veterans, decided to take a younger route, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Podolski also got enough opportunities under this policy, they have become the pillar of the team, and after Loew took office, a good continuation of this fine tradition, more young people appear in the starting lineup of the German national team.
It is foreseeable that Boateng, Bender, Kroos, Gotze and others will take on the burden of the national team in the future like Lahm's group of players, which is obviously a virtuous circle, so the future of the German team is even more exciting, and this group of players may dominate world football in the next ten years.
When the draw for the European Championship group was announced, Group B was the much-anticipated group of death, with Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark being the strongest "group of death" on paper. Now, the final answer to this group has been revealed, Germany and Portugal are out, and Hotchdan is out, which is both reasonable and unexpected.
The most surprising thing is the withering of tulips, the three favourites before the European Championship, the Netherlands is the top team at the top of the pyramid alongside Spain and Germany, but after three rounds, the orange team is at the bottom of the group with a complete defeat.
The Netherlands' entire group battle was ruined in the first game, facing Denmark, the weakest team in the group, but the opponent stole a goal when they dominated the whole game, was it careless or unlucky?
The key is that in the final round against Portugal, the Netherlands did not hold the three points as expected, and Van Marwijk could only give up the offensive and defensive balance bet, and the result was that the single back and the last moment of the back three fighting style of play, but gave his own life. It can be said that in this European Cup, the Netherlands has been one step behind the poor step, and has been desperately trying to make up for it after falling at the beginning, but it has always been a breath behind.
Denmark is recognized as the weakest team in this group, the first game upset win against the Netherlands, but it also stopped there, for the Viking pirates, the biggest regret is the goal conceded by Portugal in the last moments, if the score of 2:2 insists on the final game, the Danes' confidence in the final round and the probability of qualifying will be significantly different.
Portugal may have been favored by God, the tune of the group stage is "first lose and then get cheap", the first game lost to Germany, but theoretically the direct competitor of the qualifying place The Netherlands did not win, Denmark led 2:0 and was scored twice, but at the last moment of the re-overtaking to welcome back to the climax, the Netherlands first conceded a goal was sent to the cliff, and finally overtook two to the end.
As the absolute core player of the Portuguese team, Jin Mauro personally also suppressed first and then raised, and was scolded miserably for losing a single knife against Denmark, and turned his head to beat the Netherlands twice in a row.
The most impressive thing is the German team, which won all three games and qualified, which is the first time in the history of the team's European Cup.