Chapter 42: The Opening Battle
The opening match of this European Championship will be hosted by Poland at the Warsaw Stadium against the inevitable champion Greece, these two teams should be the same seeded teams, it is impossible to be placed in the same group, but because this European Championship is co-hosted by two countries, so Ukraine, which has a higher nationality ranking, has become a seeded team, and Poland is naturally tragic.
However, although it is recognized as a weak team, Poland, as one of the hosts of this year, can be said to occupy the right time and place, and the other three teams in Group A are not invulnerable, the Czech Republic has declined, Russia is a nerve knife, who knows when they will play well, when they will suddenly drop the chain, as for the defending champion Belgium, due to the contradiction between head coach Wilmots and the core player Degan, it is still unknown how much combat effectiveness the European Red Devils can play, and it is still unknown that Poland even has great hope of qualifying for the first place in the group.
After years of painstaking management by the Polish Football Association, the level of Polish football has been greatly improved in recent years, and the success of Piszczek, Blaszczykowski, Lewandowski, Szesny and others represents the rise of Poland's new golden generation.
On the other hand, although there are many players who have played overseas, the squad is relatively young, and they tend to be impatient when playing against the wind, and these players lack experience in international competitions.
And none of these overseas players can play an absolute spiritual leader in the team like Zidane, and perhaps, the Polish team can only expect a certain player to shine in the face of adversity.
Belgium won the European Championship in a row, the Intercontinental Cup and the World Cup, the meritorious coach Antienes resigned, Wilmots took office, and Digan also had a short honeymoon period, but then because of tactical problems, the two had a huge conflict, before the start of this European Cup, Digan has not represented Belgium for more than a year, this last-minute selection, but also the Belgian Football Association and head coach Wilmots under great pressure to compromise a little helplessly.
Coupled with the previous European Championship qualifiers, Belgium only advanced through the play-offs, and the performance in the warm-up games before the start of the game was also sluggish, and it is completely unknown how to perform in the European Cup.
Poland coach Smuda and captain Blaszczykowski said confidently at the press conference before the opening game that Poland will go all out to win the first game, a draw is acceptable, but a loss is absolutely not.
Poland coach Smuda and captain Blaszczykowski both expressed caution about the strong strength of the Belgian team at the press conference, especially the ability of the Belgian team's backline, and gave a very high evaluation, saying that it takes flexible tactics to break the Belgian defense.
Coach Smuda said he would go all out to win the match against Belgium, but if the result was a draw, it would also mean that Poland were still in contention for the group.
Captain Blaszczykowski, on the other hand, believes that the game against Belgium must not be lost, otherwise it will be desperate from the start.
Smuda says he should have had a good night's sleep before the game because he now trusts his players and thinks they have what it takes to achieve their goals: "I also hope that we can meet people's expectations and win the group and be the dark horse of the tournament. ”
Captain Blaszczykowski also said he felt a lot of pressure from the moment he stepped into the press room and that the opening game would be crucial as Poland needed to prove themselves on the pitch.
The glamour right-midfielder, who won the Bundesliga this season, says Poland now have players who can change the outcome at any point in the game, and that's what makes them so different from before.
The European Championship is about to kick off, and Poland goalkeeper Szzzny, who plays for Arsenal, said in an interview that Poland has improved and is in excellent form in the last two years, and he is confident that he will help the team reach the final.
Szezny said: "We've been in good form lately, we've had good results in a series of warm-up matches, and now the whole team is getting stronger, we can't wait, let's get the opener! I want to help the team keep going, keep winning, don't lose a game, any team wants to win the title, why don't we, the passionate fans at home are our strong backing, although there is a little bit of pressure, but it also boosts our self-confidence, after all, people without pressure don't succeed, and at the same time I feel very happy to be able to play in the European Cup in my home country. ”
After three decades of separation, Polish football has the best chance of revival, not only because it was the host of the 2012 European Championships, but also because the Polish "Three Musketeers" from Borussia Dortmund, the champions of the Bundesliga, relied on it.
After finishing third in the World Cup in 1974 and 1982, Polish football fell into a three-decade slump, but in the summer of 2012, Polish fans may be happy that they are the hosts! They have the Bundesliga Three Musketeers!
Over the past two seasons, the three youngsters of Robert Lewandowski, Blaszczykowski and Piszczek have taken the Bundesliga by storm.
In the season that just ended, the 24-year-old Lewandowski played 34 Bundesliga games, scoring 22 goals and providing eight assists. In the recently concluded German Cup final, Lewandowski's "hat trick" hit the defense of the "Bundesliga giant" Bayern Munich team hard.
At present, giants such as Bayern Munich and Manchester United have thrown olive branches to the Poles, which is enough to make fans in their home country excited, after all, after 30 years of hard work after Poniek, Polish football finally hopes for a good goalscorer.
Behind Lewandowski, the super right wing of forward Blaszczykowski and defender Piszczek is even more terrifying, with one-on-one breakthroughs and high-speed assists being their killer features.
In addition, Szzezny continues Poland's tradition of producing excellent goalkeepers, and although he is only 22 years old, he has already established himself in the Premier League giants Arsenal.
With an average age of 25 years old, the current Poland squad is young and aggressive, as the star Lewandowski said before the game: "We are all looking forward to this European Championship in our own country." ”
Of course, the weakness of the 30-year downturn will be a big trouble for the Polish team, in the past 10 years, although Polish football has improved slightly, but it is still far from the top of Europe, although the Polish team has participated in the World Cup in South Korea and Japan and the World Cup in Germany, but they have not broken out of the group stage, their history in the European Championship is even more embarrassing, until 2008 did they enter the final stage for the first time, one draw and two losses, and went out after the group stage.
Finally, the 64-year-old head coach Smuda will be at the helm of this young team, and although he has the strength to be familiar with his players for a long time, Smuda's lack of experience in commanding the World Series could be a big concern for himself and the young Polish team.
The opening ceremony of the European Championship was held at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, announcing the opening of this edition of the Polish-Ukrainian football extravaganza, the first part of the opening ceremony was "Welcome", in which traditional Polish dancers gathered around a slowly falling soccer ball, which opened to reveal a piano.
Polish pianist Giorgi played Chopin's Etude in E major, electronic DJ Karmatronic dressed in a dazzling golden costume and entertained the piano with modern music, and Giorgi later performed football vaudeville moves.
Then it was the "Gift to Europe" session, where fans in the stands held coloured flags and spelled out the flags of the 16 participating countries, and UEFA President Michel Platini was also shocked by the scene, and the actors on the pitch gathered into a colorful football.
Poland is the homeland of music, Chopin is the pride of Poland, the pianist played Chopin's classic piece "Farewell Song", the athletes entered the singing of the national anthem, specially arranged a choir led by teenage girls, 800 volunteers from more than 60 countries The infectious dance, just 12 minutes, created a strong artistic atmosphere, which is very impressive, and also makes people deeply feel that football as a sport has developed to this day, has surpassed the concept of sports, evolved into a culture and art.
The opening ceremony was followed by the opening match of the tournament, which was played against hosts Poland and defending champions Belgium for the first time in the history of the tournament.
Degan, who was supposed to play the leading role, was thrown to the bench by head coach Wilmots this time, and the camera on the scene immediately focused on the gloomy Digan, obviously not satisfied with such an arrangement at all.
As soon as the game began, the Polish team, which had the advantage of playing at home, immediately launched an onslaught, even against the defending champions, they were not conservative, but a little aggressive, especially the right corridor of the Polish team, which played with wind and water, making the Belgian team look a little passive.
However, the Belgian team's midfield control is very good, and it does not look chaotic, but Wilmots's high-flying tactics soon revealed its shortcomings, focusing only on fighting in the middle, but neglecting the importance of the wings, and making the Belgian team pay the price in the opening 17 minutes.
Poland captain Blaszczykowski's cross from the right was met by a serious mistake in the middle of the Belgian marker, Kompany rose to the top, and Vermaelen behind him failed to keep an eye on Lewandowski, who headed home from near the penalty spot.
With such a close-range attack, Courtois couldn't react in time, although he raised his leg to block the ball, but the speed of the ball was too fast, and he was also caught off guard.
For a moment, it was as if the stadium had exploded, countless fans were cheering unbridledly, and the entire stadium turned into a sea of joy for the Poles.
"Damn! The Poles scored first, and it was their best right attack, and what was puzzling was that they knew the Poles' killer feature, but Coach Wilmots did not make targeted arrangements! ”
Wilmots's face also changed instantly, seeing the team conceding a goal, he looked very angry and roared at the court, especially Simmons, the veteran who was in charge of guarding Blaszczykowski just now, became his target of venting.
Degan is still expressionless, and the goal he conceded just now is in his opinion that the Belgian team is inattentive, and such a mistake is simply unforgivable.
There were holes in the defence, and in the attack, the trident of Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Dembele, who Wilmots relied on, could not open the situation at all, and this was fatal.
Throughout the first half, it can be said that the Polish team was completely in control, and the Belgian team could only threaten the Polish team's goal through sporadic counter-attack opportunities.
"Wilmots must be regretting it now, because of his stubbornness, his selfishness, he threw Belgium's most threatening weapon on the bench, if Degan was on the field at this time, the situation would certainly not be the way it is!"
The Belgian fans at the scene also seemed to hear the complaints of the Belgian commentator and began to shout out Digan's name: "Rod! Rod! Rod! Rod! Rod! ”
Wilmots's face turned worse when he heard this, and he glared at Degan viciously, in his opinion, this was Degan encouraging the fans.
The conscience of heaven and earth, no matter how loud Di Gan's voice is, his voice is estimated to not reach the commentary seat, not to mention that since the opening, Di Gan has always sat without saying a word.
At half-time, the Poles happily entered the dressing room with a one-goal lead, while the Belgian players walked off the pitch with gloomy faces, knowing that the next step was Wilmoc's hair dryer.
Degan also got up at this time, walked onto the pitch to start warming up, and when he entered the stadium, the Belgian fans at the scene immediately burst into cheers, which made Wilmots almost vomit blood.
Degan could feel that Kompany's eyes flickered as he passed him, but the two men did not speak, Deegan just patted him on the shoulder and left.
In the second half, Wilmots finally made a change, but it was not Digan who came on, but Mirallas, who seemed to want to threaten the Polish goal by adding to the high point of the attack.
However, the effect did not seem obvious, and seeing that Belgium, the defending champions, were about to usher in the opening of the European Championships, Fellaini stepped up and scored with a header from a corner to help Belgium equalise.
Degan was able to notice Wilmots breathe a sigh of relief when Fellaini scored, but was a draw really enough?
After Fellaini's goal, he rushed straight to the bench on the sidelines and hugged Degan.
This scene made Wilmots's face even darker!