On the final day of the group stage, Spain took on the African eagles Nigeria at the Maracanã Stadium.

This Nigerian team is not very strong, but it is not particularly weak.

So Spain sent a half-main and half-substitute lineup to face them.

Although, in the eyes of the Spaniards, they were on the bench for half.

However, in the eyes of the Nigerian players, the opponent's substitute lineup is more luxurious than the main lineup on their side.

So even if Spain comes on the bench, they won't be able to win.

The course of the race confirms this.

Only three minutes into the opening game, Lin Quan cut inside with the ball after breaking through on the wing, and after connecting three people, he entered the penalty area, and in the face of the goalkeeper, he calmly pushed the far corner to score, and at the same time, helped the team rewrite the score.

The goal was incredible, and it caused bursts of exclamations from the fans at the scene.

In front of Lin Quan, the opponent's defender was clumsy like a pile of wood, and he barely had time to react before he was cleaned up!

No matter how much the Brazilian fans at the scene support Neymar, look at Lin Quan.

I also have to admit that the opponent's ball was played very beautifully.

Although Neymar has scored this kind of goal in a row, it is very rare, and it seems that it is far less easy than the opponent.

In the process of scoring the goal just now, Lin Quan didn't use any fancy moves at all, just a simple pinch and button, plus a change in rhythm, and easily completed the pass.

In front of his super high cadence and touch frequency, the opposing defenders are really like stakes, completely unable to keep up with his rhythm.

This way of passing is very shocking to Brazilian fans.

Although they looked down on each other before and didn't work hard, after feeling the impact of each other on the spot.

They start to think: This way of passing people seems more efficient?

After scoring this goal, Lin Quan's tally of goals in this Confederations Cup has reached 4.

Neymar finally caught up with him in the number of goals in the previous game, but it only took Lin Quan three minutes to kick him down, and he dominated the top spot!

The Nigerian players were not fully in the game before their own doors were breached.

This left Nigeria's players feeling confused.

The score fell behind early, coupled with the strength of the opponent was too strong.

Under the pressure of qualifying from the group, Nigeria's players are a bit out of balance.

In the 11th minute of the first half, when Lin Quan was dribbling the ball, Nigerian defender Kennet O'Mero wanted to tackle, but accidentally strained his thigh when he put it down.

This is really stealing chickens and rice, and the ball is not shoveled, but I can't hold on.

Nigeria had to make substitutions passively.

With the loss of a key defender, Nigeria's backline has become even more vulnerable.

And Spain is also very smart, so they grasp this weak link of the other side to fight.

Their targeted attacks quickly paid off!

In the 34th minute of the first half, Spain extended their lead.

Lin Quan received the ball in the middle and sent a precise long pass to find Torres at the edge of the penalty area.

Torres received the ball and stepped forward into the box before the opposition defenders could press it, and sent the ball into the net with a blast.

This was Lin Quan's second goal for Torres, and the two looked good together on the field.

Torres was very excited after scoring the goal, and took the initiative to run over to hug Lin Quan to celebrate and thank him.

Scored two goals in two games, and now no one can say that he Torres is here to play soy sauce!

We have also made outstanding contributions to the team!

Against Spain's formidable midfield, Nigeria's counter-attack struggled to threaten.

The score of 2:0 lasted until the end of the first half.

Spain made a substitution in the second half, with Isco coming on to replace Cesc Fabregas.

It was Isco's first match for the Spanish national team.

Isco, who made his debut for the first time, was very excited, grabbing the ball around the opposing defenders like a mad dog in the front court.

However, the ball was not grabbed, but he himself was yellow carded by the referee for a foul in a scramble.

Received a yellow card after less than five minutes of playing time, and there was no one.

Bosque, who was on the sidelines, saw Isco carrying a yellow card early, and his heart was half frightened.

"Damn, can't this guy just calm down? That foul was completely unnecessary! ”

He didn't ask Isco to contribute to the team's attack, he was just a way to get him on the pitch and get a feel for the game.

But if Isco comes on and gets two yellow cards and is ejected, it will be a joke!

Why can't this group of young players be as reliable as Lin Quan?

Bosque complained helplessly in his heart.

"Isco, keep your emotions under control and don't get too excited.

The game is still long, if you foul again and get sent off with a red card, then I'm sure there will be no place for you in the national team in the future! ”

Lin Quan also noticed that Isco was too excited, so he took advantage of a dead ball opportunity to walk over and remind him.

"I see, thank you, Brother Lin!"

Isco nodded heavily, indicating that he knew what to do.

He's not a brain-deficient like Balotelli, and Isco is a normal person with an online IQ.

After regulating his emotions, he quickly calmed down.

And after calming down, Isco's performance began to get better and better.

Bosque, who was on the sidelines, was relieved to see Isco's transformation.

"Did you notice that Lin has a high prestige among young players?"

Thinking of the scene just now when Lin Quan took the initiative to walk over and enlighten Isco, Bosque turned his head and asked Coach Tony who was sitting next to him.

"I found out a long time ago, didn't you see Morata and they all kept circling around Lin Quan? This kid is the leading big brother of the younger generation of players! ”

Tony apparently paid attention to this earlier than Bosque.

Hearing Tony's words, Bosque began to think seriously:

There is no doubt that Lin Quan will be the tactical core of Spain's proficiency in the next ten years.

Since he is the most important member of the team, it is only natural that he should be given some other responsibilities.

For example, becoming the captain of the team and taking on the responsibilities of the spiritual leader of the team.

This kind of idea Bosco has actually thought of in his heart for a long time, but because Lin Quan's qualifications in the team are relatively shallow, and his age is indeed too young.

So Bosque has not been put into action.

But now, after realising Lin's prestige among the young players, Bosque feels it's time to prepare ahead.

With Lin Quan's current qualifications, it must be difficult to convince the public to arrange him to be the captain of Spain.

But arranging for him to be a team vice-president, a third or fourth captain or something, shouldn't there be much resistance?

With this level of identity, when the older generation of players gradually retires from the national team, he can automatically become the captain and spiritual leader of the national team.

Thinking of this, Bosque secretly made up his mind and prepared to wait for the end of this Confederations Cup to go back and try slowly.

If they can win the championship and Lin Quan performs very well in the subsequent matches, then he will take the opportunity to announce this decision at that time, and he may be under much less opposition pressure.

……

In a box in the stands, Da Luo and Xiao Luo, who had made an appointment to watch the game together, commented on Lin Quan's performance after watching most of the game.

"This kid's position in the front court is not fixed, he plays a bit like Messi in Barcelona!"

Xiao Luo, who has a very good relationship with Messi and has always paid close attention to Messi, watched it for a while, and found that Lin Quan played the same position as Messi - a free man in the front court!

It's not a good position to play because the position is not fixed, and the role you take on is not fixed.

You need to be able to break and pass the ball on the wings, you need to be able to act as a fulcrum in the front line, you need to be able to take and play the ball, and you need to have excellent finishing ability.

In midfield, you need him to have strong playmaking and passing skills, as well as a good sense of the big picture and a wide vision.

He can seize the fleeting opportunity on the opponent's defensive line, use the pass to tear through the opponent's defense, and complete the fatal blow.

Possession of one of these three abilities can be considered a good player.

With two kinds, you can almost be called a star!

And having three at the same time, there is no doubt that there are top stars.

Even if he is as strong as Xiao Luo, he doesn't dare to say that he can be perfectly qualified for this kind of role.

Da Luo frowned, he was not interested in any frontcourt free man.

As a striker, he is more concerned about how many goals Lin Quan scored in the game.

This guy, except for a beautiful passing goal at the beginning, didn't seem to have any thoughts about the goal for the rest of the time.

Sometimes he had a chance to shoot, but instead of hitting the goal himself, he passed it to his teammates.

This choice makes Da Luo feel very puzzling, isn't this guy a striker?

Isn't it the duty of a striker to score goals?

In that case, why do you have to pass the ball out and shoot it yourself!

He has seen Lin Quan's outstanding ability, but he doesn't believe that this Nigerian back line can block Lin Quan's breakthrough?

No way!

When pigs fly!

So this guy is limiting himself!

It seems that in response to Da Luo's call, in the 71st minute of the game, Lin Quan took advantage of a free kick opportunity to score directly and scored a brace.

"Well, a free kick counts!"

Da Luo's own free kicks are relatively rare, but he can't deny that scoring directly from free kicks is also an ability.

After scoring this goal, Lin Quan himself was also replaced.

However, this goal also brought his tally of goals in the Confederations Cup to five, two goals behind second-placed Neymar.

Considering that Brazil only have two games left at most, and they are facing strong opponents, it will be even more difficult for Neymar to catch up with him!

Spain made two substitutions at once, with David Silva coming on to replace him.

Alvaro Morata also came on to replace Pedro.

When Morata came on, he was as active as Isco and wanted to score a goal.

But the luck of the two seems to be not very good.

In the 79th minute, Morata got a chance to score a one-on-one goal, but unfortunately the boy went too big and was confiscated by the attacking goalkeeper.

Morata was annoyed, he knew that he would just hit the door without that kick!

In that case, there might be a chance to score, but now it's okay, the ball is confiscated!

And after missing a single opportunity, teammates may doubt their strength, and they may not be able to pass the ball to themselves if they have such opportunities in the future!

Thinking of this, Morata began to miss Lin Quan.

If Lin Quan was present, with his relationship with him, maybe he would continue to feed himself bread.

The fact that Morata and Isco did not score does not mean that the rest of Spain's players did not have a chance.

In the 88th minute of the game, Alba played a beautiful world wave, and the football hung in the corner of the goal, rewriting the score to 4:0.

After the goal, Alba glanced at Isco and Alvaro Morata and seemed to be showing off his footwork to the opposition:

If you want to score, you have to play like this!

Morata and Isco were frustrated and blushing, despised by a defender, what a shame!

……

In the end, Spain defeated Nigeria with a score of 4:0, won all three games in the group stage, and advanced to the semi-finals.

Their semi-final opponents will be second-placed in Group A, Italy, who have previously played Spain in the final of the European Championship.

In this Confederations Cup, Italy did not perform well in the group stage.

Their chain defence seems to be losing its power, with Italy conceding a total of eight goals in three group games.

In addition to being conceded four goals by the host Brazil, Italy was actually scored three goals by the opponent when facing the weakest opponent in the group stage, Japan.

Italy even lagged behind their opponents in that game, and if it weren't for Japan's own goal at a critical moment, it would have been Italy who lost.

Even the small Japanese team won so hard, which made the outside world worry about Italy's form:

Why did the European runner-up fall to such a point in such a short period of time?

Why isn't this the case in Spain?

With a large group of veterans in the squad, Spain's performance in this Confederations Cup has been perfect.

They played three games, scored 21 goals and conceded just one.

He averaged seven goals per game, the highest ever in the history of the Confederations Cup.

And they only conceded one goal, which feels completely opposite to Italy, which are known for their defense.

It seems that it is Spain that is better at defending than Italy!

Given the stark differences between the two teams in the group stage, there is a general expectation that Spain will qualify for the final.

It's hard to believe that such an in-form Italy team can pose any threat to the world champions.

It's not just they think so, the Spaniards think so too.

The opponents were in poor form, having previously beaten Italy 4-0 in the European Championship final.

Whether it is from the current state of the two teams, or from the recent data of the two teams, Spain has the upper hand!

Therefore, when facing such an opponent, the whole Spanish team is optimistic.

It seems that it is not difficult to win against Italy.

Quite a few people have even started to study the opponents for the finals and prepare for the finals!

(End of chapter)