The Italians didn't get their way either, losing 0-1 to Ireland.

After the loss, the Italian players were very disappointed, depressed and worried.

They thought to themselves: it's over, it's over, the next game is going to play Spain!

But the fans who saw this scene misunderstood the reason why the Italian players were sad.

So, despite the loss, the Italian reviews on the Internet were very good.

"The spirit of this Italian team is very similar to that of the Italy team under Lippi that won the World Cup!"

"yes, it's been ten years, and it's time for the Italian team to recover!"

……

For Spain, whether it is Belgium or Italy in Group E, it is actually difficult to deal with.

So whoever it is, it's pretty much the same for them.

After learning that his opponent in the knockout round was Italy, Bosque and his players did not have any special ideas, but just continued to work hard and seize the time to prepare for the upcoming knockout round.

On June 22, the last two matches of the group stage of the European Championship began.

The plot of these two games can be described as ups and downs!

Iceland scored first in the first half against Austria and then gifted Austria a penalty.

However, the Austrians did not capitalise on the opportunity and Dragovic, who took the penalty, missed the ball.

However, the Austrians equalised shortly after the start of the second half.

If the game ends with this scoreline, the two teams will probably end up together.

At the end of the game, Iceland desperately launched an attack, and the head coach made three changes in a row.

In the end, in stoppage time, Traustasson, who came on as a substitute, completed the stunner, defeated Austria 2:1 and got a precious qualifying place.

The other game was even more dramatic, with Hungary opening the scoring in the 19th minute of the first half before Portugal equalised.

Just two minutes into the second half, Hungary scored again to push Portugal into a corner.

At the crucial moment, Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and scored his first goal of this European Championship to help the team equalize.

But that wasn't enough for Portugal as just five minutes after Ronaldo's goal saw Hungary take the lead again.

At this point, Portugal had been pushed to the edge of the cliff, and the Portuguese fans in the stands were so nervous that they could barely breathe.

Countless Portuguese fans have silently prayed in their hearts that someone in the team will step up and help the team escape the fate of death.

As if hearing the call of the fans, Ronaldo stood up again.

In the 62nd minute of the second half, he scored his second goal to help Portugal equalize again!

The goal sent the Portuguese fans both in front of the stadium and in front of the TV into a frenzy, chanting Ronaldo's name and almost worshipping him like a god!

It is no exaggeration to say that Ronaldo saved the team single-handedly!

After that, both teams tried very hard to change the score, but the score remained 3:3 until the moment the final whistle blew.

After the two teams were drawn, Hungary beat Iceland with five points and two goal difference to advance to the next round as group winners.

Portugal, on the other hand, won the last knockout round ticket with 3 games and 3 draws, 3 points and 0 goal difference, beating Albania and Turkey.

At this point, the list of the top 16 of the European Championship has been released, and the list of matches for the next round has also been determined:

Switzerland vs. Poland, Wales vs. Northern Ireland, Croatia vs. Portugal, France vs. Ireland, Germany vs. Slovakia, Hungary vs. Belgium, Italy vs. Spain, England vs. Iceland.

After seeing their opponents in the next round, the French laughed, and so did the British.

Their opponents are not strong, and the probability of beating them to advance to the quarterfinals is very high.

The Germans are breezy and breezy as if it doesn't matter who is the opponent in the next round.

The Belgians are eager to take the plunge, and Hungary is neither strong nor weak, so they feel quite suitable to be their litmus test.

The Italians were solemn because their opponent was Spain.

……

With a week to go until the knockout rounds, teams are rushing to prepare for the tournament.

Spain also made a rare attempt to expel onlookers and unrelated people and conduct closed training.

This makes the outside world very curious, and they all wonder if Spain is holding back some big moves.

When the news reached the ears of the Italians, they immediately became suspicious: Could it be that Lin Quan has really returned from injury and can participate in the team's training?

I have to say that the Italians' intuition is quite accurate.

The purpose of Bosque's closed training is not to let the outside world know that Lin Quan can already participate in the team's joint training.

As a hole card in his hand, Bosque naturally hopes that this hole card will be hidden for as long as possible.

As for Lin Quan's state, after a training match in the team, the old coach and all the players in the team no longer have any doubts.

Obviously, Lin Quan in front of them was in the best condition.

Otherwise, he would not have been able to take the substitute team to play the main team 3:0!

……

On June 25, the quarterfinals of the European Championship were first played between Poland and Switzerland.

The two teams are close in quality, with Poland boasting top scorers like Robert Lewandowski and Switzerland having excellent defensive qualities.

This makes this game very anxious!

Poland scored first in the 39th minute of the first half, and in the second half, Switzerland took advantage of a counter-attacking opportunity to stubbornly equalize the score.

Neither team scored again and the game went to extra time.

In extra time, the two teams still failed to achieve anything, and the game was finally dragged into a brutal penalty shootout.

In the penalty shootout, Xhaka, the Swiss team's second-round penalty player, deceived the goalkeeper, but his shot hit the post and flew out of the bottom line.

It was precisely because of this conceded goal that Switzerland lost in the penalty shootout and stopped in the round of 16.

The Poles, on the other hand, made it to the quarter-finals and awaited their next opponent.

Three hours later, in another British civil war, Wales defeated Northern Ireland 1-0 with an own goal from their opponent to secure a place in the second quarter-finals.

Compared to the group stage, the schedule of the knockout stage is very tight.

Shortly after the match between Wales and Northern Ireland, the match between Croatia and Portugal was also underway.

Because Portugal's road to promotion is very bumpy, if it weren't for Ronaldo's final explosion, they would have been carried away long ago.

Croatia, on the other hand, stepped on the corpse of world champion Spain to advance.

So before the game, the outside world was more optimistic about Croatia.

However, the game was far more scorching than everyone expected.

Neither team scored in the first half, and both teams were still unable to find the back of the net in the second half.

The game was forced into overtime!

In the first half of extra time, the two sides continued to achieve nothing, and in the second half, the plot was exactly the same as before.

Seeing that the game was about to be dragged into a penalty shootout again, a discarded player of Barcelona and Inter, a person who was ridiculed by many people stood up, his name is - Quaresma!

In the 116th minute of the game, Croatia took advantage of Pepe's mistake to find an opportunity, and Perisic's header hit the post!

Portugal narrowly escaped, and then Portugal launched a counterattack, Sanchez quickly advanced and passed to Nani, Nani crossed, Ronaldo's shot was saved by the goalkeeper, Quaresma easily headed in front of the goal, and hit the ball into the empty goal to complete the stunner!

The performance of both teams in this game was not good, maybe the shooters of both sides were not in shape, maybe the defensive intensity of both sides was too high, in the first 90 minutes, both teams did not have a single shot on target in more than 20 shots on goal.

It can only be said that Portugal had better luck than their opponents, and if Perisic's header didn't hit the post, it could be a different story.

But football is like that, in addition to strength, there is also a certain element of luck.

Croatia unfortunately fell in the round of 16 and failed to achieve further goals.

Portugal, on the other hand, under the leadership of Cristiano Ronaldo, continues to move forward tenaciously.

……

On June 26, the knockout round continued, and the French team took the lead!

Perhaps because it was too underestimated, only 2 minutes after the opening, the French team gave the opponent a big gift - a penalty!

The Irishman laughed at the gift and rewrote the score to 1:0!

Many Frenchmen have struggled to find their seats, only to find that their teams are behind.

This made them look confused, not only them, but also the French players on the field, the French coach Deschamps and others on the sidelines, were also a little confused.

The frustrated French are even starting to boo their own players!

What kind of shit are you kicking?

Do you want to make a big splash in front of tens of millions of spectators across the country at your home stadium?

Let's make a face!

At halftime, Deschamps, who has always been good-tempered, couldn't help but fire all his firepower, catching the players and spraying wildly for more than ten minutes, until the end of halftime.

Maybe the head coach's hair dryer worked, or maybe it was his own pride that didn't want them to suffer this humiliation.

At the start of the second half, the French fought back fiercely.

Antoine Griezmann scored two strikes in the 58th and 62nd minutes of the second half to complete the comeback.

Seeing the team's shame and then bravely reverse the game, the French fans in the stands regained their smiles and cheered for the team happily.

Ireland is a weak brigade after all, and under the fierce counterattack of the hosts, it is quickly overwhelmed.

Their centre-back was even sent off for a red card for a foul.

The score is ahead, and the opponent has one less person, so there is naturally no suspense in this game.

France beat Ireland 2-1 to advance to the next round.

The French were so happy that they had won the game that they put on a show everywhere.

In the face of the swaggering French fans, the Germans said very calmly: Let me show you how the real strong team wins!

So he scored one after another, and when he missed a penalty, he also beat the opponent 3:0.

Slovakia were beaten to the ground and rubbed repeatedly by the Germans.

Seeing such a vigorous performance of the Germans, the French could not laugh anymore.

The same was the victory, the people the Germans won that called an easy.

Speaking of which, Slovakia is much stronger than Ireland!

But they were like three-year-olds in front of the German team, and they had no power to fight back.

On the other hand, the French team is so bumpy to play Ireland, if it really meets the German team......

While the French were still basking in the shock of the Germans, the European Red Devils flashed and taught the whole world a lesson of what it means to chop melons and vegetables.

Facing the top of Group F, the Belgians played a very exaggerated score - 4:0!

In this game, the Belgians blossomed more, with Alderweireld, Batshuayi, Hazard and Carrasco scoring one after another.

They bombarded 26 feet in the whole field, beating the Hungarians all over the ground looking for teeth!

Hungary are really not underdogs, and winning the group is enough to prove their quality.

But their luck is so bad that Belgium may be the strongest group of all except Spain to finish second!

And Belgium is also a top-heavy team, their attacking firepower is extraordinarily vigorous, Hazard, De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Carrasco ......

As long as these people work together, there are few teams in the whole of Europe that can stop their attacks!

Poor Hungary, although they had more possession than their opponents and also had 15 shots on goal, the offensive efficiency of both sides was not a notch.

They lack the core of a midfield like Kevin De Bruyne, who can deliver the ball with the precision of a scalpel!

After the victory, the evaluation of Belgium soared and their odds to win the tournament quickly rose to third place, even surpassing hosts France and behind Germany and Spain.

Strange to say, Spain lost to Croatia in the last game of the group stage, but the odds of winning the championship have risen instead of falling.

And the main reason for this situation is because of the appearance of Lin Quan, even if he just sat on the bench and did not play, it still made Spain's odds to win the championship a lot.

As for whether it can continue to rise, it depends on the performance of Spain in the next game.

After the match between Belgium and Hungary, it was Spain's turn to play.

June 26, 7 p.m., Saint-Denis, France.

The match between Spain and Italy started on time.

This match is undoubtedly the highlight of this knockout round, for the simple reason that Spain and Italy were the champions and runners-up of the last European Championship, and they are both favourites to win this tournament.

For the fans, this is a top-notch audio-visual feast.

Tickets for the game were sold out well before the start of the game, and the stadium was packed with tens of thousands of fans.

In the tunnel of the players, the Italian's expression was very solemn.

Their eyes were fixed on a player on the other side, and that person was wearing a jersey number 10!

(End of chapter)