Dominate the midfield

Chapter 560 Chapter 560: The Heroes Compete!
At 01:30 p.m. on the [-]th local time in South Africa, the Group E match started. The first team to appear was the Dutch team. They faced the challenge of the Danes at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

The first half was uneventful, and after both sides missed several chances, it ended [-]-[-].No one expected that the second half had only just begun, when a shocking change happened and the dull situation was broken!
At No.30 four seconds into the second half, Van Persie made a pass from the left, Danish midfielder S-Pauersen made a header from a distance, but the ball hit teammate Agger and deflected into his own goal!
This is the first own goal in this World Cup. The Dutch took the lead with a lucky goal. The Danish team stepped up their offense when they fell behind.

However, under the transformation of Van Marwijk, this Dutch team has long been no longer the Dutch team that pursues gorgeous offense. They pay great attention to defense.

The Danes' offenses failed again and again. Five minutes before the end of the game, the Dutch played a concise and quick counterattack. A single sword is formed in front of the body!

Elia, who came off the bench, shot a low shot 12 meters away from the goal, and the football passed Danish goalkeeper Sorensen's ten fingers. Just as the Dutch fans were about to cheer and celebrate, there was a sound of "pong!...", and the football hit the post Come on, bounce back to the restricted area!

Dirk did not let the Dutch fans down, he shot an empty goal from close range into the net!
Two to zero!
The Dutch won their first victory without bloodshed, laying a solid foundation for qualifying in the group.

At [-] o'clock in the afternoon, another match in Group E started. The Asian powerhouse Japan team made their debut. Their opponent was the African lion Cameroon.

Cameroon's golden age has long since ended. The two teams met in the 2001 Confederations Cup. Japan won 2-0 against Cameroon. After two warm-up matches, Japan remained unbeaten with 1 win and 1 draw.

Both sides appeared cautious after the opening. It was not until the No. 15 minute of the game that Cameroon ushered in its first shot. Weber passed the ball, but Matip's long shot was blocked.

The two teams played clearly. The Japanese team began to control the game by passing and catching the ball, but the offensive threat was limited, while Cameroon simply used long passes to attack.

In the No.309 minute of the first half, the situation on the field changed suddenly. Daisuke Matsui made a pass from the right, and CSKA midfielder Keisuke Honda scored from the left side of the penalty area from close range!

One to zero!

The Japanese team leads!
The score fell behind, and Cameroon continued to threaten Japan with a long pass. In the 309th minute of the second half, Cameroon ushered in the best chance to score. Mbia shot a long shot from 30 meters away, and the football roared like a cannonball and went straight to the dead corner!

In the horrified eyes of the Japanese fans, there was a loud noise of "Pong!...", and the football hit the crossbar!
After a while, the Japanese fans cheered in cold sweat. Their team escaped the most dangerous arrow!
The Japanese beat Cameroon [-]-[-] and were lucky to win this victory.

At 08:30 that night, the Group F match began, and the defending champion Italian made his debut. Their opponent was the South American powerhouse Paraguay.

Italy did not perform well in the warm-up match. In addition to losing to England, they also lost to Mexico with a score of one to two.The game was held in the rain, and the outdoor temperature was only eight degrees!

It's hard to imagine.

The Italians once again let people see their slow progress. In the first half No.309 minutes, Chiellini fouled Valdez behind the back. Torres passed a free kick from the right to the penalty area with his left foot. Cannavaro was suppressed by the opponent. The take-off was not enough, Alcaraz was seven meters away from the door in front of De Rossi, and shook his head into the lower right corner!

One to zero!

The score fell behind, and the Italians seemed to have just woken up from the icy rain, and they launched a tidal attack on Uruguay.In the 18th minute of the second half, Iaquinta passed to Pepe from the left, and the ball was blocked by the Paraguayan defender.

Pepe took a corner kick from the left, but the goalkeeper Villar missed the ball. De Rossi made a semi-volley shot with his left foot four meters from the goal, and the football rolled into the empty goal!
The score became one to one!

The two sides returned to the same starting line. In the remaining time, both sides were unable to change the score and had to shake hands with a score of one to one.

At 01:30 pm on the [-]th, another match in Group F started, New Zealand faced Slovakia.This is the first time the two teams have faced each other, and Slovakia made its World Cup debut.

The only time New Zealand had reached the finals was in 1982, when they were defeated in all three group matches. Last year, they did not score a single point in the Confederations Cup group stage. They won only three of their 28 encounters with European teams!
The first half of this game was also dull, with no achievements from both sides. After the start of the second half, the two sides gradually improved.In the 5th minute, Slovakia launched a quick counterattack. Sestak and Weiss made a cross from the right after continuous cooperation. The football went over Reed's head. Witek bounced the ball seven meters in front of the goal, and the football flew to the lower left of the goal. horn!
One to zero!

New Zealand, which was behind in the score, came out in full force, which provided Slovakia with a chance to counterattack quickly. In the No. 204 minute of the second half, Witek almost sealed the victory, and his push was saved by New Zealand goalkeeper Paston.

Since then, New Zealand goalkeeper Paston took the lead to resist and disintegrated Slovakia's counterattack again and again. When everyone thought that New Zealand would suffer another defeat, a miracle happened.

In the 3rd minute of stoppage time, after Smelz turned around protecting the ball from the left, he kicked the ball with his right foot, and Reid hit the lower right corner of the goal with a header seven meters in front of the goal!
One to one!

The New Zealanders equalized at the last moment!

With this goal, the New Zealander got the first point of the World Cup, which is a historical breakthrough, while Slovakia missed the chance to top the group at the last moment.

Half an hour after the game ended, the game of Group G, known as the group of death, started.First up is the African elephant Côte d'Ivoire and Portugal led by Ronaldo. Their game started at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

Ronaldo was very active at the beginning of the game. In the 7th minute, he used his breakthrough to win a direct free kick 30 meters away for the team.

Real Madrid's top card personally took the knife, but his free kick was blocked by the wall. After 4 minutes, Ronaldo made a comeback.

Meireles made a direct pass from the right, Ronaldo took the ball in the middle and turned around to dunk Yaya Toure, and volleyed vigorously with his right foot 30 meters in front of the goal. The football blasted to the right of the goal like a cannonball!
In an instant, the football flew past the Ivorian goalkeeper Barry's ten fingers. The Portuguese fans stood up excitedly, and they were ready to cheer and celebrate!
"Pong!..."

With a loud bang, the football hit the goal post and bounced off the baseline!
The bang shattered the hopes of the Portuguese fans.

At this time, there was a light rain in the sky. Players from both sides were fighting in the rain. The rain was getting heavier and heavier, the temperature was getting lower and lower, and both sides were paying more and more attention to defense.

An extremely boring game was presented to fans all over the world. The two sides drew [-]-[-] and shook hands.This draw dissatisfied both sides, which meant that they could not make any mistakes in the game against Brazil, so that they could qualify from the group.

(End of this chapter)