Reborn Liverpool

Chapter 341

7月7日22时，世界杯1/4决赛第3场在萨马拉展开较量，英格兰2比0淘汰瑞典，第3次打进世界杯半决赛。

Zhang Mai had three England teammates from Liverpool starting this game, Henderson, Maguire and Pickford. As a result, Maguire scored his first goal for the national team. Pickford made many wonderful saves to secure the victory. Desen also showed his prowess in the midfielder position.

England has advanced to the top 9 of the World Cup for the 8th time, but it has stopped here 6 times before. This battle also terminated England's record of 17 unbeaten games in the knockout rounds of the World Cup (World Cup + European Cup).

2 to 0, the Englishman did not capsize and advanced to the semi-finals of this World Cup with an undisputed attitude.

Difficult, grassroots, civilian... These are the labels that the media and fans put on this England team before the World Cup.

However, it is this Three Lions, considered the most civilian in history, that has created England's best World Cup record in the past 28 years.

Without superstars, it doesn't mean that you can't go further...

In recent years, England's performance in major competitions has always been the laughing stock of fans. In every major competition, England has declared its goal to win the championship, but the results of each major competition are not ideal.

Before this World Cup, most of the British media were not optimistic when they saw the roster of the England team. It is difficult to find another star who can be called "world class".

Who is number 7?Lingard, compared with the famous Beckham, this No. 7 seems too ordinary; who is No. 10?Sterling, compared to Rooney, Sterling is like a black hole.

The acquaintance of Sterling and Lingard may best represent the impression of the fans. For this England team, the expectations before the start of the game are very small.

However, I am afraid that most people did not expect that this most civilian Three Lions actually came out step by step.

2比1胜突尼斯，6比1胜巴拿马，提前锁定小组出线名额。最后一场0比1不敌比利时，英格兰“幸运”地进入下半区。

In the tough battle with Colombia, England, which was always considered to be a penalty shootout, turned hard and eliminated the South American powerhouse and entered the quarterfinals.

Against Sweden in this game, the Englishman did not let the fans see a joke. With a score of 2 to 0, they entered the semi-finals easily and steadily.

You know, the Swedish team squeezed out Germany to advance in the group stage, and played Switzerland painfully in the quarter-finals.

Without Messi, without Ronaldo, without Zhang Mai or Neymar, how did the England team do it?
Perhaps the answer is precisely because of the "lack of star flavor" of the Three Lions, because there are no superstars in the lineup, the England team played quite pragmatically;
Without superstars, the whole team does not need to formulate tactics around a certain person, all the people are soldiers, and the three armed forces serve their lives;
Without superstars, the media doesn’t have to hold on to someone, there is no stressful news outside the arena, and there is harmony inside the arena;
There are no superstars, just fight and grab honestly, and win one game after another.

Coach Southgate was previously ridiculed by the British media as a puppet coach. He did not have too prominent experience as a player. As a coach, his coaching experience is not very rich.

But it is such a low-key and steady coach who brought a bunch of raw eggs to create England's best record in the World Cup in 28 years.

The England team entered the semi-finals, reminding people of the saying: football is a game of 11 people.Although lacking the blessing of superstars, they can move forward with one heart and one mind.

For Southgate, nothing should be left to chance.

The England manager missed penalties at Euro 1996, and now he has had his players and goalkeepers practice taking and saving penalties since March this year, and it finally paid off for them in 3/1 In the final, England beat Colombia on penalties.

Southgate's strategy has been so successful that of England's 11 goals at the World Cup in Russia, eight have come from set pieces, including four from corner kicks, one from a free kick and three from penalties.

That's how England reached the World Cup semi-finals, with Maguire heading home from a team-mate's corner.

After a lapse of 28 years, England finally advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup again. The team's biggest hero is undoubtedly the goalkeeper Pickford.

Over the years, England's goalkeeper position has been criticized, from Seaman, who was lobbed by Ronaldinho, to the butter hands Robinson and Green, to Joe Hart who "met Hartmont kick".

Pickford played well in the penalty shootout in the 1/8 finals, and in the game against Sweden, he kept the goal with high catches and low blocks, and was named the best player of the game.

It was also a fantastic night for Maguire, who scored his first England goal of the game.

Maguire's goal appeared in the knockout round of the World Cup. The importance is self-evident. Southgate even praised him as the new representative of England's central defenders.

Before the World Cup, few people except Liverpool knew Maguire, but in this World Cup, Maguire has become England's main central defender.

At the beginning, many British media questioned Southgate's formation. After all, in a big stage like the World Cup, experience is sometimes very important.

But Maguire has used his strong strength to justify himself. From the OPTA statistics, Maguire's data in this game is quite brilliant.He touched the ball 68 times with a pass success rate of 85%, won 9 header scrambles, and made 6 clearances. He had 2 shots and scored 1 goal. 2 threatening passes.

7月8日2时，世界杯1/4决赛最后一场比赛在索契进行，俄罗斯与法国120分钟战为2比2平，点球大战，法国4比3晋级。

Although the French team's performance in this game was mediocre, Russia's home bonus halo has gradually faded, and finally luck fell to the stronger French team.

So far, all the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia have been produced. The famous foreign data website OPTA recently simulated the probability of each team winning the World Cup through its own big data. France ranked first with 41% hope of winning the championship, Belgium and England ranked second and third. , the last one in Huaguo.

A few days ago, OPTA statistics used its own company's big data to simulate the probability of winning the World Cup semi-finals:

France ranks first with 41%, Belgium ranks second with 26%, England ranks No.22 with 3%, and China's hope of winning is only 11%, ranking last.

Of course, this is just the result of the data company's simulated victory.How the game is played depends on the performance of each team.

At present, France is also ranked first in the winning odds list of major gaming companies. From this point of view, the outside world is more optimistic about the prospects of the French team.

In addition, the two "peerless twins" Messi and Ronaldo have won the Ballon d'Or for the past ten years. Who can become the hero who breaks the monopoly of the two on the Ballon d'Or has become the focus of long-term discussions outside.

In the view of the famous German star Matthaus, the Chinese superstar Zhang Mai and the French demon star Mbappe may become No. 1 in today's football with the blessing of the world champion halo.

Matthaus said: "If the talented Mbappe can lead the French team to the top of the world (to win the World Cup) and score one or two goals in the final, I can imagine Messi and Another football player besides Ronaldo is given the best player honor. Even Huaguo's Zhang Mai performed very well, and I think Mbappe is the most promising in winning the World Cup and scoring goals Those who want to hit the Ballon d'Or, and vice versa."

France's Mbappe shined on the stage of the World Cup. Zhang Mai, who has already won the Premier League and the Champions League, is even better, leading the way with 8 goals, and the Hua Guo team has also entered the semi-finals.

In this World Cup, Zhang Mai's performance has been praised by many people.Recently, Belgian star Van Buyten said in an interview that he believes Zhang Mai is a combination of Ronaldo, Henry and Ronaldo.

"He has the characteristics of Ronaldo and Ronaldo. He has the ability to accelerate, he outperforms others, and he is a scorer. Ronaldo has this ability, but he is more like a pure scorer. "

"Henry is also a scorer, but he also creates chances for others. In fact, I think Zhang Mai is the perfect combination of these players, but don't forget that he is just a kid."

In addition, Van Buyten is also full of expectations for Mbappe's future: "When you see what he can do now, he is still making great progress. He is one of the best attackers in football. ... the funny thing is, three or four years later he's going to be stronger, and he's only 3, 4 years old. He's like a brilliant diamond. I hope he keeps his feet on the ground and keeps going."

When talking about the semi-finals between China and Belgium, Van Buyten also expressed his views:
"I think this is a close game, you can't just look at the lineup on paper. For example, Japan is not as strong as Belgium on paper, but they led us 2-0 in the game, and finally they lost because of lack of experience. It was given to us; Huaguo and Belgium are good, but they have to show in the game and they need a bit of luck."

At the same time, Van Buyten also predicted the score of the game: "Of course I think Belgium won. I think the score will be 2-1."

At the same time, the 2017-18 NBA season has all come to an end, but the 4-year football World Cup is entering its climax.

NBA star Kobe Bryant is also a football fan. He posted on Weibo a few days ago to support the Hua Guo team, hoping that this will no longer be a tainted milk.

Kobe lived in Italy when he was a child. Although basketball is his strong point, football is also his favorite sport.

A few days ago, Kobe Bryant posted a picture on Weibo. The protagonist of the picture is Zhang Mai, a Chinese football star. The text inside is also Zhang Mai's famous saying: "I want to play ten!"

Unfortunately, Kobe's nickname is "Black Mamba", a member of the cobra family, the longest and most fearsome venomous snake in Africa.With such a poisonous nickname, can Kobe not be poisonous?
Kobe Bryant also posted two Weibo before, once to encourage Portugal:

On June 6, he wrote a famous quote from Ronaldo: "I am not a perfectionist, but I hope to do everything well. More importantly, I am eager to learn more, improve more, and improve more. Hurry up. - Ronaldo."

The results of it?Portugal was knocked out by Uruguay in an 16-of-8 tie.

Subsequently, on July 7, Kobe supported the Brazilian core Neymar:

He tweeted and quoted Neymar's famous quote: "I'm never afraid, I always rush forward, create enough space, and attack the goal. - Neymar."

The results of it?Brazil lost 1-4 to Belgium in the quarter-finals.

Now, it's Zhang Mai and the Huaguo team's turn to tremble!

(End of this chapter)