All-around center

Entering the semi-finals, the overall feeling is different.

This is a critical point, but also a shackle.

Croatia has reached the semi-finals for the third time. They failed to break through the first two times, so many fans are full of tension.

How much they look forward to reaching the finals, how uneasy they are.

Even in this World Cup, Croatia performed very strongly, but this sense of uneasiness has always entangled them.

After all, after the semi-finals, Croatia has no experience to talk about.

From this moment on, it is a moment to create a new history, so it needs to be more cautious and serious.

After arriving in Sao Paulo, the Croatian national team is conducting closed training.

Croatia naturally cannot relax in the semi-finals. Besic also turned down all interview requests, and even the organizer's expectation of an interview with Suker was declined.

There is no way. At this time, no accidents are allowed to happen.

In the training ground, Croatian players are training in an orderly manner.

Besic on the sidelines folded his arms and looked forward. His hands were tucked under his armpits, grabbing from time to time, and he was obviously very nervous.

Besic led the team to win the European Cup, but he will face a new challenge in the World Cup.

He knew that if he could lead Croatia to the World Cup final or even the championship, he would become a milestone in Croatian football history.

But this is also very difficult!

This requires them to take every step carefully and make all considerations and predictions.

"Okay, let's stop here for today's training!"

Besic clapped his hands, indicating that the training was over.

Tomorrow is the game day, and he can't increase the amount of training at this time. Everything that should be done has been prepared before the game.

The next step is to wait for the game to start.

Suk wiped the sweat from his forehead, picked up the ball from the side and planned to practice shooting for a while.

At this time, Van Styak came over and held him.

"Let's stop here today!"

Looking at Van Styak, Suk also pursed his lips and nodded, then turned and walked towards the locker room.

In the locker room, teammates were also quietly packing up their things. Everyone's expression was very heavy, and it was obvious that they were very nervous about the upcoming game.

"Wow~~~ I feel like I'm suffocating!"

Dujmovic suddenly grinned and opened his hands and said: "Hey! Guys, can you stop doing this? I feel like I can't breathe!"

Hearing this, everyone turned their heads.

"What's wrong? Aren't we very normal?" Modric said.

"Normal ass!" Dujmovic complained: "You're just about to carve the word nervous on your face, hey! You guys have played in several Champions League finals and even won the Champions League. You should be familiar with this kind of scene. Why do you feel more nervous?"

Hearing this, Suker and others looked at each other.

It's really fake to say that they are not nervous, but they did overreact a little.

But there is no way!

After all, for many of them, this World Cup has a different meaning, especially for people like Suker, Modric, and Srna. If they miss this World Cup, they can't say what form it will take to impact it next time.

And whether they can be in such excellent form like this World Cup also needs to be questioned.

They finally made it to the semi-finals, and they still maintained enough competition form, so they naturally responded more cautiously.

But there was nothing wrong with what Duimovic said.

They did overreact a little.

"Then you dance to set off the atmosphere!" Rakitic joked.

Duimovic turned his head and clenched his fist: "Do you want to be beaten?"

Srna and others couldn't help laughing, and the whole atmosphere gradually became normal.

"That's right! Smile, don't be serious, as if the Netherlands is strong, but we are weak?" Duimovic waved his hand: "They should be nervous!"

Suk immediately gave a thumbs up; "Awesome!"

Others couldn't help but smile and nod.

The tense atmosphere was slightly relieved.

After returning to the hotel where he was staying and having dinner, Suk returned to his room.

He took out the video of the previous Dutch team's games and planned to take a simple look at it to further understand the Dutch tactical system.

Just when Suk had just turned on the computer, Besic and Van Styak suddenly walked in.

"Coach?"

Suk stood up in confusion.

Besic waved his hand, motioning Suk to sit down, and he and Van Styak walked over to sit opposite Suk.

Besic had a small tactical board on his arm, which was covered with all kinds of scribbled symbols.

Suk couldn't understand it at all.

Besic obviously understood, so he wiped all the lines on it and re-sorted out some lines, which made Suk see it clearly.

"The Dutch tactics are nothing more than all-out attack and defense, relying on Sneijder's transfer and operation in the midfield, and through Robben, Van Persie and other players' impact in the frontcourt to obtain effective offense!"

"But it's not just them, as I said before, all-out attack and defense, the Netherlands can press forward at any position and become a threat point!"

"This requires us to be extra careful!"

"There is also a problem. After the Netherlands entered the knockout rounds, they adopted a three-centre-back system. But we need to consider a question, whether the Netherlands will adopt a three-centre-back position when they play against us!"

Hearing this, Suk raised his eyebrows slightly: "Probably not!"

Playing three central defenders against Croatia is no different than seeking death.

Croatia's sharp counterattack was able to directly break through the defense of the three central defenders.

No matter how strong these three central defenders are or how closely connected they are, they are facing Su Ke!

Therefore, whether it is Suker or Besic and others, they do not think that the Netherlands will use three central defenders.

"It must be four central defenders! If the Netherlands dares to put three central defenders, we will directly engage in positional warfare and launch a defensive counterattack!"

Listening to Vansteyak's words, Suk also nodded slightly.

No problem!

Besic continued to explain his point of view, and Suk listened for a while and finally understood.

"Are you afraid that the Netherlands will gain an advantage in the midfield and then rely on the midfield to stimulate the offensive capabilities of Robben and Van Persie?"

Suk asked.

Besic nodded: "After considering the match between the Netherlands and Spain in the group stage, I have to make this assumption!"

Suker nodded; "But I think this assumption is not valid. First of all, the Dutch midfielder is not strong enough to crush us. Our midfielder is not weak. I think you should know Luka, then you should believe in him!" "

"Secondly, Sneijder is indeed an outstanding player, but he is no longer the Sneijder of Inter Milan in 2010. His condition is no longer at its peak. In the first few games, he relied more on Robben. Vertical breakthroughs on the wing are effective, so I think it is untenable for them to suppress our midfielder!”

"If you are really worried, we can play slower in the first half and I can drop more support from the center, so that we can stabilize the situation."

It is not difficult for Su Ke to see Besic's worries, the reason is very simple.

When playing Croatia, many people have the idea of ​​​​taking advantage as much as possible in the first half. After all, once entering the second half, Croatia's resilience and combat endurance are headaches for them.

Many teams want to establish a sufficient advantage in the first half, and have even formed an inertial thinking.

Even Croatia itself, when choosing tactics, was thinking about how to resist the opponent's offense as much as possible in the first half.

"Okay, maybe I really thought too much." Besic rubbed his eyebrows, stood up and said, "Then let's do this, and play according to our original tactics!"

Having said that, Besic was about to leave, but Vanst Ayak had no intention of leaving.

After Besic walked out of the room, Van Steyak looked at Suker and said: "In tomorrow's game, you should lean more toward the center!"

Suk raised his eyebrows slightly: "Towards the middle?"

"Yes, many teams will choose both wings when attacking. This can not only open up space, but also pose a threat on the wings, and even a five-way attack mode! But I think when playing the Netherlands, the central axis is interspersed. Running and penetration are also a good idea!”

Su Ke pursed his lips and said; "The Netherlands' passing, running and pressing are not weak!"

"Because of this, they will invest a large number of people when attacking to form a large-scale oppression. But once this rhythm is disrupted, they will face the situation of being kicked back!"

"Luka can assume the starting point of the counterattack, but it's a matter of stealing."

Suk pursed his lips. If it were the previous Vukojevich, it might be possible, but now Vukojevich relies more on teamwork and linkage, and his individual combat capability is not that strong.

In response, Van Stryak smiled and said: "Do you know what Vukojevic's steal rate per game was in the past few games?"

"How many?"

"The success rate is 79%!"

"So high?" Su Ke was slightly surprised.

There will be a French defensive midfielder named Kante in the future. His steal success rate at his peak was 82%.

Of course, Vukojevic cannot be compared with Kanter because of this.

After all, Kanter has the extra ability to cover an area.

Vukojevich's coverage is not broad, and he is more active in his own area. Once the scope is large, the effect will not be good.

But this steal efficiency is already very impressive. After all, Modric next to him also has good linkage pressing ability.

Check out the 16-9 book bar to see the correct version!

If this feature is amplified, it may really be able to suppress the Netherlands.

"Our first few games were all about control, so after the steal, we focused on control and would not immediately form a counterattack, so the sense of this kind of pressing was not very strong. We can just use this to regain control. In the defensive counterattack mode, after all, this is our main tactic, and our future opponents will be very strong in the midfield, and we will not be able to continue to suppress them like before. "

Listening to Van Stryak's words, Su Ke couldn't help but nodded. I have to say that he was a little confused.

"Where's the coach?" Suk asked Besic's attitude.

Van Steyak said: "Mr. Besic is a very cautious person."

In one sentence, Su Ke understood that Van Steyak wanted them to persuade him.

"He doesn't agree?" Su Ke continued to ask.

"It's not that he disagrees, he just doesn't want to disrupt the current situation." Van Styak said.

Suk thought that this was no different from disagreeing.

But this is difficult!

Besic is not Bilic. Suk directly sidelined Belgium because all the national team members were his people.

Bilic's voice is not important!

But Besic is different. These players were brought up by him and have great prestige.

If Suk rises up, he may be called down with a slap in the face.

"Let's talk about it first!" Suk exhaled.

A moment later, the two came to Besic's room again.

Besic folded his arms and smiled slightly at the expressions of the two trying to persuade him.

Suk and Van Styak finally finished talking, and Besic said, "Do you know Vukojevic?"

Obviously, this sentence was said to Van Styak.

The latter nodded immediately; "Of course, I am collecting all his data!"

"Not these few games, push forward, his performance in the club, his data and performance when facing strong players, have you paid attention to it?"

Hearing this, Van Styak was stunned for a moment.

Although he collected a lot of information, he could not collect it so comprehensively.

"Suker, how did you feel when you played against Vukojevic in the Champions League?"

Besic's sudden question made Suker stunned for a moment.

What did you feel?

His impression was a little vague, or

"I don't have much impression from time to time?" Besic said directly.

Suker nodded.

Besic sighed; "Vukojevic is a kind of engineer-type player. Of course, it is not accurate to say so, but it is indeed this type. His performance will vary with different pressures!"

"When the pressure is high, he will actively rush to grab the ball, but the success rate is not high, and it is easy to become a loophole!"

"But once the pressure is not high, his performance will be very eye-catching. He is very good at pressing, rhythm, passing and other aspects!"

"I shouldn't say this about him, but the fact is that he is a player who is good at playing in an advantageous situation!"

Besic's meaning is very clear. To put it bluntly, he is good at bullying.

Suker was somewhat impressed.

To be honest, when Vukojevic played for Lyon, he quickly became the main midfielder and performed very well in the league, but how good he was in the Champions League, I don't have much impression.

At the same time, after joining Bayern Munich, he also slowly lost his position from the main midfielder.

Even Guardiola asked Lahm to change his position, and did not let Vukojevic, the orthodox defensive midfielder, play.

All these indicate a problem, that is, there is a lot of water.

Suk wanted to refute, but what Besic said seemed to be right!

"You start from the data, which is correct, but you shouldn't focus on the data of a few games." Besic shook his head: "Vukojevic is my student, I know him, and this is why I suggested him to go to Ligue 1 for training. I hope he can slowly change these things, but I can only say that this is his style and habit, and it is difficult to change!"

Besic looked at Suk and said: "Some people are born with strong mentality and can withstand all kinds of pressure, but some people are born sensitive."

Suk couldn't help grinning.

There is nothing wrong with this sentence. Don't look at Vukojevic's carefree appearance, but this guy is the most sensitive one in their circle.

"I know you want to make the game full of surprises so that we can win the game better." Besic looked at Van Styak and said: "But from now on, we have to put the weight where it should be!"

The trick is always dangerous, and Besic will take the kingly way next.

Besic looked at Suk and said, "There are two more games! In these two games, everyone in the team, including the coaching staff and other logistics staff, will serve you, and you have only one task."

Besic's voice was sonorous and powerful.

"Blast their flanks! Whether it's the Netherlands or other opponents!"

The next day, the sun rose from the east, and the city of Sao Paulo was slowly illuminated by the sun.

At the moment when the beam shone on the earth, the wild atmosphere was slowly rising.

On the street, Dutch and Croatian fans can be seen everywhere.

They all have nervous and expectant expressions on their faces, waiting for the opening of this semi-final.

The winner will get a ticket to the World Cup final, and the loser will bid farewell to the World Cup stage.

For Croatia and the Netherlands, they have a great obsession with this World Cup.

Croatia fell in the semi-finals of the last World Cup.

And the Netherlands lost in the final!

They all have an obsession with the World Cup champion.

The Netherlands is the "uncrowned king" of the World Cup. It has reached the finals three times, but has not won the World Cup championship.

Croatia is a newcomer that has only risen in recent years, but it is also very strong.

Unlike the Netherlands, which has a huge youth training base, Croatia knows very well that if this generation fails to win the World Cup, they don't know how many years they will have to wait.

A large number of reporters also gathered around the hotel where the Croatian and Dutch teams stayed.

Due to the semi-finals, they could not see the players except for the buses coming in and out.

For this reason, the reporters were very curious about how the players on both sides prepared for this semi-final.

There were also many reporters who took the risk of climbing over the wall to take photos in order to get first-hand information, but they were all arrested and taken to the police station and would not be released until after the game.

At the same time, these media were also included in the list of unwelcome groups of both teams, and they were no longer qualified to participate in the post-match press conference, which was not worth the loss.

As time passed, the atmosphere became more and more tense.

Finally, at three o'clock in the afternoon, in the camera, the Croatian bus slowly drove out of the hotel and drove towards the game venue not far away.

This means that the long-awaited World Cup semi-final is coming.

As the first match of the semi-final, the Netherlands and Croatia will have a 90-minute or 120-minute duel, and finally a team will appear in the final!

This will also be the first team to reach the final of this World Cup!