Chapter 1 The World Cup Is over and the Vacation Begins
The tragedy of the century when the host nation Brazil lost to Germany 1:7 in the semifinals did not diminish with the passage of time. On the contrary, as the finals approached, more and more reports made it difficult for many Brazilian fans to get over the bad results.
The German team gave the Brazilian team a disastrous defeat of the century, which can be said to be a sworn enemy. The other team that advanced to the finals is Argentina, its archrival with a long history. This means that the World Cup champion hosted in the country will be decided by the two mortal enemies.
That feeling is very uncomfortable.
But this game is extremely anticipated by German fans, Argentinian fans and neutral fans.
Tang Zheng, who stayed in Brazil to watch the World Cup, is also looking forward to this third meeting between Germany and Argentina in the World Cup finals.
The two teams have met a total of 20 times in history. Argentina has the upper hand with nine wins, five draws and six losses. However, the two teams are tied in terms of goals. In the World Cup, the two teams have met six times, and Germany has the upper hand, with three wins, two draws and one loss.
In the past quarter-finals of the World Cup in Germany and the World Cup in South Africa, there were battle records. The German team defeated Argentina in a penalty shootout. The World Cup in South Africa four years ago was equally difficult for Argentina. The German team won 4:0. Argentina.
The two teams have met twice in the World Cup finals, in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and the 1990 World Cup in Italy, with each winning one game.
But before that, there is a third-place and fourth-place final at the National Stadium in Brasilia, which is the qualifying match between the Brazilian team and the Dutch team that lost in the semi-finals.
The third and fourth place finals can be said to be tasteless for the two teams, but they are enjoyable for the fans, because neither side attaches much importance to the third or fourth place finals, and they often play a hearty game and enjoy it.
Brazil and the Netherlands have met eleven times in history. Each side won three games, and the remaining five games were all draws. The goals scored were evenly matched, with each scoring fifteen.
In four World Cup encounters, the Netherlands had the advantage with two wins, one draw and one loss. The most recent encounter was in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in South Africa, where the Netherlands defeated Brazil 2:1.
In the starting lineup, the Brazilian team had as many as six rotations compared to the German team in the semifinals, and the Dutch team only made two position adjustments.
The third or fourth place finals, which basically had nothing to do with glory, brought huge surprises to the audience from the beginning of the game. Only 87 seconds into the game, Robben used a breakthrough to cause Thiago Silva to foul in the penalty area.
Penalty kick!
Captain Van Persie made a shot and the Netherlands led 1:0.
After the Brazilian team unfortunately lost Neymar in the quarter-finals, there was no reliable offensive player on the front line.
Ramirez, Oscar, William and Ruo were unable to carry the Brazilian team's offensive banner.
In the 16th minute, the Dutch team expanded the score.
Robben broke through from the right and then went straight to the right. De Guzman broke through to the baseline and passed the ball. Luis made the clearance not far away. Blind, who followed up actively, unloaded the ball with his left foot near the penalty spot, and then the unfamiliar line Kicks the ball towards the goal with his right foot.
2:0
The Netherlands took an early two-goal lead, and the tempo of the game slowed down, allowing Brazil a chance to breathe and organize its offense.
But now this Brazilian team is indeed quite mediocre, without any star flavor, full of loopholes on the defensive end, and without any achievements on the offensive end.
Fortunately, the Dutch team did not rush to attack, otherwise it is very likely to expand the score to three goals before the end of the first half.
In the second half, the team changed sides and fought again. The Brazilian team, which was behind by two goals, tried to change its offensive tactics through substitutions, but the effect was not obvious. On the contrary, the Dutch team, which was leading the score, played vigorously offensively.
Tang Zheng, who was sitting in front of the TV watching the game, shook his head and sighed. The Brazilian team now feels like there is no hope.
Thinking of the star-studded five-star Brazilian team in the past, let’s look at the Brazilian team that was defeated by the German team 7:1 in the semifinals.
If there is really no comparison, there will be no harm.
The score continued into injury time, and the Dutch team finally seized an opportunity after missing opportunities one after another.
Robben again!
After his breakthrough, he passed through and found Janmat who was on the right. The latter quickly passed the ball from the ground. Wijnaldum outflanked the ball in the middle and kicked the ball into the near corner of the goal.
This goal was also the last goal in the third place final. In the end, the Netherlands defeated the host Brazil 3:0 and won the third place in the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
One day later, the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, attracted global attention because the 2014 Brazil World Cup final will be played here.
Tang Zheng obtained four VIP tickets early through his sponsor relationship and was able to watch the World Cup final live.
The Maracana Stadium, which can accommodate 85,000 fans, was already packed with more than an hour before the start of the game. Fans from both sides created a very enthusiastic atmosphere for the game. Fortunately, Tang Zheng's ticket was a VIP seat, so the noise was much quieter. few.
The two sides fielded the strongest lineup currently available. It is worth mentioning that Tang Zheng's Real Madrid teammate Di Maria has missed the World Cup early due to a strained hamstring in the quarter-finals. The player who replaced him is Lavezzi.
The lack of Di Maria on the wing is expected to reduce the efficiency of Argentina's offensive and defensive transition on the wing.
It's not that Lavezzi is incompetent, but Di Maria's attitude towards the game is better than Lavezzi's.
※※※
With the whistle of Italian referee Rizzoli, the 2014 Brazil World Cup final officially kicked off at the Maracana Stadium.
The game was almost as predicted by Tang Zheng. Both sides adopted tentative offensives at the beginning and played very cautiously.
Messi, Argentina's number one star and captain, is naturally heavily targeted by German players. Therefore, when Messi is heavily targeted, the shortcomings of Argentina's lack of creativity in the central offensive organization are very obvious.
However, the German team's offense is under pressure from the defensive end and the number of people involved in the offense is also very limited. The veteran Klose has rich experience in the game, but the decline in competitive status caused by his age is inevitable, and the physical confrontation has declined seriously.
Argentina's two central defenders Demichelis and Garay are both very strong central defenders. Klose can only bring defense through movement and create space for the three forwards Ozil, Toni Kroos and Muller. .
With lack of creativity in the midfield, Messi began to return to the midfield to get the ball and create opportunities for his teammates.
But all professional players know the power of Messi, so there are many German defensive players who pay attention to Messi, so the two sides compete to put more in the midfield.
As the saying goes, whoever wins the midfield wins the world, but neither side could win the other in the midfield, so the game was always in a stalemate.
Until the end of the first half, the score did not change.
0:0
When halftime came, the fanatical atmosphere of the Maracana Stadium declined. Tang's father turned to Tang Zheng when he had nothing to do, and asked: "Zheng, do you think it is possible to score a goal in the second half?"
"Possible?" Tang Zheng took the mineral water handed over by his girlfriend Zhao Lina, unscrewed it and took a sip, thinking thoughtfully: "It may be possible, but the possibility is not high."
"Meaning that the game is likely to go into overtime?"
"Yes, very likely."
Tang Zheng nodded lightly.
"Why?"
Father Tang asked curiously.
"It is undeniable that the German team is inferior to Argentina in terms of players' individual abilities, but the current mix of the German team is very reasonable, and the ability gap between the players is not big, so they play a completely different football from Argentina's reliance on Messi. Different." Tang Zheng explained patiently: "Of course it does not mean that Argentina's overall ability is not as good as Germany's. It can only be said that Argentine players live in the shadow of Messi and think about Messi everywhere. This will not happen in the German team. The situation, they are like overall service, I don’t know who can win the championship in the end, but it is difficult to decide the winner within 90 minutes of regular time.”
Tang's father was deep in thought, and Zhao Lina curiously asked her boyfriend Tang Zheng: "Then do you think the game will enter a penalty shootout?"
"Penalty kick?" Tang Zheng lowered his head in thought, and said after about half a minute: "The chance of a penalty kick will not be very high, because I said it is difficult to decide the winner in regular time because both sides will be defensive. A lot of hard work, but it will be different in overtime. A series of problems caused by reduced physical fitness are difficult to predict. Of course... problems will also occur during regular time, but the probability is much lower than in overtime."
Although Tang's mother is not particularly interested in football, football is the profession of her son and his default daughter-in-law, so she listened with interest, even if she couldn't get a word in at all.
The fifteen-minute intermission passed quickly, and the game changed sides again in the second half.
Since the winner of the game will become the winner of the 20th FIFA World Cup, both sides still play very cautiously, and the number of people involved in the attack is never large, so the competition is more reflected in the midfield.
Argentina's three midfielders, Mascherano, Perez and Biglia, are lacking in offensive creativity, but their defensive intensity is sufficient. In addition, Messi often retreats to the midfield to participate in offensive organization. Argentina's offensive organization is fairly smooth.
However, Higuain, the forward at the front, is in really poor condition and is a little lost under the protection of the central defenders of Hummels and Boateng.
The German team's defensive work is well done, and the offensive players can safely participate in the offense.
It is a pity that the two full-backs have always been limited in their pressure, so that the offense is not three-dimensional enough to create an absolute threat.
Moreover, Klose has passed his prime, and his condition is difficult to compare with his peak period. He is at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Demichelis and Garay, and does not contribute much to the offense. Therefore, the German team's offense is mainly composed of three midfielders. Completed with Bastian Schweinsteiger who inserted himself into the attack.
At the end of the second half, Gotze replaced Klose and the German team's formation changed to a striker-less formation.
Three minutes of injury time passed in the blink of an eye, and the game entered overtime just as Tang Zheng predicted.
The fanatical atmosphere at Maracana Stadium did not diminish as the game entered overtime, but instead increased significantly.
Everyone knows that the birth of the 20th World Cup champion is getting closer and closer.
※※※
"Ouch-ouch——"
There was not much rest time in the overtime. The two teams started the overtime after a short rehydration period. The fans from the three parties in the stands were full of passion. The overwhelming momentum they erupted was no weaker than that in the opening stage, and even the level of fanaticism was even higher. And nothing less.
Tang Zheng's feeling of watching the game also became excited with the fanatical atmosphere of Maracanã Stadium. He changed from sitting to standing.
The on-site director was very good at capturing exciting shots, and the wonderful footage of Tang Zheng jumping into the air during the game was presented to fans around the world.
Central 5 commentator He Wei smiled and said: "I interviewed Tang Zheng before the game. He is relatively neutral and does not favor anyone. The German team has many former teammates, and the Argentina team has his current teammate Di Maria, although Di Maria missed the World Cup due to injury. The final, but Tang Zheng really had a hard time making a choice...but it was his behavior of watching the football without favoritism that allowed him to enjoy the purest joy of football."
In the first fifteen minutes of overtime, both sides still failed to achieve anything, and the two sides entered the second half of overtime with a score of 0:0.
As the game entered the second half of overtime, the fanatical atmosphere at the Maracana Stadium increased significantly. Except for the fans who were disabled and unable to stand, all other fans stood up and watched the game passionately.
Of course, the fans on both sides of the game were excited but also full of worries. They were afraid that their goal would be breached by the opponent's players at a certain moment and miss out on the championship.
At this stage of the game, no one can afford to concede the ball!
Because the tournament system has particularly high physical requirements for players, during the second half of overtime, except for a few players who came on the bench to maintain good physical fitness, the physical fitness of other players declined to varying degrees.
Once the ball is intercepted due to excessive participation in the attack, the physical energy consumption caused by returning to defense at high speed is huge.
In order to avoid emergencies, both sides played in a tacit understanding and still organized the offense in an orderly manner.
Until the 112th minute of the game, Schürrle suddenly accelerated to break through and cross from the left. Gotze appeared ghostly in the middle of the space between central defenders Demichelis and Garay.
Schürrle's cross after the breakthrough was also quite accurate, passing right between Demichelis and Garay.
Gotze, who followed up, pushed the ball forward with his chest while running, and then kicked the football with his left foot very consistently. Goalkeeper Romero was too late to get the ball, and the football hit the far end of the net.
Germany leads Argentina 1:0!
Tang Zheng, who was standing at the VIP table, was stunned. He did not expect that Gotze would suddenly break out at the critical moment of overtime.
The German fans at the scene were not in a daze. They made a deafening roar: "Ooooooooo-"
The Argentine fans are obviously very confused at this time. Losing the ball at this juncture is undoubtedly a disaster!
After about a few seconds, Tang Zheng shook his head. He knew...the champion had already been awarded.
Germany plays team football, while Argentina relies on Messi.
The result...can be imagined.
With Messi being closely monitored, other players failed to step forward, and the seats did not change until the Italian referee Rizzoli blew the whistle for the end of the game.
1:0
The German team finally relied on Gotze's quasi-winner goal to win the 20th World Cup, thus reaching the top for the fourth time.
After the World Cup ended, Tang Zheng also started his vacation trip, boarding a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Hawaii the next day.