Chapter 621: Advance to the Top 16

The whole of Portugal went crazy because of this victory, this epic reversal.

In Pedro IV Square in Lisbon, excited people set off fireworks.

The bar was packed.

The ship docked at the port blew its whistle.

The supermarket's "various gelatinous suits that hinder human reproduction" were almost sold out, and some sexual lubricant products were also very popular.

That night, Lisbon was sleepless, and the whole of Portugal was sleepless!

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In the first round of Group B of the Russian World Cup, Portugal and Spain faced off against each other, and Portugal narrowly defeated Spain 4:3.

Earlier, in another match in Group B, Iran beat Morocco 1:0.

As a result, Portugal ranked first, Iran ranked second, Spain ranked third, and Morocco ranked last in the group.

Portugal's carnival and celebration continued, and in the following week, the whole of Portugal was like a carnival.

The Portuguese players were also very excited.

Five days later, in the second round of the group stage, Portugal faced Morocco. In front of 80,000 fans at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Portugal won the game again. In the 4th minute of the game, Moutinho took a corner kick and Ronaldo, who was not guarded, headed into the net from the edge of the small penalty area.

This was the only goal in the game, and then neither side made any progress.

Although only one goal was scored in the whole game, it was not as goal-scoring as the first round against Spain, but it did not affect the good mood of Portuguese fans.

Moreover, because Spain also defeated Iran 1:0 in another game, Portugal, which had won two consecutive games, did not advance to the knockout stage in advance.

After all, if Portugal lost to Iran in the final round and Spain won against Morocco, which was eliminated in advance, the three teams would have 6 points, and Portugal would be eliminated.

This situation kept the suspense of Group B's qualification until the last round of the group stage.

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On the evening of June 25, two group matches of Group B started at the same time. At the Moldova Arena in Saransk, Portugal played against Iran; at the Kaliningrad Stadium, Spain played against Morocco, which had already been eliminated.

In another time and space, both games ended in a draw, Portugal 1:1 Iran, and Spain 2:2 Morocco.

Before the two teams faced off, an interesting "episode" occurred outside the stadium. The night before the game, a large number of Iranian fans gathered outside the Portuguese team's hotel. They sang, they danced, they made noise with various musical instruments, and used "fatigue tactics" to disturb the Portuguese team's rest.

Ronaldo waved to the fans through the glass window and asked the fans to be quiet through gestures and not to disturb his sleep. As a result, the noise of the Iranian fans became louder.

The Iranian fans' actions affected the rest of many Portuguese players, but Bruno was the exception.

When Bruno opened the Iranian team's door with a long shot in the 23rd minute, the game was completely on another track.

All the calculations made by the Iranian team before were useless. They were completely caught up in the rhythm controlled by Bruno and could not extricate themselves.

The lead also boosted the morale of the Portuguese national team teammates, and they were full of confidence. They performed better and better in the subsequent games.

In the end, the Portuguese national team defeated the Iranian team 2:1 under the leadership of Bruno. Bruno scored his second goal in this World Cup, and Quaresma also scored a goal. The Iranian team scored a penalty kick in the final stage of the game.

In the 93rd minute, the Iranian players signaled that the Portuguese players had handballed in the penalty area. The referee repeatedly watched the video assistant referee system (VAR) and awarded a penalty kick. Iranian player Ansarifard scored in one fell swoop, and the score was rewritten to 1:2.

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In this game, Bruno once again fully demonstrated his talents in both offense and defense. Whether it was when attacking or defending, the opponent could not do anything with him.

When attacking, he has various means. If you defend his shot, he will give you a long shot; if you are careful of his long shot, he will tear your defense line with exquisite passes; if you defend his pass or shot, he can also break through with the ball.

In defense, he can always appear in the most critical position in time and then make the most critical move. The defense of the Portuguese national team is not a solid block, but whenever there is a loophole, Bruno must be the first to rush back to fill it.

In the game, the commentator sighed more than once that Bruno was so amazing, so much so that after the game, a person who was curious posted a post online to count how many times the commentator said "Bruno is so amazing" in this game.

However, Bruno's performance in this game was indeed very outstanding. After the game, he was awarded the best player of the game selected by the media. He was the most dazzling star of this game, even without that goal.

He sent the ball to his teammates' feet many times in this game. If it weren't for his teammates' lack of ability to seize opportunities, this game would definitely not be 2:1.

Judging from the score alone, it is easy to think that the Portuguese national team won very thrillingly or by luck. But in fact, anyone who watched the game would think that the victory was fair to the Portuguese national team, for the simple reason that the Portuguese national team has Bruno.

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On the evening of June 28, the eight groups' matches were all over, the top 16 teams were all announced, and the best team of the group stage was also produced.

Portugal, which won three consecutive victories, was one of the best teams in the group stage. This also led to two players being selected for the best team of the group stage, namely the captain and team striker Cristiano Ronaldo, and the core midfielder Bruno.

Although Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty in the final round against Iran, his role in Portugal is beyond words, and his performance will determine how far Portugal can go.

Bruno's selection is even more unquestionable. Not only did he score in two games, but he also escorted Portugal on the defensive end. He can be said to be the number one contributor to Portugal's three consecutive victories.

After the group stage, other teams in the World Cup further realized how important Bruno, the core, was to the Portuguese national team, so the work of the opponents of the Portuguese national team became simple, that is, to try every means to contain Bruno.

As long as he can perform abnormally, it doesn't matter if it is a foul. It would be even better if he can be injured directly.

Santos would certainly pay attention to his most proud disciple. He also knew how Bruno would be treated after his outstanding performance in the group stage, which made him worried.

Bruno himself seemed to be indifferent and trained as usual.

The good news is that after three consecutive victories in the group stage, the atmosphere in the team has become more positive. Everyone is willing to believe that under Bruno's leadership, the Portuguese national team is really likely to win the championship.

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The knockout round of 16 is out, and the matchup situation is also determined. As the first in Group B, Portugal's opponent is the second in Group A, that is, the host Russia.

This is not a good result for Portugal. On the one hand, the advantage of the host is hard to explain, and on the other hand, the fighting power of this Russian team should not be underestimated. They are the second team with the most goals in the group stage, second only to Belgium, which scored 9 goals.

When the game officially started, it can be clearly seen that the referee is biased towards the host. As long as there is physical contact, the Russian player will fall and the Portuguese national team will be called for a foul. The Russian team fouled the Portuguese national team players, but the referee didn't say anything. He only gave a verbal warning because it was really unreasonable.

Bruno was naturally closely guarded by the opponent and suffered a lot of fouls.

During the game, Santos was very dissatisfied below. He rushed out of the coaching seat again and again and protested to the fourth referee emotionally.

Of course he had to be anxious. His core player was tossed by the opponent so much. What if he got injured and couldn't play in the future games?

If he was absent, no one could replace him. Moutinho was also an organizer, but his Portuguese national team was at most second-rate in the world. With Bruno, the Portuguese national team could squeeze into the world's first-class.

All the tactics of the Portuguese national team revolve around Bruno. Without Bruno, it's like a car without an engine, and it can't move at all.

Can Santos not worry?

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However, Santos' protest was useless. The Russian players still did what they should do, and Bruno still endured all kinds of tricks from the opponent on the court.

Bruno doesn't care as much as his coach. He rarely complains about the opponent's tricks during the game. Even if he is knocked to the ground by the opponent, he just gets up from the ground. So it is often his teammates who speak up for him, and he just devotes himself to the game.

He knows that one of the opponent's foul tactics is to make the offended players lose their composure. If he puts all his energy into arguing with the referee and fighting with the opponent's players, he will lose.

The best way to fight back is to use football to speak, defeat them on the court, and let them understand a truth: fouls are useless on themselves!

Facing the black feet and various tricks of Russian players, Bruno would not fall to the ground if he could, and insisted on sending the football out. Even if he was entangled by the opponent, he could protect the football with his excellent physical fitness and then send the football to where it should go.

The two sides tied in the first half, with a score of 1:1. However, both goals were actually scored by the Russians themselves. Their veteran Ignashevich scored an own goal, and soon after, the Portuguese defense gave away a penalty, and Dzyuba scored a penalty.

The game was not interesting at all, and was frequently interrupted.

Of course, it was definitely not because Bruno was violated by the opponent, but because of a foul by the Portuguese national team.