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The 2012 European Cup consists of a total of 16 national teams, divided into four groups.

The first is the classification as follows:

Pot 1: Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Croatia.

Second pot: Germany, England, Italy, Netherlands.

The third pot: Russia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden.

Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Ireland.

In this bracketing, based on the relationship between Spain and the Netherlands as World Cup champions and runners-up, they should have been classified in the first bracket.

But because Croatia is so strong!

If placed in the second gear, it would seriously damage the first gear team.

No matter which group they are assigned to, except for Spain and the Netherlands, which are still capable of fighting, Poland and Ukraine may be severely beaten by Croatia.

In their impression, Su Ke is not the kind of person who saves too much face for his hosts.

Unless he has already advanced, it is almost impossible to get Su Ke to let go.

Therefore, Croatia can only be assigned to the first pot, so that the two hosts do not have to be afraid of encountering this super strong team.

Based on the European Cup rules, each team selects one team to form four groups.

The groups are as follows:

Group A: Poland, Netherlands, Greece, Czech Republic.

Group B: Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Denmark.

Group C: Spain, Italy, Russia, Ireland.

Group D: Ukraine, England, Sweden, France.

The whole group is divided.

Group A and Group C have a relatively clear qualifying situation.

The Netherlands, Spain and Italy have strong qualifying capabilities.

Group D is relatively weak among the entire group.

On the other hand, Group B is the ‘death group’ in an absolute sense.

Croatia and Germany, the two seeded teams competing for the championship, also have Portugal and Denmark fishing in troubled waters.

It can be said that any game is very critical.

In the original time and space, Group B was also in a melee.

As the first-tier team, the Netherlands suffered from internal strife, lost all three games and missed the knockout rounds.

Germany and Portugal join hands to qualify.

However, Denmark also caused a lot of trouble for Portugal during the qualifying process.

But this time, Group B entered a stronger Croatia. Germany's dominance in Group B was no longer the same, and there was bound to be another big battle.

Moreover, now that Group B also has a chance to play Su Ke and Ronaldo, the focus is also extremely high.

National team training center in Zaregbu.

After the first day of training, the team members sat together and chatted again.

“The outside world praises us so much!”

"We can't float ourselves!"

Srna: "No matter what the outside world says, we just need to play our own game!"

"Isn't it okay to praise me?" Duimovich curled his lips and said; "I feel pretty good, my long-range shooting accuracy has been higher during this period!"

Everyone grinned.

They forget that this guy is crazy. The higher the attention, the stronger the desire to express and the better he performs.

Kovacic, Brozovic and other young players stood on the outside, watching these big guys chatting, but they couldn't get a word in.

"How are you playing at Juventus?" Suker suddenly asked Kovacic.

Because of the competition, he did not pay attention to Kovacic's performance.

"I have re-signed the contract with the club and should be able to get more game opportunities next season!"

Kovacic said matter-of-factly.

This season, Dao joined halfway and didn't have enough time to adjust. Even entering the second half of the season, he didn't have many opportunities to play games.

But in order to train him, Juventus still played a lot of games for him.

He has appeared in the league and the Italian Cup.

The performance is not bad!

Although not too amazing, he has shown his talent.

This is why Juventus decided to buy out Kovacic's contract and train him as one of their own.

Next season, he will definitely get more opportunities, especially at the beginning of the season.

After all, the entire Serie A is currently lacking young people, let alone young people with good talents.

Now Serie A can be seen clearly.

It is difficult to attract young talents with top talents such as Kaka and Suker as before. For such super talents with performance and achievements, they will look more towards La Liga and the Premier League. Serie A is no longer within their consideration.

Therefore, Serie A no longer competes for these top talents. Anyone with talent can get a chance in Serie A.

"Did Pirlo teach you well?" Su Ke continued to ask.

Kovacic nodded; "He is very caring and usually a very serious person. Although he is sometimes unsmiling, I still respect him very much."

ha?

Suk looked shocked.

Pirlo, serious? Unsmiling?

What kind of persona is this guy trying to create?

During his time in Milan, he and Pirlo were known as the "two annoying men".

However, Su Ke has no intention of exposing it. Since Pirlo wants to play with this character, let him play.

“It’s not easy to play in the group stage!”

The topic returned to the European Cup.

Srna grinned and said, "The first game is against Portugal, the second game is against Denmark, and the third game is against Germany!"

"It would be great to decide the outcome with Germany in the first game, but we still have to wait until the third game!" Mandzukic said.

Modric; "I think this is a good thing. At least we can adjust our state through Portugal and Denmark. No one can guarantee that our current state is very good. Once we meet Germany in the first game, and we still have If we lose, it will be difficult for us!”

"What if we win?" Duimovic shrugged. He is an optimist; "It will be much easier to play if we win."

"How is Bayern's current status?" Suker asked Mandzukic.

"Full state!" Mandzukic shook his head.

Vukojevich; "No one in the main force was injured!"

Suker turned to look at Perisic; "Where is Dortmund?"

"Same!" Perisic said concisely.

The German national team is currently based on Bayern Munich's lineup, integrating outstanding players from the Bundesliga.

Among them, Bayern Munich and Dortmund account for the largest proportion of the main positions.

"It seems like it's a head-to-head confrontation!" Su Ke shook his head.

Neither Germany nor Croatia had any injuries or losses, so it could only be a head-on confrontation.

What's more, in the 2008 European Cup, Germany lost to Croatia.

Under the old and new grudges, Germany will inevitably clash with Croatia in the group stage.

Even if Croatia wants to retain some strength and the two sides work together to kill Portugal and Denmark, this kind of cooperation will almost never exist.

It is possible to switch to Spain, but Germany will definitely not cooperate with Croatia.

"What do you want to do with this? It's not like I can't kick it!" Duimovich clenched his fists: "It doesn't matter if it's Germany or Spain, just kill it!"

"How domineering!" Mandzukic gave a thumbs up; "People who don't know would think you are Mr. Ballon d'Or!"

"Fuck you!"

The two quarreled again.

On the third day, a batch of supplies arrived at the training base.

Not training stuff, but some clothing.

This is an exclusive suit for the Croatian national team specially customized by the Croatian Football Association.

A slightly casual black suit with the Croatian flag on the chest.

Dark gray bottoming shirt, black vest and black tie.

Wearing this suit immediately doubled the pressure on the Croatian national team.

Throughout the whole day, the Croatian players did not train. They were more engaged in some poster shooting.

In the past, Croatia was a small and transparent place in Europe. No one noticed what you wore.

Therefore, when Croatia goes on tour, they just pull out their training clothes, and no one pays attention to them anyway.

But it's different now.

Favorite to win the European Cup!

Defending European Cup champion!

The team is full of stars!

Adding these conditions together, Croatia's attention is also rising.

In the past, when a bumpkin went out, no one would pay attention to him.

But now, they have to sharpen their image.

What's more, in an era when football commercialization is prevalent, they are very aware of the necessity of packaging and dressing up.

This can not only bring positive influence to the players, but also bring more attention to the national team.

Moreover, this poster shooting was also a requirement of UEFA.

You have to combine suits with football.

For this reason, after one day of hard work, a photo album titled ‘Croatian Suit Thugs’ quickly became popular on the Internet.

Croatian stars, who are usually unkempt, all have their hair slicked back, and their image is not too tense at all.

Of course, not only Croatia, but also the German, Spanish, and Portuguese versions soon appeared one after another, which to a certain extent warmed up the European Cup in advance.

"Put away the useless ones!"

Suk was tired of the tossing.

But there is no way. After all, it is a requirement of UEFA. If you want to participate in the European Cup, it is better not to be special.

But it only lasted a day, and it passed patiently.

Starting from June 1st, European Cup participating teams began to travel to Poland and Ukraine.

Croatia also set off on the 2nd, and the whole team went to Poland to prepare for the competition.

The capital of Poland, Warsaw.

As the Croatian team arrived in Warsaw, the entire airport became extremely lively.

The surrounding Polish fans waved their flags to welcome the Croatian national team to Poland.

For the local Polish people, they are happy.

Throughout the European Cup, most of the events were held in Ukraine, but Poland still managed to get into the first round of Group B.

That is Croatia versus Portugal.

Although Croatia vs. Germany is also very attractive, being able to win this game is extremely exciting for the local fans in Warsaw.

These stars, who can usually only be seen through TV, are standing in front of them one by one, and they will also play in their newly built National Stadium in Warsaw. There is nothing better than this.

Along the way, the enthusiastic Polish fans were shouting the name of 'Suk'.

He was the center of attention wherever he went.

At this time, Su Ke should also appear in a casual suit, but instead of wearing a slicked back hair, he simply used hair wax to comb his hair to both sides to create a slightly side parted look.

The tie is also tied loosely around the neck. With his slender figure, he looks like a clothes rack when wearing a suit.

Of course, for Su Ke himself, training clothes are the most comfortable.

Suker and other members of the Croatian national team stood together, and they were snapped by cameras.

Since he left the airport, the necessary procedures made Suker feel a little irritated.

The flash lights almost blinded him.

After finally finishing these procedures, the Polish official TV station directly pulled over a live broadcast car.

"Thank you for your hard work!"

Srna smiled and patted Suker on the shoulder.

Modric also smiled and said; "The more capable, the more work!"

Mandzukic; "This is the result of you eliminating me from the Champions League!"

Duimovic; "Let's go to the car to enjoy the air conditioning first!"

Vukojevic; "Big stars should accept the interview!"

Amid the mouth-cannons of his friends, Suker could only force a smile to accept the interview.

There was no way, who said he was a representative star of Croatia.

Moreover, this was a request from the organizer, and it was difficult to refuse.

More than half an hour later, Suker returned to the bus to meet with the players.

Seeing Suker return to the bus, Besic also nodded to the driver.

The bus slowly drove out of the airport and headed towards the hotel where they were staying.

Warsaw National Stadium hosted the opening match of the 2012 European Cup.

That is, the match between Poland and Greece!

As the host of the event, it naturally attracted the attention of local fans.

But compared to these, the first round of Group B, Croatia vs. Portugal, is also very popular.

After all, this is another direct dialogue between Suker and Ronaldo.

Croatia is very strong!

But Portugal is not a weak team in the whole of Europe.

Although there is a certain gap in strength, the victory or defeat is still unpredictable.

There is still nearly a week before the start of the game.

During this period, they are more engaged in adaptive training in their home country, and also participate in some activities arranged by the organizer.

As for Suker, under the leadership of Zoranqi, Suker held two autograph sessions in Warsaw.

In this process, they are also studying Portugal.

Portugal has officially entered the Ronaldo era from the Figo era.

This is the same as Croatia.

Players such as Suker, Ronaldo, and Messi have become the leaders of various national teams. They are no longer little brothers, but undoubted locker room bosses.

In this season, in addition to Ronaldo, Moutinho, Greales, Nani, Pepe and others are all targets that need attention in Portugal's lineup.

Thinking of this, Suker felt a little headache.

Germany and Portugal are both at the semi-final level of this European Cup!

Although Croatia has also reached the peak of history, it can't stand such a huohu.

If it weren't for the endorsement of the European Cup Fairness Committee, Suker almost thought that they were messed up by UEFA again after the World Cup.

But this time it is obviously not, it's just pure bad luck!

The second and third tiers are almost all the strongest teams in each tier.

At the same time, Portugal is also studying Croatia's lineup.

But the more you look at the lineup, the more desperate it is!

Paulo Bento served as the head coach of Portugal in 2010. As one of the representatives of Portugal's golden generation, he is also continuing to create value for this national team.

But now Paulo Bento has complained more than once.

"Why is it Group B!"

Paulo Bento rubbed his eyebrows.

If he were in any other group, he would still be confident of qualifying.

But Group B is a hornet's nest!

It explodes with a poke!

Play Croatia in the first round and Germany in the second round!

It can be said that Portugal is under more pressure than Croatia.

Of course, they have Cristiano Ronaldo, but Croatia also has Suker, and the lineup is more complete, without obvious shortcomings.

It has also experienced the baptism of the 2008 European Cup and the 2010 World Cup.

It can be said that, like the outside world, Paulo Bento also believes that this Croatia will be extremely competitive in the next two years.

Only a historically strong team like Spain can compete with them!

And they drew Croatia in the first tier and Germany in the second tier.

This luck is simply unmatched!

Many small teams think they have drawn a bad lottery and complained to the media everywhere.

What are they complaining about!

Portugal is in hell mode!

But as a head coach, he needs to withstand the pressure no matter how difficult it is.

"Is there no injury loss in Croatia at present?" Paulo Bento asked his assistant.

The assistant shook his head; "According to the latest news, Croatia is almost all main force against the opponent."

"Didn't they reorganize the central defenders? How did they perform?"

"The performance is very stable!" After a pause, the assistant said; "During the European Cup qualifiers, Croatia won all the games and advanced, so there is no problem with them at all. The opponent's strength is not enough to expose their problems!"

Paulo Bento rubbed his eyebrows again.

The opponent is not strong enough and failed to kick out problems.

In the first round of the game, Paulo Bento was confident that Portugal's ability was enough for Croatia to deal with seriously.

Not to mention the issue of winning or losing, they can indeed play some of Croatia's things.

And in the second round, they will play Germany again, and they can also play some of Germany's things.

This is just to send intelligence to these two teams!

But even so, they have to play.

"Try to draw!"

Paulo Bento also wants to win, but he really doesn't have the foundation and ability to win.

For Portugal, a draw is the best result.

Against Croatia, try to get a draw.

Against Germany, keep a draw and win!

In this way, Portugal will have enough capital to wait and see.

Once Croatia defeats Germany, Portugal has hope of qualifying as second in the group.

Therefore, for Portugal, it must draw with Croatia so that there will be a basis for subsequent operations.

Thinking of this, Paulo Bento couldn't help but sigh; "Why can't Ronaldo's generation produce so many outstanding players like Croatia?"

If there is only one Su Ke, it is easy to use tactics and numbers to target him.

Perhaps Croatia's situation will be similar to Portugal's.

But the problem is that Croatia not only has Suker, but also Mandzukic, Modric, Rakitic, Srna, Vukojevic and others.

The emergence of a spurt of talent has increased Croatia's status in football.

In Croatia at the end of the 20th century, even if they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, they were still dark horses.

But for Croatia now, if they don't reach the semi-finals, it will be an upset.

This is also the recognition of Croatia by fans around the world.

Although Croatia is not a strong established team, it is definitely a super upstart team!