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The first round of the knockout round of the European Cup ended, and the German team defeated the Czech Republic 5:0.

Germany became the first team to reach the semi-finals of the European Cup.

At the same time, this game also brought back some morale and image of the German team to a certain extent.

After all, the whole of Europe was talking about how powerful Germany was before, and finally it was beaten 3:0 by Croatia, which was a loss of face.

In this game, the German team played the way they are best at, and won the victory with a cautious attitude and bold attack.

The German team saved some face and also showed their true level.

But the game against Croatia cannot be erased after all, and it is still constantly ridiculed by some extreme German fans.

This also interferes with the mentality of German players to a certain extent.

For Croatia, they are now gradually reaching a climax in all aspects, whether it is morale, state or other aspects.

On June 23, Croatian fans finally waited for the day of Croatia's game again.

In the past, Croatian fans, in addition to excitement, were more nervous and uneasy in every major competition.

Croatia's relatively weak strength is in a state of neither good nor bad in the whole of Europe. At that time, qualifying for the group stage was a symbol of success.

And now, with the 2008 European Cup champion becoming famous.

Croatian players are also all at their peak. It can be said that this Croatia is much more terrifying than 2008.

For this reason, in addition to excitement, the fans are less nervous and anxious.

Although there is still some tension, it is more of a vision of Croatia's victory and an expectation for more exciting games.

The hotel where Croatia stayed is located halfway up the mountain.

On this day, a large number of Croatian fans gathered here from early in the morning.

Although they may not be able to see the players of these national teams, they still want to let these players feel the support from the fans here.

The shouts have never stopped since the morning, and one group of people has changed.

They cheered and shouted hard to cheer for their national team.

At the same time, in the hotel lobby.

The Croatian players have assembled.

The national team's logistics staff were moving the players' jerseys, equipment, drinking water, etc. onto the bus.

"We've finished moving here, and we can set off!"

The logistics staff made an OK gesture to Besic.

Immediately, they shouted to Suker and others:

"Come on!"

"Knock out Greece!"

"Take us to the semi-finals!"

"And the finals!"

"Win the European Cup again!"

"Go! Go!"

The cheers of these lovely logistics staff made Suker and others smile.

They waved and said hello, and then began to walk out of the hotel under the leadership of Besic and prepare to board the bus.

When the Croatian players appeared, a large number of reporters gathered around them began to take pictures, and the flash lights were all over the city.

When the bus drove out of the hotel, the Croatian fans on both sides also burst into intense cheers.

"It's about to play in the knockout rounds, so nervous!" Kovacic rubbed his hands.

"Why are you nervous? You can't play again!" Brozovic shrugged.

He knew very well that they were here to gain experience in this European Cup.

Besic did not intend to use them as immediate combat power.

In addition, they also knew that there was a big gap between them and the absolute main force such as Suker.

Both of them are midfielders.

But who can they replace among the three Croatian midfielders, Rakitic, Modric and Vukojevic?

Therefore, watch the game honestly and keep a calm mind.

Now is not the time for them to exert their strength.

They are the next generation!

The bus drove along the main road all the way to the Kyiv Olympic Stadium.

Along the way, police cars and police riders led the way to escort them.

The Kyiv Olympic Stadium is a multi-functional stadium.

In addition to the green field in the middle, there is also a runway on the periphery.

This proves that this is not a professional football stadium, but it is also the stadium with the largest fan capacity in Ukraine. Based on Croatia's influence and appeal, the game was arranged here, with a fan capacity of 60,000 people.

Of course, Poland's Warsaw National Stadium is also very good.

And it is a professional football stadium, so the viewing experience is better.

However, as the two organizers of the European Cup, it is impossible for Poland to eat up Croatia, a huge drain, alone.

For this reason, most of Croatia's next games will be arranged at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.

The premise is that Croatia can advance.

Of course, no one will doubt this issue.

Although Greece played well, there is almost no chance to beat Croatia.

The outside world has a unified idea about this.

Croatia will definitely win, it's just a matter of winning a few goals.

So far, the total value of the Croatian national team is 830 million.

This is already the value of the top European team!

This is also the highest value in Croatia's history.

In contrast, their opponent Greece is 130 million.

Suker's worth alone is enough to wipe out the entire Greek team.

Of course, Croatia is not the most valuable!

In the entire European Cup, the player with the highest overall net worth is the ‘British Emperor Star’.

1.53 billion!

Almost twice that of Croatia!

Of course, there is a lot of water here, the kind that even a German transfer would not admit!

But England's star-making ability is strong.

Even though you are worth a lot, people can highlight it for you.

Especially for British players, their nationality value bonuses are added, and this has been despised many times by the media in many other countries, but England just refuses to change.

And, this time, England defeated France in the group stage.

Two wins and one draw, reaching the knockout rounds of the European Cup without a defeat, drove these British guys crazy.

They all clamored to punch Croatia, kick Spain, and kill Germany in the middle.

After reading the British media reports, Su Ke finally understood what inflation meant.

With the way the media promotes it, it’s no wonder England players aren’t crazy!

But according to the original time and space, they can't be crazy for too long. They will soon be beaten by Italy's steel defense and then kicked out of the European Cup.

Compared to England, Croatia is still cautious.

Maybe he was afraid of being suppressed before, or his previous strength was not enough to reach the top.

So when they suddenly realized that Croatia seemed very strong!

This kind of strength is not only able to compete with the top teams in Europe, but also to the extent that it can beat the opponent.

For a while, they didn't digest the news very well.

It's like suddenly telling a pauper that you are super rich.

The reason why a poor man spends a thousand yuan to buy a hamburger that he has never dared to buy before.

We are strong!

But we don’t know how to express that we are strong!

Naturally, they couldn't get mad anymore.

The dressing room at the Kyiv Olympic Stadium.

In order to satisfy fans from all over the world, the game time will be relatively late.

The game will be played at 9 p.m.

Players from both sides arrived at the stadium an hour early.

While they were still warming up, footage of the game was being beamed around the world.

And as an opponent of Croatia.

Teams such as Spain, Germany, Italy, and England are all paying attention to this game.

For any team interested in winning the European Cup, Croatia, the defending champion, is the biggest obstacle in front of them.

"Croatia has not made any mistakes so far!"

"There's not enough pressure! They won't make mistakes!"

"The German team made stupid mistakes in the first half, otherwise they would have forced something."

At the hotel where the Spanish national team is staying, everyone is talking about this game.

The frontcourt coach Del Bosque also looked at the scene in the camera and said: "Croatia's defense must have problems, but it has not been able to force out such problems so far."

“They ran very aggressively and made no obvious mistakes!”

Listen to Ramos, Del Bosque; "So, no one put pressure on them, so the defense has been well protected!"

"Germany had a chance to find out these problems, but they failed to play a good game."

"Why do you believe there is a problem with Croatia's defense?" Xavi asked.

Del Bosque: "This is the result based on some data. Of course, this cannot be made clear, but I don't believe that Besic can complete the defense within one year with limited European Cup qualifiers!"

"This requires a lot of games, but compared to these processes, Croatia has played too few games!"

Kiev Olympic Stadium.

After completing the final preparations, Besic led the Croatian substitutes to the coaching bench.

Soon, players from both sides came out one after another.

The starting lineups of both sides are as follows:

Croatia (4-2-3-1):

Goalkeeper: Subasic.

Defenders: Srna, Vida, Lovren, Strinic.

Midfielder: Perisic, Vukojevic, Rakitic, Modric, Suker.

Forward: Mandzukic.

Greece (4-2-3-1):

Goalkeeper: Sifakis.

Defenders: Torosidis, Papastathopoulos, Kyriakos, Chavelas.

Midfielder: Ninis, Marquez, Kachulanis, Maniatis, Samaras.

Forward: Salpingidis.

Seeing the Greek lineup, Besic raised his eyebrows slightly.

Van Steyak on the side also frowned slightly.

"They gave up the No. 9 midfielder Liberopoulos and chose the faster Salpingidis. They wanted to play in the frontcourt!"

Besic nodded; "During the qualifiers, their big center couldn't break through our defense, which gave them a headache. Compared to other teams, we had played against each other in the qualifiers, and Greece targeted us with information. They have a better grasp, and they know that they can’t tear apart our defense line through air combat, so they use penetration.”

"Lovren's turn is slow, and he easily misses people. His positioning is a bit unclear. Of course, this is also the reason why he needs to take the initiative to grab the ball, which leads to some problems."

"Most of the time, Vader will stay behind us, but Vader is too stable and won't take risks, and his defense is not decisive enough, so they want to use this kind of penetration to hit us from behind!"

Vansteyak sighed; "It's going to be exposed after all!"

"Exposed?" Besic couldn't help but smile: "I never thought about hiding it, so what if I let them know? Can they kick it out?"

"Who in the entire football world dares to pat their chests and ensure that there are no problems with their defense? As long as the pressure is in place, even the arrogant Milan will make mistakes. It is normal to have problems. After all, there are only four defensive players. It is difficult for them to have full defense, so this is team football!”

"If there is a problem in the back line, just use your strengths and avoid weaknesses and make up for it through other positions!"

"For us, there are many ways to make amends, but I chose a way that others cannot copy!"

Vansteyak turned to look over.

"Double midfielder?"

Besic smiled; "You are still so sharp!"

Van Steyak nodded; "Vukojevic played as a single defensive midfielder in Bayern Munich, and when he was in Lyon, he also served as a defensive midfielder for a long time. I was still a little confused before, why we had to sacrifice a part of Mo Delic's offensive characteristics have switched to a midfield position in the right triangle!"

"Now I think about it, Modric and Vukojevic are the two most physically fit people in the Croatian team except Suker. I have no doubt that they can run for 90 minutes. If necessary, That’s what they’ll do!”

"And your arrangement may be to make up for the slow turn of the defense?"

Besic nodded and smiled: "Yes, use the midfielder to create a buffer space for the defense. Just like we once provided help to Simunic, they will continue to do so!"

"If Greece wants to play with us in the frontcourt!"

Besic sneered; "We will keep stealing, intercepting, and counterattacking! Until they completely collapse!"

After a pause, Besic said with some regret; "I really hope it is Spain or Germany who fell into this pit. It is a pity that this tactic was exposed when playing against Greece!"

Vansteyak grinned.

He suddenly felt that Besic was also a little sinister.

This guy keeps digging this hole, waiting for someone to fall into it.

In the group stage, even if Suker hadn't exploded, Germany might have been trapped by this trap.

Even Spain will be stunned by the coverage of the double defensive midfielder.

Thinking about it this way, it is indeed a pity to apply it to Greece.

In the stadium, players from both sides have taken their stance.

Greece coach Santos turned his head and looked in the direction of the Croatian coaching bench, especially Besic, who was wearing a suit, with his hands behind his back, and acted like he was giving instructions.

"I'll give you a good look later!"

Sandos said bitterly.

Once they beat Croatia, Greece will become famous.

He wants to take advantage of Croatia's weakness and show them how powerful they are.

The game is about to begin.

The Greek players all looked excited.

Before the game, they made detailed tactical arrangements. They knew exactly how to play and how to break through Croatia's defense.

Modric looked at the opposite forward combination, and he made a warning gesture towards Vukojevic.

Greece suddenly removed its high center forward and replaced it with a faster forward, obviously prepared.

They need to play more cautiously.

Beep!

The whistle sounded.

With the whistle blowing to start the game, the cheers from the audience rose violently.

Amid almost earth-shattering shouts, Greece took the lead in kicking off the ball.

"Come on!"

"dash forward!"

"Suppress them!"

Croatia is also full of momentum and presses forward.

The Greek players returned the ball step by step, and used the pass from the wing and reasonable movement to successfully pick the ball out of the backcourt and advance forward at the same time.

"Samaras!"

Maniatis yelled and kicked the ball over.

Samaras, who was in the Croatian rib area, received the ball. Just as he was about to turn around, he was faced with a fierce hand-to-hand battle from Vukojevic.

"Get rid of him!"

Samaras pulled the ball horizontally, trying to get rid of it, but Vukojevic stuck to his side and refused to move forward at all.

On the wing, the full-back covering the wing was also targeted by Srna.

"Damn it!"

Samaras pulls the ball again to create distance.

This time, Vukojevic did not follow up, but stood his ground and did not give the opponent any space to pass the ball.

"damn it!"

Samaras could only transfer.

He felt that something was wrong, but that was probably the case.

When he was in the rib area, left and right.

A full-back or a central midfielder can create space for forward penetration.

But Croatia placed Srna on the wing, and Modric immediately rushed to the center to stick to his midfielder.

Samaras can only transfer!

And when the ball moves to the other side, the situation is still the same.

I can’t get it in!

The Greek players were a little puzzled. They had clearly thought about it before the game. Why did Croatia's response suddenly change after they were kicked out?

Meanwhile, Spain stayed at the hotel.

Del Bosque looked at the movement of the Croatian midfielder in the picture and couldn't help but clenched his fists.

"I almost got hit!"

It’s not just a matter of the midfielder moving left and right to cover, but also the response of the defense.

When the ball was passed to the side area, Croatia's defense line retreated directly.

This forced Greece to pass the ball to the two wings, and on the route of the forward run, there was no space for running or blocking the ball.

Of course, this was something the Greek players could not see, and he could only perceive this scene from a bird's-eye view.

And all this told him that Croatia had no intention of covering up the problem of the defense line.

No!

This is a pit!

A pit that can kill people!

"Insidious Croatians!"

Bosque couldn't help but exhale, with lingering fears.

Fortunately, Greece stepped on the mine. Once they stepped on this mine, they would be passive throughout the game like Croatia and Germany.

At the same time, in the camera, Greece was still trying to get in like a headless fly.

Little did they know that Croatia's steel defense line was already standing there, ready to kill these invaders.