Chapter 127 Strong Enemy France

The knockout competition has to face a strong enemy France, while Ukraine, which is promoted as the second place in Group H, has to face a relatively weak Switzerland. Belgium's first group is not known whether it should be happy or worried.

France is one of the most influential teams in Europe and the football of the century. They won the European Championship twice in 1984 and 2000, and in 1998, France won the World Cup at home. The French team experienced the glory of the Platini era and fell into the trough in the early 1990s. With the emergence of Zidane, Henry and other stars who have made the most eye-catching in world football so far, the French team ushered in glory again and became the first team to win the European Cup after winning the World Cup.

Ligue 1 is one of the five major European football leagues and the cornerstone of training French football stars. In recent years, Ligue 1 teams have played an increasingly important role in European football, especially the sudden rise of Lyon in recent years, which has impressed the whole world football.

In today's French national team, head coach Domenek has a talented midfield organizer like Zidane, Henry, Trezeguet and other "best scorers" leading the front line, and the defense of Bats, Thuram and other old and strong. On the stage of the World Cup, the French team is still outstanding.

But if you analyze it carefully, it is not difficult to see that France is no longer a world-class strong team at present. Every country has this time when it is too young and too old. Although the combination of Henry and Trezeguet is very threatening in the country In the home team, Henry has always been unable to support Ah Fu. Zidane, Maclele, Vieira, etc., veteran midfielders, can play a role at a critical moment, but they are somewhat lacking in physical strength. Although there is Tulam in the defender line, it is impossible not to admit that France has become a low-level defensive team and the third line of the whole team. It is a strong one-one-one-one-one-one-one.

And the biggest problem that plagues the French is who will carry the banner of French football after Zidane. As early as June 25, 2004, when the French team lost to Greece and was out of the European Cup. Zidane issued a statement announcing his withdrawal from the national team.

On February 4, 2005, he announced that he would completely bid farewell to the green field after completing his contract with Real Madrid, that is, after the 2006-07 season.

In 2005, Zidane's fans were sad and happy. On the one hand, when the French team was struggling in the European qualifiers of the World Cup and the qualifying situation was precarious, Zidane announced that he would return to the French national team to help establish the team that stumbled in the World Cup qualifiers at that time. Qualification for qualifying. On the other hand, he chose to retire early and will never play for any club after the 2005/2005 season.

Perhaps Zidane's influence is really amazing, when he announced on his official website: "I made the decision to come back." A week later, he has said that Maclele and Thuram have chosen to return from the national team.

This old and strong French team has achieved good results in the following qualifiers, proving to the world that although Zidane is old, his technical and tactical ability is still outstanding.

But in any case, Zidane, who has won all the honors, chose to retreat. For him, saying goodbye to his beloved football at the 2006 World Cup final is undoubtedly the best way.

Although the lineup is aging, and although Zidane will retire after the World Cup, the thin camel is bigger than the horse. In Group G, where the French team is located, Switzerland, South Korea and Togo are not enough to compete with France in terms of strength.

However, it turned out that the French team entered the same slow state as the last World Cup between South Korea and Japan, with a draw with Switzerland 0-0 in the first game, a 1:1 draw with South Korea in the second game, and beat Togo 2-0 in the last round. With the help of Switzerland, they still made a thrilling match.

However, in the previous life, after the group appeared, the French team became more and more brave. In the 1/8 final, they eliminated Spain 3:1, defeated the defending champion Brazil 1-0 in the quarter-finals, and then defeated Portugal 1-0 in the semifinals.

In the final, Zidane led France against Italy, and Zidane calmly scored a spoon penalty and played Buffon.

But in the second half of the overtime, he was sent off with a red card for hitting Italian defender Materazzi with his head. France lost Italy in the final penalty, ending his World Cup journey and winning the runner-up. Zidane retired after the World Cup.

In the face of such a powerful French team, even if Digan is an extremely confident person, he is not sure to win. What's more, now the French team is united. Without the past factional struggles and contradictions, everyone wants to use a World Cup championship trophy as a retirement gift for Zidane. Things.

"France is a strong opponent, and Zidane is a great player. Unfortunately, he will retire after the World Cup, but fortunately, I still have a chance to compete with him face to face!"

In an interview before the game, Degan also expressed his expectations for this game. It has always been his dream to compete with the best players in the world. There is no doubt that the greatest player in today's world football is Zidane. It is difficult for Degan to compete before the football master retires. I got excited with control.

Of course, Degan's remarks were used as an excuse to attack him, believing that he lacked the most basic respect for a great player, as if he had ignored Basten at the beginning.

However, Zidane is very open-minded about this: "I know him. Degan is one of the best strikers in world football now. He has a terrible scoring efficiency. I think his strength can become the core of any team in the world. How to defend Degan in the game with Belgium will become our main work. The previous game has proved that he must not be given the opportunity to easily take the ball in the front court, otherwise, he will suffer a heavy price for negligence!"

Henry, the head striker of the French team, said: "I lost to Degan in the Champions League final. I hope to win back on the World Cup stage. Degan is very powerful, but the overall strength of the French team is stronger!"

The players on both sides are ready, and the war is imminent!