Chapter 164 2008 European Cup

The 13th European Cup in 2008 was jointly hosted by Switzerland and Austria for the second time after being jointly organized by the Netherlands and Belgium in 2000. Sixteen of the best national teams in Europe will participate in the Drounet Cup.

Among the four groups, the Belgian team where Digan is located was divided into Group A, and the host Swiss team, Turkey team and the traditional European strong team Czech Republic are in the same group with Belgium.

One of the two hosts of Switzerland's European Cup, compared with the weak results of the Austrian team, Switzerland seems to be the best among the mid-stream teams in Europe.

However, when it comes to the real rise of Swiss football, it began with the 2002 European Youth Championship, in which the Swiss U17 national team won the championship. Two years later, the Swiss national team entered the finals of the Portuguese European Cup, ending the dark era of missing the World Series for many years.

Four years later, the Swiss national team with the U17 national team shocked the world in the German World Cup. In the group stage plus one-eighth final, it did not conced a goal in 390 minutes and was only eliminated in the penalty shootout.

In the last European Cup, Switzerland tied and lost two in the group stage, ranking second to last among all 16 teams. Obviously, such a result does not satisfy the Swiss.

"Now the situation is different. We have the ability to make it to the knockout stage." Core player Senderos said confidently, "Many of us have been playing together since the age of 14. We know how well we can do. The World Cup in Germany is an example."

All Swiss are looking forward to this European Cup, although the most popular sport in Switzerland is not football, but skiing, although the Swiss's favorite athlete is not from football, but Federer, the king of tennis.

But as Kuhn, the head coach of the Swiss national team, said: "I can feel the ** of the fans, perhaps because we are tired of always taking quiet cows as the symbol of the country. We want to show the world something new and rarely seen, such as an angry bull."

For the midstream teams that have always been like this, the quality of the grouping can often influence their record, and the "weird" team classification of Euro 2008 may bring a lot of trouble to the Swiss team.

In addition to facing the competition of strong enemies, the injury problem in the team is also a major problem that plagues coach Kuhn. The overhaul of the number one star Frey is still unknown whether he can participate in the group stage, which is even worse for the unaffluent Swiss team, and captain Vogel is also suffering from injuries, which will greatly affect the ball. The team launched an attack on higher honors.

Because he is an opponent of the same group, Degan naturally pays attention to the Swiss team, because as the host, he does not need to participate in the qualifiers, and the warm-up match has become the main way for other teams to observe them. In the recent friendly matches, the Swiss team's good results have also made the team exposed in an unfavorable situation. Very ambitious.

"The top four are the primary goal, but we must strive to realize greater dreams, meet challenges with confidence, and complete self-transcendence." Bishop Kuhn said this when looking forward to the team's prospects.

In addition to the host Switzerland, which has a home advantage, Belgium led by Degan obviously cannot ignore the Eastern European Iron Riding Czech team, which is the golden generation.

Although countless talented players have emerged in history, the decline of Czech football is helpless. After their stunning debut in 1996, the once-thous Czech team has a lot of fate, the "golden generation" of Bobowski, Nedvid, Kuka and Smi Cher and others have all been far away. In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Czechs completed their last game, and the golden age of Czech football came to an end. The fragile knee of the new core Rosiki may lose control of the team in the midfield at any time.

This European Cup is the first game after Czech football entered the "post-golden generation". Judging from the qualifiers, this new Czech national team did not perform well. Although it finally pressed Germany to qualify as the first in the group, it is largely thanks to the Germans's relaxation after getting the right to qualify in advance. Except for Rosiki and Cech, no one in the middle generation can reach the level of the "golden generation" of that year.

However, the Czech team obviously does not intend to sit back and wait for death. Cech, the core player of the team, said in an interview after arriving in Switzerland with the team: "Compared with the Portuguese European Cup and the World Cup in Germany, the Czech team's luck in the group draw this time has improved. Belgium with Degan is worthy of respect, but It is invincible. Turkey and Switzerland are both tenacious, but lack talent. The most important thing in the group stage is the second game against Belgium. If we lose, we are likely to be forced to win Turkey in the last round to qualify, but I still firmly believe that we have a great opportunity to break out of the group. Wei, but it depends on luck how far you can go later.

Chekh is full of confidence, but obviously they are not the main focus of Degan. If any team in this group needs special attention, it is only Turkey, which has had a feud with Belgium at Euro 2000.

After decades of confusion, Turkish football has re-emerged in recent years and proudly joined the ranks of international strong teams. Turkey participated in the 1996 and 2000 European Cups respectively, and then ushered in the team's historic glory in the 2002 World Cup, reaching the semi-finals and finally winning the third place.

However, in this European Cup qualifier, Turkey's road to qualifying can be described as twists and turns. After winning the first four rounds, it lost points in the weak team one after another. After losing to Greece at home in the penultimate round, the Star and Moon Legion was already in danger. Fortunately, Turkey defeated Norway away in a battle of Tianwang Mountain, and then won a small home victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last round, taking the last bus of the European Cup by one point.

Previously, the Turkish national team announced the preparation list for the European Cup. In this list, most of them are players who play in the national league. The two major domestic giants Fenerbahce and Galatasaray occupy half of the national team. However, on the front line, Turkey still relies on Nihat and veteran Suc to attack the city. Little Altintop, who plays for Bayern, will become the core of the midfielder. In the 2000 European Cup, Turkey once pressed the host Belgium team to qualify, and this time they still hope to play the role of dark horse again.

Finally, it was the Belgian team led by Degan. After the qualifiers, the team unexpectedly began to change their blood, and the former meritorious players were excluded from the selection of the national team one after another, replaced by a large number of young people.

Maybe this national team, which is mainly composed of young people, lacks experience, but there is Degan, the hottest striker in the world football today. It is still very exciting to know how this team will perform in the European Cup finals.

In terms of the club, Degan's achievements are enough to shame any world-class star, and now he is looking forward to a breakthrough in the national team.

The four teams in Group B have another host Austria, European powerhouse Croatia, Germany, the winner of three European Cups, and Poland, the king of the qualifiers.

When it comes to Austria, the first thing people think of is music and art, not football. There have been too many musical geniuses in the history of this country. Perhaps it is the development of art that makes it difficult for the country to achieve much in sports.

For the Austrian team, "mediocre" is the most appropriate evaluation. Before the game starts, Austria has been known as the weakest seed team in the history of the European Cup. It is not easy to score points, let alone tell the line. In the previous warm-up match, they have lost nine games in a row. In the European Cup finals, how to avoid being fish by Germany, Croatia and other powers has become the most concerned topic of the domestic media. Perhaps Austrian players who play the violin with their feet will be much better than kicking the ball with their feet

being in continental Europe may be the greatest sadness of Austrian football. Before this European Cup, they had said goodbye to international competitions for nearly 10 years, and their last appearance was still in the 1998 World Cup in France.

In the last two opportunities, the 2004 European Cup qualifiers were defeated by the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. The 2006 World Cup qualifiers originally made a good start. In the first game, they drew with the England team, which was very popular for winning the championship at that time, but they still missed the competition and were still lost their tickets by Poland. They all said goodbye to the third regret in the group. Perhaps from this point of view, Austria is not a pure fish brisket teacher.

Most of the players in the Austrian team are mixed in the small leagues, and only a few people can climb to the top. Bogartz is in Middlesbrough of the Premier League, Grikos plays for Empoli in Serie A, and Ibertsberg plays in Freiburg in the Bundesliga.

These three defenders, together with 75-year-old midfielder Wissingberger and 20-year-old young striker Harnick, are all the players of the Austrian national team playing in the five major leagues.

However, it should be noted that there are many players born in the team around 1985, and it seems that the head coach is also aware of training new people.

This competition is also the first time in Austria's history to advance to the European Cup finals, but unfortunately, it relies on its identity as the host. The team has not been trained through long qualifiers, and only warms up with some low-value friendly matches, but they still win more and win less.

"This is a process of constantly facing and overcoming difficulties and setbacks." Even their head coach Hicklsberg was cautious, but in order to encourage most of the young players in the team, he immediately said, "Austria and Switzerland, as the host, will create a bloody game. I firmly believe that we will make history and enter the quarterfinals."

Okay!

Maybe he doesn't even believe it himself.

However, the strength is not good, but the attitude can't be bad. As the saying goes, the stupid bird flies first. Austria, which is recognized as the weakest in the top 16 of this European Cup, started training earlier than other teams, trying to make up for the inherent shortcomings with acquired efforts.

In the latest national team ranking released by FIFA, Austria ranks 43rd. Although they are not the lowest in the top 16 of the European Cup, and there is another host Switzerland at the bottom of 48 behind them, even Austrians themselves know that this is just a false reputation, just like a floating cloud in the sky. Switzerland is good At least it is also the top 16 of the 2006 World Cup, and if Austria is not the host country, I don't know when it will wait to participate in the European Cup.

The eyes were poisoned by Austria, and the next team will definitely make people excited in an instant, the world's most powerful team, Germany.

As the world's top giant who won three World Cups and three European Cups, although the honor of their predecessors is very far away from them, German chariots will be regarded as the biggest favorite to win the championship in every world competition.

Delicate and calm, pursue precision and depth, have a rigorous scientific attitude and order, and the Germanic spirit is also reflected in German football.

Three consecutive European Cups accompanied by the death group, and the last two sessions simply died in the group stage. Maybe UEFA also felt guilty about this big family. This time, they gave them the most ideal sign, and finally no longer fell into the group of death, and they could not meet the traditional strong team until the finals.

Unlike previous competitions, the depth of the German team's lineup has been improved this time. The front line is no longer supported by Klose alone. Gomez, Podolsky and Kurani can be alone.

Barack is still the only world-class star of the German team. In his two World Cups, the German team has gone a long way. Now what the Germans need is to move forward solidly.

If there is a penalty shootout on the way forward, its opponent will start to tremble. Since 1976, Germany has participated in six penalty shootout games in the World Cup and the European Cup. With their steel will, they have won five of them, with a winning rate of 83%.

In this European Cup, the German Football Association sounded the horn of the European Cup in a shocking way. There is no doubt that this is a smart decision. German coach Leaf, accompanied by a press officer, announced the 23-man list of the German team to the world, the highest point in Germany, which indicates that the German team is eager to reach the top of the European Cup.

In this list, the most surprising decline of the national team regular and Valencia goalkeeper Hildebrand. Due to Valencia's continuous civil strife this season, he was swept by his opponents many times in the second half of the season. As the main goalkeeper, Hildebrand's position in the national team has plummeted.

goalkeeper coach Copke said that due to his stable performance in the past year, Leverkusen's young goalkeeper Adler "deserved to go to the European Cup." Even in the competition with veteran Enke, Hildebrand also failed to win favor and eventually became a spectator of the European Cup.

Shortly after the draw, the famous European William Hill betting company announced the odds of winning the championship. In William Hill's opinion, which country is most likely to win next year's European Cup?

The answer is Germany, and Loeff's team ranks first with 1 to 4. Of course, Germany should be at the top due to their good luck. Austria, Croatia and Poland, the other three teams in the same group with Germany, do not seem to be Germany's opponents. There is no problem with the group's qualifying. As for the future, it depends on whether the Germanic chariot is full of fuel.

Poland is an ill-fated country with countless steel warriors. The revival of Poland in the past two years is eye-catching. After 40 years of qualifiers, Poland will appear on the stage for the first time. Although the team does not have many stars, the magical coach Benhak, who has traveled around for more than 30 years, will bring the team to the three cores, goalkeeper Borutz and "middlefielder "Barbarian" Krynovick and "frontline swinger" Smolarek magically pinched together and overwhelmed Belgium and Portugal in the qualifiers. More importantly, the Polish Football Association, the media, players and even fans have great trust in Benhak, and the unprecedented atmosphere of unity adds victory to the Poles's group stage trip.

Although the first game of the qualifiers lost to Belgium, which lacked Digan, encountered a "open door" and Matuac's goals in the second round failed to help the team win, then Benhak's team began to win six consecutive victories, defeating Lithuania 1:0 away, defeated Portugal 2:1 at home, and finally defeated Portugal with a small The leader of the group was promoted with his head held high.

However, this season, Polish football suffered a heavy blow, and the match-up scandal almost swept away the first division. After two years of investigation, four first-class teams and two second-class teams were relegated, and the defending champion Lubin Basin Club was sentenced to death. Just because of the excitement of the successful bid for the 2012 European Cup, he was washed away by the storm, and the Dutch coach of the Polish team, Benhak, even planned to resign.

The preparation for the European Cup of the Polish national team began under this chaotic situation. It is worth noting that Rogel, a Brazilian who plays for the Lieds in Warsaw. Guerrero, who became a Polish citizen, was finally selected to the Polish national team after obtaining permission from FIFA. Guerrero will be the biggest highlight of the Polish team in this European Cup.

It was Croatia that was finally divided into this group. In 1996, people saw Croatia for the first time in a world football match. On November 21, 2007, at Wembley Stadium, a heavy rain did not extinguish the "torch" of the Croats, which stiffened England's hope of promotion. He rushed into the sewer of the court.

The red and white plaid army, nicknamed "torch", will encounter the challenge of the host Austria, the popular Germany and the strong Eastern European team Poland under the leadership of a bachelor of law, rock youth, language experts, poets and a young commander.

"Rejuvenation" is Croatia's advantage. In the rising star, Modric, Korluka and others have gradually become big players. Kranica and Rakitic also played well in the European League. Several "early 80" players such as Srner and Petriki have been veterans, plus the Kovac brothers and Simić The veteran is under pressure, and the Brazilian da Silva is a divine soldier, which has the charm of the former Suk. This torch, which has eliminated the English team, will become a fire in summer and continue to burn in Austria. Maybe they can repeat the great cause created by Croatia in 1998.

In addition, unlike England, Croatia rarely "splittles the accelerator in the second half" after taking the lead, which is the most enviable point for McLaren. The Three Lions' two-time qualifying situation finally collapsed at the last minute. Bilic's team is full of resilience and the first match. Seton is particularly classic, reversing its opponents at the last minute, showing Croatia's maturity after World Cup experience. As English fans and Beckham fans, people may hate Croatia, but they can't deny their strength.

More than a month before the opening of the European Cup, Croatian national team coach Bilic announced the final 23-man list, becoming the first team to announce the list of 16 national teams participating in the European Cup final stage.

In this list, there are only two players from the Croatian domestic league, and the rest play in other European leagues. Among them, the most eye-catching player is undoubtedly the "Cruf" Modric, who has just followed Fiorentina to win the triple crown.

"I don't want to reveal our goal, but I think we can accomplish it through hard work." Bic said confidently, "Many difficulties await us, but as long as we can get a little luck help, we will have a chance to triumph."

Like previous international competitions, the group of death is always an unavoidable topic, and so is this European Cup, and Group C has become a veritable group of death.

The top seat of the death group is the World Cup champion Italy, opening the history of Italian football. The last European Cup champion was 40 years ago, but this does not affect the fans' love for them at all.

When the Italian team appeared, all tactics and formations became unimportant. It was most important to enjoy it quietly, especially when the opening prelude the national anthem, the camera swept the ten seconds of the athletes, because the handsome and resolute faces were beautiful and beautiful.

The Italian team in this European Cup qualified first in the group from the super death group of the qualifiers and was then divided into the death group, but as the 2006 World Cup champion, there is no reason to exclude Italy from the winning competition.

Although Maldini has gone and Baggio's back is a little blurred, as long as the Italian team comes out, they will bring the sunshine of Apennine.

But after a peak, a low tide often follows. Especially for a free and loose nation like Italy, after winning a great victory, they often choose to revel instead of going further. Therefore, after winning the World Cup in 1982, they failed to reach the finals of the 1984 European Cup and lost face.

This time, Italy almost made the same mistake. Lippi retreated after the World Cup, which is not a good signal in itself. The whip of the world champion is always a hot potato. Finally, amid doubts, the Italian Football Association chose Donadoni, who lacked qualifications. Tired, confused and doubted, the world champion began the journey of the European Championship in such an atmosphere.

The first battle was defeated by Lithuania, and the second battle was defeated by France. As critics feared, Italy quickly pushed itself to the edge of the cliff. Under the strong momentum of France and Scotland, Italy looks almost no different from the Blue Army in 1983, and Donadoni's call for the end of class is getting louder and louder.

But never despise the champion's heart. Italy stood up at a critical moment this time. After the chaos and discomfort of the beginning, Donadoni and his Blue Army, who gradually entered the role, temporarily resolved the clouds with a wave of five consecutive wins, especially defeating direct rival Scotland made Italy take the initiative.

With Scotland's unexpected defeat in Lithuania, Italy's qualifying situation has become clear. As long as a draw is maintained in Glasgow, the world champion can successfully break out of the siege. Italy, which is good at life-and-death battles, did not let the opportunity slip away. In a classic Italian match, Donadoni's team defeated Scotland 2:1 and advanced to the 2008 European Cup.

It looks thrilling, but in fact, the life and death of the world champion are on the front line. At this time, Italians do not need to thank God, but should thank Donadoni, who had been suspected by them, for achieving brilliant success under extremely difficult conditions.

This success not only means that Donadoni led the Italian national team to qualify, but more importantly, under his command, the Blues came out of Lippi's shadow and built a national team that was deeply branded with Donadoni, which was very different from the German World Cup. This creates space for Italy to continue to move forward after winning the World Cup.

Take over in the chaos, start in defeat, and move forward steadily in criticism and ridicule, Donadoni showed the patience, confidence and determination that a champion coach should have.

What is more valuable is that donadoni can recognize and correct his mistakes in time after making mistakes, which is more gratifying to Italians than the stubborn coach Trapatoni.

In the face of Totti and Nesta's hesitation and Piero's "verbal warning", Donadoni also showed his tough side and boldly excluded the three most influential Italian stars in the past 5 to 7 years from the national team, reducing debate and winning a quiet atmosphere for the team.

Donadoni has made great contributions, and Italian players are equally commendable, especially those "new" internationals who have not won the world championship.

Ambrosini, Dinatale and Panucci all played a vital role in the Italian qualifying process. Barzali, who could not be reused under Lippi, also shouldered the burden of the Italian central defender in time, as well as the new stars on the sidelines contributed by Florence, which are also worth looking forward to. These players and those who are still motivated The advancing world champions together constitute Donadoni's team. They have both experience, quality and desire, and are a trustworthy king's teacher.

The Italian team, as the World Cup champion, is undoubtedly one of the favorites to win the 2008 European Cup, and captain Cannavaro is confident that his team will become the final champion in Austria and Switzerland.

Cannavaro, who has played 115 times for Italy, will participate in his last competition in this summer's European Cup, and in front of him is a milestone of only 9 games to catch up with the record of the Maldini national team.

In addition, the selection of Montolivo, Antonini, Abat, Pacini, Maggio, Ledesma, and naturalized player Mota has also made Fiorentina a major player in the Italian national team.

However, being in the group of death also makes Italy's journey full of variables. Coach Donadoni said in an interview: "This group is very difficult, and the road to promotion will be very difficult. I had a hunch of this bad result when drawing lots, but I didn't expect it to become a reality. Now I don't want to complain about anything. I will work hard with the team. The Netherlands and France are obviously the strongest opponents in the group. Both teams have won the European Cup. Romania can't be underestimated. They have always liked to give People are surprised."

Romania is indeed ready to surprise people. Today's Romanian team, under the transformation of the striker coach Piturka, has also become a horrible "vampire count". In the European Cup qualifier, it pressed the Dutch team to qualify first and scored 26 goals in 12 games, more than the Dutch team. 11 in the whole. When the three giants of the death group, France, Italy and the Netherlands, came to Romania, they couldn't help but talk about the change of color.

Although Romania's star players are only Zivo and Digan's frontline partner Mutu in Florence, the players selected for the national team are familiar with each other. According to media comments, "The accuracy of passing between players can be measured in centimeters."

At the end of the European Championship qualifiers, Croatia and the Czech Republic are undoubtedly the focus of attention among all the advanced Eastern European teams. The former defended the honor of Eastern European football with an extremely dedicated sportsmanship, while the latter is the strongest team in Eastern Europe in recent years. However, there is another team that is enough to become the representative of Eastern European football, which is Romania.

After nearly a year and 12 rounds of hard matches, Romania finally beat the popular team Netherlands to become the first in the group and got the ticket to the final stage one round earlier.

Detailed Romania's qualifying process, it was a decisive battle to get four points against the Netherlands at home and away, which allowed them to directly gain a comparative advantage with the Netherlands and lay the foundation for finally overwhelming the Orange Army and opening the door to the final stage of the European Championship.

In today's Romanian team, Mutu, who plays for Serie A, is undoubtedly the brightest star. Today's Mutu is no longer the down-and-out player who took drugs, was banned and then swept out by Chelsea.

Having come to the Renaissance city of Florence, Mutu seems to have embarked on the road of career revival. The golden combination of Mutu and Digan can be called the "best partner" in Serie A this season. With Florence, he has made great progress and won the triple crown.

Mutu's performance in the national team is equally wonderful. Mutu has become the soul of Romania both on and off the court. Under the leadership of Mutu, young player Marika has also made rapid progress. The striker of the Donetsk Miners is fast and is proficient in 18 kinds of martial arts such as disk, shooting and passing. In time, he will definitely become Mutu's right-hand man.

Romania used to be a banner of Eastern European football, with skilled ground cooperation and superb personal skills, which made them surpass Eastern Europe and achieve a series of brilliant achievements.

In the 1994 World Cup, under the leadership of the "middle conspirators" Haji, Romania passed all the way and even eliminated the popular Argentine team to win the championship. Although it failed to cross Sweden in the end, Romania became one of the biggest highlights of the World Cup, "Maradona in the Calpa Mountains" Ji has become a world-class midfield master.

Now, under the leadership of the same genius Mutu, Romanians hope to perform the glory of those years again, so that the eagles of the Balkan Peninsula will soar over Europe again.

Another giant in the group of death is the Netherlands. The enchanting tulips are many world-class stars with dazzling playing methods. They can win any world strong team, but they can also be inexplicably defeated at the feet of the weak brigade and get out after **, just like the tulips all over the Netherlands. It can wither overnight, so the Dutch team has more sad colors.

In this European Cup, Basten changed the **-filled "433" formation to an effective "442". Compared with the Dutch team that used to be cloudy and flamboyant offensive storm, today's Dutch team is more stable and a little more conservative, and unlikely to play the smooth side road as before. Attack. Nevertheless, Van der Fat, Sneed, Robben, Van Persie and other midfielders with extraordinary creativity are still expected to organize, creativity and improvise on the offensive field.

Looking back on the Dutch team's qualifier journey, although the Oranges performed well and unsurprisingly, and did not encounter too much trouble on the route, the team led by the legendary superstar Basten was always not the appetite of the domestic media and fans.

The Dutch media have pointed out more than once, "This is not the Netherlands we are familiar with."

After losing to Belarus in the last round of the qualifiers, the Dutch media criticized the team, which had qualified ahead of schedule, believing that it was a Netherlands that "lost the spirit of full attack and defense", calling the team under Basten as a "lost generation".

Indeed, the Dutch fans who penetrate the spirit of all attack and defense penetrate into their bones's thirst for the wonderful scenes of the game far exceeds their demand for the results of the game. They have never put down the "body" Tulip Legion in the competition, and have also won the team the reputation of "Uncrowned King". In addition to the 88 European Cup, the honor book of the Dutch national team was blank. Of course, the ambitious Basten wanted to change this embarrassing situation. The "swan" born in the Netherlands and grew up in Italy naturally picked up the defensive skills learned in Apennine.

It turns out that Basten's transformation of the team has been successful. Although the game scene is ugly, the quality of defense has improved, which is especially important for the Netherlands, which is in a period of blood exchange.

Basten, the young coach who is about to play in the European Cup, is full of ambition, but just as the war is approaching, midfielder Sedorf suddenly announced his withdrawal from the European Cup.

Van Basten was surprised by Sedorf's decision: "I was surprised by his decision. This is not the news I expected. I told Clarence that I respect him as a player or an individual, but he has made a decision."

For Sedorf's active withdrawal, public opinion generally believes that the reason is his dissatisfaction with the coach. Although he returned to the national team, Sedorf believes that he has not been reused by the head coach. Previously, he has also expressed his disappointment with Van Basten's tactical ideas.

"In the past few days, the team has been trapped by negative factors, but we have not learned the lessons of the past, which has forced some great players to make difficult choices. I don't want to cause the team's tension, let alone affect the future of this competition." About his decision, Sedorf also explained in an interview.

Civil unrest is a tradition of the Dutch team. From Cruyff, Gulit to Davis, the core players of previous teams have opted out of the national team due to conflicts with the coach.

For Van Basten, Seedorf is no longer the first international to publicly express dissatisfaction with himself. Before him, Van Niswani had also had a bad relationship with him about tactical arrangements, and another midfielder, Van Bomel, said that as long as Van Basten was in office, he would refuse to play for the national team.

The team is in turmoil and divided into the group of death. It can be said that the Dutch team's journey, which has not yet started, has been cast a shadow. After arriving in Austria, Basten said: "This is a too difficult group. There are actually two World Cup champion teams in the same group, both of which are great teams. He has great players and rich competition experience. This is a difficult challenge for us. We must first face Italy and then fight against France, and then we will know what the final outcome will be.

The Dutch young coach admitted that the team had suffered a death group at last year's World Cup, and this time he suffered the same thing: "At last year's World Cup in Germany, we were in a group with Argentina, Serbia and Idyva. At that time, we were called the death group, and now it is the same. Compared with strength, this time The group is more difficult, and every opponent in the group is very strong.

Basten once played for AC Milan with the current Italian coach Donadoni, and the Dutchman admitted that he was very familiar with his current opponent: "When playing football, I played with AC Milan with Donadoni for a long time, and he is a difficult opponent. Italy has always been a country with a good football tradition. They have been able to reach the final stage in all competitions. The French team has also performed well in the past few years, which is undoubtedly a very difficult group.

Speaking of Romania, the opponent he once faced in the qualifiers, Basten admitted that this is also a strong team: "We have met Romania in the qualifier stage, and they are also strong. What we can do is to stand up and face it bravely."

Although Basten said it very hard, it sounded like saying, "I'm too wronged!"