Chapter 183 War 2

After two rounds of fighting, the situation in Group A and Group B is still unclear. In addition to Croatia, which has been qualified early, there is also a sad host who is confirmed to be out. The rest of the teams still have the opportunity to compete for the right to qualify, not to mention the veritable Group C of Death. After two rounds of this group, it gives people a feeling. It is still chaotic.

In the first round, the Netherlands defeated Italy, France drew with Romania, and in the second round, the World Cup champion Italy will face Romania, which is full of dark horse potential.

In fact, the two countries have a deep relationship. As early as more than 1,900 years ago, Romania was even part of the ancient Romans, the Italian ancestors.

At that time, the ancient Roman army captured the Kingdom of Dacia, which is now Romania, and completed the conquest of the Romanians as one of their own provinces.

Nearly 2,000 years later, the Romanians got the opportunity to fight back on the football field. As long as they did not lose to Italy, they could drive the ancient conquerors into a desperate situation.

In Italy, Romanians are one of the largest minority groups, with more than 500,000 Romanians living in Italy, many of whom have good jobs and social status. In Italy, the two most famous Romanians are undoubtedly Zivo and Mutu, the two captains of the Romanian national team.

It is ironic that the Romanians will block Italy in the European Cup, but their two best stars are trained in Serie A.

Mutu has moved to many teams in Serie A, from Inter Milan to Verona, to Parma, Juventus and Fiorentina, with ups and downs, constantly in glory and loss, but there is no doubt that the most glorious period of Mutu's career was spent in Serie A.

From 2001 to 2003, Mutu grew up to be a world-class star in Verona and Parma, but then lost himself in Chelsea in the Premier League. Drug cases, sex scandals and other troubles almost depressed Mutu, but Juventus saved Mutu and made him a real professional player again.

Then in Florence, Mutu became the second spring of his career and once again became a hot striker in European football. This season, he partnered with Degan, bringing the glory of the Triple Crown to Florence. It can be said that it was Serie A that made Mutu mature, and Serie A made Mutu reborn.

In comparison, Zivo's football career is not as bumpy as Mutu, and he became famous in Ajax in the Eersliga, but he is actually made in Serie A.

At the age of 22, Zivo joined Rome from Ajax. Previously, he was just a new star in European football, but in Rome, Zivo conquered the whole of Europe with stable and efficient performances. Top giants such as Barcelona and Real Madrid launched an offensive against Qiwo almost every summer in order to get this. An all-round player with both offense and defense. Last summer, Civo transferred from Rome to Inter Milan and still performed well and became the absolute main force on the Nerazzurri' defensive line.

Serie A has trained two world-class stars for Romanians, and now Italians are fighting to the death with these two stars from Serie A on the court.

After Italy lost 0-3 to the Netherlands in the first game, a storm directed at Italian coach Donadoni initiated by the media, public opinion and locker room players was officially launched.

The remedy made by Donadoni was to press the treasure on Piero and take off the captain's armband from Buffon's shoulder and give it to Piero.

What is the result?

Piero is still the same Piero. Buffon told the world who should be the leader of the Italian team.

Before the game, Piero tried to describe himself as great. He said in an interview with the Turin media: "I know I will be the captain. Frankly speaking, I have been in the national team for more than ten years. Even if I don't wear the captain's armband, I can still feel the captain's responsibility."

The words are very heroic, but obviously, Piero forgot two points. First of all, the Italian team is not his Juventus team. In the Italian team, Piero did survive for more than ten years, but in the big game, it is not too much to say that he has not made any achievements and is always a bad thing. Secondly, even as the captain, it is difficult for Piero to bring any real change to the Italian team.

However, Piero always has the ability to let the coach of every national team put his treasure on him. In the same game as before, Piero once again rebelled against the sacred mission that the captain should bring with his poor performance.

1:1!

Piero's performance on the court can no longer be described as sluggish. During his appearance, he only had two pitiful shots, and he also exaggeratedly sent the ball out of the sky.

When Piero came off the game, he did not forget to wear the captain's armband to Buffon. In fact, Buffon has always been Italy's number one star in this game.

In the first half, Buffon saved Mutu's single shot, and in the second half, Buffon solved Mutu's penalty. In the whole game, the Romanian team hit the goal frame five times, almost every time it was a threatening kill. Buffon only missed one shot in front of Mutu and saved all the other four. It was because of Buffon's wonderful performance that he gave the Italians a chance to equalize at the last moment of the second half. Score.

No wonder some media said after the game that it was Buffon who let Italy stay in the European Cup!

Piero, who was highly expected by Donadoni, was once again disappointing.

As we all know, every time Italy's football is in adversity, it expects a hero to stand up to lead the team and lead the team forward.

Historically, Italy has had many such soul figures, from Rossi in 1982 to Baggio in 1994 to Tordo in 2000. However, never before was this hero Piero.

In almost every competition, Piero wants to be a hero, but in almost every competition, he becomes a mediocre person. In this game, he received the captain's armband from Buffon with Donadoni's support. He said countless heroic words, but perhaps only Buffon is qualified to say that sentence: Even if I don't wear the captain's armband, I can still bear the captain's responsibility!

Donadoni's national team still failed to win. After the game, he was also embarrassed to accept an interview with the media. He did not comment much on his work, but shifted all the responsibility to the referee of the game.

"I'm not used to talking about the referee's work. All I can say is that today is not a good day. There is nothing wrong with Tony's goal, but he was sentenced to offside, which is too bad! We deserved to win this game, but obviously the goddess of luck did not care for us. We created many opportunities, but we had to accept a draw. Of course, despite the difficult situation, we are still here and have not been eliminated.

After this battle, the German World Cup champion scored only 1 point in 2 games with 1 draw and 1 loss. The situation of breaking out in the "death group" is not optimistic. Perhaps as Donadoni said, the Italian team is indeed affected by misjudgment, but such a record is still shameless for a European traditional strong team, and finally In one round, they will welcome their old enemy, the French team, and victory is the only chance for the Italians.

However, compared with the awkward first game, Donadoni's arrangement in this game has greatly improved, but it is far from impeccable.

In the starting lineup, Donadoni listened to the suggestions of the media and players and made great adjustments, among which the replacement of the back line and the forward line should have had a good effect. In particular, Grosso gave full play to his strong ability to assist in the game, and his breakthrough and cross were Italy's most efficient offensive methods in the first half.

However, in the midfield, Perrotta and De Rossi's appearance did not achieve ideal results, but compressed Pirlo's playing space.

But even so, Italy can still take the initiative in the game, which shows that the overall strength of the world champion is still very strong.

Perota's downturn is obvious. Although Rome has a lot of midfield runs, it seems to be very aimless. Donadoni also realized this problem, but his substitution in this game has become a question of reticism after the game.

The replacement of Perota with Fiorentina young player Pacini should be to strengthen the attack in a backward situation, but this change was done too late.

After Pacini came on the field, Italy was in a difficult choice of offense or defense. The tactics were wavering. Florence' third striker was on the court and could not even find his position. For a long time, Ricini changed positions back and forth between the front line and the midfield, with other players' positions. It has also become blurred.

Judging from Pacini's personal performance, he is in good condition, but he does not have clear tactical ideas, which affects the cooperation of the whole team.

It is inexplicable to replace Piero with Montolivo. Although Piero did not perform well on the court, he still has a certain containment ability on the sidelines. The key problem is the task after Montolivo came on the field.

Montolivo is used as an offensive midfielder in Florence. His technical characteristics are that he is good at two-point attack and has a unique skill. Last season in Florence, although Montolivo also played a winger position, it turned out to be not good.

More often, Montolivo is active in the middle under Prandelli. After Montolivo appeared, in the face of Romania's shrinking defense, he could have given full play to his strong ability to grab points and long-range shots, but Donadoni arranged for him to appear more on the sidelines.

Due to Italy's lack of a second offensive point outside Tony in the penalty area, it is difficult to make more passes on the sidelines, so Montolivo's appearance has little impact on the game.

But the biggest doubt is that Donadoni replaced Ambrosini at the last moment. Of course, under normal circumstances, there are many reasons to change Ambrosini. First of all, Camoranesi is physically weak and deserves to replace a midfielder. Secondly, AC Milan's vice captain has a header and can become another cannon. Taiwan, but the fact is that Ambrosini has hardly provided any help to the attack, and he has been staying in the backfield to block Romania's counterattack. The purpose of Donadoni's replacement of Ambrosini may be to enhance the interception ability of the midfield and stabilize the defense.

At the end of the game, the score was equalized. It is not wrong to choose a solid defense in this situation, but considering the general environment Italy is in at this time, it is puzzling.

Italy lost the first battle. If it wants to hold the fate of qualifying in its own hands, it must defeat Romania in this battle. For Italy, peace is just equivalent to "death reprieve".

But in such a situation, Donadoni still chooses not to lose, rather than trying his best, which is too procedural and lacks courage.

If the Netherlands releases Romania in the next game, no matter what Italy has achieved against France, it is doomed to be out, and Donadoni's substitution will be a fatal mistake.

In contrast, Romanian coach Pizurke's use of troops in the game is undoubtedly better. Although Romania's overall strength is weak, it has adopted effective tactics to fill the gap in strength to a certain extent.

In the first half, Romania defended steadily and threatened the Italian city gate with only a positioning ball. In the second half, when Italy began to lose tactical discipline because of anxiety, Romania suddenly strengthened its counterattack and investment, and almost stole a victory from the Italians.

Especially in the final stage, Romania's counterattack was very resolute, unlike the last game against France. Whether in terms of clarity of tactics or the courage of attack, Pichurk is far better than Donadoni. Now, Romania has the initiative, and Donadoni has put his fate in the hands of his opponent.

Italy failed to win Romania. In addition to Piero's habitual downturn in the competition and coach Donadoni's substitution mistakes, it is undoubtedly Zambrota, the world's first defender, who directly "assisted" Mutu to break through Buffon's ten fingers in the game. The Dali people died almost early.

After finally escaping from hellish Iberia, Zambrotta failed to return to his hometown with a halo. The Italian defender seemed to have fallen into a terrible curse. He almost sentenced the Italian team to death in advance in the 55th minute of his irresponsible return, and he was sentenced to death in Europe. The bad performance made Barcelona's mouthpieces secretly happy. Will AC Milan be a big mistake again?

Before Italy's match against Romania, Barcelona officials have just announced that Zambrotta will transfer to AC Milan for 9 million euros, and if Zambrotta can perform well in the Italian club, the transfer will be increased to 11 million euros, considering La Porta's tenure, Barcelona has shown an amateur spirit in selling players. It should be said that they can sell Zambrotta for 11 million euros, which really surprised the Catalan media. After two disappointing seasons in Camp Nou, no Barcelonaist misses the former best Italian full-back.

The European Cup is undoubtedly the best opportunity for Zambrotta to prove his worth. The Italian defender needs to prove that Barcelona sold himself by mistake with excellent performance, and to prove to AC Milan that the 11 million euros have not been spent. However, after two rounds of fierce battles in the group stage, Zambrotta's The performance is completely opposite. Some media have begun to laugh. Fortunately, Zan Brota's deal has been completed before the European Cup, otherwise it is not known how much the price will be.

But Zambrotta is just a surface, and his mistake highlights the biggest gap between Donadoni's Italian national team and Lippi's world champion, and the defense is unstable.

At the World Cup, Italy's defense line was rock-solid and indestructible. It was this desperate defense line that made the Italians embroider the fourth star on their chest.

In fact, Italians have always been proud of their reinforced concrete defense. The Blues claim to be the most defensive team in the world, especially Italy at the 1990 World Cup, which conceded only 1 goal in 7 games, almost reaching the peak of defensive art.

However, in this European Cup, the defensive line that the Italians were proud of suddenly turned into a sieve, but four goals were lost in two games, not to mention that Buffon saved a penalty.

Losing the defense on which it depends, Italy's results are certainly unsightly. The opening record of 1 draw and 1 loss is also the worst record since Italy participated in the European Cup finals. Even Italy failed to qualify from the group stage four years ago, at least two points in the first two games.

What is the problem with the sudden collapse of Italy's defense line?

The biggest difference is naturally Cannavaro's presence or absence. From a technical point of view, Cannavaro is the only top defender who is good at eye-to-man defense and front grabbing. He is the glue of the Italian defense line and the only spine that can connect the whole defense line.

In the German World Cup, Cannavaro's state reached its peak. Whether it is matched with Nesta or Materazzi, the performance of the Italian captain can only be described as a miracle, which was also the key to the impeccable Italian defense at that time.

In this European Cup, Italy lost Cannavaro, just like being pulled out of its spine. It has dropped by more than one level in communication, defense and many other aspects. Naturally, it is far less stable than the World Cup.

However, Cannavaro is only an individual phenomenon after all. The Italian defender is not answering, and the overall failure of talent is the fundamental reason. In the past, Italy's top defenders have been one after another for nearly 20 years. From Bergomi to Baresi to Maldini, Cannavaro and Nesta, the Blues have never lacked super defenders and will never affect the overall defensive quality of the team because of a core injury.

Even two years ago, the substitutes behind Cannavaro and Nesta were still Materazzi in good condition, but in this European Cup, although Materazzi's condition was obviously not good, Donadoni still dared to put him on the bench in the first game, because now Italy really lacks enough influence. A middle-generation defender with strength and experience.

At present, the living situation of Italian local defenders is that most of the potential young local defenders are waiting for opportunities in the rich, while most of the defenders with stable playing time play in small teams, but they are the remaining "deadults" picked up by the rich families, and their achievements are naturally limited.

Of course, except for a La Nokia, it is a pity that Donadoni did not trust the rising young man and did not bring him to Switzerland.

Now Italy is creating their worst record in the European Cup finals, but after all, this is just a competition. Italians are looking forward to the miracle of the last match against France, but the most important thing for Italy is to truly recognize the problems of Italian football through this European Cup.

Losing defense, that is, losing the history and glory of Italian football, is extremely far-reaching. If the Italians can re-emphasize the cultivation of defensive talents, it is worth it for Italy to suffer another defeat in this competition.

The Italians need to regain the bloodline they depend on, while the French need to completely change their blood. In the first battle, they drew with Romania. In the second round, facing the fierce Netherlands, the French suffered the same fate.

4:1!

The winner is the Orange Legion!

The French team was previously recognized as the weakest Romanian team in the first round of the group stage. The situation is obviously very unfavorable for the Gallic roosters divided into the death group, especially considering that they will also face their old enemies in the last round. If the Italian team that lost the first round wants to win the line, it must I will fight with France to get points.

Therefore, for the French team, it is particularly important for the Netherlands to take all three points in the second game. Unfortunately, after 90 minutes, Domenek only left a deep helplessness.

Young coach Basten's team laughed to the end. They told the French with a hearty victory that their era was completely over.

3: 0 victory over Italy, 4:1 victory over France, the former World Cup champion team can only tremble in front of the Orange Army. After watching these two games, perhaps with the title of the uncrowned king or the Iron Army is not enough to describe the strength of the Netherlands. In these two games, the Netherlands is the best team in the world in recent years. Maybe it can be raised a little higher and described as an alien team, which is more accurate.

Basten, a knife-like striker, after years of forbearance, finally showed the knife-like Dutch team, and as soon as he took action, he would not die under the knife, a world champion, a former world champion, and the world football world returned to the Busten era.

In front of such a Netherlands, the death group has no cruel death. Even if there is still hope, Italy and France can choose to euthanize.

For example, the two sides drew, Romania and the Netherlands, which played as substitutes, also drew. Italy and France can go home quietly without any regrets, and there will not be too many people regrets for them. There is nothing to blame for losing the Earth team to the alien team.

Of course, there is another way to die. Italy and France won the game and scored four points, but Romania defeated the substitute Netherlands and scored five points, and Italy and France still went home.

No one knows how Italy and France will fight next?

Because losing is not only the game, but also psychology. I'm afraid that for a long time, the self-confidence of these players will be difficult to repair. In their hearts, orange is probably darker than black.

In the first match in Italy, after Van Basten fine-tuned the formation of the Dutch team from the "sacred" 433 to 451, it was once fiercely criticized by Cruyff.

But team member Van der Fart fought back and said, "Is there a real winger today? In my opinion, only Robben is still the classic type.

Of course, the stubborn Van Basten will not change himself. He sent the same lineup as in the first game against France.

Both teams use 451, the most popular formation, but the connotation is different. Two of the Dutch team's five midfielders emphasize internal cutting and pass-cutting cooperation with their teammates. The overall movement position of Dutch players also shows that their running position is more compact than France and even Italy, which also plays 451, and the cooperation space between players is closer. This is also the Dutch team's control of the midfielder and the avant-garde. An important reason for the high success rate of passing between passes.

Today, when 451 is popular, people have been worried that football will pay more and more attention to defense, but the Dutch 451, which is unique and eases people's worries. The second goal of the Dutch team in this game is that after Robben's long-distance attack, he took the ball into the penalty area and passed it to Van Persie to score. .

Although the French team moved from time to time in an attempt to let Ribery undertake more offensive organizations, he lacked a tacit understanding with the left and right sides of Maluda and Govu, especially Maluda, who has just turned 28, made too many mistakes to play a role like Robben.

It can be said that this game is not the final, but it is better than the final.

90 minutes between the Dutch team and the French team can be regarded as the most classic battle in the history of the European Cup. Like the first match against Italy, the Dutch team always ushered in a dream-like start in the next city. The lagging France team launched a wave of offensive frenzy, but in the end they did not get rid of the fate of losing. The record of up to seven goals in the game, the Dutch team, which had had bad luck in international competitions in the past, finally released the most dazzling light after the haze of history in 2008 European Cup.

Van Basten used his tactical style learned from Italy to make the Orange Legion complete a huge transformation, although he needed to face the accusations of his predecessor Cruyff.

But Van Basten still stubbornly abandoned the flashy coat of Dutch football and firmly implemented the practical football style.

Some veterans left the national team and were replaced by a large number of young people. Robben, Van Persie and Van der Fat began to take on important roles in the national team.

The young people also lived up to the trust of the young coach Basten and rewarded him with their best performance on the court.

After the game, Van Basten also said: "These young people will take on the responsibility of the resurgence of Dutch football in the next decade."

The Dutch have unlimited scenery, and after two games in the European Cup, one draw and one loss. The French team, the most champion, is now at the bottom of the group, scoring only one goal in two games. The French team's frontline players are weak and unable to break through the opponent's city.

Maybe all the responsibility should not be attributed to the striker, because there is no Zidane behind them. The reason why the French team in the Zidane era is often unbeaten is that compared with other players, Qizu's special feature is that he has strong ability to read the game on the field and has a good overall view, so that he can become the core of the attack and organizer on the field, and tidy up the offensive scene of the whole team, often at the most critical time. It is a pity that it gives the most deadly blow to the opponent, which is also the most lacking for the French team now.

After Zidane retired, French football seemed to have lost their soul. They didn't even know how to fight on the court. Despite having a super forward like Henry, the previous gorgeous attack disappeared from the Gallic rooster.

Now, the French team at the bottom of the group will face Italy in the last game of the group. If you want to qualify in the group, you will not only win the opponent, but also place your hope on the Dutch team, which has already qualified in the group, and defeat the Romanian team, which is not weak. The French team, which used to win the championship in the World Series, now has no choice but to wait for the verdict of fate.

Such a result is a little cruel to both Italy and France. If you entrust your fate to others, perhaps these two great powers will really begin to decline and be replaced by those emerging forces dominated by young people.

This is the general trend, and no one can reverse it!

After two rounds of fierce battle, people were surprised to find that Italy, the champion of the 2006 World Cup, and France, the champion of the 1998 World Cup, only scored one point, tied for the last place in the group.

If the Netherlands is willing to "leave" Romania in the third game, Italy and France will be eliminated, and the two World Cup champions will be eliminated in the group stage of the European Cup, which will become a great spectacle of this European Cup.

Looking at history, it is always difficult for the team that has just achieved good results in the World Cup to play well in the European Cup. The German team, which won the World Cup twice in 1974 and 1990, originally hoped to win the European Cup, but in 1976 and 1992, they were cut off by Czechoslovakia and Denmark.

Italy, the 1982 World Cup champion, fell from the 1984 European Cup and even in the qualifiers. England won the World Cup in 1966, but in 1968, they were defeated by Yugoslavia and lost their dream of winning the championship.

There is only one counterexample in history. This is the French team. In 1998, the French team won the World Cup. In 2000, the French team was lucky to equalize the score at the last minute of the final and defeated Italy to win the championship with a golden ball. This lucky double championship is the European Cup since its establishment in 1960. Since then, the only spell has been broken.

Maybe people have to admit that the World Cup is the World Cup and the European Cup is the European Cup!

Group Death left the final death suspense to the last round, but Group D, which has the defending champion Greece, has given birth to the first surprising but reasonable death.

Before the European Cup, the reporter interviewed the coach of the Greek team, Rehagel, and asked him which position he was most confident in the Greek team. Rehagel did not hesitate to answer: "Goal!"

Indeed, as the team's oldest player, goalkeeper Nicopolidis, who is nearly 38 years old, is the pin of the Greek team.

But it was the person who was most assured by the head coach who made a fatal mistake in the second round of the game against Russia in Group D. It was Nicopolidis's low-level mistake that directly led to the early exit of the defending champion Greece.

In 2004, Greece won the championship magically. In the post-match summary meeting, Rehagel gave a key praise to the 33-year-old goalkeeper Nicopolidis.

In 2004, the Greek team won the championship, relying on unbreakable defense. In the three knockout matches, the Greek team eliminated the opponent with zero goals and finally won the championship.

In the three knockout matches, Nicopolidis made an average of four successful saves per game, and his vigorous skills were not inferior to any young goalkeeper. His rich game experience made him play steadily. He rarely made saves and rarely made fatal mistakes.

Four years later, Nicopolidis, who is nearly 38 years old, is still the main goalkeeper of the Greek team. Before the game, the Greek domestic media worried about Nicopolidis' physical and competitive state could withstand such pressure. The answer given by Rehagel is that Nicopolidis is irreplaceable.

This aspect shows the head coach's trust in him and affirmation of his ability. On the other hand, it also shows that the young generation in Greece has grown slowly and has been embarrassed.

This embarrassment was quickly confirmed in the game. In the life-and-death battle with the Russian team, Nicopolidis's fatal mistake at the critical moment ruined the hope of the defending champion's efforts.

In the 33rd minute of the game, the Russian team made a diagonal pass from the left behind the penalty area. The ball was very fast and slow, and the judgment time was long. At that time, the Greek defender was also in place and basically stood in front of Shemark. For some reason, when the threat was not big and there were teammates in place, Nicopolidis suddenly chose to attack to block the opponent. Semark looked back and saw Nicopolidis attack. The door was open. He chose to pass the ball to the front of the goal at the first time. Nicopolidis, who made a mistake in judgment, completely lost control of the ball and could only watch Zirianov send the ball into the empty goal. .

After conceding the goal, the Greek players looked very frustrated. Although no one complained about Nicopolis's low-level mistake, it can be seen from everyone's expression that they were disappointed with the big brother.

After conceded the goal, the Greek team began to enter chaos. The offensive and defensive ends were disconnected, and the midfield defense was not sufficiently protected. If the Russian team hadn't wasted the opportunity, the Greek team would have conceded more than one goal.

Looking back at the two games that have been played, Nicopolidis's reaction and state are far from comparable to four years ago, and he can only say that he is really old.

There is an old man like a treasure, which has always been the truth of many teams. Whether it is a strong team or a weak team, each team will have one or two older players, and their experience is of great help to the team.

However, from the perspective of this cup, the role of veterans in older teams including France, Italy and Greece is becoming more and more limited.

Does it play a role as a strange soldier at a critical moment?

As the main force, the use of veterans has become a new topic in the construction of teams.

Greece, the defending champion, was out early and became the third defending European Cup champion who was eliminated in the group stage after Denmark in 1996 and Germany in 2000.

There is still one game left for Greece. If they don't get a point in the last game against Spain, they will become the worst defending champion in history.

In addition, after losing to Russia, Greece became the only team that did not score goals in this European Cup. Greece has always been a team that focuses on defense, supplemented by counterattacks and positioning balls. Four years ago, there were several1-0 on their way to defend their title.

Regarding the team's lack of attack power, head coach Rehagel also expressed helplessness: "Unfortunately, we have not been able to seize the opportunity created, but I have always said that Greece is not a team that is good at scoring. I once hoped to achieve something. Unfortunately, this is not It can become a reality."

For this game, Otto the Great thought that there was something wrong with Greece's proud defense, which gave the Russians an opportunity: "Most of the responsibility for the goal scored by the Russian team is on ourselves, which could have been avoided. I think if we can put more pressure on our opponents, maybe we can get a The draw, but despite this, we should still be satisfied. The team's performance is first-class, playing football with a combination of speed and stability.

Four years ago, Rehagel's team staged an incredible Greek myth in Portugal. The coach believes that such a miracle cannot happen again four years later.

"Reminiscence of 2004, a miracle happened, but this miracle happened almost once in 30 years. If it had happened every week, it would not have been called a miracle."

Although Russia relied on its opponent's mistakes to win the victory, head coach Hiddink believes that this is an opportunity for the team to grab. He greatly appreciates the performance of the players: "Everyone works hard for good results. In modern football, you must be very tough and can't let go of the opportunity. I'm happy because I know that players take action when they need their performance most. After the game with Spain, I encouraged them to play this game well. They really didn't let me down. They proved that they could also play high-level football.

The Russians took off the magical coat of Greece with a victory, making the defending champion the second team to be eliminated in this European Cup after the host.

Another game of this group will be played between Spain and Sweden, which is also regarded as a battle to determine the top position in Group D.

Before the game, Swedish star Ibrahimovic said that he would break the Spanish goal with his legs during the game.

In response, Spain's coach Caragones said: "Is Ibrahimovic going to break our goal? This is good! But first he has to bypass the red cloak in our hands!"