Chapter 131 Ugly Blooming Tulips

The other day, the World Cup continued. The two sides in the fifth 1/8 knockout match were the Netherlands, which won all three games in the group stage and easily qualified, and Slovakia, the largest dark horse in this World Cup.

As a newcomer to the World Cup, Slovakia's performance in this World Cup is impressive, especially Hamsik, the core player in the team. As the captain of Slovakia, Hamsik scored a goal and assisted two goals in the previous three group matches, and performed very well.

Although there is a big gap in the strength of the two sides in this game, few people think that the Netherlands has a chance to win before the game. Perhaps what people are looking forward to is that Slovakia, a dark horse, can win the Netherlands to the championship.

However, the Dutch obviously don't think so. Coach Van Malvik's confidence has been shown before the game. Some reporters asked Van Malvik: "Why is there no penalty training the afternoon before the game?"

Van Malvik replied confidently: "We don't need it. We have practiced many times, but it's closed training. No one can see that although Slovakia is a newcomer to the World Cup, we will not despise them. We will not underestimate any opponent, but we will play our own game, regardless of our opponents. Who is it? We have always been like this.

Captain Van Bronckhorst also said: "Slovakia is a well-defensive team and is also very efficient in the counterattack. This will be a difficult game. We must be very careful, but I believe that the final victory must belong to the Netherlands!"

The head coach and captain are so confident. Of course, there is a reason. Van Malvik said: "We controlled three games and won three games. The team is very continuous. I told my players that we must have 100% motivation in every game to strive for the best result. Ball, every challenge, every out-of-bounds ball, I hope a vibrant team can have a wonderful performance on the front line.

For people who are more optimistic that Slovakia will be black to the end, Van Malvik said: "We will not lose to Slovakia. This cannot and will not happen at all. We will stay until the final on July 11."

Before the game, the biggest advantage of the Dutch team was that the core player Robben finally returned to the starting lineup. The comeback of Peter Pan also squeezed Van der Fate to the bench. Fans were once worried about whether Robben, who had been absent for so long due to injury, could adapt to high-intensity confrontation, but from the progress of the game, Robben is still the most threatening player in the Dutch team.

The result of the game did not develop as expected. With Robben and Sneid's goal, the Netherlands finally defeated the dark horse Slovakia of this World Cup 2-1 and successfully entered the top eight.

This is the fourth consecutive game victory of the Dutch team since the start of the game, and four consecutive wins at the beginning, which also set a new record for the Netherlands to participate in the World Cup.

Previously, the Netherlands participated in the World Cup eight times, and the best record was two consecutive wins at the beginning, which was also created at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Although Slovakia defeated Italy to reach the top 16 of this Cup, objectively speaking, there is still a big gap between them and the Netherlands in strength. The final result was not unexpected, and the Dutch team defeated their opponents and moved on.

However, Slovakia is not completely unmatched in this game. After Sneid took the lead in scoring a goal, Slova's core player Hamsik, with his outstanding personal skills, entered the Dutch team's penalty area and scored with his outstanding personal skills. And finally, the draw was kept until the end of the regular time.

Only in overtime, the stronger Netherlands still seized an opportunity. After Robben's iconic side road breakthrough, he hit the door, bringing the dark horse's World Cup journey to an end.

In this game, the Dutch team continued the tactics of their previous group stage. Although the scene is no longer as good as the Dutch team, it has become more practical.

Maybe the previous offensive football did not win the championship for the Netherlands, which made the Dutch team begin to explore new tactics. The Dutch team that appeared in South Africa is not **, nor is it very active.

The advantage of their strength makes them beat their opponents all the way, and even some of them seem to have focused on the next possible opponent.

In this game, the whole Dutch team is not very active and seems to have reservations. Obviously, the Dutch team has deliberately retained strength in this game. Perhaps, the Dutch team has completely erased the shadow of gorgeous football, but as Robben said in an interview after the game, victory is the most important thing.

Dutch coach Van Malbeek said before the World Cup: "We can play beautifully, but the most important thing is to win the final championship. As long as we can win, we are willing to put down our gorgeousness and become ugly."

But in fact, the opponents of the Dutch team are not afraid of playing the gorgeous Dutch team, and they are more afraid of the uglier Dutch team.

For this Dutch team, it may be more promising to abandon the gorgeous football with full attack and defense and adopt a pragmatic method of steady defense and counterattack.

In addition to the change of playing style, it is more certainly worth affirming that this "Orange Legion" is very united. In the previous World Cups, the contradictions within the Dutch team have always been an endless topic. Take the recent 2008 European Cup as an example, there is the bad relationship between Van Bommel and coach Basten.

However, fans rarely see negative news of internal discord in the media of this team under Van Malvik. The unity of the team is the driving force for the Dutch team to move forward.

The new tactics make the Dutch team more stable, and the unity makes the Dutch team burst out more energy, not only in the whole, but also in the individual.

As the core of the new Dutch team, the "brain" Sneed played the fourth game of the World Cup and finally let people see the familiar Sneed, a goal and an assist. It seems that Sneed's state has come a little late, but one fact, I believe that many Dutch fans have agreed that this orange In the Color Legion, the most reliable player in the midfield may be Sneid.

Of course, once Robben cuts inside, he will be allowed to keep the play, but Robben's injury determines that he can't play 100%, so coach Van Malvik wants to overturn the five-star Brazil, and no one can lack Sneed.

In the previous group match against Japan, Sneed suddenly shot a cold arrow, allowing the team to get three points under the premise that the scene was not good. For Denmark and Cameroon, Sneid was more in the midfield command and dispatch, and the shot also started around the penalty area.

Only today's game against Slovakia have fans seen a more imaginative Sneid who runs deeper and has more ball scheduling, which is the brain of the Tulip Netherlands team.

In the first half, it helped the team take the lead. At that time, after Sneid got the ball outside the penalty area, he made almost no adjustments and directly kicked the world wave, so that the Slovak goalkeeper could only sigh.

In today's game, a goal that determines the victory or defeat can also be said to be Sneed's masterpiece, Robben's iconic internal cut work, but the ball comes from Sneid's transportation. Although it is about 40 meters apart and Sneid's position is on the left, the biggest advantage of the midfielder can be shown at this time, pointing to which he plays. Footwork scheduling.

Sneder's oblique pass, the first landing point is exactly to run a little in front of Robben. In the middle of the opponent's two defenders, Robben has to turn back and catch it. A little heavier Slovak central defender can take all the list, and it is unbiased. "Little Flying Man" can also be very comfortable to get the ball and sprint.

Originally, the Dutch team still had the opportunity to solve the battle in regular time. At that time, it was also a pass by Sneid. Robben and Kuit took over the first time. The two played a fast two-to-one. Robben entered the penalty area and made a cross pass. Kuit shot angrily. The opponent's goalkeeper blocked the ball with his nose regardless of 3721. Go, let the Dutch team miss a chance to kill.

Sneed threatened to pass the ball twice in this game, one far and one close, and one diagonal pass all the time, and there is no exaggeration. The influence of the high-level professional league is enough to make Sneid manipulate the ball at will.

Because Robben scored a goal, he gave Robben the best on the spot after the international blocking game. In fact, on the whole, Sneid is the most suitable to get the best again.

Robben, who locked the victory for the team, won the best player, and the team's brain Sneid is also impressive, but the Dutch team's victory should also be thanks to a person, that is, goalkeeper Stecklenburg.

It was the goalkeeper from Ajax who saved the other side's two goals in a row until the last minute of overtime, allowing the Dutch team to keep the victory.

Even Van Malveck, the head coach of the Dutch team, admitted that Stecklenburg saved the team after the game, otherwise the Dutch team may be in trouble: "He used his outstanding performance to ensure that we can get through the most difficult times of the game."

Whenever the Dutch team is mentioned, they often think of those brilliant offensive geniuses in the frontcourt, and few people will pay attention to what the players in the backcourt are doing. Especially after Van der Sar's retirement, the Dutch back line, which lost its only star, is even more ignored.

However, all the foundations of this Dutch team are based on defense. The numbers tell everything. They only conceded two goals before entering the quarterfinals. When many strong teams were eliminated, the Dutch team successfully made it to the quarter-out stage with solid defense.

For Dutch goalkeeper Stecklenburg, it is not easy to be the Dutch team goalkeeper after van der Sar: "Van der Sar is the most outstanding goalkeeper in the Netherlands. I know that if I make a mistake, people will immediately mention van der Sar. I was with him in the last World Cup and the 2008 European Cup. , I have learned a lot of experience. It's an honor to guard the gate of the city for the Netherlands. Now it's my turn to show my ability.

Fans familiar with Dutch football will certainly not be unfamiliar with Stecklenburg. In recent years, he has gained enough training in Ajax, and he has accumulated enough competition experience in various events such as the league, cup, the League Cup and the Champions League.

Stecklenburg has enough basic skills, the next three-way save is stable, the speed and response are impeccable, and the same 1.97-meter figure as Van der Sar can help him control all kinds of high-altitude balls.

What is more valuable is that he can stretch his long arms and jump up to make the so-called "fingertip save".

He, who debuted in Ajax, also has the special ability of Dutch football to require goalkeepers to make accurate long passes one by one.

As long as the center signs for the ball, he can accurately send the ball within one meter of the center's area. In the Dutch League, he has even performed a long pass assist.

In this game, it was not so much the strong attack of the Netherlands that destroyed Slovakia as the excellent performance of Stecklenburg, which brought the dark horse's World Cup journey to an end ahead of schedule.

Of course, the Dutch team still played not beautifully in this game, and the Dutchman honestly said after the game that it was still not the most beautiful Dutch football.

It is true that this Dutch team is not an atypical player without outstanding skills, but they are not happy to make momentum in the previous field.

When the opportunity is not the best, they frequently pass back, and it is unknown whether this will cause trouble for them in future games.

However, the maturity of this Netherlands is unprecedented. The age structure of the players is reasonable, the characteristics of the front players are outstanding, and the two midfielders have excellent interception ability. It seems that every player has reached a consensus.

Be patient, the opportunity will come, and we can accept ugly wins, because beauty has left us too many shadows.

This is the fifth time that the Netherlands has reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The first four times, and only stopped here in 1994. Interestingly, the opponent at that time was Brazil.

And after that, in 1998, they were also eliminated by Brazil in a penalty.

Brazil has become a roadblock in the World Cup in the past 20 years, but the Netherlands regrets every time it loses. In 1994, Blanco's free kick should have been a foul.

In 1998, Cruyvette's several shots missed, which frightened the Brazilians until the last moment.

This time, the Netherlands is also not the biggest hit, but this stable Netherlands has not yet dedicated their most beautiful football.

"The best performance in the Netherlands has not yet arrived, and we all hope that the game with Brazil will be better than this one." Robben promised.

In the next quarter-finals, the Netherlands is likely to encounter the 98 World Cup semi-finals, knocking out their Brazilian team. Robben and his Dutch team are ready for revenge.

The peak confrontation between the two national teams that are best at defending and counterattacking in today's football may have lost their previous confrontations**, but it is related to the crown battle of the World Cup.

And then another 1/8 final, against Brazil and Chile, will become the next opponent of the Dutch team.