Chapter 356 The third round of the group stage

The World Cup is still in full swing. The game is day after day, and the most critical third round of the group stage is about to start.

The final qualifying team of the two groups will be decided within one day.

With Suarez's goal, Uruguay defeated Mexico 1-0, easily won the first place in the group with a record of 2 wins and 1 draw, 7 points in three games, and advanced to the top 16. This is a historic moment for Uruguayan football. After 20 years, Uruguayan football has re-entered the World Cup knockout stage, and the two wins in the group stage have directly broken the embarrassment that Uruguay has only won one in the World Cup finals in the past 40 years, and the two-time World Cup champions have ushered in a moment of recovery.

From the early to the middle of the last century, Uruguay was a well-deserved world's number one football power. In two consecutive Olympic Games in 1924 and 1928, Uruguayan football finally won the championship. Under such circumstances, the first World Cup in 1930 was held in Uruguay, and Uruguay also showed terrible strength. In the first round of the group stage, they defeated Peru 1-0, defeated Romania 4-0 in the second round, and swept the former Yugoslavia 6-1 in the semi-finals. In the final battle, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 and won the first World Cup.

20 years later, in the fourth World Cup, Uruguay remained strong after the replacement. It remained unbeaten with 3 wins and 1 draw in the round robin system. In particular, it played a classic game such as 8-0 blood washing Bolivia in the first game, and in the final, it defeated the favorite to win the championship 2-1, the host team Brazil. After the game, the Brazilian media called it one of the biggest surprises in the history of the World Cup. Uruguay has exerted its man-and-people tactics to the extreme in this World Cup, which has also had a profound impact on Uruguayan football.

In the Swiss World Cup four years later, Uruguay defeated the Czech Republic 2-0, defeated Scotland 7-0 to win the group qualifying position, defeated England 4-2 in the quarter-finals, and lost 2-4 to the world's number one team Hungary in the semi-finals. In the third place competition, Uruguay, who had no intention to fight, lost 1-3. Austria. Uruguay, which was unable to defend its title, suffered a serious decline in strength and failed to reach the finals in the 1958 World Cup. In 1962, Uruguay entered the World Cup finals again, but in the case of victory in the first game, it lost consecutively to the Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia and was eliminated.

After two consecutive World Cups of poor performance, Uruguayan football ushered in a brief recovery in the late 1960s. In the 1966 England World Cup, Uruguay drew 0-0 with England in the first group stage, beat France 2-1 in the second match, and drew 0-0 against Mexico in the last match, but Uruguay was beaten 4-0 by Germany in the quarter-finals. In the 1970 World Cup, Uruguay ushered in another historical moment since winning the championship in 1950. After 20 years, it returned to the top four of the World Cup. However, in the semi-finals, it unfortunately lost 1-3 to Brazil and 0-1 to Germany in the third place.

Since then, Uruguayan football has fallen into a low point for a long time. Before this World Cup, Uruguay only advanced to the World Cup finals four times, and the best result was only in the top 16. Even this result was achieved at the World Cup in Italy 20 years ago. The last time Uruguay entered the World Cup finals was in 2002, but at that time, Uruguay was 2 draws and 1 loss and failed to advance to the knockout stage. What's more puzzling is that from 1970 to the start of the World Cup, Uruguay has only won one game in the World Cup in 40 years, which shows the decline of Uruguayan football.

Considering that Uruguay qualified for the World Cup in South Africa through qualifiers, Uruguay was not optimistic before the start of this World Cup, especially in a group with France, Mexico and the host. Few people believe that Uruguay can get The right of the group to qualify.

However, in the first game, Uruguay drew 0-0 with France, creating a surprise. In the second game, Uruguay defeated the host South Africa 3-0 and firmly controlled the fate of the group's qualifying. In the last game, Uruguay defeated Mexico 1-0 with Suarez's goal and qualified first in the group. After 20 years, it has re-entered the knockout stage, and Uruguayan football welcomes the recovery.

Although Mexico lost 0-1 to Uruguay, it still advanced to the top 16 as the second in the group, which is also their fifth consecutive World Cup to reach the top 16. In the last five World Cups, there are not many teams that can do this. In this World Cup, Brazil has qualified ahead of schedule, and they have become the only team that can compare with Mexico. In addition, only Italy and Germany have reached the top 16 for four consecutive times, and Argentina, France, England, Spain and other traditional strong teams can't do it.

Unfortunately, the Mexican team failed to go any further every time, and all stopped in the 1/8 finals. In the history of Mexico, only the 1970 World Cup and the 1986 World Cup were held in China to make the quarterfinals, but at that time, there were only 16 and 24 teams respectively. Can Mexico break through history in this World Cup?

Mexico is a regular guest of the World Cup and has reached the final stage of the World Cup 14 times. As a specially invited team, Mexico participated in the first World Cup in 1930. In the group stage, they lost 1-4 to France, 0-0 to Chile, and lost 3-6 to Argentina, failing to qualify for the group. From 1950 to 1970, Mexico participated in the World Cup six times in a row. In the 1970 World Cup, it only qualified for the group to advance to the quarterfinals (16 teams), but lost to Italy 1-4 in the quarter-finals. The other five sessions were all eliminated in the group stage. After missing the 1974 World Cup, Mexico returned to the World Cup finals in 1978. In the group stage, they were eliminated in all three games and lost to the former West Germany by a big score of 0-6.

In the 1986 World Cup, Mexico qualified in the group with a record of 2 wins and 1 draw with the advantage of the host. In the 1/8 final, they defeated Bulgaria 2-0, equaling the best place created in the 1970 World Cup. In the quarter-finals, Mexico played 0-0 against the former West Germany in 120 minutes and lost 1-4 in the penalty shootout, failing to make history again. In the 1990 World Cup, Mexico did not make it to the World Cup.

Since 1994, the Mexican team has reached the World Cup five times in a row, and has reached the top 16 five times in a row, which must be said to be a miracle. Unfortunately, the Mexican team was eliminated in the 1/8 final every time, and the quarter-finals of the World Cup became an unattainable goal. In the 1994 World Cup, Mexico played 1-1 with Bulgaria in 120 minutes in the 1/8 final, and lost 1-3 to the top 16 in the penalty. In the 1998 World Cup, Mexico's opponent in the 1/8 final was Germany, and finally lost 1-2 to the opponent. In the 2002 World Cup, Mexico He lost to the United States 0-2 in the 1/8 finals and missed the quarterfinals for three consecutive times. In the 2006 World Cup, Mexico played against Argentina in the 1/8 final. Only five minutes into the game, Marquis's goal made a dream start for Mexico. However, four minutes later, Crespo equalized the score in the melee. Within 90 minutes, the battle between the two teams became 1-1. In the 7th minute of overtime, Rodriguez scored a super world wave, and Mexico finally lost 1-2, and once again regretted to stop in the top 16.

In the 2010 World Cup, the Mexican team beat the host South Africa and the former World Cup champion France to join hands with Uruguay. This is the fifth consecutive promotion of the plateau feather snake to the top 16. In the 1/8 final, Mexico will play against Argentina. In the face of this familiar old opponent, the Mexican team must be at a disadvantage in strength. But four years ago, they were able to force Argentina to play overtime; four years later, can they create a miracle to break through the top 16? There is a saying that he is willing to do it and dares to pull the emperor down!

In the same Group A duel, South Africa finally won the first victory of the World Cup 2-1, but the host South Africa still could not escape the fate of being out of the group. As the first host country that could not pass the first round in 80 years, South Africa chose to beat France, the former World Cup champion, as its curtain call, which made them out tragically and won the respect of fans all over the world.

Throughout South Africa's World Cup trip, it is a blessing for the host to get four points, and it is not sad not to qualify in the group. After three games, the host has shown the style of South African football to the world with his good performance. Even if the score is slightly worse, the gold content of this report card is worth affirming.

On the contrary, the French team completely performed an infighting farce in the World Cup, which was humiliating to the World Cup, which was also a strange thing.

French coach Domenek wants to save the terminally ill French team. He abolished the three main players, Abidal, Evra and Henry, and tried to calm the infighting in this extreme way and inspire the French team to do their final responsibilities. But is this practice useful? The answer is useless! The score of 1-2 gives the answer.

In the words of Team News, in this World Cup, the French team's journey is three words: "From farce, to tragedy, to tragedy." In the past few days, a series of outrageous things have happened to the French team. First, Anelka scolded the coach angrily: "You son of a bitch. Go to XXX by yourself." Then, an inexplicable "inside ghost" stabbed the top-secret news in the locker room to the French media. When the Team News announced the news to the world, the French Football Association had no choice but to expel Anelka from the team.

After Anelka was expelled from the team, the bigwigs of the French team were completely angry. Subsequently, the French team broke out a "strike". Captain Evra suspected that the team's physical trainer Robert DeVena was the "insider", so he had a fierce quarrel with him during training. When Robert Duvena left, all the French players immediately terminated their training and released an open letter that had been prepared for a long time. The letter reads: "All the players opposed the French Football Association's decision to expel Anelka, so we made a decision to refuse training. The Football Association did not do its duty to protect the team. They announced the matter to the media.

This incident had a serious follow-up impact. When Domenek decided on the lineup, he excluded the leaders of the strike from the starting lineup, and Henry, Abidal, Evra and others were not able to start. But can this save the French team? The answer is no. Gurkuv applied for a red card impetuously. The French team cooperated like a ball of sand, and the defense players made frequent mistakes... In fact, Uruguay's victory over Mexico left the French team with a first-line chance to qualify, but what about the French team? Don't say you can't win, you can't even get a draw!

It turns out that expulsion of three leaders can't save such a group of millionaires who have no fighting heart. It turns out that the French team's defeat is not just a matter of strength, tactics or status. Now, the French domestic media are asking: Do these people want to lose more than their opponents?

From secretly opposing the coach, to openly insulting, to the final strike. This group of French players is really inconceivable. Indeed, the French team's coach is not good; indeed, the approach of the French Football Association is debatable. Even ten thousand steps back, even if the French team takes such extreme measures as a strike, it is not completely intolerable. However, what is intolerable to the French nationals and world fans is the French team's fighting spirit on the field. They lost the last bit of dignity. This is enough to prove that they do not cherish the national honor, they do not cherish the glorious history of the French team, and they do not cherish this national team jersey that represents the honor! Before the game, the French flag was raised on the court and the French national anthem was played, but did the French generals really realize that the game they played represented their motherland?

In recent days, in the report about the French team, there is such a piece of news that is extremely different. France's Le Parisien and other media revealed that the French strike was suggested and directed by Zidane in the background. Is this news reliable? It is difficult to evaluate. After all, such a thing is always difficult to prove.

However, if this really happens, it is necessary for people to reflect. What is Domenek doing? Isn't he the coach of this French team? What is Gurkuv doing? Isn't he the core of the French team? What is Evra doing? Isn't he the captain of this French team? What is Govu doing? Isn't he the No. 10 of this French team? Why are so many people not as influential as a retired player!

In the final analysis, the problem of the French team lies in the lack of leaders and the lack of generals. Everyone misses Zidane precisely because they know that there must be a person who has the ability to unite them in order for the French team to get things done. In the current French team, the coach can't do this, the hard core can't do it, the captain can't do it, No. 10 can't... No one can do it!

In Group B, as the favorite to win the championship in this cup, the Argentine team led by Maradona is getting better and better. After winning the two games in the group stage, as long as the Blue and White team draws with Greece, Argentina will win the first place in the group. Even if they lose to their opponents, as long as there is no big accident, the Blue and White can successfully advance to the top 16. In history, Argentina and Greece have only had a record of confrontation. In the group stage of the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Argentina defeated Greece 4-0.

In the end, Argentina defeated Greece 2-0 at the Mocaba Stadium in Paolo Guani, won all three games and won the top of the group, while Greece was eliminated. In the 77th minute of the game, Demikelis broke the deadlock; in the 89th minute, Palmo went to the next. Argentina will play against Mexico, the second in Group A, in the 1/8 final.

In the third round of the group match between Argentina and Greece, Maradona carried out some rotations, and captain Mascherano took a break. The Argentine captain's armband was handed over to Messi, which was also the first time that Messi became the captain of Argentina!

In the history of Argentina's World Cup, it is extremely rare for a player who is less than 23 years old to wear the captain's armband. It is difficult to investigate the long history, but the Ole newspaper pointed out that in the history of the World Cup, the Argentine team usually chooses the captain according to the number of matches and prestige, so the captain's age is bound to be not very young.

In fact, although Messi is young, he has already worn the captain's armband. In Barcelona, Messi once wore the captain's armband in some friendly matches. For example, in the warm-up match between Barcelona and Dundee United, Messi wore the captain's armband due to the absence of Pujol, Harvey and others. Under the inspiration of the armband, Messi won the ternary alone, helping the team beat the opponent 5-1. But in the Argentine national team, it is the first time for Messi to wear a sleeve tag.

Messi has long been the number one star, core and spiritual leader of the Argentine team. This captain's armband is just a form to make a thing that people have already recognized. What's more, Messi is the player with the most goals in the national team in the Argentine team. He scored 13 goals in 46 games, with Maxi Rodriguez with more than 12 goals, Tervis and Belon with 9 goals, ranking first. Of course he is qualified to wear it.

For Messi, the captain's armband is undoubtedly an incentive and the best birthday gift. Messi will turn 23 on the 24th. After qualifying in the group, he spent his 23rd birthday; before the cruel knockout, he took over the captain's armband, which was the biggest incentive for Messi. In this way, Maradona hopes to make Messi more aware of his responsibilities, his position in the Argentine team, and his role in Argentine football.

As we all know, Messi had some controversy in Argentina before the World Cup, mainly because he performed too well in Barcelona and was mediocre in Argentina's World Cup qualifiers. Fortunately, in the main World Cup, Messi has used a series of wonderful performances in the group stage to eliminate these disputes. Nowadays, with the best incentive such as the captain's armband, Messi is bound to work harder and be more diligent.

It can be said that Messi already has everything: status, feeling, the trust of the coach, and the authority in the team. What he needs to do now is to lead Argentina to win the championship!