Chapter 186 The Myth of Invincibility, Qualifying for the World Cup Ahead of Schedule!

"Hiss, it's so cold!"

After arriving in Helsinki and getting off the plane, the Spanish internationals were hit by the cold wind and collectively shivered.

The temperature in Helsinki at this time is only about 5 degrees, and the lowest temperature at night can even drop below 0 degrees Celsius.

When they set off from Spain, the sun was shining brightly in Madrid and the temperature was as high as 33 degrees.

The temperature difference between the two places is as high as 30 degrees, and it feels like going from midsummer to midwinter overnight.

Although the national team's logistics support staff had reminded them before departure to remember to prepare warm clothes.

But Spanish players still underestimated the temperature here.

What's even worse is that the wind in Helsinki is very strong.

Being blown by the cold wind, the heat from the players' bodies was lost quickly, and each of them couldn't help but shiver.

"Hurry, hurry, get in the car, don't get cold outside!"

Coach Tony himself had a red nose from the cold, but he still stood in the cold wind and urged the players to get on the bus.

After getting on the bus, the driver turned on the air conditioner in the car. Feeling the heat pouring down from their heads, the Spanish players breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is this a country in the Arctic Circle? Isn't winter coming too early?"

"I heard that it's not this cold in normal years. The reason why it's so cold today is because of the cold wave!"

"Damn, the cold wave is coming sooner or later, but why is it coming at this time?"

When the players heard the news, they became worried.

It's easy to get injured playing football in cold temperatures, especially if you don't warm up enough.

They had just come over from Spain and were completely unaccustomed to the climate here.

It may take some time to adapt to the temperature here, but the game will start tomorrow, leaving them little time.

"Don't worry, this is not a life and death battle. Even if we lose the game, it will not affect our advancement!"

Seeing the worried looks of his teammates, Casillas stood up and comforted them.

Spain currently has three World Cup qualifying games left to play. In addition to this match against Finland, it also has two home games against Belarus and Georgia.

If they win either of these two games, they can qualify first in the group.

The importance of defeating the French team twice in the previous focus match became apparent at this time.

If they had won one less game before, they would have no room for error now.

After hearing Cassie's words, everyone felt a little more at ease.

It's not a life and death battle, so there's really no need to care so much.

Just relax and kick!

After Casillas calmed down his teammates, he quietly found Lin Quan:

"Lin, do you have any thoughts about tomorrow's game?"

"Um?"

Lin Quan looked at the other party in confusion, his face full of confusion.

Didn’t I just say that winning or losing is not important?

Why are you asking this question to yourself now?

"Captain, what do you think?"

Lin Quan asked back. He believed that Casillas must have his own purpose in finding him.

"I want to win tomorrow's game and qualify from the group two rounds ahead of schedule!"

Lin Quan nodded. It was not surprising that Casillas had such an idea.

Not only did he have such an idea, but Lin Quan himself also had such a plan.

The remaining two opponents in the group stage are not strong. If they can defeat Finland and qualify early, then they can sit on the bench to rest in the next two games.

Mid-October is when the Champions League group stage, league and cup competitions start one after another.

In a third-line battle, their main players will consume a lot of physical energy.

If there is another national team game, their physical exhaustion will be even more serious.

Overdrafting the body is very likely to lead to injuries, so if you can get your World Cup tickets early.

Then they can at least reduce one front and save a lot of energy.

"Well, I understand, captain, don't worry, I will be in my best condition for tomorrow's game!"

"I can rest assured that!"

Casillas was relieved when he heard Lin Quan's promise.

Lin Quan is the core of the team's offense. As long as he takes it seriously, defeating Finland will not be like chopping up the melons and chopping vegetables?

…

The Finnish team doesn’t think so!

After their fans saw the Spaniard get off the plane and freeze into a dog under the low temperature in Helsinki, their hopes were rekindled after they had given up hope.

Spain's players seemed uncomfortable with the Helsinki temperatures, but the hosts themselves had no such problem.

Therefore, the weather will help them weaken Spain's combat effectiveness and prevent their opponents from exerting their full strength.

If the Finnish team can seize the opportunity, it is very likely to defeat Spain when the opponent is in poor condition!

Spain currently has a total of 37 unbeaten games in international competitions. The last time it lost was in 2011.

As the big boss in the World Series, the national teams of each country are proud of defeating the Spanish team.

Moreover, the Finnish team is currently ranked third in the group with 6 points, while the French team, second in the group, has 9 points and only has one more victory than them.

Theoretically, the Finnish team still hopes to win the second place in the group and break through the siege to play in the play-offs.

Therefore, the entire Finnish team was fully prepared for this game, and the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki was packed with more than 40,000 spectators.

At 19:30 in the evening, the referee blew his whistle.

The focus of Group I of the 2014 World Cup European Qualifiers, the defending champion Spain's away game against Finland has officially begun.

In this game, Del Bosque made a lot of adjustments to Spain's starting lineup.

George Kok, a young player who plays for Atletico Madrid, came on as a right back. This was his first start for the national team.

Mario Suarez, who also plays for Atletico Madrid, replaces Javi Martinez as the defensive midfielder.

Arsenal midfielder Cazorla replaced the aging Xavi as the midfield organizer.

Silva, who was injured and absent, was replaced by Mata.

Lin Quan is still holding the single arrow at the front, with Fabregas and Iniesta standing behind him.

After the game started, the Spanish players played more conservatively as the Finnish fans expected.

Players are worried about injuries and are hesitant to make big moves on the court.

The Finnish team seized this opportunity and took the opportunity to attack the Spanish team's goal.

In the 3rd minute, the Finnish team took advantage of a throw-in opportunity in the frontcourt to launch a fast break.

Finland's left winger Alexander Lin dribbled the ball and broke through laterally. Spain's defense was very solid.

After his breakthrough failed, he barely sent a cross near the left baseline.

Finland's center Pukki outflanked the forward point. Although he grabbed the ball, his position was blocked by Koke.

He forced his kick to hit the goal with great reluctance, but failed to pose a threat and the football was easily confiscated by Casillas.

The 21-year-old young player Cork performed very solidly in defense this time and won applause from his teammates and coaches.

Casillas also came over and patted his butt to show encouragement.

The Finnish team's offensive was not over yet. In the 6th minute, Schurrle launched the attack with a long pass in the midfield.

Pukki received the ball in the penalty area, half-turned and shot the goal with his right foot.

The foot was not pressed down and the football went over the crossbar.

The fans at the scene looked very excited when they saw their team playing against Spain on the field.

One fan was so excited that he took off all his clothes, went shirtless and waved the Finnish flag to cheer for the team.

The air temperature at this time is about 3-4 degrees, and there are two or three levels of cold wind on the field.

He dared to go into battle shirtless under such circumstances, which must be said to be a ruthless person.

Although it seems that Spain's situation is relatively passive, slowly, as the Spanish players' running distance on the court increases, their bodies are warming up.

It can be clearly seen that the Spanish players' movements are no longer so stiff and they gradually start to let go.

There is a huge gap in hard power between the two teams. When Spain did not dare to let go, Finland once gained an advantage.

But when Spain ended its warm-up and officially entered the state, the Finnish team was immediately knocked back to its original shape.

In the 11th minute of the first half, the Spanish team successfully intercepted the ball in the midfield.

Pedro passed by on the right and passed to Lin Quan. Lin Quan played a two-on-one with him and passed the ball to the top of the arc in the penalty area.

The Sabres got rid of the defensive player, patted the horse and pushed with his right foot on the line of the penalty area.

The force of the ball was slightly less, and the football was confiscated by the goalkeeper and failed to pose a threat.

Although there was no goal, this shot sounded the clarion call for Spain's counterattack.

In the 12th minute, Spain played wonderful cooperation in the frontcourt. After continuous passes, the football was banned by Iniesta and passed into the penalty area with an imaginative heel pass.

Unfortunately, the defender was very focused and cleared the ball before Lin Quan.

Otherwise, as long as Lin Quan gets the ball, there is a high probability that it will be a goal.

In the 15th minute, Spain made a comeback.

Full-back Alba assisted to the frontcourt, went down and sent a cross from the left.

This ball is a semi-high ball, which is a little difficult to handle.

But Lin Quan didn't want to miss this opportunity, so he almost instinctively leaned back into the air and landed an upside-down golden hook.

The ball was played very beautifully. The ball was in the right position. The goalkeeper did not expect that the opponent would shoot with his back to the goal.

So when he made the save, he was half a beat too slow, and the ball flew in front of him and into the goal.

1:0, Spain temporarily takes the lead.

This goal was incredible, and Lin Quan himself was surprised.

The teammates didn't care so much, they rushed towards Lin Quan and celebrated crazily.

Spain is not afraid of reversals. As long as they score first, they will win with a high probability.

Now that the score is leading, the players feel relieved as if a big stone has fallen to the ground.

"Don't let down, let's keep up our efforts and strive to score two more points to completely seal the victory!"

"Well, if Lin Quan scores two more, he can go down and rest in the second half!"

Iniesta said humorously.

After being the first to score, the momentum of the Finnish fans at the scene stagnated, and they obviously felt much sluggish than before.

Even the shirtless man waving the national flag slowed down, whether because he was frozen or because he lacked strength.

The Spanish offensive was not over.

In the 28th minute, taking advantage of the opponent's eagerness to equalize the score, Spain launched a quick counterattack.

Cesc Fabregas sent a wonderful pass in the midfield, and Lin Quan successfully reversed the offside and got the ball at the front of the penalty area to form a single goal.

Facing the attacking goalkeeper, he calmly chose to push the ball with his left foot and score the ball.

The score became 2:0.

Spain has basically sealed the victory!

"Nice shot!"

"Lin's left and right feet are so balanced, it doesn't feel like he has an inverse foot!"

"Haha, just average, not as good as Brother Cazorla!"

Lin Quan expressed modestly.

Many players in the Spanish team have balanced left and right feet, such as Iniesta and Pedro.

But the one with the most balanced left and right feet is still Cazorla.

When he plays football, it's completely impossible to tell which foot is the reverse foot, as if this thing doesn't exist.

The left and right foot balance is terrible!

For professional players, developing inverse feet is a very important ability.

Being able to kick with only one foot is a serious lameness, because defenders will use your dominant foot to defend you. If you have an inverted foot, it will be too easy to defend.

Lin Quan's original dominant foot is right foot, and Messi happens to be a left-footed player.

So after copying Messi's template, Lin Quan can pass, dribble and shoot with both feet.

The game continued, and the Finnish team created a good opportunity in the 25th minute.

But it is a pity that Yeremenko's shot was destroyed by Alba's flying block.

Spain then launched a counterattack, Iniesta sent a through ball from the left side of the penalty area, and Lin Quan passed the ball to the Sabres.

The Sabers seemed to want to show off their footwork. He also chose to push with his left foot, but the angle of the ball was not controlled well, and the ball missed the far post and flew out of the baseline.

Seeing the football sliding past, the Sabers looked embarrassed and gestured to their teammates:

"Mistake, mistake, I will definitely score next time!"

"I believe you, Lin. Don't pass the ball to this kid next time. Why don't you just hit the goal with your right foot?"

The teammates cast disdainful glances at Saber, and everyone could see that this kid just wanted to show off.

Otherwise, if I hit it honestly with my right foot, would the ball still be kicked away?

I saw Spanish players chatting and laughing in front of their own penalty area with a relaxed look on their faces.

The Finnish players felt very frustrated!

There is no way, there is no way to prevent it, there is no way to prevent it.

The opponent's player is not too tall or too fast, but the combination of passing and running is really good.

Unless they double the number of people in the penalty area and seal off all passing space, they will not be able to stop the opponent's passing and cutting cooperation.

Seeing that the opponent's offensive became more and more sharp, the enthusiasm of the Finnish fans at the scene was completely extinguished.

Even the cheers and cheers have become much quieter.

In the 37th minute, Fabregas got the ball in the left rib of the penalty area. He passed the ball to Lin Quan, who dribbled past two people.

However, the space for forward breakthrough has been blocked. Instead of being reckless, he chose to pass back.

Fabregas received the ball and then passed it to Pedro. Pedro did not catch the ball and feinted a shot, giving the ball to Iniesta who came in behind.

Iniesta directly kicked the ball towards the goal. The goalkeeper himself was shaken by Pedro and was unable to make a save. He watched helplessly as his own goal was breached again.

Before the first half was over, Spain had already taken a 3:0 lead.

Seeing Spain score another goal, the Finnish fans at the scene seemed to finally be unable to bear it any longer, and everyone began to leave early.

The shirtless man from before quietly put on the cotton-padded clothes thrown on the seat and wrapped himself tightly.

He didn't know whether he felt cold physically or in his heart.

In the second half, the game was played in another place, because the team took a huge lead, in order to prevent players from accidentally getting injured.

Del Bosque made early substitutions, and after the halftime break, Spain directly replaced Iniesta and Fabregas.

Replaced with Negredo and Isco.

After playing for more than ten minutes, I saw that the Finnish team seemed to have no desire to attack, and the Spanish side also planned to retreat at the expense of money.

So, in the 59th minute, Bosque replaced Lin Quan and replaced him with Morata.

When Morata and Lin Quan high-fived, their faces were full of excitement.

It's only less than 60 minutes now, and he has at least 30 minutes of playing time!

This is much more time than the substitute appearance in the Confederations Cup!

As for Lin Quan, after he came off the field, he sat on the bench talking and laughing, wrapped in thick down jackets, together with the other three main players who had been substituted early.

"Do you think the coach will let us come to the team to report in the next group stage?"

"I don't know, if the coach wants to train young players, he most likely won't recruit us!"

"However, if the coach wants to maintain a record of undefeated games and continue our undefeated myth, that's hard to say!"

After Lin Quan came off the field, Spain's offensive ability declined, and Spain failed to score any more goals in the second half.

In the end, with the goals of Lin Quan and Iniesta, Spain defeated Finland 3:0 away from home.

Not only did they continue their undefeated streak, they also qualified first in the group two rounds ahead of schedule, locking in a spot in the main draw of the 2014 World Cup.