Chapter 520 Lin Quan Is Absent From the European Cup? Breaking News Ignites Ambitions of Various Countries

On May 31, the Spanish team announced its 23-man roster.

On June 1, the Spanish team began training.

However, outside the national team training base, a large number of reporters who came to inquire did not see the Spanish team's core player Lin Quan, which seemed to further confirm the outside world's speculation.

"The Spanish superstar may miss the European Cup!" 》

"Lin Quan is absent from the Spanish national team training! 》

"With the first player on the team absent, the Bulldogs suffered a heavy setback!" 》

…

For a time, major media reports poured in, making the Spanish people panic. Even Spanish fans on social media were discussing the matter.

"Didn't Manchester City say there is nothing wrong with Lin Huang's injury? Why didn't he come to the Spanish team's training camp?"

"Could it be because he just finished participating in the Champions League, so he is a little later than other players?"

"That's not right. Isn't Manchester City's other international player David Silva here?"

"It is now confirmed that Lin Huang is indeed injured, but it may not be as serious as the outside world imagines. Otherwise, Vicente del Bosque will not put him in the squad for this European Cup."

"Well, it makes sense. Since Bosque chose to call him, it means that Bosque still hopes that he can play. But the suspense now is, can Lin Huang return to the team before the European Cup officially starts?"

There are only 10 days left before the start of the European Cup. In this European Cup, Spain's group situation is not ideal.

In the same group as them are Croatia, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

None of them seem to be top teams, but none of these three teams are soft persimmons, and almost all of them are tough players whose strength is greater than their reputation.

Especially Croatia, led by Modric. Although this team is not as well-known as traditional strong teams such as Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, in terms of strength, it may not be worse than these teams.

If Lin Quan is in the team, it may be difficult for these teams to pose a threat to the Spanish team.

But now that Lin Quan is not here, and the Spanish team lacks a backbone and the team's strength is greatly reduced, there may be a question mark as to whether they can defeat these opponents and make it out of the group stage!

"If we can't catch up, the group stage may be a bit dangerous!"

Fans are still looking forward to the Spanish team's failure in the group stage. They think of the double winner of the two European Cups and World Cup falling in the group stage of the European Cup.

For fans in other countries, there is simply nothing that makes them happier than this.

"Haha, I can't wait to watch the Spanish team's embarrassment in the group stage!"

It's not too big a deal to watch the excitement, the fans are looking forward to something embarrassing in Spain.

After all, in the European Cup, apart from Spain's own fans, most fans from other countries will support their own country's teams.

I wish that except for their own team, all the teams from other countries would be eliminated, so that their national team could stage a myth like Greece and counterattack to win the championship!

…

The other three teams in the same group are also paying close attention to Spain's preparations.

In the Croatian team's training base, Croatian coach Kovac saw the information in his hand and showed a relaxed smile on his face:

"Is the news accurate? Lin really didn't participate in the training camp in Spain?"

"It's absolutely true, Mr. Nico, the Spanish media have been squatting outside their national team training base all day, and they haven't seen Lin Quan come to report on the team!"

Kovac nodded, thought for a moment, and decided to confirm further. After all, with Lin Quan and without Lin Quan, Spain is completely two teams!

"Call Modric here, forget it, I'll go find him myself!"

If Lin Quan is Spain's top star, then Modric is undoubtedly Croatia's top star.

Modric had just played against Lin Quan in the Champions League final. Being on the court, he must be more aware of Lin Quan's injury than anyone else.

So Kovac wants to further confirm the news from him. If the news is true, he may have to change his style of play when facing Spain in the group stage!

Modric was not in a good mood. Although his desire to win was not as strong as Ronaldo's, no one would feel comfortable losing the championship he coveted.

"Coach, are you looking for me?"

Modric was very polite to Kovac, but there was a hint of distance in his politeness.

In the club, he uses the title "Boss".

"Yes, I have something to ask you!"

Kovac stated his question again, and after Modric learned the other party's intention, he thought about it carefully.

When Marcelo committed a foul, he had already returned to a position close to the top of the penalty area. He was only less than 15 meters away from the location of the foul, so he could see it relatively clearly.

"Marcelo's kick was so hard that it would be difficult for most people to withstand it!"

Modric truthfully stated what he saw. He believed that Lin Quan must have been injured, and the injury was not serious. Otherwise, he would not have missed the team's cup celebration and the float parade after winning the championship.

"That's it, I understand. You go and train. This time we will try to go further!"

Kovac took over as the coach in 2013. Under his leadership, Croatia entered the World Cup in Brazil, but was assigned to the death group in the World Cup. After losing to the host Brazil and the top team in Central America, Mexico, Unfortunately, Croatia failed to advance to the knockout rounds after failing to qualify in the group stage.

This failure caused Kovac to lose the support of Croatian Football Federation Chairman Davor Suker.

This year is the last year of his contract with the national team. After this European Cup, he will step down.

However, if Croatia gains something in this European Cup, the ending may be different.

This Croatian team has a group of very strong players emerging.

There are big-name players like Modric, Mandzukic, and Rakitic who have been famous for a long time and play for wealthy clubs.

There are also potential new stars like Kovacic and Pjazza.

There are many other players who play in the five major leagues. Although they are not that famous, they are definitely not weak in strength.

The lower limit of this Croatian team is very high, and the upper limit is also very high. Moreover, they have distinctive characteristics, tough style of play, tacit cooperation, and very abundant physical fitness.

In view of these advantages, Kovac created a set of tactics for them that are very suitable for them - defensive counterattack, high-pressure pressing!

It sounds a bit contradictory, but there is a team called Atletico Madrid in La Liga that plays like this.

With this set of tactics, Kovac felt that they were qualified to compete with the Spanish team that had lost Lin Quan.

Croatia's best record in the European Cup is the quarterfinals. This time, as long as he can break or even tie this record, he may get a new contract and lead Croatia to the World Cup to be held in Russia two years later!

The shame I created two years ago must be washed away with my own hands!

In addition to Croatia, the biggest challenger, teams such as the Czech Republic and Turkey also had different thoughts after learning the news.

Spain is very powerful, everyone admits this. Although Spain is now as strong as the invincible army 2 years ago, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Before being overturned from the throne by a challenger , Spain is still number one in the world for the time being.

However, the strength of Spain has a lot to do with Lin Quan, just like Messi is to Barcelona. If he is removed from the Spanish team, fans are very curious about how much strength Spain will have left.

Just in time, take this opportunity to test the quality of this Spanish team!

…

Time flew by and June 11th soon came.

The four-year-old European Cup is finally about to kick off!

The birthplace of modern football is in Europe, which makes the level of football in Europe always the best in the world.

In the early years, Latin American football could still compete with Europe, but as more and more Latin American stars landed in Europe, they played in the five major leagues.

The characteristics of Latin American football have begun to fade away little by little. Instead, they have been influenced by European football and become more and more like European football.

Latin American football has lost its characteristics. The last three World Cups have fallen at the feet of European teams. Even the three consecutive World Cups have been civil wars between European teams.

It can be said that in the years 2010-2016, the momentum and prestige of European football reached its peak.

Affected by this, this European Cup has attracted widespread attention around the world.

Countless fans and reporters flocked to France to cover this football feast.

On June 11, at 8 o'clock in the evening, at the Stade de France, the opening match started between the host France team and the Romanian team.

In order to avoid overturning at home, the French team tried its best to defeat Romania in this game.

However, the situation of the game did not go as smoothly as they expected. Romania performed very tenaciously. Not only did they not give up at the opponent's home court, they also dared to challenge the host.

The paper strength gap between the two teams is huge, and the gap in FIFA rankings is even greater. However, in the first few minutes of the first half, the game was firmly in Romania's hands. They played a wave of offensive climax, leaving the host country in a panic.

This scene made French President Hollande, who attended the opening ceremony, a little unable to hold his nerve:

What's going on?

Doesn’t it mean that the opponent is very weak and we can easily handle it?

Why did he get kicked like this?

Fortunately, after withstanding the opponent's three blows at the beginning, the French team is getting better.

Under the protection of Kante, the tireless midfielder, the French team began to gradually take control of the situation on the field and sounded the clarion call for counterattack.

In the 10th minute of the first half, the French team cooperated in the frontcourt. After receiving a pass from his teammate, Griezmann suddenly shot a cold arrow and tried to hit a long shot with his left foot.

This shot was quite threatening, but unfortunately his long-range shot was blocked by the defender.

A minute later, France made a comeback.

Payet dribbled the ball from the left and passed with his left foot. Giroud pressed forward in the small penalty area and flicked his head towards the top of the goal.

This goal scared everyone in Romania into a cold sweat. The Romanian Prime Minister sitting next to Hollande couldn't sit still and couldn't help but move his buttocks.

In the 14th minute, the French team once again threatened. After a successful interception, Kante handed the ball to Pogba. Pogba made a diagonal pass from the midfielder. Sagna made a pass from the right. Griezmann volleyed and kicked the ball into the air. He followed up with a header and was denied by the crossbar.

When the ball hit the crossbar with a 'bang' sound, tens of thousands of French people in the audience sighed in unison.

This goal is such a pity. The opponent's goalkeeper has surrendered, but it was rejected by the goal frame. Isn't this bad luck?

However, after the French team controlled the midfield, opportunities continued to appear.

In the 25th minute, Koscielny made a long pass from the backcourt. Giroud was overjoyed. As long as he received the ball, it was a one-man goal.

However, Giroud's start was a bit slow, and the opponent's center back fell to the ground first to make a clearance, causing the French team to miss a good opportunity again.

After missing this opportunity, the French team's performance was a little anxious. Seeing that his teammates were still unable to make contributions, Pogba began to try to go it alone.

In the 28th minute, Pogba tried a long-range shot from 25 meters away. The shot was very powerful, but it was an anti-aircraft gun.

After that, Romania's defense gradually stabilized, and the French team did not get any good opportunities in the first half.

During the halftime break, fans on the Internet and in the commentary booths of major TV stations expressed their opinions on the host country's performance in the first half.

Everyone has an idea:

That's it?

Is this the French team that was trumpeted as the favorite to win the championship before the game?

It doesn’t feel good no matter what?

Maybe it’s because I’ve seen too much of the invincible Spanish team, which has been killing its opponents in international competitions in the past few years. Now when I look at the French team, I feel like something is wrong.

The French team, the favorite to win the championship, is somewhat unworthy of its name.

"I don't know why the French didn't recruit Benzema. The combination of Benzema and Giroud is the best choice. If Benzema was on the court, the score would definitely not be 0:0 now!"

Because of the blackmail scandal, Benzema was expelled from the French national team and failed to qualify for this European Cup.

This incident originally caused many people to complain about Benzema. Now that the French team is unable to attack, the voices complaining about him are even louder.

After all, he is currently the strongest center in France. Wouldn't it be foolish to leave the best option unused?

Besides, it’s not certain whether the Blackmail scandal is true or not!

After the halftime break, the two teams changed sides and fought again.

Similar to the plot in the first half, the Romanians once again took advantage of the French's lack of concentration after the opening to launch a very threatening attack.

In the 48th minute of the second half, Stanciu (the one from Wuhan Three Towns) sent a subtle diagonal pass from the right side of the arc. The French team made an offside error. Stanciu stepped forward with his left rib and volleyed sideways. The ball bounced slightly off the post and France escaped. Survive the calamity!

This goal shocked the French, and a good start almost turned into a bad start!