Chapter 534 Quaresma’s Redemption

Before the game between Germany and Spain started, the major media had already started to hype it.

The German media invited a number of football celebrities to conduct a detailed analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the two teams.

Although it was analyzed by the Germans themselves, the results of their analysis are relatively objective.

According to the German star, the German team has obvious advantages in the midfield and backfield, while Spain has a great advantage in the forward line.

This year's German team has a luxurious midfield staffing.

Gotze, Kroos, Ozil, Reus, Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Podolski...

Just looking at this list, you will know how powerful this German team's midfielder is!

The Spanish team has always been famous for its luxurious midfield configuration, but if you compare this Spanish midfield lineup with the German team, you will find that the German team's midfield configuration has surpassed Spain!

In addition to the strong midfield configuration, the defense line led by Boateng and Hummels is also one of the strongest defense lines in this European Cup so far.

But the German team is not without its weaknesses. Their weakness lies in the forward line.

The German team only brought one center forward to this World Cup, and that is Gomez!

After Gomez left Bayern, his condition plummeted due to injuries and different environments.

After two poor seasons with Fiorentina, he was loaned to Besiktas in the Turkish Super League.

He found his second spring here, and his condition improved, and he was re-recruited by the German national team.

But Gomez is far away from the five major leagues after all, and there is definitely a big gap between the Turkish Super League and the five major leagues.

Therefore, the German team's forward staffing seems a bit out of place compared to the gorgeous midfielder. The gap is really too big.

But this does not mean that the German team's offensive firepower is weak. On the contrary, the past few games have shown that the German team's offensive firepower is not weak at all.

Under the cover of Gomez, Muller, a shadow striker, performed like a duck in water, scoring frequently and helping the team attack the city.

On the wing, Sane and Schürrle are also threats that cannot be ignored.

Coupled with Ozil, Gotze, Reus and others in the attacking midfielder position, the German team's offensive system is very rich and has almost no shortcomings.

Although Lin Quan is in charge of the Spanish team, the overall offensive power may not be really stronger than the German team.

Therefore, this analysis by the Germans is actually very modest.

Given that both teams are very strong, outsiders, after careful analysis, feel that this game may be very anxious.

Although the German team lost to the Spanish team 2 years ago, today is different from the past. This German team has a good chance of defeating the Spanish team!

…

The focus battle between Germany and Spain is scheduled for July 3, and the quarter-finals have already started on July 1, with the Portuguese team and the Polish team respectively.

If the game between the German team and the Spanish team is difficult to predict because both sides are very strong.

In this match between Poland and Portugal, because the two sides were so close in strength, it was hard to tell who would have the last laugh.

From the analysis of paper strength, the two teams are evenly matched. Who can win depends entirely on their on-the-spot performance.

Although neither team is very strong, this game also attracted a lot of attention because of the presence of Ronaldo and Lewandowski.

As one of the most powerful top centers in today's football, the two will inevitably be compared.

Compared with the expensive Cristiano Ronaldo, the younger Lewandowski is still cheap and high-quality.

And he doesn't have much time left in his contract with Bayern. For those giants interested in strengthening their team's forward strength, this summer is a good opportunity to make a move.

Therefore, many scouts from wealthy clubs came to the game.

Because of his outstanding performance in Dortmund and Bayern, Lewandowski was selected by fans as one of the three major centers in football today.

The other two selected as the top three centers are Barcelona forward Suarez and Real Madrid forward Benzema.

Being included in this list is enough to prove Lewandowski's strength.

Compared with super giants that cost 100 million to 200 million or even more expensive, a star of Lewandowski's level can be won with a maximum of 100 million euros.

And his comprehensiveness and strong adaptability can bring strong immediate combat effectiveness to those wealthy clubs eager to improve their performance.

It is precisely because of this that giant clubs such as Manchester United and Liverpool, which are in urgent need of outstanding strikers, are eager to learn about him.

For example, in this game, Liverpool coach Klopp, Manchester United coach Mourinho and others were all sitting in the stands.

After an unsuccessful season last year, Manchester United will definitely make big moves in the transfer market this summer.

Mourinho, who is very dissatisfied with Martial, urgently needs a strong forward to help the team solve the problem of weak forward.

Therefore, Lewandowski, who has excellent football skills, superb shooting skills and top-notch shooting ability, is the target of Manchester United's focus.

In addition to Lewandowski, Everton’s Romelu Lukaku is also on the reserve list.

Of course, among the two, Mourinho will definitely give priority to Lewandowski, but he may not be able to make the decision on this matter. After all, Manchester United's top management has not given him full power, and he often does not get what he wants most. player, who is then stuffed with a secondary backup player.

…

Lewandowski did not let down the many fans who came specially to watch the game for him. In just 2 minutes, Lewandowski took the lead and helped the team score the first goal.

This goal ignited the enthusiasm of tens of thousands of fans at the scene, especially the Polish fans who came from afar.

If they can win this game, Poland will make history and reach the semi-finals of the European Cup for the first time!

Although with the strength of the Polish team, it is basically difficult to make a breakthrough after reaching the semi-finals, but they are satisfied with reaching the semi-finals.

This European Cup is not only a carnival for Icelanders, but also for Poles.

This is the first time they have successfully broken through the group stage and entered the quarterfinals for the first time. Today they even have a chance to make history again and reach the semifinals!

Watching the team's performance rising steadily, Polish fans were naturally overjoyed.

They pulled up a huge banner that covered almost the entire South Stand.

More than 20,000 Polish fans gave a uniform cheer, calling every player's name like a roll call.

Inspired by this, the Polish players on the field performed even more bravely. With the momentum after scoring, they suppressed the Portuguese team and once formed a siege on the Portuguese goal.

This period of time is the most dangerous for the Portuguese team. Once the opponent scores another goal during this period, the game will go far.

Fortunately, under their united resistance, they tenaciously defended the goal and did not let the opponent seize the opportunity to expand the score.

After withstanding this round of offensive from the opponent, the Portuguese began to launch a counterattack.

As the opponent's key target, Ronaldo attracted a large number of troops from the opponent in the frontcourt.

Taking advantage of the opportunity created by Ronaldo's attracting firepower, Portugal's midfielder Luis Sanchez seized the opportunity, accepted Ni's pass, and scored the equalizer in the 33rd minute of the first half.

After the goal was scored, the two sides returned to the same starting line.

The worried Portuguese fans in the stands were finally able to release their suppressed emotions for half an hour.

The momentum of the Poles suddenly stagnated, and they no longer had the same momentum as before.

However, the situation on the court reached a deadlock after Portugal's goal.

Although both sides tried their best to break the opponent's goal and seal the victory of this game.

But both sides seemed to lack some luck, especially Ronaldo, who wasted several single opportunities, making the Portuguese fans in the stands feel like a roller coaster.

After wasting countless opportunities, the score remained 1:1 until the end.

The game was forced into overtime, and in overtime, although both sides made a lot of personnel adjustments, they still had nothing to do against the opponent's defense.

The game entered a brutal penalty shootout!

The penalty shootout was a huge test for the players on both sides who had played for 120 minutes.

It not only tests the physical fitness of the players, but also tests their mental endurance.

As the captain of the team, Ronaldo, who did not perform well in this game, stepped forward and chose to take the first penalty.

The Polish fans in the stands booed desperately, trying to disturb Ronaldo.

The Polish team's goalkeeper was also jumping up and down on the goal line, putting pressure on Ronaldo.

Ronaldo took a deep breath, eliminated all external distractions, and focused all his attention on football.

Starting, running up, and taking free throws, Ronaldo moved in one go and steadily sent the ball into the goal, helping Portugal gain the first victory.

On the Polish side, Lewandowski also chose to take the first penalty. Like Ronaldo, he also withstood tremendous pressure and scored the penalty.

At the end of the first round of free throws, the score between the two teams was 1:1!

In the second round, Renato Sanchez shot into the upper left corner with his right foot, and Milik from Poland also withstood the pressure and broke the net with his left foot.

2-2!

In the third round, Moutinho calmly hit the ball into the lower left corner of the goal. Glick deceived the goalkeeper and hit the ball into the lower left corner of the goal.

3-3!

The penalty shootout came to the critical fourth round. Nani performed well in this game. Nani, who sent an assist, calmly scored the ball into the upper right corner.

The penalty kick taken by Polish player Blaszczykowski who then played was saved by Portugal goalkeeper Patricio falling to the ground!

4:3!

Portugal has the advantage. As long as they can score the next penalty kick, they will advance to the semi-finals!

For a moment, the attention of all the fans was focused on the last Portuguese player to play, and this person was none other than Quaresma, a former genius who was later rejected by the top clubs.

For a moment, Quaresma felt that the eyes of the world were focused on him, which made him feel tremendous pressure.

Quaresma, who has experienced falling from the top to the bottom, feels that his legs are almost out of control at this moment.

He is scared!

He was afraid that he would not live up to the expectations of his teammates and missed the crucial penalty kick.

He was once as famous as Ronaldo, and even more favored by the outside world than Ronaldo.

However, he messed it all up, first with Barcelona and then with Inter Milan, and he was kicked out twice by wealthy clubs.

At this time, Quaresma felt exactly the same as before.

He was afraid that he would screw up again and become the target of disappointment or even reviling by everyone.

Just when Quaresma's nervous face turned pale, a pair of warm and strong hands patted his shoulders.

"Go ahead, Ricardo, don't be nervous, I believe in you!"

Quaresma turned around with difficulty and found that the person encouraging him was his good friend Cristiano Ronaldo.

The two have been friends for many years. Even when he was at his lowest, Cristiano Ronaldo never abandoned him and always encouraged him and helped him get back on his feet and get out of the shadow of failure.

Seeing the sincere and eager eyes of his friend, Quaresma seemed to have regained his strength.

He nodded heavily and said:

"I won't let you down, absolutely not!"

Woo!

Deafening boos erupted from the stands, and Polish fans were desperately trying to disrupt Quaresma in every way possible, including booing him and even shining laser pointers into his eyes.

They knew very well what it would mean to them if Quaresma scored this penalty kick.

It is no exaggeration to say that the life and death of the Polish team depends on Quaresma's audience at this moment.

Quaresma followed Ronaldo's previous example, took a deep breath and stood at the penalty spot.

He didn't even look at the goalkeeper's actions, his eyes were fixed on the ball not far away.

At this moment, his mind was clear, as if the whole world disappeared from his eyes, leaving only the football in front of him and the goal not far away.

As long as this damn football goes into that damn goal, all nightmares will be over!

This is the only thought in Quaresma's mind at the moment!

After the referee's whistle sounded, indicating that he could take a free throw.

Quaresma moved, but he still didn't look at the goalkeeper, his eyes were still focused on the football.

The goalkeeper of the Polish team was extremely nervous. He stared at Quaresma's steps to determine which foot the opponent would use to shoot.

Left foot!

Finally, he made a judgment and quickly pounced towards the lower right corner of the goal.

However, when he completed the save, he was surprised to find that the football did not come from this direction, but hit the direction where he was standing just now.

The goalkeeper had predicted for a long time, predicted the loneliness, Quaresma did not choose to shoot to both sides at all.

"I really don't know whether I should say that this kid is brave because of his talent, or that he is too reckless. If he misses this free throw, his future will be completely ruined!"

In the stands, Mourinho applauded and shook his head.

When he was at Inter Milan, Quaresma tricked him quite a lot.

Now that he has seen Quaresma complete his self-salvation, Mourinho is actually quite happy for him.