This issue is the second special planning of the "Road to the World Cup" column, and after experiencing the unpopular 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, the 2006 World Cup in Germany seems to be back on track. At the same time, this World Cup is the last performance of Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, Beckham, Nedved and other post-70s superstars, and it is also the first World Cup of the young generation of young talents such as Looney, C Ronaldo, Robben, Sneijder, Messi and other talented young stars after the 80s.
The 2006 World Cup has a cross-era significance for the future of world football, and after this World Cup, the classical front waist and the sapper-type back have gradually ended in world football, replaced by winger tactics and all-round midfielders. The tactics of world football have also begun to innovate, relying more on the whole, and those personality stars who once could surpass the team's tactics have basically disappeared. European football gradually began to dominate world football by relying on a strong overall and the tactical qualities of the players, and South American football began to lag behind Europe after the 2006 World Cup.
The semi-final pinnacle battle is overtime
The first classic moment I want to share with you is the final battle between Italy and Germany in the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup. In this game, Klinsmann made an important adjustment to the lineup, replacing Schweinsteiger the pig with Borowski, trying to use the control ability of the Bremen midfield to stabilize the midfield, give Ballack effective support and share the defensive pressure caused by The suspension of Felins.
The German changed the slow and hot performance of the past few games, the first 10 minutes began a sharp attack, the Italian team was unable to break through the half, slowed down the blue-clad legion, quickly adjusted, 15 minutes from Roma two stars to get a connection opportunity, Totti midfielder picked up Perrota, the latter adjusted the rhythm of running anti-offside success, single-handedly faced Lehmann, unfortunately the stop ball was unstable due to the inability to adjust the angle of the shot in time, Lehmann attacked to save the ball. In the 34th minute, Klose launched an offensive attack in front of him, and the clever split was given to Schneider, who was unguarded on the right, and in the face of this excellent shooting opportunity, the veteran of the pharmaceutical factory kicked the ball away. In the 49th minute, Klose staged a rare flash against Gattuso and Cannavaro, bursting into the box to form a chance to attack the goal, Buffon decisively attacked and turned the danger into a disaster.
The game between the players of the two sides is also a major attraction of this game, the German players on the defensive end are tough, the Italian players are skilled, the German attack group on the offensive end is full of oppression, and the Italian attack group is quite spiritual. For most of the game, there was a tug-of-war situation, the wrestling between the two midfielders was the main theme, whether it was Pirlo, Gattuso, or Kylborovsky, Barak, there were many wonderful performances, lehmann and Buffon explained what is the highest level of goalkeepers with textbook performances.
In the 72nd minute, the home Germanic chariot took the lead in adjusting to replace the impactful piglet, while Lippi replaced Luca with Gilardino. Tony, and then Chrisman took Schneider to replace speed striker Odongkol, trying to take the game away with the increase in impact. But the main film of the game does not really start until overtime. In the 91st minute, Gilardino got rid of Metzelder's defense of Barack, got up and shot at the near corner, Lehmann reacted half a beat slower at this time, and the home goalpost was successful when the shot was made, and the German escaped the disaster.
A minute later, the Italian came back, Pirlo's corner kick was released by the German players, just landed at the feet of Zambrotta, he just broke through the quarter-finals, his feet were smooth, he pulled his feet out, the ball hit the crossbar again, without the main force of the 12th man's goal frame on the field, germany would have fallen behind 0-2. Seeing the momentum of the team, the old spicy Lippi once again nodded, sent a love to replace Piero with Perota, and sacrificed a rare three-striker formation in extra time, using this action to tell the opponent that overtime is the winner of the game, and he wants to play penalty with me.
In the 105th minute, Podolski had a great opportunity in the middle of the penalty area, Odongkol started on the right, the Italian back line made a mistake, Podolski was unguarded, he flicked his head to attack but deflected the ball. In the 110th minute, the Prince of Cologne was given another chance to kill, Kyle cleverly passed through the running route of the two Italian players in the middle, Podolski once again formed an undefended attack opportunity, he adjusted the angle and used the instep of his foot to shoot, worthy of Buffon, he stood in advance to block the angle of the shot, lifted the ball off the crossbar.
In extra time, the two sides attacked each other, watching the 120 clock getting closer and closer, 3 minutes before the end, Pirlo chose to shoot from a distance at the top of the arc of the penalty area, the intensity angle was excellent, Lehmann struggled to lift the ball out of the bottom line, and Italy won the corner. Piero drove a corner kick on the right, the German player broke the siege and the ball fell to Pirlo's feet, he used the afterglow to see a cunning figure swimming on the right side of the penalty area and at this time the attention of the two defenders was all focused on himself, Pirlo took two steps to pull the four players of the German defensive line, cleverly passed the ball to this teammate, yes, it was him, it was the man, Grosso, the spokesperson for the 2006 World Cup, he saw that he was looking for a left foot shot, the football drew an arc, and hung directly on the far foot of the goal.
The German who suddenly conceded the ball in the last moment, can only be pressed on the whole line, and how can the Italian team drop the chain at this moment, in the face of the German's attack, the Italian team broke the ball at the back and launched a counterattack, the excellent Gilardino calmly protected the ball, Piero rushed to the horse, the score formed a single knife, a calm killer is impossible to miss this opportunity, Piero's second facing Lehmann, as if back to the Tokyo National Arena 10 years ago, he used his right foot to gracefully stroke, a wonderful arc, A rainbow was drawn above Lehmann's head, and the Italian team was going to Berlin.
Rubbing shoulders with Hercules Grandmaster Zidane is lonely
The second classic moment was the departure of Zidane, a generation of midfield masters, who left the final. Zidane has always been a world superstar with excellent skills and ball skills in the eyes of fans, and when he made such a move, it naturally shocked everyone. Even two of the parties, Lippi and Buffon, in interviews on the show years later, said Zidane's behaviour was shocking and that if he hadn't done so, Italy might not have been able to beat France.
At that time, the French team and the Italian team both entered the final with the attitude of winning the championship, and the core of the French team Zidane had already announced that this game would be the last game of his career, and he would officially retire after that, which also added a lot of highlights to the war of the century, out of the feeling of pity for the hero, many fans naturally hoped that the French team could win the championship as a farewell gift for Zidane. In the first half, the two sides exchanged attacks and defenses to become a 1-1 draw, and in the second half, the two teams riveted enough to engage in a tug-of-war, and the game entered the extra time stage without suspense.
When the game reached 107 minutes, the bizarre scene occurred, only to see Zidane, wearing the number 10 shirt representing the core of the team, suddenly throw his head to the chest of Italian centre-back Materazzi, who fell to the ground in pain, and Argentine referee Oraccio Elizondo had a brief conversation with the referee and directly showed Zidane a red card. Zidane didn't argue too much either, just walked straight off the field back to the dressing room. The photographer also filmed the famous scene of the superstar's lonely back rubbing shoulders with the Hercules Cup.
Originally the game was in a state of glue, this scene ignited the atmosphere of the whole stadium, and Zidane Matelazi instantly became the focus of the pitch. And the grandmaster Zidane also announced in advance that he had bid farewell to the football field and his playing career. Subsequently, the French team, which played less and more, did not survive the penalty shootout in the end, and lost the championship.
After the match, both Zidane and Materazzi did not explain too much, but only said that the conflict was caused by some words. Over the years, both men gradually let go of the matter and laid out the details and details: at first, because the two were pulling each other in a scramble, Zidane told Materazzi, "You pull the shirt so tightly, you want me to give it to you off the field." But the rough-skinned Materazzi replied directly, "I want your sister more than your jersey." In the end, Zidane, who could not bear it, crashed his head into Materazzi, and this scene became a classic in the history of the World Cup.
Finally, to show you the level of Asian teams, this World Cup There are 4 teams in Asia that have qualified, namely South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, these 4 teams have always represented the highest level in Asia, so it is also deserved. However, in that world, Asian teams generally performed poorly, 3 of the 4 teams were at the bottom of the group, and 1 team was 3rd in the group, the record was very dismal, but it was not all bright spots.
South Korea: Has played at the highest level, with gains and regrets
South Korea's first match against African side Togo scored two goals in a row to make a 2-1 comeback in a 2-1 comeback. The second battle to win the bid is popular France, South Korea also has amazing play, although the scene is completely passively beaten and conceded a goal first, but with Park Ji-sung in the counterattack to seize an opportunity, South Korea finally broke the cold to force a draw with France, the first two games to get 1 win and 1 draw.
In the final battle of the group stage, if South Korea can beat Switzerland, it will definitely be able to qualify for the group, and if it does not win, it will need to look at others' faces, so the team is of course full of war. However, facing Switzerland, which already had a number of players playing in the five major leagues at that time, South Korea did not have much to do in the game, Switzerland's Sendros and Frey scored a goal in the first and second halves, and South Korea finally drank 0-2, ranking third in the group regrettably out.
Japan: The heart is thinner than the sky and the fate is thinner than the paper, and there is no power to fight back before the real technology flows
In the first game of the group stage, Japan faced Australia with confidence, and their start was indeed good, Shunsuke Nakamura's goal helped Japan lead 1-0 at halftime, but who thought that in the second half, Japan was completely collapsed, Cahill helped Australia to rebound in the second half, Aloissi scored the third goal and directly killed the game, and the Japanese team finally hated 1-3. In the second group stage against the stronger Croatia, Japan played a higher level, and the two teams fought fiercely for 90 minutes to 0-0, but for Japan, such a result made them in a desperate situation, after all, the final battle was against the most powerful Brazil.
In the final match, Japan faced Brazil although it was a game of breaking the boat, and Keiji Tamada scored first in the first half. But the unexpected goal conceded actually boosted Brazil's morale, and Ronaldo helped Brazil equalize before the end of the first half. After the start of the second half, Juninho, Gilberto and Ronaldo were next to each other, and Japan was ultimately unable to return to the sky to lose 1-4, and finally only accumulated 1 point in 3 games to get out of the bottom of the group.
Iran: The opponents in the group are all tigers and wolves, and the Persian Iron Horse is at the bottom of the ladder with nothing to say
Iran's first group match against Mexico still played well in the first half, with GormoHamadi's goal to make it 1-1 with his opponents. However, after Mexico continued to strengthen its offensive in the second half, Iran's defense line collapsed and eventually lost 1-3. In this battle against Portugal, Iran was almost passive in the whole game, and Deco and C Ronaldo scored goals successively to make Iran suffer another defeat with a score of 0-2.
Iran had been eliminated before the final battle of the group stage, but they still hoped to save their dignity by winning a victory over Angola. However, they only equalized with a header from centre-back BakhtiariZadeh only after conceding a goal first, and finally only shook hands with their opponents 1-1. After three games in the group stage, Iran only got 1 point to rank at the bottom of the group.
Saudi Arabia: Missed opportunity in the first match of the group stage Facing the European giants, they are powerless to compete
In the opening match of the group stage against Tunisia from North Africa, Saudi Arabia played quite well in the game. After conceding one goal in the first half, Saudi Arabia scored two goals in a row in the second half to reverse. But in the second minute of stoppage time, Tunisia equalized with Jaydi's header, 2-2! Saudi Arabia almost lost three points! And failing to take down the weakest opponent in the group also put Saudi Arabia in a desperate situation! Facing Ukraine in the second round of the group stage, Saudi Arabia was completely unable to play at the level, and finally lost 0-4!
In the final battle, if Saudi Arabia can beat Spain, they still have a chance to qualify, when Spain has locked in the qualification in advance, which gives the Saudis some room for illusion. However, the Matadors are after all a world-class team, even if they are only on the bench, but the overall strength is still far above Saudi Arabia. Juanito scored the only goal of the game with a header in the first half, and Saudi Arabia lost -1. After three games, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia have a score of 1 point, because the goal difference is at the bottom of the group.
The Road to the World Cup – Phase 2: Italy Is Unrivaled and The Strength of Asian Teams Is Limited It ends here, and The 3rd Phase will take you to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Stay tuned!