Jimu News reporter Deng Pengwei
Who would have thought that England, the favourites to win the title, would almost be eliminated in the first round of the knockout round? If it weren't for Bellingham's flash of inspiration, the most expensive team in this tournament would have gone home.
In the match against Slovakia in the early morning of July 1, Beijing time, England did not draw until the 95th minute of stoppage time, and then in extra time, with Kane's first-minute goal, England stepped on the tightrope to advance to the last eight.
In the match between Spain and Georgia later, although Spain conceded a goal first, the powerful Spain defeated the opponent with a score of 4:1 and entered the top 8 steadily, and the championship was full.
Bellingham
Bellingham became the savior
In the three rounds of the group, except for the first round of goals, Bellingham's performance was extremely bad, and the media compared him to the team's "cancer", but on this night, he saved the England team.
The game came to the 95th minute of stoppage time, England at this time was still down 0-1, only about a minute before the end of the game, and at the critical moment, Bellingham stepped up.
Bellingham slotted the equaliser with a golden hook upside down after receiving a team-mate's header from the ferry!
In the first minute of extra time, Kane scored with a header, and England stepped on a tightrope to enter the last eight thanks to the performance of two superstars.
Zhan Jun, a well-known football commentator, commented: The Three Lions are in a desperate situation! England's "head team" is back! You can't count on luck in your next match against Switzerland.........
It can be said that England coach Southgate's life is really hard, after eliminating Slovakia in danger, Southgate has led the team to the top 8 of international competitions for 4 consecutive times, and the record is quite stable, and he is also the first coach in the history of the England team to lead the team to the top 8 in 4 consecutive major tournaments.
Kane
Slovakia was not convinced
Before the game, almost no one was optimistic about the Slovak team, because the difference in value and strength between the two sides was too great, but the Slovak almost performed a miracle.
Speaking to the media after the game, Slovakia coach Karzona praised the performance of his players and expressed regret that his team did not qualify for the quarter-finals. 'I'm very proud of the team and the players played exactly what I wanted them to do. We ended up conceding in stoppage time, but at this level of play it was predictable and maybe we could have defended better, but it did happen. Although we lost, I want to reiterate that I am really proud of my team, of all the players, who played a very good game and I think all Slovaks should be proud of them as well. 'We played the attacking football we wanted, kept the formation tight on the pitch and took the opportunity to score a goal on the counter-attack. In the first half we could have extended the score to 2-0, but unfortunately it could have been a different result. ”
Slovakia's elimination also meant that they did not have the chance to create the team's best result in a major tournament (World Cup + European Championship). They reached the round of 16 for the third time but were eliminated in the quarter-finals on all three occasions, the previous two being at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2016. At this European Championship, they are just one minute away from making history in regulation time.
After the game, the England players hugged each other and cried, while the Slovak players hid their faces and cried on the field, and the contrast between joy and sorrow was also stark. Of course, for the Slovak team, they deserve everyone's respect for being able to achieve such a performance.
Spain celebrates promotion
Spain's oolong complex
In contrast to England's thrilling qualification, Spain had no waves.
In the 18th minute of the game, Georgia Kakabadze crossed from the right, Kvaratskhelia was ready to shoot, the ball was accidentally put on by Lenormand, Georgia 1:0 Spain.
This is Spain's first goal conceded in this European Championship, and it is worth mentioning that they have conceded zero goals in their previous three group games, which means that so far, Spain have not really breached their own goal.
With this, Spain has also become another team that has achieved "both own goals and own goals".
Spain first won Calafiori's own goal in the group stage against Italy, and then "repaid the debt" by Lenormand in this game, realizing the "law of conservation of oolong".
Although the Spanish team conceded a goal first, relying on strong strength, Spain controlled the field steadily. In the 39th minute, Rodri equalized with a putt shot from the middle. In the 51st minute of the second half, Yamal crossed and Ruiz scored with a header to take the lead. Williams then counter-attacked and blasted home again. Late in the game, Olmo scored with a left-footed effort to seal the win. In the end, Spain defeated Georgia 4-1 and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.
Spain won the biggest comeback in the history of the European Championship, the first time they had won four consecutive games in a single international tournament, and they also reached the milestone of 50 games in the European Championship, becoming only the second team to do so, ahead of their opponents Germany (57 games).
For Georgia, who are out, they have made history, and every step and every second of coming here is their supreme glory! Goalkeeper Mamardashvili made 30 saves in four games, the second-most in a single European Championship since statistics began.
One of the favourites to win the title
Spain had a total of 35 shots on goal in this game, with 13 on target, creating four goals. There were more shots on target in a single game than England combined in all four games combined, with just 12 shots on target in all four games combined.
Spain has set the record for the number of shots scored in a major tournament since 1980, which is also the fourth highest number of shots scored in the knockout stages of the World Cup and European Championship.
Commenting on his thoughts on the game as a whole, Spain coach de la Fuente said: "Even though we all know that Georgia are good on the counter-attack, their goal came from our own goal. The final score could have been 8:1 or 9:1. We had a lot of shots, but on the opposite side was an opponent who defended very well. ”
Spain, who started with a four-game winning streak, are now one of the favourites to win the tournament and, crucially, they have few weaknesses.
After the game, the well-known football commentator Zhan Jun posted a post praising Spain: Magic Wings, who will compete? With few weaknesses, are Spain the favourites so far?
Sports host Han Qiaosheng commented that although the Spanish defense was self-defeating, it also made no secret of the comprehensiveness of their attack. You just look at Spain's tactical board to break down the dense defense, effective transmission on the ground, crosses from the wings, long passes behind the play, and inverted triangles under the baseline...... Use the imaginative way of passing the ball to respond to all changes with the same!
In the next round, Spain will face the host Germany, and it will be a "Mars collides with the Earth" match.
Speaking about Germany, the quarter-final opponent, De La Fuente said: "First of all, we have to regain our energy and then continue to play to our strengths and enjoy football as we do now. We have a lot of strengths and we are trying to make ourselves more recognizable, even though we are already that way now. 'We know it's going to get tougher, especially against Germany, and against them we have to give our best and that's the only way to do it.'
Let's look forward to this game.
(Image source: Oriental IC)
(Source: Jimu News)
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