Chao News client reporter Ying Luyang intern Cheng Zhenbei
With Portugal beating Slovenia on penalties and France beating Belgium, six places have been decided in the quarterfinals of the European Championship, with Romania, the Netherlands, Austria and Turkey competing for the last two places in the bottom half of the zone. The group stage of the Copa America is also coming to an end, with Brazil and Colombia facing off in a crucial battle, with only a top spot in the group to avoid Uruguay, one of the favourites who have all but secured top spot in the knockout round.
This issue of the lottery staff recommends four games of the European Cup and the Copa America, including Romania vs. the Netherlands, Austria vs. Turkey, Costa Rica vs. Paraguay, Brazil vs. Colombia, for the reference of lottery buyers.
Netherlands captain Van Dijk Courtesy of Visual China
Romania vs Netherlands
July 3, 00:00 (Beijing Time)
Romania started the group stage high, beating Ukraine 3-0 in the first round with less than 30% possession, but then only managed one defeat and one draw against Belgium and Slovakia, and beat Belgium by goal with all four points from all four teams in the group. It is worth mentioning that Romania's main full-back Bankuben will be absent due to the accumulation of yellow cards.
The overall performance of the traditional powerhouse Dutch team at this European Championship has been somewhat disappointing. Although they drew with France in the group stage, they lost 2-3 to Austria in the final round and only qualified as third in the group. The Orange's attacking players were relatively consistent, with Depay in the middle creating space for his team-mates and Gakpo being the team's attacking "corkscrew", although the team's midfield tandem was clearly not fluid. In the final round, the Dutch team made a series of mistakes at the back, conceding three goals against Austria, showing that the "strongest" defense led by Van Dijk is not invulnerable.
In the last six meetings between the two teams, the Netherlands have a clear advantage with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and the last meeting between the two teams was a friendly in 2017, when the Netherlands won 3-0. The last time the two sides met at the European Championships was in 2008, when the Netherlands beat them 2-0 in the group stage. The Orange are looking to reach the quarter-finals, and manager Koeman's immediate priority is to identify the right midfield as soon as possible based on the quality of the players and their performance on the pitch.
Austria celebrates a goal Courtesy of Visual China
Austria VS Turkey
July 3, 03:00 (Beijing Time)
Austria's performance at this tournament has been eye-catching. Since the new coach Rangnick took office, the Austrian team's results have skyrocketed, not only in the qualifiers with 8 games, 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, but also in the group stage of this European Championship with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss, beating France and the Netherlands to qualify for the top spot in the group. Under Rangnick's tutelage, Austria have a tough style of play, and the team's continuous high siege in midfield will have to peel off a layer of skin if not let them win the game.
Turkey beat the Czech Republic in the final round of the group to finish second with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss, and qualify for the knockout stages of the European Championship for the first time since 2008. However, the Turkish team is a team that is strong in attack and weak in defence, and the weak defense at the back is a big shortcoming, conceding goals in all three group games. In the final round of the match against the Czech Republic, the Star Moon Army still gave the Czech Republic 12 shots on goal and finally conceded the goal despite playing one more man for a long time. In this round of matches, the team's captain Calhanoglu and the main defender Akayden will be suspended for accumulating yellow cards.
The last time the two sides met in March this year, Austria beat Turkey 6-1 to turn the friendly into a "friendly match". Austria's best result in the round of 16 in the history of the European Championship is the round of 16, and Austria is expected to set a new record.
Costa Rica vs Paraguay
July 3, 09:00 (Beijing Time)
Costa Rica is ranked 52nd in the world, with a total value of only 21.93 million euros, ranking second to last among the 16 teams in the finals, and there are no players in the team who play in Europe's top five leagues. However, they held the favourites Brazil to a 0-0 draw in the first round of the group stage. After losing 3-0 to Colombia in the second round, Costa Rica are currently third in the group with one point, three points behind Brazil and six goal difference behind the second place in the group, leaving only the last glimmer of hope for qualification.
Paraguay has only been out of the woods since reaching the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup and the final of the 2011 Copa America and has not performed for more than a decade except for a semi-final of the Copa America. In this Copa America, Paraguay lost both games in the first two rounds of the group stage, and has been announced ahead of schedule, and the final round will be fought for honor. In the first two rounds, Paraguay scored a total of 2 goals and conceded 6 goals, which shows that the defense is not solid.
The two teams have met five times this century with each other winning and losing their own, with Costa Rica expected to pick up three points against Paraguay, who have already been eliminated from the group.
Courtesy of Visual China
Brazil vs Colombia
July 3, 09:00 (Beijing Time)
In the first round of the group stage, the world's No. 4 Samba Army faced world No. 52 Costa Rica, and the two teams ended up with a goalless draw, and the outside world also raised concerns about the prospects of the favourite. However, in the second round of the group stage against Paraguay, the in-form Brazil won 4-1 thanks to goals from Savio and Paqueta, as well as a brace from Vinicius, with Savio becoming the third-youngest Brazilian player to score in a Copa America this century after Neymar and Barbossa at the age of 20 years and 79 days.
It was also Brazil's first regular time win over Copa America for the first time in 23 years, and the Samba seemed to have emerged from a five-game winless run in official competition. Real Madrid striker Vinicius, who has been criticized for his poor performance in the national team competition, has also picked up his form, which is undoubtedly good news for the Brazilian team.
In the first two rounds of the group stage, Colombia defeated Paraguay and Costa Rica in succession, and has already advanced to the group with a record of winning both games. After the last round, Colombia are unbeaten in 25 games in all competitions and have recently won 10 in a row.
In this match, Colombia only needs to ensure that they are undefeated to qualify for the last eight as group winners, while Brazil will have to fight hard to win to secure the top spot in the group. According to the situation in Group C, Uruguay's victory in the group is almost certain, and if they want to avoid a strong opponent in the quarter-finals, the two teams will need to compete for the top spot in the group.
In the past six meetings between the two teams, Brazil has a slight advantage with 2 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss, but when the two sides met in the South American qualifiers for the World Cup at the end of last year, Brazil was reversed by the opponent with two goals in a row after scoring a goal. In terms of recent form, Colombia seem to be the stronger side, and it will take a lot of work for the Samba army to fight for the top spot in the group.
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