In the early morning of July 2, Beijing time, the knockout round of the European Cup continued, and the first game was played against Belgium, and finally France laughed until the top 8 with the opponent's own gift; Portugal and Slovenia scored 0-0 with 120 points, and finally saved three penalties in a row with goalkeeper Costa's brave performance, and advanced with a thrilling score of 3-0, while France and Portugal will divide the 1/8 finals and stage a strong showdown.
France 1-0 Belgium
The French team took the initiative on the field after the opening, and Belgium, which was once pressed, could not pass the half, and Belgium could only rely on sporadic counterattacks to create some painless threats to France.
But France was scoreless, almost every shot flew into the sky, and the ball was also contaminated with a free and romantic atmosphere at the feet of the French players, who did not want to be bound by the goal.
Tchouameni, Kylian Mbappe and even Antoine Griezmann can shoot from all positions and fly out of the net to the stands. France had only two of their 17 shots on target in the game, but it was Muani who came on to the pitch who missed the goal and deflected it into the net with Verhenton's knee to give France a thrilling pass.
On the other hand, Belgium defended the whole game, with 3 shots on goal and 2 shots on target, without the style of the European Red Devils, De Bruyne has been tired for more than 60 minutes, not only responsible for organizing the attack, but also returning to the penalty area to participate in the defense, until Belgium changed to a double back, the situation improved.
However, Belgium's two midfielders did not have the ability to pass the ball, and the situation was still pressed by France, and after falling behind by one goal, Belgium did not show the willingness to equalize, pressing the midfield to pass and look for opportunities. In the end, the two teams gave everyone a groggy game, but fortunately there was an own goal that saved the fans in the east for 30 minutes.
Belgium's elimination from the tournament also means they have failed to win at the tournament for the second time in nearly 86 years, and with the aging of Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, their golden generation may also be left behind, and perhaps a new beginning awaits them.
Mbappe once again didn't score his own goal in the European Championship, sometimes the more you want it, the more you can't get it, and the same applies to France, who made it all the way to the last eight, scoring only three goals, two own goals and a penalty, and not scoring a single open goal, and I don't know if the next game will continue this embarrassing record.
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia (3-0 on pen)
In this game, Slovenia want to replicate their tactics in the group stage, they drew all three games in the group stage, the main focus is defense, even if they concede goals, they are not impatient, and they are launching a counterattack at the last moment;
Obviously they were very successful in their tactics, they fought Portugal for 120 minutes, and there were chances to do miracles during the process, but Portugal had Costa, and Costa did miracles and pulled Portugal back from hell.
This game is almost a copy of France and Belgium, but Portugal's performance is slightly better, 20 shots on goal 6 shots on target, but there is little threat to the goalkeeper, Portugal won a number of free kicks in front, but they were all kicked away by Ronaldo, which also seems to indicate that the penalty in extra time was missed, in the 105th minute, Portugal won a penalty, Ronaldo played a very tricky angle, but a little high, the goalkeeper likes this kind of semi-high ball, the ball was saved, Ronaldo cried.
Because he missed the goal again and couldn't help Portugal end the fight.
This is not the first time Ronaldo has shed tears on the field, in the last World Cup, Portugal was eliminated by Morocco, and Ronaldo cried into tears; Saudi Super Cup, Ronaldo missed the championship, hid his face and fell to the ground crying; This time the game was not over, and Ronaldo couldn't control his emotions, but fortunately, he completed his redemption in the penalty shootout.
But still too
Admiring the spirit of the superstar who can still play the full 120 minutes and score penalties at the age of 38 is admirable.
After the victory over Slovenia, Portugal will meet France, they can be said to be France's nemesis, the number one star of the two teams, Ronaldo and Mbappe in this European Championship one shot 20 times, the other 15 shots, did not score in the open battle, are the two "wave shooting kings" of this European Cup.
The 1/8 final between Portugal and France will be another final preview after Germany and Spain, but it is likely to be another dull match.