striker cool brother

Chapter 669 Another Semifinal
Half a day off, half a day training, this is the benefit of the England team reaching the World Cup finals.

Don’t underestimate the half-day break.

In a World Cup with such a tight schedule, players are under tremendous pressure and their nerves are always under high tension.

At this time, being able to have half a day to rest and relax is more beneficial than any reward.

Rossi, who was used to such a high-intensity routine, only slept an hour more than usual before getting up and moving.

Normal activities.

The semi-final between Argentina and Croatia will start in the evening, and Southgate will organize the whole team to watch the game and analyze the opponents in the final.

Judging from paper strength, the Argentina team led by Messi is much better than Croatia.

The last time the two teams met in an official match was the second round of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Croatia defeated Argentina 3:0 and qualified as No. 1 in the group.

Four years later, the two teams met in the semifinals, but the current situation is completely different.

In this World Cup, Argentina has emerged with many young and talented players.

Alvarez, Enzo, McAllister, etc. have performed superbly in the World Cup.

Among Mesozoic players, Dybala, Lautaro, Otamendi, DePaul and others are the absolute main players in wealthy clubs.

Veteran Di Maria is a key player in big scenes and often has unexpected performances.

In Messi's last World Cup, the team's cohesion was unprecedentedly strong.

Looking back at the Croatian team, the big name in the team is the almost 36-year-old Modric, and most of the players play in mid-tier European teams.

In terms of reputation and strength, it is [-] million behind Argentina.

On the way to promotion, Argentina eliminated two strong teams, Australia and the "uncrowned king" the Netherlands, and the process was also extremely tortuous.

Croatia defeated Japan and the favorite Brazil team, all the way to the semi-finals.

The resilience and fighting spirit they displayed were key factors in their advancement.

Russell Stadium will not only host this semi-final match.

The final battle of the World Cup will also be held here.

Winning also means getting a bonus for the team before the finals.

Messi and Modric, along with their comrades, stepped onto the green field to greet the roar of [-] fans.

After the famous Italian whistler Orsato blew the opening whistle, the Argentina team attacked first.

"Our opponents in the final will be between the two teams, so everyone should pay attention."

Southgate was in the hotel conference room, calling everyone together.

"The characteristics, status and weaknesses of the players must be clearly seen and remembered firmly."

"It's a test!"

The two teams have rarely met in international competitions. This is the first time the two teams have met in the knockout round of the World Cup.

The Croatian team adopted a half-court pressing strategy.

When the Argentina team's attack advanced to near the center circle, they immediately began to encircle and press.

Their defense was also raised very high, giving Argentina enough space to counterattack.

In the 3rd minute, Argentina made a long pass from the backcourt, and full-back Molina stepped in, leaving an open space on the attacking wing.

Croatian defender Sousa returned to defense in time to resolve the danger.

Croatia wants to defend and intercept in the midfield and launch a counterattack once the ball is intercepted. They have to put their defense first.

The full-backs returned to defense in time to contain Argentina's fast attack on the wing.

Under the premise that the wing attack could not find any opportunities, the Argentina team began to try long-range shots.

DePaul and Enzo both attempted long-range shots in the first 10 minutes, but both were saved by the Croatian goalkeeper.

In the early stages, the situation looked evenly matched.

Croatia's defense was too conservative, but their solid defense gave people the feeling that they could launch a quick counterattack at any time.

In fact, Croatia did attack in the 8th minute.

Perisic saw the goalkeeper in a forward position and lobbed the goal from the edge of the penalty area. Unfortunately, the placement was not good and it went out of the baseline.

After more than ten minutes of warm-up, the two teams began to test and compete.

Argentinian striker Alvarez frequently attacks the Croatian defense.

In the 15th minute, Enzo sent an overhead ball in the midfield, and Alvarez used his speed advantage to get rid of the defense.

Fortunately, the goalkeeper was focused and took the initiative to resolve the danger.

Only 3 minutes later, another long pass from the Argentine backcourt penetrated the Croatian defense.

This time it was Paredes who sent the pass.

It's a pity that Alvarez's shot missed slightly.

After two attacks, Croatia had to make adjustments and move its defense back appropriately to guard against the impact of the opponent's forward.But despite this, the Argentine team was still able to attack the Croatian defense through long passes.

"What do you think of Argentina's offense during this period?"

Southgate raised a question, which means there is something mysterious about it.

"They all started high and used long balls to initiate attacks and attack Croatia in behind."

Bellingham raised his hand in reply.

"Then why didn't Croatia restrict their play from the back?"

Faced with such a difficult question, without video review, it is difficult for players to answer it based on limited images and visual observation.

"Maybe they didn't do enough oppression..."

Bellingham searched his guts and could only see these problems.

"Croatia's oppression is certainly not enough, but who knows why?"

There was silence in the conference room. It was obvious that they could not answer.

"Because Luka has to mark two Argentinian passers and has too much time to worry about."

Southgate's eyes lit up, he looked at Rossi and asked: "Continue."

Rossi said: "When Argentina are high up the pitch, the two important players are Enzo Fernandez and Paredes."

"When Luka presses one of them, the other will drop back to the back line to form a three-centre defender."

"Croatia wants to continue to press, then they have to invest more people, and Luka will be attracted to the high position."

"Once the Argentine team is given three central defenders, the two full-backs will move forward and the full-midfielders will move in, forming another offensive mode."

Hey!
There was a commotion in the conference room, and the players stared at Rossi with expressions of incredible surprise.

No wonder Rossi plays football so well. His ability to observe and read the game is so strong.

At best, they can only see that Modric did not do enough in the frontcourt.

But they didn't know that it was Argentina who deliberately arranged to resolve Croatia's oppression.

After this analysis, Rossi is definitely in the atmosphere.

At this moment, there was a commotion on the TV screen.

After receiving a long pass from his teammate, Alvarez shook off the defender's defense, entered the penalty area, and collided with the Croatian goalkeeper.

The referee Orsato blew the defensive foul whistle and not only awarded a penalty kick, but also gave the Croatian goalkeeper a yellow card.

Kovacic also received a yellow card for protesting.

After this wave, Croatia suffered heavy losses.

Messi calmly scored the penalty from twelve yards away, opening the scoring for Argentina.

In the scorer list, Messi ranks first with 7 goals, surpassing Rossi with 6 goals.

The high press was ineffective and Croatia was forced to switch to low defense.

Modric no longer presses forward, but returns to the midfield to form a 4-5-1 defensive position.

I thought that Croatia could rely on low defense to survive the first half and enter the midfield adjustment.

But the Argentinian did not give his opponent a break.

Since Modric retreated, the pressure in the frontcourt was reduced, and the Argentine midfielder could press forward to participate in the organization.

With two central defenders marking Croatian striker Kramaric, the full-backs can penetrate deep into the opponent's penalty area.

In this way, Argentina forms a 5v4 situation when attacking.

That's right, Argentina has piled up five attackers in the opponent's penalty area.

The Croatian team, aware of this, dropped right winger Pasalic to form a back five to help defend.

The left winger Perisic moves inward to form a barrier with the midfielder to protect the defense.

4-5-1和5-4-1自由切换的克罗地亚队，防线应该十分稳固。

But the emergence of Messi completely changed the game.

Once Messi gets the ball in the rib area, he will immediately be grabbed by his opponent.

The Argentine team uses the gap that appears behind the central defender to attack.

In the 38th minute, just 8 minutes after Messi's penalty kick, Alvarez received the ball in the middle, drove straight in, and passed it to Messi outside the penalty area.

When Messi receives the ball with his back, he directly sends the ball behind his back without stopping the ball.

After Alvarez tapped the ball with his chest, he directly raised his foot and shot, breaking the Croatian goal.

In the first half alone, Argentina led 2:0.

Southgate's expression gradually became serious.

Because the opponent in the final is basically determined.

(End of this chapter)