This revolution, which originated in the middle and lower classes, can even be traced back to the 2002 World Cup, but many off-field factors at that time masked the crisis of the giants, and after entering 2004, this surge shook our traditional concept of strength and weakness with overwhelming force.
The subversion began in that year's Champions League, when the collective explosion of quasi-first-class teams rewrote the traditional order in which the giants monopolized the diamond-level event. At the European Cup, the tide of revolution did not stop, on the contrary, it became more magnificent. After 23 nights of long tug-of-war and 31 fierce battles, Greece became the ninth new ally in history to hold the Delaunay Cup high, and Greece had never scored a point or even scored in the final stage of the tournament. The degree of "mythology" is definitely more than the Danish fairy tale of 1992.
Revolutionary 2004, subversive European Championship.
Offense subverts defense, courage subverts conservatism
Since the Italian summer of 1990, football tactics have become more and more conservative, and there are even claims that defenders have won the world. In Euro 2000, France and Italy, which were better defensive, eliminated Portugal and the Netherlands, which had strong offensive firepower, respectively, and in the 2002 World Cup, Germany and Brazil also had good defenses. But at this European Championship, this habit was subverted, with the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Portugal in the final four all masters of attacking football, while Italy and England, which rely on defense, have all died. Although Greece laughed to the end by defense, they also had excellent defensive counterattacks and high-altitude bombing in that cup, and the nickname of "Germany Second Team" was not a waste of time.
In addition, the aura of the championship also hides the fact that Greece's defense is not invulnerable, Greece can go all the way to the end, the important reason is that most of the Greeks they encounter are Latin teams, relying on strength and overall victory of the Greeks can be regarded as with the south European team that relies on possession, on the contrary, Russia, which also pays attention to strength and speed, has won Greece with a magnificent style of play, if it is not Nedved's end, Greece may not be able to pass the tough Czech Republic.
Of course, defensive football being subverted by offensive football is only a symptom, the essence is the courage to subvert the conservative, if we look back at the course of the game, we will find that the five major leagues all died of conservatism.
In such a high-level bayonet competition as the European Cup, the only hard truth is for the two armies to meet and win, the Czech Republic has two big reversals, the Portuguese have scored at the beginning of the game but have not given up, and Greece, which fights until the last second every time, is a representative of courage. Some people looked down on the Greek team, but the courage and the coach's command made the Greeks laugh to the end.
4231 subverts 442/352
At that time, the 442 represented by England and the 352 represented by Germany were the mainstream formations in Europe, but since the 2000 European Championship, some teams represented by France have begun to try to clone the 4231 formation promoted by Valencia in La Liga to the national team. After the improvement and development of big clubs such as Real Madrid in the 2002 World Cup and the past two seasons, in the European Championship in Portugal, 4231 has become the only formation respected by many teams.
The emergence of the 4231 is inseparable from the prosperity of the conservative forces of European football, under the premise of first ensuring the defense (four defenders plus two defensive backs), making full use of the width of the court, reproducing the classical meaning of the two wings flying together, and retaining a strong center forward in front. This formation is quite demanding on the player configuration, especially a strong center and two fast horses on the flanks, 4231 has become a popular trend at the European Championship, and it also proves the talent of European football from another perspective.
However, there are not many people who really perfectly interpret this formation, Denmark and Portugal are very sharp on the flank, the Danish team has three fast horses of Jogensen, Glenshire and Romedal, they can be left and right, attack and defense balance, portugal has Figo, Ronaldo, Simão to choose from. But both teams lack a fanny-style strong centre-forward; France's talent is no problem, Henri Gapiret is Arsenal's ready-made version, but Zidane's presence compresses Henry's running space; the Dutchman has a centre-forward but has not been able to find a reasonable right wing with Robben, resulting in the Dutch attack always leaning heavily to the left.
Relatively balanced is Spain, the combination of Vincent and Joaquin plus the front Morientes is a perfect match, but unfortunately, Raul, who Has been afraid to move, is not the right frontcourt core, and his performance in that cup is not good, if the command gang is handed over to Valerón, will the situation be much better?
Under the popular tide of 4231, the wing road has become the most brutal battlefield of this European Championship, and even teams like the Czech Republic that adhere to the classical diamond-shaped midfield position have emerged with wing masters such as Jankulovsky. As modern football increasingly limits the space for attack in the middle, the ancient training of the winger will surely be revived with the 4231 formation.
The 1980s upended the Golden Generation
The European Championship has always been known for its newcomers, from Schuster in the 1980s to Aran Shearer in 1996 to Runogomez in 2000, but no time has there been so many young upstarts in this year. In this early scramble for power, Henry, Totti, Beckham, Irving, the performance of the Mesozoic stars who have high hopes is all unsatisfactory, not only did not turn the tide at a critical moment, but on the contrary, under the impact of the youth storm, the leadership position was in jeopardy.
As the youngest captain in Ajax history, van der Vaart was born in 1983; Robben, who was loved by thousands of people, was born in 1984; Kuranyi, Schweinsteiger and Ram are all in their early 20s, and Ibrahimovic, who has staged the scorpion tail, is only 23 years old, what a fresh age. Of course, the most youthful and invincible in that European Championship is rooney and C Ronaldo, who were born in 1985, the former scored four goals and became the main firepower of the team at the beginning, and C Ronaldo gave 2 goals to help the team reach the final.
The subversion of the Mesozoic generation by teenagers in the 80s has become a phenomenon in this European Championship, the power of youth is forever outside the rules of the adult game, and when the twilight hero gradually sinks in the sunset, youth takes the stage when night comes.
Classic Battle (choose two as representatives)
France 2:1 England
At the start, France put on an offensive posture, while England were solidifying their defence and waiting for an opportunity to counterattack. In the face of England's dense defense, France did not take advantage, and the course of the game was biased towards England. England took the lead in the first half and in the 38th minute Lampard took a free-kick from David Beckham and scored it. This makes them more comfortable in defending themselves. But England missed the chance to kill the game and Beckham lost the penalty created by Wayne Rooney in the second half.
In injury time, the situation was momentarily reversed, starting with Zidane scoring a direct free-kick. Henry then won a penalty after Gerrard broke the ball at his feet and burst into the box, Zidane stomped on it, and France finally won the game with two goals in stoppage time.
Czech Republic 3:2 Netherlands
In the 4th minute, the debut European Championship youngster Robben took a free kick on the right and accurately found Bauma, who was lurking on the far post, who headed the ball to the top and opened the record for the Netherlands. The Dutch continued to launch an onslaught, and in the 20th minute, Davis and Robben made a textbook anti-offside tactic. Robben broke through and crossed quickly, and Van Nicholas, who had been fouled by his opponent in the penalty area, was just in time to easily shoot the ball in.
Just four minutes later, a third goal was scored, this time for the bohemians. Barosh seized on Koku's passing error, went straight in from midfield at high speed, and distributed the ball inside the penalty area to the unguarded Kohler, who was able to do it in one fell swoop.
Behind the score, Czech coach Brukner made changes to the lineup in the first half, removing a defender and adding a midfielder, so that the attacks of the two teams were more open, and pleasing scenes continued to appear. The Czechs' formidable attacking firepower was evident in the second half, with Nedved blowing the horn of a Czech counter-attack with a long-range shot from outside the box in the 51st minute. In the 58th minute, the stupidest scene of this European Championship appeared, Ed Woatt replaced Robben, who performed well in this game, with a defensive player Bosviert, and the booing was a faint and conservative counterattack against the coach. The substitution allowed Czech veteran Brükner to immediately add a striker to continue to increase the attack on the Netherlands, and in the 71st minute, the Czechs' tireless efforts finally equalized, Kohler's chest crossed, Barosz fired a powerful shot from the top of the arc of the penalty area, and the ball went straight into the top left corner, 2-2.
The counter-overplay came in 12 minutes, czech striker Heinze led to Van der Sar's departure, Bobowski calmly distributed the ball to Smichel, who scored the ball in the face of the empty goalkeeper, 3:2, the Czech wrote a heavy mark in the history of the two teams, becoming the first team to reach the quarterfinals of this European Championship. The Dutch, on the other hand, were forced into a miserable situation where the final victory depended on the faces of others.
The knockout rounds between England and Portugal are also classic, and will be written separately after that.
How precious this evening is (choose two people as representatives)
Stam
Stam became famous in Eindhoven, with his super physical fitness, perfect ability to stay in the air, excellent steals to assist in the Dutch League, especially his sudden back-plugging attack, extremely concealed, extremely lethal. At that time, Ferguson was discerning and took him into the squad with the value of the world's first defender at that time. Stam repaid the favor by playing the foundation for United's treble in his first year in the Premier League.
The wind is always blown by the rain and wind, and the dutch tower's ultimate performance in the national team should be remembered: the first game against Germany, in the situation of being behind for most of the time, Stam with a steady and passionate performance, motivated his teammates to finally equalize; against the Czech Republic, although the entire back line was impacted by the Czech team, but the lonely Stam steals and breaks the siege is still remarkable; against Sweden, he showed the standard of world-class center-backs, the defender line blocked Sweden under his inspiration, and the Netherlands advanced to the penalty shootout.
Rui Costa
He possessed dazzling and breathtaking dribbling skills and the ability to organize and deliver, especially the "magic right foot" that earned him the reputation of a classical master.
Founded at the 1989 World Youth Championships, Costa is an outstanding representative of Portugal's golden generation. After joining Serie A, he showed a delicate and beautiful classicism style in Fiorentina; after Barty's departure, he faced the club crisis, and after being brought to Milan by his mentor Trim, a generation of disc masters finally entered the room.
Costa's national team experience, however, is full of bitter memories, with Poposki being picked out in the rematch at Euro 1996; Xavier's penalty reception at Euro 2000 in extra time that made them hate the semi-finals; and the 2002 World Cup group stage was a lingering nightmare. The European Championship on home is the last chance God has given to the golden generation.
On July 4, 2004, at the European Championship final at the Stadium of Light, the big boy who was not much trouble fought his last hope at the Stadium of Light. But at the best moment in the history of Portuguese football, the goddess of destiny did not pity the golden generation that was about to withdraw from the stage of history, an incredible new Greek myth completely ruined The hope of Rui Costa, and the ball that Charles Steias pushed out powerfully pierced Ricciardo's ten fingers. Costa collapsed closest to the championship. Hatred in ancient times, thousands of things, should only be clutched is sad and joyful? That game was also the last game of a generation of masters in the national team.
Best Team:
Goalkeeper: Cech (Czech Republic);
Defenders: Dras (Greece), Carvalho (Portugal), Setaridis (Greece), Zambrotta (Italy);
Midfielders: Manice (Portugal), Nedved (Czech Republic), Zagrakis (Greece), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal);
Forward: Baros (Czech Republic), Forward: Rooney (England).