Extreme News reporter Xu Ping
Dark Horse = Amazing! Belgium in 1986, Cameroon in 1990, Costa Rica in 2014, Croatia in 2018... Every World Cup, there will be some phenomenal dark horse teams that are not optimistic, but show amazing performance, so which teams have the potential of dark horses in the upcoming Qatar World Cup?
Serbia
The Croatian team is a role model
After 2010 and 2018, this is the third time Serbia has appeared on the big stage of the World Cup. In this World Cup European qualifiers, the team once beat the Portuguese team led by Cristiano Ronaldo to finish first in the group, which is enough to show the hard power of this team.
Stojkovich
The head coach of this Serbian team is none other than Stojkovic, who once coached Guangzhou R&F (the predecessor of Guangzhou City) in the Chinese Super League. In the 2015 season, he came to Guangzhou and injected new vitality into Guangzhou R&F and brought "beautiful football" with offensive attributes. It wasn't until 2020 that Stojkovic left China, and he became the longest-serving foreign coach in a single team in the Chinese professional league.
Although Serbia is only ranked 21st in the world, the team has a group of players who play for the five major European leagues and even the big teams, including Vlahovic, Tadić, Mitrovic, Milinkovic, Gudley, Jovic and others. In the previous two World Cups, Serbia failed to get out of the group stage, and this time, they definitely did not want to continue to "study with the prince". After beating Portugal to qualify, Stojkovic said: "We came here with the same points as Portugal and this game proved which team is better. Once again, I am convinced that we have greater potential hidden. Now, I'm starting to get interested in bigger things. ”
In this World Cup, Serbia is in the same group as Brazil, Cameroon and Switzerland, although there is a big gap with Brazil, but when facing Switzerland and Cameroon, Serbia still has a clear advantage. Croatia, who won the final runner-up in the last World Cup, have reason and strength to create their own magic.
Denmark
Wrote fairy tales about winning the championship in the competition
Although not the traditional giants of European football, the Danish team can suddenly transform into a soaring white swan when everyone thinks they are just an inconspicuous ugly duckling in the corner. This time, this is the sixth time Denmark have stepped onto the World Cup stage, can they bring us a surprise?
Denmark has always been a dark horse, as early as the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the first World Cup Denmark set off an offensive frenzy, in the group stage, the team defeated Scotland 1-0, swept Uruguay 6-1, and Luxid 2-0. Because of the strong kicking style, the media exclaimed, "Viking" is coming!
Of course, a more magical scene appeared at the 1992 European Championship, the Danish team, which temporarily formed a team as a substitute, actually passed all the way and won the championship trophy, which can be described as the last person to come to the dinner party and took the whole cake, and the Danish team created a classic scene in world football. At last year's European Championship, Denmark almost reappeared in a "fairy tale", miraculously advancing to the opening two consecutive defeats and moving all the way, only to lose 1-2 to England in the semi-finals to get to the final.
The Danish players celebrate the victory
In this World Cup European qualifiers, Denmark was in great form, scoring 27 goals and conceding 1 goal in a wave of eight consecutive wins, and won the Qatar World Cup two rounds early. Denmark is in Group D this World Cup, and although the seeded team in the same group is defending champion France, France has lost twice at the feet of Denmark in the UEFA Nations League group stage.
In fact, this is not only explained by the upset or the laxity of the French team, because the Danish team is already competitive, and most of the players in the team play in the five major leagues, and most of them are the pillars of their teams. In particular, excellent defensive skills are a headache for every strong team that encounters them. Up front, with the birth of supernova Lindström, born in 2000, Denmark has new expectations in attack.
Japan
"Asian brother" is eager to reach the quarterfinals
This is the first time in 20 years, the World Cup has come to Asia again, and the number of participating teams under the AFC has reached a record high of six. My territory, my mastery, who of these 6 Asian teams can go further with the "home" advantage? The host Qatar is possible, but the overall strength is limited after all. The most anticipated is Asia's number one ranked Japan, whose coach Hoichi Mori has also set a small goal for the team to reach the quarter-finals.
The Japanese team at the World Qualifiers
On November 1, the Japanese team announced the lineup for this World Cup early, among the 26 players, as many as 20 players in Europe, including Tomiyasu Kenyo, Takumi Minamino, Kamada Daichi, Yoshida Maya and other famous players who play in the five major leagues, due to too many people to choose from, there are also some famous players who unfortunately lost due to positional reasons, such as Celtic forward Hengwu Furuhashi.
It is worth mentioning that in the previous 7 World Cup appearances, the Japanese team has achieved 5 wins, 5 draws and 11 defeats, scored 20 goals and conceded 29 goals. At the last World Cup in Russia, Japan was also the best team in Asia.
What is worrying is that in this World Cup, the Japanese team is too poorly grouped, and there are strong Spain and Germany in the same group. Of course, if you can overwhelm one of the two strong teams to rush out of the group stage, it is already a proud achievement.
Senegal
Without Mane, there is still no shortage of competitiveness
African teams are not "mainstream" in the World Cup, but they can blow black whirlwinds again and again to shock world football. This time, a total of 5 African teams participated, of which the most likely to achieve a good result was African champion Senegal.
This is Senegal's third World Cup appearance, and the team's World Cup debut dates back 20 years. When they first appeared on the big stage, they greatly brushed a wave of presence in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. In the opening match, the team beat defending champions France 1-0 and broke out a big upset. After finishing second in the group, Senegal overturned the mighty Sweden to become the second African team to reach the last eight of the World Cup, after Cameroon in 1990.
After that World Cup, the Senegalese team actually "disappeared" on the big stage of the World Cup for 16 years, until it appeared again at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It is depressing that after three group games, Senegal and Japan were blocked from the round of 16 just because they had two more yellow cards than Japan.
The Senegalese team is coached by Aliou Cissé, who played in the 2002 World Cup as captain and has been in charge of Senegal for seven years and has been trusted by the players. In African teams, which have always been more loose, this helps to unite the team's fighting power.
Koulibaly
Senegal's biggest star is Mane, who plays for Bayern, but due to injuries in club matches, Mane has been confirmed to miss the World Cup. Although this is not good news, Senegal also has a number of strong stars who play in the five major leagues, and Chelsea captain Koulibaly said: "I don't know what other African teams think, but as Senegal's captain, our goal is to at least reach the African ceiling, which is the last eight of the World Cup. ”
(Image source: Xinhua)
(Source: Polar Eye News)
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