"The Legend of the West"
1060 passes, 998 successes, this is the terrifying pass data of the seven-goal sweep of the Costa Rican team in the Qatar World Cup on the evening of the 23rd local time. After this battle, the name of "Xiqian Chuan" sounded in world football.
Spain's Asensio celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal on November 23. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ming
With 90 minutes of regular time, plus 6 minutes in the first half and 9 minutes of stoppage time in the second half, a total of 1,060 passes in 105 minutes of play time, the Matador Army averaged more than 10 passes per minute, a rarity in a World Cup match. Their average of 59 passes converted into one shot, with Spain completing 17 shots on goal and seven on target, scoring all of them.
It was a game that suffocated rivals Costa Rica, who made only 166 passes, less than one-sixth of Spain's, and even more embarrassingly, Costa Rica did not have a single shot in the whole game and only seven times within 30 meters of the opponent's goal.
Spain's Gavi (front right) fights Costa Rica's Tejeda (front left) in a match on November 23. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Dongzhen
Visually, the Spanish team flowed throughout the game, and the connections between the players were as silky as chocolate, and their high-frequency and dense conduction weaved a large moving net on the pitch, firmly covering the Costa Rican team.
Audibly, the ball collides back and forth between the sneakers, not messy and noisy, but like a tango drumbeat, neat and powerful, which is proof that the Spanish team controls the rhythm of the entire game at their feet.
That night, when the old Spanish song "Mi gran noche" sounded seven times over the Estadio Artumama, tiki-taka dreamed of returning to the top.
A sigh "Wall"
One-ball, two-ball, three-ball... When Spain's Soler scored the sixth goal, a close-up of Costa Rica's goalkeeper Keylor Navas was given on the big screen at the Artumama Stadium, with sadness written on his face. When the reporter saw this scene in the media gallery, he couldn't help but feel a little unbearable. The "Na Wall", which once only made opponents sigh, is now full of vicissitudes.
Costa Rica goalkeeper Navas after the team conceded a goal on November 23. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xiao Yijiu
The final score was frozen at 7:0. Dramatically, among the players were Keylor Navas' team-mate Soler at Paris Saint-Germain, former Real Madrid teammates Asensio and Morata, as well as "post-00s" youngsters Ferran Torres and Garvey. After the match, a warm image appeared, and a group of Spanish players walked up to Keylor Navas to comfort the veteran. But this probably won't soothe Navas's heartbreak either.
The warm-up training before the match, Navas drew applause from the fans as soon as he appeared, and when the name of Navas was read out on the radio, the stadium resounded with high-decibel cheers, after all, in the eyes of the fans, the small country from Central America is to replicate the World Cup miracle achieved in 2014, Navas's play is crucial.
Recalling the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Navas helped Costa Rica to reach the quarterfinals. After the World Cup, Keylor was favored by Real Madrid. In Real Madrid's main squad, Keylor Keylor is the most low-key one, but this does not prevent him from frequently giving highlights and becoming an absolute contributor to Real Madrid's achievement of three consecutive Champions League titles.
Four years later, in Russia, although Costa Rica failed to qualify for the knockout round, Keylor Keylor Navas once cornered his opponent in the group stage against Brazil. Since then, Navas has left for Paris Saint-Germain due to his downside in the race against new Real Madrid signing Thibaut Courtois.
In his first two seasons in Paris, Keylor Navas's performance was still remarkable. But in the summer of 2021, with the arrival of Italian international Donnarumma, Navas had to share playing time with the former. This season, the dugout and management of the "Grand Paris" have undergone drastic changes, Donnarumma has been established as the team's main goalkeeper, Keylor Navas has had to accept the role of substitute, he was close to joining Napoli in Serie A, but has since disappeared. Since the start of Ligue 1, Keylor Navas's appearance record remains zero.
Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas in the game on November 23. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ming
When Keylor Keylor appeared on the pitch, it was clear to reporters that he was blessed and his body sank. There were a few goals conceded, and it has to be said that Keylor Navas was mainly responsible, such as the fourth goal against Torres, such as failing to hit the ball far and causing the ball to fall at Soler's feet...
On the stage of the World Cup, some people will retire after achieving fame, and some people will be disbanded and returned to the field, and for the soon-to-be-36-year-old Keylor Keylor, it may be the latter.
A generation will eventually grow old, but there will always be someone young
This is football
Source: Xinhua News Agency