(Qatar World Cup) Event preview: The knockout round kicks off, the Netherlands and Argentina are expected to enter the quarterfinals
China News Agency, Beijing, December 2 (Reporter Wang Zumin) On the 3rd local time, the Qatar World Cup will enter the knockout round of the "battle of life and death".
In the first two 1/8 finals, the Dutch team and the Argentine team are expected to join hands to advance to the quarterfinals.
Netherlands VS United States (23:00 Beijing time on the 3rd)
As the "uncrowned king" of the World Cup, the Dutch team's World Cup experience has always been ups and downs.
They have the honor of winning the World Cup runner-up three times, and they also have the embarrassment of being absent for six consecutive times.
They won the runner-up and third place respectively in the two World Cups in 2010 and 2014, but they "dropped the chain" again in the 2018 World Cup and missed the World Cup in Russia.
In this World Cup group stage, the performance of the "Oranje Corps" is also uncertain.
In the first game, they defeated the 18th-ranked Senegal team in the world 2-0, but they were tied 1-1 by the 44th-ranked Ecuador team in the second game.
What is even more incredible is that the Dutch team only took 2 shots in this campaign, far behind the opponent's 15 shots.
Of course, the so-called "uncertainty" is also the normal performance of some strong teams in the group stage.
In order to maintain their form in the more brutal knockout rounds, these teams tend to start slowly.
In the last match of the group stage, the state of the Dutch team has recovered. They defeated the host team Qatar 2-0, and finally advanced to the knockout round as the top of the group.
Before this cup, the luxurious midfielder led by the "world's number one central defender" and Liverpool star Van Dijk was considered to be the biggest reliance of the Dutch team.
But judging from the performance in the group stage, Gakpo, who plays for Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, is the real "thigh" of the "Oranje".
The 23-year-old striker has scored in three consecutive group matches.
In the Holland-American battle, whether Jacques can continue to score has also become a highlight of this campaign.
Since 1990, the US team has become a frequent visitor to the World Cup and reached the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.
After missing the last World Cup, the U.S. team has undergone an update. The current team is dominated by young players, half of whom play in the five major European leagues.
In the group stage, the performance of the US team was quite satisfactory. The draw against Wales and the win against Iran were normal manifestations of the strength of both sides. The main reason for the 0:0 draw with England was the slackness of the "Three Lions".
Compared with the Dutch team, the US team is slightly inferior in terms of world rankings, paper strength, and competition experience. It takes luck to win an upset.
Argentina VS Australia (3:00 on the 4th, Beijing time)
In the first match of the group stage, they lost 1:2 to the Saudi team, which is the second-to-last in the world among the top 32. The favorite to win the championship, Argentina, broke the biggest upset of this cup.
But the "Pampas Eagles" later proved that that defeat was just an accident during their "slow heat".
In the next two games, the Argentine team defeated the American powerhouse Mexico and the Poland team led by Lewandowski 2:0.
As the head star, Messi is still the team's "Dinghaishenzhen". Among the three goals scored by the Argentine team in the first two games, Messi scored 2 goals and 1 assist.
The growth of a group of young players has enabled the Argentine team to get rid of the plight of the aging and underrepresented talent like the Belgian team.
In the battle with the Polish team, the Premier League Brighton midfielder McAllister, who was under 24 years old, and Manchester City's "post-00" teenager Alvarez scored one after another.
The Australian team officially competed in the World Cup as an AFC team in 2010, and was shortlisted for four consecutive finals, but missed the group stage in the first three sessions.
Under the pincer attack of the two top 10 European teams in the world, France and Denmark, the Australian team was considered one of the most difficult teams to qualify for this cup before the game.
Four years ago, these three teams were in the same group. In the end, the Australian team lost to France and tied with Denmark, stopping the group stage, and the European duo advanced together.
Four years later, although the "Kangaroo Legion" still lost to the defending champion French team, they defeated the Tunisian team and beat the tenth Danish team in the world 1-0. Ranked second in the group due to a goal difference disadvantage, replacing the Danish team and entering the top 16.
Both the Argentina team and the Australia team are teams that are good at attacking power, but the Argentina team belongs to the "high version".
The "Pampas Eagle" has superior technology, balanced overall strength, and with Messi in charge, its ability to create and seize opportunities is better.
The Australian players are physically stronger, but their skills and tactics are relatively simple and rough.
The two teams have played against each other 7 times in history, Argentina has the upper hand with 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and has remained unbeaten in the past 6 games.
The advantage of the Australian team is that they have reached the knockout round, they have achieved the set goal, and this time they can go into battle lightly and give it a go.
What worries the Argentine team is that once Messi is blocked and the team is passive, will anyone become the "Mr. Key" to turn the tide?
(Finish)