Belgium almost bid farewell to the World Cup, De Bruyne successfully saves his master, Italy wins its first victory

The European qualifiers for the World Cup are underway. In the just-concluded game, Italy finally won its first victory, and it was also the last game led by Spaletti. Belgium staged a goal battle. With three goals leading, it was tied by its opponent for a time and almost bid farewell to the World Cup. Fortunately, there was also veteran De Bruyne who was able to stand up at a critical moment. The qualifiers in the European region are easy to say and difficult to say. With only 6 groups of 4 teams, you only need to participate in 6 games to qualify for the World Cup. This is the easiest of qualifiers on all continents around the world.

However, since only the first group in the group can lead to the World Cup directly, and the second group in the group needs to participate in the playoffs. Such a competition system makes the above advantages a challenge. Too few games are actually a crisis. For traditional giants, as long as one loss or even a draw, it may bring "disaster" and lose the opportunity to compete for the first place in the group. Italy and Belgium are good examples.

Italy defeated Norway in the first round with three goals in the away game, which made people feel a little uneasy. The Italian Football Association responded very quickly. Spaletti announced the dismissal, confirming the notion that the European qualifiers are actually not easy. Then, Norway defeated Estonia with one goal and ranked first in the standings with four consecutive victories. Haaland is not far from his first World Cup journey.

Sparetti's last game shocked the fans and broke out in a cold sweat. Moldova, who was at the bottom of the group, scored an early goal, but was judged to be invalid for offside, and Italy escaped. In the end, Italy defeated the weak team with two goals and rose to third place in the group, with 9 points less than Norway in two games and 3 points less than Israel in one game in one game in the doubling game.

However, the inability to score more goals in Moldova has put Italy in a dilemma, with 12 fewer goals than Norway, and it has become increasingly difficult to strive for the first place in the group and may have to face the embarrassment of participating in the playoffs for three consecutive times.

In the past two World Cups, Italy fell into the play-offs and was eventually eliminated by its opponents twice, resulting in more than 10 years that people could not see the Apennines football in the World Cup. Obviously, the Italian Football Association did not want to see the same story and chose to change the coach quickly.

Sparetti led Italy to participate in 24 games, ranking 12th among all Italian coaches, with a record of 12 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses, with a winning rate of just half. He is the third-lowest coach after Berzot and Plandeli. Moreover, in these games, Italy only scored 40 goals, conceded as much as 29 goals, and averaged more than one goal per game, losing the Apennines tradition of excellent defense.

Italy is in a storm of change of coaches. Whether Ranieri takes over is still uncertain. Another giant, Belgium, almost has a worse story. In the first round of the game, Belgium led by one goal and was tied by North Macedonia at the last moment, losing three points. In the second round of the game, Belgium almost repeated the tragedy. After leading three goals early, Wales chased three goals in a row. Fortunately, two weeks later, De Bruyne, who turned 34, became a hero and successfully scored in the 88th minute, helping the team score all three points.

If you draw two consecutive times, Belgium may not be able to compete for the first place in the group, and even the second place in the group is not optimistic, and the possibility of missing the World Cup has greatly increased. De Bruyne's sword is not old, so this story has not happened. Belgium ranked third in the group with one win and one draw. More importantly, North Macedonia and Wales, the top two, each had two games unbeatable. Belgium caught up from behind and gained the initiative to be the top in the group, and could still be in its own hands.

World Cup third place, after two European Cup quarterfinals, Belgium's lineup began to encounter the problem of aging. Lukaku, 32, is still charging forward, and is even older in the midfield. De Bruyne, who leaves Manchester City, Trosad is also 30 years old. With the defender and goalkeeper, Belgium is no longer the "European Red Devils" full of vitality and impact.

Duku, the younger generation, said that in the next training camp, the whole team must analyze why they are tied by the opponent after three goals, and they should not leave hope for the opponent. Although I prefer left-wing activities, since the head coach is arranged on the right-wing, I will be happy to accept it, and the effect is still good. In the remaining games, Belgium can no longer be careless. If there is another draw, it will really fall into the playoffs and even say goodbye to the World Cup. Three months ago, in the UEFA Europa League relegation playoff, Belgium lost two away goals, and with a three-goal home victory, he barely maintained his A-level seat.

It can be seen that Belgium is similar to Italy today, and does not have absolute strength to defeat European teams. You have to do your best in every game to get the desired result. The European qualifiers in the World Cup are actually not simple at all.