Bang!
Grass flew up, and the ball shot out!
The distance was too close, and Mark Lane's shooting skills were greatly enhanced by the Super Substitute card.
He had both power and angle!
Even though Lloris guessed he would curl it to the far corner and made a diving save, he still couldn't touch the spinning ball in the air!
The ball traced a beautiful curling arc in the air, seemingly about to go wide, but at the last moment, it flew into the inside of the net!
With a crisp'swish', the net rippled with white waves!
The next second, all the fans supporting the German Team were overjoyed!
The entire stadium erupted!
"GOAL!!!"
"The German Team scores again!"
"A brilliant passing and cutting combination! A precise through ball! A perfect finish!"
"This is Mark Lane's fifth goal in this tournament!"
"He has tied James Rodriguez of Colombia on the top scorer list, sharing the first place!"
"It's worth noting that four of these five goals were scored after he came on as a Super Substitute!"
After scoring, Mark Lane spread his arms and ran to the stands where the German fans were, beaming as he accepted their cheers and applause!
Then, he turned around, pointing with both hands at Toni who had run over to celebrate with him, and said with a bright smile:
"Toni, your through ball was so damn comfortable!"
Hearing this, Toni was first stunned.
He hadn't expected Mark Lane, the youngest in the team but usually very composed, to suddenly swear.
After a moment's thought, realizing it was a huge compliment to his pass, Toni shrugged and smiled:
"Isn't that basic stuff?! But you scored beautifully too!"
"Hahahaha."
Amidst the fans' cheers, Löw and Flick on the sidelines also embraced.
"This kid always brings us surprises!"
"Indeed, it's strange, every time he comes on as a Super Substitute, I get a feeling we're about to score…"
In stark contrast to the German Team's jubilant mood were the disappointed French players and fans.
The fans felt that the goal was Debuchy's and Koscielny's fault.
"Debuchy missed his man on that goal! Knowing Mark Lane is the German Team's top scorer, why didn't he stick to him tightly?"
"Also, how could he be dribbled past like that, and even nutmegged?! Koscielny is too slow, isn't he?"
"I don't think Koscielny is slow; it's that kid who's too fast…"
And Lloris, after conceding the goal, scolded Debuchy:
"Mathieu (Debuchy), mark your man!"
The latter just hung his head, panting, with no room for rebuttal, only silently refuting in his mind:
"How was I supposed to know that kid would be so fast…"
He knew that during the pre-match preparation, the tactical coach had told him about Mark Lane's playing style and dribbling habits.
But, he didn't tell him that kid's Speed would be so fast… Regardless, the goal had already happened.
Blaming anyone would be useless.
They could only accept the cruel reality!
However, with Mark Lane extending the lead to two-nil, the suspense of the match was largely over.
The Frenchmen's fighting spirit was like being doused with a bucket of cold water, chilling them to the bone.
Originally, they only needed to score one goal to equalize.
Now, with a two-goal deficit, trying to score two goals in the remaining ten-odd minutes, how easy would that be?!
Keep in mind, they had played for over seventy minutes without being able to breach the German Team's goal!
However, they still hadn't given up!
Seeing Valbuena repeatedly suppressed by the German Team on the field due to his short stature, Deschamps directly substituted him, bringing on France's battering ram—
—Giroud!
Then, moving Pogba to the attacking midfield position, the French Team's formation also changed from a 4-4-2 to an all-out 4-1-5!
Seeing the Frenchmen stack a lot of players in the attacking third, Löw on the sidelines frowned:
"The French are going all out!"
However, Mark Lane on the field believed the Frenchmen had run out of ideas!
Moreover, as the number of players in the attacking third increased, the space in the midfield and defense would only become larger!
And with the entry of Mark Lane and Schürrle, the German Team's counterattacks gained Speed and were much more threatening than before.
Once they won possession in midfield or defense, the German Team would immediately send a long pass forward, either looking for the two wingers, Mark Lane and Müller, or for Schürrle.
The trio would then exploit the huge deep space behind the French Team!
In the time that followed, the French Team was constantly oscillating between all-out attack and being hit by counterattacks.
Several of the German Team's counterattacks advanced into the attacking third and resulted in shots that threatened Lloris.
Conversely, the French Team's offensives repeatedly came to nothing against the German Team's ironclad defense and Neuer's superhuman performance!
Until injury time, the Frenchmen became increasingly impatient, directly resorting to a long-ball tactic!
Long passes were hoisted from the defense to the attacking third, targeting Giroud and Rémy, the two target men, as well as Pogba, who stands at 1.9 meters tall.
It must be said that such simple and crude tactics achieved some success.
It also forced Löw to make his third substitution, bringing off Khedira and bringing on Jérôme Boateng to increase the height of the defense.
"Giroud heads it down… Pogba shoots!"
"Oh, it's blocked by Hummels!"
"The French Team comes again, Griezmann gets past Lahm, sends a through ball…"
"A little too much power, collected by Neuer rushing out…"
"Evra crosses from the 45-degree angle! Giroud heads for goal…"
"Neuer makes another miraculous save!"
Finally, under wave after wave of fierce attacks from France, the match finally reached its last second…
Beep ~ Whoosh ~ ~ Whoosh ~ ~ ~
As the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the center circle kickoff spot, the Maracanã Stadium immediately erupted in a burst of incredibly enthusiastic cheers.
"Full-time!"
"In this highly anticipated match, Germany had the last laugh!"
Mark Lane also immediately high-fived and hugged Toni, Müller, and others, celebrating this moment of victory together.
"We're in the semifinals!"
"Fantastic!"
The victors had smiles on their faces.
The losers, however, wore masks of pain, some in tears.
Griezmann, participating in his first World Cup, even covered his face and wept directly.
As the first match of the quarterfinals, this highly anticipated German-French battle thus concluded.
Thanks to Hummels' header and Mark Lane's Super Substitute heroics once again, the German Team defeated the French Team two-nil at the Maracanã Stadium, becoming the first team to advance to the semifinals!
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