Mané still left in the end. Since Spain's round-of-16 match happened to be taking place in England, Leo Lin was allowed to visit him and eventually see him off at the airport.
Neither Firmino nor Salah had any matches to play, and both were reluctant to see Mané leave. As they prepared to say goodbye, Firmino hugged Mané and said,
"Mané, even though you're leaving, make sure you play well at the European Championship."
Mané immediately exchanged a glance with Salah. The two of them tackled Firmino to the floor and gave him a thorough beating.
"So you've been pretending to be my friend all this time, huh?"
"Salah and I play in the Africa Cup of Nations. You seriously didn't know that?"
"Firmino, even I know you play in the Copa América, yet you thought I played in the European Championship? Good thing you said it now. Once I'm on the plane, I won't have another chance to beat you up!"
Mané had once been a very well-behaved person, but most of the moves he used now had been taught to him by Leo Lin. Many of them were unusual attacking techniques.
After seeing Mané off, Leo Lin rejoined Spain. The European Championship round of 16 would be held in England, with every remaining European team eliminating one opponent after another until only the champion remained.
Gullit felt this was the first European Championship in a long time where none of the major teams had been eliminated too early. As a result, the round-of-16 matchups looked especially exciting.
"Based on the final bracket, Sweden will face Italy, Germany will play Denmark, and England will take on Slovakia. England have drawn another favorable opponent, as Slovakia are one of the weaker sides among the remaining sixteen teams!"
"France will face Belgium, Portugal will play Slovenia, Romania will take on the Netherlands, Austria will face Turkey, and Croatia have drawn Spain in the round of 16!"
"Spain and Portugal both won all three of their group matches. Looking at the bracket, even if they reach the quarterfinals, neither team will have an easy path ahead."
"If Portugal beat Slovenia, they'll face the winner of France and Belgium. If they then manage to overcome either France or Belgium, they'll most likely meet the winner of the Netherlands and Romania."
Stam shook his head anxiously as he studied Spain's side of the bracket.
"If Spain beat Croatia, they'll face the winner of Switzerland and Italy."
"After that, they could still meet Germany, England, or Denmark. Of course, if Slovakia manage to beat England, they'll have removed a powerful opponent from Spain's path!"
"The eight favorites have been divided evenly between the two sides of the bracket, so the draw is very fair this time."
These were exactly the kinds of matchups supporters wanted to see. The strength was evenly distributed, and most teams of a similar level had been drawn against one another.
When Hierro thought of Croatia, the first thing that came to mind was their counterattacking football.
Zubizarreta also believed Croatia would play on the counter, just as they had throughout the group stage.
Croatia had achieved impressive results at several previous major tournaments by relying on the same approach.
"Kovačić will carry the ball forward, while Brozović is more of a midfielder who battles for possession all over the pitch."
"Then there's Modrić. He's still as dangerous as ever. We can't allow him to shoot from distance, and our forwards need to stay as far away from him as possible!"
Zubizarreta drew up a clear defensive plan.
"Modrić is the first player we need to watch. We can't let him play through balls to Rebić or Petković."
"Juranović loves getting forward. Whenever he attacks, Gvardiol shifts into center-back, while Vida is also an excellent defender. That means we can look for opportunities through Ćaleta."
"When they struggle to break an opponent down, they also like bringing on Pašalić and Kramarić. Kramarić in particular is very dangerous from the right."
"He's fairly quick. He isn't exceptionally fast, but when you combine that pace with his physical power, he becomes very difficult to handle. That's why I recommend starting Gayà at left-back."
The main options at left-back were Alba and Gayà. Their styles were different, and Gayà was better suited to defending against that type of winger.
Choosing the defenders was not particularly difficult, but selecting the forwards was another matter.
It was not because Spain had too many good options. The problem was that very few of their forwards had performed well at the European Championship so far.
"My suggestion is to try Sarabia on the left wing. He's excellent at keeping possession against Juranović. With Sarabia occupying him, Juranović shouldn't be able to leave his defensive position. Ferran Torres can continue on the right."
"With Morata at center-forward, we should be able to create chances against Croatia."
Zubizarreta could not understand why Xavi still had so much faith in Ferran Torres, but Hierro ultimately decided to keep him in the starting lineup. His direct opponent would be the in-form Gvardiol.
Leo Lin had been watching Gvardiol closely in recent days. He possessed the trademark resilience of Croatian players.
He could play at left-back or left center-back, and many clubs were interested in defenders like him.
On August 2, while Leo Lin was still enjoying his lunch, Rodri suddenly sat down opposite him. He had not brought any food. Instead, he held up his phone and showed Leo Lin the latest transfer report.
Nothing had been confirmed yet, but the transfer market described the deal as nearly complete.
"According to transfer reports gathered from multiple sources, Liverpool are close to signing Gvardiol.
They may pay 60 million euros, along with an enormous package of performance-related bonuses that could raise the final fee to almost 90 million euros."
The phrase "close to signing" could mean Gvardiol had practically joined Liverpool, or it could mean he might still change his mind at the last moment.
But if Gvardiol did join Liverpool, it would unquestionably be excellent news for their defense.
He could play at left-back, allowing Robertson to rest in certain matches. He could also operate as a left center-back and form a new defensive partnership with Van Dijk.
With Konaté already signed, along with Ocho and Matip, Liverpool's defense would once again be packed with quality and deep enough to compete across several competitions.
On the evening of August 2, the first round-of-16 match to kick off was the Netherlands against Romania.
With two and a half hours remaining before their own match, all the Spain players watched it together.
From Leo Lin's perspective, Gullit's smile lasted from the opening whistle until the final one. The Netherlands defeated Romania 3-0 in convincing fashion and advanced to the European Championship quarterfinals.
Still smiling, Gullit announced the next match to the audience.
"In half an hour, the second round-of-16 match of the European Championship will begin, with Spain facing Croatia."
"Whether this completely transformed Croatia side can reach the quarterfinals may depend on how Spain perform in attack!"
...
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