The showdown in Samara finally came to an end.

The sea breeze fluttered the corner flags.

The members of the Matador Legion gathered at the edge of the field, embracing and celebrating.

Everyone's face was filled with the joy of victory, as they advanced to the World Cup semi-finals with a thrilling, narrow escape.

In contrast to the joy was sorrow.

Lukaku stood with his hands on his hips, his eyes blank, staring blankly at the opponent's goal.

Courtois angrily threw his gloves on the grass and walked towards the tunnel alone.

De Bruyne squatted on the ground, sullenly pulling at the grass.

Hazard lay on his back on the ground, gasping for breath.

"The faces of the Belgian players are filled with regret."

"It's a pity that the golden generation failed to fully realize their potential, but they can leave the World Cup stage with their heads held high!"

"Hazard successfully dribbled past opponents 10 times in this game, delivering a phenomenal performance!"

"De Bruyne sent 36 threatening passes and won 6 ground duels..."

"Courtois made many wonderful saves, repeatedly resolving dangerous situations."

"However, all of this...failed to translate into goals."

...

In the live broadcast room.

-【Another whitewash, my big ball.】

-【Spain can advance to the semi-finals, they should thank Lukaku.】

-【At the celebration banquet...】

-【Batshuayi, who came on later, also has terrible shooting skills. He took a powerful shot, and the ball hit the post and rebounded off his head.】

-【Ding Ding is unlucky. He has Sterling in his club team, and Lukaku, Benteke, and Batshuayi in the national team. When will he meet his true striker?】

-【Li Mingdeng's running data is very low in this game. The semi-finals will be difficult, the opponent is the winner of England vs. Croatia.】

...

Post-match press conference.

Del Bosque's face was flushed and his smile was kind.

"This game was very difficult. Belgium is very strong. They are undefeated in 22 international matches, which is an amazing record."

"Their last loss was back in 2016."

"It seems they lost to...Wales led by Bale, but that's not important. We experienced a difficult and fluctuating match."

"That's right, Li changed the game again!"

"He is the hero of the Matador Legion!"

Applause thundered, lasting for a long time.

After a moment.

Martinez appeared in the auditorium.

He held back for a long time before making a summary of the game: "We were a bit unlucky."

....

Samara only has one five-star hotel, which was booked by Belgium long ago.

Li Kang and his teammates stayed in an ordinary hotel.

There is a strip club near the hotel.

*The Sun* reported: This strip club is willing to provide free service to the players of the winning team.

Only free for players?

Assistant coach-Mignolet specifically checked the usual price: for just rubles, you can drink champagne and spend a pleasant two hours with three beautiful Eastern European women.

Of course, there was no chance to go, the coaching staff still had to have a meeting.

The hotel where they were staying was already surrounded by fans and tourists.

Li Kang's room was on the top floor of the hotel, which was not high, the hotel only had twelve floors.

Through the window, you could see the fireworks rising into the air.

【Ding, mission completed: Golden Generation.】

【Mission receipt: Well...suffering and regret are not mandatory lessons in life.】

【Congratulations on obtaining: Platinum Treasure Chest.】

Li Kang didn't look at the prize pool.

【Treasure chest is opening...Congratulations on obtaining: Lukaku "Killer in Front of Goal" module!】

Nothing changed.

The module didn't even overflow with emotions.

Li Kang: "..."

He felt that Lukaku was still very strong, but in order to meet the tactical needs of the team, he kept gaining weight, losing the agility of his early debut.

He took out his tablet and started reviewing the game.

He played very easily in tonight's game, but his teammates didn't...Saul, who had been fighting for ninety minutes, couldn't even muster a whimper.

He had to find a suitable stage to switch responsibilities.

....

Li Kang's wonderful moments in the quarter-finals once again detonated the entire internet.

《Two Goals, Matador Swordsman Suppresses Belgian Stars.》

《Passing, Stopping, Dribbling, Shooting, Unstoppable Number Nine and a Half.》

《On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Li Kang's Forward Playing Style.》

《The Reason for Belgium's Loss is Not Lukaku, In-Depth Review of "Little Beast's" Running and Pulling on the Offensive End.》

《Peak Goalkeeper Showdown, Analysis of De Gea and Courtois' Wonderful Performances.》

《Invincible Dribbling King in Positional Warfare, Super Hazard!》

《In-Depth Deconstruction of De Bruyne's Role Transformation in Ninety Minutes.》

The number of comments, reposts, and likes skyrocketed.

-【Why are there still people defending Lukaku? He wasted at least four clear-cut chances.】

-【Explosive performance every game, carrying the whole team, if Li Kang wins the World Cup, will he be knighted?】

-【Champions League trophy, Champions League Golden Boot, Premier League Golden Boot, eight goals scored in the Russian World Cup so far...if he leads the team to win the World Cup trophy again.】

-【My kindergarten nephew knows Li Kang.】

-【My grandma knows him too.】

-【I think Li Kang is very likely to reach the finals, because the winner of "England vs. Croatia" is not difficult to deal with.】

-【England will definitely easily crush Croatia, Croatia had to rely on penalty kicks to eliminate Denmark.】

.....

Nizhny Novgorod.

The large screen above the stadium showed a score of 1:0.

England fans were reveling in the joy of being ahead.

Although they didn't understand why the Three Lions were being suppressed by Croatia on the field...but it didn't matter, winning was all that mattered.

"What a pity!"

"Lingard wasted a clear-cut opportunity!"

"The smile on his face is very bright, he is not upset about missing the opportunity."

"This is the epitome of England in this World Cup. The Three Lions' road to advancement has been smooth all the way."

"..."

"Oh, why did Maguire lose the header to Modric?"

"Beautiful."

"The Checkered Legion launched a varied offensive chain, rhythm control, off-ball movement...oh, Brozovic didn't score!"

"Brozovic is from Inter Milan in Serie A."

"Just a side note, since 1982, every World Cup final has had players from Inter Milan and Bayern Munich."

The young and energetic Three Lions launched Premier League-level aggression.

They were ready to use speed and strength to crush the "old" Croatia.

It didn't work.

Modric and Rakitic, a Real Madrid midfield pairing with a Barcelona midfield, two thirty-year-old boys interconnected, rotated flexibly, and stubbornly withstood the opponent's impact and pressure.

Making the overall structure extremely stable.

It was unknown what kind of belief was supporting their stamina.

Fighting to the last moment, Mandzukic, who was already limping, broke through the Three Lions' goal!

Finally.

The Checkered Legion completed the逆转.

England 1:2 Croatia.

...

2018 World Cup in Russia, semi-final results are out.

France vs Brazil.

Spain vs Croatia.