Chapter 108: To Block a Position Group 1

2006年6月16日下午15时，世界杯C组第2轮首场比赛在盖尔森基兴傲赴沙尔克球场打响，阿根廷最终以6比0的比分狂胜塞黑，打破了两天前由西班牙创造的本届世界杯最悬殊比分纪录。

During the game, Li Qi's club teammate Messi came on as a substitute in the second half and scored a goal in his World Cup debut! Serbia and Montenegro were eliminated early...

In the later match between the other two teams in Group C at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium in Stuttgart, the Netherlands finally defeated Côte d'Ivoire 2-1 with difficulty. With two wins in two games, they accumulated 6 points and advanced to the next round together with Argentina, while Côte d'Ivoire was eliminated together with Serbia and Montenegro.

Before the second round of group matches in Group E, where Italy is located, starts, there are still two matches in Group D.

Mexico was tied 0-0 by Angola, which gave Angola its first World Cup point. Portugal beat Iran 2-0, with Deco and Ronaldo scoring goals to help Portugal advance to the next round for the first time since 1966!

Ricardo received Chiara, who was wearing a grey one-piece skirt, black stockings and high heels, on the evening of the 16th. She was in the room actively preparing for the second round of the group match against the US team the next night.

Before the game, the media believed that the 0-3 loss to the Czech Republic in the first match not only caused the Americans to lose 3 points, but also caused the team's morale to be shaken. Even the second round of the group stage would be a do-or-die moment, because if they lost again, they would have to book their tickets home in advance.

Italy will take the challenge calmly. The 2-0 win over Ghana puts the Azzurri in a favorable position and boosts the players' confidence. According to head coach Lippi, the starting lineup that performed well in the first game will not change much in the second game. Only midfielder Perrotta may be replaced by Camoranesi, while Piero may get a chance to play.

The media even put forward data analysis, believing that the Blues Italy are not afraid of the American powerhouse at all.

In the past 20 years, Italy's performance in the World Cup group stage has been very reassuring. Since 1978, they have never been eliminated early in the group stage.

Not only that, while the Italian team performed well in the group stage, it also maintained a huge psychological advantage over the American teams. Since the first World Cup after the war in 1950, the Italian team has encountered a total of 14 teams from America in the group stage. In these 14 encounters, they won 6, drew 7 and lost only 1. The only game they lost was in 1962, when they lost to the host of that World Cup, Chile, with a score of 0-2.

However, Italy still kept a low profile before the game and prepared seriously. Lippi remained calm and studied the United States like he analyzed Ghana. Two days before the game, each Italian international received a 15-page analysis of the US team, which included players and tactical characteristics. After reading it, they watched a 20-minute short film, which mainly studied the tactical arrangements of the United States when there was no ball.

Lippi's research has three obvious results. First, the core player Reina had the same effective touch rate as Pirlo in the first game, 24%. This effective touch means that the ball should not only be passed to the feet of teammates, but also facilitate the next action of teammates. Second, the United States made good use of the offside tactic. The Czechs were offside 9 times in the first game. Third, they made good use of ground organization to create opportunities. In the first game, 10 shots were taken, 8 of which came from ground ball cooperation, but only 1 hit the goal frame.

However, these data make Italian fans feel more at ease. The Italian media believes that the United States lost to the Czech Republic in the first game, and the wing was the main loophole, which gave Italy a lesson.

After the Azzurri made their debut, the main lineup was basically finalized, with Totti definitely starting. The focus of the second game shifted from the overall team to a few individuals. Zambrotta and Gattuso have both recovered and can play, but in the end it still depends on Lippi's choice.

At 2006:6 on June 17, 21, the weather turned from sunny to cloudy, with a temperature of 16 degrees Celsius. At the Walter Stadium in Kaiserslautern, the second match of the second round of Group E of the World Cup was held between Italy and the United States.

Lippi finally decided to change only one starter, Zambrotta replaced Grosso after recovering from injury. Although Gattuso has also recovered, Lippi still used the midfield combination that performed well in the previous game.

赛前一切统计数据都对意大利有利，里皮的球队已经连续19场不败。美国此前与意大利5次交手未尝胜果，其中包括1934年世界杯1比7惨败，1990年世界杯0比1告负。

In addition, the United States lost all eight World Cup matches held in Europe. If the warm-up matches are included, the United States has lost nine games in a row against five traditional strong teams in Europe, conceding 8 goals and scoring only four goals.

Therefore, Ricardo, who started the game from the bench again, was confident that it would be the same as the last game. After the team took the lead, he would have more opportunities to play. For this reason, Chiara was worried that she and Ricardo's warm-up exercises last night were too thorough and intense...

However, as the game progressed, Chiara's worries did not come true, because Ricardo sat on the bench for 90 minutes in this game.

The main reason was that De Rossi, who was abandoned by Ricardo and left alone, received his Ruby Card and went back to the locker room to rest in the first half. This change disrupted Lippi's deployment and plan. In order to be safe, Lippi naturally would not let the youngest Li Qi play. This was also a kind of protection for Li Qi...

In the 22nd minute of the game, Pirlo took a free kick from the right side and made a half-high pass to the penalty area. Gilardino flew to the front point and headed the ball 7 meters in front of the goal. The ball bounced into the far corner and Italy broke the deadlock first.

However, the Americans equalized the score 5 minutes later. In the 27th minute, Conway took a free kick with his left foot from the right sideline. The ball flew to Zacardo who was unattended at the back post. Zacardo cleared the ball with his left foot 5 meters in front of the goal, but the ball hit his outside instep and deflected into the near corner...

This was the 26th own goal in the history of the World Cup. Not only Zaccardo, but the entire Italian team showed an expression of disbelief: "No way? Big brother, such a mistake was made? How much did you drink... or, how much money did the Americans give you?"

Ricardo glanced at Lippi on the sidelines and saw that his boss's face was dark... He was probably already thinking about how to make a substitution.

Ricardo was still laughing in his heart, thinking that I can also play as a right back, will there be a chance in the first half? Then soon, Ricardo could no longer laugh...

Less than 2 minutes after Italy was tied, the Azzurri suffered another heavy blow. Players from both teams competed for the header in the midfield. De Rossi hit McBride in the face with his right elbow. Referee Larionda directly showed De Rossi a red card and sent him off! McBride, who was hit, had blood on his face and went off the field for emergency treatment...

Ricardo was stunned when he saw this on the sidelines: "Damn, is it true? Brother De Rossi? Are you so angry? I just didn't accompany you for a few nights..."

(Voiceover: Damn it, you, you almost didn't come back to the dormitory every night since the World Cup training camp started, and there were three different beautiful girls taking turns to come. How could your roommate De Rossi not be angry?! It's all your fault! Half of the red card belongs to you...)

At this time, Lippi's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, but there was no time to think about it. He had to make lineup adjustments quickly. Gattuso came on to replace Totti and fill the gap in the defensive midfielder position. However, this came at the expense of offense, and they could only rely on Pirlo's long passes.

However, the Italian team, which was one man down, could only retreat to a smaller formation. The originally advantageous situation immediately took a sharp turn for the worse, and the American team gained the initiative on the field.

However, the U.S. team was not happy for long. In the last minute of the first half, at the 45th minute, a dramatic scene occurred again. Pirlo was dribbling the ball in the midfield, and Mastroni used his studs to slide and tackle Pirlo's left ankle. The referee Larionda also showed a red card! The two sides restored the balance of numbers and entered the halftime break...

This made Lippi feel entangled again. He originally planned to replace a striker, but now he had to consider how to strengthen the offense. However, Lippi did not consider the young Li Qi this time. After all, in such a special occasion, Lippi believed that the experience and mentality of the veterans were more important. He was mainly afraid that Li Qi would be excited when he came on the court and be sent off by the referee who was a bit too strict today...

However, unexpectedly, Italy's fortunes had already begun to change in the last moments of the first half, because at the beginning of the second half, the Italian team received another piece of good news.

Just 70 seconds into the second half, Gattuso made a diagonal pass and Pope tackled Gilardino from behind. Referee Larionda gave him a yellow card warning. As a result, Pope was sent off after two yellow cards, and Italy gained the numerical advantage!

This was a little hard for Lippi to accept. Was this game so full of ups and downs? The number of players was erratic and changed so quickly... But this time Lippi did not change the plan and arrangement at halftime, after all, he still had to consider the schedule for the next game.

Then it was the turn of the American team to retreat. Almost all 9 players retreated to the penalty area to defend, and even replaced two people, and almost stopped attacking. The counterattack depended on Donovan to try to do it by himself. If it works, it works. If not, he will continue to return to defense to help disrupt the situation.

Lippi also replaced two players in succession to strengthen the attack. First, in the 55th minute, he replaced Zaccardo, who was in very poor condition, with Del Piero to restore the position of attacking midfielder. Anyway, the US team only had one person to play counterattacks, so it was enough to keep two people in the back defense plus the defensive midfielder Gattuso. Zambrotta began to press forward to the midfield.

Then in the 65th minute, Iaquinta replaced Toni, who did not perform well in this game. I don't know if it was because the pace of this game changed too quickly, which made it difficult for the European Golden Boot winner to find his way...

After the three substitutions were used up, Ricardo watched as the Italian team frantically squandered opportunities under the organization of the poorly-formed Del Piero. Of course, this was also related to the American team's determination to defend...

In the end, the Italian team, which was one player less, still failed to beat the American team, which was two players less. The two sides shook hands and made peace with a score of 0-0, each getting one point.

The best player award after the game was unsurprisingly given to American goalkeeper Keller, who made a great save to ensure a draw.

Given that Ghana, which started the game first, defeated the 2-man Czech Republic with a score of 0-10, Italy has one win and one draw and has 4 points, leading the Czech Republic and Ghana with 3 points each and temporarily ranking first in Group E, while the United States has only one point and is at the bottom of the group.

Although they failed to qualify early, the Italian team still holds the initiative to win the top spot in the group, and the American team also has a chance to make a comeback in the last round of the group stage and qualify, although it is only a theoretical possibility.

Therefore, neither side was too disappointed after the game, and the American team was obviously the happier one; so the Associated Press even used the word "milestone" to comment: the draw with Italy became a milestone in the history of American football. They had no wins in eight games in European competitions and had never scored a single point against the powerful five European powers: Italy, England, Germany, Spain and France.

At the press conference after the game, Lippi admitted that Italy's performance in this game was a bit abnormal: "During this week, I saw some dangerous signs, but facing a team determined to defend, our performance today was indeed below normal. This was a crazy game... De Rossi is a good guy, he has never made such a stupid mistake before... My other disappointment is that we did not take advantage of the advantage of having one more player in the second half..."

After returning to the hotel, he left Chiara behind and went back to the room to comfort De Rossi with his brothers: "Okay, Daniele, don't be sad. The ruby ​​card in the World Cup finals is not something you can get just because you want it. Only players who are destined to be great will receive a red card in the World Cup, such as Maradona in 82, Beckham in 98 and Totti four years ago..."

Totti, who had just walked to the door and was about to knock on it, could not help but pause: "(*~︿~) Hey, if you don't know how to give examples, don't give them randomly!"

All I heard was De Rossi’s response: “There’s Cardo, why don’t you apply for a good gem card for the next game…”

"Uh, ahem... this, I'm still young..." Ricardo felt that De Rossi had talked him to death today, so he decided to go back to the house and play with Chiara...

……

However, soon, as the World Cup continued, people gradually forgot about De Rossi's red card and even Italy's draw, and instead focused on one focus match after another. Each match might be a key battle for fans of their respective countries.

In the second round of Group F, Japan tied Croatia 0-0, retaining a theoretical chance of qualifying like the United States; while Brazil defeated Australia 2-0 and advanced early.

In the second round of Group G, France tied South Korea 1-1, which made South Korea's chances of qualifying very good, but they also had to face the most terrible curse - that they could qualify with a draw in the last round! In the other match, Switzerland defeated Togo 2-0, sending Togo out early.

In the second round of Group H, Spain once again defeated Tunisia 3-1 and advanced one round ahead of schedule; while Ukraine fed the shit beaten by Spain to Saudi Arabia, returning a 4-0 victory to Saudi Arabia...

(The famous World Cup tragedy team: "Woo woo woo...what are you looking at...why? Why is it always me...")

Then came June 6, the 20th match day, and the final round of the World Cup group stage began.

In this round, two games in the same group will start at the same time, and the Italian team will face the Czech team two days later. Lippi's Azzurri vow to take the first place in the group and get a more advantageous position in the round of 16 knockouts.

Because in the 1/8 finals, Group E and Group F are fighting each other. If the first place in the group is either Australia, Croatia, or even Japan; but if it falls to the second place in the group, it will have to fight to the death with the first place in Group F, Brazil...

So we must be the first in the group! Go for it!

Well, after sending Chiara away, Ricardo is also training very seriously and preparing for the competition actively: "Focus on the game, keep your mind clear and gather your energy, and wait for the hard work to accumulate strength for a breakthrough!"

(De Rossi: "Ha! Bah! You scumbag!")

……