Chapter 114 World Cup Semi-Finals

After the match between Italy and Ukraine, Italy finally had another 4 days of rest, so on the second day of the match Lippi gave the whole team a day off, asking everyone to relax and find their form.

Ricardo naturally spent the whole day with Sarafina. Her skin was as smooth as milk, worthy of a high school girl! In addition, the most important thing was that she was raised by Ricardo, and she knew Ricardo's preferences and habits too well, from the outside to the inside, from posture to rhythm...

So the day in the hotel was also a wonderful day, and in the evening the two of them watched the remaining two quarter-finals together.

2006年7月1日，周六下午17时，2006年世界杯1/4决赛的第3场角逐在盖尔森基兴傲赴沙尔克球场打响，对阵双方是英格兰与葡萄牙。

In the 2002 World Cup and the 2004 European Cup, England head coach Eriksson led his team to face Brazil and Portugal coached by Scolari respectively, and was eliminated both times after scoring first.

In this game, Eriksson insisted on using Rooney as the lone striker, Gary Neville returned, and Hargreaves returned to the center as a defensive midfielder, squeezing out Carrick's position.

Portuguese midfielders Deco and Costinha were suspended and replaced by Petit and Thiago. C. Ronaldo, who suffered a thigh injury in the last game, passed the medical examination and directly faced his Manchester United captain Gary Neville. The captains of both teams, Beckham and Figo, were once teammates of Real Madrid.

A dramatic scene in the game occurred in the 62nd minute. Rooney was fouled first, but then the referee believed that Rooney retaliated by stepping on Carvalho and pushing down Ronaldo, so he directly showed a red card and sent Rooney off.

So England were forced to play with one less player for the rest of the game.

In the 90 minutes of regular time and the 30 minutes of extra time, both sides still drew -.

This was the first draw in Portugal's 17 World Cups, and it also ended Scolari's 11-match winning streak in the World Cup (not counting penalty shootouts). The two teams had a penalty shootout for the first time since the 2004 European Championship.

In the penalty shootout, Portugal's goalkeeper Ricardo was like a god descending from heaven, saving penalties from Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher one after another, and even Hargreaves' penalty was almost blocked...

As a result, three of England's four penalties were saved, while Portugal scored three of its four penalties, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the final goal.

Portugal defeated England 3-1 in the penalty shootout, the second time they defeated England on penalties since the 2004 European Cup. Scolari completed a hat-trick of eliminating England in three consecutive tournaments.

England have lost five of the last six penalty shootouts in major tournaments and have failed to reach the World Cup semi-finals since 6. This is also the first time they have lost to a team that has never won the World Cup in a World Cup knockout stage.

Shortly after the match between England and Portugal ended, it was the turn of the last quarter-final of this World Cup.

At 21 p.m. that evening, at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, France and Brazil competed for the last spot in the semi-finals.

In this game, Brazil coach Pereira broke up the "magic quartet". Forward Adriano was withdrawn and Juninho was added to the midfield. Kakato, who had missed training for two consecutive days, passed the pre-match physical examination. Another injured player Emerson was also able to play, but still sat on the bench. Gilberto Silva replaced him.

French head coach Domenech used the same starting lineup that eliminated Spain in the previous match; and French President Chirac also came to the scene to watch and cheer.

It can be said that the French team took the absolute initiative in the game. On the contrary, the Brazilian team played very conservatively and seemed to be struggling on the field.

So with the help of Henry's assist from Zidane's set-piece in the 57th minute of the second half, France defeated Brazil 1-0 and became the last team to reach the semi-finals of this World Cup.

Brazil had only one shot on target in the entire game, and their dream of reaching the finals for four consecutive times came to nothing; and it is worth mentioning that the last time Brazil failed to win a World Cup was when they lost 1998-0 to France in the 3 World Cup final.

After the elimination of two South American teams, the semi-finals of this World Cup have been dominated by European teams, which is the first time since 1982.

On July 7, France and Portugal will compete for a place in the final in Munich, while Germany and Italy will compete for another place in the final in Dortmund.

……

After a day of hard work, oh no, it was a day of rest, Ricardo resumed training with the team on July 7nd... And in the two consecutive training sessions on July 2nd and July 7rd, Lippi opened the training content to the public for more than an hour, so Sarafina had every right to come and visit Ricardo's training.

Sarafina, who wore a short skirt and stockings for two days, immediately aroused the envy and jealousy of Ricardo's teammates: "Fuck, it didn't seem like this a few days ago... Why does this look like a minor? Ricardo is really a scumbag..."

So Ricardo was frequently tackled on the training ground..._:(′?`):_ (vomiting blood)

Ricardo could only abandon De Rossi at night and go to Sarafina's hotel suite for comfort...

Soon it was 7 p.m. on July 4th. The first semi-final of the 21 World Cup kicked off at the Westfalen Stadium in Dortmund, with Italy, in blue shirts, blue pants and blue socks, facing Germany, in white shirts, black pants and white socks.

The heads of the two governments gathered in Dortmund to watch and cheer, including German President Horst Köhler, Chancellor Merkel, and Italian Prime Minister Prodi.

Germany and Italy are both frequent participants in the World Cup semi-finals. Both teams have won the World Cup three times respectively. This matchup in this World Cup will create a new record holder.

由于赛制原因，目前有14届世界杯举行了半决赛。两队半决赛成绩为：意大利5胜1负，德国6胜3负。

No matter which of Italy and Germany reaches the final, they will become the owner of a record. If Germany wins, they will become the team with the most semi-final wins in history, and if Italy succeeds in taking the lead, they will tie Brazil's winning rate of 6 wins and 1 loss.

这场对决是意大利和德国历史上第29次遭遇，在此前的28次对话中意大利以13胜8平7负进42球失33球占据上风，其中在大赛(世界杯、欧洲杯)中的6次交锋，德国则是以4平2负对意大利未有胜绩，世界杯双方此前的4次交手德国战绩为2平2负，德国最近一次击败意大利队要追溯到1995年在苏黎世进行的热身赛中。

In addition, in the warm-up match held in Florence in March this year, Lippi's Italy severely humiliated Klinsmann's Germany team with a score of 3 to 4; so Italy should have the psychological advantage.

In addition, since all the players in the German team's main lineup except goalkeeper Lehmann are from the Bundesliga (Balak will not go to Chelsea until after the World Cup), and Italy's 23 players except midfield substitute Li Qi are from Serie A, this game can be seen as the ultimate PK battle between Bundesliga and Serie A stars.

In terms of star popularity, Bundesliga stars cannot be compared with Serie A stars; from the club level, the record of German clubs against Italian clubs in recent seasons can be described as terrible.

Take Bayern Munich for example. In the last season's Champions League, they were eliminated by AC Milan in the quarter-finals with a score of 1-8. In fact, Bayern Munich has only won one of the eight encounters with Italian teams in the past four seasons. Coincidentally, both Ballack and Schweinsteiger experienced these tragic defeats.

Back at Dortmund's Westfalen Stadium, one of the most terrifying home stadiums in Europe, the blue and white teams have already set up their formations and are ready for a big fight.

The German team played in a 4-4-2 formation.

The goalkeeper was Lehmann;

The back line from left to right is No. 16 Lahm, No. 17 Mertesacker, No. 21 Metzelder and No. 3 Friedrich;

The midfield quartet from left to right are No. 18 Borowski, No. 5 Kyle, No. 13 Ballack and No. 19 Schneider;

The double striker combination is No. 20 Podolski and No. 11 Klose.

Italy used the same lineup that won a big victory over Ukraine in the previous match, except that Materazzi returned to the starting lineup with Perrotta after his suspension, while Barzagli and Li Qi had to start the game from the bench. However, Li Qi was scheduled to come on as a substitute in the second half, replacing Gattuso who had started for two consecutive games.

As the referee blew the whistle, the two sides started to fight directly. However, relatively speaking, Italy took more initiative on the field and created more threatening offensives.

Germany relied more on counterattacks and long shots to create threats, but until the end of the first half, the German team did not have a single shot on target...

Because the most attractive player in the first half was Cannavaro, who made his 99th appearance for Italy. He rushed forward, blocked the ball, and made tackles to clear the ball, making the German team question their lives.

The German team had no way to get through Cannavaro's defense. This game fully displayed the style of the world's best center back. He was almost omnipotent on the defensive line and had never made a mistake!

The best chance of the first half came from the German team.

In the 34th minute, Pirlo's midfield pass was intercepted by Ballack, who launched a counterattack and passed the ball to the striker. Klose and Podolski cooperated and passed it to the open area on the right...

But Schneider, who was unmarked, volleyed the ball with his right foot from 14 meters in front of the goal, and the half-solo shot went straight into the stands... The German team missed the best chance of the game.

In the second half, Italy further strengthened its attack, and it was obvious that Lippi did not want to compete with the German team for penalties.

However, when Italy was making much noise but little action, Germany created a golden opportunity in the second half in the 62nd minute and shot on target for the first time in the game.

In the 62nd minute, Schneider cleverly passed the ball into the penalty area from the right. Podolski protected the ball and turned around 9 meters in front of the goal. His left-footed shot from a small angle was blocked by Buffon. Then Friedrich made a follow-up shot on the penalty area line and the ball flew away. Klinsmann was so angry that he smashed the water bottle in his hand to the ground.

In the 72nd minute, Gattuso had a cramp in his left leg. Klinsmann replaced Borowski, who had been shooting wildly in this game, with Schweinsteiger to strengthen the midfield control.

Lippi was not to be outdone and made two substitutions in a row, replacing Luca Toni with Gilardino, who would be turning 24 the day after the game, to enhance the mobility of the frontcourt; at the same time, he replaced Gattuso, who had cramps, with Li Qi. The latter received another yellow card and would be suspended for the next game.

With the appearance of Italy's new forces, the substitution effect was obviously better than that of the German team, and Italy's attack began to get closer to the German team's goal!

After Li Qi came on the pitch, he played in Gattuso's position, but unlike Gattuso's butcher-like sweeping and pressing, Li Qi relied more on reading the game to predict and his flexibility to intercept... After all, his body was not fully mature yet, and he could not compare with the muscular men in Germany, especially Ballack and Kyle.

However, Li Qi's footwork, passing and reading of the game are slightly better than Gattuso's, so after Li Qi came on the court, he was able to help Pirlo connect the midfield and frontcourt many times.

In the 76th minute, Li Qi intercepted Kyle's counterattack, and then immediately passed the ball to the side... Grosso received the ball and made a lob pass on the left, Gilardino stopped the ball and knocked it back on the left side of the penalty area, and Perrotta's shot from the penalty area line was confiscated by Lehmann.

In the 78th minute, Li Qi accurately predicted the landing point, blocked Podolski, and headed the ball from Lehmann to Pirlo in the middle... After the latter made a wall-to-wall cooperation with Totti, he made a long shot with his right foot 30 meters away from the goal on the left, which was confiscated by Lehmann again.

This season, Li Qi's header, which was originally a weakness, has improved a lot. On the one hand, it is due to the extra training from his private coach, and on the other hand, it is because he often plays as a central defender...

In the 85th minute, Li Qi pulled to the right to organize the attack, and cooperated with Camoranesi to send a cross to Zambrotta who was on the sideline... Mertesacker headed the cross out, and Totti stopped the opponent's header with his chest outside the penalty area, and volleyed the ball with his right foot to Perrotta in the penalty area! However, Lehmann punched the ball out again...

As Totti's long-range shot from the edge of the penalty area was blocked again, the 90 minutes of the regular game ended with the two teams drawing and having to enter overtime.

I didn't go into the locker room, I just replenished my water on the sidelines, and the overtime started. Lippi's tactical requirements were also very simple. Although the penalty kicks were not scary for them, the advantage was in my hands. I would beat them in overtime!

So at the beginning of the extra time, Italy continued to intensify its pressure and offensive. Just 40 seconds after the kick-off, Lahm made a mistake under Li Qi's pressure, and his hasty pass was intercepted by Pirlo...

The latter passed the ball directly into the penalty area. After receiving the ball, Gilardino broke into the right side of the penalty area. He dribbled past Ballack who was making a tackle near the baseline with his right foot and made a low shot with his left foot 5 meters in front of the goal!

The ball also bypassed Lehmann who was blocking the ball... Unfortunately, the ball hit the near post and bounced back into the field, and was then cleared!

In the 93rd minute, Pirlo's corner kick from the right was blocked. Li Qi intercepted the ball in the air again and headed it to Zambrotta, who stopped the ball and got rid of it. After dodging the defense, he shot with his right foot from 14 meters in front of the goal! Unfortunately, the ball hit the crossbar again and bounced out of the bottom line!

One minute later, Pirlo took another corner kick from the right side, and Cannavaro headed the ball from 1 meters away from the goal, but unfortunately the ball went wide of the near post again.

In the 102nd minute, Camoranesi and Li Qi made a wonderful short pass. The latter attracted a double-team and passed the ball diagonally to the middle. Pirlo followed up and shot with his right foot from 27 meters in front of the goal. However, this long shot also went over the crossbar.

The entire first half of the extra time was Italy beating up Germany, but they just couldn't break through the last layer of window paper. Germany only had one shot in the first half of the extra time, and it didn't hit the target. Klinsmann helplessly covered his face with his hands.

Before the start of the second half of extra time, Lippi made his last substitution, replacing Perrotta with Piero, leaving only Pirlo and Li Qi in the defensive midfielder position. The three Italian substitutes were all midfielders, showing the Italians' determination to end the game before the penalty shootout!

Of course, it can be understood that Piero was put on the field to prepare for the penalty shootout. After all, Lippi sent all the penalty shooters to the field, except for Li Qi, who was a penalty shooter...

However, Li Qi was also vaguely worried. Italy had been suppressing the German team for such a long time at all costs. If the German team accumulated a wave of energy to counterattack, it would be very dangerous.

Therefore, at the beginning of the second half of the overtime, Li Qi, as one of the few players on the field with sufficient physical strength, paid more attention to the protection of the defense line. As long as they could defend against a wave of German counterattacks, Italy could kill the opponent at any time...