Chapter 118 Dancing with Emperor Xuanzong of Qi in the Final

Before Ricardo and De Rossi started to warm up, just 30 seconds into the second half, Henry forced his way into the penalty area from the left rib. Fortunately, his right-footed shot at a small angle from 9 meters in front of the goal lacked power and the ball was confiscated by Buffon.

However, the Gallic rooster's powerful move in the second half also began to indicate that as the physical fitness of the young Italian boys continued to decline, the experienced French team began to take more initiative on the field.

However, one minute later, the King of Highbury Henry once again broke through three defenders in a row and cut into the penalty area to make a low pass. Fortunately, Zambrotta made a tackle to clear the ball 1 meters in front of the goal, and the ball just slightly missed the right post!

In the 53rd minute, the French team once again launched a pleasing counterattack. First, Thuram passed the ball to Grosso who broke through in the penalty area, and then made a long pass to Vieri in the midfield. The latter volleyed the ball to Ribery who was running at high speed on the right without stopping the ball...

Marseille star Ribery received the ball and immediately accelerated into the heart of Italy's defense. The French team played four against four in the frontcourt!

After attracting the defense, Scarlett simply passed the ball to Zidane in the middle. Qi Xuanzong sent a straight pass with the outside of his foot at the top of the penalty area, Malouda received the ball and moved forward, breaking into the left side of the penalty area...

At the critical moment, Zambrotta made an extreme defense, but he tackled Malouda who was dribbling forward with the ball.

However, this time the referee Elizondo signaled Malouda to stand up and did not give a penalty. Could it be that the midfielder reviewed the first half video and found a misjudgment, so he corrected it? In any case, Italy escaped this time.

The Gauls' forwards relied on their tacit cooperation and skilled techniques to continuously exert high pressure on the Silver Fox team, making the Azzurri's defense precarious. However, just as this conflict was getting intense, the situation changed again.

Just when the French offensive was going smoothly, the French team lost a general. Veteran Vieira suddenly strained his left thigh while passing the ball in the midfield. Astrology master Domenech could only arrange Diarra to come on as an emergency substitute. This made the Gallic rooster's midfield strength and attack and defense conversion ability drop by at least a level.

Lippi also keenly noticed this and immediately began to adjust his troops. In the 60th minute of the game, the Italian team replaced two players at once, which can be said to be the winning move at once.

Plastic roommates, two young players, Li Qi, who just turned 20, and 23-year-old De Rossi, came on the field together to replace Perrotta and Totti who performed poorly.

This substitution was actually a well-thought-out plan made by Lippi before the game.

In such an important World Cup final, Lippi really trusted the veterans more. However, the most experienced veterans in the Italian team were basically already in the starting lineup.

Moreover, the oldest veteran in the Italian team is not older than the old monsters who won the 98 World Cup, such as Qi Xuanzong, Vieira, Thuram and Barthez.

Instead of competing with the French team in terms of veterans and experience, it would be better to compete with the young people in terms of physical fitness and drive. Italy already has an advantage in rest and physical reserves through rotation and schedule arrangements, so naturally it should maximize its own advantages.

I believe that after the fierce battle in the first half, the physical strength and concentration of the old monsters of the French team will further decline, and their technical movements will not be as steady as at the beginning, which will narrow the technical gap with the young players. At this time, substituting two energetic guys will definitely give the French team a great surprise, especially De Rossi, who is a werewolf who has rested for four rounds - a little more ruthless.

Lippi also took into account the possibility of overtime, so it would be better to use young players. They will run you guys to death...

As for the penalty shootout, Lippi was indeed a little worried at the beginning, especially since Li Qi was notoriously reluctant to take penalties.

However, in the recent training sessions dedicated to practicing penalty kicks, Li Qi is one of the top three players with the highest penalty kick success rate in the team, thanks to his excellent footwork, excellent explosive power and stability, as well as his calm and steady personality. (Pre-match warm-up penalty kicks are not included in the statistics...)

I really don’t know why this guy Li Qi doesn’t like to take penalties... Lippi can only think that it is because the guy is humble and courteous and doesn’t like to challenge easy goals.

De Rossi, who is a little more ruthless, is also one of the top five penalty shooters in the team due to his calm and decisive character. Therefore, Lippi specially arranged these two players in the second and sixth positions in the penalty shootout.

Lippi put Li Qi in front because he thought that if the penalty kick really missed due to fate as Li Qi said, there would still be opportunities to shoot later.

As for ranking De Rossi sixth, it’s because the werewolf is really cruel. You can bet he’s the first one to go in the sudden death round. Don’t worry, he’s cruel!

In addition, these two young players are versatile. Not to mention De Rossi who can play as central midfielder, defensive midfielder and central defender, Lippi is assured by Li Qi's multi-position attributes. He has played as winger, attacking midfielder, central midfielder, wing midfielder, defensive midfielder, full back and even central defender, except for center forward and goalkeeper. He is really a jack of all trades.

If any unexpected event occurs on the field, cough, bah, bah... Therefore, when these two people are on the field, Italy can temporarily adjust the formation without making any substitutions.

So if in the second half, the game is at a disadvantage, it would be best to make substitutions, oh no, it would be best to use young players.

In addition, there is another role that young guys can play that veterans cannot match... That's right! That's taking the blame!

If the bet wins, it means the coach is determined to make progress, knows how to appoint the right people, and is brave enough to promote newcomers, and all the credit goes to Lippi. If the bet loses, it means the coach has nurtured talents for the country, accumulated experience, and most importantly, "he is just a child!", and the blame is all on the young man...

No matter how you calculate it, it's not a loss, so Lippi decided before the game that he would make substitutions with the two young players first, it was just a matter of when to make the substitutions, who to make the substitutions and whether to make the substitutions together or separately.

As for the current situation in Italy, taking advantage of the injury of Vieira, Lippi simply used his ultimate move, oh no, it was the winning move! Release the young man, release two young men in a row! Woof woof woof woof, ah! Day day day day...

In the far east, it was already past 3 a.m. in China. In a small bar in Huajing, a group of men and women who looked like college students seemed to have escaped from their dorm to watch the world-renowned World Cup final.

The bar had turned off the deafening music and replaced it with the commentary of Huang Jianxiang, a famous GGTV commentator, coming from the large LCD TV: "In the 60th minute of the second half, the Italian team made two substitutions!"

"Oh, both of them are young players. No. 4 De Rossi is a young defensive midfielder who plays for Roma. He is known for his tenacious and brave style. It seems that he will replace Perrotta."

"The other player is Li Qi, who just turned 20 last month and currently plays for Barcelona. Many fans may not know him well, but he is the absolute main force of Italy's youth teams at all levels. Last year, he led the team to win the World Youth Championship, winning the best player, golden boot and assist king of the World Youth Championship..."

A group of slightly immature but pretty female college students, with their beautiful eyes like autumn water, collectively stared at the close-up of the face of Li Qi in the TV broadcast, and couldn't help but become crazy: "Wow! Wow! So handsome! The guy with short blond hair is so handsome, especially his deep eyes are so electric... Although the guy in front named something also looks very manly, but the Li Qi in the back is the sisters' type! I'm going to be your fan right away!"

The males in the bar couldn't help but feel jealous and envious, secretly spitting: "Bah... pretty boy... fake football fan..."

And right after Lippi's substitution, Italy immediately had another good chance to score.

In the 62nd minute, Pirlo took a long free kick from the left side of the midfield. The ball, accompanied by a ray of light, broke through the Frenchman's volley and fell straight into the middle of the penalty area.

Luca Toni easily shook off Thuram's defense, jumped into the air and headed the ball from 14 yards in front of the goal!

Luca Toni's header was extremely brilliant. The ball bounced off the ground and went into the dead corner in the lower left corner of the goal. Barthez dived to his limit but couldn't stop the ball from entering the net...

Inside the Chinese bar, the female fans who had just expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of goals in the game became excited: "Wow! There's a goal! Yeah! Yeah! The Italian team is great!"

A D-sex guy: "Wait a minute, didn't you just say you like white, so you support the French team?"

A L tea girl: "Ah! There are so many handsome guys in Italy, especially the guy who just came on stage, he is so handsome! I still support the handsome guy, appearance is justice! Don't you understand?"

A D-sister immediately turned evil and gloated: "Well, what a pity, it's offside..."

A certain L tea girl: "Oh oh oh oh...huh? What is offside? Why doesn't the goal count? It doesn't matter! The Italian team, please score one more goal for me!"

A D-string man couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of beer, haha... Miss, is your expression really okay?

……

The assistant referee on the sidelines raised the flag to indicate offside, and Luca Toni's celebration stopped instantly. He could only quickly return to his position and start the game again. The Frenchman escaped.

Looking back at the slow motion, indeed, with the reference of the penalty area line, at the moment when Pirlo used his left foot, oh no, it turned out to be Grosso's left foot to kick the free kick, Luca Toni started ahead of time and was half a body length ahead...

France and Italy are indeed evenly matched opponents, and the offensive and defensive rhythm of the two teams on the field is extremely fast. Li Qi, who originally thought that he had adapted to the rhythm of the Champions League level, couldn't help but look solemn after playing for 5 minutes. It seems that he still underestimated the intensity of the World Cup final.

In addition, the appearance of De Rossi and Li Qi did strengthen Italy's running and defensive strength, but facing the French midfield led by Qi Xuanzong, Italy was still at a disadvantage...

In the 63rd minute, Makelele made a straight pass, Henry took the ball and broke into the penalty area. Facing Cannavaro's single defense, he changed the rhythm and made two consecutive feints to create a gap, and then shot directly from 11 meters in front of the goal!

The ball went straight to the near corner like a cannonball... Fortunately, young player Buffon was focused, selected his position in advance, dived bravely and blocked the powerful shot out of the penalty area with both fists!

In the 65th minute, gold medal defender Cannavaro predicted in advance in the backcourt and accurately intercepted Ribery's straight pass to Henry with the outside of his foot, and then took the ball out of the danger area... But after Zidane cooperated with Malouda to successfully counterattack, the latter shot with his left foot from 20 meters away from the goal, but missed the near post.

Italy was somewhat passive in the game; mainly because Emperor Xuanzong of Qi was too difficult to deal with. As long as the ball was at his feet, Italy could not snatch it away at all. Therefore, the French team could calmly carry out various tactical movements around Emperor Xuanzong of Qi's dance.

In the first half, it was the Milan combination that assisted in defending Qi Xuanzong, Gattuso pressed closely, Pirlo assisted in defense and protection, and if that didn't work, they would foul.

In the second half, Lippi replaced Li Qi. One of the main tactical arrangements was to take over Pirlo's defensive responsibility and free up Pirlo to organize and participate in the attack. Li Qi was responsible for close pressing, while Gattuso, who was physically exhausted, was responsible for assisting defense and protection.

This idea was good, but Li Qi, who was in charge of its execution, was overwhelmed. When he saw Gattuso being teased on the sidelines, he wondered why Gattuso was too nervous and was completely played around by Zidane.

But when it was Li Qi's turn, he found that it was not the case at all. Although Li Qi was basically immune to Zidane's fake moves, he just couldn't get the ball...

Even if Li Qi could accurately predict Zidane's next dance move, Qi Xuanzong could always hook or flick the ball away one step ahead. There were several times when he was just a little bit short, but Qi Xuanzong relied on his height, long legs, rich experience, superb skills, and strong balance to protect the ball or pass it to his teammates.

Li Qi was stunned. Even with Gattuso, they couldn't get the ball. How could he be so flexible at such an old age? Apart from other things, in terms of ball protection, Qi Xuanzong was much better than Ronaldinho and the Argentine flea of ​​this period. Fortunately, due to his age, his breakthroughs were not sharp, so Li Qi and Gattuso could barely hold on.

However, Lippi off the court was extremely satisfied. He had not originally thought that he could defend Zidane, after all, he was the best player in the world. Li Qi was able to entangle Qi Xuanzong's breakthrough, limit Zidane's performance, and free up Lippi to focus on organization. Lippi felt that it exceeded his expectations.

But Li Qi still felt that this wouldn't work, and after a moment's hesitation, he began to use on Qi Xuanzong all the dirty tricks that those opponents whom he had despised before had used on himself, Ronaldinho and Messi!

However, the only effective move was not to fight Boss Qi to death, but to use Boss Qi to set a trap; deliberately create a flaw, let the French team pass the ball to Boss Qi, and then Li Qi used better mobility and advance prediction to intercept the pass!

After two or three consecutive interceptions, the French team also discovered that this bastard who came on as a substitute was using Qi Xuanzong to fish. So they set a trap for Li Qi in return... fake moves and counter-cuts, run you to death! After Gattuso could only get a yellow gem card to protect himself, Li Qi was helpless and could not fish frequently. He could go around the ball if possible, but if not, he would pester and cling to it, trying to reduce the contact between the ball and Qi Xuanzong as much as possible.

Li Qi originally thought that he would come up to replace Totti so that he could play as a front midfielder and attack. Unexpectedly, he would focus on fighting to the death with Qi Xuanzong. The two of them often performed face-to-face and close-fitting dances on the court, just like dancing a ballroom dance.

Offense? It can only be handed over to Sleepy, Camoranesi and Toni, as well as Wei Yi Zuo and Zambrotta. Anyway, Li Qi was not able to shoot or pass the ball...

After Shuipi's high-quality falling leaf shot went wide of the French team's goal post, Qi Xuanzong, who had abused Li Qi and gained confidence, was so overconfident that he overestimated his own abilities and competed for a header with Cannavaro, who had a bounce rate of 95; oops, as expected, Zidane's right shoulder was injured after he landed.

Fortunately, after a simple treatment, Qi Xuanzong was able to return to the court and continue dancing with Li Qi. Otherwise, Li Qi, lacking a dance partner, would have been ready to mess with the French team's small defense...

Back at the Chinese team bar, the girls watched Qi Da Tu Zi, who had been bullying their husbands for most of the game, jogging back to the court. They gritted their teeth and said indignantly, "Why didn't this baldy guy fall down and die?"

However, the jealous male audience couldn't help but applaud (Damn! Li Qi was upgraded to husband in just half the game?): "Come on Zidane! Dance to your heart's content on the final, biggest stage!"

In addition, along with the overwhelming cheers of French fans during the TV broadcast, the famous commentator Huang Jianxiang also secretly set a flag that will go down in history during his commentary: "... I think... fans all over the world hope that he will play until the last second of this game..."

……