Chapter 127 New Season Debut

On July 2006, 7, four days after the World Cup final, the Italian Football Association announced that former AC Milan midfielder Donadoni would replace Lippi as head coach of the Italian national team.

Lippi resigned three days after Italy won the World Cup in Germany. Although Lippi had achieved brilliant results during his coaching career in Italy and led the Azzurri to win the World Cup despite the pressure of domestic league scandals, Lippi had already made up his mind before the World Cup not to renew his contract with the Italian Football Association and officially announced his resignation after the World Cup.

The Italian Football Association finally chose former AC Milan superstar Donadoni as Lippi's successor.

Donadoni had a brilliant career as a player, but his coaching experience is relatively short. The 43-year-old was once the star player of AC Milan during the Sacchi and Capello eras. He won five league titles, three European Cups (predecessors of the UEFA Champions League) and European Super Cups with the team. He played 63 times for the Italian national team and scored four goals.

After becoming a coach, Donadoni's performance was mediocre and he had no experience in coaching a top team. Therefore, the media could not help but have great doubts. With only one year of coaching experience, Donadoni was still inexperienced in Italy, which was full of talented people. Whether he could lead the Italian team to continue its glory in the European Cup two years later would be a big question mark.

The newly appointed Donadoni announced the new Italian national team roster before the first round of La Liga. The Italian team will start the 9 European Cup qualifying journey on September 2. Their first opponent is Lithuania and the second opponent is France. The game will be played on September 2008.

The most eye-catching thing about this national team list is that 24-year-old striker Cassano, who plays for Real Madrid, has been re-selected for the Italian team.

Cassano is a rare talent in Italian football in recent years. He performed well in the 2004 European Cup, but due to poor form, he was not selected for the 2006 World Cup. After Capello took over as Real Madrid coach, Cassano's physical and mental state improved significantly, and Donadoni, who always valued him, quickly extended an olive branch to him.

Some players who participated in the World Cup, such as Luca Toni, Del Piero, Totti and Iaquinta, were not selected this time because they had just returned from vacation and their bodies had not yet recovered to match form. In addition, Materazzi, who was suspended due to a conflict with Zidane in the World Cup final, was also blocked from the national team.

The following is the specific list of the new national team:

The three goalkeepers are Abbiati from Turin, Amelia from Livorno and Buffon from Juventus;

The defenders consist of eight players, Barzagli and Zaccardo from Palermo, Cannavaro from Real Madrid, Dainelli and Pasquale from Fiorentina, Grosso from Inter Milan, Oddo from Lazio and Zambrotta from Barcelona;

The midfield lineup consists of 7 players, namely Ambrosini, Gattuso and Pirlo from AC Milan, De Rossi and Perrotta from Roma, Marchionne from Juventus and Li Qi from Sevilla;

There are five forwards, Gilardino and Inzaghi from AC Milan, Bonazzoli from Sampdoria, Cassano from Real Madrid and Rocchi from Lazio.

……

The day after the national team's reporting date and rendezvous point were determined, which was also the third day after Ricardo returned to Seville with the team, at 2006 p.m. on August 8, 29, the last game of the first round of the 21/2006 Spanish Football League was contested. Sevilla welcomed the challenge of newly promoted Levante at home.

Sevilla had just won the European Super Cup with a score of 3-0 two days ago, and the morale of the whole team was boosted; however, head coach Juan Ramos still rotated most of the main players. After all, it was just the beginning of the season and he did not want any main players to get injured due to physical fatigue.

On the defensive line, back three players Dragutinovic and Duda replaced Escude and David in the starting lineup. There was also a major rotation in the midfield. Except for Navas, the other three were placed on the bench. Maresca and Marti replaced Renato and Paulson as the starting double defensive midfielders, and Puerta replaced Adriano as the starting left forward.

Forward Kepa replaced Fabiano, who suffered a relapse of his old injury, and Kanoute to partner in the front line.

Li Qi, Hinkle and others continued to start the game from the bench.

However, after the game started, Sevilla, who had just defeated the Dream Team II and won a championship trophy and 10,000 tons of confidence, was so fierce that they rushed forward and started to teach the newly promoted team a lesson...

Less than 2 minutes into the game, Kepa scored the first goal, but it was called offside and the goal was invalid.

However, Sevilla soon made a comeback. In the 7th minute, Kanoute received a long pass from Puerta at a 45-degree angle on the wing. He stopped the ball with the chest of Levante's defender and broke through to the small penalty area. He shot low with his left foot into the far corner of the net.

Ditch oh oh oh! Ditch oh oh oh! Ditch!

Sevilla scored the first goal and took the lead 1-0.

After taking the lead, Sevilla did not retreat to form a formation, and they beat Barcelona, ​​not to mention the newly promoted team that still did not know how to behave? Sevilla continued to press Levante and beat them!

So when the game came to the 28th minute, Alves and Maresca cooperated with the wall, and with the cover of Navas, they made a cross from the bottom... Copa flew to attack the goal, headed the ball from 8 yards in front of the goal, and hit the ball into the near corner of the goal.

Before half an hour had even passed, Sevilla was already leading 2-0. It was really brutal!

However, Sevilla, which was leading by two goals, did not attack as fiercely as they did in the opening. They slowed down the tempo and controlled the game in the midfield to reduce passing errors and physical exertion. After all, some of the players had just finished an intense cup match three days ago.

So at the end of the first half, Sevilla entered the halftime break with a two-goal lead and nearly 70% ball possession.

During the half-time break, another personnel adjustment was made. Li Qi came on as a substitute, replacing Kanoute who broke the deadlock, and continued to do the work of an organizing forward and defensive midfielder.

Li Qi really likes to be at the front of the opponent's penalty area. When the explosive point is triggered, he may get an assist or a goal at any time...

Sure enough, in the 51st minute of the game, Levante's defender intercepted Puerta's breakthrough and prepared to counterattack. Then, Li Qi accurately predicted the explosive moment, made another counter-steal, and then sent a straight pass to Alves who was about to return to defense on the wing...

A direct counterattack!

Seeing this, Alves turned around to receive the ball and made a low shot, sweeping the ball across the middle of the penalty area; Copa rushed over again, and before the Levante defender could make up for the position, he lightly pushed the ball with the instep of his foot and shot through the goalkeeper's gate!

Ditch oh oh oh! Ditch oh oh oh! Ditch!

Li Qi sent a fatal pass, Alves assisted again, and Copa scored twice! Sevilla led by 3 goals.

Now Juan Ramos also started to make bold substitutions. When the game reached the 60th minute, new aid Hinkel finally made his debut and replaced Alves who had made two assists.

However, the departure of the best player in both the Europa League and the European Super Cup did not weaken Sevilla's advantage. Under Li Qi's leadership, they still firmly controlled the situation. Although the pace slowed down a lot, Levante still found it difficult to pass the ball across the half court...

In the 10 minutes after the substitution, Li Qi sent out several threatening balls in succession, but unfortunately Copa, Puerta, Navas and Maresca were too hasty and missed the chance to score one after another; so after the 70th minute, Li Qi began to try to attack the goal himself.

In the 73rd minute, Li Qi once again made a fake dribble on the penalty area line and then imitated Ronaldinho's on-the-spot shot, and he almost broke through Levante's goal. Unfortunately, the ball hit the crossbar and bounced back in front of the goalkeeper and was hugged.

So Levante was somewhat helpless and began to commit lethal fouls against Li Qi...

However, in the 78th minute, Levante defender Courtois once again pulled down Marseille at the front of the penalty area and got rid of Li Qi, but received the second yellow sapphire card of the game and had to leave the court early to rest. So in the last ten minutes, Levante had one less player to fight in a passive situation.

Sevilla won a great free-kick opportunity, right at the top of the penalty area, about 24 meters away from the goal. Last season, the order of free-kicks in the frontcourt was No. 1 Renato, No. 2 Fabiano, No. 3 Maresca, No. 4 Navas, No. 5 Kanoute, No. 6 Puerta, No. 7 Alves...

However, this season, after Li Qi came, he was directly ranked No. 2, and the rest were moved back in order. There was no other way. Li Qi's footwork was really amazing. It was said that he learned the falling leaf ball skills and set-piece practice skills from Shuipi during the World Cup. His output accuracy and stability were so high! He was not ranked first in the team, or the head coach thought that Li Qi's height was more threatening when entering the penalty area to compete for headers or block positions.

So when Renato was not on the field, Li Qi took the free kick...

At this time, Julian, who was far away in Chicago, had just returned to her laboratory after an afternoon meeting with her professor. She quickly turned on the TV and began to watch Li Qi's first game of the new season. Before the TV could fully display the picture, the commentator's comments came out:

"Oh! This free kick in the middle facing the goal seems to be taken by the Italian genius Li Qi. This was not common last season. After all, Barcelona has too many free kick masters, including Ronaldinho, Xavi, Deco and Iniesta. Even the central defender Marcos has a special skill of taking a powerful free kick!"

"No matter what, it seems that Juan Ramos and the entire Sevilla team still trust Li Qi's footwork. When Li Qi was in the national youth team, he was the team's number one set-piece penalty taker. I just heard that he has a habit of not taking penalties, but the penalty he scored in the World Cup penalty shootout was still very exciting. I don't know why he doesn't like taking penalties..."

"Oh, Li Qi has measured the steps. This is his signature preparatory move..."

"Take a deep breath, start a run-up, and shoot!"

"Go around the human wall... and get in!"

"Ditch oooooh! Ditch oooooh! Ditch!"

"It was a falling leaf shot. The ball went around the wall of players and fell rapidly. It also had a clear arc and went around the goalkeeper's fingers! It was amazing!"

"Li Qi scored the first goal of the league in his La Liga debut this season!"

"Sevilla is leading 4-0. Not only did Levante pay a red card, but they also failed to prevent Li Qi from scoring."

Li Qi came to the stands near the fans' area in a pretentious manner and covered his ears with his hands to celebrate, which made the cheers in the stands even louder: "Li Qi! Li Qi! Li Qi..."

Li Qi particularly enjoyed this kind of thunderous celebration: "It's so cool! It's a hundred times cooler than clapping for love! Well... maybe not that much, maybe ten times~"

After Li Qi scored Sevilla's fourth goal, the game was not over yet. There were still ten minutes left and Levante was one man short, so it became a half-time offensive and defensive drill for Sevilla.

This situation is very suitable for Li Qi's dirty style of play and explosive moments, especially the 108 methods of breaking dense defenses that he learned from Xavi...

So Li Qi patiently organized the attack at the top of the penalty area; facing Levante's back line, repeatedly testing the edge of danger, constantly passing the ball back or transferring it, while calling on Maresca, Puerta and Hinkel, several muscular men, to take turns to insert from behind, but they just didn't pass the ball in and shot in, hey, grind you to death...

After Li Qi had been probing the ball for ten minutes, not to mention the Levante players, even the Sevilla players thought that Li Qi was just wasting time. When he was playing around, Li Qi suddenly stopped the ball, connected with Cruyff and turned around, and passed the two Levante midfielders who thought Li Qi was going to pass the ball back...

After Li Qi turned around, he faced the goal directly, with only a Levante central defender in front of him to assist in defense.

Julian, who was far away in the American laboratory, put on a white coat, crossed her long legs, and was leaning back in a swivel chair, drinking coffee, watching the broadcast on the TV on the wall, and listening to the commentator's hoarse comments:

"Marty... Richie... Maresca..."

"Oh! Maresca didn't make any progress. Li Qi didn't pass the ball into the penalty area for several consecutive times. It seems that Maresca is a little dissatisfied..."

"Navas... Li Qi... the ball has turned a circle... Puerta..."

"Li Qi...Oh! Li Qi suddenly stopped the ball and turned around! He dribbled past two defenders!"

"Nice crotch pass, just right!"

"Li Qi has a one-on-one chance! Facing the goalkeeper directly!"

"Li Qi passes the ball horizontally! Copa!"

"Ditch oooooh! Ditch oooooh! Ditch!"

"The unguarded Copa pushed the ball into the empty goal!"

"5-0, Sevilla slaughtered the newly promoted team at home! How cruel!"

"What a stroke of genius from Li Qi. He passed the ball back and forth in the opponent's half for five or six minutes, paralyzing the opponent's defensive nerves, and then he suddenly sped up and went straight to the opponent's vital point! It was a fatal blow!"

"Hahaha! Li Qi is so impatient that even his teammates are getting impatient. No wonder the other team's players are slacking off..."

"And through the slow-motion panoramic replay, it can be seen that Li Qi deliberately manipulated the opponent's defense line, pulling it apart, and then suddenly turned around and broke through the opponent's originally huddled dense defense line."

"Don't look at it. In the end, Levante still had 6 players in the penalty area, but there were only two in the core center. Li Qi got past one of them, and Li Qi could easily face the goalkeeper."

"All of Sevilla's teammates came over and patted Li Qi on the head. It was really clever!"

"Ahaha, Li Qi picked up Kopa who scored the goal..."

"Yes, this is the first hat trick of the new beast Copa's career!"

"This is also the first hat trick in the La Liga season of 06/07!"

……

In the end, the first round of the 06/07 La Liga ended with the new Europa League and European Super Cup champion Sevilla defeating the newly promoted Levante 5-0. Sevilla also temporarily topped the standings because of the goal difference advantage!

However, after the game, Li Qi hurriedly boarded a flight back home the next day. However, this time Li Qi did not return to Milan, but flew directly to Naples, because the national team training camp was arranged in Naples, and the home game of the first European Cup qualifier was also arranged in Naples.

……