Chapter 128: Seamless European Cup Qualifiers
Levante players lined up to welcome the European champions before the game. After the game, Levante coach Carlo also accepted the defeat with conviction: "Although the result is cruel, it is also very fair. We have been taught a lesson. Sevilla has surpassed us in every aspect."
Having just won a 3-0 victory over the mighty Barcelona in the Super Cup, Sevilla did not indulge in the victory nor become arrogant. Instead, they hurriedly returned to their home court and slaughtered Levante 5-0 in the first round of the league. With such a convincing victory, they topped the league standings after the first round of La Liga.
With his overflowing desire and fighting spirit, coach Juande has shaped Sevilla into an ambitious, beautiful and exciting first-class La Liga team. Including the performance at the end of last season, Sevilla has won six consecutive league games across the season and has been unbeaten in 11 official matches. Their last loss was in the Sevilla derby half a year ago.
In this game, Sevilla once again demonstrated all the magic of football on the field, while Levante seemed to be non-existent on the field. They were like a small group of poor creatures sparsely distributed on the field, waiting for the football machine to crush them at will.
Levante conceded five goals, but Sevilla could have scored more. Levante, coached by former Real Madrid coach Carlo, was unable to create even one shot in the game, and the team showed its strength as a relegation favorite in the first league game.
The introduction of Robert, Capo, Tomasi, Alvaro... It seems that Levante has made a lot of moves in the summer transfer market, but these names seem to have left their status in the past. The defense is poor and cannot withstand Sevilla's attack. Several new players have done nothing and the threat of attack is almost zero.
Just like Sevilla's first league game last season, the 22-year-old Kepa became the most dazzling star of the game. The young man, regarded as a "new beast" by the Sevilla media, scored three goals in the first round of the league and also completed the first hat trick in his career.
In the first round of the league last season, Sevilla beat Santander 1-0. Copali scored the only goal of the game with a header from the center. It was that game that earned him the title of "New Beast".
In addition to the "double K combination" on the front line, Alves, the best player in the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup last season, played another excellent game. The Brazilian full-back assisted Copa twice to score, and together with Navas, nailed the opponent's full-back Cortes to the cross.
In addition, Sevilla's Italian genius Li Qi, who was loaned from Barcelona, once again showed his extraordinary talent. After gaining confidence from playing against Zidane in the World Cup final, he also showed the world his unique understanding of football against his former club in the European Super Cup. Li Qi, who came on as a substitute in the first round of La Liga, contributed a goal and an assist in 45 minutes of his debut this season, and his contribution on the court was far more than just the statistics.
But the most interesting thing is that Maresca, Puerta, Duda, Dragutinovic, Hinkel and other players who did not start in Monaco also showed a level in the game that is no less than the starting lineup of the Super Cup. For a team like Sevilla that fights on three fronts, the depth of the bench is the best guarantee for the team's performance.
"We played a perfect game against the newly promoted team and the result was ideal. After the European Super Cup, it is our responsibility to win against Levante," Sevilla coach Juan Ramos said in the post-match press conference. "The players tried their best, but the fans are the ones who enjoy it the most because we got off to a good start in the league. It feels great to be the leader and the fans will feel good too."
After repeatedly reading the Spanish media's praise for Sevilla's first round and his own performance, Ricardo arrived in Naples on August 2006, 8, reported to the national team, and prepared for the first round of the 30 European Cup qualifiers at home against Lithuania three days later.
The European Football Championship (UEFA European Football Championship), referred to as the "Euro Championship" or the "European Cup", is the highest-level national football tournament hosted by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and participated by UEFA member associations.
In order to fill the four-year gap between two World Cups and give European countries more opportunities to compete, the first "European Nations Cup" was held in 4. It was held every four years thereafter. It was changed to its current name in 1960 and has been held 1968 times so far.
2008年奥地利瑞士欧洲杯是第13届欧洲足球锦标赛，决赛阶段比赛于2008年6月7日至29日由瑞士和奥地利联合承办，是继2000年欧洲足球锦标赛后第二次由两个国家共同举办。
The European Football Championship is divided into two stages: the qualifiers and the finals. In addition to the organizers of the current event, which can automatically enter the finals, other UEFA member associations must participate in the qualifiers and qualify in the qualifiers to enter the finals. When the European Championship was first established, there were only four teams in the finals, and it was not until 1980 that the number of teams increased to eight. The finals competition was originally only a knockout round, and then a group stage was added.
In 1996, the number of participating teams in the final round of the European Championship was expanded to 16 teams. The 16 teams were divided into 4 groups, each with 4 teams. Each group played a single round-robin points competition. The first and second place teams in each group entered the knockout stage. The knockout stage (including the final) adopted a single-elimination system.
而2008年欧洲杯预选赛阶段将50支参赛球队分为7个小组，其中6个小组有7支球队，1个小组有8支球队。
The defending champions are automatically seeded, while the other teams are drawn into seven pots based on their results in the 2006 World Cup European qualifiers, and the 2002 and 2004 European Championship qualifiers.
In addition to the 2004 European Cup in Portugal champion Greece, which staged a Greek myth, the first tier also includes the Netherlands, Portugal, England, Czech Republic, France and Sweden; while Italy and Spain can only belong to the second tier.
The specific groupings are as follows:
Group A is the only group with 8 teams, namely Portugal, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro, Belgium, Finland, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan;
Group B is composed of France, Italy, Ukraine, Scotland, Lithuania, Georgia and the Faroe Islands;
Group C includes Greece, Türkiye, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova and Malta;
Group D includes the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Ireland, Wales, Cyprus and San Marino;
Group E includes England, Croatia, Russia, Israel, Estonia, Macedonia and Andorra;
Group F includes Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Latvia, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Liechtenstein;
The seven teams in Group G are the Netherlands, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Albania, Belarus and Luxembourg.
The qualifiers started in the autumn after the 2006 World Cup in Germany and lasted until November 07.
So, after more than a year of brutal qualifying, the top two teams from the seven groups and the two hosts, Austria and Switzerland, are expected to participate in the final stage of the competition to compete for the title of the latest King of Europe.
……
On Saturday, September 2006, 9, the 2 European Cup qualifiers, Italy's home game against Lithuania will be held in Naples, Italy.
Before the game, the World Cup trophy, the symbol of the champion, was paraded in Naples; and Chiara also came to Naples the night before the game to provide logistical support for Ricardo.
In the evening, the match was held at the San Paolo Stadium in Naples. This was Italy's first official match after winning the World Cup and also the first official match since Italy's new coach Donadoni took office.
意大利队首次身披蓝衣白裤的四星球衣出战，立陶宛则是身穿黄衣绿裤。两队此前在1996年欧锦赛与2002年世界杯预选赛中交锋4次，意大利3胜1平保持不败，进9球不失1球。
In this campaign, Donadoni started with a 4-3-3 attacking formation, with Buffon as goalkeeper and the back line consisting of Oddo, Cannavaro, Barzagli and Grosso; the midfield triangle was composed of De Rossi, Gattuso and Pirlo; the forward trident was Cassano, Inzaghi and Perrotta.
However, after the start of the game, Italy was obviously not in good shape. They made constant mistakes in the first 15 minutes of the game and seemed to have not recovered from the fatigue and excitement of the World Cup. Not only did they fail to create a threat to Lithuania, they also failed to control the game.
In the 21st minute of the game, Lithuania launched a quick counterattack. Cieslauskis broke through on the right and passed the ball to the penalty area. The unguarded striker Danielevicius made a quick shot and the ball bypassed Buffon's defense and rolled straight into the far corner of the goal.
Lithuania broke the deadlock with its second shot on target of the game, and Italy fell behind 0-1 at home.
The lagging Italian team gradually regained their form, stepped up their offensive, and began to turn the situation around; they evened the score in the 30th minute.
Perrotta passed the ball over the top, Cassano chested the ball and passed between two defenders, broke into the penalty area on the left side and faced goalkeeper Casemakas who fell to the ground to save the ball. He pushed the ball to the middle with his left foot, and Inzaghi easily pushed the ball into the empty goal with his right foot from 2 meters in front of the goal.
Italy quickly equalized the score; however, after equalizing the score, Italy seemed to have returned to the absent-minded state in the opening stage and was unable to knock on the opponent's goal again.
The whole team seemed tired except Cassano.
In the 70th minute of the second half, Donadoni made a substitution, Rocchi replaced Perrotta to strengthen the attack, but the effect was minimal. After Rocchi came on, Cassano's physical fitness seemed to have reached a bottleneck, and his running began to decline, so Rocchi alone could not lead the team.
The Italian team, thinking of overtaking the score, was threatened by Lithuania's counterattacks after the substitution. Fortunately, Buffon still performed bravely and kept defusing the dangerous situations with high catches and blocks.
Around the 80th minute of the game, Donadoni made another substitution, with Ambrosini and Gilardino replacing Gattuso and Cassano, trying to use high balls to attack Lithuania's dense defense.
But in the end it was all in vain. As the final whistle blew, the newly crowned World Cup champions Italy were tied 1-1 at home by the underdog Lithuania. The 08 European Cup qualifiers started with a draw.
After the game, Italy's new coach Donadoni said with some regret: "Lithuania had a good start and played better than us in the first 20 minutes. In addition, the goddess of luck was not on our side today, so a draw was considered good enough."
Li Qi, who sat on the bench the whole time, was also a little bored. Fortunately, when he returned to the hotel at night, Chiara, who was wearing a V-neck and black leather pants, comforted him...
After the match with Lithuania, the Italian national team trained in Naples for two days before setting off for Paris, France, to prepare for the World Cup final sequel against the French team at the Stade de France on the evening of September 9.
The France-Italy battle in the European Cup qualifiers was seen by the media as a replica of the World Cup final two months ago, but the protagonists Zidane and Materazzi were no longer in the team.
Unlike Italy which changed its coach after the World Cup, France's astrologer coach Domenech's World Cup coaching performance was generally recognized after winning the World Cup runner-up, and the French Football Association also renewed his contract with him.
In this game, compared with the World Cup final, Domenech also made many adjustments to the lineup and formation, after all, Qi Xuanzong was gone.
The French team played in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Coupet as goalkeeper, Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas and Abidal as defenders, Vieira and Makelele as midfielders. In the frontcourt attack, Henry played as the lone striker, Govou on the right, Malouda on the left, and Ribery, Zidane's successor, played as the attacking midfielder.
The Italian team also used a 4-2-3-1 formation, which can be said to be a tit-for-tat match. The one guarding the goal was still the unshakable Buffon. On the back line, Zambrotta returned to replace Oddo as the right back, and the other three were the same as in the previous game.
Pirlo and Gattuso formed a double defensive midfielder in the middle of the midfield, newcomer Marchionni started as the right forward, and Perrotta played on the left. Cassano, who performed well in the first game, moved from the left to the middle and served as the attacking midfielder behind the lone striker Gilardino.
And the World Cup's best newcomer Li Qi continued to start on the bench...
In this game, Italian players all wore black scarves on their right arms to commemorate the Italian legend Facchetti who passed away on Monday; before the game started, both teams observed a minute of silence.
From the beginning of the game, the French team showed their determination to win. They completely overwhelmed the Italian team in momentum and seemed determined to avenge their defeat in the World Cup final this summer.
The Gallic roosters, who had the advantage of time, place, people and harmony, helped France break the deadlock just 70 seconds into the game when Gove received Gallas' cross and shot into the far corner of the goal with his right foot.
At the beginning of the game, Henry broke through and made a cross from the left, but Barzagli cleared the ball and France got a corner kick.
After the corner kick was taken, it was headed out of the penalty area by Italian defender Grosso. Makelele intercepted the ball on the left side of the penalty area and lightly passed it into the penalty area. Gallas made a cross from the bottom of the offside position, and Gove received the ball at the back post and volleyed with his right foot at a small angle 8 meters in front of the goal into the far corner.
Because the ball was going too fast and the distance was too close, Buffon was unable to block the ball even though he touched it. The ball changed direction slightly and still hit the net.
1-0, France got off to a fantastic start just 2 minutes into the game. But the slow motion showed that Gallas was in an offside position when he received the ball...
Italy did not panic after conceding the goal, although they were still suppressed by the French team's pressing and were frequently shot at; but today the new world champions were clearly in better shape than in the first game, and Pirlo's organization in the midfield was still remarkable.
On the contrary, Cassano, who performed well in the last game, got lost in the solid central defense of the French team, which also meant that Italy did not have a single shot in the first 15 minutes of the game.
This made Li Qi, who was watching the game from the sidelines, sweat. However, he also knew that the morale of the French team was high, and the right thing to do was to stay calm and not lose the ball...
