Chapter 217: The top team in the group stage easily advances.

Seeing that his team was falling behind again, England head coach Pearce followed Casiraghi's example and replaced two players in a row to allow the players to catch their breath, gain a firm foothold and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

In the 65th minute, Whittingham came on to replace Nugent who could no longer run; then in the 67th minute, Manchester United winger Richardson replaced Rayo Cork, strengthening the wing attack while allowing Milner, who had more energy, to return to the center to defend.

And watching Pierce imitate his substitution pattern to interrupt Li Qi's conspiracy to speed up the rhythm and wear down England's physical strength, Casiraghi chatted and laughed with Pierce on the sidelines. This was indeed a rare harmonious scene in the game, but the two who had been working with the youth team for a long time could be considered acquaintances.

Just when England had substituted players, adjusted to the rhythm, and prepared to speed up the counterattack against Italy, Casiraghi, who saw that the forward line was a little weak, also arranged substitutions and adjusted the formation.

In the 71st minute of the game, Italy made its last personnel adjustment and adjusted the formation to 4-4-2. Pelle and Rossi played as double strikers, replacing Rosina with Luca Sigiarini to strengthen the wing defense and limit the newly-come Richardson, letting Li Qi go to the right to confront Ashley Young, and leaving the middle to Nocerino and Montolivo.

After this adjustment, the team was in direct confrontation with England. Both teams changed to 4-4-2, with the two sides restricting each other's flanks. However, this kind of war of attrition was more cost-effective for Italy, which was leading and had the advantage in physical strength, and there was not much time left.

The England U21 team was getting a little impatient. Breaking through the wing was not going very smoothly, and they could only frequently kick high balls at 45-degree angles. The left wing, which was originally the most threatening, was also successfully defended by Li Qi through one-on-two defenses many times, making Ashley Young and Baines anxious but not very angry...

As time passed, the game was about to enter the last ten minutes, but England's attack still did not pose much threat; so England's coach Pearce waved his hand and said, "Let's go!" The whole army rushed forward, oh no, the formation pressed forward!

The England U21 team seemed to want to force the Italian defense to make mistakes by using a forward-pressing formation. Of course, it would also compress the Italian midfield's passing and cutting space, which was equivalent to the stage of bloodshed. However, given the formation, there would naturally be gaps in the back, especially since Italy still had Pelle, the troublemaker, and Rossi, the agile Manchester United golden boy, on the field.

Li Qi has also been waiting for an opportunity to end the game. Li Qi does not want to defend until the last few minutes in the youth team game and then rely on luck. With a little luck, it may be a draw or a buzzer beater. After all, the mentality and ability of the youth team players are not mature enough and their stability is poor, especially under high pressure; of course, this is the same for both sides.

So Li Qi decided to find the right opportunity to force the opponent to make a mistake. Li Qi had already chosen his target. The opponent had fought for almost the entire court, and it seemed that he could not run anymore. His technical movements were almost deformed. In addition, the opponent's footwork was very rough and he was very friendly to him. He always passed the ball to his feet before. It must be that he was destined to be with him today...

I was just waiting for an opportunity, waiting for the opponent's No. 15 to get close to me, and then I caught the ball and handled it slowly...

And this opportunity came soon, just in the 83rd minute of the game.

Due to the formation of England, England's midfield and Italy's midfield are actually intertwined, and the distance between the two sides is not too far, although the back midfielder responsible for the ball distribution and transition will retreat appropriately and slightly increase the distance. However, when the attacking players are blocked, the ball is passed back or the attack is disrupted to protect the second point, the England back midfielder is still in a relatively forward position.

In the 83rd minute of the game, Milner went forward to intercept the ball that was blocked by Chiellini, and it happened to be slightly closer to Li Qi's side.

In order to prevent Milner from not clearing or passing the ball immediately, Li Qi also deliberately concealed his intentions and left Milner some space to handle the ball...

And Milner did not disappoint Li Qi. Seeing that there were no Italian defensive players around him, his first choice was to stop the ball. But as his strength and energy were about to be exhausted, the ball bounced again before he even touched it on the first try.

And this is what Li Qi was waiting for.

Just as Milner was trying to control the ball again and use his body to protect it before observing and dealing with it, Milner only heard a cry from the nearby stands and a teammate seemed to shout "There's a ghost."

But the tired Milner took a moment to react, and his body couldn't keep up with his brain. He was a step too slow when he wanted to pull the ball and turn around to avoid the attack.

So Milner's teammates could only watch as Milner was pounced on by Li Qi who was lying in ambush on the side, but the ball was poked away cleanly under his feet. There was not even any physical contact... It was difficult to commit a foul. Milner was probably thinking about pretending to fall down and getting a foul, but Milner shook his head when he reacted and hurried back, but it was too late.

Li Qi, who had intercepted the ball, rushed diagonally towards the empty half of England as if he had driven a Teppo. In the middle, Pellet even made a single block for Li Qi, separating Noble who wanted to rush over to foul and stop Li Qi, while Rossi was also sprinting at full speed, pressing the English defense line to retreat continuously...

But just as they entered England's defensive third zone, the two central defenders of England stopped at the same time. It was impossible to retreat into the penalty area, as there would be no chance to commit a foul. It was also not advisable to retreat to the penalty area line, because Li Qi's information showed that he had a long-range shot skill, so they could only try to stop him from a distance.

So Taylor and Onuoha rushed to close the door at the same time, creating an offside for Rossi and trying to block Li Qi. Even if they couldn't keep the ball, they had to keep the man.

When the two were about to slow down and look at each other, Li Qi already knew what the two were going to do. Li Qi was no longer the kind of rookie who needed to lower his head to lead, and he had been dribbling the ball at high speed while observing the situation on the court.

Li Qi, who had triggered the breaking point just a moment ago, clearly observed the situation on the field, including the two English central defenders who were ready to close the door to keep the opponent, Rossi who was about to be offside, and goalkeeper Carson who was ready to attack at any time in the distance, as well as Noble who was chasing closely behind but was separated by Pelle, Milner who was already far away, and Montolivo and Luca Sigagliani who were ready to follow up to help...

Just as Taylor and Onuoha were about to close the door, Li Qi, who was dribbling at high speed, lightly pushed the ball forward with the outside of his foot, allowing the ball to pass just before the two closed the door. Then Li Qi turned on the second stage of the turbocharger again, accelerated around Rossi's side, and loudly reminded Rossi: "Don't move, mine!"

Taylor and Onuoha saw that they had failed to close the door, so either Li Qi moved left and right, or Taylor, who was far away, raised his arm to signal Rossi that he was offside, while Onuoha, who was closer, quickly tried to reach out to stop Li Qi, even at the cost of a tactical foul.

However, Onuoha's outstretched evil hand was blocked by Rossi who was standing still. Li Qi had anticipated this, so he chose a detour on Rossi's side. Although he had to run one or two more steps, he estimated that he should be able to poke the ball away before Carson...

When Carson saw Li Qi poking the ball through the unclosed gate of his two central defenders, he immediately prepared to attack. Just when Carson took two steps at a time and wanted to lie down inside the penalty area to catch the ball in his arms, Li Qi, who came around, got the ball first!

@

"Ahhhhhh..." Sarafina couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh as she watched Olivia applying a facial mask and screaming without expression. It was so funny.

Olivia didn't care about her own loss of composure. The black and white mixed-race girl in the emerald green gauze nightgown protected her face mask with one hand and patted Sarafina's round thighs wrapped tightly in jeans with the other hand: "Oh, Sara, your little wolf dog scored again! Our England national youth team is two goals behind. I'm so angry..."

The background of the two girls' chattering was the lament of the live TV commentary:

"Oh, in the 84th minute of the game, Italian U21 team's No. 2 Ricardo Richie made a wonderful move after stealing the ball and riding alone, changing the score again to 4-. These English boys are two goals behind again, and the key is that there is not much time left..."

"Milner was too careless in this game. He failed to stop the high ball properly the first time and was too slow in handling the second time, which gave Li Qi, who had been guarding this side, a chance."

"Li Qi's first interception was very clean, and he poked the ball away from Milner's feet."

"Then Italy's attacking lineup also showed good coordination in the counterattack. Although there was no pass coordination, the positioning of several players was very sophisticated and they covered each other."

"First, Pelle used his own movement to follow up and help Li Qi block Noble who wanted to return to defense. Manchester United's talented golden boy was even smarter. He first pressed England's defense to give Li Qi space to speed up. Then, in an offside situation, he stood still and blocked Onuoha's last chance to foul without touching the ball..."

"Of course, it was Li Qi who posed the biggest threat to England. He did everything from stealing the ball to counterattacking in one go. He also kept his head up to observe the situation during high-speed dribbling. Many young players nowadays do not have this ability. They can only dribble with their heads down."

"Then he used simple and practical left-right moves to break the England central defender's goal-closing trap, and then cleverly used Rossi to eliminate the possibility of a tactical foul in the end..."

"When facing the attacking Carson, although Li Qi touched the ball first, theoretically there was no space. But Li Qi was too experienced. He did not shoot or dunk blindly. Instead, he poked the ball first and then gently sent it to the fallen Carson, using the rebound force of the ball to create a bouncing ball. In this way, the man and the ball passed the last iron gate of England together, and then he easily sent the ball into the empty goal..."

@

Although after Li Qi scored, Pearce immediately replaced Lita, who was unable to run, with Everton's talented striker Vaughan, trying to muster up the remaining courage to fight in the last few minutes.

But there was too little time left for James Vaughan, and the celebration between Li Qi and his teammates consumed some of the already limited time.

在只有2分钟补时的情况下，英格兰U21青年队不得不接受本场比赛2比4失利的苦果，而意大利U21代表队不仅提前获得了小组出线权，还打破了英格兰U21青年队2005年以来的不败战绩。

Li Qi, who once again scored two goals and made one assist and was named the best player of the game, received congratulations from the media in the interview area. However, Li Qi remained neither humble nor arrogant and said that the team had to win all the following games one by one and must not be proud or careless: "Oh? Really? We have already qualified as the group leader? Not yet, Serbia, who finished the game first, also won. If we lose the last group match and Serbia wins by a large margin and accumulates enough goals, the situation will be uncertain."

"And we really have to face every opponent squarely. For example, the score of the England team in this game does not reflect the opponent's strength. I think the level of both sides should be 50-50. Although we took the lead first, once we relaxed a little, the opponent immediately seized the opportunity to tie the score. The final victory was also because our tactical arrangement was more suitable for this game, and we did have some good luck."

"But good luck won't always be with us. We need to be even more alert in the remaining games to go further in this European Under-17 Championship..."

At the press conference, Casiraghi also agreed with Li Qi's speech and basically moved it earlier. However, he still complained to his colleagues in the coaching staff privately: "Stinky boy, he said everything he could say, and said it so nicely, making me, the head coach, look like a parrot... No, damn it, I have to think of a different speech in advance. I can't let the media mock me in the last game."

The third group match of this European Youth Championship was held three days later, on the evening of June 2007, 6, which happened to be the second day after the end of the La Liga season. It was also the day when the Sevilla team celebrated with a parade. Sevilla's bad friends called to harass Li Qi and asked him where he had been and why he didn't come to be scolded. Oh no, they were celebrating together...

Li Qi naturally knew what these descendants of the turtle grandfather were thinking. Aren't they thinking of imitating Maresca and getting himself drunk at the scene, who is severely allergic to alcohol, to make a fool of himself and leave an indelible handle? Fortunately, I had already made arrangements, and I came to the Netherlands to watch the game legitimately...

Yes, in the third game of the group stage, Casiraghi did not plan to let Li Qi start. After all, the team had already qualified, and as long as they did not lose, they would definitely be the first in the group. Even if they lost, they still had a chance to be the first in the group. Naturally, they had to save their strength for the semi-finals and finals. It was a good opportunity for the players who had not played before to come on the court and exercise, and for the players who had played all the previous games to have a rest.

Li Qi will definitely be the one to be protected, and the most important thing is to avoid him getting injured, because the opponent is the Czech team that has been pushed to the edge of the cliff with one draw and one loss.

The Italian U21 youth team, currently the first in Group B, has won both games, accumulating 6 points, scoring 7 goals, conceding 3 goals, and having a 4-goal difference;

The second-placed Serbia U21 youth team in Group B beat the Czech Republic 1-0 in the last round with a last-minute goal. They now have three points in two games, scored 2 goals, conceded 3 goals, and a goal difference of -.

The third place in Group B is the Czech U21 youth team. Although they lost in the last round, they did not lose much, with one point in two games, no goals, one goal conceded, and a goal difference of -.

The fourth place in the group was actually the England U21 youth team, which was originally expected to secure a place in the knockout round. After two games, they only had one point, scored two goals, conceded four goals, and had a goal difference of negative two.

Therefore, the last game is a life-and-death battle for the three teams except Italy, and all three teams still have a chance to advance.

The Serbia U21 youth team has the best chance. As long as they don't lose, they can basically get second place in the group. Even if the team wins and Italy loses, and the team's goal difference exceeds that of Italy in the end, Serbia can still rank first in the group, but the probability of this is not high.

The England U21 youth team actually still holds the initiative to qualify from the group, but they don't have to think about being the first in the group; as long as England defeats its last opponent Serbia, it can basically replace it and advance as the second in the group, but there are also unexpected situations.

The unexpected situation is that the Czech Republic almost lost the initiative to qualify.

In this round, the Czech Republic still has a chance against Italy, which seems to be the strongest team in the group but has already qualified and is not very motivated. That is, if England beats Serbia and the Czech Republic also beats Italy, the Czech Republic still has a chance to compete on goal difference with England on the same four points.

Therefore, the English media and fans, who were opponents in the last game, all supported Italy in this round. The most obvious change in attitude was Sarafina's roommate Olivia.

After being lectured on score-calculating by the male classmates the next day, Olivia, who understood the stakes, immediately treated Sarafina to ice cream. She also asked Sarafina to call the little wolfdog in front of her and asked the little wolfdog to promise to play well in the last game and win the match.

However, after learning that the little wolf dog would not start in the last game, Olivia's mood immediately turned from sunny to cloudy...