Chapter 248: Qualifying for the European Qualifiers still depends on friendly forces, China

After the match with France, the Italian team rested and trained for two days in Milan before flying to Kiev on the morning before the match to prepare for the next round against Ukraine.

In the past two days, in addition to resuming training, Ricardo also had some commercial arrangements with some endorsement brands.

In addition, Ricardo also took some time to pay attention to his own fashion brand. The tight sports stretch base shirt he has changed into is very good. It wraps the muscles very well and looks very stylish. His teammates in the club and national team were all very happy when they saw him changing into the clothes in the locker room... Hmm? I want to buy it, not to add a man to a man, okay!

However, Ricardo also has some small modification suggestions, that is, the crotch needs to be a little looser and more comfortable, and the protective box can also be strengthened, but it does not need to be so tight, and the thighs, calves, chest muscles and abdominal muscles are tight... Of course, this request is definitely not Ricardo's showoff to the beautiful designers, but just a matter of fact! It is true that a stuck crotch is not friendly to oneself!

Ricardo also gave the R&D team the development goal for the next season, which is to customize various functional soccer insoles for trial soccer boots, such as strong shock absorption, increased explosive power or balance, etc. After all, if we develop soccer boots directly, Nike will definitely not agree, and the competition is fierce and the investment is huge. It should be no problem to study the insoles that the big manufacturers have not paid much attention to now. They don't care about this little profit...

Then Ricardo briefly discussed with Uncle Charles about the development of his football development foundation and how to purchase a rehabilitation hospital. He learned that the former was pretty good and was slowly getting on track, but it was expected that funding would be needed next year. As for the latter, Ricardo temporarily gave up the idea of ​​buying it directly. It was not just a matter of money. Unless you want to run a PT hospital that disregards human life, you still have to train talents and sort out the development model step by step...

@

Milan, Italy, is still in midsummer in September, but Kiev, Ukraine, has already entered early autumn.

Ricardo, who had just arrived in Kiev, took a deep breath of the air which still had no smell of gunpowder smoke. It was a cool air that penetrated into his heart and had the scent of rotten leaves in the forest, which was unique to the plains of Eastern Europe.

Of course, teammates all said that this was Ricardo's stereotype and psychological effect. As the capital of Ukraine and the economic, cultural and political center, Kiev has long been a highly developed heavy industrial city integrating machinery manufacturing, chemical industry, aviation industry, shipbuilding and many other core elements that affect modern civilization and war...

Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is known as the "Mother of Rus' Cities"; it is the oldest city built by Eastern Slavs with a history of more than 1500 years. It is located on a plateau about 90 meters high on the right bank of the Dnieper River, surrounded by steep cliffs on three sides, and the situation is dangerous... According to the world-renowned travel magazine "Traveler's Digest", Ukraine is ranked first among the top ten beauty capitals in the world, and it is a city full of beauties.

What? A disaster? What disaster? Wait for me, the iron-stick hero, the scumbag Li, to save this poor city!

Therefore, Ricardo did not listen to the previous introduction at all, and his attention was all on the last sentence, the first of the top ten beauty capitals in the world and the disaster of beauty...

Hehehe... his face is full of lust and he is drooling...

However, the Italian national team seemed to know the real threat and trump card of the Ukrainian national team. They arrived in Kiev only one day in advance and did not give the players any time to hang out. They went straight to closed training and added a curfew, absolutely not allowing teammates to waste unnecessary energy before the game!

What? Excessive energy? Then practice more! Anyway, you can't waste it anywhere other than the football field!

As for, if you are not afraid of being watched by your teammates and leaving evidence of your crime, then you must do it on the football field...

The Italian coaching staff's caution is not without purpose. It is true that the current situation in Italy is not so optimistic. There are only four games left in the European Cup qualifying group stage. If they want to qualify, they cannot afford to lose any game.

After all, it is not the end of the group stage, which is the time for the experts to show their prowess in scoring. Using all kinds of elementary school math and junior high school logical reasoning, plus the shamelessness of a gangster, they can always analyze some not-so-complicated qualifying situations into extremely complex possibilities and results:

"In the last round, Italy drew 0-0 with France at home. The damage caused by the one draw and one loss in the early stage was once again apparent: Scotland moved up to second place after defeating Lithuania, and the World Cup champion could only fall to third place in the group. What's more disadvantageous is that Italy's direct confrontations with its two major opponents, Scotland and Ukraine, are all away games. If the Blues want to control their own destiny, they must do their best to defeat their opponents away from home.

The current situation in the group is that France has 8 points in 19 games, Scotland has 8 points in 18 games, Italy has 8 points in 17 games, Ukraine has 7 points in 13 games, and the other teams have no chance of qualifying. Although France is currently ranked first in the group, its advantage is not obvious; and although Ukraine is 6 points behind the first place, they still have a chance to create a miracle with one game less.

This round of matches is very important for the four teams in the group that are eager to qualify. France will play Scotland at home, Italy will play Ukraine away, and the four teams competing for the qualification will directly compete with each other. So after this round of matches, the situation in this group will become clear.

Italy will face four games next: away against Ukraine, at home against Georgia, away against Scotland, and at home against the Faroe Islands. The key are the two difficult away games. It should be said that September 9 and November 12 will be two watersheds, and the main competitor for Italy's place will be Scotland.

On September 9, Italy will play against Ukraine away, while France will play against Scotland at home. For Italy, it should try its best to defeat Ukraine away to simplify the complicated situation.

If both Italy and France win, then Italy will be 2 points higher than Scotland, which is a very favorable situation; of course, if Italy draws and Scotland loses, then Italy and Scotland will be tied. In Italy's away game against Scotland on November 11, a draw will ensure a smooth path to qualifying, because in this case the win-loss relationship is compared, and Italy will overwhelm Scotland and rank second in the group.

It should be said that September 9 is Italy's best opportunity to narrow or overtake the points gap. Once the points gap remains the same, such as the same results in the two games between Italy and Scotland; the latter's points gap will widen, such as Italy loses and Scotland draws, or Italy draws and Scotland wins, then Italy's qualifying situation will be very passive.

The outcome of the match on September 9 will directly determine the strategy for November 12. If Italy can tie or surpass the score against Scotland, then it will only need to get one point in the away game against Scotland on November 11, because the last game is at home against the Faroe Islands, and victory is almost certain; but if the score is not caught up, then Italy must beat Scotland away in this game - this will be a severe test, because the French team also lost 17-11 on this field.

Of course, Scotland's home match against Ukraine on October 10 will also play a certain role in the overall situation. Italy naturally does not want Scotland to win, but if Italy fails to beat Ukraine away before, then if Ukraine wins, it will also pose a threat to Italy, because although Ukraine still has a home game against France, France may have qualified in advance by then, giving Ukraine 13 points. Considering the fierce battle between Scotland and Italy on November 3, if Ukraine can get 11 points or even 17 points from Italy and Scotland in the next two key games, it is not without hope of qualifying.

Therefore, judging from the current situation in Group B, the "Group of Death", although the draw with France at home is not satisfactory, Italy's fate is still in its own hands. The two away games against Ukraine and Scotland will determine life and death. At the same time, the results of France vs. Scotland on September 9 and Scotland vs. Ukraine on October 12 will also directly affect the fate of the Italian team and the difficulty of the task of qualifying..."

@

2007年9月12日晚上20时45分，2008欧洲杯预选赛B组在基辅奥林匹克球场开始一场关键较量，蓝衣军团意大利客场黄马甲护体的乌克兰。

Facing the life-and-death battle in Kiev, Italy's Gattuso was suspended due to accumulated yellow cards, De Rossi was absent due to injury, and Iaquinta replaced Luca Toni who had previously withdrawn from the national team due to injury. Donadoni learned from the experience of the previous game and changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Ambrosini and Pirlo forming a double defensive midfielder, Li Qi starting as a front midfielder, Di Natale replacing Piero on the left, and Iaquinta replacing Inzaghi on the front line; the only change in the defense line was that veteran Panucci played for the national team for the first time in 3 years, replacing Oddo on the right.

Goalkeeper: No. 1 Buffon;

Defenders: No. 2 Panucci, No. 5 Cannavaro, No. 6 Barzagli, No. 19 Zambrotta;

Double defensive midfielder: No. 8 Pirlo and No. 13 Ambrosini;

Three forwards: No. 16 Camoranesi, No. 17 Li Qi, No. 11 Di Natale;

Single striker: No. 15 Acuna.

Ukraine, which had to win to retain its hopes of qualifying, despite playing at home, had to sacrifice Liverpool striker Voronin due to the obvious gap in strength on paper, and deployed a defensive counterattack formation with only one striker Shevchenko.

However, after the start of the game, Italy did not launch a fierce attack as Ukraine had expected, giving Ukraine the opportunity to counterattack calmly.

In this round of the game, Italy clearly knew that although it was uncomfortable to get one point, it was not bad, and the initiative to qualify had not been completely lost; however, Ukraine could not accept a draw at all. As long as it could not get all three points, Ukraine would basically lose the possibility of qualifying.

That's why Italy foolishly took the risk to attack. Donadoni's double defensive midfielder and single striker formation, even if it was not used as the main force for defensive counterattacks, was also for better midfield control and control of the game rhythm. And this is exactly the tactical requirement that Li Qi is familiar with and good at.

However, it was the home team Ukraine that first created the crisis.

Ukraine almost scored in the 3rd minute. Ambrosini fouled Nazarenko in the dangerous area during the counterattack. Shevchenko was responsible for handling the direct free kick 27 meters away from the goal on the left side; Sheva took a high-quality free kick with his right foot and shot directly. The ball drew a wonderful arc, passed the wall and rushed towards the blind corner of the goal!

Buffon had thrown his body out and jumped to the extreme, but it was still half a palm away and could not stop the ball. Fortunately, the ball did not hit the net, but hit the bottom edge of the crossbar near the goal post. After a bang, the ball bounced back into the field! Fortunately, Italian captain Cannavaro reacted in time and turned around to grab the ball and clear it out of the sideline.

However, after this goal, the game was completely under the control of Italy; Li Qi and Pirlo, one in front and one behind, firmly controlled the ball. Italy was not in a hurry to attack for a while, and the ball possession rate was even close to 70%, just waiting for Ukraine to attack all the way...

In the 8th minute, Panucci intercepted Ukraine's side pass and passed the ball to Pirlo in the middle. The latter held the ball for a while and then sent a long pass. Li Qi pulled to the left to control the ball and passed it directly to the opponent's penalty area; Iaquinta inserted the ball diagonally and shot sideways without stopping! Unfortunately, the ball was shot too straight and was caught by Ukrainian goalkeeper Shovkovsky.

In the 11th minute, Ambrosini intercepted the ball from Ukrainian midfielder Nazarenko, and then Li Qi, who retreated to receive the ball, passed it to Di Natale in the gap on the left. The latter did not choose to pass the ball back to Li Qi, but used the latter to deceive Kalinichenko's defense and rushed along the left.

But then Di Natale's fake pass was discovered by Ukrainian midfielder Timoshuk, who made a beautiful tackle to intercept the ball. However, Italy's counterattack did not come to an abrupt end this time. Li Qi, who had been following and ambushing on the side, took a quick step and intercepted the ball before Timoshuk could get up to handle the ball, leaving the latter with nothing to do.

After Li Qi stole the ball, he did not choose to feed it to Acuna again this time. Instead, he twisted his waist and made a wonderful pass to the right rib on the other side of the penalty area.

Camoranesi followed up and shot the ball! Unfortunately, the ball hit the crossbar and flew into the stands...

Then, in the 13th, 17th and 19th minutes of the game, Italy used defensive counterattacks to create scoring opportunities in Ukraine's defensive third. Unfortunately, the three consecutive shots did not hit the target, either going over the crossbar or hitting the post...

It was not until the 21st minute of the game that Ukraine got another chance to attack.

This time it was Timoshuk's turn to intercept Li Qi's ball. The former took advantage of Li Qi's back to the ball and hit him from the side and behind like a tank, knocking him down with the ball. However, the referee Wei Bo from the Premier League did not give Li Qi who was lying on the ground justice and called a foul, but instead signaled for the game to continue.

Ukraine then launched a quick counterattack in the middle of the midfield, and Shevchenko received a direct pass and broke into the left side of the penalty area, and shot low with his left foot from 14 meters away from the goal. Fortunately, this ball also missed the target, just like the weak shooters of Italy, the shooter hit it, but no, the ball went wide of the far post.

Afterwards, Li Qi, who felt that he was being bullied, had a fierce look in his eyes. He never gave Ukraine any chances again, and frequently confronted Ukraine's midfielder head-on, especially Tymoshuk, and secretly elbowed him a few times: Humph, who told you to hit me from the side and back? I didn't see you, I just happened to stretch my arms to protect the ball...

The referee only blew the whistle once, and did not call fouls for the rest of the time, as long as Timoshuk did not fall to the ground immediately, and did not give a card. Li Qi also realized that Howard Webb, the bald sheriff, actually gave the penalty scale according to the standards of the Premier League...

However, Li Qi felt that Timoshuk's fiery gaze was a little provoked, as if it was the kind of malicious intent unique to men's backs. So Li Qi decided to take advantage of it and expose a flaw.

How to sell? Li Qi, who once again protected Pirlo's through ball in the middle of the court with his back to the goal, had already observed the situation behind him through the outbreak point that had just been triggered: this time, Timoschuk called on another central midfielder, Gayi, to help him.

Li Qi used his back eye, oh no, it was a hidden sidelong glance to steal a glance at the lonely uncle who was approaching Qiao Mi quickly; seeing his wretched dead fish eyes, he guessed that this guy wanted to fight him head-on again, attract his attention, and let his teammates steal the chicken from the other side behind him and launch a counterattack.

I guess the lonely uncle thought that he had just fought him one-on-one, and this time he definitely couldn't guess that he had found helpers, or that they would come from behind to attack him...

Want to add a man to a man, and then force me to move forward and backward, and finally the big man will come to me? !

Hehe... Two people came together, this kind man, then he had to reluctantly take advantage of this golden opportunity, not afraid of difficulties and obstacles, meet it head-on, and eliminate all the difficulties to make the lonely uncle's plan go in the opposite direction! In the end, he must be convinced and believe it, and absolved of the blame!

……