Chapter 28: Battle with Brazil, 22
After the halftime break, the Brazilian team was already in formation on the field, but the Italian team was not there yet...
One minute passed, the referee looked at his watch and asked the assistant referee on the sidelines to go to the locker room to urge them.
Two minutes passed... The Italian team finally had players coming out, running in twos and threes, nodding and bowing to express a slight apology...
Brazil head coach Weber must have seen this kind of situation before, his clenched fists were so clenched that veins bulged!
3 minutes passed... Finally all the Italian players arrived...
No, there is one more player missing! The most annoying Italian No.10.
The 4 minutes were almost over and the referee kept looking at his watch, with dissatisfaction showing on his face.
Then, Li Qi was the last one to appear, dragging his feet. He seemed to be running, but he didn’t seem to be walking any faster. He was still tying his belt…
The entire Brazilian team and coaching staff: (￣皿￣///)… “This kid!!!! We were kept waiting for so long!”
Li Qi's face was full of sincerity and apology, and he bowed and apologized frequently: "Smith Maasai...Smith Maasai...Large, large..."
The referee covered his nose, nodded and said in a low voice: "I will write the situation into the match report, you guys start the game quickly..."
Weber was furious on the sidelines. He was able to jump up even when being hugged by the assistant coach, pointing at Casiraghi and yelling, "You guys must have done this on purpose! Don't think I haven't used this trick before. No, I haven't seen it before. It's useless to us..."
Casiraghi looked at Weber and smiled without saying anything. He just pointed at Li Qi, hiding his merits and fame...
I don’t know whether to blame Li Qi for going to the toilet during the halftime break, or blame Li Qi for his cruel and inhumane trick of cutting off his offspring and giving birth to a son without PY…
Weber was stunned for a moment, then became even more furious: "Damn it, you dare not admit it? I'm going to F---Balalaji---Wai---Wai (all kinds of verbal abuse)... Guys, go! F--- them..."
Li Qicai ignored the noise from the sidelines and treated it as cheering.
After the change of sides, the Italian team kicked off first!
Otherwise, maybe the Brazilian team wouldn't wait for Li Qi...
This was all a foreshadowing by the boastful Li Qi who deliberately lost the kick-off right at the beginning of the game... He completely ignored the fact that he came up with this dirty trick in the middle of the game...
Then, after Italy kicked off, they kept passing the ball back and sideways, controlling the ball and slowing down the tempo of the game. Their passive defensive tactics made the Brazilian team very dissatisfied.
Brazil's moves became more aggressive and they became more impatient in their attacks.
In the 47th and 49th minutes, Fabio Santos and Aroca were respectively given yellow cards for fouling Rossi and Montolivo, meaning that even if Brazil advances to the final, both of them will be absent.
In the 50th minute, Rafinha suddenly made a cross from the wing, and the Brazilian team once again headed the ball in the middle. This time it was Evandro who made a header and Montolivo was blocked by Evandro who appeared behind him.
However, Viviano was very focused and headed the ball steadily out of the baseline despite the angle being too straight.
Brazil won a corner kick, but this time the corner kick taken by Sobis was confiscated by Viviano with a very decisive attack.
Then Italy continued to defend firmly and counterattacked quickly, and found another good opportunity 3 minutes later!
In the 55th minute, Nocerino was fouled in the frontcourt counter-attack, winning Italy a free kick on the wing about 40 meters away from the goal.
Li Qi's set-piece also threatened Brazil's goal again. This time, Pelle received Criscito's header in front of the goal and scored!
But the referee whistled that the Italian team had fouled the goalkeeper...
The slow-motion replay of this goal is controversial because there is an Argentine central defender Leonardo between Pelle and goalkeeper Renan...
Li Qi thought that this was the referee trying to find a balance and forcibly create suspense: "Uncle Charles, Cousin Francis and La Pang, you didn't do your job well!"
In the 56th minute, the Brazilian team made adjustments and replaced the midfielder Roberto who had a yellow card with striker No. 19 Quirino. Sobis retreated to the midfield and Evandro retreated to the defensive midfielder position, intending to strengthen the attack!
However, Brazil's offensive momentum did not improve, and it was still a lot of noise but little results, and it did not threaten Italy's goal.
Instead, Italy launched a series of attacks around the 65th minute. Li Qi broke his usual habit and quickly sent out free kicks. First, Rossi almost succeeded in a sneak attack, and then Bentivoglio's half-turn shot was blocked by Ed Carlos...
Afterwards, Li Qi also took a wonderful long shot from about 30 meters away, but unfortunately Renan cleverly fell to the ground and pushed the ball, which hit the post and bounced out, and was then stopped by Rafinha's long kick...
This wave of attack was finally ended by Montolivo's long shot that missed the goal.
In the 66th minute, the Brazilian team made further adjustments, replacing the increasingly irritable Popo with No. 17 Gabriel. Gabriel was responsible for midfield organization and pushed Renato to the front line.
Although Italy's counterattack was more efficient and repeatedly threatened Brazil's goal, it was unfortunately just a little bit short of scoring, and two goals were disallowed by the referee.
In the 68th minute, Aroca and the newly-started Gabriel played a wall-to-wall combination and easily broke through Motta who could not turn around in time. Korda quickly came over to make up for the gap, but seeing that he was about to be broken through by the more flexible Aroca again, he had to commit a foul and pushed Aroca down...
Koda also received a yellow card and will miss the next possible final.
In the 70th minute, Italy also made personnel adjustments, replacing Motta with No. 6 Mazzorati to strengthen the mobility and defense of the wing.
Compared with Italy's dense defense, the offensive of Brazilian players seems to be a bit fancy and it is difficult to find opportunities. However, they still have a magic weapon - a random punch can kill the master!
In the 74th minute, Brazil got a free kick on the left. Mazzorati, who had just come on the field, tripped Aroca who was trying to break through.
This time, the free kick taken by Sobis was much more reliable. The pass fell accurately to the front point. Renato, who went around from the back point to the front point, got rid of Koda's defense and headed the ball back, only slightly changing the ball's forward trajectory. The ball bounced off the ground and flew into the net on the right side of the goal.
The shot was too close for Viviano to save. Brazil finally tied the score: 1-1.
After the goal was scored, the entire Brazilian team celebrated almost crazily, venting their suppressed emotions and wasting a lot of time...
While the Brazilian team was celebrating, Li Qi found Casiraghi to give him instructions, oh, no, he listened to his teachings and gave his own on-the-spot opinions.
The physical fitness and condition of both sides have obviously declined. They need fresh troops and also need to play in a simpler way.
Casiraghi nodded repeatedly to show that he had received it, and then told Li Qi to be careful not to get hurt. The face-to-face instructions were over...
Three minutes after Brazil scored, in the 3th minute, Italy replaced Bentivorio with No. 79 Acquafresca and Nocerino with No. 19 Lazari, changing to 16-4-4 with two center forwards.
Li Qila's left winger replicated the wing midfielder organizing tactics of the first group match, while Lazari replaced Nocerino to play the role of Gattuso, responsible for midfield sweeping and intercepting.
…………
After returning to the same starting point, the game became more intense. Li Qi's offensive organization behind the wing slowly helped Italy regain possession of the ball and disrupted Brazil's defense for a while, but they failed to form the final blow, and for a while the Italian team did not get any free kick opportunities in a relatively good position.
On the contrary, Brazil continued to look for opportunities through individual attacks during counterattacks and continuous set-pieces. In the 89th minute, Lazari made a mistake in stopping the ball in the middle and could only pull the opponent for a foul, and also received a yellow card that would lead to a suspension.
When the game entered the second minute of stoppage time and almost everyone thought it would enter overtime, the Italian team scored a goal.
This time, Li Qi made continuous wall passes with Lazari on the left, and when he came to the corner of the penalty area, he suddenly accelerated and rushed to the bottom line from the outside, eating Rafinha whose speed and strength could not keep up, and then forced a low pass to the middle of the penalty area!
At this time, the commentator's voiceover from the TV broadcast a few seconds ago was cut back:
"The game has entered the final stage of injury time. After this attack, it should enter the brutal overtime."
"Li Qi received the ball again and dunked past No. 19 who was trying to steal the ball..."
"He made a short pass with Lazari..."
"Another 2-on-1 wall-to-wall cooperation, Li Qi goes to the outside..."
"Li Qi was surrounded by Rafinha and Gabriel on the wing..."
"Li Qi made a strong breakthrough! He got through! Rafinha didn't catch up..."
"Cross! Brazil intercepted the ball..."
"It didn't go far, Brazilian midfielder..."
"Oh! Selling cakes! Oh! Selling cakes! ..."
"Aqua...shoot!"
"Ditch oooooh! Ditch oooooh! Ditch!"
"The Italian team scored a goal at the last minute! Then the referee blew the whistle to end the game!"
"Italy defeated Brazil and made it to the finals!"
"The Brazilian players couldn't believe it at all!"
"The Italian team was lucky enough to use this last strike to stab the Brazilian team out of the finals!"
"Let's replay it in slow motion to see what happened after Li Qi made the cross..."
After Li Qi passed the ball from the bottom corner of the penalty area, the Brazilian defense panicked or lost focus. Central defender Ed Carlos and Evandro, who was returning to defense, kicked the ball twice in a row but failed to clear it completely. The last kick kicked the ball back behind them...
Newly-acquired Italian center forward Acquafresca took advantage of the situation to move forward, stopped Evandro's clearance and passed the ball back, and decisively took a low shot near the center of the penalty area. The ball whizzed straight into the far corner of the net like a suddenly frightened hare.
Renan had no reaction at all and could only watch the ball go into the net. It was too close and too sudden!
Shouldn't the ball be cleared? When I turned around, the ball was in the net...
At this time, when the referee determined that the goal was valid, he also blew the whistle to end the game!
Magical substitute Acquafresca scored the winning goal in the last second!
The entire Italian team was celebrating excitedly! The entire team rushed to the corner area, piled up, and pressed Li Qi, who was celebrating with the goal scorer, under them...
Li Qi: "No, wrong person! It should be Aqua...ah...get up...help! Murder...bah...don't...ah!!"
Casiraghi, who was far away, watched as the 1-meter-tall goalkeeper Viviano ran from the backcourt to the bottom corner of the frontcourt, then jumped up and pressed hard towards the human mountain...
"Ah!" As if hearing another scream, Casiraghi just smiled slightly and shook his head helplessly, and didn't care; then he straightened his suit, pretending to be cool and ready to shake hands with the other coach and say a few humble words...
……
At the press conference after the game, Casiraghi praised the whole team highly. Before meeting Brazil, Italy had fought hard with strong teams such as Argentina, Colombia and Spain, and the team's consumption was greater than that of other teams.
"This victory was indeed not easy to come by. We made special efforts to defeat our opponents. It was not easy for the players. They broke through their limits both physically and mentally. Don't forget that they are still children under 20 years old."
"There are still four days until the final, we must calm down and be fully prepared. We are an experienced team and know how to deal with such important games."
……
In the post-match interview area, the soul of the Italian team, the best player of the game, laid the foundation for the final chance and became the biggest contributor to the team's victory... Acquafresca, with a few blades of grass on his head, said in an interview with reporters: "We acted more like men on the field than the Brazilian team!"
"I am very happy that I scored the winning goal as a substitute... Our whole team was very united and the cooperation was very close, while the Brazilian team was not as cohesive as us."
"...In addition to the head coach Mr. Casiraghi, the captain Li Qi also helped us a lot and often gave us some good ideas, such as the one at halftime..."
"Of course, it was a difficult game. Brazil played well, but we played more tenaciously."
"As for the final, well, that's something the head coach, coaching staff and captain should worry about..."
……
Brazil's youth football team coach Weber seemed very dissatisfied with the defeat as the Italian team took advantage of their own defensive mistakes in the final moments. In the press conference after the game, he said indignantly that such a result was unfair to the Brazilian team.
"It's not fair for us to lose like this. We had the ball throughout the game and Italy made a lot of mistakes in both the first and second half... but the first goal we conceded was so unexpected and the players were a little distracted."
"The goal conceded at the last minute came too suddenly, and I feel very sorry for it. Brazilian fans will not think about other rankings except the championship. It is difficult to comfort these frustrated boys now, but I will do my best to encourage them to play well in the third and fourth place finals."
……
Later, the other semi-final was also decided.
In this semi-final, many Moroccan fans flocked to the Parkstad Stadium in Kokkolide to cheer for their team, and the whole stadium almost became a sea of red.
At the beginning of the game, Morocco launched a quick attack on Nigeria with the cheers of the fans, but their advantage did not last long.
In the 24th minute, Nigerian left-back Taiwo, who currently plays for Marseille in Ligue 1, took a powerful low free kick, which directly tested the Moroccan goalkeeper. Bocadi flew to save the ball.
The Nigerian team seemed to have adapted to playing "away" games. Previously, they eliminated the host team here amid the cheers of almost all Dutch fans; so Nigeria quickly took the initiative in the game.
In the 34th minute, Nigeria scored the first goal! Owoyeli made a cross pass from the right to the middle, Taiwo received the ball at the edge of the penalty area, took a step forward, and then shot with the outside of his left foot, and the ball hit the far post and went into the net.
At the beginning of the second half, Morocco relied on the personal ability of striker Musin to create several threatening attacks, but failed to score.
The Nigerian team quickly took control of the situation again. In the 55th minute, Adeleye headed the ball from a corner kick and hit the goal post. Two minutes later, Adefemi's free kick was blocked by the crossbar.
In the 70th minute, Nigeria finally scored again. Adefemi headed the ball into the net after receiving Mikel's corner kick.
As the game entered its final stages, Morocco suffered another heavy blow. Obasi sealed the victory for Nigeria with a header in the melee in the penalty area.
The uncalm Morocco team received two red cards in the last 10 minutes and eventually suffered a crushing defeat in both the game and their dignity.
……
In this way, the Nigerian team will move to the Galgenward Stadium in Utrecht on July 7 to compete with the Italian team for the championship of this World Youth Championship, while the defending champion Brazil can only compete with the Moroccan team for the third place.
……
As his teammates dispersed, Li Qi, with a lot of grass on his head, climbed up from the lawn, holding his head and spitting out some grass debris in his mouth...
"Ugh, Ugh, Ugh..."
"Look who I catch is the first and last one to press me?!"
"It seems that Acquafresca was the one who pushed me down first?"
"Yeah, there seemed to be that idiot Pellet as well. He seemed to be the first one to hug me from behind..."
"Who's the last one?"
"That amount of manure...it should be Viviano's grandson..."
"Just wait for me!"
……
