Chapter 29: We're in the finals!
The next morning, around 9 o'clock at Utrecht University, the sun was shining brightly and the temperature was pleasant, and the entire campus was full of vitality.
The campus's architectural styles are diverse, combining modern and traditional elements.
Some buildings feature modern designs, large areas of glass and innovative structures, reflecting the scientific and technological atmosphere of a research university.
At the same time, the old teaching buildings that are still in use also retain the heavy traces of history, giving people a sense of tranquility and solemnity.
In the center of the campus, there is a magnificent library, which is equipped with modern facilities and comfortable reading areas, providing students with a quiet and creative learning environment.
Of course, in addition to teaching buildings, the campus also has spacious sports venues and sports facilities.
The coaching staff originally planned to start the morning recovery and relaxation training session at 10 o'clock; but the entire Italian team was rushed to the rented Utrecht University football field half an hour earlier by Li Qi...
This time we finally don’t have to get up early to change competition areas. It is now our Italian team’s turn to face the challenge of our opponents in Utrecht with ease!
Thinking of this, Li Qi felt particularly good as he took a deep breath of the fresh morning air mixed with the scent of trees.
When he first arrived at the stadium, Li Qi signed autographs for several female fans who were classmates and had rushed over after hearing the news, before the staff cleared the venue.
Then... wearing the traditional Italian blue and white training suit, Li Qi stood in front of the team with his arms crossed, watching the whole team lying on the ground doing push-ups...
There were also two Dharma protectors nearby - Padley and Pellet - who acted as thugs and helped Li Qi keep count.
"...37, 38, 39, 40. OK, take a break, switch groups, 40 squats..."
The third substitute goalkeeper Padelli was the only kindhearted person who did not participate in the post-match human pyramid yesterday, and Pelle was the first lackey to surrender and admit his mistakes to the boss before he even changed his clothes after the game. He also became a tainted witness and recited all the teammates who participated in the human pyramid and the order...
Then, before going to bed last night, with the cooperation and guidance of these two 1-meter-tall men, Li Qi knocked on the doors of each room and cleaned up each room one by one...
After everything was packed up, he also ordered us to arrive half an hour earlier this morning to do 4 sets of 40 push-ups and 40 squats as a punishment. He also briefed the whole team on the preparations for the finals.
So the whole team succumbed to Li Qi's tyranny, no, it was his mighty body, and got up half an hour earlier to do voluntary extra training...
In fact, the resistance of most of the rebels last night was fierce. Except for a small number of them who were smart enough to surrender and admit their mistakes and become puppet soldiers at the first opportunity, most of them surrendered in humiliation only after being packed up like dumplings.
Looking at Li Qi standing proudly with his legs slightly apart, Pellet, who was counting, was filled with admiration: He is worthy of being the boss, with full of martial virtues, and invincible in the whole team (completely ignoring the fact that most of the time last night it was him, Padley and the puppet army who fought). Fortunately, he surrendered early. I wonder what the boss is thinking about now, about the arrangements for the finals?
As Padley sang loudly, Li Qi frowned and thought, as if he was thinking about something important...
But it is indeed a crucial matter, at least for Li Qi...
During the finals, Sarafina, Julia and Chiara all came to the scene to cheer him on: (How should the seats be arranged? Should they be seated together or separately... Will they fight? Oh, it would be so exciting to see beautiful girls fighting...)
"Reporting to the boss, the whole team has completed 4 sets of 40 push-ups and 40 squats. Please give your instructions..." Pellet interrupted Li Qi's thoughts without any knowledge.
Li Qi gave a speech to the whole team with full energy: "Hmm? Oh...right! Well, this morning exercise is a slight punishment for yesterday's Human pyramid. I hope you will learn from it. Next time you play Human pyramid, remember to choose the right protagonist..."
"Let's get back to the point. This weekend we will have the final of the World Youth Championship. The rest is just a matter of seconds..." (Ahhh! The whole team howled...)
"Okay, be quiet for a moment, wait for the boss to finish speaking... Boss, please continue..." The lackey Pellet took the initiative to maintain order...
Li Qi glanced at the sensible Pellet and continued to lecture the whole team: "Many people in the team are not participating in the finals for the first time. People like Emiliano, Marco, Domenico, Lino and others have participated in the finals of many youth team cup competitions such as the U17 European Championship, the European Championship and the U19 European Championship with me..."
(Yes, yes, that’s right… the whole team echoed in confusion…)
"Ahem! So everyone should know how to win the finals! Before the game, you need to control your emotions, get enough rest, relax, maintain proper excitement, and burst out in the game with high concentration..."
"...Pay attention to your movements during the game, and don't get too excited and lose your mind. Excessive movements can easily lead to getting a card or a penalty..."
"Too much desire to perform and hesitation will cause you to lose the ball and make wrong judgments... What if you can't decide how to handle the ball in a moment?"
(Viviano, Andreoli, Criscito, Mazzolati and more than a dozen others all answered loudly: pass the ball to the nearest teammate, or give it to the boss, or kick it in the direction of the boss!)
Li Qi was very satisfied with the lackeys' understanding. Oh no, it was the trust of his brothers: "That's right... At the critical moment, you have to trust your teammates, and you can trust me..."
"Then I will briefly talk about the technical characteristics of our final opponent, the Nigerian team...excellent speed and agility...excellent strength and physical fitness...good at dribbling and tricks..."
"But they are not as good as us in terms of passing, cutting, positioning, and teamwork... So what should we do?"
(Wei, An, Ke, Marty and more than a dozen others answered loudly: pass the ball, receive the ball and fill in the gap!)
"Very good! Now everyone start running laps to warm up, and wait for the boss and the coaching staff to arrive..."
(Wei, An, Ke, Marty and more than a dozen others answered loudly: Boss, we just finished warming up!)
Li Qi doesn't care, he just wants to mess with you bastards: "What are you talking about! Hurry up! Gogogo! Run! Buddha explosion!"
(A burst of howling complaints...)
……
So when Casiraghi and the coaching staff arrived at the stadium, they saw the harmonious scene of the whole team running in circles to warm up under the leadership of captain Li Qi and vice-chairman Montolivo...
They are worthy of being the team that made it to the finals. They have become more self-conscious and their morale is high!
So can the original afternoon break be cancelled and replaced with a tactical training class?
(The whole team looks at Li Qi: Boss!?? There is also a de-buff effect?)
(Li Qi: ...Don't look at me, I'll go talk to the boss later...)
……
In the end, Casiraghi gave the whole team a day off in the afternoon. The key is to combine work and rest. After all, the team has played 20 games in 6 days, and the fatigue of the whole team is obvious.
Now the morale of the whole team is completely boosted by the excitement of reaching the finals. If we don’t adjust our mentality and state in the next few days, we might collapse on the day of the finals.
But Li Qi didn't need to worry at all...
Li Qi stayed in the university library again to finish his homework and write code...
Casiraghi admires him very much. Genius is not scary. What is scary is that he is gifted and works harder than ordinary people...
Li Qi: "A-choo... Excellence is a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder... I also want to go shopping and eat... But the homework and code must be completed before next week, otherwise it will be too late to submit before the end of the semester...
I played too much in the past two weeks, and before I knew it, it was the end of the month...
I didn't expect to make it to the finals so smoothly...
But I should be able to find time to go out for a walk tomorrow afternoon...
I also need to call Pimenta to confirm the status of the finals tickets...how many tickets are needed in total..."
……
After dinner, Casiraghi found Li Qi again, and wanted to interrogate him as usual. Oh, he wanted to ask about the situation of the Nigerian youth team...
But this time Li Qi was really helpless. He knew even less about this Nigerian youth team than he did about the Brazilian youth team yesterday.
Li Qi had some familiar names in that Brazilian youth team.
Of this Nigerian youth team, Li Qi basically only knew one person: John Mikel Obi, who was born on April 1987, 4, 22 meters tall, right-footed, a future Chelsea and TJ Taida star, and famous for his black and hard waist.
He can be said to be the core figure of this Nigerian youth army, and has long been selected by FIFA as one of the rising stars of this World Youth Championship.
Mikel is not only physically strong, but also has excellent ball control and a strong sense of the overall situation and the ability to read the game. He is a rare talented player who has both the unique individual combat ability of African players and excellent tactical awareness.
When playing against Nigeria, you must be careful of the middle lane where Mikel is in charge. You can consider bypassing him when attacking, and when defending, you must prioritize blocking the passing line between Mikel and others.
In addition, Li Qi actually knows another person, Chinedu Obasi, born on June 1986, 6, 1 meters tall, right-footed, debuted in the Norwegian Super League Oslo Lightning, one of the future Hoffenheim tridents, and a future SZ plus Zhaoye star...
However, Li Qi knew very little about Obasi and would not pay much attention to the Bundesliga in the future. Obasi joined SZ Jiazhaoye after the epidemic. At that time, the Chinese Super League was also very chaotic, and Li Qi did not pay much attention to the situation of this black buddy...
Therefore, Li Qi could only say that he knew Obasi...
In addition, Li Qi also gave Casiraghi the same report on the Nigerian team's football style for the next 10 years that he had shared with the team in the morning.
In general, Li Qi believes that although it is not easy to defeat the Nigerian team, it will not be more difficult than defeating the Argentine team (in history, the Argentine team defeated the Nigerian team to win the championship).
The key is to make good use of the opponent's physical and psychological fatigue, and arrange reasonable tactics to magnify one's own advantages, such as defensive counterattacks, passing and cutting coordination, and tactical discipline, and then restrain the opponent's advantages, such as speed, physical fitness, and dribbling.
In a word, we strive to use the power of the team to defeat the 11 outstanding individuals on the other side.
Casiraghi kept recording and nodded in praise: "Not bad, Li Qi, your analysis is very good, our coaching staff and your ideas coincide..."
(Li Qi: Another coincidence!?)
Regardless of whether Li Qi believed the repeatedly coincidental statements or not, Casiraghi continued: "By the way, there is a piece of information that is good news for us. In the next final, three Nigerian players should be suspended due to accumulated yellow cards, and another three are confirmed to be injured. Including the three substitute goalkeepers, they may only have four substitutes available..."
"On the contrary, our lineup is still complete. Only central defenders Korda and Lazari are suspended due to accumulated yellow cards. But Canini can replace Korda after his return, and De Sena can also fill in for Lazari. In addition, Montolivo had some discomfort in his calf during training today, which may be due to fatigue. We will observe and evaluate it before the game."
……
By the way, when the coach mentioned this, Li Qi just remembered that he had to call Uncle Charles, Cousin Francis and La Pang respectively to remind them that they still had to do public relations with the referee committee through the sponsors. There have been some black whistles in the last two rounds of knockout matches...
Just as Li Qi was about to say goodbye and leave, Casiraghi stopped Li Qi.
"By the way, Li Qi, there are a few things I want to tell you in advance, because I don't know if there will be a suitable opportunity to communicate after the finals..."
(Hmm?! What happened?! Did he find out he had a terminal illness?! Does he have to be so melodramatic?!)
(What should I do, my friends? Urgent! Waiting online!)
"I mean, this is a suggestion for you. You are so smart that you can judge for yourself..."
(Oh, it’s not a melodrama…any suggestions?)
"If Mr. Rijkaard cannot guarantee you a starting spot next season, I suggest you switch to a team that can promise you a starting spot... Don't waste your talent on the bench..."
(Oh… this matter… My friend, you don’t understand this. I have great ambitions!)
(I will definitely stay in the Dream Team 2 next season. I can win several championships! Besides, I am still young. Playing less intense adult team games will help prolong my career...)
But even though he was complaining in his mind, when the words came to Li Qi's mouth, he said, "Got it, boss! Thank you for your concern and care for me... You are so good to me... Woo woo woo woo..."
"Wow... Please write a letter of recommendation for me to the national team and take me to the World Cup..."
Casiraghi was deceived by these sincere tears, no, he was moved, and readily agreed to Li Qi's additional request...
……
