Chapter 39 National Team Starting Lineup

After the recovery training session on the second day, Ricardo was told that he was not selected for the first round of La Liga matches. Instead of traveling with the team, he would stay at the base and train with the second team to continue the friendly match journey...

"Shit... Hurry up and ask Chiara to come over to accompany me this weekend. Oh no, let's investigate the financial environment in Spain. I will just provide logistical support..."

"Just think of it as the boss's understanding of my hard work in taking classes during the summer semester, and give me a few weeks to study and do homework... But, it won't come true, right? It really takes a few weeks?!"

"Forget it. After the national team came back from the game, I signed a new contract for another four years. I was very generous and doubled my weekly salary! Now it's... 4 euros per week!"

"...It's pretty tall for a youth team player, isn't it?"

"Compared with Messi?"

"Then you can't compare him with your own son... the gap is a bit insulting..."

"I can't live on this salary. It's not enough to pick up girls. I can only afford Lopez's salary and rent..."

(Lopez: "Your comparison seems a bit insulting to me... Should I quadruple your fee? Haha! Joking, joking, just kidding... We have a signed contract.")

Winning without doing anything is what Ricardo wants...

However, according to Lapang, he and Mr. Rijkaard have agreed on Ricardo's new season position. He is no longer a youth team player who can be called up at any time! Instead, he is a substitute player with a bright future and unlimited prospects!

...It seems that he is still dispensable, the last one on the bench... Well, never mind, the game is so intense that sooner or later the big brothers will need to take a break, and the younger brothers must be replaced to take over.

……

Ricardo was in a very relaxed mood as he didn't have to prepare for away games. In addition to working harder to catch up on his studies, he also took the time to pay attention to the major transactions in European football this season.

In addition to the previously mentioned transfers in and out of the Barcelona first team, La Liga cannot help but mention the transfer situation of Barcelona's bickering rival - the only rival in the Spanish Super League - Real Madrid.

The most eye-catching transaction is the future Guangzhou Evergrande star mentioned above, Robinho, one of the current Santos twin stars, who transferred to Real Madrid with the title of Pele's successor!

In addition, Sevilla twin stars Ramos and Baptista were also recruited by Real Madrid this season.

Ramos is not to be mentioned. In the future, Water is the captain of Real Madrid and is known as one of the most successful transactions in Real Madrid's history. Baptista is also known as a beast on the court, but he is not comparable to the roaring beast that Ricardo privately named.

As time goes by, Judah from Barcelona and Figo, the right winger of Real Madrid, joined hands with Samuel to join Ricardo's old club Inter Milan.

Ricardo was slightly relieved that Father Mo had not been tricked this time...

When talking about Inter Milan in Serie A, we must also mention its neighbor AC Milan, which was introduced in the previous national team competition. Gilardino, who has been the runner-up in the Serie A scorer list for two consecutive years, has joined the team and is ready to take over the aging and injured Inzaghi.

However, this awkward introduction of being the runner-up in the Serie A scorer list for two consecutive years also made Ricardo realize that this guy would probably have a hard time becoming a great player in the future...

In addition, Inter Milan's legendary striker Vieri also moved to AC Milan next door this summer...

Another team among the top three in Serie A is Juventus, but fans who have paid attention to the Gamper Cup must have already discovered that Arsenal’s old captain Vieira has joined.

This transfer is said to be the starting point for the Gunners to decline in the next decade. Since then, Arsenal has fallen into a vicious circle of selling the captain every year...

When talking about Arsenal, we must talk about the Premier League. At this point in time, the Premier League was not as financially dominant as the later Premier League, but it had already begun to show its unique style.

For example, the highest bidder in the transfer market this summer was Chelsea, who spent 2440 million pounds (3800 million euros) to bring in Michael Essien, a Ghanaian midfielder nicknamed the African Buffalo, from Lyon in Ligue 2003! Roman Abramovich, who took over Chelsea in , is indeed a super Russian... Sugar Daddy (the dad who pays!)

In addition, the Dutch old goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar joined Manchester United from Fulham at the age of 35. This nearly 2-meter-tall goalkeeper ended the problem of unstable goalkeeper performance in Manchester United since Schmeichel retired, and even helped Manchester United reach the Champions League final twice again, and the opponent was Barcelona...

(Ricardo couldn't help but feel a little regretful: "Alas, what a pity, there will be no more happy moments on the court with the butter-handed bald-headed Bart--Zi... It will take several more years for the Happy Spirit to debut...")

Finally, Ricardo also noticed a transfer information that Chinese fans may pay more attention to, that is, Chinese defender Du Wei transferred from SH Shenhuo to Celtic Club, and also joined the Celtics was Japanese midfield master Shunsuke Nakamura.

……

The Barcelona team, which has entered the league cycle, has also adjusted its weekly training schedule. It is no longer 8 training sessions a week, but 6 training sessions a week almost every day, usually scheduled in the evening. If there is a game on the same day, the training session will be adjusted to the morning or cancelled on the same day.

However, it did not have much impact on Ricardo. His life was quite fulfilling as he went between school, club and apartment.

……

On the evening of August 8, after training at the base, Ricardo went on a date with Chiara. All the necessary activities had to be arranged...

I didn't pay much attention to the team's away game against Alaves.

"I really think that we are better than Barcelona in terms of individual players." - Alaves President Pittman

The Alaves chairman is crazy. You haven't seen the perversions of Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Xavi's fathers...

When Ricardo returned to the apartment at night and chose to push Chiara down instead of turning on the TV, he was still bragging to the beauty: "Although it's an away game, the opponent is a newly promoted team that ranked third in the second division last season. What's there to see? Just relax and sleep peacefully, and it will definitely be another big win when you wake up in the morning!"

……

Ricardo woke up in the morning, turned on his computer and started browsing the news:

"Let's see how many our team has won..."

"Huh?! We were tied 0-0 by Alaves?"

"Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Xavi dads, what's wrong with you? Do you have to be slapped in the face so quickly?"

“Is the road to defending the title so bumpy?”

……

The next evening, after the training session, Ricardo rushed to the airport with Chiara. This time he was not just sending Chiara back to Milan, but returning to Milan with Chiara.

That's right, Ricardo has been called up to the national team again. Although he did not play in the first round of the league, Ricardo performed very well in the pre-season friendly matches, especially his performance in the final period of the Gamper Cup, which allowed Lippi to see Ricardo's versatility, which is what the Italian team urgently needs.

Starting from August 8, the Italian national team will train in Milan for three days, and then go to Glasgow, Scotland to challenge the Scottish team on the evening of September 29; and five days later, move to Borisov, Belarus to face the Belarusian team.

These two matches in the 2006th and 7th rounds of Group 8 of the World Cup European qualifiers in Germany are crucial for the Italian team.

Before the two rounds of matches, Italy currently ranks first in the fifth group of the European qualifiers for the World Cup with 5 points, 13 points ahead of the second-placed Norway. If Italy beats Scotland away and then beats Belarus four days later, Italy is likely to qualify from the fifth group two rounds in advance.

"I've been called up for such an important match. I'm bound to participate in the World Cup next year, right? It seems that Lapan's efforts and the letter of recommendation from youth team coach Casiraghi have played an important role! I'll treat you to a meal when I get back..." Ricardo was inexplicably full of expectations for the future.

……

On the evening of September 9, Ricardo went to the match with the team. Yes, Ricardo also started the match from the bench. After all, it was one of the most important matches, right? Even those with connections had to wait patiently...

Glasgow, located at the mouth of the River Clyde in western Scotland, is the largest city in Scotland, with a population of 230 million, accounting for 41% of Scotland's total population. It is the third largest manufacturing city in the UK, second only to Birmingham and Leeds. However, in recent years, Glasgow has gradually developed into one of the top ten financial centers in Europe.

The stadium hosting the match between the Scottish national team and the Italian national team is Hampden Park in the south of Glasgow. Built in 1903, it is one of the oldest stadiums in Europe, one of the largest football stadiums in the UK, and one of the five-star stadiums in Europe.

This stadium, which was last renovated in 1999, can accommodate 52,500 people. It was packed tonight and everyone was just waiting for the referee’s whistle. The battle between the two sides was about to begin!

Italy's formation for this game is 4-3-3:

The goalkeeper is the old goalkeeper No. 1 Peruzzi;

The back line from left to right is No. 3 Zambrotta, No. 5 captain Canavado (C), No. 6 Nesta, No. 2 Zaccardo;

The iron triangle in the midfield is No. 7 De Rossi, No. 8 Pirlo and No. 4 Gattuso;

The attacking midfielder is the Prince of Rome, No. 10 Totti;

The forward line consists of No. 9 Vieri and No. 11 Gilardino.

After the kick-off, the first team to score was the Scottish team, which had the advantage of being at home.

Less than 10 minutes into the first half, Scotland's first wing cooperation broke through Italy's right defense. Scotland's No. 7 midfielder Fletcher's cross was very accurate, with a fast speed and a flat arc, accurately finding No. 9 Miller who was lurking in the penalty area.

The latter headed the ball like a cannonball and it went straight into the upper corner of the goal... The Italian defenders could only watch the ball go into the net.

Falling behind at the start is definitely not a good start for the Italian team, but there is also an advantage, that is, there is still a lot of time in the game and Italy must catch up.

At halftime, Lippi was not satisfied with the performance of right-back Zaccardo in the first half, so he replaced him with future legendary Italian left-back Grosso and arranged for Zambrotta to play on the right.

Italy's attack and organization improved, but they still failed to break the opponent's goal. So 15 minutes later, Lippi replaced De Rossi, who had a yellow card, with Camoranesi and continued to strengthen the attack.

Although the head of the national team always has a cool expressionless face, Ricardo guessed that he must be very nervous now... He sat down and walked to the sidelines. This action was repeated 7-8 times in the second half...

However, in the 76th minute of the game, Lippi finally put his mind at ease. Pirlo's corner kick created chaos in the penalty area, and Wei Yizuo, who was lying in wait at the far post, kicked the ball into the net! The Italian team finally equalized the score.

Although Lippi later tried to replace Gilardino with Luca Toni and play a double center forward tactic with Vieri, Vieri's recent state is really hard to describe...

In the end, the two sides shook hands in a 1-1 draw, with Italy continuing to temporarily rank first in the group; however, Norway also defeated Slovenia with a last-minute goal in another match, closely following Italy's footsteps and only trailing by 2 points.

……

Five days later, on the evening of September 5, the Italian team moved to Belarus. Compared with Glasgow, the capital of Belarus, Borisov, is relatively small, with a population of only 9. The Kharatsky Stadium, where the World Cup qualifiers were held, is also a small stadium, which can only accommodate 7 spectators.

However, in this game, Ricardo was not in the mood to study the city's customs and culture like in the previous game, because in this game Ricardo was going to make his first start for the national team!

Because the Italian national team has encountered a large-scale injury wave: left back Zambrotta and midfielder De Rossi were both suspended for one game due to accumulated yellow cards, striker Piero is confirmed to miss the game due to a thigh strain; and Vieri and Zaccardo were not in good condition in the last game, so they will definitely start the game from the bench.

So facing the weaker Belarus team, Lippi decided to test Ricardo's positional diversity:

Italy's formation in this game was 4-3-3.

The goalkeeper is still the old goalkeeper No. 1 Peruzzi;

The back line from left to right is No. 14 Grosso, No. 5 Captain Canavado (C), No. 6 Nesta, No. 13 Ricardo Liqi;

The iron triangle in the midfield is No. 15 Camoranesi, No. 8 Pirlo and No. 4 Gattuso;

The attacking midfielder is the Prince of Rome, No. 10 Totti;

The forward line consists of No. 18 Luca Toni and No. 11 Gilardino.

Although Li Qi had played as a full-back before, this was his first time playing for an adult team...mainly because he had played very few games for an adult team.

But Li Qi doesn't care, as long as he can play, and Li Qi also prefers to play as a right back. The pressure of getting the ball and passing it is relatively less, which is most suitable for the young man to play to his speed and physical advantages!

Li Qi couldn't wait any longer!

However, this game was just like the previous one, with Italy having a nightmare start.

The game was only in the 3rd minute when Belarus made a long pass from the backcourt. Cannavaro and the opponent did not touch the ball in the header, while another Belarusian forward did not wait for the ball to land and shot directly before Nesta could grab the ball!

About 35 meters away from the goal, the ball drew an elegant arc and fell straight into the blind corner of the goal, a world wave!

Italy team: ...again? So unlucky? Well, we still have plenty of time!

Fortunately, this time, Italy quickly equalized the score and did not torment Lippi and the audience for too long.

Not long after the restart, Li Qi came in from the right and cooperated with Camoranesi through the opponent's right defense. Camoranesi won an easy cross opportunity in the corner of the penalty area...

The 1-meter-tall aerial tyrant Luca Toni did not waste Camoranesi's arcing cross, and bombarded the middle of the small penalty area from the air, tying the score to 93-1.

Less than 10 minutes into the game, it was Grosso's turn to cross the ball from the left, and Luca Toni headed the ball in near the small penalty area again! Soon, the Italian team overtook the score.

Then the game came into the control and orbit of the Italian team, which completely suppressed the Belarus team in the half.

Li Qi also flew up and down the right side, creating a lot of threats. In the last minute of the first half, Li Qi received Pirlo's long pass and made a high-speed breakthrough, then passed the ball back in a triangle and won a chance to score!

Li Qi's inverted triangle pass was passed to Totti who was waiting at the top of the gourd. Totti faked a shot and passed the ball, shaking off two opposing defenders before accurately passing the ball to Camoranesi who had broken into the penalty area.

Camoranesi's light shot hit the near corner, extending the lead to 3-0.

……

During the halftime break, the whole team relaxed, except for Li Qi, who seemed to be thinking about something. He thought that he didn't score a goal or get an assist in his last national team debut, so why should he get some data in this game as well...

……