Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

After Barcelona lost the ball, there was no alarm bell for the whole team, except for Li Qi.

So three minutes later, in the 3th minute of the game, Sevilla expanded the score.

Belletti tackled Puerta from behind while assisting in defense in the penalty area. Li Qi, who was already in the front position, was confused: "Damn, we were double-teamed, why did you tackle him? Do you not trust yourself or me..."

The referee decisively awarded a penalty kick, and fortunately there was no additional set of cards - probably because he saw that Li Qi had a high probability of controlling the ball in front. However, Sevilla's captain Osio was not hesitant, and the penalty kick was shot hard in the middle, but Jorquera guessed the wrong direction and the ball went into the net.

Less than half an hour into the game, Sevilla was leading 2-0.

Rijkaard, who saw his team falling behind by two goals, also discovered a problem. There were obvious loopholes in the defense in the middle of the midfield, which repeatedly allowed Sevilla's attacking players to face Barcelona's back line.

However, Rijkaard did not make any substitutions first, after all, the game had only been going on for less than half an hour. Instead, he made a slight adjustment to the personnel positions, swapping Motta and Li Qi, with Li Qi playing as a defensive midfielder.

Li Qi in the early midfield helped Barcelona stabilize the situation. Li Qi's sense of position and prediction were much better than Motta's. In particular, he would not frequently lose the key position in the middle of the midfield. As a result, it was not as easy for Sevilla to pass the midfield as in the first half hour, and they were frequently intercepted by Li Qi.

Li Qi and Xavi's passing and cutting cooperation were also more patient. They prioritized stabilizing the formation and pressing forward, while patiently looking for opportunities. Combined with Gabriel's mindless grabbing, they gradually regained a certain offensive advantage.

Barcelona pulled one back in the 41st minute. Li Qi successfully intercepted the dribbling of Brazilian midfielder Renato during Sevilla's counterattack, and then passed the ball directly to the right...

Belletti received the ball and broke through to the right side of the penalty area and made a powerful cross. The unguarded Esquero headed the ball from 8 yards in the middle. Although goalkeeper Palop touched the ball, he could not prevent it from entering the net.

2-1, Barcelona scored a goal.

However, just like Sevilla's quick two-goal lead, Barcelona also scored two goals in a quick attack in the final period of the first half!

Two minutes later, Barcelona quickly equalized the score in the 2rd minute of the game.

Li Qi and Deco made a wall pass. When faced with the interception of the Serbian midfielder, they did not fight or go deep into the opponent's defense line, but cleverly sent a half-high ball diagonally to the side...

Sylvinho unloaded the ball from the wing and went straight to the baseline, then made a powerful cross from the left, but the ball went straight to the near corner of the goal. When Palop flew to save the ball, the ball had already crossed the goal line.

The assistant referee ruled that the goal was valid. Although this caused dissatisfaction among some Sevilla players, the referee's decision could not be changed, so Li Qi was lucky enough to get an assist.

Soon, the first half of the game was over and the two sides were tied 2-2.

In the second half, Rijkaard finally made a personnel adjustment, replacing Larsson with Iniesta, playing as a left winger, to strengthen the supply from the midfield to the front line.

Sevilla also deployed its troops, especially replacing its absolute main players Jesus Navas and Adriano; as a result, Sevilla's offensive became even more fierce.

However, with the support of Li Qi, Barcelona fought back and forth with Sevilla. However, Esquero and Maxi Lopez did not perform well in this strong dialogue and wasted a lot of opportunities.

In the 65th minute of the game, Rijkaard continued to rotate players. He replaced Oleger, who made many mistakes in this game, with Rodri from the second team, partnering with Motta as a central defender. At the same time, he replaced Sylvinho, one of the goal scorers of this game, with Ludovic, the left back of the second team.

The appearance of two young players from Barcelona caused obvious loopholes in their defense.

Finally, 10 minutes later, Barcelona's defense paid the price for its youth.

In the 76th minute, Sevilla finally took the lead again. Mati took a corner kick from the right side. Rodri did not watch the opponent closely, and Copa headed the ball into the goal from 6 yards.

Sevilla led Barcelona 3-2, and then began to retreat and counterattack.

Li Qi also frowned and thought, thinking about how to tie the score again in this formation. Maybe a set-piece is a good solution, but the team stipulates that the current penalty for the set-piece in the front court is Xavi or Iniesta...

While Li Qi was still looking for answers in the midfield, Barcelona received bad news again.

In the 81st minute of the game, Gabri committed a foul while intercepting Sevilla's counterattack, and then spoke rudely to the linesman, and was shown a red card by the referee and sent off directly.

Li Qi: "... Shit... There's no need to think about how to equalize the game. Just think about how to lose less and win..."

In the last ten minutes, Sevilla still had several chances to score, but failed to open Barcelona's door again. So Sevilla defeated Barcelona 3-2 at home. If they can beat Real Madrid in the final game of La Liga three days later, they will get a place in the Champions League next season.

After the game, Barcelona did not stay in Seville for long and quickly returned to Barcelona to prepare for the Champions League final five days later.

Barcelona stayed in the city for less than 12 hours in total. Rijkaard's team arrived in Seville only a few hours before the game. As soon as the game ended, the team got on the bus to the airport.

The Dutchman doesn't want his team to waste too much time in such a routine game, and now the only thing on his mind is the Champions League final.

……

As the life-and-death battle approached, the atmosphere at Camp Nou began to become more and more tense.

During the regular training on Sunday, the team played in groups. Because they were too involved, Motta made too big a move in a fight with Puyol, and the captain almost got into a fight with the Brazilian.

Afterwards, Van Bommel and Valdes glared at each other because of a collision, which showed the tense atmosphere on Barcelona's training ground.

"I understand the players' current emotions and I don't think it's a bad thing for them to have some conflicts on the court. On the contrary, I think they have got into the state and I am happy about it." But Rijkaard denied that there was a disharmonious atmosphere in the team.

Recently, Rijkaard has been acting like a "hands-off boss". He has handed over all daily training to his assistant Ten Cate, and stayed in the office all day, watching Arsenal's game videos over and over again, and then fiddling with the tactical program in the computer.

The coach and the players are equally nervous as the big game is coming. It is reported that the King and Prime Minister of Spain will come to Paris to watch the game in person. In this case, Barcelona cannot afford to make any mistakes.

……

However, while the whole team was busy preparing for the Champions League final, Ricardo was still distracted by the World Cup.

2006年5月15日是2006年德国世界杯23人大名单报名的截止日期，尽管在小组赛开打前24小时，还有一次人员替换的机会，不过那必须要有人受伤才能被替换。

So after the training, Ricardo kept his eyes on the news platform, anxiously waiting for Lippi and his coaching team to announce the 23-man roster of the Italian national team for the World Cup.

However, at around 21 p.m., Ricardo received a congratulatory call from Raiola, informing him that he had been selected for the final 23-man roster. The complete list should be announced by the official media around 22 p.m.

Ricardo finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Hmm? Why does this feeling seem familiar? Is this the same feeling that old Li Qi had when he checked his college entrance examination scores?"

I don't know if it's the power of the Euro, or the connections, or the influence of his girlfriend Sarafina's family, or if it's all a combination? Anyway, the only thing that is certain is that Ricardo's own strength and status are still not enough to make the World Cup finals roster. After all, he is just a marginal substitute for Barcelona.

According to Raiola, Ricardo successfully squeezed out Barone from Palermo in the final discussion this afternoon and was included in the roster as a young reserve force of the national team who is being trained as a priority. The main hope is that Ricardo can serve as the new core in the future and play a role of transition and inheritance; in addition, Ricardo's multi-position attributes are also what Barone does not have.

“Why does it sound like such high-sounding nonsense seems to have established connections? But in the context of the outbreak of the phone-gate scandal, the pressure to establish connections must be very high, right? Perhaps the key is my ability to play in multiple positions…” Ricardo thought about Raiola’s somewhat awkward explanation. Yes, the phone-gate scandal had been exposed by Gazzetta dello Sport on May 5.

2006年5月4日，《米兰体育报》突然刊登了近年来尤文图斯俱乐部总经理莫吉与意甲裁判之间的通话内容，内容主要是在2004年莫吉和担任了6个赛季意甲联赛裁判帕伊雷托之间的通话记录。

Suspected of manipulating the selection of referees and linesmen, and controlling the results of matches involving 10 A and B teams.

On that day, Gazzetta dello Sport quickly sold 5000 copies of the newspaper.

In the following week, Italian Football Association President Carraro resigned, followed by Vice President Mazzini. The four major prosecutors' offices in Naples, Rome and Turin began to investigate, and the Juventus board of directors resigned collectively.

Just three days ago, on May 3, the investigation was fully launched. Preliminary investigations revealed that several teams including AC Milan and Fiorentina were involved in match-fixing. The phone-gate incident began to expand and the news quickly spread to the world.

As the 2006 World Cup was about to begin, Serie A's Calciopoli scandal became one of the hottest topics, even overshadowing the Italian national team's roster.

Ricardo knew from old Li Qi's memory that before the World Cup, the Italian national team's training camp would be frequently visited by prosecutors and investigators, and players were frequently summoned for questioning, which at one point made everyone in the Italian national team feel insecure.

But sometimes there are blessings and disasters, and to a certain extent, this has also tied the Italian national team together. Everyone is on the same boat and must produce good results to respond to the doubts of the world.

At the same time, the Italian national team will not be disturbed by other trivial matters. Apart from responding to the investigation, they will concentrate on preparing for the World Cup and will not have any other business activities or gossip...

And soon, the director and assistant of the Italian Football Association's investigation office will both resign.

After the World Cup started, on June 6, one and a half months after the Serie A phone-gate incident, the director of the investigation office gave the results, stating that Juventus and AC Milan needed to bear the main responsibility, while Lazio and Fiorentina were relatively less responsible.

On October 2006, 10, the Italian Court of Arbitration for Sport officially announced the penalty results after the appeal of the "Phone Gate Incident".

尤文图斯：06/07赛季降入意乙、剥夺04/05及05/06两届联赛冠军及禁止参加06/07赛季的欧洲比赛；06/07意乙赛季开赛前预扣9分。剥夺其04-05赛季联赛冠军头衔。剥夺其05-06赛季的联赛冠军头衔。

The 2005/06 Serie A championship was awarded to Inter Milan, which ranked second that season, and Inter Milan became the only team in Serie A that has never been relegated.

AC米兰：06/07赛季可以继续留在意甲参赛，但是意甲赛季开赛前预扣8分，下一年可参加欧洲赛事，05/06赛季的积分扣除30分。罚款10万欧元和一场主场赛事空场进行。

Florence: The prosecutor's office mentioned that because the chairman Andrea Della Valle did not mention the referee arrangement in the telephone recording, he was given a lighter sentence after appeal; he can stay in Serie A in the 06/07 season but he must deduct 15 points before the start of Serie A, be fined 10 euros and have two home games played in empty stadiums.

拉齐奥：文件显示拉齐奥未有明显的获益，在球队上诉后获得较轻的刑罚：06/07赛季可留在意甲参赛但是赛季开始前需预扣11分并罚款10万欧元和2场主场赛事空场。

Reggiana: They were deducted 06 points before the start of the 07/11 Serie A season, which was the lightest penalty among all the teams.

Surprisingly, however, traditional powerhouses such as Inter Milan, Roma and Naples were not implicated. No wonder Inter Milan fans later called themselves pure, and indeed "never relegated to the second division, and never stole the championship"...

Although Italian federal prosecutor Palazzi found that Inter Milan had also engaged in misconduct in subsequent investigations, the Italian Football Association still ruled that Inter Milan retain the 2006 Serie A championship.

However, after the initial punishment, the Serie A phone-gate incident did not end.

Five years later, on November 5, 2011, the Naples Court made the first-instance judgment on the parties.

Former Juventus club general manager Moggi was sentenced to five years and four months in prison for illegal acts such as match manipulation and fraud in transfer operations. Former referee distributor Bergamo, former Fiorentina chairman Della Valle and others were also sentenced, bringing the total number of people sentenced to 5.

These penalties are indeed relatively light compared to some football practitioners in China.

However, the phone-gate scandal will not officially come to an end until October 2023.

Because Juventus has been dissatisfied with this and has continued to appeal, but all appeals have been rejected.

In 2016, the Administrative Court rejected Juventus's claim for compensation for Inter Milan being awarded the 2005/06 Serie A title. Juventus had proposed a huge compensation of 4.43 million euros, but it was also rejected. Juventus also asked for Inter Milan's championship title to be revoked.

However, it was not until October 2023, 10 that Juventus officials suddenly notified all parties and announced that they would give up the appeal.

At this point, the 17-year-long phone-gate scandal finally came to an end.

Therefore, in such a high-pressure political and public opinion context, it is impossible that Raiola is still taking the lead in getting the young Ricardo into the World Cup roster without risks.

But it also proves one thing indirectly, that Ricardo still has certain strengths and advantages, especially his performance in the youth team in the past few years, which has repeatedly broken records and led the team to win championships, allowing him to gain a group of high-quality fans and supporters in the country.

……