Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

After the kick-off, both sides played cautiously. After all, it was a knockout match and any mistakes would likely lead to an irreversible situation.

Ricardo also watched the game very seriously on the sidelines, looking for the weaknesses and strengths of both sides; because Lippi explained that if everything goes well, Ricardo will come on as a substitute in the second half to replace Perrotta for a rest. Perrotta has played all the games since the start of the season, and the position of defensive midfielder is the most physically demanding, so if he wants to go further, he must rest appropriately.

Although both teams played conservatively and dully, Italy still had two chances to score in the middle of the first half.

In the 20th minute, Perrotta passed the ball over the top into the penalty area, Luca Toni headed the ball back as a fulcrum, and Gilardino volleyed with his right foot from 14 meters in front of the goal, but unfortunately the shot was too straight and was tipped over the crossbar by Schwarzer.

In the 22nd minute, Zambrotta stole the ball beautifully from Viduka in his own penalty area; then Italy launched a counterattack, and Pirlo made an accurate long pass with his left foot from midfield into the penalty area... It was Luca Toni again who stopped the ball with his back and then turned around, using his body to get rid of Grella, and then made a low shot with his left foot directly in front of the goal 10 meters away. Unfortunately, the ball was blocked by Schwarzer with his left foot again!

Then Australia also had a chance. In the 29th minute, Culina made a straight pass, Grosso blocked Štjovski and was given a yellow card. Bresciano took a free kick from the right, Cannavaro headed the ball, but failed to head it out of the penalty area. Chipperfield followed up and shot with his right foot from 10 meters in front of the goal!

Fortunately, the angle of the shot was slightly straight, and the concentrating Buffon waited for it, bravely blocked the ball, and then caught the ball in his arms before Viduka could make a follow-up shot.

After that, neither team had many good chances, so they entered the halftime break with a score of 0-0. During the halftime break, Lippi was not satisfied with the Italian team's offensive performance in the first half, so he directly replaced Gilardino, who missed a good chance to score in the first half and did not perform well, with Iaquinta.

However, Iaquinta, who came on as a substitute, really won the game. In the 48th minute, Iaquinta protected the ball on the right and passed it low to the middle. Perrotta followed up with a shot that was blocked, but the ball bounced in front of Luca Toni. Unfortunately, the latter's volley from 12 meters in front of the goal was too high!

However, soon afterwards, a controversial focus and turning point appeared...

Around the 50th minute of the game, Cahill was given a yellow card for hitting Materazzi's head with his arm during a header. Then Bresciano tried to cut into the penalty area along the left rib, but Materazzi intercepted Bresciano in the middle and tackled him with a fierce tackle...

However, the strict referee Cantalejo was nearby and suspected that Materazzi's deliberate revenge was a dangerous move, so he directly showed the red card!

This was Italy's second red card in this tournament and the team's seventh red card in history, approaching the record of Brazil and Argentina (2)... But who wants to approach such a shameful record? Lippi and Ricardo were both stunned, right? They were in a favorable situation, but this happened? The team's lineup would definitely change drastically.

Lippi had no time to hesitate and quickly replaced Luca Toni with Barzagli, sacrificing offense to fill the defense. So Australia, which was originally behind in the game, began to fight back. They had been covering their heads and being beaten by Italy, but now they finally had a chance to fight back!

In the 58th minute, Chipperfield pulled the ball from the left side of the penalty area and turned around. He shot with his left foot at a small angle 12 meters in front of the goal, but was blocked by Buffon. One minute later, Australia made a long pass into the penalty area, and Cahill shot in the chaos, but fortunately it hit Viduka's hand.

In the 70th minute, Lippi used up his last substitution and replaced Del Piero, whose physical strength was beginning to decline, with Totti. This was the beginning of preparations for overtime or even a penalty shootout; Ricardo could only helplessly sit out for another 90 minutes, but there was nothing he could do. Unexpectedly, the team received another red card, and Ricardo was also famous in the team for not taking penalties...

Although Australia gradually gained the advantage on the field, facing the concrete defense of the Italian team, Australia, with its slightly rough technology, had no choice but to keep throwing high balls into the penalty area to create chaos... In addition, it also wanted to continuously consume the Italian team's physical strength to pave the way for overtime or penalty shootouts.

However, it was not until the third minute of stoppage time, which was also the last minute of stoppage time, that the Italian team got another rare counterattack opportunity...

At this time, Ricardo, who was watching the progress of the game nervously, seemed to have an illusion. He felt as if there were some strange voices in his head. It seemed to be engraved deep in his soul. It was a slightly hoarse, low and slightly magnetic voice of a Chinese man.

As Ricardo watched the final moments of the game, it seemed as if the commentary from the Chinese voice was ringing in his mind:

"...Grosso, pass him, it's in! Iaquinta..."

"Hey! Penalty! Penalty! Grosso has done a great job! Grosso has done a great job! Don't give the Australians any chance!"

"A great Italian left-back! He inherited Italy's glorious tradition. The souls of Facchetti, Cabrini and Maldini are possessed at this moment!"

"Grosso represents the long history and tradition of Italian football. At this moment he is not fighting alone, he is not alone!"

Seeing the referee decisively award a penalty, everyone on the Italian bench jumped up! Ricardo couldn't help but feel ecstatic: Oh my God! Oh my god! Grosso actually created a penalty in the countdown period!

However, while anxiously waiting for Totti to take the penalty kick that could be the winning goal, Ricardo was still thinking about the commentary: What the hell is this Chinese commentary in my mind? Is it so passionate? Isn't Chinese commentary mainly implicit and abstract? Why is this Chinese commentary so Latin? Strange? Why do I feel so familiar with this scene and this commentary? From old Li Qi?

However, before Li Qi could finish his recollection, as Totti started running, the commentary in the same voice continued...

"Totti, facing this penalty. He faces the eyes and expectations of Italian fans all over the world."

"Schwarzer once saved two penalties in the World Cup qualifying play-offs. Totti should know this very well. Can he still smile at the man in front of him? What will his expression be like in 10 seconds?"

"The ball goes in! The game is over! Italy wins and eliminates Australia."

"They didn't fall to Hiddink's team again, great Italy! Great Italian left-back! Happy birthday to Maldini today! Long live Italy!"

"He lived up to the Italians' expectations. This penalty was an absolute sure win. An absolute dead corner. Italy has made it to the quarterfinals!"

"Victory belongs to Italy, to Grosso, to Cannavaro, to Zambrotta, to Buffon, to Maldini, and to all those who love Italian football!"

"The Australian team may regret it, Hiddink, he played too conservatively and calmly in the second half with one more man. He lost his courage in the face of Italy's long history... Goodbye!"

The entire Italian team rushed into the field to celebrate this rare victory, after all, they played for nearly 40 minutes with one man less.

Through slow-motion replay of the TV broadcast, in the last minute of stoppage time, Grosso broke through on the left, dribbled past Bresciano and entered the penalty area. Neil fell to the ground and tackled him... but Grosso avoided it with his left foot. Grosso fell to the ground as he crossed over Neil's body, and penalty!

Totti then calmly took the ball and his right-footed free throw accurately hit the upper left corner of the goal, 1-0!

As the penalty kick was scored, referee Cantalejo blew the final whistle at the same time as the goal was valid, and Australia finally died suddenly.

But to Ricardo's surprise, the FIFA technical team actually awarded the best player of the game to goalkeeper Buffon... Indeed, with one man less, Buffon's performance contributed greatly, but the comments in his mind set the atmosphere to the point of Wei Yizu... Never mind, in Ricardo's mind anyway, the best player of the game was Grosso.

At the press conference after the game, Hiddink insisted that the penalty was a mistake, but said he had no regrets: "Now I have nothing to regret. My players performed very well. The whole of Australia will be proud of them."

Unlike Hiddink's sophistry, Lippi expressed the vision and magnanimity of a winner: "I certainly won't say we were lucky today. We really value and respect the Australian team. As we can see, they kept running and used space very well... The players did not give up in unfavorable situations. I must thank them. They held on. In the final stoppage time, they still did not give up the attack... I should thank my players."

Later, AFP summarized the game: "Lippi's gamble to replace Totti was successful, and Italy made up for the regret four years ago."

……

Back to the World Cup process, shortly after the match between Italy and Australia ended, at 21:1 that evening, the sixth game of the World Cup round of 8 was held at the RheinEnergy Stadium in Cologne.

However, Ukraine and Switzerland drew in the 120-minute long battle and had to enter a brutal penalty shootout.

In the first penalty shootout of this cup, Shevchenko, the nuclear warhead who played in the first round, missed the shot. However, Ukraine's goalkeeper Shovkovsky did bravely save the opponent's two penalties, helping Ukraine eliminate Switzerland and advance to the next round.

So Italy will face the challenge of Ukraine in the quarter-finals, and it is Ukraine that has fought hard for 1 minutes, which is good news for Italy.

然而进入世界杯的第18个比赛日，6月27日，世界杯1/8决赛的最后两场比赛也展开了争夺。

The first match was between Brazil and Ghana at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund.

Less than a minute into the game, Ronaldo received a direct pass from Kaka and scored his 1th World Cup goal, surpassing Gerd Muller to become the top scorer in the World Cup.

In the end, Brazil technically defeated Ghana with a score of 3-0, successfully advanced to the top 8, and successfully extended its World Cup winning streak to 11 games.

Two hours later, the last match of the World Cup quarter-finals kicked off at the Lower Saxony Stadium in Hannover. This focus battle between France and Spain was the most classic duel in this round of knockout matches.

In the 27th minute of the first half, Pablo won a penalty in a melee in the penalty area. Villa took the penalty and scored his third goal of this cup, helping Spain lead 3-1.

However, before the end of the first half, Ribery received Vieira's direct pass, dribbled past Casillas and shot into the empty goal, bringing the two teams back to the same starting line and entering the second half.

The second half was a stalemate, but in the last 10 minutes of the game, the French team's stars played a huge role. Vieira scored a header in the 83rd minute to help France overtake the score. Finally, in the stoppage time, Zidane made a breakthrough in the midfield and shot to help France secure the victory.

In the end, the French team reversed and eliminated Spain with a score of 3-1, occupying the last spot in the top eight of this World Cup!

The French team will face the Brazilian team in the quarter-finals, which will be another strong clash!

However, in the quarter-finals, except for Italy who was lucky enough to face the weaker Ukraine, the remaining three games were all fierce battles between the giants, such as Germany vs. Argentina, England vs. Portugal... After all, they have reached the top eight of the World Cup.

With the eight teams in the quarterfinals of the German World Cup all decided, people found that there were almost no upsets or dark horses in this World Cup, and the order of world football suddenly returned to the rule of the giants.

Among the teams that finally advanced to the quarterfinals, six had won the World Cup championship, one had won the World Cup third place, and only the Ukrainian team was the team that advanced to the World Cup finals for the first time. In the process of advancing, the Ukrainian team did not eliminate any traditional strong teams.

Germany, Argentina, England, Italy, Brazil and France, except for the Uruguay team that was eliminated in the qualifying stage, the six former champion teams that appeared in the World Cup in Germany all secured places in the quarterfinals.

However, when there are only four teams left in the next round, some strong teams will inevitably be eliminated.

After the round of 16 knockout matches, this World Cup finally ushered in a rare two-day break.

1/4决赛的第一场比赛将在2006年6月30日举行，会由德国与阿根廷先行出战。

Then came the match between Italy and Ukraine later that day.

Ricardo is also arranging the arrival of the little princess Sarafina, who will have her graduation ceremony on the morning of June 6, and then fly directly to Hamburg, Germany to watch Italy's quarter-final match, and then stay in the same hotel as Ricardo until the end of the World Cup.

So Ricardo asked Pimenta to arrange the tickets and hotel suites. The main point was to explain to Chiara that the national team had entered the crucial sprint stage, and that they would be in closed training and visitation would be banned. Especially as Ricardo was a newcomer to the national team, he must be honest and set an example... So see you after the World Cup.

Of course, the same thing was said with Julianne...and then it was see you over the summer vacation.

In addition, taking advantage of these three days of rest, Ricardo finally completed the homework and remote examination of the last class at the University of Barcelona before the deadline. Basically, after the World Cup, he can return to Barcelona to get his diploma and attend the graduation ceremony.

While chewing the nutritious World Cup meal prepared by the Italian team's chef, Ricardo was thinking about the itinerary and arrangements for the future: "It's a good opportunity to take Sarafina to Barcelona for a tour. The little princess probably wants to attend the graduate student graduation ceremony... I can only postpone the meeting with Chiara, but I must meet her as soon as possible. After all, I have to arrange to invest the remaining money in the UBS account in US stocks..."

After returning to the hotel room and chatting with his girlfriends, Ricardo thought about what his agent had said: "I wonder if Raiola has started talking to the club yet? How is the negotiation going? And the new endorsement..."

……