Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

In the second half, according to Italy's traditional tactics and Donadoni's midfield arrangement, Italy adopted the overall strategy of formation recovery, half-court defense, and waiting for opportunities to counterattack.

However, Li Qi was freed from the midfield organization and defense, and most of the responsibility was handed over to Pirlo, the defensive midfielder who came on as a substitute in the second half. The rest was also shared by De Rossi, Perrotta and Di Natale; while Li Qi was closer to the opponent's penalty area and goal, and Donadoni's main task became seizing the opportunity for counterattack and launching an efficient attack.

So the team mainly played pass-and-ball in the first half. In the 4th minute after the kick-off of the second half, Li Qi made a volley to shock the opponent. Unfortunately, he did not grasp the angle of this shot from the middle after receiving the cross from Oddo. He focused too much on suppressing the height of the ball and shot the ball too straight. The ball was lifted over the crossbar by the opponent's goalkeeper Grybauskas with one hand.

The game then entered a stalemate phase. Although the lagging Lithuania wanted to attack and Italy also wanted Lithuania to attack and counterattack, the problem was that Lithuania's offensive organization ability was indeed worrying.

Most of Lithuania's attacks are initiated by long passes directly from the backcourt, which are then passed to the forwards in front. If they can succeed, they will shoot directly, otherwise they will retreat to defend. Therefore, Lithuania's midfielders and backcourt players rarely cross the half court. After all, if they rely on the midfielders and backcourt to advance with the ball, they will lose the ball within no more than 3 kicks, and their level is about the same as that of the men's football team of a large and historic country in the East.

Therefore, Italy's retreat tactics to lure the enemy were useless, and Lithuania's forward pressure tactics were actually impossible to implement.

If things continue to develop like this, this game will most likely become a replica of the game against the Faroe Islands. I just don't know if Lithuania will be as lucky as the Faroe Islands and score the winning goal.

However, the balance of the game was broken by Li Qi in the 57th minute.

Li Qi was somewhat helpless when he saw Italy's conservative offensive position and Lithuania's close defense. However, the Italian double defensive midfielder's position, plus the two forwards' positions, gave Lithuania a relatively large space to move from the top of the penalty area to the center circle.

So Li Qi looked at the big Lithuanian central defender who always followed him around, and a plan came to his mind: First of all, let Pirlo, who is better at long passes, go a little to the side, so that the diagonal long passes will have an angle; but how can I let him temporarily switch positions with Oddo or Zambrotta? It seems that I have to move to the side first to support, create an overlapping opportunity, let the full-back come up first, then Pirlo will naturally go over to fill the position, and then I can...

@

In Sarafina's apartment, several girls had finished a bottle of red wine. Their faces were rosy, brimming with the cuteness of youth and the shyness of being tipsy. If a scumbag was there, he would definitely think it was a paradise.

The girls had lost interest in the somewhat boring competition, and even Emma was tired of shouting and no longer paid much attention to Li Qi. They all started talking about the Milan Fashion Week next month and planned to go back to Italy with Sarafina during the summer vacation.

Only the TV in the room was still playing the passionate commentary of the live commentator:

"Lithuania's long pass was once again disrupted by Materazzi in advance. This kind of attacking method poses almost no threat to Italy's defense..."

"It was Italy's turn to attack, and Pirlo quickly passed the ball to Perrotta's feet..."

"Oh! Li Qi also came over to support. He was the best player in the Italian team in this game and made almost no mistakes."

"Skolla followed and held Li Qi back, preventing him from turning around..."

"Li Qi goes back to the right, Oddo is coming up too..."

"Oddo, Perrotta, beautiful, wall pass, down the bottom, cross!"

"Ah, the ball was headed out, and there was only Quagliarella in the middle of the penalty area..."

"Beautiful, Li Qi stopped the ball with his chest outside the area and intercepted the ball. Li Qi protected the ball brilliantly and passed it back to De Rossi in the midfield..."

"Lithuania quickly pressed out of the penalty area..."

"De Rossi passes the ball to Pirlo on the right... Pirlo! Diagonal pass!"

"The Lithuanian penalty area pot is empty! Li Qi cuts back at high speed!"

"Scorla can't catch up with Li Qi, the goalkeeper attacks!"

"Li Qi! Push shot..."

"Ditch oooooh! Ditch oooooh! Ditch!"

"Italy changed the score again. In the 58th minute, it was 3-0!"

"Li Qi received a low, diagonal pass from Pirlo to the right side of the midfield at the edge of the penalty area. Facing the attacking Lithuanian goalkeeper Grybauskas, he shot the ball without stopping, and the ball accurately hit the lower right corner of the goal!"

"Zwiergsdauškas was a step too slow in his tackle, and Skorla shouldn't have been following the retreating Li Qi. Li Qi cut back from the middle and Skorla couldn't catch up at all."

"And Pirlo's diagonal pass was also perfect, as it happened to be when Lithuania cleared the cross and collectively pressed forward from outside the penalty area to the midfield, in order to make Quagliarella offside to prevent Italy from making a quick second pass."

"Quagliarela was offside, but at the same time, there was a huge gap at the top of the penalty area, which Zivilgoszdauskas could not cover alone, and Skorla happened to go to defend against Li Qi."

"But Li Qi wasn't on the front line at all. After Li Qi pulled to the side to support, he retreated to grab the second point. Then Li Qi went straight into the area behind Skorla from the middle of the midfield. It was so smooth."

"And watching the wonderful passing and running cooperation between Pirlo and Li Qi in slow motion, when De Rossi passed the ball to Pirlo, Li Qi had already gestured to Pirlo with his back to the goal..."

"Hey, you see, Li Qi is still very mean. He deliberately leaned against Skorla with his body before starting. When Skorla was waiting for him to push back, the bad boy turned around and quickly cut into the empty area behind him, causing Skorla, who had no resistance, to almost stumble."

"After Li Qi started, not to mention Skorla who had already lost his balance, even if Skorla was in a normal state and had half a body length, he would not be able to stop Li Qi."

"Li Qi is like a galloping horse, so majestic and fast!"

"And Pirlo's long-distance ground ball diagonal pass also showed the style of a midfield master. After receiving the pass from De Rossi, he kicked the ball without adjusting. The ball arrived at the right time, neither fast nor slow. It was too fast for Zivirgoszdauskas to stop it, but it was slow enough for Li Qi to directly push the ball into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area..."

@

Italy, which changed the score again, became active again and naturally suppressed Lithuania. It was not that backward Lithuania did not want to resist, but it was really impossible for them to do so...

Because they were afraid of Li Qi's retreat and quick counter-cutting behind the defense, the Lithuanian defense, which had suffered losses, immediately began to stay put, kicking the ball long and doing whatever they wanted. As a result, Lithuania, which was seriously out of touch with the front and back, had no integrity at all. The formation was so loose that there were holes everywhere, and only one area near the penalty area was full of defensive players...

Italy was gradually able to pass the ball freely in Lithuania's half, so Donadoni did not hesitate and replaced Di Natale with Maresca in the 63rd minute of the game.

Donadoni really wants to test it out in the national team to see if Sevilla's Italian twin stars can also be successfully linked up in the Italian national team. If this combination can replicate Sevilla's tacit understanding in the cup competition, it will be another killer move for this Italian national team.

As a substitute, Maresca naturally understood the coach's intention and exchanged glances with Li Qi. Well, in an instant, both sides confirmed it and understood it!

So Maresca, who had just come on the field, took the initiative to ask his teammates, and after receiving Pirlo's long pass, he took the ball and rushed directly towards Li Qi's area.

Li Qi understood what he meant and helped Maresca to form a human wall to block Skorla, giving Maresca space to continue cutting inside...

However, it seemed that this was not the case. Maresca winked at Li Qi repeatedly, but he didn't move, and the distance between them was getting closer and closer...

Finally, when the two were about to collide, Maresca could only lift his foot and shoot the ball directly out of the sideline...

Ma: "Fuck, Boss Ricardo, why are you standing still?"

Li: "Huh? Brother Xiao Ma, didn't you wink at me to help you with the pick-and-roll and cut inside? And I'm stuck here..."

Kua interrupted: "Hey! Two big brothers, look at me, there's nothing here..."

Ma and Li looked at each other and answered at the same time: "Okay, next ball!"

……

(__|||) Donadoni and other Italian teammates and coaches couldn't help but hold their foreheads with their hands. It seems that the tacit understanding between the two in the national team still needs to be cultivated.

However, the connection between the Italian twins did not make everyone wait too long. Five minutes after Maresca came on the court, he gradually found the rhythm of the game through active running and support. After several short passes and matching the feel of Li Qi, wonderful passing and cutting cooperation came immediately!

In the 69th minute of the game, Maresca dribbled the ball on the right and Li Qi came over to receive it. The two first made a two-pass near the center line to get rid of the defenders, and then suddenly Maresca accelerated again and cut inside to the center, while Li Qi crossed with Maresca and ran to the right wing.

But at the moment when the two crossed paths, Li Qi naturally stole the ball from Maresca's feet, and Maresca sprinted towards the middle at high speed without any violation after losing control of the ball.

However, the two Lithuanian midfielders who were defending closely were completely confused. First, a two-pass widened the defensive distance between the two players, and then a cross-run required two people to switch defenses. However, this smooth grabbing of the ball from his own players caused Kalonas and Semberas to short-circuit at the same time. After hesitating for a moment, they both went to chase Li Qi who had the ball.

Maresca made an open cut, and Li Qi naturally pushed the ball back to the middle again, making Paulauskas, who came to make up for him, return empty-handed. This meant that Li Qi attracted three defensive players at once.

After receiving the ball, Maresca did not hesitate and passed it directly to Quagliarella who was in a key position in front of the penalty area. After the latter protected the ball with his back, he sent the ball to Maresca who was running forward.

At this time, seeing Maresca receiving the ball and about to break into the penalty area from the middle, the two central defenders of Lithuania rushed to the middle at the same time and made a tackle together, either leaving the ball or Maresca.

According to the inertia of Maresca's sprint, it would be impossible for him to push the ball past the two tall and strong men lying on the grass in front of him.

But this time it was Maresca's turn to perform a trick. The moment he touched the ball, he pulled back with his right foot to avoid Zivilgoskas's tackle, and then used his left heel to knock the ball to the side behind Zivilgoskas...

After completing these two miraculous stop passes in a flash, Mareska, who was rushing forward with inertia, flew over the blocking ropes of the Lithuanian double central defenders and fell in the penalty area.

At this time, the ball rolled into the penalty area behind Zivilgrzdowskas. There was no defensive player at that position, and the three people closest to the ball fell to the ground.

The fourth person got a great deal! Li Qi, who was still making his move, caught up with the ball in two quick steps, and then once again rushed ahead of the goalkeeper, he pushed the ball in a small arc with his instep, easily bypassing the toe of Grybauskas' interception and sending it into the near corner of the goal!

After scoring the goal, Li Qi jogged towards the gathering area of ​​Italian fans in the stands, covering his ears with his hands to celebrate, while Maresca followed behind him, hugged Li Qi and waved his fists wildly to celebrate...

@

The TV commentator has been shouting at the top of his lungs and speaking incoherently!

Oh oh! Selling cakes! Selling cakes!

Ditch oh oh oh! Ditch oh oh oh! Ditch!

Unbelievable! Winquaterboa! What happened?

Italy's rapid cooperation and advancement this time was really wonderful! The cooperation between Maresca and Li Qi, the twin stars of Sevilla, also completely surprised everyone!

It was hard to tell who instigated this attack launched from the half. Although it was Maresca who accelerated first, Li Qi naturally took the ball away from Maresca's feet during the high-speed crossing movement, which was already a magical skill.

However, Maresca finally received the ball from Quagliarella in front of the penalty area line, and with the extreme operation he sent the ball to no-man's land under the interception of the opponent's two central defenders, it was even more amazing!

The commentary on the broadcast had lost its voice, and was only shouting out Richska's name!

This attack seemed slow but fast, every touch of the ball was crisp, clean, graceful and neat, and the entire goal-scoring process from the beginning to the ball entering the net took less than 7 seconds.

The two players' superb skills and tacit understanding made everyone breathless. Even many players on the field didn't know how the ball went after it entered the net...

The girls in Sarafina's apartment naturally didn't understand what was going on. Their already tipsy eyes revealed even more confusion...

But how did the ball go in? It doesn’t matter to the girls at all!

What’s important is that the Italy they supported scored a goal!

What’s more important is that the goal was scored by their best male friend Ricardo Richie!

So the girls went crazy again and started a new round of singing and dancing...

@

The score has reached 4-0. It seems that Lithuania has given up. They can neither attack nor defend. They can only increase their defensive actions and hope that the Italian players will be more sensible and not make the game too ugly.

Although Li Qi, who had already scored two goals and made two assists, wanted to take a break, Maresca, who had just come on the court, had not performed enough!

So when the game came to the 73rd minute, Maresca once again launched an attack on the wing, this time Maresca changed position to the left.

However, this time, Li Qi just wanted to fulfill Maresca's wish and cooperated in feeding the ball to Ma Ge, hoping that Ma Ge could also score a goal, and then be quiet and save some face for the home team. After all, there was no deep hatred.

But there were some unexpected things happening with this ball...

Maresca cut inside again and went through the middle to seek short pass cooperation with Li Qi. When the attack once again developed to the top of the penalty area, Maresca passed the ball to Li Qi in the middle again.

Li Qi, who was in a very hot state in this game, pretended to shoot the ball directly, but at the last moment he deliberately raised his foot and missed the ball...

Pirlo, who followed up, also understood what he meant and sent a straight pass from the wing to the penalty area again.

Maresca made a diagonal run to the penalty spot. He was not offside and was not being marked by anyone. Facing Grybauskas who was stunned in the goal, he easily volleyed the ball with his right foot into the lower left corner of the goal!

5 is better than 0!

But when Maresca, who scored the goal, was about to turn around to celebrate with the other half of the twins, he found that Li Qi was already lying on the grass with his ankle covered!

The referee also quickly called the team doctor to come in for treatment...

……