Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

After Li Qi scored a goal from a distance of nearly 50 meters, the match between the Italian U21 team and the Belgian U21 team was basically over. Less than ten minutes into the game, the Italians were already three goals ahead.

After Li Qi scored, Casiraghi replaced the player with Koda, an aerial master who is over 1 meters tall, and directly adopted the three-center-back tactic. Li Qi replaced Montolivo who was substituted as the left midfielder, and Rossi was left in front to harass.

The Belgian U21 team also lost all their spirit. Vertonghen returned to his position, leaving only Fellaini to continue to fight in front, so as not to be penetrated by Italy's counterattack again...

Therefore, including the extra time, the last ten minutes of the game were spent peacefully and friendly, with no fouls, no corner kicks, no saves...

The game ended with a score of 3-0, and the Italian U21 team was the first to enter the final of this European Youth Championship.

However, it was not until after the game when he was interviewed as the best player that Li Qi realized that all three goals in this game were scored by him using the wing attack to tear open the opponent's defense. What? It seems that his image as a wing attacker has become more deeply rooted in people's hearts...

However, this is not the time to dwell on this. What is more important is to reverse the misunderstanding of his image as a ball bully. So during the interview, Li Qike did not say much. He just madly praised the head coach's wisdom and bravery, the coaching staff's meticulousness and the team's unity. Of course, he did not forget to give a thumbs up to the opponent, the Belgian U21 team.

In the post-match press conference, Casiraghi, who had prepared carefully, decided to reveal some real knowledge to the media reporters so that everyone would know who is the real helmsman of the Italian national youth team: "Both sides played very excitingly in this game. The Belgian U21 team is very strong, so we made full preparations, especially the coaching staff worked overtime to study tactics..."

"In offense, we have set up several side-to-center tactics for Li Qi, which can maximize his offensive efficiency, such as the center's involvement and the back-point outflanking... In defense, we have carefully studied the technical characteristics of several talented Belgian players, such as Vanden Borre and Mirallas, and made targeted arrangements..."

"The victory of the game is due to the unity of the whole team... Best, and I wish the Belgian team good luck!"

After Casiraghi finished his speech, he felt that the media was a little quiet. Casiraghi did not doubt it, thinking that the reporters were intimidated by his professional tactical qualities. Anyway, it was a good thing that there were no embarrassing questions.

But neither Li Qi nor Casiraghi could have imagined how big the imagination of the media reporters was, how rich their imagination was, how low their bottom line was, and how shattered their moral integrity was...

The next day after the game, the headline of the sports section of the British newspaper The Guardian was "Shock! The ball-dominant cancer has completely taken control of the Italian national youth team, and has become even more serious, forcing the coaching staff to make major changes to tactics overnight!" (?Δ?∥). Then major media platforms reprinted it crazily, and soon after, Li Qi's mobile phone text message box exploded...

Fortunately, the second European Youth Championship semi-final held late yesterday grabbed the headlines of the sports section, allowing Li Qi to stay a little further away from the spotlight.

Li Qi, who was already unable to explain and ready to throw the jar into the ground, said that there was no difference. The more he resisted, the more excited the media became. He might as well just accept it. You can say whatever you want. It will die down in a few days... Well, Raiola and Pimenta both said that this was the right answer! (??_?)

@

在意大利U21代表队与比利时U21代表队比赛结束之后，又进行了一场2007年欧洲21岁以下青年锦标赛的半决赛，交战双方是东道主荷兰U21代表队与英格兰U21代表队。

What is regrettable is that it was this game that snatched the sports headlines that originally belonged to Li Qi... (?д?╬) Li Qi complained in his heart: MMP! Damn it, there is no regret at all!

英格兰U21代表队的首发和与意大利国青队交手时并无不同，只是并不再使用蹩脚的4-4-1-1了，而是直接采用了攻守更平衡的平行站位4-4-2。

The Netherlands U21 team used a 4-4-2 diamond formation.

After the start of the first half, the two teams attacked and defended each other, and both sides had chances to score.

Although the biggest star of the Netherlands U21 national team, the talented winger (yes, a winger again...) Ryan Babel, who currently plays for Ajax, was the most active player in the game, repeatedly contributing wonderful dribbling and goal-scoring performances.

However, it was the English who broke the deadlock first. Six minutes before the end of the first half, England goalkeeper Carson kicked the ball out of the goal, England striker Nugent headed the ball, and another striker Lita used his speed to bypass defender Flair's interception and volleyed the ball from the edge of the penalty area, and the ball fell into the near corner and scored!

England took a 1-0 lead into the first half.

In the following games, the Netherlands, which fell behind, launched a massive counterattack, while England insisted on defensive counterattacks. However, compared with England's threatening counterattacks, the home team's impatient attack was ineffective.

However, just as the 90 minutes of the regular game were about to end, the game came to the 89th minute, and the Dutch team finally scored! Receiving a long pass from a 45-degree angle, the Dutch Donk headed the ball to the front of the goal, and Rigetts made a wonderful hook shot in the dense defensive crowd in the English penalty area.

The ball went straight into the top corner of the goal and the Netherlands equalized the score at the last moment! England was helplessly tied and the two teams had to go into overtime.

In the extra time, although the Netherlands tried to make further efforts with the cheers of the home crowd, England's defense was still solid. In the end, both sides drew in the extra time and the game entered the most brutal penalty shootout!

If it was just the equalizer and penalty shootout, it would not be enough to squeeze out Li Qi's explosive ball dominance news and enter the sports headlines. The key is the subsequent penalty shootout, the process of which can be described as treacherous, thrilling and full of ups and downs...

This is also the longest penalty shootout in the history of the European Youth Championship, even longer than the 05-round penalty shootout between the host Netherlands and Nigeria at the 12 World Youth Championship! Huh? Why is it the host country, the Dutch team, and the game in the Netherlands?

In the penalty shootout, England took the first penalty and the Netherlands took the second.

Drenthe of the Netherlands missed the penalty in the second round. His powerful shot hit the left post with a bang and bounced out. Fortunately, England's Hoyte's penalty in the fourth round was also saved by Dutch goalkeeper Waterman. Therefore, the two sides tied 4-4 in the first five rounds of penalty shootouts, and then entered a more brutal single-round final!

接着，第6、第7和第8轮，双方的主罚队员们继续先后主罚命中，其中还有英格兰的门将卡森，于是双方的比分来到了8比8（包括120分钟内的1比1）。

So in the 9th round of penalty shootout, England captain Leo Cork's penalty was too close to the middle, and the Dutch Waterman guessed it and bravely fell to the ground to block it. However, the Netherlands, who won the match point, did not seize the opportunity. Kruijswijk's powerful left-foot shot actually went directly over the crossbar...

After that, there was a controversy over the penalty kick in the 10th round. Taylor, who was originally scheduled to take the penalty, had a foot injury and walked off the field without preparing to take the penalty. Ashley Young was scheduled to take his place. However, the Dutch coach protested angrily and received a yellow card. In the end, Taylor limped to the penalty spot. Although Taylor's run-up was still staggering, the penalty kick was still quite good and hit the side net inside the left post of the goal.

However, it was the Dutch goalkeeper's turn to take the penalty and successfully hit the dead corner in the lower right corner of the goal, and the penalty shootout continued!

Since the author has never figured out the rules, he doesn't know why after the first 10 rounds of penalty shootout, the players of both sides started to take turns to take free throws again from the 11th round. And they scored round after round, until the end of the 14th round of penalty shootout, the total score of both sides was 13 to 13.

In the 15th round, it was the turn of Derbyshire, England's fifth penalty taker in the first round, to take the penalty. However, this time Derbyhill's penalty was not very reliable; the penalty in the middle near the waist was easily saved by Waterman by turning sideways, and the Netherlands once again got the match point to win the game!

But Driddle, who took the penalty kick immediately afterwards, obviously could not withstand the pressure. His penalty kick was not powerful enough and was blocked by England goalkeeper Carson. England escaped death for the second time.

Then came the 16th round of penalty shootouts, and the first penalty was taken by Anton Ferdinand of England. However, the ball he had carefully placed hit the crossbar in the upper right corner of the goal because he was too focused on the angle! This powerful penalty was blocked by the goal frame.

Then the god of fate finally favored the host Netherlands. After all, it was the third time they had got the match point. As the saying goes, three times the limit, so they should win this time, right?

而随着荷兰的祖维鲁恩轻松推射球门右下角死角命中，最终荷兰U21代表队以点球战13比12、总分14比13击败了英格兰U21代表队，与意大利U21代表队会师3天后进行的本届欧青赛决赛！

而16轮的点球大战也是欧青赛正赛史上最长的点球大战记录了，其中荷兰队16罚13中，1人击中立柱、1人踢飞、1人被扑；而英格兰队则是16罚12中，有三人被荷兰门将沃特曼扑出点球，最后则是由安东-费迪南德点飞了决赛名额……

@

Although Li Qi ignored the misunderstandings of outsiders, he still had to explain to his bedmates that he was not a ball bully. Although listening to their sarcastic laughter, they knew how pale and powerless their explanations were.

During the time when the Netherlands played in the European Youth Championship, none of my girlfriends came to accompany me. At first, it was okay, after all, I was a little exhausted in Italy. But when the finals were approaching, I missed their gentleness and charm, especially listening to their vague teasing when I called, and the ambiguity when sending messages...

Damn, damn, damn... Li Qi took a cold shower to cool down his fever, but still felt it was not enough, so he called the front desk...

Some ice packs are coming to my house. I'll apply some ice to relieve the fatigue from yesterday's game and the injuries from today's recovery training...

Li Qi had no intention of rewarding himself secretly. Although there were 23 people on the roster, the coaching staff had specially arranged a separate room for Li Qi, the biggest star in the team, and by the way, further solidified his status as the privileged ball hog in the team. But after all, he had girlfriends, so was it ok for him to reward himself secretly?

Besides, she usually doesn't have enough ammunition, so she has to stock up now, because she has to hand in her homework as soon as possible after the game. Sarafina, who has finished her exams and is entering summer vacation, has already booked her plane tickets and tickets for the game, and she will come to watch her finals with a group of her best friends. But this time, Sara has made an agreement with herself that she will think of a way to get rid of her best friends and have a date with her alone at night, so that she can be prepared...

What else do we need to prepare? Aren’t we just gathering our strength?

In addition to handing in homework, Li Qi also felt that banning defense was really helpful to his condition.

I was wondering why I had less and less chances to trigger my explosiveness points in the past two seasons. When I was in the U-17 World Championships, I would have at least a dozen explosiveness points per game, almost once every five minutes, whether I was defending or attacking.

After the World Youth Championship, although his physical fitness, skills and awareness have improved, the frequency of triggering explosive moments has begun to decrease. When he was in Barcelona last season, when he was in good form, he could have it once every seven or eight minutes. When he played for a full 90 minutes, it was only about ten times.

This season, the frequency has dropped again. In a game as important and exciting as the League Cup final, I should be at my peak, but I only triggered nine explosive moments in one game, which is an average of once every ten minutes...

Although Li Qi pretended to be confused, after a long time and some comparative experiments, Li Qi roughly understood what was going on. It was roughly related to his own energy, which was literally what it meant...

So Zhang Sanfeng said that the Tongzi Kungfu training was very powerful, but it was not that great? Li Qi also realized that if there was no temptation at night, it would be much more powerful the next day. If the control time was longer, the desire to attack and perform would be stronger, the state would be better, and the frequency of triggering the burst point would be higher.

"So whether it's for your health or your performance in the competition, you still have to be more restrained in the future. But it's hard to explain that you have too many girlfriends. Are you going to lay off employees? Well... I'm a little reluctant. We'll talk about it later. But..."

"Counting it up, I have been banned from defense for 13 days until the day of the final, which is almost two weeks. I must be in great shape! I will shoot the Dutch net into my heart, ugh, I will shoot it to pieces!" Li Qi applied ice to the slightly swollen part, and secretly made a fierce vow in his heart...

……

The final was held in Groningen, the fifth largest city in the Netherlands. As the economic center of the northern Netherlands and the natural gas capital of Western Europe, Groningen also has one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands, the University of Groningen, which together with the University of Groningen Medical Center and the University of Hands form the famous University City of Groningen.

Because college students account for one-third of the city's 18.8 population, the average age of the city's population is only 36 years old, making it the youngest city in the Netherlands.

Two years ago at the World Youth Championship, Li Qi did not have the opportunity to compete in Groningen, so this time he took the opportunity to visit this small hub in the northern Netherlands.

The training ground rented by the Italian U21 team is a standard football training ground at the University of Groningen. It was on this lawn that the Italian U21 team conducted their last standard training session before the game. Although there will be another warm-up session tomorrow morning, it will not involve any tactics or fierce confrontation.

Therefore, after the coaching staff explained the specific tactical arrangements, Casiraghi publicly announced the starting lineup for tomorrow's final. Casiraghi almost used the starting lineup of the last semi-final, except that he replaced Rosina with the golden boy Rossi. Maybe he felt that Rossi and Li Qi had a better cooperation in the second half of the last game.

The starting lineup is still a 4-3-3 with two double forwards in a dense central defense:

The goalkeeper is No. 12 Viviano;

The left and right wingbacks are No. 14 Criscito and No. 6 Motta, and the double central defenders are No. 3 Chiellini and No. 2 Andreoli;

The single defensive midfielder is Nocerino (No. 4), and the double midfielders are Montolivo (No. 7) and Aquilani (No. 8);

The left winger is No. 10 Li Qi, and the right winger is No. 15 Rosina;

The center forward is No. 18 Pelle.

……