Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

Putting aside for now, the Italian team’s conspiracy during the halftime break…

The Spanish coaching staff's midfield judgment and arrangement was that Italy's second half would probably be the same as the first half, first defending and counterattacking, and then pressing forward and speeding up at the last moment when Spain's physical strength was declining. Therefore, the Spanish team must be patient in arranging the attack in the second half, try to control the ball at their feet, and reasonably distribute their physical strength...

After the start of the second half, Italy changed its style in the first half and continued its playing style in the last period of the first half, intensifying the pressing in the frontcourt from the start, so Spain's pass error rate in the backcourt increased.

The Spanish coaching staff: “…We were careless. These guys on the other side don’t follow martial ethics!”

However, the routine that Li Qi expected to appear again did not appear...

This time, the Spanish defenders did not make long passes to their center forward Llorente when they were under pressure and had difficulty passing the ball...

Because Li Qi discovered during the last moments of the first half that once the Spanish backcourt was forced to pass the ball smoothly, they would first pass it to the wing, and then kick a high ball from the wing to find Llorente who would retreat from the middle to receive the ball.

After protecting the ball, Llorente will pass the ball to the wingers for cooperation, and the original wing forward will open up the defense to leave space for the full-back to assist.

When Spain was pressed by the whole court at the end of the first half, this routine appeared 7 times in about 4 minutes including the stoppage time. And careful friends may have also discovered that Spain's goal against Italy was also initiated by this routine, so Li Qi also recalled it...

Therefore, Li Qi also specifically explained that Bentivorio deliberately gave Molinero space to put pressure on him, but let him pass the ball long and left space for Molinero to get in; he also explained that Coda let Llorente retreat to receive the ball, but prevented him from turning around and forced him to pass the ball to the right together with Canini to Molinero who was entangled.

What Li Qi was waiting for was Llorente's pass back. Li Qi had observed it several times. Although Llorente's footwork as a center forward was still very good, compared with Pelle, the Spanish No. 9 was strong in stopping the ball, dribbling and protecting the ball with his back. Positioning and impact were not the advantages of this center forward.

Another thing is that Li Qi thinks that Llorente's passing is not very reliable, at least in this game, especially after he gets the ball with his back to the goal, he often misses the ball or passes it half-high...

The counterattack was too tempting, especially the side that the full-back went to leave open...

But Li Qi waited for 5 minutes and this routine did not appear... Although Italy's full-court pressing made Spain's passing very difficult, Spain was suppressed in the half for a long time...

"What's going on? Has Spain changed its tactics? We were careless. The people on the other side don't follow martial ethics!"

Li Qi didn't know that the Spanish coaching staff had told the Italians in the midfield that they would not press the entire field, would not pass the ball long unless necessary, and would control the ball with their feet... and Bentivoglio happened to let Molineiro control the ball...

Bentivoglio looked at Li Qi helplessly several times: "The boss has miscalculated this time."

When the time came to the 51st minute, Bentivoglio thought to himself: "Forget it, never mind, it's almost time, everyone should prepare to take it back, the boss won't blame me, so I will just grab the ball one last time and then retreat."

Unexpectedly, when Bentivoglio made a steal, Molinello, who had been responsible for controlling the ball for the past five minutes, made a long pass and then quickly bypassed Bentivoglio to make a forward pass...

Bentivoglio: ... (speechless)

Li Qi: ... (speechless)

Bentivoglio: "Is this guy just waiting for me to get in the way so he can speed past me?! Why didn't you say so?"

Li Qi: "Alas... this is a football, round... your opponent just won't play along with you..."

But, that's good! Finally here, I hope everyone won't relax, Li Qi thought, and quickly returned to his position to make arrangements, blocking Llorente's route back to the middle, and waiting for him to pass the ball back...

Then I turned to listen to the TV broadcast commentator's jarring explanation:

"Molinero passes the ball down the middle..."

"Spain's No. 9 retreated to support and got stuck in position..."

"Llorente protected the ball and immediately passed it back to the right back..."

"Oh my god! Oh my god! (Oh My God!) Llorente passed the ball directly back to Italy's number 10!"

"Li Qi did a Cruyff turn and passed Molineiro and Bergano who were trying to steal the ball..."

"Split the sides! Italy's No. 17 side is completely empty..."

"Bentivolio enters the penalty area! Cross..."

"Opportunity! Oh! Screaming cake!"

"...Cozzolino, who was making a comeback from the back, actually hit the ball away when facing a half-empty goal!"

"Cozzolino knelt and patted the lawn in disbelief..."

Yes, Li Qi also held his head, with an incredible look on his face: "Brother, is it true? Pellet went around the front point to help you take away two defenders! Facing the empty goal, you actually performed a plane show in the small penalty area?!"

"Even if it's true... just bear with it and fight again when you get back to the hotel! Young people these days are really..."

After this golden opportunity, Italy retreated to play defensive counterattack; Spain's organization became a little smoother, and they slowly advanced to the midfield, and the two sides began to attack and defend each other...

After that, it was similar to the early part of the first half, with Spain's midfield having the upper hand in ball possession, while the Italian players were stalemate through solid low defense.

In the 55th minute, Spain's patient ground penetration finally led to a breakthrough on the right, but unfortunately Silva missed the chance to shoot in the penalty area. Silva had scored 4 goals before and was the second attacking point of Spain after Llorente.

Spain then tried several times to replicate the penetration through the middle in the 55th minute and then pass the ball diagonally from midfield to find an open space on the wing. Although Italy's dense defense was a bit passive, Spain did not get any good chances again.

In general, Spain kept passing the ball around the perimeter, then took a long shot or passed the ball to a center forward, but it didn't bother Viviano. Italy kept counterattacking quickly, with Li Qi holding the ball and passing it...

Although Spain learned its lesson in the second half, defending strictly and committing fouls if that didn't work, resulting in two yellow cards and four free-kick opportunities for Italy; however, Italy's counterattacks and free-kicks continued to test the goalkeeping skills of Spanish goalkeeper Ribas.

If it weren't for Ribas' three amazing saves, including two in a row, which blocked Pelle's header, Cigarini's long shot and Cozzolino's follow-up shot, Italy would have been two goals ahead...

So Spain was a little annoyed, unable to attack for a long time, and their own defense was frequently in danger.

When the game reached the 61st minute, Italy's counterattack failed. Pelle failed to receive Li Qi's through pass, and the ball slipped directly through his legs and was confiscated by the goalkeeper.

The Spanish goalkeeper threw the ball directly to Molinero, who cooperated with central defender Lobusti and the ball returned to his feet. He then carried the ball forward, but was intercepted by Bentivorio soon after...

This time, Molineiro did not patiently organize the game by passing the ball back or sideways as before. Instead, he directly kicked the ball high to Llorente who retreated to the middle to receive the ball. Then he sped up and bypassed Bentivorio who was trying to replicate the goal-scoring coordination in the first half!

Li Qi: "... Damn, really, if I had known earlier, I wouldn't have arranged anything. You guys would have used this tactic repeatedly during normal play, so why would we force you to rob..."

Li Qi was also waiting to replicate the steal just now...

Anyway, I don't know whether Korda really couldn't beat Llorente or he was just pretending - he was a few centimeters shorter, but it was obvious that his arm muscles were two times bigger - this time Llorente got in first to block the ball, then observed and passed it directly to his teammate. However, this time Llorente was more careful and didn't pass it to Molineiro who had more space behind him, but passed it to Zapat who had more space. However, similar to the previous goal, the ball didn't stop steadily and was jumping a little. And because it was passed close, the force was not strong...

Then... Li Qi successfully stole the ball again! When Llorente stopped the ball and prepared to pass it, Li Qi was also observing Llorente carefully, and then the "explosion point moment" was triggered. Then he clearly predicted that Llorente's passing choice had changed this time, and the ball path had also changed, but the ball speed was still not fast, so he was not polite...

Let's continue to listen to the TV broadcast commentator's slightly disgusting but also a bit addictive phlegm-like explanation:

"Molinero passes the ball down the middle..."

"Spain's No. 9 retreated to support and got stuck in position..."

"Llorente protected the ball and passed it back to the middle immediately..."

"Oh My God! Oh My God! (Oh My God!) Llorente passed the ball back to Italy's number 10!"

"Li Qi made another light turn and passed the ball to Zapat and Bergano who were trying to steal the ball..."

"Split the sides! Italy's No. 17 side is completely empty again..."

"The Spanish central defender quickly made up for it... and passed the ball back to the middle..."

"Straight pass! Opportunity!"

"Ah! Pellet leaked again..."

"Oh! Damn it! Shoot..."

"God pounce!!"

"But the ball...make-up shot!"

"Gooooaaal! Gooooaaal! Goal!"

"This time Cozzolino's shot from the back post didn't miss, although it was too straight and was saved by the goalkeeper..."

"But the ball saved by the goalkeeper fell right into the middle of the penalty area, and Pelle, who had accidentally missed the ball just now, rushed over and shot into the empty goal!"

This attack was so dramatic and full of twists and turns that the TV commentator almost got tongue-tied...

Li Qi once again intercepted Llorente's back pass in the frontcourt, broke through the two defensive midfielders who were trying to steal the ball, and used the ball to pass the ball without giving them a chance to foul. He decisively passed the ball to the left again, leaving a large open space...

This time, Spanish center back Lobusti also rushed over to defend immediately, but Bentivorio had learned his lesson this time and did not pass the ball, but passed it directly back to the middle and let the boss deal with it.

After Li Qi received the ball in the middle of the midfield, he observed and passed it directly to Pelle who was blocking the position in front of the penalty area. As long as Pelle stopped the ball and took advantage of the situation, he would definitely be able to get past the opponent's other central defender Luano, and then he could have a single shot!

But he didn't expect that when Pelle stopped the ball, his feet slipped and the ball slipped between his legs, and then passed between Luano's legs...

The ball decelerated drastically after a slight rub, and then went through two small gates; but after changing direction, the ball rolled slowly and diagonally, just in time to meet Cozzolino who was lying in ambush at the back post!

This time Cozzolino successfully made an offside move and shot decisively in the face of the goalkeeper's attack, but the Spanish goalkeeper bravely fell to the ground and dived to the side to block the ball.

However, the ball was blocked just in front of Pelle who had just turned around to look for the ball!

"Ha! So you're here, little guy!" Pelle followed up and easily scored an empty-net goal, while Luano was still behind Pelle, confused as to what had happened and how the ball had passed...

Italy took the lead again, 2-1! Although the process was tortuous, it was a goal after all...

"It's not easy to lead this group of idiots! I was thinking of sucking up to them and winning the championship! Ronaldinho's father, where are you?!" After passing the ball, Li Qi cried out in his heart as he watched the situation develop miraculously.

However, just one minute later, Li Qi had to change his mind in astonishment. Life was full of ups and downs, and it was really exciting. Didn't happiness come too suddenly? !

I don’t know if it was because they were too hasty and reckless in their rush to attack after conceding the goal, or if it was because the whole team was suspicious and absent-minded because they suspected there was a traitor in the team, but the Spanish defense made another big mistake!

This time, when Luano was pressed by Cozzolino, the short pass he made to Jose Enrique was too powerful!

Jose Enrique was obviously not prepared. He did not dodge and let the ball go out of bounds. Instead, he subconsciously tried to stop the ball. However, the ball was too fast and bounced directly onto Jose Enrique's shin guards and landed in front of Cigarini...

Such a polite gift? Sigalini didn't think much about it. He stole the ball and passed it diagonally to Pelle at the front of the penalty area.

At this time, Luano made another mistake. I don't know if it was because he was still upset about the mistake or because he didn't react to Cigarini's direct pass. Luano's feet slipped...

(Lu: So sudden? Why didn’t he pass the ball to No. 10 in the middle? Xi: Are you stupid? At this position, he must have passed it directly to the forward line…)

Then Luano knelt on the ground, looking at the emperor... Oh, no, he looked at Pellet who easily stopped the ball near the penalty spot, turned around, and then pushed the ball into the far corner...

Pelle was a little embarrassed: "He scored twice in just 2 minutes? This happiness came too suddenly!"

Yes, Li Qi, who was watching the whole process without any chance to participate, was speechless: "Is it so easy? Cigarini passed the ball without hesitation... But what's wrong with the Spanish center back No. 4? Why is he still kneeling? Is he celebrating with the emperor? He is too polite..."

The Spanish coaching staff and substitutes were also helpless... It turned out that there were two traitors! How can we play like this... Hurry up and make substitutions!

Before the substitutes had time to warm up fully, Spain made a substitution less than 2 minutes after the kick-off from the center circle.

No. 11 Gavilan replaced Luano, Jose Enrique moved to the center as left center back, No. 7 Juanfran moved back to left back, and the newly-appeared Gavilan replaced Juanfran as left midfielder. At the same time, No. 10 Soriano made a substitution, replacing Llorente who passed the ball back to Li Qi twice in a row...

(Llorente: "...It's unfair! That Italian No. 10 suddenly appeared out of nowhere!")

Spain not only needs to correct the problem of internal ghosts, but also strengthen the offense and try to score and catch up with the score...

Shortly after Spain made the substitution, the Italian team also made substitutions, with No. 5 Bocchetti replacing Criscito and No. 7 Montolivo replacing Lazari.

Both were positional substitutions. The former substitution was to bring in fresh players and give Criscito a rest, while the latter substitution was to strengthen midfield control and allow Li Qi to retreat to organize defense and save energy to avoid injury, while Montolivo was responsible for delivering the ball forward...

However, the two-goal lead made it easy for Italy to play the rest of the game. They used low defense, firmly guarded the middle, and then launched a counterattack, or Li Qi controlled the ball and slowly organized the formation to press forward to kill time...

In the subsequent games, Spain was always too hasty and could not pose an effective threat; on the contrary, Italy threatened the Spanish goal many times through counterattacks and set pieces, but they were also just a hair's breadth away and did not result in a goal...

In the 80th minute of the game, Spain used its last substitution, replacing Vergara with No. 18 Casadesus, and putting Fabregas on the front line, with David Silva retreating to play as an organizing midfielder to form a trident.

However, Spain's challenge was useless, and they didn't even enter the penalty area a few times. David Silva, who was at the same age, faced Li Qi, which was much worse than Messi, who was of similar height and weight. He was bullied to the point of despair - the ball was intercepted three times in a row, and 3% of the confrontations failed...

The coaching staff and teammates exclaimed: "Oh my god! Another undercover has been exposed!!!"

David Silva: "...MMP, wow! You can do it, come on!"

"I'm only 1 meters... less than that, and he may be even less than 73 meters... I have thin arms and legs and I'm a technical guy, but he has those chicken-like lines that are obviously from eating meat! Coach! Ask for a bodyguard!"

……

(Li Qi spread his hands: "I don't want to either. Under such circumstances, which hot-blooded man can resist?! A weak body can easily be pushed down...")