Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

In the late afternoon of June 2005, 6, the Italian U10 national team, fully packed and ready, landed at Amsterdam Airport in the Netherlands, and then took the rail to Tilburg, where the Group E group stage was held.

The Netherlands, with a land area of ​​only more than 4 square kilometers, has many reputations such as the Kingdom of Tulips, the Kingdom of Windmills and the Kingdom of Water. It has a marine temperate broad-leaved forest climate, with 24% of its land area below sea level and 1/3 of its area only 1 meter above sea level. The special geographical environment also breeds unique rural scenery, colorful flower farms and rich and long history and culture...

Including its capital Amsterdam, which also has a world-renowned red-light district...

But fortunately, there is no red-light district in Tilburg, the small town where the Italian U20 team is stationed. The head coach of the Italian U20 team breathed a sigh of relief. Speaking of Tilburg, located in the southeast of the Netherlands, it is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the Netherlands.

After settling in at the hotel, Li Qi walked to the front desk and asked the young receptionist with many freckles on her face for a local travel guide. Looking at the recommendations in the travel guide, Li Qi secretly marked some famous attractions that he would take time to visit after the competition in the next few days, such as the Basilica of Saint Servatius built in the 11th century, Vrijthof Square and Tilburg University...

As the Italian U20 team was on their way to their hotel in Tilburg, the opening match of this tournament - the Benin U20 team versus the Australian U20 team - had already begun; when Li Qi and his team had put away their luggage and were preparing for dinner, the result of the opening match had already come out, with the two sides tied 1:1...

On the second day, after the morning warm-up training session for preparations - for players who played more games last season, it was a recovery training session, while for players who played less last season, it was a warm-up training session - the Italian U20 team also conducted a simple set-piece tactical training session in the afternoon...

Before dinner, at 17:30, the coaching staff organized the players to watch the Group D match between the Argentina U20 team and the United States U20 team on TV, which was recommended by Li Qi.

Li Qi was watching another group match of Group B in another room, Türkiye U20 team vs China U20 team...

The group matches of Group B, where the Chinese U20 team is located, are all held in another Dutch city - Utrecht.

Utrecht is similar to Tilburg, and is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. The city is rich in history and culture. In addition to many museums with rich exhibits, the most magnificent landmark building is also a church - a Gothic church, the Dom Church...

Watching the opening ceremony on TV, listening to the high-pitched national anthem and looking at the bloody national flag, Li Qi always had a strange feeling...

The last time I saw this was two years ago at the 2003 U17 World Cup in Finland...

As the whistle sounded, the game began. The Turkish team wearing red jerseys launched a fierce attack on the Chinese team wearing white jerseys, and the Chinese team did not show any weakness and fought back head-on!

The first attack came from a free kick near the bottom line on the left side of the Chinese team's frontcourt. Cheng Tao's free kick slid through the far corner of the goal and went out of the bottom line; unfortunately, it was not headed into the middle and was not made up at the far end!

The first shot after that also came from Zou Haibin of the Chinese team... The first goal also came from Tan Wangsong's shot after a wonderful cooperation between the Chinese team and the wing.

In Li Qi's opinion, the level of this Chinese U20 team is still very good. Whether it is technology, passing, speed, running, counterattack, or fighting spirit, they are all very desirable in this age group. Judging from the content of the match against Turkey, even the current Italy may not be able to win safely...

And this game was also won by the best goal of this World Youth Championship - in the last minute of the second half stoppage time, Zhao kicked the ball at the front of the penalty area arc about 1 meters away from the goal. Facing the corner kick punched out by the goalkeeper, he made a shocking long shot with the outside of his foot without any adjustment. The ball went straight into the goal like a cannonball!

The Chinese team defeated the Turkish team with a score of 2 to 1 in the final moments!

The wonderful performance of the Chinese team in this game also greatly boosted the team's morale and accumulated confidence for the next game...

In the next room, the coaches watched another big upset as the United States defeated the favorite Argentina 1-0 in the first match of Group D thanks to Barrett's goal.

Argentina coach Ferraro did not send Li Qi's club teammate Messi who played for Barcelona to play at the beginning, probably out of protection for Messi.

However, the US team played very well in the first half and completely suppressed the powerful opponent. Barrett's two shots kept Argentina goalkeeper Ustari busy...

It was also thanks to Barrett's quick reaction in the 40th minute of the game that he headed a deflected ball into the net, which became the only goal of the game.

Argentina replaced Messi in the second half to strengthen the attack and gradually found the rhythm of the game.

Messi repeatedly created threats, but unfortunately they were all blocked by the American goalkeeper Westerberg. The American team defended very tenaciously and did not give Argentina too many chances. The American team even got a penalty kick at the last moment of the game, but unfortunately the 16-year-old striker Adu kicked the ball into the goal post...

After watching the game, head coach Casiraghi found Li Qi to discuss the tactics for tomorrow's first match against Colombia...

Casiraghi first expressed his concerns about his job: "... Well, Li Qi, do you still think that adjusting the rhythm of the entire tournament is more important than a good start? But this is hard to guarantee, what if we are eliminated in the group stage?"

Then Casiraghi accepted Li Qi's consolation: "Indeed, the chances of qualifying from the top 24 to the top 16 are very high. If we win one game, we will have a chance to qualify..."

Then Casiraghi recognized Li Qi's pursuit of results: "You are right... With our strength, our goal should be the finals instead of qualifying from the group stage..."

Then Casiraghi asked a key question for the meeting: "What do you think of our starting lineup tomorrow?"

Seeing that Li Qi didn't accept the challenge, Casiraghi continued to discuss: "Hmm? Yes, we have also studied the schedule. The first place in our Group E will play against the second place in Group D, which is where Argentina is (Argentina lost its first group match). The second place in Group E will play against the first place in Group F, which is where Brazil is. If we qualify as the third place with better results, we will face the first place in Group A, which is where the Netherlands is, or the first place in Group D..."

Casiraghi felt that Li Qi's deception, no, his analysis made sense: "But our second round match time is the latest, so we actually have the opportunity to choose our opponent in the knockout round..."

Finally, Casiraghi took the initiative to help Li Qi make a summary statement: "It seems that even a draw tomorrow is not unacceptable? So you suggest that we play a safe defense and let the players who have played less games before find the rhythm? Okay, let's think about it..."

…………

Head coach Casiraghi attaches great importance to Li Qi's opinions. Why?

Casiraghi led this team of outstanding Italian young players aged 15-85 all the way up from U86. After more than five years of contact, Casiraghi knows Li Qi very well. The more he knows, the more he feels that the soul of this team can only be Ricardo Li Qi...

First of all, in the U19 and earlier age groups, Li Qi's physical fitness completely crushes his peers. In Casiraghi's opinion, Li Qi, who has been practicing Taekwondo since childhood, is at the best level among his peers in terms of speed (this is actually chased by his brother Andre...), core strength (this is actually achieved by 10 minutes of plank support every day), flexibility (this is actually also achieved by American football training), and endurance (this is actually due to a reasonable lifestyle) and even exceeds the best level...

Secondly, Li Qi's football intelligence (i.e. football quotient) is also better than his peers, and even better than many adult players. Li Qi will use his body reasonably on the court, but he rarely uses his body forcefully, which means that Li Qi can still maintain clear and rational thinking in fierce confrontations...

Li Qi always looks for passing and cutting to create opportunities. Compared with the young players' favorites such as one-on-one or violent goals, Li Qi prefers to complete goals through cooperation and small and accurate fatal blows. Therefore, Li Qi rarely gets injured and plays more reasonable football. His teammates also like to play with Li Qi more, because he can pass the ball to the goal as long as he runs, eat cakes until he vomits, and his statistics are so satisfying...

His ability to read the game also amazed him as a coach.

To give an obvious example, many people who first watched Li Qi play football would think that Li Qi was very lucky or that his opponents were too weak, because opponents would often pass the ball directly to Li Qi's feet, as if Li Qi was a teammate...

It may be luck once or twice, but after leading the team for more than five years, Casiraghi no longer thinks so. People who watch Li Qi's entire game carefully can also see the clues. Li Qi's prediction is too accurate, he can even predict your prediction!

Although Li Qi's average number of steals per game dropped to about 19 in the U10 European Championship, Li Qi played as a front midfielder in that cup competition, and many of his steals in the frontcourt could directly create threatening opportunities...

In addition, Li Qi's basic football skills are basically flawless: his left and right feet are balanced, and all kinds of fancy stops are his specialties. He can accurately pass the ball to the dominant foot of his teammates 40 meters away and on the running route. His shots are basically aimed at the 9-10 minute corner. Li Qi doesn't like dribbling, but the team's speed record has always been refreshed by Li Qi himself...

Li Qi is not good at headers and high balls, and he doesn't seem to like to mess up his hairstyle. But I heard that he has been practicing high balls recently...

Finally, there is Li Qi's personality and mature mind. Li Qi plays football rigorously but doesn't talk much on the field. He is gentle and elegant, and will not blame his teammates or retaliate against his opponents. Off the field, Li Qi is lively and knows how to deal with things, just like this time he brought candies to the coaching staff and autographed photos of Ronaldinho for his teammates (although I heard that they were all photos of Ronaldinho and Li Qi...). Both the coach and teammates like him.

In addition, when it comes to fighting, Li Qi is also the best in the team in terms of his ability to fight violence with violence! (This is learned from Taekwondo, and combined with some joint techniques of Chinese Kung Fu...) So both the coach and teammates "like" him very much... He is reasonable and wins people over with virtue...

There is another point that may not be related to football itself, but Casiraghi particularly admires: Ricardo Liqi is a child prodigy! At the age of 17, he received a bachelor's degree in computer science from the Milan Polytechnic. I heard that he is still playing football and studying for a master's degree in Barcelona...

This is too explosive. There is no such perverted person in the entire history of football! ? If he is so awesome, why does he play football? Wouldn’t it be more fun to play something else? ! It seems that this rich second-generation academic bully really loves football...

So although Casiraghi didn't say anything, his body was very honest and he especially trusted Li Qi's analysis and judgment... After all, he is a science and engineering genius, right?

Li Qi said that qualifying from the group stage will be no problem, so there will definitely be no problem; Li Qi said that the goal is the finals, so the finals will definitely be the bottom line goal; as for whether or not to win the championship, just let it go, anyway, we have made it to the finals, so isn’t that a piece of cake?

"Anyway, as long as you're not injured or suspended, I'll put you on the field, Li Qi, and you can handle the rest yourself..." Casiraghi thought irresponsibly...

In the evening's tactical meeting, the starting lineup for tomorrow's match against Colombia U20 was announced:

Formation 4-4-2;

Goalkeeper: No. 12, Emiliano Viviano;

The back line from left to right: Left back No. 5, Domenico Criscito; Left center back No. 14, Michele Canini; Right center back No. 4, Marco Andreoli; Right back No. 6, Lino Mazzolati;

The midfielder is arranged from left to right: left winger No. 17, Simone Bentivoglio, left midfielder No. 10, Ricardo Ricci; right midfielder No. 8, Antonio Nocerino; right winger No. 20, Luca Sigiarini;

Forward: Left center forward No. 9 Graziano Pelle and right forward No. 18 Giuseppe Cozzolino;

…………

At night, Ricardo was bombarded with text messages from a bunch of people: his mom, dad, brother, uncle, cousin, Sarafina, Giulian, Chiarala, Fat Pimenta, and a bunch of friends... all wishing him a great success and victory...

Well, the Colombian U20 team tomorrow shouldn't be very strong, right? They shouldn't be beaten, right?

Li Qi's memory seemed to be that the Italian team qualified from the group stage. He just remembered that the Chinese team won all the group matches and was eliminated by Germany in the first round of the knockout stage. Messi finally won the championship and began his road to becoming a god. Unfortunately, this information could not be used to infer the results and paths of other games...

……

Oh, by the way, I received a call from Chiara the day before yesterday informing me that the account has been opened (it took a week to open it, the efficiency of Italians is low, it seems that there are not many people like Lapang...), I forgot to forward the account to my cousin... Forget it, I will send it after the game, there is no rush...

Before going to bed, Li Qi thought of something off topic, but then he ignored it and fell into a deep sleep...