Before leading the team to the UEFA European Championship, the Italian national team's manager, Lippi, accepted a television interview. In the interview, the elegant "Silver Fox" held a cigar from "Paradise" Tuscany and said goodbye to the television audience all over Italy —
"This is my last time coaching the national team. After the European Championship, I will leave no matter what the result is. Of course, I want to win the championship. Italy is a team with the strength to win the championship. It's just that I can't say too much before it happens … "
In fact, the Italians did not have high hopes for this team. They thought that the host, Spain, and France, which had not lost a game in the qualifiers, were more likely to win the championship than Italy. If Italy met these teams before the final, it would be hard to say who would win or lose.
The Italians' pessimism stemmed from the World Cup in Brazil two years ago. In that tournament, the Italian team, which was considered the favorite to win the championship before the game, was eliminated in the group stage, and the group that Italy was in was not a "group of death," which was a big upset at the time.
The loss of that World Cup caused many people to leave the national team, including the 35-year-old Pirlo, the 32-year-old Cassano, the 32-year-old Dossena, the 36-year-old Buffon … Today's national team was re-established, and they had nothing to do with the Italian team that won the World Cup in Germany ten years ago.
But Italian football was so strange. Every time the world did not think highly of them, they could always achieve results that made people look at them with new eyes. For example, in the 1982 World Cup and the 2006 World Cup, they were both champions.
Now, they had also made it all the way to the final and were hopeful of winning the European Championship. As a team that had won the World Cup four times, it was really inconsistent with their identity as a strong team in the world that they had only won once in the highest competition in their continent. The Italians wanted to write their name in the history of the UEFA European Championship for the second time. Although they were generally not optimistic before the game, now that they had made it to the final, there was a consensus in Italy that the blue warriors led by Lippi could beat England and return to the top of Europe.
In order to cheer the team and themselves, the Italian media used the games from six years ago as examples. In the World Cup in South Africa six years ago, Capello's England performed well and made it to the semifinals, but they met the Italian team led by Lippi. In the confrontation between the two Italian managers, Lippi had the last laugh. The Italian media is now using this to say, "Look, we have a psychological advantage against England."
Such a statement was really far-fetched, but the Italians liked to hear it nowadays.
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Italy was deliberately creating an optimistic atmosphere, but Lippi did not think there was anything to be optimistic about in this game. As a seasoned manager, he has seen all kinds of opponents and led teams to play in countless non-repetitive games. He has a wealth of experience and he knows that this England team is not easy to deal with.
Although Tang En's team gave a terrible impression at the start of the UEFA European Championship, to the point that they almost couldn't advance. But since the start of the game against Germany, their performance has been getting better and better. They defeated Germany 2: 1, ended their 48-year losing streak against Sweden 2: 0, defeated France 4: 0, and eliminated the host Spain 3: 1. This kind of result was enough to make people look at him in a new light. The teams they had eliminated along the way were basically the top teams in Europe. On the contrary, Italy's path to the next round was much easier.
The good news now was that England had fought fiercely against strong teams all the way. They must have been more physically exhausted than Italy, and the England players were more mentally exhausted. Although Italy had one less day of rest than England, they played very easily in the semi-finals. It could be said that they did not have to shed any blood.
Lippi's tactics were very simple and not difficult to guess. Before emphasizing offense, he first emphasized defense. No matter what, defense was the most important. England showed their strong offensive strength in the UEFA European Championship. They did not score against Wales, and this game was the one that Lippi needed to focus on. The games that the teams that lost to England did not have much value. Only the game that Wales defeated England was worth studying. He could find the code to defeat England from it.
Lippi had studied this game. Wales used a method of defending and counterattacking, deliberately showing weakness, and then waited for England to become arrogant and underestimate their opponent. Then they used their ability on set pieces to determine the victory with one goal. The tactics were simple, but very effective. The Wales manager, Toshack, grasped the characteristics of England's high spirits and arrogance after a big win over Portugal and developed this set of tactics, which eventually worked wonders. This game was their only victory in the UEFA European Championship and sent them into the top 16.
Wales did not continue to use the defensive tactics against Italy. Perhaps it was because they had already achieved their pre-game goal, so they played the game very relaxed. Or perhaps Toshack wanted to let the team show another side. They attacked aggressively from the start, hoping to break Italy's goal. Unfortunately, they kicked an iron plate — even against a weak Wales, Lippi insisted on defensive counterattack. The impregnable defense made Wales' attack fruitless and exposed holes in their rear defensive line. Italy took advantage of these holes to counterattack and easily defeated Wales.
Now that he thought about it, Lippi might want Wales to use the same tactics against them as England in the game. That way, he would have a chance to test how much the team could do in the face of such a stubborn defense.
He was also unsure what tactics Tang En would use against Italy.
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"Lippi will definitely stick to the defensive counterattack strategy." Twain said so during a meeting with the coaching staff. "He has led the team to play in many games. Whenever he wants to raise the flag of attack, he always dies miserably. Personally, I think there is a game that is of great value to us. I don't know how many people still remember this game — a group stage game in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, where Brazil beat Italy 3: 0. "
As soon as he said that, several knowledgeable coaches immediately showed a look of realization. Everyone still remembered that game.
"Lippi had already sent the strongest lineup he could send at the time for that game. He wanted to attack Brazil because he needed to score goals and win to advance from the group stage. 4-3-3 was Italy's formation at the time. Pirlo and Montolivo were the two cores, and there was also De Rossi. But the performance of such a lineup was terrible. Because Pirlo was old, Montolivo lacked speed and was not good at defense, and there was only De Rossi in the midfield to fight against Brazil's Kaka, Robinho, Maicon, Melo and the others. Italy was not only completely defeated in that game, but also did not have the slightest advantage on the field. The game brought a great shock to Lippi and made him completely abandon his illusions. Since then, he has returned to the old way of defensive counterattack … "Tang En spoke with fervor and assurance, as if the game did not happen seven years ago, but just yesterday.
"In this final, we can't expect Lippi to make the same mistakes as he did back then. I think Lippi will continue to stick to the defensive counterattack tactics. They have players in the front field who can solve the problem on their own. As long as they can hold on to a draw, they are likely to win. We have two choices: First, try to score as soon as possible in the game and force Italy to press out and attack us. That way, we will have more chances. " He held up two fingers. "Second, we also pull back and focus on defense to avoid conceding the goal first and drag it out with them to the penalty shootout to gamble on our luck."
"Which do you choose?" he asked.
The coaches were all lost in thought.
Generally speaking, the final of the World Series was usually boring, because most people would choose a more conservative approach. They would first ensure that their side did not concede the goal, and then consider scoring a goal. If both coaches thought so, then the final would be extremely boring if there were no surprises.
The oldest coach, the 66-year-old old man, Tony Karl, was the first to express his opinion. "I think it's better to be cautious, Tony. Defense is the first priority. We have to make sure that we are not the first to concede the goal before we can consider beating Italy. In such a final, the side that concedes the goal first will become very passive, especially when we are facing a team known for its solid defense … "
Tang En did not respond. He neither nodded in agreement nor shook his head to deny it. He just looked at the others, hoping to hear more of their opinions.
"I don't agree with you, old Karl." Steve Wigley had a different opinion. "I think we should be more proactive. Lippi will certainly not think that we will take the initiative to attack in the final. He thinks we will be like you think. I think this is exactly what we can take advantage of. Take the initiative to attack and fight for the first goal. We have the strength. "He even clenched his fists.
Hearing someone oppose his suggestion, Karl did not immediately refute it. He just smiled and shook his head.
"I think it's better to be conservative. This is the final. We can't make mistakes. At least we can't make a mistake first … "It was another coach, Steve Gatting, who spoke." The final is not about who performs better, but who makes fewer mistakes. Even if it drags to a penalty kick, we still have a chance of winning. We just have to strengthen our penalty kick training these few days. "
It was now 2: 1. The conservatives had the upper hand for the time being.
Tang En turned his gaze to Des Walker. As an assistant manager, he also had to express his opinion.
"I agree with Wigley." Walker's opinion was very simple.
Now everyone looked at Tang En again. The score between conservative and offensive was 2: 2. It was neck and neck.
Tang En did not immediately give an answer. He was clearly hesitating. The conservatives had their reasons, and they were very convincing. The final victory of such a final was a team that made few or no mistakes. To not make mistakes, conservative defense was the way.
It was reasonable to say that Tang En was the kind of person who would do anything to win and was not afraid of sacrificing himself. He was not afraid to bear the infamy of negative football. As long as he could pick up the championship trophy, he could trample all those who had once scolded him into the mud under his feet.
But today, Tang En did not really intend to do so. Or rather, he did not intend to just do so.
"What everyone said is very reasonable. It really puts me in a difficult position …" He deliberately made an expression of being in a dilemma.
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George Wood, who had just taken a shower, received a call from Gareth Bale.
"Guess where I am! George! "As soon as he picked up the phone, he heard Bale's energetic voice.
"At home." Wood was not in the mood to play such a childish game with Bale. He casually gave a place.
"Tsk, you're so boring! I'm in the Maldives! Palm trees and white beaches. It's a million times better than the lousy weather in England! I love it here! There are also benefits to being eliminated early … "Bale exclaimed exaggeratedly.
Mitchell pushed the door open and came in. Seeing Wood on the phone, he casually asked, "Is your mother there?"
Wood shook his head. "A noisy little monkey."
Mitchell laughed. He knew who was calling.
"Hey, George!" Bale heard Wood's words and became unhappy. "I called you out of goodwill. Is this how you treat me?"
"What's the matter?" Wood did not care about what he said and asked directly.
"Congratulations on reaching the final." Bale said this in a sour tone. Although he had said before that it was not bad to be eliminated early, in fact, he would rather still stay in Spain at this time.
"Thank you."
"I heard that your opponent is Italy. I have something to tell you. It might be of some help to you."
Wood raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"
"What do you mean by oh!" Bale knew that Wood was interested. He finally had something on Wood.
"Well, thank you. Please tell me. "
Bale cleared his throat and fully enjoyed the respect that Wood gave him before continuing, "If you can tell the boss, tell him it's best to adopt a more conservative defensive counterattack against Italy …"
"Italy will do the same."
"I know! But this is the final, not the group stage. There is no tie. Even if everyone defends, there will be a winner! Penalty kick! I think this is the best way to decide who the champion belongs to. When we played against Italy, the top 16 made us a little dizzy. From the coach to ourselves, we all thought we could challenge Italy. So we tried to take the initiative to attack, and the result? We even lost our underwear. Lippi is very cunning. He waits for the others to attack and then looks for the opportunity to fight back. This is really like the boss, so I suggest the boss do the same. It doesn't matter if the scene is ugly, it doesn't matter if the game is boring. You are not playing for the television audience to watch. This method gives you a very high chance of winning the title. I believe that with you, England's defense will not be a problem. To be honest, if we continue to use the tactics that we used against you in that game, maybe we can drag them into overtime or even a penalty shootout. Unfortunately … "
Bale was silent for a moment. Clearly, being eliminated made him take it to heart.
"If we win against Italy, maybe we will be the ones to meet you in the final! At that time, we will have a psychological advantage against you! Haha! "For a moment, his voice was full of energy again.
Bale then told Wood about the players in the Italy team that needed special attention and reminded him to be extra careful with these players in the game. These were the first-hand information that Bale had after the game against Italy. He certainly knew that the boss was used to studying his opponents thoroughly, but the information collected from the players' point of view should have some fresh things. Even if it was just a little, he hoped that it could help the boss.
Finally, after showing off the scenery and weather of the Maldives, he was about to hang up.
"George." He suddenly called out again.
"Hmm?" Wood, who was about to put down the phone, stopped.
"You must win! You must win the championship! "
"Of course. We are not here to fight for the runner-up. "
"Hehe, that's good, that's good …" Bale said with a smirk, "Then I can say — — 'Look, we are the only team that has not won the European champions!'"
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The rain outside the window was heavy, and the wind was raging on the sea in the distance, rolling up astonishing waves to the shore of the dam. Those poor palm trees bowed their heads in this bad weather, as if they were in danger of breaking at the waist at any time. The shore was covered with white mist, and nothing could be seen further away.
Even with the tightly closed windows, the loud roar could not be stopped, and a steady stream of sound drilled into the dim room.
The Maldives rarely had such weather, but it did not mean that it would never happen. The rainy season in the Maldives was from May to November. The heavy rainfall brought by the southwest monsoon seemed to be fighting against the dryness brought by the northeast monsoon, and there were often strong winds and strong waves. At this time, the tourists could only hide in the hotel room and sigh.
The unlucky Gareth Bale threw down his phone, lay on the bed, and looked at the ceiling in boredom. His girlfriend was taking a shower, so he had time to call Wood.
"Damn it! It's not easy to come to the Maldives, but to encounter this kind of terrible weather … Ah, Spain is still better … "
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PS, there is good news:
I wonder how many people still remember the book "New Biography of the High Officials"?
Now the author of this book, Zhan Kong, has returned to the starting point with a new book!
"The Journey to Immortality", book number 1328929.
In the chaotic times of the Central Plains where humans and demons coexisted, a young man appeared, and in his body, there was the magic power of the God of Money. The mythological era came to an end! (This book is a historical mythological novel)
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