On this side, Twain made a substitution, and in one go, he changed two players. Vaughan replaced Agbonlahor, and Cohen replaced Downing.
And to be able to make such a quick adjustment, it was also thanks to the free kick that Italy received in the front field. Otherwise, who knows how long these two players would have stood on the sidelines.
The free kick was about 26 meters away from the goal, and the position was very good. It looked like Balotelli was going to take the penalty again.
After the cheers were given to Agbonlahor, the England fans turned their attention to Balotelli. Nowadays, when Balotelli is taking free kicks and corner kicks, it has become a tacit understanding of the England fans in the stands to disrupt him with boos.
After the two new players were in their positions, Balotelli rearranged the football, got up and stepped back, ready to take the kick. He turned a deaf ear to the boos from the stands. This was thanks to his two seasons at Nottingham Forest … No matter where Nottingham Forest went, they would be the target of boos from their opponent's fans. Therefore, as the top striker of Nottingham Forest, he could not help but enjoy such treatment. So now, he has long been immune to boos.
He knew very well that his performance so far in this game was not outstanding, and his role in the mobile game was very poor. But he also knew why Lippi brought him up. After England strengthened their defense in the second half, after Italy stepped up their offense, the number of free kicks in England's half of the field gradually increased. Lippi hoped to use such a player with outstanding technical characteristics to break the deadlock on the field.
It must be admitted that England's defensive tactics were very successful, and in the mobile game, Italy basically did not get any chances. The only method that could be used was a set piece.
"This is Balotelli's fourth free kick. Of the first three, two were high, and one hit on the human wall …" The commentator pointed out bluntly, even if it was a set piece, Balotelli's form could not be said to be good.
"I think the last game of Lippi's coaching career will be ruined by the feet of this black kid."
"Maybe it's a little early to say this, but I still want to say, at 68 years old, Lippi is already old, and his mind is muddled. It's really strange that he brought Balotelli on. "
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After completing the substitution, Tang En turned around and walked back to the technical area. He needed to drink some water. In order to let the two of them hear him clearly in the noisy environment, he had to raise his voice. As a result, his already hoarse voice became even more unbearably hoarse after he said those words.
Just as his back was to the goal, the referee blew the whistle to allow the ball to serve.
Balotelli took a deep breath, exhaled, and began to run.
The first two steps were as if he was walking on the spot, but with his third stride, Balotelli had already reached the side of the ball. He swung his leg and hit the football. The football soared into the air, bypassed the human wall formed by the England players, and went straight to the top left corner of the goal!
That was the side that was further away from Joe Hart.
When Joe Hart saw the ball coming over from behind the human wall and flying straight towards the far post, he hurriedly moved to pounce on the ball. But it was already too late …
When he pounced, the football had already brushed past the goalpost and flew into the goal …
"This … GOOOAL! GOOOOOAL!! "The commentators from the neutral countries cheered after a brief moment of surprise.
Tang En was startled by the sudden cheers in the stadium. The water bottle in his hand trembled, and the water poured directly onto his suit. "F * ck!" He could not help but curse. When he looked up to ask Walker for a towel, he saw that the other man was just as angry as he was.
Just as he was feeling strange, he caught a glimpse of the Italian technical area next door from the corner of his eye. He found that even though Silver Fox Lippi was still sitting in the technical area, the people around him were all hugging each other …
A bad thought came to his mind. He suddenly turned around to look at the field, only to see the Italian players in blue hugging one person in the center. On the other side, his own players had their heads down, looking dejected.
There was no need to look at the big screen anymore. He could already determine what had happened …
In the less than half a minute that he turned around to drink water, Italy had already used a free kick to equalize the score!
"F * ck!" This time, Tang En cursed from the bottom of his heart.
"We thought he was in bad form even for free kicks, but …" Walker shook his head painfully at the side. There were only 20 minutes left in the game, and victory was in sight. They did not expect the other side to equalize the score and drag them back to the starting line.
※ ※ ※
At this moment, the commentators who were questioning Lippi's substitution and mocking Balotelli all changed their tune and started singing praises of Lippi's replacement.
"What a wonderful goal! Mario Balotelli! He equalized the score for Italy! "
"Super Mario! Super Mario! An unparalleled goal! "
"Only he can be relied on at the crucial moment!"
"This goal proves that Lippi's substitution was correct! Balotelli's goal is a resounding slap in the face for all those who doubted him! "The commentator who said this could not help but touch his cheek.
"We equalized the score! We've seen the hope of winning the championship again! Tony Twain always likes to say, 'A one-goal lead is the most unsafe score in the world.' I'm very happy that Balotelli's goal proved him right once again! Now, both sides are back at the starting line again. There are only 20 minutes left … "The Italian commentator was the happiest person. He danced excitedly in front of the microphone.
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The England players were helpless to concede a goal like this. They had completely sealed off the possibility of Italy's offense in the mobile game, but they were powerless against free kicks.
"Reduce the fouls!" The dejected England players heard Tang En shouting from the sidelines. "Reduce fouls in dangerous areas!"
Tang En knew that fouls were also an important part of defense. Generally speaking, to measure whether a defensive player was good or not, he had to look at the number of fouls he committed. A player who knows how to foul is a good defensive player.
Therefore, if the England players were worried about fouls and gave the Italians free kicks, then the defensive pressure in the mobile game would naturally increase.
But he had no choice. Too many free kicks was indeed the only weakness of this tactic …
He wanted to pull Wood to the sidelines and remind him further, but the Italians were more anxious than he was. The celebration did not last long before someone helped the England players place the ball in the center circle. The players from both sides stood in position and prepared to kick off.
The most depressing thing for Tang En was that he had just made adjustments, but Italy had equalized the score. He could not immediately make adjustments after that. He could only let the players on the field play on their own. And what was worse was that the tactics he had adjusted previously were no longer useful. They had to change to a new tactic. He had previously asked the team to defend steadily and counterattack, so they had to focus on defense. Even a midfielder like Chris Cohen had to take care of defense first before attacking.
Now, the situation was different.
Tang En shouted at the field, trying to compete with the cheers of half of the fans in the stadium.
"Cohen! Cohen! " He shouted from the sidelines. Chris Cohen was on the sidelines, separated by a field from Tang En. It was difficult for him to hear him.
Fortunately, he had a microphone. In the middle of the pitch, Wood heard Tang En's roar and made a transition, which caused Cohen to look towards the side of the pitch.
"Pay attention to the offense!" Tang En gestured to Cohen, asking him not to just defend.
Cohen nodded to show that he understood.
Seeing that Cohen understood, Tang En shouted the names of the others, "Rooney! Rooney! You retreat back and support the midfield! "
"Walcott, try to move forward when you have the ball!" "Walcott, try to move forward when you have the ball!"
"George, move the ball faster!"
Italy had equalized the score at this time. They were bound to press forward and try to overtake. Then England would be waiting to counterattack. Things were not too bad as long as they could seize the opportunity.
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After the game resumed, Italy pressed forward and wanted to take advantage of the situation to overtake the score. And England could only retreat to the back field to defend. During this period, England's goal looked very dangerous.
The two full backs actively assisted, coupled with the combination of the center and the flanks, left England with only the ability to defend and not the ability to fight back.
Due to the scruples in their hearts, they could not give the opponent too many free kicks, so England's defense was not as tight as before, which gave Italy a lot of loopholes to exploit.
Giovinco used his agile figure and excellent ball control skills to try to break through. Even George Wood ran over to help defend. Seeing that Wood was moved by him, Giovinco did not force a breakthrough. Instead, he cleverly distributed the ball to the middle.
This time, De Rossi chose to go straight for a long shot!
Joe Hart flew sideways and tried his best to push the ball out of the end line.
The attack and defense had long shocked the fans on both sides to the point where their hearts could not help but beat wildly.
A minute after Italy's goal, they received another corner kick.
Now, every free kick from Italy made the England players very nervous. Because Balotelli, who was mocked by them before, had clearly returned to his form in free kicks.
Foti and Chiellini stood in front of the goal, and this made the England defenders very nervous. Both of these players were good at headers, and Balotelli's form had begun to pick up. With these two together, the outcome was really hard to say …
Everyone thought that Balotelli would directly drive the ball to the goal, but he just kicked the ball to De Rossi who came up to receive him.
Tactical corner kick!
Seeing this scene, Joe Hart immediately shouted in front of the goal, "Press out! Create offside! "
At that moment, the England players obediently pressed forward, like a tide, for fear that someone would be slow to move and fail to create offside. De Rossi passed the ball back to Balotelli who ran up from the corner flag area. Someone raised his hand to signal that Balotelli was offside, but the assistant referee and the referee did not move.
Balotelli, who got the ball, looked up at the penalty area. The England players were still pressing outwards to create offside.
But it was not that there was no opportunity.
He keenly noticed that another midfielder, Aquilani, was plugging in from the back, trying to penetrate England's defense head-on …
Seeing this, he did not hesitate anymore, and directly sent the ball into the penalty area along the turf. He saw it right and specifically passed the football to Aquilani's running route. Aquilani just inserted into the penalty area through the gap between Terry and Joe Mattock. He was not offside!
He received the ball, and England's defense was suddenly in a mess. This offside obviously could not continue … So a group of people pulled away and pounced back.
When Joe Hart saw Aquilani receive the ball, he rushed out and went straight for Aquilani on the side. The opponent received the ball from a position where the angle of the shot was very small, as long as he went out to block, he should be able to resolve the opponent's sudden attack.
At this time, the goalkeeper would naturally make shooting the opponent's first choice, but Aquilani did not think much of it. When he saw Joe Hart rush out, he knew what to do.
He did not even look at the people in front of the goal, and just swept the ball into the penalty area with one kick.
Faced with such a ball, all the returning England players were a little afraid to shoot, and they did not dare to stretch out their feet. They were afraid of scoring an own goal …
But there was someone who was not afraid!
Foti flew towards the ball, and the ball reached his feet!
"Balotelli passed the ball to De Rossi, De Rossi passed the ball back to him, and Balotelli passed the ball into the penalty area … Aquilani, Aquilani! Aquilani received the ball! He was unmarked! Joe Hart made his move! Cross! Beautiful! Aquilani's cross pass … Salvatore Forti — "The Italian commentator's lips moved up and down like a machine gun, his saliva splashing everywhere. At the end of the commentary without even panting, the Italian commentator suddenly raised his voice and roared. "GOOOOOAL — —!!"
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Because the mineral water had soaked his suit just now, Twain took off his jacket and held it in his hand. Now that he saw Italy score another goal in just two minutes, he immediately threw the suit jacket in his hand to the ground.
“FUCK！ FUCK！ F * ck!! "He was so angry that he could not help but curse three times.
This time, even the calm Lippi could not sit still. Seeing his team turn defeat into victory, he jumped out of his seat, ran to the sidelines, and opened his arms to hug his assistant manager, Ferrara.
The entire Italian substitutes' bench was jubilant.
"2: 1! 2: 1! Now we're in the lead! We're in the lead! "The Italian commentator roared at the top of his voice, and he even sounded like he was about to cry.
The game was full of ups and downs, and in just two minutes, their fate had been reversed. Even a veteran commentator like him could not help but be so excited that he could not control himself.
"That's incredible … Italy actually took the lead. These two goals came too quickly, and the England players did not have time to react at all."
"What did we just see? The Italians completed a reversal in just two minutes! They completed a reversal in the final! "
"Balotelli must have been offside before he received the ball!" Motson, on the other hand, thought that Italy's goal should be disallowed because it was offside first.
Many of the England players thought the same as him, and they surrounded the referee to protest that Balotelli was offside before he received the ball.
But the referee just shook his head, and did not change his decision.
At the same time, a slow-motion replay of Balotelli receiving the ball just now appeared on the big screen in the stadium. According to the replay, Balotelli was not actually offside when he received the ball, and he was in the same line as England's rear defensive line. But if De Rossi was half a second later, Balotelli would definitely be offside.
Italy scored the goal cleanly, and there was no problem at all.
Some people were still talking endlessly, and the other England players stood rooted to the ground, their eyes were confused, and they did not know what to do …
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, book number: 1343239.
Summary: 19-year-old Qin Maojiao was participating in the Olympic Equestrian Triathlon when he was sent to a strange world by mysterious lightning.
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