The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 113 The first win in the group stage and the red card

First, something went wrong with the club owner's family business, and then there were rumors that the team's top scorer might leave the team.

Obviously the team won the double championship, but the result was that the fans were not very happy due to various circumstances.

This may be the only one.

In any case, the 08-09 season has passed, and Inter Milan's first team has also announced its disbandment.

After a relatively successful season, everyone started their vacation.

Leo, who does not plan to leave Inter Milan, naturally does not have much to do in this summer transfer window, but he still cannot enjoy his vacation.

After just one day at home, Leo and Balotelli went to gather with the Italian U21 youth team.

The European U-6 Football Championship held in Sweden on June 16, which is generally known as the real European Youth Championship, is about to start, leaving them not enough time to practice with the team.

When Leo and Bashen returned to the team, watching Leo's precise pass assist Balotelli score on the training field,

U21 head coach Pierluigi Casiraghi is a little more confident about this European Youth Championship.

After just over a week of training, the Italian U21 set off for Sweden, the venue of this European Youth Championship, in Northern Europe.

Leo's first game will be held in Helsingborg, a port city on the southwestern coast of Sweden.

All of a sudden, I went from the sunny Apennine Peninsula to the cool weather of Sweden. However, it has been raining lightly in the past few days, which made the young people in Italy uncomfortable.

"Boss, that little guy from Juventus doesn't seem very friendly."

Balotelli raised his chin and pointed to Giovinco, who was chatting with club teammate Decelli on the other side.

In contrast, other teammates except Giovinco were quite polite towards Leo.

Because Leo's performance in Inter Milan last season is obvious to all, he is the well-deserved core of the frontcourt offense in Italy U21.

If anyone wants to score goals, they can't rely on Leo to pass the ball and assist them, but they have to have a good relationship with him.

Giovinco is different. His position conflicts with Leo, and the probability of the two playing together is quite low.

In the same position, there are players who are better than him in all aspects, and there are other players who are more suitable to play on the wing. It is difficult for Giovinco to get ahead.

So it's normal for Atomic Ant to have a bad look on his face.

Leo smiled,
  "Don't worry about these useless people. You should perform well for me this time and try to join the national team with me as soon as possible!"

"Hey, boss, just pass the ball to me more often."

Ba Shenhan smiled and scratched his head.

Italy is placed in Group A along with host Sweden, Serbia and Belarus.

In the opening match held earlier, the host Sweden defeated Belarus 5-1 and currently ranks first in the group.

Italy, which has won the championship five times, is the team with the most titles in the history of the European Youth Championship.

But in the last European Youth Championship, which was the first round of the group stage match against Serbia two years ago, Italy lost to its opponent 0-1.

Although they won one and drew one in the next two games, the Azzurri finished third in the group and missed the semi-finals.

This year they met again in the first round of the group stage, but I don't know whether this time it will be Italy's revenge or Serbia's victory.

Leo, wearing Italy's No. 10 jersey, wears the captain's armband, which is enough to show that coach Casiraghi values ​​him.

Accordingly, Leo is also ready to take on the responsibility of being a captain.

Two Inter forwards, Balotelli and Acqua Fresca, formed today's striker combination.

Leo plays as a single attacking midfielder, with Marchisio and Chigarini behind him.

The left and right backs are Criscito and Decelli respectively, and the goalkeeper Consili.

The game had just begun when 20-year-old Serbian midfielder Matic knocked down Leo with a vicious flying tackle.

He may have thought that he could scare Leo through this method, but in fact it had no meaning other than causing him to get a yellow card.

Balotelli's free kick went around the wall and was blocked by Serbian goalkeeper Brkic!
  This was also the most threatening attack by both sides in the first ten minutes.

Two minutes later, Criscito broke through from the left and passed the ball, and Leo received the ball from the outside of the penalty area.

Then he noticed that the opponent's goalkeeper was standing a little forward, and without hesitation, he lobbed the goal!
  However, Serbian goalkeeper Brkic turned around and dived to save the ball, barely blocking the ball over the crossbar!
  Decelli took a corner kick from the left, and Acqua Fresca's header in front of the penalty area missed the left post.

The situation of the game was very delicate. Italy, which clearly had the advantage, found it difficult to break Sevilla's goal.

Could it be that they are really the nemesis of the Azzurri?
  In the twenty-seventh minute, the score was still zero to zero.

Matic received a pass from his teammate and was just about to continue dribbling the ball forward when Leo passed by him like a gust of wind.

The person who was carrying the ball also broke the ball.

After the steal, Leo launched a counterattack on the spot, and a penetrating through ball passed through the gap in the opponent's defense!
  Balotelli quickly broke away from the defender and formed a single ball!
  Faced with the attacking goalkeeper, Bashen did not panic, and with a flick of the button, he passed Brkic and pushed into the empty goal!
  The ball went in!One to zero!

Italy U21 took the lead in breaking the deadlock on the field!

After taking the lead, the Italian side became much more calm, and Leo controlled the rhythm of the game in the midfield.

In the 39th minute, Balotelli struck back with his heel. Leo dunked past the defender outside the penalty area on the left and suddenly took off. Brkic flew forward and lifted Leo's curved ball past the baseline with one hand!
  Italy made a comeback a minute later, Leo passed the ball directly, and Balotelli broke into the right side of the penalty area!

Bashen then continuously "stepped on a bicycle" to dodge the Serbian defender and then volleyed hard!
  Once again, Brkic bravely blocked the near post!

The Serie A scouts who followed this game all had their eyes widened.

"This Serbian goalkeeper seems to be very good!"

Udinese's scouts were originally going to inspect young Italian U21 players.

After all, Leo's teammates are different from him. Not all of them can become the main force of the Serie A first team at the age of around 20.

So in addition to the Serie A U19 competition, the European Youth Championship is obviously also a venue where the potential of young players can be seen.

As a result, after looking at today's half of the game, apart from Leo and Balotelli, who were already known to be outstanding, the best performer turned out to be the opponent's goalkeeper!
  Of course, it is impossible for professional scouts to draw conclusions based on the performance of a single game.

They only recorded Brkic's name and will follow up on him later.

If there is real potential, someone will naturally bring him to Serie A.

The first half of the game came to an end as Akwa Fresca's long shot was firmly picked off by Brkic.

The Serbian goalkeeper used his outstanding performance to help the team hold on to a one-goal gap, which also allowed them to retain hope of equalizing the score.

Except for him, no Serbian player seemed to have left a deep impression on the audience.

What? Matic?
  That midfielder who was given a card at the beginning and then ran around like a dog after being walked by Leo for no performance?

Not even close!
  At the beginning of the second half, Marchisio tackled Manchester United midfielder Tosic from behind and was given a yellow card by the referee.

Decelli made a pass from the right, and Leo shot a cold arrow from the top of the penalty area!
  Brkic dived sideways and blocked the ball with one palm!

"You're not going in here either?"

Leo was completely speechless. He couldn't even remember how many excellent passes he sent today, but all his teammates' shots were deflected by the opponent's goalkeeper.

So he decided to try it himself, and the results seemed to be the same.

Already excited, Brkic pounced more and more bravely. No matter how the Italian players shot, he could block it.

Thiago Motta and Abate came on as substitutes.

But it still couldn't help the team expand its lead.

In stoppage time, Tomovic took a corner kick from the right, and Kakkar volleyed and hit the right post!

Consili hurriedly put the ball under his body and Italy escaped.

In the end, with Balotelli's only goal, Italy U21 defeated Sevilla - and got a good start in this competition!

Three days later, in the second round of the group stage, Italy faced host Sweden.

The game was also moved to the larger Olympiastadion Helsingborg.

In 1992, the Italian National Youth Team defeated Sweden - in the final and won the first European Youth Championship trophy and began their third consecutive championship in this event.

Whichever side wins this game will advance from the group to advance to the knockout rounds.

Italy U21 coach Casiraghi continued the starting lineup from the previous - draw with Serbia.

After the opening, the Swedish team, which had the home advantage, launched the attack first and seemed a bit aggressive.

However, the host's front two players, Marcus Berry and Toivonen's continuous attacks did not pose much of a threat.

In the 21st minute, Leo saw the defensive loopholes of the home team, changed direction and passed the defensive player before passing the ball to the left side of the penalty area!
  Balotelli turned beautifully and cut inside, and shot a curved ball with his right foot from the front of the penalty area into the lower right corner of the goal!

It was the tacit cooperation between Leo and Balotelli that helped Italy take the lead again!

Two minutes later, Marchisio stole the ball near the center circle. After receiving the ball, Leo slowly broke through to the edge of the penalty area and volleyed with the instep of his outside foot!

The ball rubbed the post and went out of the baseline.

Italy U21 firmly had the upper hand until the th minute when a little accident happened on the field.

Balotelli lost his mind after being violated by Weinblum, turned around and kicked the opponent.

In the shock of the whole audience, Bashen was sent off by the referee with a red card!

Things happened so fast that Leo, who was not far away, had no time to stop it.

Before the first half was over, Italy had one less player to play.

The coach's face became a little ugly on the sidelines, but Casiraghi still comforted Balotelli who was sent off.

Italy made no substitutions and the first half ended quickly, with the score at 1-0.

Italy, which was currently in the lead, didn't have much to do. Casiraghi could only ask the players to retreat to the penalty area and try to hold on to the score.

　Well, yesterday when I released the second chapter on time, I didn’t pay attention to release it directly. I had no choice but to release the two chapters together.

　　Then the order was reversed at first. I'm sorry for causing trouble to everyone at noon.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)