The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 130 The great Italian left-back scores another goal!
  A hearty victory, three very important points.

Leo's outstanding performance conquered even the most discerning Italian fans.

Especially before and after Leo came on as a substitute, there was a sharp contrast in the Italian team's offensive performance.

This also made more people realize that Inter Milan's strength is probably inseparable from this young man who is still less than 20 years old.

"I have to admit, from today on I am Leo's biggest fan!"

"Speak of the troll! Lippi has long said that this kid should be given a main position, but someone actually trolled me before!"

"If we had brought Leo to the Confederations Cup before, maybe we wouldn't have been so miserable."

Not only that, Balotelli's goal helped the Azzurri break a goal drought of almost 400 minutes.

Although Italy has a number of big-name forwards on the front line, it is difficult to score a goal in the national team.

Since the start of the Confederations Cup match against Egypt on June 6, the Italian team has been stuck in a scoring drought, unable to score in three consecutive games, whether against Brazil, Switzerland or Egypt.

The game against Georgia also broke the deadlock with difficulty in the second half.

The change is the appearance of Leo and Balotelli.

……

Four days later, back in Italy, the Azzurri were sitting at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin to face their next opponent in the European World Cup qualifiers, Bulgaria.

"Dimita! Long time no see!"

"Yeah, even if I invited you to go on vacation in the summer, you wouldn't come!"

I was very happy to see my friend Leo, whom I had not seen for a long time. He and Berbatov had a bear hug.

"Oh, something happened at that time. I'm very sorry. Next time, next time!"

"I haven't seen you for more than a year, but you are already a big star now!"

"Hey, where are we now? It's still far from enough!"

"Hahaha, you bastard! I watched the last game, so I'm going to be merciful today!"

"That's alright. Doing your best is my respect for you!"

And not far away, Balotelli, who was watching Leo and Berba chatting, felt a little sour in his heart for some reason.

Whether we train together or fight side by side, I always come first...

"Huh? Mario, what's wrong with you?"

"fine!"

Leo scratched his head inexplicably.

Before the start of this game, the Italian media and bored fans had already calculated that as long as they scored three points at home, they would advance to the World Cup in South Africa!

Judging from the situation in the standings, the Italian team ranks first in Group 8 with points and points from seven games, five wins and two draws.

Second place in this group is the Irish team, who have played one more game than Italy but are one point behind.

Italy's opponent, Bulgaria, theoretically still has the possibility of qualifying directly.

After five draws in seven games, Bulgaria, which remains unbeaten but only scored 11 points, is six points behind Italy at the top of the table.

But if they can defeat Italy in their next game, they will rekindle their hopes of qualifying for the group stage.

"In this game, we must win Bulgaria on the field and complete the victory in one victory to ensure that we advance to the World Cup main event in advance!"

Compared with the previous game, Lippi made many adjustments to the Italian team's starting lineup.

First, the formation changed from 442 to 4312, with Grosso starting instead of Criscito at the left back position.

De Rossi in the midfield position returned from his suspension, and Marchisio also got the start. They formed a midfielder with Pirlo, and Leo appeared in the attacking midfielder position!
  Balotelli also replaced Giuseppe Rossi on the striker and played hand in hand with Iaquinta!
  For Bulgaria, well-known stars such as Berbatov and Petrov have all started.

"Huh? There are two Petrovs in their team?"

"Not only that, there are three of them, and there seems to be one sitting on the bench."

"Haha, you got it wrong. That's Peterkov, one letter missing."

In any case, it can be seen that Petrov is a very common name in Bulgaria, oh no, it is a surname.

Manchester City's Petrov is the left winger and Aston Villa's Petrov is the midfielder. They both started this game.

The game just started, Pirlo made a direct pass, and Leo passed the ball over the defensive player into the penalty area!
  Balotelli's header hit the target of the Bulgarian goalkeeper.

A minute later, Leo went straight to the left side of the penalty area. Marchisio's left foot volleyed from a small angle and hit the ball, which was confiscated by Ivankov!

Iaquinta complained that Marchisio should have passed the ball to him.

Leo heard it, and he knew that the other party might not also be telling him what he said.

An overhead ball passed into the penalty area. Iaquinta was hit by the Bulgarian defender and fell to the ground in pain on his right knee. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured.

The visiting team has a chance to counterattack!
  Petrov split the ball, and another Petrov counterattacked from the left and cut into Berbatov with a low pass into the penalty area, but Cannavaro blocked the passing route in time and cleared the ball!
  Pirlo made a long pass from the backcourt, and Italy quickly counterattacked and hit the frontcourt.

After receiving the ball, Leo found a gap in the opponent's defense and passed the ball through like a scalpel!
  The two forward players of the Azzurri rushed out at the same time!
  However, it was Balotelli who arrived first and took advantage of the situation to hit the penalty area with a single sword!
  Iaquinta simply stopped and blocked the Bulgarian defender who was returning to defense for Bashen.

Facing the visiting team's goalkeeper, Balotelli hit a low shot with his right foot into the lower right corner of the goal!
  One to zero! Just five minutes into the game, Italy took the lead!

The Italian fans in the Turin Olympic Stadium stood up excitedly and clapped and shouted.

Regardless of whether they were fans of Juventus or other teams before, they couldn't help but cheer for Balotelli's goal at this moment.

With Leo on the court, it was so easy for the Italian team to score.

Maybe after the older generation gradually fades out of the national team, Italy will finally welcome a reliable striker again?
  The TV broadcast also showed a meaningful shot of the coach Lippi who was calm and composed on the sidelines.

Kishshev fouled Camoranesi, and Grosso's left-footed free kick from the right hit the wall directly.

Although I didn’t get in this time, the opportunity came again soon.

In the tenth minute, Grosso dribbled the ball from the left and knocked back. Leo cleverly passed the ball over the top and passed it to the left side of the penalty area!

Grosso's left-footed volley shot from the corner of the small penalty area hit the lower edge of the crossbar and bounced into the goal!
  Two to zero!
  The great Italian left-back scores another goal!
  Hey, why do you say again?

Italy was not content with a two-goal lead and continued to attack.

Pirlo scored the ball, Zambrotta went straight to the right and hit back near the baseline. Iaquinta almost shot the empty goal in front of the goal, but it hit Manolev!
  The Bulgarian full-back blocked the ball from the baseline!

"oops!"

Even if the goal didn't go in, Iaquinta himself was a little dissatisfied and turned around and walked back in frustration.

The visiting team counterattacked quickly. Bulgarian forward Langrov broke into the penalty area from the left, but his shot was not powerful and was directly scored by Buffon.

Berbatov, who had already received the ball on the other side, seemed unhappy and complained that the opponent should pass it to him.

In the 19th minute, Leo received Pirlo's pass in the frontcourt and was about to move forward.

Petrov, the Bulgarian midfielder who plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League, made a fierce flying tackle from the side and knocked Leo to the ground with the ball!
  The Italian fans watching this game all felt "thumped" in their hearts.

"Leo must not get hurt!"

However, supporters of other Serie A teams except Inter Milan, especially die-hard fans of their opponents in the next few games, reacted quickly.

It doesn't seem to matter if this kid is injured and misses a few games. Anyway, we are already leading 2-0 today, so we won't be equalized by the opponent.

The camera focused on Mourinho, who was watching the game.

The madman frowned and looked at the field with concern.

Fortunately, under the applause of the fans in the audience, Leo stood up again and seemed to be fine.

I took a few steps to regain my composure, but it hurt a little at the time, but there was definitely no injury.

Despite this, Petrov did not escape the yellow card penalty and gave Italy a free kick in front of the penalty area not far from the goal.

Pirlo did his part, and the free kick went around the wall and went straight to the dead corner of the goal!

Bulgaria goalkeeper Ivankov, who was standing in front of the goal line, did not move. It was not because he was not playing well, but because he felt that the ball must have gone out of bounds.

However, Pirlo's fallen ball suddenly started to fall before it was about to go over the crossbar!
  Even though the ball speed was not very fast, it was already too late, the ball flew over Ivankov's fingertips and into the net!
  Three to zero!
  Pirlo scored directly from a free kick!

Unlike other free kick masters, Pirlo's falling leaves are famous for their fatal high arc!
  "It's so chic!"

With its huge arc and erratic route, Leo was very keen on Pirlo's free kicks.

"When the game is over, I must find an opportunity to ask him for advice!"

Italy leads by three goals. To be honest, this game has lost its suspense.

However, it had only been less than half an hour.

Leo advanced with the ball again, and Petrov, who had a yellow card, did not dare to make a move easily.

When it comes to speed, there is no need for those bells and whistles. Leo left the defensive player behind with a simple change of direction.

A direct pass was sent from the front of the penalty area. Iaquinta caught the ball with his back and turned around to shoot and score!

The Juventus forward finally scored. This was his fifth goal for the national team.

Four to zero!
  Italy completely sealed the victory!

At the end of the first half, a dejected Bulgaria seemed to have no idea of ​​resistance.

Leading by four goals at halftime, Italian fans in the stands started singing and dancing to celebrate their team's entry into the next World Cup during the intermission.

Lippi made two substitutions at halftime, with Leo and Balotelli replaced by Camoranesi and Gilardino.

Bulgaria also replaced Langlov with Bodinov.

After the start of the second half, the visiting team took the lead!
  Bodinov's speed came into play. During the counterattack, the Bulgarian forward made continuous breakthroughs and finally knocked the ball horizontally in front of the goal!

Berbatov easily poked the ball past Buffon into the net with his right foot!

Four to one!

Bulgaria did not give up! They got a goal back at the beginning of the second half!
  Lippi walked to the sidelines. He hoped that his teammates on the field could use goals to extinguish the opponent's fighting spirit and completely kill the game.

However, the Azzurri failed to score again until the end of the game.

In the end, Italy defeated Bulgaria, who was third in the group, 4-1 at home and secured a spot in the main draw of the World Cup in South Africa with two rounds left in the World Cup preliminaries!
  (End of this chapter)