The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 138
  In the 25th minute, it was Leo's direct pass. Milito's old injury recurred and he strained his left leg when receiving the ball.

Mourinho looked very ugly when he saw the Argentinian limping off the field.

He just didn't want to use Balotelli anymore, so he returned Milito to the starting lineup without waiting for Milito to fully recover from injury.

As a result, the last thing he wanted to see happened.

If I had known earlier, I would have let the Argentinian recover from his injury for a few more days.

The game lasted less than half an hour when Milito suffered a repeated injury and strained his left leg muscle and was unable to continue and was substituted.

Balotelli went straight onto the court without much warm-up.

Leo patted Bashen, who had just come on as a substitute, and hoped that he would learn his lesson and play "normally" today.

Two minutes later, Inler made a direct pass to the left rib, and Chivu failed to cause offside by dragging him behind. After receiving the ball, Di Natale scored from the near corner with his left foot on the left side of the penalty area!
  One to one!

It only took Udinese a few minutes to equalize the score!

Leo saw the Italian striker stop and shoot, which is definitely a skill only top shooters have.

If you can be a teammate in the national team, it seems that you can pass more passes to him?

Balotelli passed into the right side of the penalty area, and Eto'o used his skills to pass the two people. Unfortunately, the final shot was blocked by the opponent's defensive player.

The ball bounced and hit D'Agostino's arm. The Cameroonian raised his hand to indicate a handball, but the referee ignored it.

Leo made a direct pass, and Balotelli cut in from the right side and volleyed hard from the edge of the penalty area, but Handanovic blocked it with all his strength!
  Leo's corner kick was missed by Lucio and was pushed out by Udinese defender Basta.

After being equalized by the visiting team, the Nerazzurri's offensive became more intense.

In the 38th minute, Pandev broke through from the left and knocked back. Leo broke into the penalty area and was brought down by Domiqi!
  Instead of awarding a penalty kick, the referee Bergonzi sentenced Leo for diving and showed him a yellow card.

Leo:? ? ?
  Inexplicably receiving his first yellow card this season, Leo felt a little unhappy.

The frontcourt suddenly stepped forward to steal the ball from D'Agostino's feet, and Leo immediately broke through to the edge of the penalty area.

A powerful and heavy long-range shot was thrown out of the baseline by Handanovic!
  Leo's corner kick was passed into the penalty area and the landing point was quite accurate, but Lucio's diving header was a bit wide.

Udine counterattacked with a long pass, and Sanchez succeeded in countering offside, almost resulting in a single shot!

The Chilean youngster dunked past Lucio before the penalty spot, turned around and volleyed high with his left foot!
  Eto'o broke through the visiting team's defensive players and fired a furious left-footed shot from the front of the penalty area over the crossbar.

Domizzi then fouled Balotelli and received a yellow card.

Before the end of the first half, Eto'o took the ball from the right side of the penalty area and went over Balotelli's head. Pandev fell to the ground while fighting for position in front of the goal.

Chaos in the Udinese penalty area!
  Leo, who was in the back, stopped the ball with his chest and then shot low with his right foot from a small angle on the left. The ball went into the blind spot at the lower right corner of the goal!

Two to one!

Inter Milan took the lead again and entered the halftime break with a 2-1 advantage!
  After scoring another goal, Leo felt much better. Sure enough, scoring goals is a good medicine for players.

"Everyone performed well in the first half, but the goal conceded was a bit inappropriate. Some players must have been distracted at the time.

I would like to praise Leo. He is very threatening whether he is shooting or passing when he is close to the opponent's goal.

He also scored two very exciting goals in the first half. Other players should learn from Leo's handling of the ball and grasp of opportunities. "

In fact, there is still half a sentence left unfinished, which is to miss him and shoot a few dozen meters away from the goal. As for who the target is, everyone knows it in their hearts.

Leo, who scored twice in the first half, noticed some eyes on him, but he didn't care.

When it comes to strength on the football field, he can lead the team to victory, but some people just forget about it, there is no comparison at all.

At the start of the second half, neither side made substitutions.

In the 46th minute, Leo ground ball back to the center from the left. Eto'o turned around and volleyed in front of the penalty area but failed to hit the ball. The ball was obtained by the visiting team's goalkeeper.

Then Handanovic took the kick and Udinese quickly counterattacked.

Flores cooperated with Di Natale in the frontcourt, and the latter's right-footed low shot from outside the penalty area was confiscated by Cesar.

Udinese did create some good opportunities in the second half, especially Di Natale's several threatening shots.

However, Inter Milan's excellent defense did not allow them to score again.

In the 75th minute, Eto'o broke through and passed, Balotelli turned his back, and Leo suddenly shot a cold arrow from the front of the penalty area and hit the away team's defensive player!
  Leo just missed the hat trick.

In the subsequent games, it was difficult to find such a good scoring opportunity against Udinese's tight defense.

In the 87th minute, Lucio suffered a slight injury and was replaced by Thornton.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Di Natale received a direct pass from Inle and formed a single goal, but fortunately Cesar made a decisive attack and saved the ball at his feet!
  At the end of the game, Inter Milan narrowly missed three points with a 2-1 home victory!

Another two to one, and although they won the game in the end, the game was still full of suspense.

In the second half, we almost conceded goals several times but Udinese equalized the score.

Questions are pouring in about Mourinho and Inter Milan.

Fortunately, it's another two-week national team match day. The Portuguese can use this time to find out where the problem is and make adjustments.

Leo naturally continued to be selected for the Italian national team, during which they will play the last two World Cup European qualifiers.

Italy, which has already qualified in advance, will face Ireland, the second-placed team in the group, in Dublin.

Lippi made another formation change, this time he adopted a starting formation of 4,231.

Captain Cannavaro is suspended, and Lello Taglie and Chiellini partner as central defenders.

Leo plays high up in the midfield three, with Pirlo and De Rossi behind him. Iaquinta plays center, flanked by Camoranesi and Di Natale, Gilardino is on the bench, and Balotelli and Thornton are not even in the squad.

Marchisio is out due to knee surgery.

"You two, please be careful. If you can't be a starter in the club, it won't be your turn in the national team."

"Snacks? Where can I get some snacks?"

Leo:......

In the Italian national team, they are still more accustomed to letting Pirlo organize the offense.

Although Leo is in the front position, he is more responsible for the final pass or ending the game.

Because his positioning is different from that in the club, Leo needs an adaptation process every time.

Although Ireland has no chance to compete with Italy for a direct qualification spot, they still hope to enter the World Cup in South Africa through the play-offs.

Among today's opponents there is also a former Tottenham teammate of Leo's.

However, compared to Berbatov, Robbie Keane has a more normal relationship with him.

Although they had a friendship as teammates for a season, they had no contact in private.

The two people also greeted each other very politely before the game, and they just had this kind of nodding acquaintance.

In the first half, Ireland kicked off first. Less than a minute into the game, Ireland's long pass from the backcourt posed a threat. Unfortunately, Robbie Keane was offside.

The Irish team, playing at home, had a slight advantage after the start, but Leo felt that Italy's defense should be reassuring.

In fact, Ireland's head coach Trapattoni is also Italian. He has not only coached Milan, Juventus, and Bayern, but also led the Italian national team for four years.

Therefore, the 70-year-old coach is rich in experience and knows Italy's tactics very well.

Two minutes later, Robbie Keane successfully countered offside on the right side of the penalty area, but he was then brought down by Italian defender Lero Talia.

The home team received a well-placed free kick.

Lawrence took the free kick from the right and chose to knock back. Whelan's right-footed curved shot from the outside of the penalty area hit the far corner of the goal!

There is nothing Buffon can do!
  One to zero!

Ireland is temporarily ahead!
  Leo:......

How is this different from what I thought?
  Lerottaglie fouled Doyle and Lawrence took a free kick from the left. Buffon hit the ball not far due to interference. Fortunately, Chiellini destroyed the ball in time.

Leo felt that something was not good. It would not work if it continued like this. Italy had to find opportunities to score.

Leo stole the ball in the frontcourt and returned it to Pirlo before continuing to advance.

Pirlo sent a pass into the penalty area, and Iaquinta made a slight adjustment and then passed the ball!

Leo's low shot with his right foot from the back point hit the lower left corner of the goal!
  One to one!

The Italian team tied the score at one to one after three minutes!
  Leo has scored goals in consecutive games, and his scoring efficiency seems to be really good recently.

Mourinho, who was working overtime at the Inter Milan training base, also took the time to watch the game.

The Nerazzurri coach looked at the TV screen with a smiling face celebrating the goal with his teammates and fell into deep thought.

"Can we let him go forward and take more shots at the club?"

In the club, Leo is the core organizer, and his main task is to organize offense and create opportunities for his teammates.

Although he sometimes attacks and scores, it is still too little in comparison.

Leo tried a few direct passes to Di Natale, but unfortunately the two did not form a tacit understanding and did not pose much threat several times.

In the 26th minute, Iaquinta won a corner kick in the penalty area.

Pirlo took a corner kick from the left, Camoranesi nodded and hit the goal. Given dived to the right and touched the ball with one hand, but he still couldn't stop the ball from getting into the near corner!
  Two to one!
  Italy overtook the score!

Ireland's strength is still inferior to that of the Azzurri.

Leo took the ball and passed it into the penalty area. The home team's defender made a header not far away. Grosso's volley was very threatening!

Ireland goalkeeper Given made a solid save to resolve the crisis.

Soon after Leo received Pirlo's pass, he passed the ball directly, and Iaquinta formed a single shot!

But the linesman had raised his flag, signaling offside.

In stoppage time, Ireland counterattacked and hit the frontcourt. Robbie Keane's overhead kick in the penalty area missed the right post.

At the end of the first half, Italy temporarily led 2-1.

Leo was replaced by Palombo, Lippi wanted to strengthen the defense, and Pirlo was pushed to the front.

However, after Leo left the field, Italy's offense fell into a quagmire, and it was really all about defense.

Ireland seized the opportunity and continued to attack.

In the 89th minute, Hunter dribbled the ball from the left and was tackled by Gianluca Zambrotta.

He personally took the free kick and passed it diagonally to the back point. St. Leger dived close to the ground in front of the goal and hit his head into the net!
  Two to two!
  Ireland equalized!

Lippi shook his head and smiled bitterly. In the end, the game ended and Italy tied with Ireland 2-2 in the away game!
  (End of this chapter)