The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 139 Cyprus
  Italian fans will definitely not be satisfied if they fail to win the game.

But a tie with second place in the group in the away game doesn't seem to be completely unacceptable, especially if the process of the game is not considered.

After Leo came off the field, Italy's offensive threat was really reduced, which allowed Ireland to free up its hands and launch successive offensives.

But they have already qualified in advance, so this result will not affect anything.

And at least this draw preserved their unbeaten streak in the qualifying rounds.

Four days later, in the final round of World Cup qualifying, Italy faced Cyprus at the Tardini Stadium in Parma.

Lippi has been trying different uses of Leo.

Especially how to make Leo and Pirlo better coexist, allowing Italy to perfectly achieve dual-core operation.

Whether it was before letting Leo play on the left, or later letting him match up with Pirlo in tandem, it was for the same purpose.

As for the effect, I can only say that it is neither good nor bad, but it has never been able to meet Lippi's expectations.

He took over the Azzurri twice and once led the team to "win" the World Cup even though the outside world was not optimistic about it.

The "Silver Fox" knows this Italian team very well, but it is precisely because of this understanding that the Bianconeri's meritorious coach has not made up his mind until now.

Trusting veterans and reusing Juventus players, Lippi encountered a lot of doubts and criticisms during his tenure.

However, none of this is important. If in the end he can lead Italy to the top of world football again, there will be people who can help him find a reasonable explanation for all of Nelli's choices, whether they make sense or not.

And as long as the final result is not satisfactory, the more he does, the more mistakes he will make.

Of course it's too early to say that.

Since Italy secured first place in the group in advance, it has already qualified for the World Cup finals in South Africa.

The defending champion's opponent in the last round, Cyprus, is currently ranked fourth in the group and has no chance of competing for the play-offs.

So in the last game of this world preliminaries, Italian head coach Lippi made a substantial rotation.

In other words, it should be a trial of new lineups and an examination of young players.

On October 10, the Italian team arranged a starting lineup of 14 at home.

Balotelli and Gilardino partnered as a double striker, while Leo played as a single attacking midfielder.

Then came the midfield three of Gattuso, De Rossi and D'Agostino.

Left back Bochetti, right back Thornton, Cannavaro ended his suspension and made his 130th appearance on behalf of the national team. The central defender who partners with him is Gamberini.

The goalkeeper was also replaced by Marchetti, and Buffon was directly removed from the squad.

"Leo is the core of this game. Let him organize the offense as much as possible!"

Leo glanced at Gattuso and De Rossi behind him. This feeling was really strange.

The Italian butcher grinned at Leo and said:

"Kid! Just leave the defense to us today! You don't need to worry about what's behind you!"

Nodding, don't say anything, Leo really felt relieved after hearing this.

However, in the first minute of the game, Cyprus created a threat in the penalty area, but in the end the ball was resolved by Italy's substitute goalkeeper Marchetti.

A minute later, visiting team forward Ocas's shot from the left side of the penalty area went over the crossbar.

Well, only five minutes were played in the first half, why was Italy being beaten by Cyprus?

Leo finally seized the opportunity to steal the ball in the frontcourt and then distributed the ball. Thornton broke through the two on the right and passed.

Balotelli's shot from the center of the penalty area was saved by Avgusti.

In the 12th minute, Markridis passed the defensive player on the left and passed a low pass into the penalty area. Ocas escaped from the defense and shot into the lower right corner of the goal!

One to zero!

Cyprus, playing away from home, leads Italy 1-0!
  Leo's big eyes showed great doubts, and he turned his head to look at Gattuso not far away.

"Is this what you said about leaving the defense to you?"

Although he didn't say anything, his eyes were enough to communicate.

Jiaba was a little embarrassed, he didn't expect this situation!
  There is no way, everyone should be more serious in the next game.

Thornton's cross from the right was well placed, but the ball was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper Afgusti.

Then Leo scored the ball, and D'Agostino's cross was cleared by Cyprus defender Charalambous.

After taking the lead, the visiting team resolutely defended with all their players. They did not want to give Italy a chance to equalize the score.

Lippi couldn't help but glance at the opponent's head coach, "This old guy has something."

In fact, Cyprus head coach Angelos Anastasiades is five years younger than Lippi, but he looks quite old.

Leo made a direct pass, and Gilardino's long shot from outside the penalty area missed slightly.

I was speechless. There were more defensive players in the opponent's penalty area than Italian offensive players, and there was no gap at all.

This won't work, and we have to think of a way.

In the 19th minute, Leo used his brain and winked at Balotelli and Thornton.

So Bashen did not continue to spend time in the opponent's penalty area, but retreated outside the penalty area to provide support.

Leo was assigned to the right wing, and Thornton dribbled the ball through two defensive players and passed the ball halfway! Balotelli suddenly turned around and reached the goal unmarked. He dived and scored with a header!
  One to one!

Italy equalizes the score!

The more than 10,000 Italian fans present at the Tardini Stadium did not hesitate to applaud the three Inter Milan teenagers for their wonderful combination of scores.

Lippi also nodded slightly. Maybe Thornton and Balotelli are not the top Italian players now, but they are the future of Italy.

"Not bad, you can understand what I mean instantly."

Leo smiled and high-fived Thornton and Bashen respectively, and celebrated the goal together in the corner flag area.

The two men, who scored goals and assists respectively, were all smiles.

It goes without saying that these two guys are talented, but their only problem is that they like to mess around off the court and are not stable enough.

This is actually a common problem among many talented players who become famous at a young age.

If you change to a smaller team to be the "Prince", it may be better to give them the maximum trust.

It just so happens that they are in Inter Milan, which is competing for the championship. Coupled with Mourinho's character, he will immediately kick them out of the starting lineup as soon as he finds that they are a little unreliable.

Forget it, everything that needs to be said has been said a long time ago. No matter how good the relationship is, they are just friends after all. Leo can't control others and can only be himself.

Every time he thinks like this, Leo still can't bear it. As long as Bashen and Thornton can take care of themselves, at least in the next ten years, Inter Milan and the Italian national team will not have to worry about having no one to use their forwards and full-backs.

And in terms of tacit understanding, it's hard to find anyone who is more proficient in cooperating with Leo than them.

I really can't wait until one day they have experienced setbacks and grown up. If Leo can help, he can help them again.

Of course it is best not to have such a day.

Alas, Leo shook his head and didn't think much more, and got back into the game.

Although the score was equalized, Cyprus continued to defend resolutely and only invested one or two troops in each counterattack, so the threat was not great.

In the 29th minute, Cyprus made substitution adjustments, with Satsias replacing the injured Paraskovas.

Italy is also constantly looking for scoring opportunities, hoping to complete the reversal in the first half.

It was Thornton's breakthrough on the right again. Although it was related to the inferior strength of the opponent and the shrinking defense to leave a large gap, the young Inter Milan full-back performed very well today.

Near the bottom line, Thornton passed back in an inverted triangle. Leo cleverly poked it into the right side of the penalty area from the edge of the penalty area. Balotelli leaned on the Cyprus defender and forced his turn to shoot low with his left foot!

It’s the cooperation of the three of them! It can also be seen from this that the tacit understanding between Leo and the others is indeed quite high.

After all, not only do they train together every day, but they also often play together afterward. There is nothing to say about their relationship.

It's a pity that Bashen's left-footed attack was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper and then bounced off the bottom of the goalpost.

Just as Leo was about to take a corner kick, the referee actually awarded a goal kick.

In a rare counterattack opportunity, Cyprus forward Ocas once again successfully countered offside, but then faced Italian goalkeeper Marchetti and he missed the single-handed ball.

The home team immediately responded with a quick counterattack!
  Leo passed the penalty area from the frontcourt, and Gilardino's volley in front of the penalty spot went over the crossbar!
  At the end of the first half, the score was level one to one!
  Back in the locker room, Lippi summarized the reasons why the first half ended like this.

First of all, it is naturally because Italy no longer has the pressure of results. It doesn't matter how they play in this game after locking in the first place in the group.

The second is that he has made personnel adjustments. Some of today's starters have never played in the national team before.

In addition, the tacit understanding between this group of players is also insufficient, and there is not much practice in the national team training.

In the final analysis, it was a very random experimental lineup by Lippi, and it is normal that it did not perform at a normal level.

Only two minutes into the second half, Cyprus suddenly counterattacked!

Markridis made a pass from the left, Italian defender Gamberini's header hit the back post, and Mikael's volley shot into the far corner of the goal!
  Two to one!

Cyprus actually took the lead again!

This time bursts of boos broke out in the stands of the Tardini Stadium!
  Italian fans expressed dissatisfaction with the team's poor performance!
  Leo noticed that there seemed to be people shouting loudly asking Lippi to re-recruit Cassano to the team.

"Perhaps Cassano's confession on camera a few days ago played a role?"

Just a few days ago, Cassano faced an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, almost crying and expressing infinite regret for his frivolity in his youth.

This Italian genius who was once spotted by Real Madrid chose to fall when he should have been playing alongside Raul, Zidane, Beckham and other stars to fully demonstrate his talent.

Cassano, who became famous at a young age, indulged in a playboy-like luxurious life in Madrid.

Endless partying, poor eating habits, and countless nights where he was a ruthless pile driver, Cassano's mediocre performance in La Liga was understandable.

If this recognized "bad boy" could mature earlier, realize his character problems, and change his bad temper, perhaps his achievements would be far more than this.

It's a pity that there is no medicine for regret in the world. The talented young man who was once brilliant and talented, after going through hardships, regretted and realized that it was too late.

Oh, maybe it's not too late. Although the 27-year-old Cassano's physical fitness is far inferior to when he was young, his skills have not declined.

Of course, the premise is that Cassano has really grown up and can control his temper.

It's funny to say that if he could be consistent, face his life calmly, and not regret his previous choices, then Leo would still respect him as a man.

But at this time, he acted like he wanted to change his past to win sympathy, but he didn't know what the purpose was.

Maybe Lippi knew this "bad thing" too well, so he remained unmoved and had no intention of recruiting Cassano into the national team from beginning to end.

(End of this chapter)