The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 146 Is your name De Rong?
  The World Cup qualifiers are still in full swing, and there are still undetermined quotas in each major competition area.

But for Italy, the World Cup preliminaries are over.

Before next summer's World Cup, they only have some friendly matches to test players and hone their lineup.

This can also be seen from the selection of the "Silver Fox" this time. Livorno midfielder Candreva and Cagliari midfielder Biondini were both selected for the first time.

On November 11, the Italian national team led by Lippi sat at home and ushered in a contest with the "uncrowned king" the Netherlands.

Both Italy and the Netherlands have successfully obtained tickets to enter South Africa. The purpose of this game is undoubtedly to practice the lineup and prepare for next year's World Cup in South Africa.

Lippi announced the starting lineup the day before the game, with Gilardino serving as the starting center. Former Juventus striker Palladino, who had been away from the national team for two years, and veteran Camoranesi were on the wings.

Leo continues to appear in the attacking midfielder position, with Pirlo and Palombo behind him.

Chiellini and Cannavaro partnered as central defenders, with Grosso at left back and Gianluca Zambrotta at right back.

Buffon made his 100th appearance for the Italian national team.

Although Juventus players such as Iaquinta and Marchisio did not start today, there are still as many as five members of the Bianconeri in the Italian team's eleven.

If Juventus still has absolute dominance in the country as before, then there is no problem in building the Italian national team with them as the core.

However, since the beginning of this season, Juventus, which is currently in the rebuilding period, has been in ups and downs, and can only rank in the middle and upper reaches of Serie A.

And Lippi, the coach of the Chinese national team, still stubbornly reuses Juventus players, so he has naturally received a lot of criticism.

For the Dutch team, Robben and Sneijder were absent due to injuries, but Van Bommel, who had missed four consecutive national team games, returned.

Van Marwijk adopted a four-two-three-one formation today.

The goalkeeper is Stekelenberg.

On the back line, Matheson and Heitinga sit in the middle, while Van Bronckhorst and Vandeveer guard the wings.

Midfielders Van Bommel and De Jong formed a double defensive midfielder. In front of them, Kuyt, Van der Vaart and Elia lined up, and Van Persie's single arrow came forward.

There is a special ceremony before the game, because all ticket sales from this game will be donated to the disaster relief fund for the earthquake in Italy in April this year.

So before the game started, Italian captain Cannavaro accepted a donation check from the Dutch team as a representative.

The whole audience gave this heartwarming scene a warm applause.

The game started, and once again putting on the blue Italy home jersey, Leo no longer felt anything special.

What he wants now is to play well in the national team. Next year's World Cup is waiting for him.

No matter how well he plays in Serie A, even if he is very popular in the Champions League, it is of no use.

Because the World Cup is the highest standard, highest competitive level, and most famous football game in the world!
  Other competitions, whether they are the five major leagues, the Champions League or the European Cup, are completely incomparable.

The World Cup is a carnival for football fans around the world, which also includes hundreds of millions of fake fans.

Only when he becomes a blockbuster in the World Cup can he, Leo, be regarded as a truly globally famous world-class star!

It’s too far away to think so much, let’s play the game well first.

After receiving the pass from his teammate, Leo put aside his distracting thoughts and accelerated the ball past De Jong.

The Dutch midfielder wanted to make a tackle, but was a step too late and was pulled away by Leo.

Then Leo made a direct pass, and Gilardino's turn shot in the penalty area was blocked by Vandeveer.

The game had just begun, and neither side exerted any force but just tested each other.

In the sixth minute, an Italian fan seized the opportunity to jump from the stands and ran onto the field. The referee had no choice but to stop the game.

This fan's blue T-shirt said "Cassano joins the national team", which made many Italian fans smile knowingly.

He smiled and waved to the stands, making gestures to encourage the fans to cheer, and then ran to Leo without stopping.

Leo was very cautious about such emergencies. After confirming that the other party was not threatening or hiding any dangerous weapons, he smiled and gave the other party a high-five.

The security personnel at the scene did not intervene forcibly, and the satisfied "spoiler" walked to the sidelines on his own.

The game was interrupted for more than a minute before restarting.

Pirlo made a long pass from midfield, and Gilardino succeeded in countering offside. Unfortunately, his shot from a small angle on the right side hit the side net.

Then the Dutch team also counterattacked. Elia and Van der Vaart cooperated in the frontcourt and then entered the penalty area. The ball was destroyed by Italian full-back Gianluca Zambrotta.

Camorane broke through from the west and knocked back. Leo took the ball in front of the penalty area and smashed past Van Bommel's pass to the left.

Palladino, under the close guard of Heitinga, forced his kick and missed the right post.

The two teams did not play conservatively in today's friendly match. The scene was quite exciting with each other's offense and defense.

His ability to seize opportunities is just a bit poor, and he has yet to score a goal.

In the 20th minute, Elia made a pass from the left. Robin van Persie advanced and shot from a small angle but was blocked by Italian defender Chiellini and then missed the left post.

Van Persie was accidentally injured during this shot and was taken off on a stretcher. Then Huntelaar replaced the injured "Robin Man".

The game continued, Palombo stole the ball from De Jong in the center circle.

This was unbearable for the Dutchman, and with a fierce tackle, De Jong not only snatched the ball back, but also brought Palombo down.

Leo was nearby, and he clearly saw De Jong flashing his spikes and stepping on his teammate's ankle.

Is this guy called De Jong? It certainly lives up to its reputation.

Leo glanced at it and ran over to communicate with the referee Claudio.

"Is this a flagrant foul? I even saw him flashing his spikes!"

But the referee just backed away and warned Leo not to get excited.

After Palombo got up, he found that his socks had been cut by De Jong.

He limped to the sidelines and put on a new pair of socks before returning to the court.

The Italian players were very angry and surrounded the fierce De Jong.

The Dutch team did not show weakness and stood behind teammate De Jong. Players from both sides almost clashed on the field. After referee Claudio calmed the situation, De Jong was not given a card to warn him.

Amid the boos from the Italian fans in the audience, the atmosphere of this friendly match gradually became more intense.

Elia scored the ball in the frontcourt and then moved forward. Van der Vaart passed straight into the penalty area. Zambrotta was the first to clear the ball.

Kuyt followed up with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, and the ball missed the right post.

Buffon quickly took the goal kick, and Italy counterattacked into the frontcourt.

Leo penetrated forward and continued to break forward after receiving Pirlo's through pass. De Jong and Van Bommel double-teamed on the left and right.

Looking at De Jong who was charging towards him with a grin, Leo didn't care about Van Bommel on the other side and rushed straight towards the waist of the notorious Dutch beast.

He even deliberately slowed down his pace, and after De Jong was in position, he suddenly started to lift the ball over the opponent's head.

Leo's skillful dribbling was about to break through the Netherlands' defense. De Jong was able to stop Leo for a moment even as he pulled and pulled his jersey almost to pieces.

After getting rid of the defense, Leo did not forget to turn around and smile at the Dutchman.

No matter what Leo's smile means, in De Jong's opinion, it is ridicule!
  How could he endure this? When he turned around, he was hit with a flying shovel from the side!
  He aimed at Leo's right ankle and shoveled it up. Yes, the spikes were still on.

"This is what I've been waiting for!"

As if there were eyes in the back of his head, Leo raised his feet to avoid De Jong's first wave of attacks, but he was still knocked off balance by the opponent and fell heavily.

As for "accidentally" stepping on the opponent's left foot during the fall and hitting De Jong's waist with an elbow, those were naturally accidents.

It sounds like so much, but it actually happens in just a few seconds.

Everyone saw De Jong flying tackle, and then both of them fell to the ground in pain.

This time the referee didn't pretend to be blind anymore, but after all it was a friendly match, so even though it was like this, he only gave De Jong a yellow card.

De Jong was not sent off, but he still had to go because he was injured and could not continue.

Leo showed mercy at the last moment. De Jong's leg was not broken but was slightly injured.

So when he came off the field, he looked fiercely at Leo, who looked innocent.

Leo smiled, what? Still not convinced?

He pretended to be concerned and ran to De Jong who was about to leave, covered his mouth and said in a voice that only the other party could hear:

"Those who hurt others will always be hurt. This time is just a small warning. Remember to be more honest next time you encounter someone."

Englal came on as a substitute for the injured De Jong.

Only thirty minutes into the game, two players from the Dutch team were injured and left the field.

The crowd finally calmed down a bit and stopped performing all-out martial arts.

That's right. The friendly match was originally used to practice tactics, but it almost didn't end in a fight. What's the point?

Then the Italian team, playing at home, gradually gained the upper hand with its solid defense and sharp counterattacks.

But at the end of the half, they still failed to score the first goal.

At the beginning of the second half, neither side made any substitutions.

Pirlo received a pass from Leo at the front of the penalty area and shot a low shot suddenly with a cold arrow!
  The ball hit Van Bommel and bounced out of the baseline.

Pirlo then passed the corner kick, and Gilardino's header from the previous point did not pose a threat.

Van der Vaart passed through the middle, and Buffon got the ball under him before Huntelaar.

In the 56th minute, Lippi replaced Palladino with Balotelli.

Grosso made a pass from the left, and Camoranesi's powerful volley was blocked by Van Bronckhorst who fell to the ground.

Leo passed the ball into the penalty area again, and Balotelli turned Heitinga's forceful turn and shot past the flying Stekelenberg's fingertips and into the lower right corner of the goal!

One to zero!

Balotelli and Leo have a better understanding, everyone can see this.

After the goal, the two just high-fived lightly to celebrate, as if the goal was not worth mentioning.

Then Leo passed directly to Balotelli in the frontcourt, creating several excellent scoring opportunities.

It is a pity that Bashen did not seize the opportunity to expand the score.

In the 70th minute, the two teams made substitutions. Biondini replaced Palombo on the Italian side, and Babel replaced Elia on the Dutch side.

But by this time both sides were holding back a bit, as they didn't want any more players to be injured.

Van der Vaart's long shot from outside the penalty area was directly thrown into the arms of Buffon.

Soon Leo received Balotelli's counterattack and followed up with a curve ball shot that hit the right post.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, the two teams continued to make substitutions.

Van Marwijk replaced Van der Vaart with Afellay, while Lippi replaced Gilardino and Leo with Pazzini and Montolivo.

When the Italian fans saw Leo being replaced, they also applauded him.

Leo smiled and applauded in the stands, thanking everyone for their support.

This feels pretty good, Leo thought as he returned to the bench and sat down.

In stoppage time, Pirlo made a pass from the right, Cannavaro's header was passed, and Pazzini fell to the ground from behind and scored the ball with his hand!

The Swiss referee didn't see it clearly at first and signaled that the goal was valid.

However, the Dutch team's defensive players raised their hands to signal handball. The referee went to the sidelines and consulted the assistant referee and confirmed that Pazzini had indeed committed a handball foul and the goal was invalid.

The two teams then made substitutions again, but neither team scored again.

In the end, the result of this "colorful" friendly match was that Italy defeated the Netherlands 1-0 at home.

(End of this chapter)