The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 195 Shining On The Stage
  At the beginning of the second half, surprisingly, Lippi directly replaced two players.

Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta were replaced by the young Bonucci and the even younger David Thornton.

This is not actually due to tactical considerations, but the head coach Lippi is expressing his attitude.

No matter what achievements you have had in the past or how good your relationship with him is, you will be replaced as long as your performance in the game is not good enough.

Iaquinta intercepted the ball from the left and passed it across, but Gilardino's long shot was blocked by the defender.

Barrios' left-footed shot from outside the penalty area missed the left post.

Criscito made a breakthrough pass from the left, and Iaquinta's header went slightly wide.

The game situation did not seem to have changed much. Italy still controlled the ball and attacked, while Paraguay, who was leading the score, continued to defend and counterattack.

In the 59th minute, Marchisio broke into the penalty area and was brought down by Da Silva, but the referee refused to award a penalty kick.

Italy made another substitution, Leo came on as a substitute and replaced Di Natale.

The Italian fans at the scene burst into warm cheers to welcome Leo's appearance.

They have been looking forward to it for a long time, looking forward to Leo's appearance to save the team in times of crisis!
  Many spectators watching this game from all over the world looked at this young man with a relaxed smile in confusion.

"Who is this?"

So many of them immediately opened Google and entered Leo's name.

After they saw the championships Leo has won so far in his career, as well as the number of goals and assists he has personally achieved.

The handsome and sunny face on the TV screen is deeply engraved in everyone's mind.

"It looks pretty powerful, but I don't know how many brushes it has."

Under the spotlight, Leo makes his debut!
  Making his first appearance on the World Cup stage, Lippi gave Leo thirty minutes.

With the first touch of the ball, Leo received Pirlo's pass and directly distributed the ball to the right without sticking.

"It looks ordinary."

After passing the ball, Leo immediately got rid of Caceres' defense and advanced to the penalty area.

Thornton dunked past the Paraguayan defender on the right and knocked back. Leo flicked his ankle and stopped the ball firmly in front of him.

Then with a flick of his right foot, Leo moved the ball elegantly past Paulo Da Silva, who was on top of him, and hit a powerful low shot!
  The ball flew close to the ground and into the lower right corner of the goal!
  Although Paraguay goalkeeper Villar fought hard to save, he was still half a step slower.

One to one!

Italy equalized the score!

For some, scoring a goal is that simple.

Leo, who seemed to score the first goal of this World Cup for the Azzurri effortlessly, ran to the corner flag area with a bright smile and celebrated the goal with his teammates.

Enjoying the applause of the audience, Leo made the iconic bow and arrow celebration gesture towards the end of the camera.

"There's...something, but it's just a draw."

Three minutes later, Leo passed the ball straight from the front, and Gilardino turned around and hit the defensive player with a long-range shot that bounced out of the baseline.

Then Leo took a left corner kick, Villar's reckless attack missed the ball, and De Rossi grabbed the spot in front of the goal and volleyed into the empty goal!

Two to one!

In just five minutes after Leo came on as a substitute, Italy scored two goals to reverse the score!
  The Italian coach on the sidelines also smiled slightly. He thought that replacing Leo could change the situation.

But I didn’t expect the effect to be so good and so fast!

Leo was born for big scenes. The more important the game, the better he is!

And it’s not just him who is alive, the entire Azzurri team is alive!
  With Leo's organizational support, Iaquinta and Gilardino also got opportunities to score goals one after another.

It's a pity that they may have left their shooting boots in Italy and did not bring them with them. They squandered excellent scoring opportunities again and again and did not even pose any threat to the opponent's goalkeeper.

Paraguay coach Martino made successive substitutions, with Wolfsburg midfielder Santana, Manchester City forward Santa Cruz and Benfica forward Cardoso coming on as substitutes.

Replaced Valdes and Barrios who were lost in Italy's reinforced concrete defense in today's game.

At the end of the game, Rodriguez took a corner kick, Santa Cruz nodded the ball in front, and Italian central defender Bonucci immediately headed the ball to clear the ball!

The Azzurri counterattack quickly!
  Pirlo made a long pass from the backcourt, Leo passed the ball to his teammates, and David Thornton volleyed with his right foot from 30 meters away!
  Paraguay goalkeeper Villar flew to save the ball!
  Leo leaped high with his chest to stop the ball and walked into the penalty area, passing the Paraguayan defender and hitting the near corner with his left foot!
  Villar, who had just made a flying save, saw that the ball had crossed the goal line and landed behind him before he could get up.

Three to one!

Italy secures victory!

In the end, Italy scored three goals in a row to win after conceding one goal first!

Successfully got the first three points of this World Cup.

The defending champion refuses to be upset!

Lippi did not explain much about the adjustments he made after the game.

"This is just the first game and my players are still getting used to the rhythm of the World Cup.

We responded well after conceding the goal and performed well.

Paraguay played hard, but they had no creativity whatsoever.

We should play better in the next game. "

Leaving Cape Town, Italy traveled to the venue of their second round match, Nesplit, the capital of the Mpumalanga province in South Africa. In this small city with a population of only 210,000, Italy welcomed their opponent in the second round of the group stage, New Zealand.

At the Mbombela Stadium in Nesplit, Leo made his first start in the World Cup.

Compared with the first round, Lippi made significant adjustments to the lineup.

Balotelli and Pepe partnered as a double striker.

Leo serves as the attacking midfielder, behind him are Pirlo, De Rossi and Marchisio.

Left back David Thornton, right back Maggio, Chiellini and Bonucci partnered as center back and goalkeeper Marchetti.

Cannavaro did not start, which seemed to be beyond the expectations of the New Zealand team.

The Oceania team's frequent high-altitude bombing tactics from the wing after the opening had no effect at all.

There seems to be some good chemistry between the two young central defenders of the Italian team.

Although Bonucci may still be lacking in experience compared to his predecessors after a season of Serie A, his active running and fighting are enough to make up for his shortcomings.

The center back combination of Bonucci and Chiellini impressed all Italian fans with their solid performance on the defensive end.

I don’t know if it’s because of the limited strength of their opponents, but today’s Azzurri reminds fans of the championship team with outstanding defense four years ago.

There is no need to worry about the defense behind him, and Leo can naturally let go and help the Italian team launch the attack.

Only seven minutes into the game, Leo broke through three New Zealand defensive players in the middle and passed directly to the right side of the penalty area!

Balotelli successfully countered offside and scored with his left foot without being marked!

Italy leads the opponent 1 to 0!

Even if some of the players in some positions are not top-notch, the overall technical and tactical level displayed by the Italian team today is worthy of the title of defending champion.

Lippi is still the same Lippi, and Silver Fox has already figured out New Zealand's deployment.

New Zealand's three forwards fell completely into the defensive trap prepared by Italy.

If it weren't for goalkeeper Marco Paston, who plays for the Wellington Phoenix, in this game, the Blue Jackets would have already led them by a huge margin.

Facing such an Italian team that was performing normally, New Zealand, which had a huge gap in strength, could only devote all its energy to defense.

Throughout the first half, Leo was almost active near the New Zealand team's penalty area.

In the 43rd minute, Leo was surrounded by three defensive players and passed the ball through the gap with a clever heel kick!
  After receiving the ball, De Rossi broke into the penalty area!

De Rossi was pulled down by New Zealand defender Smith in front of the small penalty area!
  The referee decisively awarded a penalty kick! And showed Smith a yellow card!
  Leo stepped up to the penalty spot without hesitation.

It has nothing to do with identity, status or qualifications, just strength.

Leo's penalty kick ability is the best in the team, and his psychological quality is the best in the team. If he is not given the penalty kick, who will take it?
  Without being disturbed by the New Zealand goalkeeper at all, Leo was calm and successfully deceived the opponent by shaking his upper body, and calmly executed a foot-to-the-ground chop!
  But Paston threw the ball in the wrong direction and could only watch in despair as the ball went into the net!

Two to zero!
  Italy ended the first half against New Zealand with a two-goal lead.

The situation was completely under Italy's control, and New Zealand replaced West Brom youngster Chris Wood in the second half.

The eighteen-year-old striker is ten months younger than David Thornton, the youngest player in the Italian team.

However, this had no effect. In the second half, the Blue Jackets still pressed them.

In the 58th minute, Leo faked a shot and passed the ball from outside the penalty area, and the ball went to the right!
  Balotelli's right foot shot from a small angle was blocked by Paston!

Leo, who got in front of the goal, easily succeeded in the follow-up shot!

Three to zero!
  Italy sealed the victory!

Scoring four goals in two games, Leo's fiery momentum is jaw-dropping!

Of course, this can only be blamed on the inability of Italy's forwards, otherwise there would be no need for Leo to step up and end the game.

There was not much suspense in this game. Lippi replaced Camoranesi, Palombo and Gattuso who had not played in this World Cup.

Neither side was able to change the score in the subsequent games.

In the end, Italy defeated New Zealand 3-0, winning both games and accumulating six points to qualify from the group ahead of schedule!
  Paraguay defeated Slovakia in the second round and ranked second with three points. Slovakia and New Zealand both had only one point and were at the bottom of the group.

However, in addition to Italy having already qualified in advance, the second qualifying spot is still uncertain.

If Paraguay can defeat New Zealand in the final round, they will have their hopes in their own hands.

If New Zealand and Slovakia want to advance, they must win their last game.

“I think the team is in good shape and everyone is working hard to win.

Paraguay and New Zealand are both very capable opponents. Our consecutive victories are due to the reasonable tactics of the head coach and the unity of all teammates.

I am quite satisfied with my performance. I have never thought about the World Cup Golden Boot. The team's victory is more important than my personal data.

The goal is of course to defend the title, I know this is difficult, no team has successfully done it.

What I love most is making history and breaking records! "

At the press conference after the game, 20-year-old Leo was calm and eloquent in interviews with more than a hundred media from around the world.

And his style has spread to every corner of the world along with digital signals.

(End of this chapter)