The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 200 Impossible!
  Seeing that Italy's condition is getting better, the defending champion has gradually become one of the favorites to win the championship.

Leo has almost locked in the Golden Boot Award for this World Cup in advance.

After becoming the hot spot pursued by the media, Leo finally felt the difference of the World Cup again.

"What do you think about Mourinho leaving Inter Milan and officially joining Real Madrid?"

Speaking of Mourinho, since Leo came to the national team immediately after playing in the Champions League, he didn't even have time to say goodbye to him.

Or maybe that hug after the Champions League was already considered farewell?
  Leo really didn't want to answer this question that he had answered countless times in the past few days, and he almost rolled his eyes in front of all the reporters.

But every time the people asked were different, from different countries, and some were not even journalists in the football field.

It can only be said that after all, it is the World Cup, which is the hottest focus in the world today, and all kinds of people want to come to take advantage of the popularity.

With a smile on his face, as his fame grows, Leo must always pay attention to his image in front of the public.

“Mourinho is a coach that I respect very much, and my teammates and I are actually very sad to see him leave.

But we respect Mourinho's decision and wish him all the best in Real Madrid.

Even if he is no longer my head coach and we can no longer work together, we will still be friends. "

"Leo, I want to ask..."

……

"Our opponent in the next game is Germany."

The Italian team met its old rival Germany in the World Cup semi-finals.

After entering the knockout rounds, the German team eliminated England 4-1, and then defeated Argentina, led by Messi, 4-0.

Germany was unstoppable along the way and showed strong offensive capabilities.

Therefore, there are many people who are optimistic that the German team can advance to the finals.

However, Lippi knows the German team quite well, and Italy is full of confidence in this game.

“The German team is in good momentum, so we have to suppress them from the start.

Most of their starting players are relatively young, and they can easily become panicked and lose the initiative once they are at a disadvantage.

First, the defensive end..."

On July 7, in the second semi-final of the World Cup in South Africa, the contest between Italy and Germany was held at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, the second largest stadium in South Africa.

Compared with the last game against Spain, Lippi only made one adjustment.

Balotelli returned to the bench, Iaquinta and Di Natale partnered up front, and the other positions remained unchanged.

The German team also basically continued the starting lineup from their 4-0 victory over Argentina, with Troshowski starting in place of Thomas Muller, who had accumulated yellow cards and was suspended.

Loew formed a 4-2-3 formation, with Klose on the front line.

Behind him are Podolski, Ergo and Troshovsky, Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

On the back line, Mertesacker and Friedrich partnered as central defenders, Jerome Boateng and Bayern captain Lahm were on the left and right, and the goalkeeper was naturally Neuer.

Silvio Berlusconi, then Italian Prime Minister, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were both present to watch the game.

This may reflect the influence of the World Cup from another perspective.

After the game started, Italy took the lead and launched the attack first.

The German team took the initiative to recover and played extremely cautiously, focusing on a defensive counterattack.

Less than a minute into the game, Leo caught the ball, turned around and quickly ran forward into the penalty area with a very threatening pass!
  Di Natale shook off Friedrich and broke through to the goal with a right-footed shot that was blocked by Neuer who struck out in time!

Then Leo stole the ball in the frontcourt and passed it into the left side of the penalty area. Iaquinta followed up with a diving header that missed the near corner of the goal.

After that, the German team stepped up their fight in the midfield, the referee's standards were looser than expected, and Italy's offensive slowed down.

In the fourth minute, a jaw-dropping scene appeared.

An Italian fan wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt with the Superman logo and holding a vuvuzela, a unique South African "instrument", miraculously passed through many obstacles, rolled down from the stands, and walked straight into the stadium.

Everyone at the scene was stunned, and the German players who were controlling the ball were even more confused.

The referee Kasei from Hungary saw this and immediately blew the whistle to stop the game.

Fortunately, this "intruder" slowed down after entering the court and did not make any dangerous moves towards the players on the court.

It didn't take long for him to be dragged out by two security guards and the game continued.

Leo couldn't help but think of someone doing something similar in a friendly match before.

etc! This guy looks familiar!

Couldn't he be the guy who complained about Cassano before?
  Putting irrelevant distractions behind, Italy patiently controlled the ball and looked for opportunities under the leadership of Leo.

A cool turn to pull the ball away from Bastian Schweinsteiger's press, and Leo moved to the wing.

David Thornton made a pass from the bottom of the penalty area. Neither Iaquinta nor Di Natale grabbed the point in the penalty area and was cleared by the German central defender with a header.

Marchisio's long shot from outside the penalty area was saved by Neuer!
  The German team quickly launched a counterattack, and Bastian Schweinsteiger sent a direct pass just after halftime.

After Ergo received the ball, Chiellini tackled him to the ground with the ball. The referee had no intention of playing a card.

Then Germany's free kick was easily picked off by Buffon.

Throwing the ball vigorously to the Italian defender in front of him, the German team counterattacked very quickly, and the speed of returning to defense was also not slow.

Leo did not hesitate, and sent a long diagonal pass that spanned more than half of the stadium and flew over the heads of the German defenders who were struggling to catch up. David Thornton unloaded the ball from the right and cut into the right side of the penalty area and volleyed from a small angle and missed the near post.

The Blue Jackets made a comeback two minutes later, and Pirlo's through ball in the frontcourt was intercepted by Mertesacker.

Immediately afterwards, Mertesacker made a pass error under the pressure of the Italian team in the frontcourt and was intercepted by De Rossi!

After receiving the ball, Leo took the ball diagonally to the right side of the penalty area and dunked past Boateng and passed the ball!
  A precise high ball cross came to the middle of the penalty area. Unfortunately, the German team is not the previous Japanese team or Spain. Instead of being at a disadvantage in terms of height, they have an advantage.

Bremen center back Per Mertesacker, who is nearly two meters tall, leaped high and headed the ball out of the penalty area to resolve a crisis!
  Germany launched a counterattack again. Ergo made a pass from the left. Klose unloaded the ball and turned around to break into the penalty area, but was intercepted by Bonucci in time!

Pirlo also tried a long curved shot from outside the penalty area, and the ball slightly missed the right post.

Klose, the golden boot of the last World Cup, almost made a breakthrough in the penalty area. In the end, he was double-teamed by three Italian defenders and forced a shot into the center of Buffon's hands.

As the game time went on, both teams gradually got into shape.

And "thanks" to the referee's loose penalty scale, the game was very smooth, and the transition between offense and defense was extremely rapid.

Leo made a diagonal pass from the middle, Criscito passed a half-high ball from the left, and Iaquinta's header from the front of the small penalty area went over the crossbar.

In the 27th minute, Khedira stepped on Marchisio's ankle while stealing the ball. The referee Kasei whistled for a foul and took out the first yellow card of the game.

About 26 meters from the goal in the front left of the penalty area, Italy won a well-positioned free kick opportunity.

"You take the penalty shot. I think your shooting percentage is quite high in this position."

Pirlo covered his mouth with his hand to communicate with Leo.

Leo measured the distance between the free throw position and the goal with his eyes, and just nodded without saying a word.

Neuer directed his teammates to line up a wall in front of him and stared at Leo, who was standing in front of the penalty spot with his arms akimbo, feeling a little nervous.

Leo didn't have much mental activity. He had already taken penalty kicks before. This was just a free kick. If he didn't score, it wouldn't matter.

And I haven’t taken a free kick in this World Cup, right?

Since the start of this World Cup, Leo has made great achievements from both distance and with both feet.

As for his "leaf ball" stunt, it seems that he has not shown it yet.

Instead, Pirlo had scored a direct free kick before.

The noise in his ears could not affect Leo who was concentrating at all. All he could see at the moment was the opponent's goal!

Kasai's whistle sounded and Leo moved!

Under the watchful eyes of more than 70,000 spectators at Durban's Mabuhida Stadium, Leo performed his approach and kick in one go.

The ball drew a moving arc and flew over the head of the German team's wall. Neuer saw the right moment and jumped!

"impossible!"

However, Leo's falling leaf ball fell later than Neuer expected, and it fell faster than he expected!
  Leo's free kick went past the German goalkeeper's save and went straight into the upper right corner of the goal!

One to zero!

With Leo's free kick scoring directly, Italy broke the deadlock on the field!

Neuer punched the ground with his fists in dissatisfaction.

"The main reason is that I'm not familiar with his free kicks. Next time, next time I won't let him score like this again!"

The Italian fans in the stands excitedly shouted Leo's name and applauded Italy!

German coach Loew, who was wearing a blue sweater as always, frowned. He was very confident that the team could hold on and prevent Italy from scoring.

Now that the score is behind, it is not appropriate for the German team to continue to defend and counterattack.

Although there was not much time left in the first half, they finally decided to let go and attack!

Trochowski volleyed with his left foot from outside the penalty area. Buffon had already predicted it and easily blocked the ball out of the baseline.

An all-out attack means that the defense can no longer be as solid as before. Leo found an opportunity to launch a counterattack!

Di Natale was brought down from behind by Ram, and the referee issued another yellow card warning.

Podolski's long-range shot from outside the penalty area was saved by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Leo made a long pass from the backcourt, and Iaquinta almost ended up with a single goal. Friedrich, who fought hard to defend, knocked down the Italian forward and received a yellow card.

Before the first half was over, the German team already had two defenders and one midfielder carrying yellow cards.

This is not good news for them.

Entering stoppage time, the German team continues to attack!

Klose pulled to the right to get the ball, broke through Criscito and then sent a through ball!

Ergou broke into the penalty area and fell near the penalty spot!

The referee Kasei shook his head firmly. There was no foul on the ball. It was Ergou who failed to maintain a good balance and threw the ball.

Ergou, who was dissatisfied with the referee's penalty, protested loudly and successfully received a yellow card.

At the end of the first half, Italy temporarily led Germany 1-0 with Leo's goal!

　I was a little moved when I saw an interview with Thornton yesterday. He used to have such a good relationship with Barcelona that they shared a girlfriend, but then they didn't even talk to each other for ten years. Italian football is also in a mess now, alas.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)