Center

Chapter 269: Stable as Mount Tai
After the start of the second half, Casiraghi replaced Parowski with Okaka. It wasn't that Parowski performed badly, but that he almost disappeared in the crowd in the penalty area of ​​the China Youth Team.

With a height of only 1.7 meters 1.8, Parowski went to the penalty area of ​​the Chinese youth team with an average height of [-] meters [-]. It is difficult to see where he is. Although a striker like him may appear in front of the camera lens and score a goal once, but he does not even have a chance to appear in front of the camera...

It was Casiraghi's helpless move to send Okaka. He brought four forwards to Egypt this time. In addition to Okaka, another substitute striker from Juventus, Pasquato, was of the same type as Balotelli.

There are still many centers born after 89 in Italy. For example, Chelsea’s Bottini, Inter Milan’s Destro, and Manchester United’s Kiko. These are all good center forwards, but they were all born in 91. They are members of the Italian U-17. There are far fewer great forwards.

Under such circumstances, Okaka became the only option for Casiraghi to adjust the front line.

In fact, like Balotelli, Okaka, who is of African descent, also showed his talent in football at a very young age. Roma successfully signed him after fierce competition with AC Milan. At the age of 16, he helped the Roma youth team win the national youth competition and played in the UEFA Cup. He became the youngest Italian debut player in the intercontinental arena. At that time, Balotelli had not even made his mark in the Inter Milan reserve team...

His strong body is the biggest capital for him to gain a foothold on the football field, but four years have passed, he still seems to only use his strong body, his skills are average, and his shooting is generally evaluated by other people. From this point of view, he is even far inferior to Long Bisheng who was the same year as him. At least Long Bisheng is no longer a center who only relies on his body for food.

As soon as he was sent on the field, Li Jie kept a close eye on him. Compared with a player with excellent skills like Balotelli, he preferred to guard a striker with excellent physical condition but rough skills like Okaka, because this way he could maximize his physical advantages.

Li Jie's height is 1.8 meters eight, the sprint speed is 12 seconds, and the turning speed and reaction are quite good. He is born to be a good seed to play as a central defender. In terms of confrontation, he has never been afraid of anyone except Long Bisheng.

Perhaps it was because of too much physical confrontation with Long Bisheng at Yunjia Tianyu Football School, and Li Jie's confrontation ability is also quite good--Long Bisheng is an exception, he is a monster, he is Tarzan of the ape... In short, he is not human.

Not long after the start of the second half, the Italian youth team quickly got a corner kick. After breaking through Huang Zhenghong from the side, Balotelli planned to continue to break into the penalty area.

The two Italian central defenders, Tuya and Brusco, ran into the penalty area of ​​the China Youth Team. Long Bisheng also returned to the defense. Now the height of the Italian youth team's frontcourt is quite good. It would be a bit difficult for him not to return to the defense.

Okaka scrambled for a position in the penalty area, but Li Jie quickly found him and stuck to him tightly from behind.

Feeling that Li Jie was sticking to him, Okaka slammed back with force. He didn't use too much force this time, but it was enough to make ordinary defenders back a little.

But at this moment, he felt that he had hit a wall and remained motionless.

Okaka, who started to feel a little surprised, bumped back again in disbelief—this time he used [-]% of his force, but the result was the same, the opponent didn't move at all!
Li Jie was bumped twice by Okaka, and he was slightly surprised by the strength of the big black man in front of him, but he was not moved. He had experienced a lot of confrontation of this level in the Bundesliga.

After being bumped twice by Okaka, Li Jie naturally wouldn't just let his opponent hit him in vain - he wouldn't hit back, but he had a way to make the opponent feel more uncomfortable - his hands started to move dishonestly on Okaka, constantly pushing and shoving the opponent, it was the kind of small pushing, but it made the attacking players feel uncomfortable.

Just when Okaka was about to appeal to the referee, Balotelli, who was standing in the corner, had already delivered the ball!

When Balotelli started to play in Inter Milan last season, he took all the free kicks and corner kicks in the team. Of course, Mihajnovic’s retirement, Recoba’s transfer, and Inter Milan’s lack of free kick masters are factors in it, but a rookie can get such an important task. It proves his strength. Last season, when free kicks were basically taken by Ibrahimovic, Balotelli was still the first corner kicker as long as he played.

Balotelli's corner kick was also quite good. The rapidly spinning ball first flew almost parallel to the baseline, and then began to arc outwards-for such a corner kick, goalkeepers generally dare not attack.

The ball landed in the middle. Tuya in the front and Brusco in the back were under the strict marking of the China Youth Team players. Only Okaka in the middle was defended by Li Jie...

Okaka jumped up to meet the ball, and Li Jie also jumped up. When he jumped, he put his arms together with the opponent, and then used a force to push Okaka away. The next thing was simple. Li Jie, who had grabbed the point, shook his head and pushed the ball out of the penalty area.

Andre Poli received the ball outside the penalty area. Because the defensive players of the Chinese youth team were all in the penalty area, the defense there was a little weak, but Andre Poli did not have much time to adjust, because Zhang Yi had already rushed towards him from the side. He had no time to adjust and immediately shot a long shot!

As soon as the ball was shot, Zhang Yi's feet arrived. The ball touched his toes and flew out of the sideline.

"Damn it!" Casiraghi thumped the lawn angrily on the sidelines. The corner kick turned into a frontcourt throw-in. Will it turn into a backcourt throw-in later?

For strong teams, breaking the dense defense is always a headache. Although Italy is the originator of defensive counterattacks, they have no good experience in breaking dense defenses.

Casiraghi looked at his watch, 5 minutes had passed in the second half, and he still had 10 minutes to break through the opponent's goal-but what he couldn't do in the first 10 minutes, could he do it in 10 minutes?
This Italian youth team looks very strong, but in addition to the lack of a powerful center forward, the lack of outstanding wide players is also a major problem. Although Thornton's assist ability is very good, under the impact of the surrounding speed, he also has to focus more on defense.

At the beginning, Thornton often added assists, but after the breakthrough shortly after the start of the first half, Thornton rarely stepped forward.

Casiraghi replaced Okaka originally intending to increase the impact in the penalty area, but he was stared at by the opponent's seemingly strong central defender. Okaka worked very hard to collide with the opponent, but his proud body was not able to beat the opponent, and it was not helpful for scoring.

Ding Yu hugged his hands, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The current situation of the game is indeed gradually moving in the direction he hopes. Although it looks ugly, the China Youth Team is almost suppressed by Italy in the half-court, but in reality?As stable as Mount Tai.

After Li Jie changed his focus to Okaka, Hu Gandang became a full-time defender of Balotelli. Chen Jian began to do his favorite job as a replacement. Hu Gandang is also very strong and has excellent defensive ability. Although he is six centimeters shorter than Balotelli, Balotelli may not be able to beat him in physical confrontation.

Balotelli, who dribbled the ball from the side, used a series of dazzling dribbles to shake off Gandang Hu's defense, but Gandang Hu immediately pulled him to the ground with a backhand.

Balotelli stared at Hu Gandang, but Hu Gandang looked at him without fear.

After watching Hu Gandang for a while, Balotelli walked away, but the anger in his heart was ignited - grumpy people tend to lose their temper when things go wrong. Although Balotelli's control ability is much better now, he still can't contain his anger.

Three minutes later, Balotelli tried to pass Hu Gandang again, but this time Hu Gandang used a clean tackle to tackle the ball, and then immediately got up to take the ball forward, and then he felt someone behind him pushed him.

Hu Gandang fell to the ground as a matter of course, and the Chinese fans in the stands booed harshly, and the boos were aimed at Balotelli who fouled behind him——

Balotelli also received a yellow card for this obvious act of revenge, but Hu Gandang, who was lying on the ground, just smiled and stood up as if nothing had happened.

"Damn it!"

Casiraghi's head started to hurt again. He didn't have a good way to train this genius who is as good in temper as he is in strength. Anger can make people show stronger strength, but it can also make people lose their composure. The only Italian striker who is trustworthy is Balotelli. He has lost his composure. How can Italy, which is already weak in attack, fight?
(End of this chapter)