our euro cup

Chapter 45
Perisic sinks a cross!

Mandzukic leaps high!Header!
Neither Barzagli nor Chiellini has the absolute bounce to defend Mandzukic!Mandzukic jumped a head taller than both of them, and just in time to catch Perisic's sinking cross and head it in!

However, Italy has a world number one goalkeeper...

He is, Buffon!

Buffon rushed in the direction of Mandzukic's header!His figure is like a flying fish.

I am so familiar with that movement...

That's right!

I am reminded of that Olympic European qualifier between France and Italy!

When the No. [-] of the French team shot, the Italian goalkeeper... Alostiff also made a save like this!
Later, when I brought her to Poland and our training base, I asked her from whom she learned the goalkeeping technique.

Alostiff said: "My master's name, speaking out will scare you to death."

I smiled and said, "Who has a name so terrifying that it can scare me to death?"

She smiled mischievously and said, "In a few days, you will fight against him! No, that's not necessarily the case. You, a substitute player, may not be able to play yet, hahaha!"

I was taken aback: "Could it be... from the Italian men's football team?"

Alostiff smiled sweetly, "Guess who it is?"

I was surprised: "Could it be... Buffon?!"

Alostiff laughed: "That's right! Look, are you scared to death?"

I smiled awkwardly "haha".

That's right, this name is indeed a name that can scare people to death.

Buffon, the world's number one goalkeeper, the evergreen tree of the Italian national team.With him, Juventus will be able to recover from the third level behind the call gate, and now it has become the overlord of Serie A again.With him, Italy was able to withstand the huge pressure and win the 2006 World Cup when the huge scandal of Calciopoli was fermenting.With him, Italy can always remain among the best in the world in the position of goalkeeper, and the defensive system that Italy is famous for will never be broken up!
……

Mandzukic's header was saved by Buffon.Compared with the frequent violence against Irish goalkeeper Given a few days ago, this time, Mandzukic's performance was easily suppressed by Buffon!

Is it really... so difficult to break the goal of the Italian team!
……

Buffon kicked the ball out with a big kick!
At the same time, the referee blew his whistle and the first half ended...

At halftime, we... 0:1 behind!
If this score is maintained until the end...

Italy will have four points, and once Spain beats Ireland (this is very likely), they will also have four points. Our team will only be ranked third in the group with three points!

The most desperate thing is that in the last round of the group stage, our opponent was stronger than Italy!
They are the new World Cup champions, and they are also the defending champions of the European Cup, the Spanish team!

If we want to qualify, the only way is to fight off Italy!If you can't fight, at least you have to draw, and you can't let them get four points!
In this way, when we play Spain in the last game, we can strive for a tie. As long as we draw with Spain, and at the same time, Italy's goal difference over Ireland does not exceed 2 goals, we have hope!

However, the premise of all this hope is that we must at least tie Italy first!
In the second half, we must work hard!

……

15 minutes intermission, locker room.

"We were too disadvantaged in the height control of the midfield in the first half!" Mandzukic was the first to attack.He hasn't gotten any decent chances today. The only time he had a threatening header was when he was saved by Buffon in the last minute before the end of the game.In other words, that was Buffon's first save in today's game.

"Yes, we lack height in the midfield. The only Rakitic who has a bit of height in the middle is not as tall as Motta on the opposite side. Although Perisic is as tall as Mota, he is swimming on the wing. We, the Croatian team, are not afraid of Ireland in terms of height control, but we have nothing to do against Italy, so what should we do?" Modric said.

"If you play Chuso Vikingstic in the midfield, you can control the high ball in the midfield, but the disadvantage is that Chuso turns slowly, and Pirlo will explode with speed. If you remove a striker, the upper hill So, Mandzukic can't do it alone in the frontcourt." Captain Srna analyzed.

"There is another plan: go to Vida, push Joel Luka to the midfielder, and replace Vukojevic. Joel Luka is tall enough to fight Mota, and his physical confrontation and defensive strength are also sufficient. , In this way, playing a double midfielder, allowing Modric to the right and filling Vukojevic's position, can liberate Modric and allow Modric to participate more in the offense." This is Perisic the sound of.

"If you want me to say, it's better for Rakitic to retreat a little bit, play double midfielders with Modric, put Kranjica in the front midfielder position, and replace Jelavic. In this way, our midfield will be relatively thicker , and Rakitic’s position in the competition with Motta is relatively late, which is good for us to compete for the second point. Compared with the weakening of the forward position, the enhancement of our midfield control ability will further enhance our attacking ability.” Joel Luca also came to analyze it.

The head coach Bilic was annoyed when he heard the players analyzing and analyzing so loudly.He only said: "These ideas are good, but if there are too many ideas, everyone's thinking will be inconsistent and it will be chaotic. Once the second half starts, I will not change anyone. What kind of rhythm will be adjusted in the following games? I will naturally think about it. You just need to listen to my command, abide by the tactical discipline, and don't use too much self-understanding to replace tactical execution. Do you hear me?"

"Okay! Got it!" the players yelled.

……

"In the second half, no one will change? Then who will deal with Motta?..." I was very depressed and bored in my heart.Bilic said that he would give me a chance to cooperate with Mandzukic and play that tactic, but he has no intention of substituting at this imminent time.What the hell is going on...

Bilic, is he really a great coach?
Why is he so stubborn?

……

15 minutes will go by.All players have returned to the field.Those of us on the bench continued to get into the bench and followed the head coach to prepare for the game.Italy didn't make substitutions, and neither did we.It is easy to understand that the Italian team did not make changes. They have already led 1:0. It is normal for the leaders not to make changes, but we are the one behind.

When I was bored and irritable because I couldn't play, the referee blew his whistle and the second half of the game began.

(End of this chapter)