Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

Originally, there was a gap in strength between Georgia and Italy, and it was normal for Georgia to lose to Italy, so there should be no special thoughts. However, the 6- victory over the Faroe Islands in the first round of qualifiers gave Georgia some unrealistic hope; in addition, Italy's poor performance before the second half of the previous round also gave Georgia more confidence that it should not have.

What's more, this game is played at Georgia's home ground, so the home team from top to bottom, from the coach to the bench, all hope to take advantage of Italy, which has changed its coach and is in a slump after the World Cup, to do something good. After all, they are only one point behind Italy now; if they work hard, they may be able to create a miracle and advance to the 2008 European Cup finals!

After analyzing the first few Italian qualifiers, the Georgian team came to some unreliable conclusions: Italy's offense basically relies on Li Qi. Once Li Qi is not on the court, it mainly relies on Pirlo in the defensive midfielder position; but Pirlo is far away from the goal and can usually only threaten the opponent's goal through set pieces and long passes.

So after simplifying and rounding off, the Georgian team actually came to the absurd conclusion that strangling Li Qi was equivalent to strangling Italy's attack; and they even achieved certain results in the early part of the first half. As for the goal lost, it was entirely due to the players' incomplete understanding of tactical concepts and inadequate implementation of tactical details.

At least that's what Georgia's head coach Topmuller firmly believes. He is determined to snatch points from Italy at home, and even seems to be a little obsessed; because most of these fantastic ideas and imaginative tactical arrangements come from Topmuller's own analysis and ideas.

So during the half-time break, the entire Georgian team was severely criticized by the head coach.

However, at the beginning of the second half, Georgia launched a fierce attack, which temporarily made the Italian team, which was a little relaxed, fall to the ground. In addition, it created several consecutive shooting opportunities for the Georgian team in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Although Georgia's attacks were not very reliable, either going wide of the goal or being easily resolved by Buffon; however, the continuous attacks and the temporary advantage on the field boosted the morale of the whole team, which rekindled the hope of the Georgian team and Topmuller, who believed that as long as they tried harder, they could tie the score, and if they tried even harder, winning the game would not be impossible.

However, at this critical juncture, Georgia's physical fitness began to decline and the pace of the fight slowed down; at this moment when Georgia's old strength had gone and the new strength had not yet been born, Li Qi took advantage of the counterattack opportunity and almost assisted Luca Toni to score another goal.

Around the 55th minute of the game, Cannavaro headed the Georgian corner kick out of the penalty area. Pirlo then made a powerful volley pass from outside the penalty area, and the ball shot towards Li Qi on the right side of the midfield.

Li Qi jumped high, and just as the ball was about to fly out of the sideline, he used the arch of his foot to take the ball off in mid-air. Without waiting for Georgia's close defense to get close to him, Li Qi made a wall-to-wall cooperation with Camoranesi who had just launched a counterattack, and directly overtook outside the sideline, passing the Georgian defender, without giving him any chance for physical contact or fouls...

Then Li Qi intercepted the rolling ball in a few steps on the wing, and continued to speed up and rush towards the home team's goal. At this time, the Georgian defender who was lagging behind also came over. Instead of letting Li Qi enter the penalty area, it is better to stop Li Qi on the wing. The farther away from the goal the foul is, the safer it is. This is common sense.

Moreover, Li Qi just flew past the home team's coaching booth on the sideline and heard the Georgian coach shouting something at the top of his lungs. It seemed like he was trying to stop him? Knock him over? Destroy him! Wang Defa...

However, Li Qi did not intend to give Georgia this opportunity. Facing Kizanishvili who rushed over, he passed the ball to the inside line and bypassed the defense outside the sideline again...

When faced with the choice of following the ball or the person, Kizanishvili had a moment of indecision and was stunned for half a second; but in this half second, Li Qi had already left in a cloud of dust. Kizanishvili even had no time to raise his hand to grab a handful of air and awkwardly greeted the blushing coach...

Li Qi bypassed the defense and caught up with the ball in a few strides. Now it was time for Li Qi and Luca Toni to team up to face the retreating Kaladze and the Georgian goalkeeper Lomaya.

As soon as Li Qi entered the penalty area, he changed direction drastically, trying to lead away Kalas who was defending in the middle and then send a nanny-like cross.

Unexpectedly, Karaze had made a decision long ago and accurately predicted Li Qi's prediction, because this annoying guy had already scored a goal in the first half, and there was a high probability that he would pass the ball this time; so Karaze pretended to fall into the trap and pretended to make a flying tackle to block Li Qi who changed direction, but he did not throw his center of gravity away, waiting for Li Qi to pass the ball back and then intercept it.

As expected, Li Qi, who had already triggered the breaking point when facing Kizanishvili's defense, did not trigger the breaking point again this time. Even if he did, it might be too late to change the center of gravity and the ball that had already been sent out...

Kaladze's brilliant one-on-two defense was successful. Although he did not directly intercept Li Qi's pass to Lucatoni, he successfully interfered with the ball's rolling path and affected the latter's shot. With the help of the goalkeeper's angle block, Lucatoni's final shot was forced to be a cannon...

Italy missed a good opportunity. Li Qi felt a little regretful: Damn, if I had known earlier, I would have rushed in all at once; but it doesn't matter, Georgia's pressure has left large gaps and loopholes in the defense zone. As long as we seize a few opportunities, we can definitely defeat them!

But Li Qi didn't know that the Georgian defense, which had been fooled by Li Qi several times in a row, was already a little annoyed and angry. In addition, remembering the strict order given by the coach during the half-time break, Kverkvilia, Kizanishvili and others muttered a few words before the goal kick and decided to change the way they defended Li Qi.

So the game went on for a few minutes, and it was around the 60th minute. The Italian team started to reorganize the midfield, regained most of the ball possession, and prepared to send shells to the front court through Li Qi again...

This time Li Qi planned to use the same trick again. He first switched positions with Perrotta to confuse the Georgian player who was marking him, and then suddenly retreated quickly to receive Pirlo's through ball.

The moment he retreated to receive the ball triggered the explosive moment. He clearly observed the No. 5 Kverkvilia running behind him, as well as the positions of other Georgian defensive players. Then, Li Qi planned the route and alternative plans for this attack, and then prepared to start another performance...

After receiving the ball this time, Li Qi did not directly tap the ball with his heel and turn around like last time. Instead, he first made a fake move of lowering his shoulders and turning to the left, and then turned around with the outside of his foot and tapped the ball in the opposite direction; without a doubt, this once again made Kverkvilia, who was following up at high speed, stagger.

However, this time, Georgia's No. 5 did not hesitate like last time, but tried to stop Li Qi with his hands and feet. Although Li Qi shook him off, Kverkvilia's right hand still pulled Li Qi's arm; this time, Li Qi's speed did not fully increase, and his center of gravity was unstable.

Then Kverkvilia turned around and kicked Li Qi's heel... Although the kick was not real, Li Qi's right foot was indeed hit; but Li Qi did not fall down, because there was an open space in front of Li Qi. If he rushed over, he would have another chance to create a killing intent in front of the goal.

So the referee also planned to observe and see if Li Qi, who was trying hard to balance his center of gravity, could continue to control the ball...

But just as Li Qi was still staggering forward and trying to control the ball in front of him, Kizanishvili made a flying tackle from behind Li Qi and went straight towards Li Qi. As long as he could knock Li Qi down, it would depend on luck whether he could kick the ball.

Ah! With a scream, Li Qi was thrown into the air by the tackle, and rolled twice in the air. He fell on the lawn and rolled twice more, and then fell to the lawn and lay there motionless...

The referee immediately suspended the game and quickly called for medical staff to enter the field.

Li Qi's mind was buzzing at this time, and he only felt a burning sensation near his right ankle, but he seemed unable to make any sound... Then Li Qi didn't have much impression. It seemed that the team doctor ran over and asked something anxiously and concernedly, but Li Qi had forgotten how he answered on the spot.

Then Li Qi only knew that he was carried off the field on a stretcher, and then carried back to the locker room by the team doctor and team staff for a preliminary examination.

After returning to the locker room, Li Qi's passion and boiling nerves gradually cooled down, and he slowly came to his senses.

The side-to-side tackle by Georgia's No. 3 just now looked very brutal, and he did use his studs to kick the sides of the tibia and fibula of Li Qi's left supporting leg, kicking off Li Qi's shin guard, piercing Li Qi's socks, and leaving two very long wounds, causing blood to flow, and even staining Li Qi's white socks red.

However, at the moment when Li Qi was knocked down, although he failed to trigger the explosion point in time and could not dodge it, Li Qi jumped up lightly in advance, threw the supporting leg and the center of gravity of his entire body into the air, thus relieving most of the force.

This emergency leap can be said to have saved Li Qi's career. After debridement, preliminary examination showed that Li Qi had no fractures, and there were no signs of serious injuries to his ligaments and ankle joints. There was only a large bulge on the side of the fibula and two bloody scratches from the shoe studs.

The team doctor and Li Qi both breathed a sigh of relief. Li Qi tried to stand up and walk on his own and there was no major problem, just a little pain. It seemed that the injury was not particularly serious and he should be able to recover soon. It even seemed that he didn't need to go to the hospital for photos anymore.

However, the team doctor also told Li Qi that he did not need to return to the court and could take a shower and change clothes first, because the foul just now looked very serious, and Li Qi fell to the ground and was unable to get up for a while. To be on the safe side, the team doctor has notified head coach Donadoni to make a substitution.

So Li Qi took a shower and changed his clothes. After all, there was less than half an hour left before the end of the game, and he didn't plan to go back to the stadium to watch the game. He just waited for his teammates to return triumphantly in the locker room.

However, when Li Qi packed up and took out his mobile phone, he immediately received a call from his agent Raiola.

"Pronto! Uncle Mino, I'm Ricardo..."

"Oh, don't worry, it's nothing serious, there shouldn't be any broken bones."

"Ah? Do we need to go to the hospital for a checkup?"

"Oh... yes, yes, yes... we need to tell the team doctor to go to that hospital, right? You've already made arrangements..."

"Oh, okay, it's not that serious... Is it necessary? I don't think it's too..."

"Oh, I know. You're doing this for my own good...Okay, I'll listen to you."

"Oh, okay then. I'll cooperate... OK, see you at the hospital tomorrow."

……

Before the game was over, Ricardo, accompanied by Chiara and the team doctor, was sent to a local private hospital in Georgia for further diagnosis, including CT scans and MRIs...

On the way to the hospital, the game had already ended. Through the coaching staff's communication, Ricardo also knew the situation and results of the game after he left the court.

Kizanishvili, who tackled Li Qi, was stunned on the spot. He did not come to his senses until he was sent off by the referee with a red card. He was pulled into the locker room by the Georgian assistant coach.

Donadoni quickly sent Di Natale on. While the Georgian team was stunned and had not yet completed the substitution of the central defender, Italy, who were collectively buffed with indignation because of Li Qi's injury, scored the third goal.

After the set piece was taken, Pirlo passed the ball in front of the penalty area, Di Natale, who had just come on as a substitute, passed the ball back to the middle from the left bottom, and Camoranesi headed the ball into the lower left corner from 10 meters in front of the goal, making it 3-1.

Then in the 71st minute of the game, Italy secured the victory.

Di Natale, who came on as a substitute, took over Li Qi's position and broke through the Georgian defense which was one man short.

Then Di Natale seized the opportunity and passed the ball over the top from the left sideline. Zambrotta suddenly inserted into the penalty area from the left side and knocked the ball back. Toni failed to get in position in the middle, but Camoranesi got the ball at the back post and knocked it horizontally again. Perrotta half turned and shot with his right foot from 11 meters in front of the goal and scored in the lower left corner.

This was Perrotta's second national team goal, helping Italy lead Georgia 2-4 away.

In the end, Italy defeated Georgia 4-1 away, achieved two consecutive victories, and ranked third in the group with 7 points.

After the game, teammates and coaching staff were very concerned about Ricardo's injury. Captain Cannavaro, in particular, asked to be substituted by Materazzi when he saw that the team had already won the game. He and his assistant coach hurried to the locker room to visit Ricardo, helped Ricardo get on the ambulance to the hospital, and sent his best wishes for a speedy recovery on behalf of the whole team.

……

Raiola arranged a high-end private hospital for Ricardo and directly reserved a separate VIP ward with a bed for a companion. Because Ricardo arrived at the hospital very late, the emergency doctor did a simple examination, issued a check-up form for the next morning, and then arranged for Ricardo to be hospitalized.

So the team doctor went back to the hotel where the team was staying and stayed for one more day - the team disbanded and returned home overnight after the game; the next day the team doctor would accompany Ricardo for the examination and get the latest examination results.

Chiara naturally took their luggage from the hotel and accompanied Ricardo to the ward!

That night, Ricardo was a little annoyed. Why didn't he prepare a nurse's uniform for Chiara? Chiara's luggage actually contained white stockings and a white skirt, which basically satisfied Ricardo's strange fetish. After all, this special environment was a bit rare, wasn't it?

(For the sake of love and peace, several thousand words of details about the night shift ward are omitted...)

……