Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

Montolivo's straight pass from the center to the right side of Argentina was very penetrating. Cardoso couldn't get back in time to interfere, and Argentina's right back Cabral made a direct tackle, but he couldn't reach it because his legs were 3 cm shorter...

Argentine right-back Barroso had no time to complain when he saw this, so he gritted his teeth and chased back...

Because Bentivoglio started to advance immediately and caught up, he had already surpassed Barroso by one and a half body lengths.

Barroso stretched out his hand to grab it, but Bentivoglio, who had greater physical strength, pushed it away with one hand... and rushed forward!

Fortunately, although Barroso lacks height and strength, he has better flexibility and short-distance explosive power. Finally, he arrived just as Bentivoglio had just stopped the ball and had no time to develop further!

Barroso directly tackled and decisively knocked down Bentivoglio...

"Beep! Foul! Yellow card!"

Barroso had no choice but to commit a foul, as he was a little slow and not in the ideal defensive position. Central defender Cabral had just fallen near the center circle and had just gotten up. Only Paletta was left fighting with the big Italian No. 9 in the middle.

If I don't handle it properly and the Italian No. 17 dribbles past me and breaks through again, and develops deep into the penalty area, the consequences will be disastrous...

This set-piece for Italy was on the right side of the penalty area, closer to the sideline, about level with the penalty area line...

Li Qi carefully observed the position. Shooting from this angle is a reckless choice. It is also very difficult to steal a goal with a high arc like the goal against Colombia. Crossing is still the best option. Let's test the set-piece tactical arrangements before the game!

When Li Qi set up the ball, Pelle, Canini, Korda, Motta, Bentivoglio and five others had already squeezed into the penalty area...

Apart from Cabral and Paletta, the height advantage in the penalty area is still quite obvious...

Montolivo and Rossi were lying in ambush outside the penalty area, while Nocerino and Criscito were standing near the center circle ready to provide protection. Nocerino was close to Messi, ready to intercept the pass to him at the first possible moment, or even commit a foul to stop Messi's counterattack.

With a bang, Li Qi took a run-up and fired a quick arc ball towards Argentina's small penalty area...

"Opportunity! In the middle of the small penalty area..."

Viewers and listeners in front of television and radio listened to the live commentator's startling explanations.

"Back post! Motta header!"

"Unfortunately, the ball was caught by Argentine goalkeeper Ustari who jumped high with both hands..."

When Li Qi's free kick passed through the middle of the small penalty area, there were two tall players, Pelle and Koda, who were over 1 meters tall.

But these two were obviously going to entangle the high points of Argentina's central defenders Cabral and Paletta. The four of them were fighting with all their strength and had no time to jump up and compete for the header...

At the back post, Canini, who was not in a good position, blocked Alchubi and Biglia who came to defend; Motta and Bentivoglio both shot at the goal!

In the end, Motta, with his height of 1 meters, overpowered Zabaleta, who was only 88 meters tall, and successfully scored.

However, Motta was obviously eager to make a contribution this time so he used too much force and failed to grasp the heading posture well. Although he headed the ball towards the goal, the angle was too straight and the force was insufficient.

Ustari, who was guarding the middle lane, caught it right away. He jumped high to grab it and then knelt down to hold it tightly...

Li Qi also felt a little regretful. If Motta had returned to the middle, the probability of scoring a goal would have increased by at least 50%...

Go back to defense quickly and keep an eye on Messi first, there will definitely be opportunities later.

……

From the 19th to the 23rd minute, in nearly 5 minutes, the Italian team pressed forward and suppressed Argentina in the half...

Li Qi and Montolivo patiently organized the dispatch...

Bentivoglio's cross from the wing was headed away by Paletta again, and then Biglia kicked the ball towards the front court against Nocerino's steal...

However, Italy's Coda easily headed the ball to the retreating Li Qi using his height advantage, and Messi ran away in vain.

This half-time attack and defense drill ended with Rossi dribbling inside and then shooting from about 30 meters in the middle, which flew out of the baseline.

……

In the 24th minute of the game, Argentina finally won a free kick near the center circle through a fight between Cardoso and Nocerino.

But when Biglia impulsively lifted the ball high to the right to prepare for Alchubi's attack, the ball was headed out of the sideline by Motta.

Then the sideline ball was quickly intercepted by Nocerino and Li Qi, and Messi committed a foul.

Then, from the 25th to 29th minute of the game, Italy again moved its formation forward slowly through patient organization, then pushed Argentina's formation back to the half court, and then slowly hammered...

……

In the 30th minute of the game, Argentina took a goal kick. This time it was Biglia who grabbed the ball and protected it.

Biglia looked up and saw Messi, who had been unable to get the ball in the front court, retreated to the center circle to ask for the ball, and quickly passed the ball to him...

Messi was probably very angry. He retreated for a long time and asked Cardoso to help him block Li Qi's close defense and put some distance between him and Li Qi.

Then after receiving the pass from Biglia, he lowered his head and started to force his way forward from the left side of the center circle...

In order to avoid Li Qi who was chasing him, he deliberately chose a big arc and went from the left to the right.

Montolivo and Rossi were chasing back, but their defensive positions were not good and they were easily passed by Messi.

Nocerino, who was rushing forward, was confused by Messi's two consecutive changes of direction. Even after being dribbled past by Messi, he still couldn't find where the ball was... He hurried back to chase.

Right back Motta and right center back Koda quickly took their positions at the edge of the defensive zone 3 and surrounded and double-teamed the opponent.

Unexpectedly, Messi knocked the ball with his right foot, passed Motta through the crotch, and moved towards the unguarded right side...

At this time, Li Qi finally went back to the edge of the penalty area to defend, ready to knock Messi down before he entered the penalty area. This guy must have reached the "breaking point moment"!

Just when Li Qi was about to make a move to either keep the ball or the player, Nocerino got back in position first! This time Nocerino was very decisive and directly knocked Messi away...

After being knocked away, I looked for the ball again. Hey, how did the ball end up at your feet?

Li Qi: ...What a spirit...young man! Good job!

"Beep! Foul, Nocerino, who was chasing back, directly knocked Messi away..."

"Oh, this was a rather reckless foul, the referee showed a yellow card..."

"In fact, there was no need for Nocerino to foul. Li Qi had already made up for the defense..."

Commentator, you are talking nonsense. Even Li Qi was ready to use a foul to stop this cheating Messi!

"As a defensive midfielder, Nocerino needs to be more careful in the following games. He is also mainly responsible for sweeping and intercepting in the midfield..."

With Messi's superb dribbling, Argentina won a set piece on the wing...

Oh, Messi who was knocked away is fine. Although Nocerino's foul was rough, it was not barbaric, and he did not intend to hurt Messi.

After being knocked away, Messi rolled on the ground for a few rounds before sitting up. To be on the safe side, the team doctor came over to check and indicated that there was no problem. Messi resumed the game right away...

The position of this set-piece is slightly better than the previous ones. Although it is also on the wing, it is already very close to Italy's penalty area.

Argentine players ambushed into the Italian penalty area to compete for headers, but similar to Italy's attacking set pieces, most of the players had a cute height difference compared to the Italian defenders after they were in position.

This time, Biglia took the free kick and kicked the ball high...

The ball was kicked towards the far end of the goal and was grabbed by Obermann!

However, due to Criscito's interference, the ball was headed high to the middle, and then Viviano easily jumped high and caught it in his arms...

Then Viviano used his powerful arm to throw the ball to Rossi near the center circle.

Then Rossi brought the ball across the half court and found that the Argentine players were all returning to defense at high speed. He protected the ball through Cardoso and safely passed it back to Montolivo who came forward to receive it. The latter passed the ball to Li Qi to reorganize the advance and patiently attack in position...

In fact, Argentina's running and pressing in the first half were still very active, especially using their small, fast and agile technical characteristics and body rhythm, which gave them an advantage in intercepting and fighting in the frontcourt...

If Li Qi had not been well prepared in the team, with his superior ball protection and quick transition, it is likely that the Italian team would have found it difficult to pass the half.

But now that Li Qi is here, the result will naturally be different.

In the 37th minute of the game, Bentivoglio got another good chance, this time from a low pass from Li Qi.

After Li Qi got rid of Messi's entanglement in the middle, he and Nocerino made a small wall-to-wall cooperation, avoiding Biglia who was sticking to him, and then took a big step forward diagonally...

As soon as Li Qi crossed the center line, he deceived the defense with a fake eye pass. Without even moving his legs, Montolivo helped Li Qi attract Cardoso and Biglia who were chasing back!

Because before, Li Qi basically passed the ball to Montolivo and Rossi after passing the center circle, and never dribbled the ball across the half court himself...

This is good. Li Qi's eyes have won him a lot of space for breakthrough...

Seeing this, Zabaleta quickly came over.

Li Qi advanced while observing. Just before Zabaleta got close to him, he made a straight pass before leaving the center circle, once again penetrating the defense line between Argentina's right center back and right back...

This time Cabral didn't make a tackle, believing that his legs were long enough, but he just couldn't reach the ball...

Or just chase back!

As for the wing, Bentivoglio didn't wait this time. After Li Qi broke through the center line with a fake move, Bentivoglio began to accelerate forward...

When Bentivoglio rushed past Barroso, Barroso did not dare to foul this time, after all, he had a yellow card, so he turned around and chased back.

Because of Pelle's presence, Argentina's defense line was pushed back very far, so the linesman did not raise the flag after the ball was passed. Good shot!

This time, Bentivoglio intercepted the pass that went through most of the front field in the corner of the penalty area...

Bentivoglio only took one step forward and then made a powerful low pass across the middle to find Pelle!

What a pity! The ball almost flew past the goal along the small penalty area line...

The goalkeeper didn't attack because the ball was too fast and a little far from the goal...

And what about Pelle? He was also half a step away from touching the ball, because the two central defenders of Argentina, Paletta and Cabral, joined forces to hold Pelle, preventing him from rushing forward.

In the end, the two even hung their whole bodies on Pellet to prevent him from stretching his legs and shooting...

Three people rolled down near the small penalty area line at the same time, and the ball passed in front of the goal without any danger!

Pelle knelt on the ground, helplessly watching the referee stretch out his hand. It was a penalty!

But the referee waved his hand and told Pelle to get up quickly, there was no penalty...

Li Qi was also a little regretful. Is this the nth chance he has had in this game?

Bentivoglio's reaction was good this time, but the final pass was not very smart...

Wouldn't it be better to pause for a moment, let Pelle bring the two central defenders in front of the goalkeeper, and then pass the ball back to Rossi who is already lying in ambush at the top of the gourd?

Argentina broke out in a cold sweat, but looking back, Messi seemed to have found inspiration from the last attack and discovered some problems;

He retreated again and pulled to the side, taking Li Qi away from the center, and then followed Li Qi's example by receiving the pass from the defender and kicking the ball out...

This time, Cardoso received a pass from Messi in the middle and quickly dribbled forward...

Nocerino had a yellow card on his back and didn't dare to kick, so he could only quickly get close to Cardoso.

Cardoso came to the penalty area and played a 2-on-1 match with Obermann, avoiding Koda's steal and temporarily getting rid of Nocerino's close-range pressure, stepping on the penalty area line and facing Canini who rushed over with a low shot...

This is a good opportunity for Argentina!

Unfortunately, Cardoso's shot missed and did not threaten Viviano's goal. It was Italy's goal kick.

Argentina had one more chance before halftime.

This time, Messi switched positions to the left midfielder to get the ball, and immediately made a long pass to Zabaleta on the right. After receiving the ball, the latter broke through Bentivoglio's defense for a while, and then made a strong cross to the middle before Criscito came forward to double-team him...

The ball just went through the crotch of Criscito who came over to defend...

Nocerino and Canini failed to react in time and missed the ball, while Alchubi cut into the middle of the penalty area and shot!

Viviano dived for the bottom corner, but unfortunately, he missed the ball!

But the ball didn't go in. Alchubi's luck was a little bad, and his shot hit the side net...

In the final stages of the first half, Italy didn’t have many good chances. They only had a few set-piece opportunities, including two corner kicks. Although they scored, they didn’t really threaten the goal…

However, it can be seen that Argentina currently has no particularly good way to deal with Italy's high-point cover of the back row attack from set pieces.

In addition, although Li Qi could feel that Argentina's running enthusiasm began to decline in the last period of the first half, it should be that their physical fitness had reached a turning point. After all, most of the main players of this Argentine team played all three group matches and fought until the last game to ensure their qualification for the group.

But Messi's performance in the second half of the first half still made Li Qi and the Italian team feel a little uncomfortable...

Messi retreated to the wing in a large area, so should Li Qi follow him or not?

Li Qi decided to follow!

If we can successfully freeze Messi, the game is half won; what's more, Messi's threat will drop sharply when he is away from the center and the goal.

The current Messi is not yet the complete version. His physical fitness is slightly poor, and he does not have top-notch strength in passing, especially long passes.

During the half-time break, Montolivo was told to retreat to protect the midfield. In addition, Motta and Criscito could take turns to move into the middle to fill in the gaps - depending on which side Messi went to.

"Beep..." The referee blew the whistle to end the first half. Li Qi picked up the ball and handed it to the referee. Then he looked at Messi with a complicated expression and walked slowly towards the locker room together...

……

Messi complained in his heart: MMP, Ricardo, you still have the nerve to look at me, you made me have no ball to play for most of the game!

……