Fox in the Penalty Area

No. 1

When the Chinese team kicked off, Mauro Albertazzi, the main goalkeeper of the Italian national team, stood a little in front of the penalty spot.

This is also a normal position - not all goalkeepers like to stand out of the penalty area during kick-off.

From this position, Albertazzi does not seem to have made any targeted arrangements for Hulay's possible shot from the center circle.

He is still some distance from the goal behind him.

But just when Zhou Zijing knocked the football towards the Italian half, Albertazzi immediately retreated towards the goal behind him!

And when he was about to retreat to the goal line, jump to the right!

The football has already flown to the goal at this time!

He soared in the air, stretching his body as much as possible and extending his arms. His whole body was like a bird flying in the air, full of unique beauty.

Then he held up the flying football, and it jumped over the crossbar, landed on the top net, was caught by the net, bounced up again, and finally landed outside the baseline.

"Look again at Albertazzi's save after the game started. I have to say that the quality of Hulay's shot was actually quite high. But Albertazzi's save was also really beautiful - he did not stay in front of the goal line. . Then when the football flew in front of the goal, he jumped up and lifted the football over the crossbar..."

Accompanied by the commentator's voice, the TV broadcast was replaying Albertazzi's save ten seconds after the start of the game.

"I feel like this save brought out the best in Albertazzi."

In front of the projection screen, Mao Xiao commented.

Meng Xi, who was a goalkeeper in high school and is now the goalkeeper of the Jincheng branch of their Dongchuan Middle School football team, said:

"I actually suspect that Albertazzi was eager for Hulay's opening shot, and he was already ready to save the ball."

"How do you say it?" Mao Xiao asked him.

"I think a normal goalkeeper, when facing Hu Lai, would choose to stand on the goal line in order to prevent him from taking the kick and shooting directly. In this way, he does not have to pounce, and Hu Lai will give up the idea of ​​​​shooting directly. ?”

Meng Xi asked everyone.

Everyone present also nodded.

After all, the biggest advantage of the center circle kick-off is actually its "suddenness".

Once the suddenness is lost and the opponent's goalkeeper is prepared in advance, the kick-off shot from the center circle will be useless.

This is why before the game they didn't think that Hu Lai would shoot from the center circle.

Because they felt that Albertazzi should be on guard.

Unexpectedly, Albertazzi was completely undefended.

After seeing his saving performance, when everyone tasted Meng Xi's words, they had to admit that maybe Meng Xi's guess was right.

Albertazzi deliberately lured Hulay to shoot directly from the center circle.

"Then why did he do this?" someone asked.

"Goalkeepers are somewhat superstitious. For example, they attach great importance to their first save in the game. If the save is good, they will be particularly confident and can quickly get into shape." Meng Xi further explained.

"I guess Albertazzi wanted to give himself a psychological hint by saving Julay's shot from the center circle, and doing so would also boost the team's morale. After all, Julay had just scored the same goal against Spain. Now the whole world is talking about this ball. If he repeats the same trick and is saved by Albertazzi, it will definitely boost the morale of the Italian side... and the actual effect is indeed very good."

After listening to Meng Xi's analysis, everyone fell into silence while watching the time and score of the live game.

At the 65th minute of the game, the score was 0:0.

So far, Albertazzi has made six effective saves, blocking all the Chinese team's shots.

Among these six shots, Luo Kai shot twice, Hu Lai twice, Zhou Zijing once, and Wang Guangwei once.

Six shots hit the goal frame. With such a shooting percentage, it can be said that the quality of the Chinese team's offense is quite good.

As a result, he failed to penetrate Albertazzi's fingers.

Albertazzi is very active and in great condition. It can be said that he has performed at the peak of his career.

He was able to save long-range shots, but he also blocked close-range shots. Even Luo Kai's single-handed ball was blocked by him with his feet...

At first, Meng Xi and the others held their heads in their hands because Albertazzi saved the Chinese team's shot, looked up to the sky, sighed, and shouted, "Fuck this ball."

Later they all became numb.

"...At the beginning of this game, Italy actually tried to attack. But they were counterattacked several times by the Chinese team and almost lost the ball - if Albertazzi hadn't performed well... Italian head coach Caviglia was very disappointed Quickly make adjustments and change from offense to defensive counterattack. They took the initiative to give up all the courts outside the thirty-meter area and allowed the Chinese team to besieged. Albertazzi’s outstanding performance combined with the defensive talent of Italian football, the Chinese team is really There is nothing you can do about them..."

In the live broadcast of the game, He Feng and Yan Kang were discussing the problems encountered by the Chinese team in the past 65 minutes.

Yan Kang followed He Feng's words and said: "I think the Chinese team's 3-0 victory over Spain in the last game may have given many people the wrong impression. That is, the Chinese team's offense is very powerful and can defeat any opponent it faces. crushing each other... But that's not the case, a football match is not such a simple comparison of strength..."

He Feng echoed: "That's right. It's not that Spain is stronger than the Italian team. If the Chinese team can beat Spain 3:0, it can beat Italy by at least three goals. In that game in Spain, the reason why the Chinese team was able to win by three goals Down, it has a lot to do with Julay's opening goal. He completely disrupted Spain's pre-match arrangements and the players' mentality, which gave the Chinese team an opportunity... And in this game, the Italian team was defensive A lot of effort has been put into it, and they don’t just rely on Albertazzi..."

Listening to what the two commentators said, Zhong Shihao who was sitting on the sofa suddenly said: "Actually, a tie is okay... A tie will give us four points. We won Nigeria in the last round. With seven points, we qualified, and we are first in the group!" "

Meng Xi asked: "Hey, if we score one, will Caviglia replace Caesar?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then suddenly became excited again: "For Tang Yuan, Hu Lai, hurry up and score a goal!"

Tang Yuan was confused: "What does it have to do with me?"

"To let your idol play!"

Tang Yuan shook his head: "Even if Italy falls behind, Caviglia may not let Caesar play..."

While everyone was making jokes and chatting, the Chinese team on the field was organizing an attack.

※※※

Hulay dropped back, accompanied by Italian center back Alessio Mattioli.

This opponent Hu Lai also played against him this season.

In the Champions League group stage, he was restricted very hard by Mattioli and Danish international Emil Mortensen. He once wanted to use Bergkamp's classic waltz to get rid of the defense.

In the end, it naturally failed...

Later, with all his efforts and a little cleverness, he finally created an opportunity without having to face Mortensen and Mattioli at the same time. He singled out Mortensen and successfully defeated the football. Score the goal.

It was his only goal of the match and the only goal of the match for Madrid Pirates.

As for Mattioli, Hulay did not score a goal under his defense.

This shows what a difficult guy Mattioli is.

As a central defender, Mattioli is also a talented player among central defenders.

Eight years ago, at the age of only 24, he served as the main player of the Italian national team in the World Cup and helped the team win the World Cup.

The defense formed by him and Petro Nazari was so solid that they conceded two goals in the entire World Cup, one of which was a penalty kick...

Compared with Nazari, the "World's No. 1 Guard" at the time who had balanced abilities in all aspects, the 24-year-old Mattioli was still very immature, but he had already demonstrated his talent.

Standing 1.86 meters tall, he is slightly thin but relatively flexible. He has a good awareness of assisting defense and can partner with center backs of different styles and levels. He is the kind of person who makes his partners feel at ease.

Later, as he grew older, he gained more experience and gradually grew into a top central defender that caused headaches.

He and Nazari have also been the unbeatable main center back partners of the Italian national team in the past eight years.

As long as the two of them are not injured, almost no one can shake their position.

Moreover, Nazari is only thirty-four years old and Mattioli is thirty-two years old. With the current level of scientific training, both of them are experienced and in the "prime" of their respective careers.

This is also one of the important reasons why the Italian team has no striker and can directly enter the World Cup finals as the first in the European qualifying group.

Hulay has seen the power of Mattioli as a central defender at the club.

The strength of his teammates at that time was higher than that of the current national team, so he still played very hard.

Not to mention today's game.

Mattioli obviously took on the role of the head coach and followed him throughout the game, giving full play to his more flexible characteristics, making it almost impossible for Hulay to get the ball.

Under his defense, Hulay only had one shot that hit the goal frame.

His shot was directly saved by goalkeeper Albertazzi.

This shot was also the only time Hulay got rid of Mattioli. The other shots he kicked were all interfered by Mattioli, and none of them hit the goal frame.

When Zhang Qinghuan saw Hu Lai running out to meet him, with Mattioli following him, he did not pass the football to him, but passed it to the space where Mattioli was pulled out.

That space was occupied by Zhou Zijing.

But there is also an Italian central defender beside Zhou Zijing, Petro Nazari.

So Zhou Zijing didn't catch the ball. He passed the football to the right and gave it to Luo Kai who was on the far side.

After Luo Kai received the ball, he faced Italian left back Bruno Celli.

The opponent stepped forward to block him, and Luo Kai cut directly inside. He made a fake move - stepping over the football with his right foot, and after a fake shot, he pushed the football forward with the outside instep of his left foot.

After pulling horizontally, Luo Kai swung his left foot and tried to shoot, which tricked Celi into stretching his legs to block it. His left foot came down and dunked the football back to the right. He changed direction again, trying to cut directly into the penalty area.

But Celli's reaction was also very quick, and it could even be said that he was prepared for it. The moment he stretched out his foot to block the ball, he may have tried to trick Luo Kai into spiking the ball to the right.

So when Luo Kai spiked the ball to the right, Cherry, who originally raised his leg, quickly lowered his leg, turned around and ran back, just in Luo Kai's path.

Seeing that he was about to lose control of the football, Luo Kai could only support his body with his left foot. He stretched his right leg as far forward as possible and hooked his ankle, trying to hook the football back.

But instead of touching the football, he kicked it at Cherry who squeezed in.

So Cheli instantly transformed into the "Forbidden Zone Lin Daiyu", fell to the ground weakly, and shouted.

His shout was accompanied by the referee's whistle.

"Foul on the offensive side! The referee called Luo Kai a kicking foul! Cheli's reaction to this ball was really quick..."

Cherry, who was kicked to the ground, hugged his calf and lay on the ground, seemingly in pain.

Luo Kai, who had kicked him down, sat on the ground with his hands spread out, helpless at the referee's decision.

Of course he didn't foul intentionally, and he also admitted that he kicked the opponent, but was Celi's performance too exaggerated?

Could it be another person who was able to fight me one-on-one outside the penalty area without losing any of my strength?

After Luo Kai got up, Cherry stayed on the ground for a while. It wasn't until the referee repeatedly asked him if he needed a team doctor or a stretcher that he slowly stood up from the ground.

Judging from the expression, there was still some pain, but judging from the movements, it was nothing serious.

Italy coach Caviglia, who saw this scene off the court, glanced at the time on his watch.

The game has reached the 71st minute.

It's time to make a change again.

So he turned towards Caesar, who was still sitting on the bench, and said to him: "Seleus, go warm up!"