"A powerful long shot!"
"The ball is in!"
"Italy took the lead! The scorer was No. 8 Marchisio!"
"And at least half of the credit for this goal must be recorded on Pirlo's mistake."
Looking at the Italian players celebrating wildly on the field, the English players sitting on the bench all showed disappointment.
Including Ling Feng.
Although he already knew that Pirlo would miss it like this.
However, the experience of watching it through the television broadcast is obviously completely different from the experience of witnessing it live.
The reason why superstars are superstars is that they can have a flash of inspiration at critical moments and make decisions that instantly change the situation on the court!
Looking at Pirlo, who looked calm and calm on the court, as if he hadn't woken up, Ling Feng couldn't help but sigh:
Worthy of being a midfield artist!
This goal was unexpectedly leaked, and the ball was shot at an excellent speed and angle.
But in the final analysis, England missed someone in the corner kick defense!
A large number of troops were accumulated in the penalty area, leaving only Sturridge to defend outside the penalty area.
How could he, a forward, guard Pirlo and Marchisio?
When Sturridge was restrained by Pirlo's step forward to catch the ball, Marchisio got an excellent long-range shot opportunity with no one within a few meters.
In addition, the penalty area was crowded with players from both sides, which blocked Joe Hart's view to a certain extent.
Many times, the birth of a goal is closely related to many details before the goal.
Tactical corner kick, Pirlo's leak, and a leak outside the penalty area
All the details were in Italy's favor, which ultimately led to this goal!
Of course, conceding the first goal is a disappointment for England's players and fans.
However, the first half is not over yet, they still have time!
After falling behind, the Three Lions immediately launched a fierce counterattack on the court!
Just two minutes later, after a successful counterattack in midfield, Henderson passed the ball to Sterling, who was very active in the game.
Sterling, who came to the center, turned around and saw Rooney, who had switched positions with Welbeck and came to the left, and was cutting in at high speed. He passed a beautiful through ball without hesitation!
The latter broke through the bottom from the left and then passed a flat ball to the center.
The ball fell to the back point, and Sturridge was in position to outflank him. With a touch of the instep of his right foot, the ball suddenly turned into a swift cannonball and flew into the door.
As if being hit by a cannonball, Siligu suddenly jumped up and then fell into the goal.
In just two minutes, the Three Lions equalized the score!
It is worth mentioning that this goal, while bringing the two sides back to the same starting line, also helped Sturridge become England's only nine goalscorer in the World Cup in addition to Alan Shearer in 48 years. Number!
And this assist is also the first time Rooney has participated in a goal in nine World Cup games!
Seeing the ball hit the net, both the England fans in the stadium and the players on the bench stood up and cheered in celebration.
"Well done! Daniel!"
"nice shot!"
While England's supporters were cheering for joy, an episode occurred on the sidelines:
An England team doctor got so excited about celebrating that he accidentally sprained his ankle.
His screams confused the England coaching staff and players.
what's the situation?
We scored, shouldn't we cheer and applaud? Why are there screams?
It wasn't until they saw him lying on the sidelines with his hands raised and calling for help that the rest of England reacted.
"Moore sprained his ankle. It seems to be quite serious."
"You should go to the hospital to take a X-ray to see if the ligaments are injured."
Watching the team doctor who injured himself being carried out on a stretcher by the medical staff at the scene, Ling Feng and Vardy looked at each other.
The corners of their mouths could not be restrained from rising slightly, they wanted to laugh but were embarrassed to do so.
This wave perfectly explains what it means to be extremely happy and beget sadness!
With England equalizing, both sides slowed down a bit.
However, in stoppage time, Italy almost expanded the score again:
The "Barcelona God" Balotelli who penetrated forward received Verratti's through ball and took the ball near the baseline in the penalty area. After taking a look at Joe Hart who was attacking, he directly kicked the ball. An imaginative lob.
The ball went right over Joe Hart's head and straight towards the goal.
Fortunately, Jagielka, who was guarding the goal, headed the ball in time to clear the ball. Otherwise, once this goal is scored, there is definitely a chance to be included in the list of candidates for the best goal in this World Cup!
This also made Ling Feng on the bench sigh in his heart:
He is worthy of being a world-class god from the neck down!
If Bashen could keep his head from short-circuiting and do things that are difficult for ordinary people to understand on and off the court, with his explosive physical fitness and football talent, he would have become a top star long ago!
But that's how life is.
Not everyone will grow according to other people's expectations.
Different growth environments and different people and things encountered will affect a person's outlook on life.
If he didn't think about life on and off the court, Balotelli would no longer be Balotelli.
With this lob that made the Englishmen break out in a cold sweat, the referee finally blew the whistle to end the first half.
. . .
The score of one to one in the first half was an acceptable result for both sides.
Especially for the England team, which was the first to concede the goal, to be able to equalize in a flash after conceding the goal is a great morale booster!
You know, going into the halftime break with a score of one to one is completely different from going into the halftime break with a score of zero to one.
The former means they are evenly matched with Italy and can continue to play as planned;
The latter forced them to make tactical changes in the second half and attack more aggressively in order to recover the one-goal gap.
If the offense is pressed, the space for the defense will inevitably be larger.
The increased chance of scoring a goal also comes with the risk of conceding the ball again.
Back in the locker room, Hodgson first praised Sterling and other players who were active in the first half, as well as the team's performance in quickly equalizing the score after losing the ball.
Then, he also made clear arrangements for missing people when defending corner kicks.
Ask Rooney not to return to the penalty area, but to reach the top of the penalty area and work with Sturridge to help defend the opponent's long shot.
Especially stick to Pirlo!
Because Pirlo is located in the midfield, Rooney, who is ambushing behind the forward, is the closest to him, so he must be given a certain amount of pressure and cannot be allowed to easily organize and dispatch in the backcourt.
Otherwise, England will still be punished like in the first half!
Hearing this, Rooney nodded while drinking water to express his understanding.
In the second half, the team changed sides and fought again.
Faced with the pressing attacks from forwards such as Rooney and Sturridge, Pirlo was like a dancer dancing on the court and was not greatly affected at all.
Without too many movements, just a push and a click, a pass and a run, and the space for passing is opened up.
His effortless foot skills attracted bursts of cheers in the stadium.
If it could be prevented so easily, Pirlo would no longer be Pirlo.
As Pirlo, Verratti, and Marchisio exchanged passes in the midfield, England players were attracted to the center one after another, and spaces appeared on both sides of the wing!
Only five minutes into the second half, Italy advanced through the right back Damian and passed the ball to the feet of Candreva on the right side of the frontcourt.
The latter made a move to cross, and when the left back Baines jumped, he dunked with his right foot, cut inward, and immediately gained valuable space for the cross.
Looking up at his teammates in the penalty area, Candreva switched to his left foot and passed in without hesitation!
The ball flew through the air and over the heads of the two England players in the penalty area, heading towards the back of the goal.
At this moment, there is only one defensive player beside Super Mario: Cahill!
Balotelli retreated in small steps, then jumped up in front of Cahill and smashed the ball with his head towards the gate guarded by Joe Hart!
Perhaps because it was too close, the Manchester City goalkeeper was unable to prevent the ball from grazing the inside of the goal post and flying into the net!
"Goal~~~"
"Two to one!"
"Italy leads again!"
“The one who scored the goal is Super~~~”
Accompanied by the deliberately prolonged tail notes of the stadium DJ, the Italian fans at the scene immediately shouted in unison:
"Mario!!!"
If you really want to talk about it, Balotelli has never been a productive shooter with stable output.
However, he can always have a flash of inspiration in key games.
For example, in the Manchester derby against Manchester United in the 11-12 season, he scored the first goal, helping the team to slaughter their local rivals 6-1, and also contributed to the famous scene of "Why Always Me?";
For example, in the last round of the Premier League in the 2011-12 season, he fell to the ground and tackled the pass, helping Aguero complete the decisive hit that was later regarded as the "9320 Miracle";
Another example is the explosive shot that sank the German tank in the 2012 European Cup semi-finals.
It's not too much to call him "Mr. Big Scene"!
The cheers of Italian fans once again filled the entire Amazon Arena.
In sharp contrast, there are the English fans who hold their heads in their hands and look disappointed.
Seeing Italy score again, Hodgson finally understood the cruel fact that Italy could not be defeated with this starting lineup!
Changes must be made!
With a wave of Hodgson's hand, Ling Feng, Vardy, Wilshere and other substitute players on the bench came to the sidelines to warm up.
The situation on the field also changed significantly after this goal.
After taking the lead again, Italian head coach Prandelli made a decision - to shrink the formation!
And England launched a fierce offensive!
It's not like England didn't have the chance to threaten Italy's goal.
Among them, Rooney had three shooting opportunities in just ten minutes.
Either it missed the goal, or it was easily resolved by goalkeeper Siligu.
The second goalscorer in the history of the national team, who has played for the Three Lions since 2003, seems to be so close and yet so far away from his first World Cup goal.
The less he scores, the more impatient Rooney becomes on the court.
He directly asked for the ball from his teammates in the midfield, and then drove the ball forward with sparks and lightning. When he reached the outside of the penalty area, he was chased and intercepted by several Italian players and hurriedly shot a kick.
The ball was volleyed hard by him and flew directly into the stands.
Under the influence of Rooney's impatient mentality, England's offense became a one-man game, with no team coordination at all.
Gerrard, who should calm down Rooney the most, seemed to have forgotten Hodgson's arrangement and no longer stayed in the midfield. Instead, he frequently penetrated outside the penalty area and tried to threaten the Italian goal with long shots.
Although the number of shots continues to increase.
However, under the chain defense of the Italians, all the English shots were invalid shots, and none of the shots hit the goal range!
Watching, Hodgson called Vardy and Ling Feng over after discussing with his assistants:
"Jamie! Ling! Change your clothes and get ready to play!"
Hearing this, Ling Feng and Vardy looked at each other.
In each other's eyes, we can see the desire to win!
They quickly returned to the bench, took off their vests, and wearing pure white Three Lions jerseys, the two people came to the sidelines, preparing for their World Cup debut.
"Ling, after you go up, play in the midfield position and let Wayne go to the front. Control the ball first, and then pass more balls from behind in the ribs."
"Jamie, after you go up, make more breakthroughs on the left and make timely passes."
The assistant coach took the tactical formation chart and gave instructions to the two of them, then turned around.
Ling Feng and Vardy, who were standing on the sidelines, hugged each other.
"Jamie, it's our turn!"
"Remember to pass the ball to me later!"
"No problem! Even if you move, if you can't pass it, it's my fault!"
. . .
After standing on the sidelines for a while, a dead ball finally appeared on the court.
In the 65th minute, England took the lead in making substitution adjustments:
No. 21 Vardy, replaces No. 11 Welbeck!
No. 15 Ling Feng, replaces No. 9 Sturridge!
"England made a substitution first"
"No. 21 Jamie Vardy replaced No. 11 Welbeck. This is a counter-substitution. As the golden boot of the English Championship this season, Vardy has a very good sense of smell and shooting skills in front of the goal."
"Eh? What was Hodgson thinking? He actually replaced Sturridge, the goal scorer who performed well in this game, and replaced him with Ling Feng, a midfielder who is only 19 years old?!"
"Although this young player performed amazingly in the previous warm-up matches, contributing four assists in three games. However, this is the stage of the World Cup, and the opponent is not Honduras, but the previous World Cup champion Italy !”
"This is also the World Cup debut for these two players. I hope they can bring us some changes and surprises."
In addition to the local commentators in England, commentators from many countries were surprised by Hodgson's substitution.
When the Italian fans at the scene saw England replace Sturridge, who had scored a goal, with a little-known young black-haired youth, they couldn't help but burst into loud cheers!
A few people know Ling Feng.
But most people don't know who this handsome young player wearing No. 15 is.
They only know that Hodgson replaced Sturridge, the main forward who won the Premier League Silver Boot this season, with an unknown person!
To them, this operation is very confusing.
While the two sides were fighting fiercely on the field, the main forward was replaced?
This is undoubtedly raising the white flag of surrender!
However, they would not have imagined how strong Ling Feng, who had high hopes from Hodgson, would be in such an adversity of falling behind.
Just because fans don't know Ling Feng doesn't mean that Italy coach Prandelli doesn't know him.
As an opponent in the same group of this World Cup, the Italian coaching staff and media have been paying attention to England's every move from the moment England announced the World Cup squad.
During the preparations for the game, the Italian coaching staff conducted detailed analysis and research on the two new England internationals, Ling Feng and Vardy.
By watching a large number of Ling Feng's game videos and highlights, Prandelli came to a conclusion:
This young player from Leicester City, the hegemon of the British Championship, is definitely the most creative player in the entire English team.
none of them!
He originally thought that Ling Feng would make his debut.
To this end, he also specially prepared a series of tactical arrangements for Ling Feng.
Unexpectedly, when England announced the starting lineup, Ling Feng was not allowed to start.
This surprised him, and he couldn't help but feel relieved.
However, Hodgson still sent Ling Feng on the field.
Ever since, taking advantage of the opponent's substitution, Prandelli couldn't help but call Marchisio on the left to the sidelines and give him some instructions:
"Tell Daniele (De Rossi) and Marco (Verratti) to put more pressure on the No. 15 who just came on, and don't let him pass the ball easily!"
Hearing this, Marchisio, who is the main midfielder of Juventus, couldn't help but be stunned.
Although he didn't quite understand why the head coach was so afraid of this nineteen-year-old young player.
However, his professionalism prevents him from doubting the instructions of his head coach.
He nodded seriously and replied in a deep voice:
"Don't worry, coach!"
Regarding Ling Feng's appearance, the Italian players did not take it seriously.
Although they had all watched Ling Feng's personal game videos and highlights in the tactical meeting, they were also deeply affected by the passing of this young English talent who had recently exploded in popularity.
However, they did not think that Ling Feng's appearance would change the situation on the court.
You know, even Rooney, the top star of the Premier League giants Manchester United, and a world-class midfielder like Gerrard, can't break their goal.
Let alone a 19-year-old kid from the English Championship? !
As for Vardy, they didn't care even more.
They only regarded this thin forward with a mohawk as a point-grabbing forward with some speed.
That's all
It is worth mentioning that Sturridge seemed a little dissatisfied with being replaced.
When he came off the field, he just clapped hands with Ling Feng and walked straight back to the bench.
Ling Feng didn't care about this either.
He understands Sturridge's little emotions very well.
With the score behind, he was replaced.
In a sense, the head coach just doesn't think his performance is good enough to stay on the field.
This is a disservice to Sturridge, who thinks he is in good shape and has scored goals.
Of course, Sturridge did not dare to return to the bench and put on a bad face, so he could only hold back his emotions.
The national team is different from the club.
In the club, he is the striker second only to Suarez. When he was replaced, he expressed dissatisfaction and the head coach would comfort him.
But in the national team, if he dares to give the head coach a little face, he can directly say goodbye to his national team career!
Amid the warm applause for Sturridge, Ling Feng quickly ran into the stadium, reached the front of the midfield, and then shouted to Rooney:
"Wayne, the coach said to let you go up, I'm behind you!"
Hearing this, Rooney just nodded and moved to the front of the entire formation.
Then, Ling Feng approached Gerald and said to him:
"Steven, the coach said let us control the ball, cooperate more, and play every offense well."
The latter also nodded and said nothing.
After the boundary kick was taken, Italy continued to control the ball.
As soon as Marchisio passed the ball to De Rossi, who came to respond, Ling Feng, who was not far away, rushed over like a tiger out of its cage.
Ninety-five [Explosion] allowed Ling Feng to kill in front of him in the blink of an eye.
De Rossi didn't expect Ling Feng to be so fast and was startled. He didn't dare to stop the ball and just drove forward!
And this aimless long pass was passed directly to England's centre-back Cahill.
Cahill passed the ball to Gerrard in front, and the latter heard a familiar shout in his ears:
"Steven!"
Looking around, he saw Ling Feng reaching for the ball. The captain of the Three Lions passed the ball directly without any hesitation.
After stopping the ball and taking the first touch of the game, Ling Feng immediately turned around.
Then he made a diagonal pass and passed the ball to Vardy on the left.
After passing the ball, he did not forget to approach the left wing and meet Vardy at any time.
As the game progressed, Prandelli on the sidelines gradually frowned.
The Italian fans in the stadium were also surprised to find out how could the England No. 15 kid who had just come on the field be so good at running? !
As Ling Feng continued to organize and dispatch in the midfield, England's offensive rhythm suddenly slowed down.
However, there are more passes between players and they become smoother.
Moreover, even if Verratti and De Rossi pressed forward as soon as he got the ball, Ling Feng did not show the slightest panic or loss.
With just a simple one-two or a pull-back, he easily got rid of the opponent's press.
With such a sophisticated playing style, he doesn't look like a newcomer making his debut on the World Cup stage, but more like an experienced veteran in major competitions!
Reasonable passing, broad vision, excellent movement
Seeing Ling Feng's handsome figure on the court, the Italian players were suddenly shocked, isn't this Pirlo? !
Moreover, compared to Pirlo, whose running ability has seriously declined, Lingfeng's speed and coverage area are almost all over the entire midfield!
The changes that Ling Feng's appearance has brought to England are visible to the naked eye.
In the ten minutes since his appearance, England's number of shots did not increase significantly.
However, the ball possession rate increased from 45% to 65%!
Slowly, England suppressed Italy on the scene.
Italy can only pass long passes from the backcourt, giving striker Balotelli the chance to single out the English defense from time to time.
In the 80th minute, as Balotelli resisted Jagielka and Cahill with his back, his long-range shot was saved by Joe Hart. Italy, which had been suppressed for more than ten minutes, won for a long time. A corner kick opportunity in the frontcourt.
Set pieces are a powerful means for Italy to threaten the goal.
Therefore, whether it was the Juventus central defender partnership of Chiellini and Barzagli, or the 1.9-meter tall central defender Paletta, they all entered the England penalty area.
At this time, Ling Feng's eyes suddenly lit up when he saw that only Damian was left as a full-back in the Italian backcourt and the huge space behind him.
This corner kick may be an opportunity!
(End of chapter)
