The training camp of the Italian national team began on May 24, the fourth day after the Europa League final.
This is mainly because before the official start of the World Cup, the Italian national team has prepared three warm-up matches, and the first match against Saudi Arabia is on May 29, so training must start as early as possible.
Although the Champions League final only started on May 27, what does that have to do with the Italian team?
There is no Italian international in the participating teams of Real Madrid and Liverpool.
When Pan Yi appeared on the training ground, everyone in the Italian national team was enthusiastic.
The World Cup is coming, this is every player’s ultimate dream, how can they not be excited!
The grouping of this World Cup is actually quite dramatic.
Since the Italian team was not a seeded team, they were also placed in Group F with the German team.
This is actually nothing. After all, you always have to meet a strong team, and you can't expect to be assigned to Group A where the host Russia is.
But in the same group, in addition to Mexico from North America, there is also the Dragon Country team from Asia!
This is a bit interesting.
Everyone knows that Pan Yi has made a great contribution to the Dragon Kingdom team being able to appear in this year's World Cup, and Pan Yi himself is from the Dragon Kingdom.
Then, the current head coach of the Dragon National Team is Italian Lippi. He was once a meritorious coach of Italy and led the Italian team to win the 2006 World Cup.
An Italian team led by the head coach of the Dragon Country faced the Dragon Country team led by the Italian head coach, and then the head coaches of both sides have played for each other...
It’s full of topics.
In comparison, the "Axis Derby" between Italy and Germany does not seem so gimmicky.
But for the time traveler Pan Yi, this grouping is quite natural.
It’s basically the same as the previous life!
In his previous life at the 2018 World Cup, the four teams in Group F were Germany, Mexico, Sweden, and South Korea.
But now history has changed. Under the influence of Pan Yi, Italy eliminated Sweden, and Dragon Kingdom eliminated South Korea. Then these two teams naturally took the positions of Sweden and South Korea. It makes sense no matter how you look at it!
There are no changes in other groups.
For example, in Group B, Portugal and Spain will stage the Iberian Peninsula derby, and then add Morocco and Iran;
Argentina in Group D will face Iceland, Croatia, and old rival Nigeria;
Belgium and England in Group G will also have a "Premier League showdown";
Including the opening match of Group A will also be Russia against Saudi Arabia, and so on.
For the players of the Italian national team, being in this group is considered a good sign.
Although the German team is the world's top team, its momentum has dropped a bit recently, and Pan Yi once used Sweden to dominate his opponents. Now the Italians will certainly not be afraid of them.
Not to mention, there has always been a saying of "Germany" in world football, which means that Germany must be governed by Italians...
The Mexican team has always been difficult to deal with, but a team with this kind of technical flow has high upper and lower limits and plays very casually. If their performance is restricted in the midfield, they will often be unable to play well.
As for the Dragon Country team, this is only their second appearance in the World Cup, and they have not even won a victory in the history of the competition.
The overall strength of the Long Guo team's players is also at the bottom of the group. Under the premise that Pan Yi is not in the Long Guo team, this team is indeed nothing to fear.
But Pan Yi quickly reminded them that no team in the World Cup is easy to mess with, and they must be very energetic!
This is not Pan Yi’s alarmism.
Let’s just talk about the 2018 World Cup Group F in the previous life. Who would have thought that the German team would lose to the South Korean team in the end and fail to qualify in the group?
The most typical one is the last World Cup, where Italy was in the group. Who would have thought that Costa Rica would beat the three former world champions, Italy, England, and Uruguay, and qualify as the first in the group?
Football is round, this sentence is not just said casually.
"The next training and three friendly matches will be my biggest basis for deciding the players to participate in the World Cup! I always only look at the status and not the reputation when hiring people. As long as your status is good, you will definitely have a place in the World Cup lineup. Do you understand?" Pan Yi shouted loudly on the sidelines of the training ground.
"Yes, boss!" the players responded in unison.
This time the Italian national team arranged three warm-up matches before the official start of the World Cup. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the other two were Argentina and the Netherlands.
This also corresponds to the imaginary enemies of the three teams in the group stage, which are teams from Asia, America, and Europe.
Pan Yi also submitted a list of 23 people to participate in the main competition early.
The three goalkeepers are still Buffon, Donnarumma and Perrin.
The back line is Bonucci, Chiellini, Bastoni, Barzagli, DiMarco, Candreva, De Sciglio, Spinazzola, basically a regular combination of four central defenders + four full-backs , but Damian unfortunately lost the selection due to limited quotas.
The midfield six will be Tonali, Barella, De Rossi, Verratti, Jorginho and Parolo.
The six forwards are Scamacca, Balotelli, Insigne, Chiesa, Shaarawy, and Raspadori. This is also based on the configuration of two centers + four wingers.
Generally speaking, Pan Yi selects players according to the current regular 4-3-3 formation of the Italian national team, with one main player and one substitute for each position, and three special goalkeepers.
Theoretically, all 23 people will go to the World Cup, but there will be variables.
Because there is still a waiting list, if there is any disturbance before the start of the World Cup, Pan Yi, as the head coach, still has the power to change the list.
This is why Pan Yi tells the players to perform well in training and warm-up matches!
Moreover, being selected for the roster is the first step. If you want to truly make your debut in the World Cup, you must perform at a better level.
No one wants to finally participate in the World Cup, only to sit on the bench, right?
This is why Pan Yi said that to the players on the training ground.
The players naturally know that Pan Yi's attitude is always serious, and indeed no one dares to be lazy during the national team training.
Who doesn't know that Pan Yi now has absolute authority in the Italian national team?
Who doesn't know that with Pan Yi's current status and temper, he will definitely have an iron fist to block any disobedient players?
Of course, the more important thing is that this Italian national team is full of vigor, strength and vitality!
Ever since Pan Yi was appointed to lead Italy, which was half-dead, into the World Cup finals, there has been a saying - that is, champion coach Pan Yi is very likely to lead Italy to regain the World Cup championship!
Therefore, the players are also more confident and cherish this opportunity to compete in the World Cup with Pan Yi.
After all, whether they are new players or old players, being selected for the national team this time has a different meaning than before. They have a great chance to carve their names into the history of Italian football.
Everyone’s morale is really not what it was a few months ago!
This situation is exactly what Pan Yi wants to see.
In the first warm-up match on May 29, the Italian players performed very hard.
Facing Saudi Arabia from Asia, they achieved a four-goal victory!
Of course, such a win is not bad. What Pan Yi values more is the next two warm-up matches, especially the one against Argentina.
Argentina was the runner-up last time. In addition to the superstar Messi, the team also has stars like Dybala, Aguero, Higuain, and Di Maria. Their strength is of course far superior to Saudi Arabia.
Pan Yi is preparing to lead Italy to the championship. Defeating Saudi Arabia is of course not enough, and Argentina is a good touchstone!
As for Argentina, their head coach Sampaoli actually thinks so too.
Although it was a friendly match, Sampaoli still didn't want to lose the game.
The Argentina team under his command has been described as "top-heavy", which means that the stars are basically concentrated in the midfield and frontcourt, and they are all offensive.
In the backcourt, he can only rely on wealthy substitutes like Otamendi, Rojo, including Romero and Caballero.
As for the defensive midfielder position, Mascherano has aged and is now looking for gold in the Chinese Super League, and players such as Lanzini, Banega and Biglia cannot be considered top stars.
In addition, Argentina's performance in the previous international matches was average, so Sampaoli was also under a lot of pressure. Many media and fans believed that the strength of the Argentine team he convened was not as good as the previous one.
If he can defeat Italy led by Pan Yi in a friendly match, then his life will be easier.
——
On June 2, the battle between Italy and Argentina kicked off at the San Siro Stadium.
Pan Yi sent out a stable 4-3-3 formation in this game.
The goalkeeper is played by veteran Buffon, with defenders Candreva, Bastoni, Chiellini and Spinazzola, midfielders Varela, Verratti and Tonali, and forward Pan Yi uses Xiao Qi The combination of Yesa, Scamaca and Insigne.
Basically, it is a mixed lineup of main players and substitutes.
This is mainly because in cup competitions such as the World Cup and European Cup, it is impossible to fight to the end with a lineup of 11 players. Each player needs to exert his or her own strength.
In warm-up matches, especially against a strong opponent like Argentina, it is also necessary to run in various combinations of players.
An obvious example is when Pan Yi was leading the Swedish team.
Except for the two substitute goalkeepers, almost every player in the group of players he led at that time played a role in the championship.
It is precisely because Pan Yi often rotates the Swedish team in some positions in games with a relatively intensive schedule, and the rotating players also complete their tasks well, this makes the entire Swedish team. In a good state, and finally won the championship.
Obviously, Pan Yi just wants to replicate this experience in the Italian team.
None of the 23 players he brought with him were going to Russia for vacation!
As for Argentina, Sampaoli fielded what he considered to be the strongest lineup.
Goalkeeper: Caballero.
Defenders: Tagliafico, Rojo, Otamendi, Selvi.
Midfielder: Mascherano, Biglia, Di Maria, Messi, Mesa.
Forward: Aguero.
The officially announced formation looks like a 4-5-1, but since Messi and Di Maria's positions are relatively flexible and may often appear at the winger position, it can actually be regarded as a 4-3-3. .
"Their short forward combination is very flexible, but it has a fatal flaw, that is, it must have the ball at its feet before it can form a greater threat."
"Argentines don't like to pass from the bottom, let alone high balls. They are better at advancing through ball control and cooperation from the beginning of the midfield."
"They need to break through and get the ball, so we won't give them the chance to cooperate delicately! We will start strangulating from the midfield and kill them through counterattacks at the same time!"
Pan Yi's words in the locker room echoed in the minds of the Italian players.
For this game, they have also understood Pan Yi's main tactic, which is defensive counterattack.
This is the tactic Pan Yi has practiced more recently.
After all, there is a saying in the football world that winning depends on offense and winning depends on defense.
Especially in a big competition like the World Cup, defense always comes first.
And when facing a powerful attacking group like Argentina, it is also the best time to practice defense.
Among the opponents in the group stage, whether it is Germany or Mexico, it can be said that they are both good offensive players, and they also like to control the ball.
If they can easily cope with Argentina's offensive firepower, it can be said that Pan Yi and his Italian players will be more comfortable when it comes to actually playing in the World Cup.
As for counterattack, Pan Yi is still very confident in his speed on both wings.
Both Insigne and Chiesa have the ability to quickly tear apart the opponent's defense, and Scamaca's containment effect in the middle cannot be ignored.
As for Argentina's back line, to be honest, whether it is Tagliafico or Selvi, the two full-backs, their tracking ability can only be considered average.
As for the two central defenders in the group of Otamendi and Rojo, it may be too much to describe them as "colanders", but they are indeed not the kind of very stable defenders.
To deal with Argentina like this, it may only need one or two opportunities to counterattack...
At the beginning of the game, just as Pan Yi expected, Argentina quickly turned the away game and aggressively attacked.
They have never been afraid to compete with any team, and even Sampaoli has always felt that Pan Yi will lead Italy to have a hearty offensive battle with them at home.
However, they were disappointed.
At the San Siro Stadium, Italy recovered very well. Barrera, Verratti and Tonali were equivalent to three defensive midfielders, completely blocking the thirty-meter area at the front of the penalty area, allowing Argentina's offense to It’s hard to get going in this place.
Argentina's frontcourt offense is a small lineup. Such a lineup naturally prefers to play on a wider field, with enough space for them to pass the ball and attack.
However, now that three Italian midfielders are defending this area, their offense cannot be launched smoothly at all, and the speed advantage of the three forwards cannot be used, no matter how well Mascherano passes the ball behind him. , and then facing the entire Italian defense line is not of much use.
Argentina's direct passes were repeatedly destroyed by Italy, and the side attacks were only scratching the surface. It seemed that they were suppressing Italy in their own half and beating them wildly, but there was no actual damage at all.
Argentine fans were shaking their heads and lamenting when they saw that Argentina's wing attacks were often passed to the center and then the opponent's tall defender easily jumped up and headed the ball out comfortably.
There is no way around it.
Aguero is indeed a world-class forward, and his ability to go forward and score shots is also unique in football. However, Chiellini and Bastoni cooperated very well today and did not allow Aguero to grab points at low points. Opportunity.
And once Argentina hits the ball high, there will be no chance... After all, Aguero is only a little over 1.7 meters tall, which is really not enough compared to the tall Italian defender.
As for Argentina’s other two forwards?
Well, Messi and Di Maria's headers are indeed not that good either.
When Argentina's offense repeatedly suffered setbacks, Italy's counterattack began to gradually become fierce.
Verratti and Tonali did not give up the opportunity to counterattack while defending. They both had excellent long passes, and Argentina pressed very high. The speed of Insigne and Chiesa alone was enough. They drink from a pot.
This kind of hiding behind and shooting cold shots made Argentina very uncomfortable.
After all, Verratti and Tonali hold the ball very far back, and it would be difficult for them to interfere even if they want to.
In the 30th minute, after Chiesa almost broke through with a counterattack, Sampaoli roared to make Mascherano and Biglia move forward, directly facing Verratti and Tonali, including Barca. Leila pressed closely.
So the next Argentine pass was deflected by Chiellini. After Barrera got the ball, Biglia and Mascherano immediately pounced on Barrera at the same time.
They grabbed the ball in time, but Barrera immediately passed the ball to Verratti.
Verratti even poked the ball directly to Tonali in front without hesitation.
Due to Mascherano and Biglia's attack, a blank space immediately appeared in the center of Argentina, which originally had only three people. Tonali received the ball in this blank space.
Rojo began to prepare to retreat, but at this moment, Otamendi rushed towards Tonali...
"This idiot..." Rojo just cursed in his stomach. After all, this teammate is indeed too reckless sometimes!
But at this time, I saw Tonali pass the ball immediately after receiving the ball!
The ball flew over Otamendi's head and flew straight into Argentina's half.
Because he was shaken by Otamendi, Rojo, who was trailing behind, had no time to return to defense. At this time, two figures wearing blue Italian jerseys rushed up from their own half like lightning. Double ghost shots Door!
It is Italy's two strikers, Chiesa and Insigne!
The ball landed in front of Chiesa. He took the ball a few steps forward and then made a cross.
At this time, another striker Scamaka had also arrived!
At this time, Argentina's goalkeeper Caballero could only choose to attack, but Scamacca had already pushed easily, and the ball rolled into Argentina's goal...
In the 35th minute of the first half, Italy opened the scoring with a lightning-quick counterattack!
1:0!
Pan Yi stood up and applauded with a smile on his face, while in the background were Italian fans waving their arms crazily in the stands.
Defensive counterattack - it sounds like a very simple tactic, but no matter how simple the tactic is, it has its best features.
Counterattacks are not only possible through long passes. The efficiency of such counterattacks is often very low. However, counterattacks formed through fast ground passes can often kill with one hit!
This goal has only one word implemented from beginning to end, and that is "fast"!
Pan Yi was very satisfied with the passing timing, passing accuracy, and efficiency of running without the ball shown by the Italian players during this goal.
After conceding the goal, Argentina went crazy and launched a more intense attack.
However, Italy began to continue to shrink its defense, leaving Argentina with almost no chance to enter the penalty area. In desperation, Argentina could only continue to use long shots to launch attacks.
But veteran Buffon, who started today, performed very steadily and blocked several high-quality long-range shots from Argentina.
Even when Messi's shot hit Bastoni and changed the line, he still made a second reaction and lifted the baseline with one hand.
Pan Yi was also very happy on the sidelines.
Although he now intends to support Donnarumma to become the main force of the national team, with Buffon's performance, he has double insurance in hand!
Buffon, on the other hand, maintained a good condition even though he didn't mind being a substitute, and he also worked hard to help stabilize the locker room. It's really like having an old man in a family, like having a treasure!
Before the end of the first half, the Italian team scored again through a counterattack.
Chiesa was brought down by Rojo when he broke through. Tonali once again expanded the score with a wonderful direct free kick, 2:0!
After the start of the second half, both sides made many changes.
Pan Yi almost changed the starting lineup, and his tactics became an offensive style focused on possession of the ball.
This is the meaning of the warm-up match, which is to practice various tactics!
On the opposite side, Sampaoli seemed to have figured it out, and he also sent more substitute players, such as Dybala and Higuain, but his style of play was still to attack desperately.
In such a back-and-forth game, both sides finally scored two goals each in the second half!
Dybala and Higuain each scored a goal, while on the Italian side, Balotelli and El Shaarawy scored respectively.
In the end, Italy defeated Argentina with a score of 4:2.
"Pan Yi's transformation of Italy is gradually taking shape, and various tactics are at his fingertips"
After the game, "Gazzetta dello Sport" analyzed the victory in this warm-up match and was full of confidence in the upcoming World Cup.
"Pan Yi used two completely different lineups and tactics in the first and second half, but both played very good content."
"This shows that the current Italian players have a thorough understanding of Pan Yi's tactics, and every player can play their own thing on the court."
"In the World Cup, we have to face various teams with different styles and playing methods. If we just stick to one tactic, we are likely to be targeted."
"But with the current state of the Italian team, we have reason to believe that they are ready for the World Cup!"
"Five-star Italy? Pan Yi, it's up to you!"
