After Del Piero came off the field in the second half, Cassano's importance became even more obvious.
The new Giovinco is fast and good at dribbling, but in terms of game reading ability, he is still a bit behind Cassano.
Not long after the start of the second half, Cassano once again passed two people and passed the ball accurately to Balotelli. Balotelli's shot in the penalty area hit the goal post and Croatia escaped.
It is a pity for the Italian fans. If this goal is scored, then the Italian team will be safe in this game.
Balotelli didn't score, so he glanced at Cassano with a guilty look, and Cassano raised his middle finger to him again...
Seeing Cassano who was very active on the court, Speed on the sidelines said to Yun Sheng with admiration: "Sir, your transformation of Cassano is so right."
Yun Sheng smiled slightly: "This guy is not suitable for playing in the forward position. He needs space. Let him retreat appropriately to play as a shadow forward. This is best."
In the parallel world of later generations, Cassano and Balotelli formed a double forward in this cup, but Cassano only scored one goal in the entire tournament and his performance was mediocre.
It's not that he is in bad form. You must know that in the past season, his league goals and assists have reached double figures in this and subsequent generations, and his league form is excellent.
The biggest reason that affects his performance is tactical reasons. He was too close to the goal and could not use his real advantages, so Yun Sheng asked him to withdraw and form a shadow forward partner with Del Piero. He could pass the ball to Balotelli in front, or he could use his personal skills. Push forward so that Cassano's greatest advantage can be brought into play.
The Juventus general was happy to see Cassano's wonderful performance, and Croatia on the side was also making tactical adjustments.
Eduardo and Kalinic came off the bench, and Croatia's formation instantly became 3-3-4.
Trailing by two goals, they had to make a desperate move.
Now there are Mandzukic and Jelavic on the front line, as well as the new Eduardo and Kalinic, full of offensive power.
The three players in the midfield are Perisic, Modric and Rakitic. These three players are also talented players.
This Croatian team is very young, and their performance in the first half was mediocre, mainly because after winning the first game against Ireland, they wanted to be steady in this game.
But they didn't expect that they fell behind 0-2 at halftime, and Balotelli almost scored the third goal just now. They had to go all out to attack.
Yun Sheng has introduced the names of several young Croatian players to the players many times.
Modric, who is about to move to Real Madrid, Rakitic, who has been spotted by Barcelona, Perisic, who has won consecutive Serie A titles with Dortmund, and Mandzukic, who has been acquired by Bayern, plays for the Premier League team Everton. Jelavic, Kalinic is said to be favored by half of the Serie A teams...
These resounding names form this powerful new young army!
In the first half, Croatia hesitated between attacking and defending, which delayed the opportunity. However, after the personnel adjustments in the second half, Croatia's offense came up decisively!
In the 72nd minute of the game, Perisic passed the ball into the penalty area after continuous breakthroughs on the left. Mandzukic's header was smashed out by Buffon's fists, and the ball flew straight out of the penalty area.
Modric from outside the penalty area took a powerful long shot, and the ball hit the dead center!
Buffon, who fell to the ground after the save, had no time to get up, and the ball flew into the far corner!
2 to 1! Croatia got a goal back!
Faced with Croatia's counterattack, Yunsheng chose to strengthen defense. He replaced Abate and Montolivo, whose physical fitness had declined, and replaced Alcmotta and Gattuso.
In the 89th minute of the game, Modric performed another wonderful performance, creating a dangerous situation in front of the goal.
After getting rid of Pirlo, Modric did not face Gattuso's crazy pressing. He chose to go wide. Marco Motta made a precise pass before putting down the tackle. Mandzukic volleyed in the penalty area and shot the ball into the net!
2 to 2! Croatia was absolutely tied with Italy, they showed great resilience!
At this time, the regular game time was over. The two minutes of injury time passed quickly. The referee's whistle sounded and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
In the live broadcast room, Vieri finally couldn't bear it anymore and severely criticized Yunsheng and the Italian team!
"Is it an accident that two games in a row were draws? They were both tied when they were leading, and they both conceded goals at the last moment. This Italian team has too little desire to win and too little resilience!"
"So what if there is Yunsheng? He is just a young coach who has good performance in coaching the club and has never led the national team. Maybe our choice is wrong!"
"There is also the Juventus four-time champion team that we are proud of. Although this group of people is not strong enough, they have been fighting for a whole season and their physical fitness has long been exhausted! If I were the head coach of the Italian team, I would Players from other clubs will definitely be selected to play! Why we always concede the ball at the last moment has a lot to do with the physical condition of the players!"
Vieri is not the only one who holds this kind of criticism. After the game, Italy, which ranked third in the group, also received unanimous criticism from domestic and foreign media. Most of the criticisms were very similar to Vieri's.
Can Yunsheng help the Italian team go further?
Now it seems that even many former supporters are pessimistic.
After the game, the players rested the next morning and the coaching staff continued to meet and discuss.
Yunsheng faced the problem head-on and first made a self-examination.
"As for the criticism in the media, I think there is some truth. I did not do a good job on the team's physical balance. The national team competition is not a club event, and the players' physical adjustment needs to make greater changes. I should Let the main players rotate as much as possible to avoid physical impact."
Cannavaro naturally spoke to Yun Sheng: "Sir, I don't blame you. Our training time was too short, and we had a temporary change of coaches midway. The two opponents before the group stage were very strong, so we must send the strongest No one dares to rotate players easily."
Looking at the standings, Yun Sheng frowned.
Spain and Croatia, who have one win and one draw, both have 4 points and are tied for first place in the group; Italy, which has two draws in a row, has 2 points and is third in the group; Ireland, which has lost two games in a row, is at the bottom of the group.
Although Italy is only two points behind, the trouble is that their goal difference is zero!
Spain now has a four-goal difference advantage, and Croatia also has a two-goal difference advantage.
If Spain and Croatia tie in the last round, then Italy's goal difference must be more than two in order to beat Croatia to get the second place in the group.
From this point of view, the last game against Ireland turned out to be a battle of life and death for Italy...
