Team Spirit

Chapter 248 England, Hypnotic Kick
Dongqiudi: "A compilation of the most exciting scoops from the World Cup quarter-finals!"

"England defeats Brazil, rising to number one in the world rankings. Peak Lu Kai defeats three generations of Brazilian superstars: Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaka!"

"France and Portugal stage a clash of the century. Portugal suffers from the Netherlands' poor performance, leaving their squad depleted, and Figo bids a regretful farewell. The aging French team continues their advance, with Zidane assisting Henry to score the tournament's first goal!"

"Argentina's bizarre substitutions backfired! Klose's equalizer against Argentina led to their elimination of the Pampas Eagles in a penalty shootout!"

"A desperate army will surely win! Italy thrashed Ukraine 3-0, and after scoring, the players offered prayers for Pessotto, who jumped to his death during the Juventus Calciopoli scandal."

The World Cup semi-finalists have been determined.

England, once the least favored, is now the most favored.

Host nation Germany ranked second.

The aging French team, playing in the finals in every match, finished third.

Italy, burdened by a shocking scandal, was the least favored team.

As a result, England was drawn against Italy.

Germany was drawn against France.

Although the "France-Spain" era is over, England fans named their match against Italy "England-Italy".

Both teams began analyzing each other's tactics, with the England team holding a discussion session.

Guardiola prepared the PowerPoint presentation, and Lu Kai was the main speaker.

“Many people think this Italian team isn’t strong, but I have to say that’s a misconception,” said Lu Kai. “In fact, they are a championship-caliber team in this tournament.”

"You can consider them as the strongest."

"So far, the Italian team has only conceded one goal, which was a basic mistake."

"This means their defense was never truly breached, and we were facing the strongest defense in the world this year."

"Chain defense, midfield strangulation, counter-attack... through balls and penetrating attacks are all difficult to be effective."

"Also, pay attention to their attack; they have the best set-piece attack in this tournament. They have many tall, strong players with good footwork and strong teamwork."

"After their midfield scramble was ruled a foul, the opponent's set piece became their own set piece opportunity."

Everyone nodded.

Set pieces are always a double-edged sword.

Lu Kai flipped to the players' section: "Italy's attacking line is not a concern. Toni, Iaquinta, and Gilardino all lack creativity, while Del Piero and Inzaghi are old and lack the ability to break through defenses. When defending, they should focus on being solid."

"Pirlo and Totti are Italy's front and back duo."

"But Pirlo can't directly change the situation except for long passes."

"Totti lacks dribbling skills and struggles to create forward threats without support from teammates."

"The key is on the two flanks!"

Lu Kai circled Grosso: "Without the wingers, Italy's two core players are useless."

"But if the wingers come up to connect, it can immediately activate Totti."

"At the same time, the flanks can also accommodate Pirlo's ability to distribute the ball wide and revitalize the attacking third."

"The right flank formed by Camoranesi and Zambrotta is unbeatable. Ashley Cole and Barton will have a heavy defensive workload in this game. Joe Cole also needs to drop back appropriately, and the defensive midfielders need to cover for them."

"As for Grosso on the left..."

Ashley Young smiled slightly: "He looks like a center back, over 1.9 meters tall."

"After Zambrotta came on, they changed their formation to three center-backs."

Lu Kai shook his head: "No, the defense along the way has not been easy."

"Grosso is a full-back with a pretty good attacking ability and he's not slow either. Don't think of him as a clumsy center-back."

"He has a strong desire to attack."

"With his height and weight, he often has unexpected performances on the wing."

As they chatted, the starting lineup was decided.

Lu Kai: "We'll use Robinson in goal. He makes excellent positioning choices in defending free kicks, which is exactly what Joe Hart lacks."

Joe Hart's strengths lie in his reaction time and the attacking and footwork skills he developed with Green Gun.

It is suitable for facing teams with fierce attacks and for stopping sharp shots from players with strong individual abilities.

So we started him against Brazil.

The left-back position is undoubtedly Ashley Cole.

With Terry suspended, Lu Kai opted for a central defensive pairing of Ferdinand and Campbell.

Although the latter is older, the combination is strong enough to suppress the Italian team's heavy-sword-less Toni and others.

"This decision is somewhat risky," Southgate said, expressing concern that Italy might use Inzaghi.

Then Campbell suffered.

"Don't worry, with Gilardino's excellent performances over the past two years, Inzaghi's playing time at the club level has been limited. This time, his inclusion in the national team was mostly just for show; he didn't get many opportunities." Lu Kai said, "Toni, Gilardino, Iaquinta, Totti, Del Piero... they've all surpassed Inzaghi."

Lu Kai's lineup wasn't assembled for nothing.

“As for the right-back position, let Carragher play.” Lu Kai made another surprising decision. “Carragher is taller and stronger than Neville. In addition to being better able to defend the forward line, he won’t be too bad against Grosso.”

Despite Carragher's tendency to score own goals.

But there's no other way.

If Real Madrid's Duff hadn't been injured and failed to be selected for the England team this time, Lu Kai would have brought Duff in.

In midfield, the players are Barton, Hargreaves, and Beckham.

Carrick is suspended.

To maintain balance, two people of the same rank usually go up or down together.

Moreover, even Gerrard, who is more versatile and defensively better, is not as effective in Lu Kai's hands as a defensive player with a stronger one-dimensional style.

At best, he can replace Beckham, but this is Beckham's last major tournament, so there's no reason not to use him.

Moreover, Beckham is currently performing exceptionally well, with two goals and three assists, second only to Lu Kai's three goals and three assists. It can be said that Lu Kai has revitalized him.

If the Italian team wants to strangle the midfield, unless they have an exceptionally good midfielder, no matter who plays, they won't be able to create any significant attacking opportunities.

England does not have a midfielder like that.

In the forward line, it's still Joe Cole, Lu Kai, and Ashley Young.

Ashley Young will have to participate in the defensive rotations, which will be a tiring job.

One of the key factors in this match was whether Ashley Young or Grosso could dominate the other.

Joe Cole is the attacking linchpin, the ball carrier, and his position is essentially that of a left attacking midfielder. If he performs well, great; if not, there's nothing we can do, considering he's already England's best technical striker this year.

It's okay if he can't score; Lu Kai can find a way to get the ball and coordinate with him to activate him.

Other players, on the other hand, are not very reliable.

Crouch has height and his strength improved with Green Gunners, but he ultimately couldn't become a frontcourt tank.

Italy's defenders are all capable of marking towering figures and tanks; marking Crouch will be a breeze.

Vardy is a super-sub, so his task is not easy.

Speed-type players like him and Lennon are at a significant disadvantage against the Italian chain defense.

Rooney is in the same boat, and in even worse form.

"It would be great if I could bring thirty people." Lu Kai couldn't help but sigh, the system of the world competition still needs improvement.

The 23-man roster seems sufficient, but that's for teams in the group stage.

In fact, the teams that have made it to the quarterfinals should add seven more players to fill the gaps caused by injuries or suspensions, so as to bring fans a more intense and exciting game.

As for fairness... it's unfair that a team playing three games has the same number of players as a team playing seven games.

Of course, this is an ideal suggestion from a tactical perspective, and it is not easy to implement in reality.

Advanced ideas are often difficult to understand.

Moreover, this rule is more favorable to strong teams, and the probability of weak teams relying on their opponents' depleted roster to stage a comeback in the knockout stage is even smaller.

……

The World Cup semi-finals kicked off on July 6th.

England wore white, while Italy wore dark blue, creating a clear distinction between the two teams.

"Lu! They really didn't field Inzaghi! They didn't even field Gilardino!" Guardiola was excited about Lu Kai's successful prediction.

Tony
Totti
Perrotta, Pirlo, Gattuso, Camoranesi
Grosso, Materazzi, Cannavaro, Zambrotta

Buffon
-

"4411, he even guessed the formation correctly!" Stanley was practically kneeling before Lu Kai.

It's worth noting that before this, the Italian team had consistently used a 4-3-1-2 formation, which had proven quite effective. Why the sudden switch?

"As Lu Kai previously analyzed, Italy's 4-3-1-2 formation lacks wing play, and the Totti and Pirlo duo will become two black holes once they are targeted," Guardiola said. "Reduce the number of attacking players, focus on defense, increase the number of wing players, activate Pirlo's long passes, activate the duo, and thus activate the entire attacking line."

"The Italian team is indeed difficult to deal with."

"No wonder they can always score big by playing defensively. The more aggressively we attacked in this game, the more aggressively they attacked."

beep!

With the sound of a whistle, the match officially began.

In the third minute, Ashley Young received the ball, went down the wing, and delivered a cutback pass.

Grosso fell to the ground and destroyed it.

Lu Kai received the ball outside the six-yard box and dribbled closer to it.

Buffon made a steady and methodical move.

Lu Kai was sandwiched between Materazzi and Buffon. His triangular pass hit Materazzi and changed direction, still forming a triangular shape.

Beckham's shot went wide.

The football rolled out of bounds.

In the eighth minute, Lu Kai made a long pass to Ashley Cole, who won a corner kick.

After the corner kick was taken, Materazzi headed the ball away.

In the fourteenth minute, the Italian team began to fight back.

Perrotta is known for his energetic running; he makes runs along the flanks.

Totti moved to the left front to interfere with Carragher.

Pirlo seized the opportunity and launched a long pass from the middle.

Perrotta quickly devoured Campbell, creating a one-on-one opportunity.

Guardiola shook his head on the sidelines: "Even though Inzaghi is no longer here, Pirlo's long passing ability can still directly threaten our defense."

Pirlo made a long pass to the wing, activating the wingers.

Give it to the forwards, activate the striker.

It is indeed difficult to defend against.

However, Perrotta's first touch on the ball was poor, and the ball rolled quite far.

Robinson therefore launched an attack.

Ultimately, the football was blocked.

In the 27th minute, Grosso made a forward run down the left flank.

Pirlo pinpointed Perrotta's location precisely.

Perrotta receives the ball, turns, and quickly passes it out; Grosso dribbles down the left flank.

Carragher quickly took his position.

But Grosso made a decisive cut inside.

Carragher thought Grosso was going to go down the wing, but who knew that this tall right-back would play like a madman? How is this any different from Ashley Young playing left-back?
Grosso entered the penalty area and made a powerful run before sweeping the ball across with his left foot.

Totti flicks the ball with his heel towards the goal.

The ball hit Ferdinand but failed to create a shot on goal.

In the 33rd minute, the battle between the two sides in the midfield intensified.

Hargreaves passes the ball to Lu Kai.

Lu Kai, with his back to Gattuso, passed the ball to Joe Cole.

Joe Cole slammed his head against the wall and returned the message to Lu Kai.

Lu Kai used a fried dough ball to completely get rid of Gattuso and then directly attacked the back line.

But Materazzi and Cannavaro were well positioned and could pounce one after the other, seamlessly covering for Gattuso who had just made a save.

boom!
Lu Kai delivered a through pass on the right.

Ashley Young made a forward run to create a half-chance opportunity.

boom!
"Ashley Young unleashed a powerful shot! Extremely high quality... Buffon made a brilliant save!"

World's best goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon rejected Ashley Young's moment of fame.

England fans booed in disappointment.

“Ashley Young is useless. Lu Kai even put the pie right in front of his mouth, but he still couldn’t eat it.”

Ashley Young is completely innocent.

In fact, if it were someone else, they might not have been able to stop that kick.

He has already played exceptionally well.

If the ball didn't go in, you can praise Buffon, but why do you have to trample on me?
"It's okay, you played well, keep it up!" Lu Kai communicated with his teammates, indicating that they shouldn't rush.

Huang Jianxiang: "This is Lu Kai's leadership ability. Don't underestimate him just because he is not yet 21 years old. He has a wealth of competition experience."

"At this stage, both sides have become familiar with each other. England, with its attacking initiative, is more likely to break through."

Just like American teams often fall into a slump after seventy minutes, they have plenty of opportunities to change the situation in the early stages.

In the 39th minute, Camoranesi's pass was intercepted by Hargreaves.

Hargreaves passed the ball to Barton on the left wing.

Barton passed the ball to Joe Cole, who had retreated to the center line.

Hargreaves came up and switched positions with Joe Cole to receive the ball.

Hargreaves crashes into Ashley Cole.

The repeated passing around of the ball angered the Italian players.

Camoranesi, in particular, who had lost possession of the ball, charged frantically toward Hargreaves.

Hargreaves dodged the tackle and passed back to Ashley Cole.

Camoranesi slipped and fell.

Ashley Cole passes diagonally to Barton.

Barton passed to Joe Cole, who then pretended to switch to the right wing, but actually passed it twice before passing it to the left wing.

And then they passed the ball back twice on the left flank.

It makes people drowsy.

Until Joe Cole suddenly launched an attack from the left front.

Joe Cole passed the ball to Lu Kai, who came over to receive it, as he made his run down the wing.

Lu Kai cuts inside to challenge Gattuso.

But the ball was passed back to Hargreaves the next moment.

Lu Kai turned and moved forward to interfere with Cannavaro.

Hargreaves passed the ball to the right.

Ashley Young stopped and passed the ball.

Lu Kai stepped on the ball inside the penalty area.

Ashley Young followed up with a shot.

Buffon was almost asleep when this happened, and his body wasn't fully mobilized.

Besides, who would believe that Lu Kai set up Ashley Young in the penalty area?
After all, Ashley Young had already disappointed Lu Kai before.

Lu Kai's shooting conversion rate is much better than Ashley Yango's.

Swish!
The not-so-sharp shot grazed Buffon's fingertips and went into the goal.

“GOAL!!!”

"One to zero! Lu Kai and Ashley Young team up to break the deadlock!"

"The Italian team's chain defense was actually broken by the English team, and not with long balls and crosses, but with passing and possession!"

"If Arsenal's passing and possession was like flowing mercury, then England's passing and possession this time was so unremarkable that it could be described as hypnotic."

"Even Buffon was completely controlled!"

"Oh! The statistics are in, a goal scored with twenty-four consecutive passes!"

"This is so un-English!"

(End of this chapter)