The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 202 The opening of the final

The match against the German team has just ended, and all the fans in Italy are already excited.

People didn't care what time it was, they called their friends and took to the streets. The blue crowd gathered together to celebrate the victory selflessly.

After four years, they reached the World Cup final for the second time in a row!
  Are they going to achieve the great achievement of defending the Hercules Cup again?
  Regardless of whether they can successfully defend their title in the end, the Azzurri are already worthy of making them proud!

After finishing the post-game interview and getting on the bus back to the hotel to rest, Leo received a call from home.

"Huh? You want to watch the finals?"

Leo was speechless when he received the call from his parents. He asked the questions in his heart.

"The last Champions League final was in Spain, and we asked you to fly for more than two hours to come to the venue. You refused to say that you couldn't let go of the store's business.

Why is it that this time, South Africa is so far away, but you guys are willing to take the time to come over? "

"Oh, how can this be the same? This time it's the World Cup!"

"Okay, okay, you guys can come here in advance and just take my family and friends tickets to watch the game."

It seems that they are indeed biological. What kind of father-son relationship can't compare with the attraction of the World Cup finals? Is this the charm of the highest honor hall of the world's number one sport?
  No wonder the World Cup has such a special status.

Leo hung up the phone with a look of helplessness.

But even though Leo's parents came to South Africa, they couldn't meet them.

Before the start of the final, Lippi conducted a closed military management of the team, and no player was allowed to run around.

They must be in the best condition to usher in the next game that may be the most important game for them this year, or even in a few years.

On the evening of July 7th local time in South Africa, the 11th World Cup final kicked off at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg!

The Italian team led by the silver fox Lippi faced the Dutch team in the final, which has always been known as the "Uncrowned King".

Compared to the Azzurri, who eliminated strong opponents like Spain and Germany along the way, the Dutch team's path to promotion is more interesting.

The Windmill Legion led by van Marwijk defeated two strong South African teams, Brazil and Uruguay, to advance to the final.

This also makes this World Cup another European team finals!

Counting the qualifiers, the Netherlands has won 14 consecutive victories in the World Cup!
  In comparison, the defending champion has stumbled all the way to this point.

If the Dutch team can win in the final, they will win the Hercules Cup for the first time in history and become the eighth cup champion team after Uruguay, Brazil, Germany, Italy, England, Argentina and France.

In addition, they will become another undefeated championship team since Brazil in 2002.

But if they lose today, the Dutch team will create another history:
  It has reached the World Cup finals three times but missed the championship three times. This is unique in the 80 years of the World Cup.

And if Italy wins the championship, they will win their fifth Hercules Cup and tie the number of World Cup wins with five-star Brazil!
  At the same time, new history will be created!
  Because before this, Italy and Brazil have defended their titles respectively. As long as Italy wins the championship again, they will become the first team in the history of the World Cup to achieve two consecutive championships!
  Two top teams eager to make history meet in the World Cup finals!
  We are only one step away from the final peak!

Lippi still used the previous starting lineup of four, three, one and two in the final.

Balotelli and Iaquinta partner as a double striker.

Leo is the single attacking midfielder, and behind him are Pirlo, De Rossi and Marchisio.

Left back David Thornton, right back Maggio, Bonucci and Chiellini teamed up as center backs, and the goalkeeper was Buffon.

As for the Dutch team, they adopt a four-three-three formation.

Van Persie burst forward, Kuyt and Robben were on the left and right.

Sneijder leads the midfield, and the defensive capabilities of Van Bommel and De Jong's double midfielders are "excellent".

Left back Van Bronckhorst, right back Van der Wiel, the center back combination is Heitinga partner Matteisen, goalkeeper Stekelenberg.

Before the start of the finals, there was a simple closing ceremony.

Shakira once again performed the South African World Cup theme song Waka Waka (African Moment), which attracted enthusiastic participation from the audience.

But then former South African President Nelson Mandela came to the center of the stadium to bless the fans, which finally subsided a little in the heated atmosphere.

In addition, dignitaries such as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Dutch Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima, Prime Minister Balkenende, and South African President Zuma also appeared at the finals.

Before the game started, last year's champion captain Cannavaro entered the stadium with the Hercules Cup, and South African President Zuma shook hands with the players of both teams.

Cannavaro basically didn't get a chance to play after Italy reached the knockout rounds.

That's fine, just sitting on the bench and acting as a mascot is enough.

The Italian team wore sky blue jerseys and the Netherlands team wore orange jerseys. Both teams wore the classic colors of their national teams.

Although the England national team is not good, their country's referees have reached the final!
  How come it’s not football home!

After a whistle from the British referee Howard Webber, this much-anticipated battle finally officially began!
  Leo glanced at the serious-looking referee, hoping that they would not encounter any more controversial penalties today.

Lippi made a surprising but seemingly reasonable decision before today's game.

The Italian captain's armband was worn on Leo's arm. As the best player in the Italian team since the start of the World Cup, it was Leo who led the Azzurri all the way to the final with his goals and assists!

Therefore, it is not surprising that the responsibility of captain is placed on Leo's shoulders.

As soon as the game started, Dutch midfielder De Jong brought down Balotelli with a very characteristic bright spike flying tackle.

How can I endure such a violent temper of God Ba? He immediately got up and rushed over to fight the opponent.

Fortunately, Leo had quick eyes and quick hands and held Balotelli firmly.

Weber did not hesitate and showed De Jong the first yellow card of the game.

De Jong managed to get a yellow card in just twenty-seven seconds, which he deserved.

Soon the players on the Italian team felt what ugly football was, and the Dutch team played even uglier than they expected.

This Dutch team, in the hands of head coach van Marwijk, changed their traditional total attack and total defense tactics.

Although the record is good, the ugly scenes have always been criticized by Dutch fans.

Entering the World Cup final, the Oranje have further developed their characteristics, that is, the Flying Dutchman no longer flies, but kicks instead!

Just as Leo kicked the ball out, he was tackled by Van Bronckhorst without the ball!
  This time Weber hesitated a little and did not take out any more cards. He just called Van Bronckhorst over and gave him a few verbal warnings.

The referee's laissez-faire made the Dutch team more unscrupulous in defense. Their fierce defensive actions could easily resolve Italy's attack.

I thought it would be a high-level, entertaining peak showdown, but it turned out to be an ugly hand-to-hand battle from the beginning.

Leo took a free kick from the right and made a precise curve ball into the penalty area.

Chiellini's diving header at the penalty spot was blocked by Dutch goalkeeper Stekelenberg to the right!

Marchisio's ground ball pass from the left baseline was blocked by Kuyt who returned to defend.

Then the Dutch team quickly launched a counterattack!
  Robben dribbled the ball from the right and was intercepted by David Thornton who actively pressed forward before half-time!
  "Nice job!"

Not only the Italian fans, but also Leo on the court applauded his younger brother's excellent defense.

It was indeed not easy. Thornton and Balotelli actually started with him in the World Cup finals for Italy!
  In such an important game, even the two brats who usually don't have a correct attitude did their best to concentrate on it!
  It can only be said that their talent and strength are sufficient. What kind of performance they can achieve depends on whether they are willing to take it seriously.

The ball went round and round and returned to Leo's feet. Of course, De Jong would not let him succeed if he wanted to repeat his same tricks.

With a light turn of the ball, Leo calmly got rid of De Jong's flying tackle.

"The same moves are ineffective against me!"

Then another man passed the ball, and Leo accelerated past Van Bommel!
  They are old rivals. They had just talked directly before in the Champions League final. Leo still has quite a lot of experience in breaking through Van Bommel.

After passing two people, Leo had already arrived in front of the opponent's penalty area!

He took the initiative to take two horizontal steps to the left and shook off the Dutch center back's defense. This position was already within Leo's shooting range!
  Vandeveer's timely foul stopped Leo!

But he also received a yellow card for this.

The Italian team got a free kick only about 24 meters away from the goal, and Leo took it personally.

A falling ball flew over the head of the Oranje defender and began to fall after entering the penalty area.

Dutch goalkeeper Stekelenberg made a flying save and blocked the ball bravely!
  Leo was a bit careless. Since Stekelenberg, who played for Ajax, was not well-known, he underestimated the enemy a bit.

"Sure enough, you can't underestimate the people of the world!"

And as the main goalkeeper of the World Cup finals team, he definitely has two skills.

The Netherlands counterattacked and hit the frontcourt. Van Persie received Sneijder's through pass and dribbled through the middle.

However, Robin Van Persie was soon intercepted by the tacit defense of Italy's two central defenders Chiellini and Bonucci.

After losing the ball, Van Persie turned around and tackled Chiellini. Weber once again showed a yellow card to the Dutch player.

The referee is really not biased towards Italy. It is because the Dutch team committed too many fouls and their actions were too fierce. It is really impossible not to play cards.

Could it be that... the match between the Netherlands and Portugal four years ago is about to happen again?
  In a quarter-final match of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands received a total of yellow cards and four red cards.

These two statistics are enough to go down in history. Many viewers who watched that game also said that it was the first time they had seen such an ugly game.

Today's game has just begun, and the Dutch team seems to have already had that idea.

De Rossi was forced by a Dutch attacker in the backcourt and made a cross pass error. Kuyt intercepted the ball in the middle and fired a right-footed low shot directly outside the penalty area, which was easily confiscated by Buffon.

In any case, this is the Dutch team's first attack in this game, but I don't know if it is a good start.

In the 17th minute, Pirlo made a direct pass, Leo scored the ball from the middle, and Italian right back Maggio broke through Kuyt and cut into the right side of the penalty area!

But then Macho's right-footed shot in front of the goal was destroyed by Heitinga and went out of the bottom line!
  Leo took a corner kick from the right, and the Italian central defender in the penalty area continued to ferry headers but could not form a goal!

Balotelli leaned on the defensive player and knocked back near the arc of the penalty area. Pirlo took the ball to the back post again, and Iaquinta's left foot volley from a small angle hit the side net!
  　I would like to apologize to everyone. There is a big mistake in the previous article, which is about defending the World Cup. I checked the information before, and what I wanted to write was that Italy will become the first team to defend the title twice, but when it came time to code, I forgot about it. Now it’s hard to change the previous one, so that’s it. well
  　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)