The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 209 It has to be Leo

For the vast majority of Italian players, this is just an ordinary friendly match.

But it is different for head coach Prandelli. This is his first game after taking office.

Not to mention proving that he is better than his predecessor Lippi, at least he can't perform too badly.

But now the Italian team, which is the World Cup champion, actually trails Cote d'Ivoire 0-1, which is unacceptable to him.

It is even more intolerable to Italian fans.

If the game ends like this, you can imagine what kind of abuse and criticism Prandelli will face.

Therefore, at the end of the intermission, the Italian team made several substitutions.

Quagliarella, Borriello, Cassani and Giuseppe Rossi came on as substitutes, while Balotelli, Amauri, Marco Motta and Cassano were replaced.

It's hard to say how effective Prandelli's substitution adjustment will be.

It's basically a substitution for the sake of substitution.

Anyway, after the start of the second half, Italy still could not gain any advantage in the competition with Cote d'Ivoire.

Giuseppe Rossi made a long pass into the penalty area, and Borriello outflanked him in the middle.

Cassani made a breakthrough pass from the right, and Quagliarella nodded slightly and missed the goal.

It seems that the offensive is continuous, but unfortunately it misses the goal every time.

The Italian fans' blood pressure soared as they watched.

Yaya Toure dribbled the ball from the middle and ran over Pepe and Palombo to send a direct pass.

Gervinho and Doumbia hit the wall and passed the ball in front of the penalty area. Kalou got the ball and went to the left side of the penalty area!
  Unfortunately, his low shot from a small angle missed the far post of the goal.

No, the Italian head coach couldn't sit still, and he continued to make substitutions.

In the 70th minute, Marchisio and Montolivo came on the bench, replacing Simone Pepe and Palombo.

The Azzurri further stepped up their attack.

Montolivo, who came on as a substitute, was intercepted by Kolo Toure, and Ivory Coast counterattacked quickly!
  Yaya Toure received a cross from his teammate outside the arc of the penalty area, and without stopping the ball, he volleyed hard and hit the top corner of the goal!
  Two to zero!
  The camera showed Leo, who was doing nothing on the sidelines. He noticed that the camera was trying not to laugh.

After thinking about almost all the painful experiences from birth to now, I finally managed to hold back my smile.

Seeing his painful expression, the audience thought Leo was anxious because the team was lagging behind.

"What are Prandelli thinking? Why not go to Leo?"

"That is to say, if Leo were on the court, he would definitely not fight like this!"

Amid the cries of "Replace Leo!", Prandelli finally asked Leo to go to the sidelines to warm up.

Seeing Leo get up, the Italian fans at the scene gave him warm applause.

Alas, it still depends on me in the end. Leo doesn’t know when he became the backbone of Italy.

Or is it that the other Italian internationals are really limited in strength?
  As soon as Leo came on the field, he was unexpectedly tightly defended by Côte d'Ivoire.

As soon as he received the ball, Zocola and Tiote, two black men, surrounded Leo with force.

Speaking of which, Zocola and Leo were teammates when they were at Tottenham.

Although they didn't have much contact in private, the relationship between the two was not really good at that time due to competition for positions.

But after Leo left, Zocola soon moved to Sevilla in La Liga.

The previous conflicts no longer exist. "Reunited after a long separation", the two still looked at each other and smiled.

It's all a joke, but it's not easy for Leo to joke about the game.

Even if it's just a friendly match, now that he's on the court, he'll take it seriously.

He suddenly started to accelerate and turned around with a 360-degree pull ball to get rid of Tiote, and then passed the ball and got rid of Zokola.

Then Leo passed the ball straight into the right side of the penalty area. After receiving the ball, Giuseppe Rossi hit a powerful volley from the sideline of the penalty area!
  The ball is in!
  Two to one!

Italy finally got a goal back.

Leo wasted no time celebrating the goal and ran into the goal to fish the ball out.

With ten minutes left in the game, Italy was still one goal behind its opponent.

And after what happened just now, Cote d'Ivoire's defense against him will only become tighter.

Sure enough, the opponent immediately made adjustments. The two forwards Gervinho and Doumbia were replaced and replaced by two defensive players. The purpose was naturally to strengthen the personal marking of Leo.

In this regard, Leo can only say that Côte d'Ivoire is indeed very capable, and this is still the case in the absence of their big-name star Drogba.

Why did we lose to Brazil and Portugal during the World Cup and fail to qualify from the group stage?

What should I do? Balotelli, who had the best cooperation with him in the Italian team, was replaced before he could play.

None of the current forwards even played in the World Cup with Leo before.

Even if Leo went through all the troubles to pass the ball to the gap in the opponent's circle, they could not form a tacit understanding with him and wasted the opportunity.

As expected, he had to find a way to solve the battle by himself again, and Leo sighed helplessly.

In the 91st minute, Yaya Toure took another powerful long-range shot from outside the penalty area. Italian goalkeeper Sirigu flew to pick the ball off.

Opportunity for a quick counterattack!

Leo didn't stick to the ball, he just passed the ball diagonally over the top to the wing and rushed forward.

Of course, Leo, who was off the ball, would not be blocked by the Ivorian defenders and rushed all the way to the penalty area.

Molinaro knocked back from the left, Leo caught the ball, turned around and deftly passed Kolo Toure and hit a low shot with his left foot!   The Ivorian goalkeeper fell to the ground to make a save but was unable to do anything.

Two to two!
  Italy finally equalized the score at the end of the game!

"I just said, you still have to rely on Leo. If you go to him earlier, nothing will happen, right?"

"Prandelli wants to bring some changes to Italy, but whether this change is good or bad will take time to prove.

At least judging from today's game, Prandelli's 'reform' was not successful. "

In the end, the Azzurri and the African powerhouse tied 2-2, and it was a pity that Prandelli failed to win smoothly in his coaching debut.

Prandelli's attitude towards Leo is very complicated. On the one hand, he must be grateful to Leo for saving him, otherwise he will definitely be laughed at by the media and fans for a long time if he fails in his first show.

But on the other hand, with Leo around, it seems difficult for him to make his mark on the Italian national team.

He lost because he was not as good as Lippi, and won because of Leo. Prandelli has begun to regret taking over the "mess" of Italy.

After the game, Leo took the opportunity to say a few words to Balotelli.

"How do you feel after going to Manchester City? Are you adapting to the new environment?"

It doesn't matter if you don't ask. As soon as Leo asked, Balotelli's face started to cry.

“Boss, you don’t know, I’ve had enough of everything in Manchester, Milan is better!

And there is nothing to do there. After training every day, I can only go back to the rented house and play games alone.

My teammates at Manchester City were also unfriendly. They laughed at my English accent and no one helped me when I couldn't put on my vest!
  ......"

"Stop, stop, stop, you and those teammates have just met, so it's definitely not possible for you to have a good relationship so quickly.

But you are both football players. Let your strength on the field speak for itself. I believe you will be able to integrate into the team soon.

As for English, you can find a local English teacher to give you good tutoring. "

"Ah? I have a headache now when I learn English. The club has already arranged an English teacher for me. Do I need to find another one myself?"

Leo showed a smile that every man could understand and shook his head gently.

“You don’t understand what I mean, I’m not talking about that kind of teacher.

It's a young and beautiful 'English teacher' who gives you private 'counseling' every day, do you understand? "

Balotelli looked confused at first, but soon understood what Leo meant.

"Oh~ I understand!

It has to be you, boss, how come you know everything!
  If my English improves by then, I will tell reporters that you taught me this method..."

"Don't! Don't!"

Leo directly covered Ba Shen's mouth with his hand.

"You came up with this on your own and it has nothing to do with me. Do you understand?"

Balotelli's mouth was covered, he looked at Leo's serious eyes and nodded vigorously.

Only then did Leo let go of his hand, and he patted Ba Shen on the back.

“When you arrive in a strange country and a strange city, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable adapting.

Anyway, if you encounter any problems, find your coach to solve them as soon as possible. I think Mancini bought you here specially and will definitely take good care of you. "

"Well I see."

If it were in the past, Balotelli would have been very impatient when he heard Leo say this, but today he was unusually quiet and listened to Leo's instructions.

“Training and playing seriously is the only way to win the love of Manchester City fans.

Don't be willful and nonsense anymore. This is the UK, not Italy. If something happens, we won't be able to go there and help you immediately.

Anyway, take care of yourself and see you next time on the national team match day. "

After hugging Balotelli, Leo lowered his head and turned to leave without saying anything more.

Parting was for the next reunion. After a brief reunion, Leo and his friends went their separate ways again.

Alas, thinking about these two careless "little brothers" Leo makes his face look sad.

I hope Balotelli's new life in the Premier League goes well. After returning to the team, he must have a good talk with Thornton.

This time Prandelli simply didn't recruit him into the national team!

After returning to the club from the national team, Leo didn't bother to rest. Three days later there was a TIM Cup match against two old rivals, Juventus and AC Milan!

On August 8, the 13th TIM Cup Triangle was held at the San Nicola Stadium in Bari.

The top three in northern Italy have gathered together again, and this game is also the Nerazzurri's last warm-up match before the start of the new season.

For Inter Milan, Maicon, who has attracted much attention, still appears in the team roster.

This also seems to indicate that the Brazilian right-back who is entangled with Real Madrid is more and more likely to stay on the team.

From the first time he participated in the TIM Cup, Leo found this special competition format very interesting.

The first half of this year was between Inter Milan and Juventus, with AC Milan watching from the sidelines.

However, Leo, who had just returned from the national team, was placed on the bench by head coach Benitez.

Leo:? ? ?
  Why do I feel like I've been sitting on the bench every day lately? I think I'm in good health?
  In addition to Leo and Milito as substitutes, Zanetti was not included in the squad due to physical discomfort.

In the remaining positions, Inter Milan basically plays with the strongest lineup!
  (End of this chapter)