The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 217 Respite
  Mr. Chairman already knows who has a problem.

It's hard to say anything else. At least with Moratti, Leo only expressed his views objectively and had no malicious intention to smear Benitez.

Benitez, on the other hand, targeted the team's core players without reason, which also caused Inter Milan to lose points in Serie A.

Such a bad behavior of abandoning public affairs for private purposes would be unacceptable to any boss.

Fortunately, it was just a league game and the impact was not very big.

Moratti has not yet decided whether to "sentence the death penalty" to Benitez.

For this he called Benitez over.

"I hope you don't have conflicts with players for unnecessary reasons. Only by managing the locker room well can you achieve good results."

It is a pity that Benitez did not understand Moratti's advice to him. Instead, he felt that the chairman's intervention in the locker room was because he did not trust his ability.

So Benitez fought back very forcefully.

"I know very well whether to have a good relationship with the players, so I won't bother Mr. Chairman."

Moratti: ...

The ensuing national team game day saved Benitez from being dismissed after just one round of league play with the team.

If he could figure it out during this gap and adjust his mentality, maybe he could still be saved.

Leo also put the unpleasantness of the club behind and went to report for the Italian national team.

"Leo, the national team will continue to use you as the core of the offense, and I also hope to maintain a good relationship with you."

The European Cup qualifiers have begun, and after all, they are not of the same importance as the previous friendly matches.

Italy coach Prandelli took the initiative to express his goodwill to Leo, hoping that he could contribute to his position as coach.

Leo looked at Prandelli and for some reason thought of Benitez.

At first, Bei Tu had similar speech skills, but then he started to get sick for some unknown reason.

I hope Prandelli will not make the same mistake as Benitez.

Leo nodded. He had won the World Cup, but this was his first time playing in the European Cup. Of course he would try his best.

Italy is in the same group with Serbia, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Estonia and the Faroe Islands.

Except for the weak Faroe Islands, which has a population of less than 50,000 and is ranked outside the top 100 in the world, other opponents cannot be underestimated, and the qualifying situation is grim.

Of course, if I have to say it, Italy just won the World Cup, so it should be possible to advance smoothly.

But as the saying goes, there are no underdogs in Europe, and the probability of overturning if you are not careful is still very high.

On September 9, local time, five-star Italy faced Estonia away from home.

A fierce battle in Group C of the 2012 European Championship qualifiers started at the Athletic Stadium in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.

Estonia has a population of approximately 1.3 million, is ranked 94th by FIFA, and has never reached the finals of a major competition.

They had only scored one goal in their previous match against Italy, and they were an out-and-out loser in the eyes of Italian fans.

Faced with such an opponent, Italy's new coach Prandelli made significant changes to the team.

Italy abandoned the 4312 that had won consecutive victories in the World Cup and switched to a 433 formation.

"Bad boy" Cassano was selected for the national team just after recovering from injury and started the game on behalf of the Azzurri.

Partnering with him on the front line are Balotelli and Simone Pepe.

In the midfield, Leo continues to play together with Pirlo and De Rossi.

Not long after the last meeting, Leo and Balotelli reunited in the national team.

Pakistan God is Pakistan God. After transferring to Manchester City, he did not go through any adaptation and adjustment.

In his first game on behalf of Blue Moon, he came off the bench and scored a goal to help the team beat the opponent.

It's just that out of safety considerations, Mancini has no plans to straighten him out yet.

Ranked behind Tevez and Adebayor in the draft, only equal to Jo, and his playing time as a rotation player is limited.

Balotelli is somewhat dissatisfied with this status quo.

"If that person is useless like a piece of trash and is so flashy, does he think he is still playing football in Brazil?

Adebayor and Tevez are just like that. I feel they are not qualified to be ranked in front of me.

If I were the starter, I would definitely score more goals than them!
  Oh, their midfielders are also far worse than the boss, and many of the passes they passed to me were not in place.

David Silva is just barely able to pass the ball, and his passing ability is about eight times as good as yours. "

Sure enough, you could hear Balotelli's complaints as soon as they met, and Leo laughed.

"Wouldn't it be much happier if you just thought your salary was free and you didn't have to work?
  You can look down on them, but be careful not to show it or conflict with your teammates, then no one will be able to help you.

Perform well in this game today and let those in Manchester City see your scoring ability! "

"Hey, hey, okay!"

Balotelli smiled and bared his big white teeth.

After the start of the game, the Italian team attacked across the board.

However, at their home court, Estonia showed extremely tenacious willpower and withstood the offensive of the World Cup champion.

Cassano's cooperation with his teammates was obviously a bit rusty, and his passing, receiving and running were not well integrated into the Italian team's overall offensive system.

In the tenth minute, Cassano received a header from the wing, but the ball was saved by goalkeeper Pareko.

Then Estonia's Vasilyev received a long pass from the backcourt, passed Chiellini and broke into the penalty area to form a single! But his shot against Italian goalkeeper Sirigu went slightly over the crossbar.

Italy almost conceded a goal!
  The goal did not come too late, in the 21st minute of the game.

Vasilyev took a free kick thirty meters away from the goal, and his powerful volley went towards the goal!
  Siligu's flying save not only failed to get the ball, but instead threw the ball into the dangerous area on the right side of the small penalty area!

Estonian forward Cenjov succeeded in scoring an empty goal from close range before Kasani!
  One to zero!

Italy was actually scored first by its opponent!

Italy, the World Cup champion and number one in the world, was given the lead by a "belly"!

However, Azzurri coach Prandelli seemed very calm.

He knows that if he adopts new tactics and selects new players, there will definitely be some fluctuations.

It just depends on whether the players on the field can repay his trust with goals.

Under the leadership of Leo, Italy, which was lagging behind, sounded the clarion call for counterattack!

After receiving a direct pass from Pirlo in the middle, Leo continuously changed directions and broke through two defensive players before passing diagonally to the left!
  Cassano took advantage of the situation and hit a low shot with his right foot that was powerful and heavy!

Although Estonian goalkeeper Pareko threw the ball away, no Italian player followed up with a follow-up shot in time. Pareko still saved the ball under him in the second moment.

Cassano, whose face was full of pockmarks, seemed to have found some form and gave a thumbs up to Leo who sent him a wonderful pass.

In the 35th minute, Leo again launched an attack in the middle.

After lightly wiping past the Estonian midfielder who came forward to press, Leo passed straight into the penalty area!
  Balotelli made a diagonal pass from the right and volleyed with his left foot without stopping the ball!

The ball is in!
  One to one!

Italy equalized the score!

After Bashen scored the goal, he jumped onto Leo's body. Fortunately, Leo was much stronger now than before, otherwise he might not be able to easily lift this big man who weighed nearly 180 kilograms.

After equalizing the score, Italy continued their efforts and wanted to overtake the score in one go.

However, the home team promptly retreated into the penalty area and defied Italy's attacks time and time again.

In the 45th minute, Pirlo's long shot from outside the penalty area hit the defensive player and bounced out of the baseline.

Leo took a corner kick from the right, and Cassano escaped from the Estonian defender in the small penalty area and jumped to header!

The ball flew into the lower right corner of the goal!
  Two to one! Italy took the lead before the end of the first half!

This is Cassano's fourth goal for the Italian national team.

At the same time, Cassano once again scored for Italy after six years!
  It's not easy. The talented boy who was once highly anticipated is unlikely to reach the height that people expect of him.

But the "bad boy" has finally grown up and is more mature than before.

After running all the way and kneeling down to celebrate, he went to the sidelines and hugged coach Prandelli.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Balotelli grabbed the ball from the goalkeeper and leaned on the defender to fight back. Cassano aimed at the empty goal in the penalty area and shot, but the ball missed the left side of the goal post!

Cassano missed an excellent scoring opportunity and failed to help the team further expand the score.

At the end of the half, Italy temporarily led the home team 2-1!

Neither side made any substitutions in the second half, so the game changed sides and the game resumed.

After Puri passed Cassani's tackle, he fired with his left foot from the penalty area line. The ball hit the top of the crossbar and popped out!
  Estonia almost equalized the score!

However, after the initial attack in the second half failed, the game once again entered Italy's control.

In the 55th minute, Balotelli's powerful long-range shot from outside the penalty area was bravely saved by the Estonian goalkeeper!

Italy gets a corner kick.

Pirlo took a corner kick on the right, and Cassano tapped his heel to knock the ball into the middle. Leo got rid of the defense and moved forward to the small penalty area line to face the mostly empty goal and easily pushed into the net!

Three to one!

The Azzurri expanded their lead!

Prandelli was confident of victory and began to make substitution adjustments.

Quagliarella came on as a substitute to replace Pepe, and shortly afterwards Palombo replaced Cassano.

Cassano was cheered by Italian fans as he left the field.

Many Italian fans also love and hate this "bad boy" and have mixed feelings.

Italy strengthened its defense and began to slow down the pace of the game to control the situation.

The rain at the scene was getting heavier and heavier, causing both sides to make frequent mistakes.

In the 88th minute, Leo stole the ball in the frontcourt, and the rain did not affect his vision.

A scalpel-like direct pass penetrated Estonia's defense!

Balotelli breaks into the penalty area alone!
  Facing the goalkeeper, Balotelli unreasonably blasted the goal with his right foot!

Four to one!

The game has completely lost its suspense!
  In the end, Prandelli's "New Italy" came back to win in the away game without any danger, and successfully scored three points!
  “I was pleasantly surprised that Cassano performed so well after returning to the national team, and I think this is what the fans want to see.

As for Leo's performance, I don't think there is any need to elaborate. No head coach except an idiot would exclude a player of this caliber from the roster. "

Benitez:? ? ?
  Prandelli, what do you mean? I don't seem to have offended you, right?

　It is very interesting that many people thought that Estonia was a weak team at the time. However, in fact, Estonia beat Serbia and Slovenia and ranked second in the group. In the end, they lost to Ireland in the play-offs and failed to reach the finals.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)