The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 227 Riot
  Prandelli discovered through the previous games that playing so many forwards didn't seem to be of much use, so he decided to play 4-4-2 instead.

On October 10, Italy sat at home and faced the challenge of Serbia.

Originally, Serbia was supposed to be their biggest opponent in this group, but their opponent actually lost 3-1 to Estonia at home four days ago.

This result also caused a lot of discussion among the media and fans.

Serbia's extreme fans put the main target of suspicion on the team's starting goalkeeper Stojkovic.

Stojkovic's performance was seriously abnormal in the Serbian team's 1-3 upset loss to the underdog Estonia at home in the European Cup qualifiers last weekend.

Therefore, some fans suspected that Stojkovic was bribed by a gambling syndicate, and that there was suspicion of match-fixing in that game.

Indeed, Serbia's home defeat was very strange, and the game process was so strange that even UEFA expressed confusion about it.

After all, when Serbia defeated Germany 1-0 in the group stage of the World Cup in South Africa, Stojkovic bravely defused countless attacks by the German team and also saved Podolski's penalty kick.

This is in sharp contrast to his embarrassment in the loss to the Estonian team, which will inevitably lead to some doubts.

Stojkovic was loaned to Wigan in the Premier League last season, but failed to stay this season and was "returned" to Sporting Lisbon.

The reason seems to have something to do with his playing style.

Before the match between Italy and Serbia, some extreme fans claimed to "kill" Stojkovic.

When the Serbian team's bus arrived at the Ferraris Stadium, many excited fans besieged the team's bus. Some extreme fans even rushed onto the bus and threw lit fireworks onto the seats of the bus.

Goalkeeper Stojkovic was not only insulted by the fans, but also accurately hit by fireworks.

It's no wonder that when Serbia's bus was attacked outside the stadium, Stojkovic hid in the Italian team's locker room trembling and refused to play in the game.

The Italian team saw Stojkovic hiding in his dressing room and was confused when he learned what happened to his opponent.

Leo always felt that today's game might not go well, but he didn't expect it to be so bad!
  In terms of starting lineup, Italy will switch to a 4-4-2 formation against Sevilla.

Pazzini and Cassano partnered in the forward line, Marchisio replaced Pepe in the starting lineup.

In addition, De Rossi returned to the club early due to injury, and Palombo replaced De Rossi.

Ferraris is also the home ground of Palombo's club.

On the back line, David Thornton replaced Cassani, who had a mediocre performance in the last game, on the right.

Before the game even started, the atmosphere in the stadium had already reached a climax.

An enthusiastic fan in the stands wearing a mask climbed up the protective fence. The riot police at the scene noticed in time and rushed forward to stop him.

There were also many extremists outside the stadium causing trouble on the streets, and the entire stadium was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

Fortunately, Italy was well prepared and had sufficient police and security personnel.

However, until after the scheduled start time, there was still no player from both sides on the scene.

Leo has seen many big scenes in his "short" career, but today's atmosphere made him feel a little uneasy.

"What's really going to happen?"

As the emotions of extremist fans could not be controlled for a long time, the security risks could not be eliminated and tended to spread. The on-site security personnel prepared high-pressure water cannons and began to disperse some extremists.

There were constant conflicts between Serbian fans and Italian fans, and security personnel at the stadium had to disperse some Italian fans from the isolation area.

Serbian fan representatives put forward their demands and wanted to have face-to-face dialogue with their national players.

Inter Milan star Stankovic had to lead the team to the sidelines to express his gratitude to the fans, and hoped that they could control their emotions and not affect the game.

Later, with the joint efforts of all parties, the players from both sides were finally able to enter the field to warm up.

When the Serbian national anthem was played in the stadium before the game started, all the Italian fans at the scene booed, and the sound completely overwhelmed the national anthem played on the spot.

Such a hot atmosphere inevitably affected the emotions of the players on both sides. At the beginning of the game, the players on the field were not quite right.

Only two minutes into the game, Serbian center back Subotic was shown a yellow card by the referee for a vicious tackle foul.

A minute later, Pazzini fell to the ground while grabbing a point in the penalty area, but the referee did not make a penalty. In the fifth minute, Pirlo sent a long diagonal pass from the right side of the frontcourt, and the two sides started a melee in the penalty area!

Cassano outflanked the penalty area and hit the goal!

However, the linesman signaled that Cassano was offside and the goal was invalid.

Then there was the farce of fireworks thrown by fans at the stadium.

The situation further escalated and the referee on duty immediately stopped the game.

Players from both sides, field officials, and coaches from both sides gathered together to coordinate and discuss whether the game could continue.

Leo's whole body was numb. He just wanted to play a good game. How could he encounter such a situation.

After ten minutes of coordination and discussion between all parties, the referee on duty finally announced that the game was terminated.

Players from both sides regretted the result. All Italian players and coaches walked to the center of the field and applauded the fans to express their apology and gratitude.

It started in confusion and ended in confusion. Leo is also "live and see you for a long time".

After the game, UEFA issued a statement immediately announcing that the game could not be played due to Serbian football hooligans disrupting the order of the field and destroying the game facilities, and the game would be replayed on another day. The riots before the game were just the precursor. What ultimately led to the suspension of the game was the extreme fans in Serbia causing trouble and throwing fireworks and flares onto the field.

The farce came to an end for the time being, and reporters interviewed both parties "after the game."

Prandelli confirmed the speculation about Stojkovic.

“At that time, Stojkovic was shaking like a leaf and ran into our dressing room and told us that the Serbian team bus was attacked by fans.

At this point we understand that the fans’ behavior was premeditated.

The idea of ​​​​the Serbian fans is to ensure that the game does not go ahead.

The fact is we couldn't compete at all, I didn't think that would happen. "

Viviano, who received "key care" on the field, said with a wry smile:
  "It's a pity that a football match ended like this, the Serbian players were also very sad and Stankovic cried in the dressing room.

I told the referee that I couldn't guard the goal and worry about the fans throwing something at me at the same time. I really didn't want to get hit in the face by fireworks. "

Antonello Valentini, director of the Italian Football Federation, revealed after the game:

"The game was stopped by the referee who was responsible for the personal safety of the players.

He told us he was concerned about the safety of his players after two fireworks were thrown by extreme fans.

The current situation is quite complex and the decision lies with UEFA, who will make the final ruling based on evidence and on-site match reports. "

The reason for the termination of the game was the excessive behavior of Serbian extreme fans, but the Italian side in charge of security cannot be said to be completely without fault.

Therefore, what kind of penalty UEFA will give in the end, whether it will be a rematch at a later date, or a direct loss, has triggered heated discussions among the outside world.

When Leo returned to Milan, UEFA issued another statement.

They have begun an investigation into the Serbian fan riot that occurred during the European Cup qualifying match between Italy and Serbia on the 12th, and have characterized the incident as a serious fan riot.

Once the relevant culpability is verified, both the Serbian Football Association and the Italian Football Association will be severely punished.

FIFA President Blatter strongly condemned the fan riot in an interview with reporters yesterday. He called the riot "a completely avoidable incident."

Obviously, he seemed to blame the Italian Football Association for the problem, "There will be some bad elements at home in the Premier League, but nothing like this will happen."

UEFA President Platini also said, "UEFA has always adopted a zero-tolerance attitude towards stadiums where problems occur!"

This fan riot is reminiscent of the Heysel tragedy in 1985.

Italian team coach Prandelli "happened" to have experienced the tragedy as a Juventus player. After experiencing similar riots again, Prandelli said he still felt scared.

"I was really scared when I saw the gangsters trying to cut through the barbed wire and rush in."

Serbian Football Association Chairman Karadzic announced that the Serbian Football Association will hold an emergency meeting on the 15th to discuss combating stadium violence.

This incident even alarmed the senior leaders of the two countries. The Serbian Foreign Minister specifically called the Italian Foreign Minister to express his apology.

Leo did not escape the "hunt" of reporters. He was interviewed by Sky Sports Italia outside the Pinetina base.

"Honestly, I've never been in anything like this, it was really scary.

I can understand the fanaticism of fans for football, which just shows the charm of football.

But I never think football is higher than life and death, and life safety is more important than anything else.

I hope that while everyone loves football, they can also maintain enough sense and not do some extreme behavior. "

Inter Milan's head coach Leonardo is in a good mood these two days.

One is that he watched a "lively" event, and the other is that both the Italian and Serbian teams have players from Inter Milan. Now they can play one less game, which is good news for him no matter what.

On October 10, in the seventh round of Serie A, Inter Milan defeated Cagliari 17- away from home.

The home team's tenacious defense once caused some trouble for the Nerazzurri.

Before the end of the game, Leo's scalpel passed through and assisted Eto'o to score a single goal to complete the winning goal!

This victory also gave the defending champion five consecutive victories in Serie A and finally returned to the top three in the standings.

"Gareth, I really didn't expect that we would meet in the Champions League."

"What do you mean, you think Tottenham can't reach the Champions League, and I don't deserve to play in the Champions League, right?"

"Hahaha, that's right. I asked you before if you wanted to come to Inter Milan. If you didn't come, would you regret missing the opportunity to win the Triple Crown?"

"There is nothing to regret. If I think about it, I will definitely have a chance in the future!"

Even though he was separated by his cell phone, Leo still heard absolute confidence in Bell's voice.

"Okay, come to Meazza, I will treat you well!"

"Then I'll just wait and see!"

That's right, in the next game, the third round of the Champions League group stage, Inter Milan will face the Premier League powerhouse Tottenham Hotspur at home.

(End of this chapter)