Chapter 198 Italy: The Fallen Noble

The last quarter-final of Euro 2008 was held in Ernst, Austria*. At Hapel Stadium, Spain, the leader of Group D, met on the second Italian narrow road in Group C.

Spain, with a well-equipped lineup, still sent their strongest lineup. On the Italian side, Donadoni once again ignored the Florence Gang. At this moment, even the Italian media hostile to Florence couldn't help sigh: Donadoni really took the Florentine Gang to travel to the European Cup.

After the start of the game, both sides played very cautiously, and the game scene has always been very plain. Although Spain wants to solve the battle in regular time, the Italian team, which has decided to defend, set up an iron barrel array in its own half. Di Natale was even suffered by Ben for deliberately delaying time during the game. The boos of national fans.

Even Degan, who came to watch the game in person, felt sour. The ball was too shameless and shameless. He put it aside first. Finally, Donadoni achieved his goal and dragged the game into the final penalty shootout. At this moment of the decisive battle, he finally made the ball that was about to be drowsy. The fan regained his energy.

After picking the side, the penalty shootout began at the goal in front of the stand where Spanish fans gathered. The Spanish team took the lead in the penalty. Villa, who had scored four goals, was the first to shoot the ball in the lower left corner of Buffon. The Italian goalkeeper completely judged the wrong direction, and Spain's first ball was easily hit.

The Italian side was led by Grosso, who scored the last goal in the penalty to win the World Cup. The "great left-back" scored easily by hitting the left goal with his left foot. Cassie judged the right direction, but failed to save it. The score was 1:1, and the two teams drew.

In the second round, the Spanish team sent a substitute Cazzola in the second half. The Spanish super substitute calmly pushed the ball in the lower left corner of the goal and scored, while Buffon once again judged the wrong direction.

The Italian team sent De Rossi, who also scored a penalty in the World Cup final. As a result, when the Roma player came on the field, Degan's heart trembled and nervous. The big wet brother was nervous. Sure enough, De Rossi shot the left half-high ball, and Casillas judged correctly and saved the ball. The score was 2:1 Spain takes the lead.

De Rossi, who lost the penalty, knelt directly on the ground, holding his head in his hands, with an unbelievable face. Casillas, who made great achievements, raised his arms and shouted that he had helped Spain control his fate in his hands.

Degan also sighed that history has not changed. Out of personal feelings, Degan still hopes that Italy can change its life and win this game, but it's a pity that Italian football is really sick. A phone door incident almost destroyed Italy's national league, coupled with youth training. Layers, so that Italy's excellent young players have almost completely broken down, how can such an Italy compete with a powerful Spain?

In the third round, the Spanish team's back waist Sena took the penalty. Like Digan, Sena is also a Brazilian. After Villarreal became famous, he joined the Spanish International. In the end, Captain Villarreal decisively shot to the corner of the middle of the goal. Buffon once again made a mistake and hit all the first three goals of Spain.

The third appearance of the Italian team was Camoranesi, who appeared as a substitute. The Juventus winger resisted the pressure and scored in the upper right corner of the goal. Although Casillas judged the right direction, he had no choice but to look at the ball and sigh. The score was 3:2, and Spain continued to lead.

In the fourth round, the Spanish team Guiza took the penalty. As the best scorer in La Liga last season, the penalty was not what Guiza was good at. Sure enough, the ball he shot to the right in the middle was blocked by Buffon, and Spain missed for the first time.

Spain failed, and the opportunity came to the Italian side. The fourth appearance was Di Natale. Udinese's winger shot the ball on the right side of the goal and was judged to fly out correctly again by the brave San Casillas. The Italian team missed the best opportunity to draw. The score is still 3:2, as long as the next round of penalty west In the penalty, the matador will win.

In the fifth round, the Spanish team appeared with No. 10 Fabregas. In this European Cup, most of Fabregas can only play as a substitute, but in a limited time, he still played a great role. As long as the Chief King hits this penalty, Spain will eliminate Italy and advance to the semi-finals, and finally Fabregas resisted the pressure. His penalty successfully deceived Buffon and shot the lower right corner of the goal. The Italian goalkeeper completely saved in the wrong direction and lost the game.

Spain has successfully entered the top four as in its original history, and their next opponent will be Russia, which eliminated the Netherlands.

Looking at the Spanish cheering for victory on the court and the sad Italian players, Digan can't tell what it feels like.

When leaving the stadium, a reporter found him, and Degan did not refuse and accepted the interview happily, but Degan's first sentence was to bombard Donadoni!

"In this position as the head coach of the Italian national team, Donadoni is the worst in my impression. In the previous group stage, Italy's plight, he did not learn a lesson at all and only complained that he had no more players to choose from, damn it! I only saw that my brothers in Florence were freezing on the bench. They were all members of the Fiorentina Triple Crown, but in Donadoni's eyes, there was no place for him at all. I don't understand why this happened. Gianpaul and Ricado, they are all very good players and should be The Italian team got a more stable position, but how did my brothers get? Italy is out, and donadoni should bear the main responsibility. He is a bastard who can only complain!"

For the winning Spanish team, Degan gave a good evaluation: "They performed very well and made great progress than the Spanish team two years ago, but I'm not worried that I will meet them in the final. For me, there is no difference between Spain and Russia! "

Digan has now begun to consider the opponents in the final. Obviously, he doesn't pay attention to the Turkish team he will face in the semi-finals.

"Turks, I'm not worried about them. They did perform well in this European Cup, but with their strength, it is still a little difficult to advance to the finals. First of all, ask me if I agree!"

Digan, as always, showed his arrogance in front of reporters, while his brothers had to accept a disappointing defeat and lacked Pirlo's Italian team. In this game, he could only passively defend. Although the Spanish team dominated the scene, it was the biggest contributor to helping Spain win the final victory. It was the goalkeeper Casillas. It was the two penalty kicks he saved in the penalty shootout that sent Spain to the top four of the European Cup. It was also he who rewrote Spain's embarrassing history of 88 years without defeating Italy in official matches.

When Guiza lost a penalty with Italy's De Rossi, all the Spanish players in the game looked very depressed, and only Casillas' eyes were still firm. Then, he saved Di Natale's penalty, and Fabregas completely eliminated Spain overnight. He was sent to the top four.

Last time Casillas saved a penalty in the competition, he had to trace the Korea-Japan World Cup. He himself said so: "The match between the Korea-Japan World Cup and South Korea may be my last penalty memory, but obviously, I performed better in this game. Standing in front of the goal, I am sure that we will advance to the semi-finals, and for Russia I can only say that we defeated them 41 in the group stage. Although they performed quite well in the game against the Netherlands yesterday, I am still confident that Spain can reach the final.

Speaking of which, Spain and Italy are not the favorites of the penalty shootout, and this time Casillas' performance completely overwhelmed Buffon, and the Spanish captain also led the team to rewrite 88 years of shame. Casillas once again proved that he is the best goalkeeper in the world, and in his eyes, it is not just Europe. Although the top four of the Intercontinental Cup is already their best result, the championship is their ultimate goal.

After a suffocating penalty shootout, Spain finally sent the world champion home early. While Casillas, Fabregas and others were ecstatic, the Matador Legion quietly broke the spell. The spell is used to break. Since we want to conquer the whole of Europe, of course, we must first conquer these so-called spells. Perhaps this Spain is destined to make history.

Since winning the runner-up in 1984, Spain has never reached the top four in international competitions. Italy has created the best record of Spanish football in the past 24 years.

After four games, the Spanish striker performed very well, but it can be clearly seen from the Spanish team's tactical system that the midfield is the key to their smooth journey to the semi-finals. Among the Spanish team's many talented midfielders, compared with Harvey, Iniesta and David. Silva and Seine's performance may not be eye-catching, but there is no doubt that this former Spanish team's marginal mission has now become a strong barrier for the Spanish midfield.

From the marginal people of the World Cup in Germany to the absolute main force today, the progress of Senna in the past two years is obvious to all. It was because of his stable performance that Caragones decisively abandoned his former number one lover Alberta. After these games, I believe that no matter how harsh it is, people will admit that Senna is an irreplaceable midfield barrier in the Spanish tactical system.

Using a technical midfielder and controlling the midfield by passing the ball is the style that Caragones has persisted for several years. But to maintain the balance of the team, there must be a pillar back, which is a test for Senna. He must intercept the opponent's midfield back and the pass to the front line, and must also protect the backfield as much as possible.

As a stand-in for Alberda, Senna played quite well in the first two group matches and today's quarter-finals, which well limited the connection between his opponents De Rossi and Aquilani and the front trident.

Spanish media once described that Senna is Maclelele of Caragones, but compared with the old French back, Senna has good attack strength, and the Brazilian with delicate skills is by no means a barbarian. As an offensive and defensive conversion hub, Senna is still the one with the most passes in the team in today's game, even more than Barcelona's dual-core Harvey, Iniesta and side road striker Silva.

In addition, Senna has a long shot. In this game, Senna had the opportunity to solve Italy in the regular time. If it hadn't been for the help of the goalpost, Senna might have become the biggest hero in Spain today.

Caragones is also very satisfied with Senna's contribution after the game: "He is the key to winning this game. He is excellent from defense to filling, and even the first team of attack."

The Brazilian team suffered from the lack of an excellent back and had to let Arsenal iron bench Gilberto. Silva and Wolfburg's second-rate backs are unimaginable when Sué continues to stand out, but it is really hard to give Sena a high-quality back with both attack and defense to Spain.

Of course, it is not the first time that Spain has benefited from Brazil's foreign aid. In the past, Donato, Catalonia and others have also been extradited from South America. In the next round of confrontation with Russia, whether Sena can restrict Alshavin's performance will be the key to whether Spain can go further.

The Spanish team rarely laughed to the end in the penalty shootout, and it was not the first time that the Italians fell in front of the penalty shootout. This time they saw the Spaniards advance to the top four of the European Cup, and the history of being undefeated against Spain in the 1988 competition ended, but after the game, Italian coach Donadoni still He said firmly, "I have done everything I can, and I am proud of my players."

Many people will think that Donadoni complained about the loss of Cannavaro and the suspension of Pirlo and Gattuso before the game against Spain, but the Italians did not think so. He even said: "Pirlo and Gatuso's replacements Aguiarani and Ambrosini have After a very good performance, all the players performed well, but luck is not on the Italian side.

In fact, the performance of Aquilani and Ambrosini can only be regarded as passing. Although Donadoni thanked the players for their efforts, the disappointment between words is also obvious. After all, the 88-year record is destroyed in his own hands, and no one will be happy.

Donadoni also confessed his loss and even said sorry to the media: "I can only say that I feel disappointed. I also say sorry to all Italians, but the players and I have done everything we can. We should win praise. Spain is a very good team. Their Physical fitness and technology are very good, but the next is also a severe test for them. Maybe they can reach the final or win the championship. I bless the Spanish team!"

When a reporter relayed Digan's comments on him after the game to Donadoni, the Italian coach was immediately furious: "He doesn't know anything at all. He is just a player. His responsibility is to play football well on the court, not to dictate other people's work. He thinks I buried his Fiorentina team. Friend, that's just his idea. I will only choose the most suitable player to appear, not listen to his nonsense!"

Donadoni continues to be stubborn, but this should not represent the fact that the World Cup champion is blocked from the semi-finals of the European Cup.

It is not surprising that Italy was eliminated. The reason why the world champion was able to remain strong in the subsequent European Cup is mainly because they continued the highly competitive team that won the World Cup.

Of course, Italy has also retained the foundation of the world championship this time, but one thing is different from the past that Italy in the World Cup in Germany is the oldest world champion in 44 years. Now these world champions have gone through another two years, and their age continues to increase.

For veterans, the increase in age is naturally accompanied by a sharp decline in status. Materazzi and Zambrotta are typical. Therefore, although the team is still the same as two years ago, their combat effectiveness has far retreated. Of course, such a team cannot be compared with Italy in the World Cup.

While the state of the veterans is declining, Italy lacks fresh blood that can be on top in time. In this European Cup, only two Pazzini and Montolivo can be called the "new internationals", but they can only serve as cheerleaders on the bench most of the time.

Most of the positions are still controlled by world champions who are seriously inferior to the previous level, which exposes the problem of Italy's reserve power, which is actually caused by the sinking of Serie A.

In the past 20 years, Serie A has been regarded as the most difficult league in the world, and the stars trained are also very effective. In fact, in the past 20 years, there has been no shortage of core players from Serie A, such as the Dutch Three Musketeers, German Troika, Baggio, Bierhof and Zidane.

However, in the top four of this European Cup, except for Degan and Compani, who played for Florence, there is no Serie A player, which is unique in the World Series in the past 20 years. This phenomenon fully reflects that the level of Serie A has declined seriously, and Serie A stars are no longer a guarantee of performance.

The current Serie A is no longer the most difficult league. Last season, Inter Milan was unique. In this season, Fiorentina won the championship. Such a warm league can neither train dead players for other countries, nor naturally it is difficult to contribute much to the Italian national team.

There are no outstanding young players. Even if there are, Donadoni does not dare to let go and can only cautiously continue to rely on the world champion.

Italy's exit disappoints fans who like Italian football, but fans will not criticize players too much, because they are world champions and national heroes, so who should take the blame? Donadoni is certainly the best candidate.

It is difficult to deliver charcoal in the snow, but it is easy to fall into the well.

The outstanding representative of the young Italian coach, who was previously touted by the media, immediately became a sinner in people's eyes after losing the game against Spain.

In fact, as the media said, Donadoni is a good coach, but he really doesn't have the ability to lead the Italian team forward. Before Donadoni became the Italian coach, he did not have any prominent coaching experience. After taking office, Lippi and Bialzot, the two world champion team coaches are like two mountains. Press on Donadoni.

When Donadoni brought Livorno, the team was very distinctive. Donadoni also wanted to bring out his own Italian team, but his tactics were often influenced by Lippi, Bázote, and even authoritative reporters. Donadoni, who lacked his own opinions, eventually led to a "four unlike" intention. Dali.

Italians are going home. The World Cup champion two years ago may also be put in the safe instead of talking about it at any time. The glory of two years ago can't save the decline of Italian football today.

Although the media will look for many reasons for the defeat of the Italian national team, whether it is Cannavaro's injury or Donadoni's misconduct, they are actually just appearances and excuses for failure. The real reason lies in the decline of the overall strength of Italian football.

No matter how strong the team is, it will be old, and if there is no good fresh blood to supplement it, it is useless even if Lippi comes back out of the mountain. If you want Italy to stand up from failure, only from the root cause can Italian football be reborn with the rise of Serie A.

Maybe Italian teams have often performed very well in the Champions League in recent seasons, but as long as people are clear-headed, they can see that in addition to the end of this season, Fiorentina has won the championship three times in five years. The so-called glory is accompanied by a lot of luck, especially the recent two Champions League. In fact, it only depends on the excellent performance of the brothers Degan and Kaka, and AC Milan has also been completely returned to their original shape this season.

Florence is a representative team of Italian football in the past two years, and the Purple Lily has indeed contributed a lot of outstanding players to the Italian national team. Antoni, Abat, Maggio, Mota, Ledesma, Montolivo and Pacini, accounting for almost three of the Italian national team. First, it's a pity that only three of its famous players got a chance to play in the European Cup. Pacini scored a goal, and Montolivo failed to play anything in an unfamiliar position. As for Motta, he played a happy soy sauce in the European Cup.

However, it is obviously unrealistic to expect a team from Florence to provide blood to the whole Italian team, and Donadoni doesn't care about the "waste" provided by Florence at all. If Italian football wants to revive, it still depends on the overall rise of the whole league, but at present, this requires a long time. Process.

It can be expected that in the next few years, the Serie A will still be Fiorentina and Inter Milan, closely following the tight AC Milan and Juventus, which has not yet recovered their vitality. If they want to participate, it will have to wait at least a few years later.