Chapter 75 Before the Great War

Digan is full of confidence in the final, and the Italian team, which has reached this point, has also put down its psychological burden and prepared for the game easily.

For Prandelli and his team, being able to reach the finals is already overfulfilled tasks. Now what they have to do is to play this last game. Under Prandelli's **, the Italian team is becoming less and less like the Italian team in the traditional sense. Their way of playing is more like Spain.

At this moment, the outside world's evaluation of the two teams that made it to the finals is also quite surprising. Most of them support Italy to win the championship, but they are not optimistic about the Belgian team, the defending champion with a simple and rough play.

It has once again proved that the Italian team has always been one of the world's top teams. Even when they seem to be in a low point, they should not be underestimated. After experiencing the bleakness of the World Cup in South Africa, Italian football has stood up again.

This can be regarded as a miracle. You know, before the start of this European Cup, almost no one was optimistic about the increasingly grassroots Italy. Except for the Italian football world, which is deeply troubled by scandals, it is also an indisputable fact that the overall strength of the Italian team has declined.

In the survey launched by the Italian media, 30% of fans thought that Italy could not qualify from the group at all, and European gambling companies also looked down on them for a time, and the odds offered for them were not even as good as England, which was the worst among the traditional strong team in Europe.

However, Italy is Italy. After the thrilling appearance of the group stage, they defeated the two strong England and Germany and finally reached the finals. They want to announce to the world that Italian football should not be underestimated.

This is a high-profile competition, but in terms of technical style, it is generally regarded as an atypical decisive battle. Under the transformation of Prandelli, the Italian team is quietly changing. Compared with the team that paid special attention to defense in the past, their attacks are now more fierce.

And Belgium's fast and simple play has attracted a lot of criticism. Although Degan is still full of vitality, four games and four consecutive hat-tricks make people all over the world think that Degan is crazy, but on the whole, Belgium plays better than the European Red Devils in South Africa two years ago. It's simple, even a little like the original Italy, but this way of play can defeat many strong enemies such as the Czech Republic, Russia, Portugal and Spain in a row, which is puzzled.

Judging from the changes produced by the two teams, this is indeed a staggered duel. However, while seeing the changes, the foundation cannot be ignored. Fundamentally speaking, Italy is still Italy, and Belgium is still Belgium.

All subjective judgments are based on aesthetics rather than actual combat. Fans want to get rid of ugliness and step on ugly.

All these are not enough to affect the tactical ideas of Belgium and Italy in the decisive battle, and fans do not have to be disappointed. After all, no team can go to the finals is weak.

And, of course, people are tired of the civil war between the Wright brothers, the battle between Degan and Messi, and the battle between Degan and Kim Mauro, and the sudden confrontation between Degan and Baloteli can still arouse many people's expectations.

Whenever you recall a competition, there will always be a person who takes the lead in breaking into the minds of fans. Of course, he is not necessarily a champion, such as Maradona's tears in 1990, Baggio's melancho in 1994, Susanna's style in 1998, and Degan's break in 2006. Legs, in the 2012 European Cup, this person is not Digan who has scored four hat-tricks in a row, but the Balotelly that no one can figure out.

2012 European Cup is definitely the harvest season for Italy's sophomore youth, not only because he won two yuan alone in the semi-finals with Germany, leading Italy to advance to the finals, but more importantly, he brought a new visual impact to football, from hairstyle to ** unruly words and deeds, to violent aesthetics on the court, Ballot Li is leading the full prevalence of postmodernism in football.

However, in Balotli's world, he is not that simple. He is like Van Gogh in the Renaissance. People can never understand his paintings at that time, but his world has its own wonderfulness.

To fully trust and accept Ba Shen, you should not only recognize his ball skills, but also be able to tolerate what he has done. Ba Shen, who has always been regarded as a "brain-damaged", always has a different style of doing things. People have seen too many stories about Ba Shen's brain-damaged. After careful consideration, some of his behaviors are very clear. It clearly engraves his unique philosophy.

When playing for Inter Milan, Ba Shen was demoted from the first team to the youth team because he failed in school. Since then, his attitude towards learning has been much more serious.

When he graduated, Balotelly made a paper related to football, entitled Football, the Story of the World. It is said that when the school teachers saw Baloteli's paper, they were all stunned. They didn't expect this naughty young man to come up with such a bold topic.

Ba Shen is a very confident person. When he was born, Ba Shen suffered from a congenital intestinal disease. In his infancy, his young life was threatened by various complications and had to undergo operations one after another.

At that time, Ba Shen's adoptive father was ready to be died in the hospital, but what he did not expect that he survived healthily, so Ba Shen always felt that he was the most powerful one in the world.

There may be many people who hate Balotelly, because he has been living in his flowery world. At least compared with ordinary people, Baloteli is indeed extraordinary.

In Italy, he was able to drive into a women's prison just to satisfy his curiosity, so he also took his brother; in Britain, he exposed 5,000 pounds of cash in his trouser pocket when the police conducted a drunk driving test for him, and decisively replied "I have money" when the police questioned him; at home In the game, he could play blasting experiments in the bathroom, and as a result, he lit his house and had to wait for the house to be rebuilt. On the court, he always fouled unnecessarily, and when the referee showed him a yellow card, he could actually show a T-shirt with the words "Why is it always me?"

With these stories, there is no need to publicize Baloteli's theory of life, but Baloteli's success inside and outside the European Cup is that he repeatedly thinks about life and leaves early on the training ground, which makes his previous story more realistic and reliable.

Facing the German chariot, which is very popular for winning the championship, Baloteli is also the player who wrote the most stories on the field. After winning two yuan in the first half, Baloteli took off his jersey and wildly exposed his strong muscles and won't hesitate to get a yellow card.

With such Baloteli, it is not surprising that any celebrity can only live under the headline of "Crazy Mario" during the European Cup, whether in newspapers, TV or on the Internet. His crazy act like a soap opera is really attractive to today's world surrounded by truth and concepts. Gravity.

How should I describe such a Balotelly? Neuropathy or brain disability? But more people choose a word one by one.

Before the game against Germany, Balotelly, who scored only one goal in four games, suddenly broke out, as the Italian media said: "He is always worrying, but he always brings surprises."

Isn't it?

This time, Baloteli is no longer the most threatening player against the goalkeeper as he did in the face of the English, but personally solved the battle.

Two wonderful goals defeated Germany, and Balotelly did not think about life this time. The tempering of the European Cup has brought a stronger Balotelly to Italy.

Excellent performance made the nonsensical Balotelly make the headlines of world sports news again. This time, he did not set fire to the house or drive a sports car to the street with a gun. Instead, he sent the Italian team to the European Championship final with two goals. After the game, he rushed to the stands and hugged his adoptive mother affectionately, full of love touched the world.

Now that the final is approaching, Balotelly will undoubtedly become the number one killer in the Italian team, and people are looking forward to the match between Degan and Balotelly.

The decisive battle has entered the countdown, and the two teams that have attracted much attention look particularly calm, especially the Italian team. The most surprising thing about Prandelli is his calmness. On the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, the Italian team began their training to adapt to the field.

Maybe I apologize for being late, maybe I have done everything I should do, maybe I have confidence in my team, maybe it's because the team members are tired and don't want to waste their physical strength in adapting to the training of the venue. The training was originally only 15 minutes of training to the media was temporarily changed to be fully open. This situation is Rarely seen.

In nearly an hour of training, Prandelli arranged a half-time group confrontation, in which there were no Barzali and De Rossi, but don't worry too much. The reason for their absence was just to avoid injury.

And the two men watched the training of their teammates on the sidelines with Prandelli. After the training, they themselves confirmed that there was no problem participating in tomorrow's finals.

During training, people also saw Balzaretti and Abat. They were in the same group. Abat appeared on the right side, Balzaretti returned to the left side, and Chiellini was also on the left side in the other group of players.

Long before the training, the Italian press corps had discussed that there should be no suspense about the startings of Chiellini, Bonucci and Barzali. The only doubt is whether to use the recovered Abat or continue to rely on the excellent Valzaretti on the right side?

This is not an easy choice to make.

In addition to concentrating the team before training and saying a few short sentences, Prandelli has been quietly watching the team's training and looking at Cassano with appreciation. Prandelli also gave "Super Mario" a smile.

On the training ground, Montolivo was talking about something with Balotli while drawing. Super Mario listened patiently. They talked about the passing route and running route.

Reporters can't help but wonder when Baloteli can accept criticism, and when Baloteli can listen to the advice of his teammates. Small progress and bits can be gathered together so that Baloteli can truly realize his full potential.

After the training, the Italian team also held a pre-match press conference as usual. At the press conference, Prandelli always smiled and talked, and his calmness seemed that a day later, it was not the European Cup final between Italy and Belgium, but an ordinary competition.

In response to the previous comments of many media and fans about the ugly Belgian style of play, Prandelli has his own judgment. Although his team has been widely praised for playing extremely aggressive football in this cup, he does not deny Belgium's simple and fast style of play.

On the contrary, Prandelli appreciated the style of the Belgian team. Prandelli accepted questions from reporters on this issue at a press conference. He said: "Belgium is the best team in the world. They have always shown their style on the court and followed their own path for many years. They Adhere to your own football philosophy.

Prandelli believes that other teams or media and fans think that Belgium's playing style is boring, but in fact, it is just because of fear. He added: "There is no reason to say that they play boringly. The statement about 'Belg's kicking is boring' is because of fear, because they can always win. In short, their kicking should not be evaluated as ugly from any angle and in any form.

Later, when asked by reporters how to deal with the final, Prandelli once again stressed the importance of controlling the initiative of the game. In the defensive link, the opponent's activity space should be compressed as much as possible.

Finally, Prandelli also directly denied the possibility of three defenders, but also stressed that the team can make adjustments as needed in the game.

Due to the physical conditions of Cassano, Baloteli, De Rossi and Barzali, there is no need to worry too much, and Prandelli himself ruled out the possibility of the 3-5-2 formation, so in the case of confirming the 4-3-1-2 formation, Prandelli's only doubt may be the choice of the right defender.

Barzaretti performed well when he met Germany, but his physical exertion was also very high. Abat's recovery gave Prandelli a choice.

When asked about the most anticipated player, Prandelli first clicked Baloteli's name: "Mario has understood what a sense of responsibility is, which will make him stronger!"

Then, Prandelli also said about Cassano: "Casano is the best player I have ever met except Degan. He is much better than people think. After becoming a father, he has matured a lot."

Later, reporters also interviewed Italian players, among which the most popular are Cassano and Balotli.

Baloteli looked very calm: "If the team can win with my goal, it will be very amazing, but if the team wins and I don't score, it will be equally magical. Now it is the final. In this European Cup, the two best teams have entered the finals. What we can do is to Fight, but no matter what the outcome of the European Cup is, my season is perfect. Even if it is a loss, it can't erase my performance this season, but if we can win, it must feel very special.

Casano, surrounded by reporters, carries a kind of dullness after regeneration.

"I realized that I was getting into trouble. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't speak, which made me realize that my situation was not good. At this time, I just wanted to see my son a few more times."

Just eight months ago, Cassano faced the threat of death, but now he said, "I hope people can have good memories of Cassano. I don't want to have any regrets. If I can win the European Championship, this will undoubtedly be the best memory."

Cassano never thought about what would be wrong with his body until last October, when it was a match between AC Milan and Rome. Cassano came on as a substitute and Milan defeated his opponent by a score of 3:2 at the end of the game. There was no problem.

On the flight back to Milan, Cassano was still looking forward to seeing his family. However, on the bus home from the airport, he suddenly felt uncomfortable, dizzy, and even couldn't see clearly in his left eye.

After going to the hospital, after diagnosis, Cassano's condition was indeed very bad. Cassano suffered from ischemic heart disease, and his arteries could be blocked at any time. A month later, Cassano quickly underwent heart surgery in a hospital in Milan, and no one knew when he would return to the football field after the operation.

Cassano spent several months of recovery, and he began to think about his life. Slowly, he regained his desire for football.

After all, football means the whole world for Cassano, which is the driving force for his recovery. After being sick, he has begun to miss putting on his jersey again.

"Now the most important thing is that I am still alive. Prandelli gave me a lot of encouragement, and he gave me the confidence and courage to return to the field. He told me that I would be a very special athlete and promised to wait until I appeared on the list of teams in the 2012 European Championships."

No matter what his performance in the final of the European Championship against Belgium, Cassano has been trusted by coach Prandelli.

In the game against Ireland, Cassano scored the first goal. In the semi-final with Germany, Löw's team had nothing to do against Cassano. Baloteli's first goal was an assist from Cassano. After Cassano got the ball on the left, he turned around and got rid of Boateng and Hummels and passed it to Baloteli, Ba God scored with a header.

After the game against Germany, Prandelli praised the Italian striker's performance without hesitation: "This is his best game so far. He is one of our key players on the court. He may only run 50 minutes on the field, but this 50 minutes may be the most important 5 0 minutes."

Subsequently, the Belgian team also came to the stadium for adaptive training. Like Italy, it was also open to reporters this time. When reporters found that Belgium's head coach Wilmot and the entire coaching staff did not appear, they became more convinced of their thoughts. France, at present, this Belgian national team is already Degan alone.

During the training, Belgium basically did not show much value, and Digan even played a ball-grabbing game with his teammates.

The Italian team is like this, and Belgium is even more like this. The relaxed performance of the two teams made the reporters present puzzled.

Are they really so confident?

After the training, Degan was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines: "The final will start tomorrow. It is very important to know the opponent. We played against Italy six years ago. It was a tough game, but six years later, both teams have undergone great changes. We all know Italy is very strong, but we also know what their weaknesses are. Pirlo is a great player. He is the leader of Italy, but football is a collective sport. Italy's finals entry is not due to someone, but the result of the efforts of the whole team, such as Balotli and Cassano.

Belgium has won consecutive championships in the past two competitions. If they can defend the European Cup this time, they will become the first team in history to win three consecutive championships.

"The memories of 2008 and 2010 are wonderful. We hope to taste the victory again. I know that the final will be very difficult, but the whole Belgian team is ready to make history. Winning this championship will be the icing on the cake, and the whole Belgium will be proud of us."

Speaking of defending the title, it has never been in the 52-year history of the European Cup. In 1964, the former Soviet Union, the first European Cup champion team, once again reached the final, but at the home of the opponent Spain, the Soviets took a goal.

In 1976, the defending champion West Germany also reached the final, but unexpectedly lost to Czechoslovakia in a penalty shootout.

And the so-called goal of winning three championships in four years has not even been achieved by a strong team like Brazil.

In the last European Cup, the Belgian team's fast play made them finally win the cup, and the Belgian team was not just a flash in the pan. Their performance in the next four years was not only well inherited, but also actually made progress. For them, it is not impossible to defend their title.

"We are ready to break the record, and it will be a huge driving force when the whole country is with you."

Then Degan also praised Balotelly, the number one threat mission of the Italian team: "Barotelly is a great player. In the game against Germany, he scored two wonderful goals, especially the second goal, proving that he is a very threatening player anywhere. I don't care about people's notes. Yili is focused on Balotel. As you can see, I'm just an outdated player who has been sitting on the bench for two years, and I'm 27 years old. I don't want to pay attention to those meaningless things anymore. All I'm focusing on now is the game. For me, winning the championship is more important than anything else.

In response to Baloteli's recent strong performance and provocation, Degan said that the team is ready: "If we can block their passing lines one by one, our opportunity will come."

Subsequent, Digan's forward partner, Lukaku, currently the No. 2 striker in the Belgian team, was also interviewed: "The final made me excited, no! I'm not nervous, because we have Rod and the captain. He is a super player who can lead us forward. He surpasses himself in every game. His own creativity is several times more than others. I believe that as long as he is there, we will become the ultimate winner.

When the training and interview were over, Degan led his teammates to board the bus and returned to the hotel. On the way, Degan's mobile phone suddenly rang. Looking at the number, it turned out to be Prandelli.

"Hello! Chesare!" Degan didn't expect Prandelli to call him at this time.

Prandelli's tone seemed very relaxed. He was also on the bus back to the hotel at this moment. For some reason, he suddenly wanted to call Degan.

"Hello! Rod! Long time no see! Didn't you expect me to call you?"

The two haven't seen each other for a long time. In fact, after the UEFA Champions League final with Real Madrid, the two masters and apprentices have never met again. The only contact is to send a text message to bless at Christmas.

Degan smiled and said, "I really didn't expect it, but it doesn't matter. We can meet tomorrow, but on the court, and we are opponents. Otherwise, I will definitely give you a hug!"

Prandelli said with a smile, "Forget it! Rod! Even on other occasions, I can't get your hug. How are you ready now?

Digan looked around and saw that his teammates' attention was focused on him: "Cesare! Are you listening for information?

Plandelli said, "If you think so, let it be!"

Degan didn't expect Prandelli to admit so happily: "Okay! Since you said so, I can only answer you that everything is very good, yes! Very good! I won't show mercy in tomorrow's game!"

Prandelli smiled and said, "I'm the same!" Rod! I want to know, are you really going to Tottenham Hotspur?

This is Prandelli's purpose. Although the two have not been in touch for a long time, the relationship is still very good. Prandelli is also very angry about what happened to Degan in Barcelona in these two seasons.

"Yes! I have decided! I need a stable place to bring my career back to life!"

Prandelli was silent for a while before saying, "That's good! Rod! See you in the final tomorrow!"

Digan didn't say anything, hung up the phone directly, held his mobile phone, closed his eyes and refreshed. The other Belgian players looked at each other and rested one after another.