Chapter 532 What is it like to win the FA Cup in the third level?
Chapter 466 The group qualified early!
Author: Ant who watches football ruthlessly
Chapter 466 The group qualified early!
Conte's adjustments quickly took effect.
When the game reached the 25th minute, the Swedish team, which had been unable to attack for a long time, made a passing and receiving error in the frontcourt.
The ball passed by Weinblum to Ibrahimovic was successfully intercepted by Chiellini in advance. As soon as the latter got the ball, he passed it directly to the left, allowing Candreva to drive the ball forward.
At that time, after the Swedish team attacked many times, the defense gradually began to press closer. As a result, even the two central defenders had entered the Italian half, and there was no one behind them, which completely exposed Italy's artillery fire.
East.
After Candreva took the ball, he took a few steps and made a direct pass forward.
Pellet, who showed little performance tomorrow, made a diagonal run and sprinted forward from the left.
At this time, in front of him, the only player left on the Swedish team was goalkeeper Isaacson!
Behind Pellet, Lindelof began to catch up.
Before the game, Pan Yi warned the Swedish team players whether Pellegrini, who was Italy's main goal scorer, should give him a good chance to shoot!
For the defenders, it is their duty to keep an eye on Pellet.
Therefore, even though Pellet was already speeding up and running, Lindelof was still chasing after him with no intention of giving up.
Fortunately, Candreva's direct pass avoided the Swedish defensive players and passed between the right back Johansson and the center back Granqvist, so the path of the ball was a bit biased to the left.
side boundary line.
Therefore, when Pellet was chasing after him, whether he could catch the ball or not would be blocked along the left sideline.
In addition, speed itself is not Pellet's strong point, so it took a little longer to catch the ball.
Although Lindelof activated his speed, the straight-line distance was short, so he continued to catch up.
Then, the two players formed a mismatch on the left side of the Swedish team's penalty area.
Pelle stopped the ball, and Lindelof blocked his path to the penalty area. The two got into position, forming a one-on-one contest.
Almost as soon as he took up his position, Lindelof recalled in his mind the tactical preparation draft that Pan Yi had handed to each of his players through the coaching staff before the game.
This reflects the meticulousness of Pan Yi's preparation for the competition!
And in his tactical preparation, there are defensive precautions about mistaking Pellet.
It was mentioned in it that Pellet's finishing ability, header ability, key passing ability and through ball ability are all very strong, but his ability to control the ball is not his weakness.
And Pellet likes to play two-on-one in games.
Therefore, when a defensive player faces Pellet alone, the focus should be on preventing his pass and cooperating with his teammates.
And if Pellet tries to pass someone by force, he won't use any fancy moves, he will basically just feint and then just go straight for it.
Then the defensive players need to lower their focus, not make easy moves, and after looking at Pellet's actual movement direction, look for the opportunity to steal the ball.
Sure enough, after seeing that few of his nearby teammates were coming, Pellet could choose to make a personal breakthrough.
The Italian made a fake move, but it made him feel depressed. Lindelof moved his body and stood still, but he didn't do what he did.
Lindelof's one-miss-one defense is very good!
It may be a bit difficult to deal with agile forwards like Messi and Hazard, but a pivot center like Pellet can definitely handle it.
After Pellet swayed, he couldn't do anything. I hope he is really good at dealing with people, and he knows that better than anyone else.
What he is best at is running without the ball and shooting directly from behind. Of course, his best thing is his ability to compete for high-altitude balls.
As soon as he saw that Lindelof was not giving up, Pellet had no choice but to make a one-and-done deal!
Otherwise, the opportunity to "single-handedly" will be lost.
But as soon as Pellet started, Lindelof had already predicted the direction of his ball.
Lindelof leaned over and stood between Pellet and the ball, then stretched his legs to block the ball and easily intercepted Donglai.
Then, he made another direct pass forward and handed the ball to Forsberg, which allowed the Swedish team to launch a counterattack.
Seeing that the attack failed, Pellet sighed and looked at Lindelof in front of him. He felt that the boy seemed to have planned it in advance and should have known where he was going.
Lindelof, on the other hand, secretly marveled at the meticulous guidance of his coach. He was truly worthy of being a world-famous coach! Every move of the wrong leg was under his control, so how could he not be able to guard against it.
He couldn't help but glance sideways at the coaching bench and saw Pan Yi looking at him with a smile on his face, obviously very satisfied with his defense.
How should I put it? Although Lindelof is not considered to be the world's top central defender, he is very calm and confident on the defensive end. Outside Benfica, his teammates call him "Ice Man".
That nickname means no matter what happens on the court, Lindelof always looks calm and cool.
Playing as a central defender requires such characteristics, calmness during big events, otherwise, he would not have been picked up by Manchester United and would have stayed there for many years.
"You won't be so lucky this time!" Pellet yelled at Lindelof angrily.
He knew that the wrong party had fully grasped his weakness that time.
Then Dong once, he tried to use his own advantage to overwhelm the wrong leg!
Soon, when Dong Yi launched a counterattack, Pellet ran from the left to the center and signaled his teammates to hit him on the head.
Florenzi's pass almost came to Pellet's head just as he arrived at the penalty spot in the penalty area.
Pellet jumped up high and was ready to swing his head to attack the goal!
But at this moment, Lindelof and Granqvist were like two big mountains, blocking his left and right sides, forming a male-left formation. Pellet was suddenly covered with a big man, and his head-shaking movements were also affected.
.
Granqvist, who was behind Pellet, took the opportunity to jump higher and head the ball out first, ruining the attack.
This is not what Pan Yi ordered before the game to target the double-team mode when Pellet was fighting for the top.
One of Italy's regular offensive methods is to drop the ball into the penalty area and let Pellet grab the first point.
Pellet can attack the goal if he can, but if he can't, he points eastward, and then Edel grabs the second point.
The focus at this time is to guard against Pellet's first point, so he does not hesitate to use two central defenders to flank him.
Of course, Edelbur was not allowed to go unchecked at that time.
The fullbacks who are close to Edel, whether Olsson or Johansson, will then get close to Edel, pay attention to the second position, and then defend.
But obviously, the two-point protection that time was no longer needed, because the first double-team tactic had been successful!
Does this leave Pellet helpless?
It doesn't work on the ground, and it doesn't work in the air, so what can we do with him?
——
Italy's counterattack has been unable to open up the situation, but Sweden has failed to clear the clouds and see the light.
Their attack finally paid off!
In this system, captain Ibrahimovic is undoubtedly the most powerful offensive weapon in the Swedish team.
As for whether to protect the weapon from being frozen by Italy's reinforced concrete, Pan Yi should let Ixa and Guidetti pull for him on the wing.
Whether he makes a pass from the east end, or whether he cuts outside to attract defensive pressure, whether these can fully bring out Ibrahimovic's strength and allow him to have more shining moments!
And those cannonballs that were continuously sent to him finally knocked down the Italian city wall with one shot!
In the 40th minute, there was originally a counterattack by Italy. After Pellet's side failed, Italy wanted to take Eder's side this time.
But if Olsson and Lindelof successfully intercepted the ball together, Olsson dribbled the ball along the left side, passed it to Isaac, and launched a quick counterattack.
In that counterattack, Ibrahimovic got ample running space in the middle.
Did he deliberately run to the left, seemingly trying to meet Isaac, which immediately caused Chiellini and De Rossi, who were chasing after, to focus on the left side.
However, Isaac chose to pass the ball to Forsberg, who pulled out Italy's central defender Bonucci when dribbling the ball in the middle.
I saw Ibrahimovic suddenly changing lanes from the left to the right. Because Chiellini and De Rossi's attention was on the left just now, they suddenly changed lanes, and both of them were caught off guard.
Time was running out, but Forsberg had already preceded Bonucci and passed the ball to the far post.
Maybe Forsberg's pass was a little bit more time-consuming and he used a little more force. The ball passed a little faster, and it went over Ibrahimovic's head and reached the bottom line.
But at this moment, Ibrahimovic soared into the air with his whole body stretched, and he hooked the ball with the heel of his right foot, and directly made a shot!
This is a scorpion tail, Ibrahimovic's signature, but it is also an unconventional shooting action!
Even the experienced Buffon couldn't predict such an action.
When Buffon reacted, the ball had almost missed the right upright and entered the net!
"The ball went in!!!!!!!!! Beautiful goal!!!!!!"
The on-site commentator almost wanted to tear out his own throat and shout loudly!
"Sweden finally scored a goal!!! Sweden leads Italy 1:0!!!"
Following his shout, all the Swedish fans in the audience immediately stood up from their seats and shouted loudly.
"In the 40th minute, the Swedish team finally broke through the Italian team's goal!"
"That was a goal that the Swedish team deserved. They exerted huge pressure on Italy throughout the half and launched a wave of attacks, but they never scored."
"Ruming, Ibrahimovic, finally opened the scoring for the Swedish team with a wonderful goal, and also scored his third goal in this European Cup!"
"That's a beautiful scorpion tail! Very few players can make that move when shooting, but it is not uncommon for Ibrahimovic."
"The fact is that as early as the 2004 European Cup, he had performed such a trick. The wrong leg at that time was not the Italian team, and the Italian goalkeeper was not the same as Buffon!"
"It's so wonderful, a very wonderful goal. Forgive him for repeating those words, but that would not be true!"
When the camera focused on Ibrahimovic again, the Swedish super forward was already standing on the sidelines, raising his arms high and assuming a posture and expression unique to Ibrahimovic.
Would he use that domineering attitude to accept the cheers and applause from the Swedish fans in the stands, and accept their praise and worship!
"Ibrahimovic's goal was wonderful, and his cooperation before scoring that goal was also commendable."
"Isak's push from the left, Ibrahimovic's feint and interlude in the middle, and Forsberg's last pass, and of course Ibrahimovic's shot... all seemed natural and completed in one go!"
"Although they all rely on Ibrahimovic to score goals, Pan Yi's Swedish team is obviously different from his predecessor Hamren who would mindlessly send forward to find Ibrahimovic."
"The Swedish team's three-point arrow is even more difficult to defend! In such an offensive system, if the Italians defend Ibrahimovic, they will also suffer, because Isak also has a strong ability to shoot outside."
"What is a world-famous coach?" The on-site commentator was obviously very excited after Ibrahimovic scored. I don't know if he was a fan of Pan Yi or the Swedish team. "Then he is a world-famous coach!"
Pan Yi, who was praised by the commentator, was certainly very excited at this time.
Because he knew very well that if he scored a goal, the Swedish team would have the upper hand in the game, and he would be more confident in the game next time.
In such a crucial group match, one goal can completely change the situation of the entire game, so whether Ibrahimovic's goal can be said to be crucial.
In that game, the performance of the Swedish central axis that Pan Yi relied on did not disappoint him.
Lindelof withstood the impact of the Italian artillery and successfully froze the wrong side's top scorer;
Forsberg runs nimbly, and his first pass in the frontcourt can often tear open the wrong side's defense;
Can Ibrahimovic seize the opportunity and give the Italians the most fatal blow in the most unexpected way?
That goal made the Swedish team's qualifying situation very clear, and it can also be said that it gave the Swedish team hope of qualifying early!——
It can be said that since the group of players who won the World Cup in Italy in 2006 have gradually aged, Italy has at least stopped producing stars.
Del Piero, Pirlo, Cannavaro, Nesta, Gattuso, Zambrotta, Totti...
Which of those former stars is not ranked among the best in world football?
But now, the main players in the Italian team are Parolo, Giaccherini, Florenzi, Eder...
Even without Pelle, he is obviously not the world's top star, nor does he have the ability to hold up the banner of Italy's striker.
That also makes people miss the Italian team that once had talented forwards such as Baggio, Vieri, Inzaghi, Totti, and Del Piero.
I can even miss Balotelli during the European Cup!
The lack of outstanding forwards has also prevented Italy from building a complete offensive system for a long time.
Without the forward, without the sharp knife at the front, the system would be impossible to talk about!
It is very likely that the overall strength of the team will be affected, because it is not just the forwards who are blocked.
Even if Italy is in the European Cup, Italy has Gattuso, Pirlo and other famous players guarding it, but Italy has a midfield composed of Parolo, De Rossi and Giaccherini. Let’s not talk about strength.
With their reputations, you can tell how good those players are in combat.
So in that game, the Swedish team's tactics were really simple. After pinching the Italian midfielder and completely suppressing my midfielder, how could I advance the ball?
Plan the attack with long passes from the wing-backs or centre-backs, bypassing the midfield as much as possible.
Such a style of play is really not very effective for a team like Sweden, which has excellent frontal defense capabilities, especially if the situation is contained and immediately appears to be very passive.
Conte was not aware of the situation at halftime.
However, the connection between Italy's backcourt and frontcourt was cut off by the Swedes again and again, and Italy's entire tactical layout was cut into several pieces. Pellet could not fight alone in the front.
One moment he wants to be the organizer, the next moment he wants to rush to the front and be the finisher, how can that be done?
Let alone Pellet, even if Ibrahimovic is brought over, it will be difficult to cover everything.
What's more, Pan Yi, who was on the wrong side, really understood the characteristics of the Italian players very clearly, and Pelle's defense was also very effective, which would make Italy's striker completely useless.
During the halftime break, Conte decided to make some adjustments.
He asked the left wing back Candreva and midfielder Parolo to move closer to Pellet, allowing them to move forward more actively to help Pellet.
In this way, small-scale cooperation can be used to circumvent Pellet's shortcomings in individual combat, and it can also allow Pellet to launch attacks from the front with more confidence.
As for Pellet personally, Conte failed to ask him to "shoot when he has the chance" and not to fall into the Swedish team's defensive trap again, thus losing the hard-earned offensive opportunity.
However, at the beginning of the eastern half, Italy, which was at a disadvantage, immediately launched a round of attacks.
That time, Pellet, who was a powerful offensive point, got a chance to get the ball in the 46th minute. When he faced Lindelof again in the middle, he didn't give his wrong leg any time to think, and just swung it.
One kick, shot!
Pellet gave Lindelof less time and less time for himself.
As a result, the shot was not powerful and the angle was correct, but it did allow Isaacson to stretch his legs and gain one more successful save.
"Now that Italy's offensive and morale are getting better, we must push him eastward!"
Pan Yi on the sidelines also realized the problem.
If Italy is allowed to continue to attack like that, the rhythm and situation of the game will gradually be dragged away by them, which will be very disadvantageous for the Swedish team, so the best way is to nip that threat in the bud.
"Press the midfielder a little tighter and let Italy take more of Giaccherini's side!" Pan Yi immediately made adjustments.
The career of Giaccherini is very inspiring. In just 3 years, this grassroots player achieved a magical triple jump, from Serie B to Serie A, and then from underdog Cesena to join the local giant Juventus.
Although he is not a perfect main force, the short-footed tiger still relies on his diligent running and versatile legs in the frontcourt to become an indispensable attacking player for the Bianconeri.
The man who coached Juventus at the time was Conte, the current head coach of the Italian national team.
Conte once said to Giaccherini, "Just ask him to coach at Juventus and I will not leave." This shows that he misplaced Giaccherini's trust.
It is precisely because of this that the not-so-well-known player currently playing for Bologna plays the main role in that Italian team.
But no, Giaccherini, who is 167 cm tall and weighs 67 kg, is at a disadvantage compared to those strong men in Sweden.
Moreover, his technical level has not reached the level of Pirlo before, or has the superb dribbling skills like Messi, who is about the same size as him.
Therefore, Pan Yi decided to lure Italy's ball rights to Giaccherini and then focus on grabbing him.
How to seduce him? Just use the method of blocking one side that Pan Yi often used when he was in the club.
For example, when De Rossi gets the ball, the Swedish players will focus on cutting off the connection between him and Parolo on the other side, forcing De Rossi to pass to Giaccherini, and then surround him.
Pan Yi's adjustments quickly yielded results.
The Swedish team quickly suppressed Italy again, especially in the midfield, completely suppressing the momentum of Italy's three midfielders, making Italy's striker once again become helpless in the front.
In the 70th minute, Ekdal successfully stole the ball from Giaccherini's feet and then passed it to Forsberg, starting Italy's quick counterattack.
After Forsberg quickly advanced with the ball, Fou moved to the right and handed it to Guidetti.
At that time, Florenzi made an assist and failed to come back. Chiellini had to make up for it, but Guidetti dribbled the ball to the center and then passed the ball to the high point of the penalty area with his right foot.
Ibrahimovic and Bonucci seized the position, and when the shooting space was blocked by the wrong side, Dong chose to header the ball to the back point.
Isaac inserted into the penalty area from the left, and with no one to defend him, Ibrahimovic's pass was firmly shot, and the ball was once again sent into the goal guarded by Buffon, 2:0!
After scoring the goal, the Swedish youngster excitedly turned around and rushed out of the penalty area. He rushed to the sidelines and jumped up high, waving his legs in fists.
That was his first goal in this European Cup, and it was also his first official goal on behalf of the Swedish national team! And that was only his second official international match on behalf of the Swedish team.
And Isaac's goal can almost be said to have set the situation in advance.
After that goal, the Swedish team took the lead in making adjustments.
Goal scorers Ibrahimovic and Isaac, including Forsberg, were all replaced by East, while Marcus Berry, Kulusevski and Kjellström were replaced.
This is not Pan Yi's message: the victory has been decided, I have stopped!
Based on the principle that all useful players want to save themselves from death, it's almost time to go east and rest.
After the substitutions, Sweden's formation also changed, leaving Marcus Berry alone in the front to fight back, while the others slowed down the pace and focused on defense.
Isn't this exactly the same as the initial stage of playing against Ireland?
And there was nothing Conte could do against the Swedish team like that. In the first 20 minutes, he couldn't create any decent opportunities at all.
When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, Pan Yi raised his clenched fists high, as if he was telling the whole world that he was back as the king!
The Swedish team qualified from the group of death one round ahead of schedule!