Chapter 154 "Those are the students I taught!"...

On June 24, Italy played its final group stage match against Slovakia, who were currently at the bottom of the group.

This match is a do-or-die situation for Italy. Winning this match will allow Italy to advance to the knockout stage, while a draw will determine the outcome of the match between Paraguay and New Zealand. A loss will result in immediate elimination.

Nesta, wearing the captain's armband, walked proudly at the front of the line.

The camera panned to Cannavaro on the bench, who looked calm, his eyes showing neither joy nor sorrow.

Pirlo was also on the bench.

This match is crucial. Fino has performed well in training, but he hasn't been tested in an official match yet, so Lippi needs to add another layer of protection for Italy. If Italy struggles in the match, then Pirlo will have to come on.

For Slovakia, this is their first time entering the World Cup finals, and every step they take is making history. Of course, they are not willing to be eliminated in the group stage. If they win this match, they will have a great chance to advance to the knockout stage.

After the match started, Slovakia attacked aggressively, frequently creating dangerous opportunities on the right flank, while Italy played steadily, continuing to play a defensive counter-attacking style.

Under pressure to advance, both teams' players were on edge, playing cautiously for fear of making a mistake and giving the opponent a scoring opportunity.

Although the two sides played back and forth, making for a very entertaining match, the game remained deadlocked for the first 20 minutes, with neither side able to change the score.

In the 25th minute, Slovakia continued their attack down the right flank. Šterba dribbled past the halfway line but was dispossessed by De Rossi. However, before De Rossi could find an opportunity to tackle, Hamsik and Šterba combined to win the ball back.

Hamsik passed the ball forward to Stoch, who was positioned outside the Italian penalty area, and Slovakia's attacking intent resurfaced.

Criscito, who was matched up against Stoch, tried to intercept but failed. Stoch then crossed the ball to Vittek on the outside of the penalty area. Before Nesta could catch up, Vittek unleashed a powerful shot that passed between Nesta and Chiellini, nestling just under the crossbar and into the net.

Nesta's tackle was a step too late.

At that moment, Italy's goalkeeper De Sanctis's attention was entirely on Stoch, and by the time he realized what was happening, it was too late.

Slovakia broke the deadlock with a 1-0 lead.

Italy conceded the first goal in all three of their group stage matches in this World Cup.

Lippi looked serious off the field. After Buffon's injury, Marchetti, who replaced him, failed to satisfy him, hence the substitution of De Sanctis in this match. Judging from De Sanctis's current performance, he is not as good as Marchetti.

After scoring, Slovakia began pressing high up the pitch, with their players running aggressively and constantly putting pressure on the Italian players.

When De Rossi and Gattuso formed a double pivot in midfield, they would often be immediately counter-pressed by multiple Slovakian players after a successful interception. When Nesta and Chiellini came up to help, Slovakia would start launching long balls and crosses behind Italy's defense, directly challenging for opportunities near Italy's penalty area.

De Sanctis is really not a reliable player. With Nesta filling in the gaps, he barely managed to defuse several dangerous situations, which also prevented Italy's defense from moving too far forward.

Upon seeing this, Fino immediately retreated to the midfield and backfield to help and participate in the defense.

With Fino dropping back, De Rossi and Gattuso were under much less pressure. Not only did they have an extra player to assist in defense, but they could also pass the ball to Fino more quickly during transitions between attack and defense to organize the offense.

In the 42nd minute, Slovakia had another attacking opportunity. When the ball crossed the halfway line and was passed to Hamsik's feet, Fino quickly closed in.

Everyone in the football world knows last year's Ballon d'Or winner, and everyone knows that Fino plays as a center forward.

Hamsik didn't take Fino seriously. So what if he's a Ballon d'Or winner? It's a bit presumptuous for a center forward to be doing one-on-one close marking.

Hamsik made a quick change of direction, intending to get past Fino, but Fino saw through his plan. Hamsik crashed directly into Fino, who was blocking his way, as if he had hit a wall, and didn't budge.

Just one encounter made Hamsik more cautious.

The Ballon d'Or winner is also quite good at defense, and he's very tough; he's a real tough opponent.

Fino had no idea what Hamsik was thinking. He kept his eyes fixed on Hamsik's feet and the ball between them, ready to intercept the ball at any moment.

At this moment, Stoch has shaken off De Rossi and run out of position, and Hamsik immediately prepares to pass the ball to Stoch.

He leaned against Fino, raised his foot to touch the ball, but missed completely.

Hamsik was startled and looked down to see Fino pull back his foot, the ball having already been poked to Gattuso.

After successfully intercepting the ball, Fino broke free of Hamsik and ran towards Slovakia's half. Two seconds later, he received the ball back from Gattuso, and Italy's counter-attack began.

Fino dribbled forward at a very fast speed, covering seven or eight meters before the Slovakian players could react.

Ambrosini and Camoranesi were positioned on the left and right flanks respectively, forming an inverted triangle with Fino and moving forward as Fino made his breakthroughs. The two Slovakian full-backs closely marked Ambrosini and Camoranesi, while Gilardino drew the two center-backs near the penalty area line.

Šterba, Hamsik, and Kuka, the Slovakian midfielders, were trying their best to catch up, but were being pushed further and further away by the sprinting Finola.

As Fino drew closer to the edge of the penalty area, a center-back finally couldn't resist moving forward, leaving only one teammate to contain Gilardino.

Fino glanced left and right, quickly made a decision, and with a shoulder drop and change of direction, he shook off the center-back marking him, then passed the ball directly to Gilardino, quickly drawing an inverted "V" with his fingers in front of his chest. Gilardino understood immediately.

The moment Fino made his tackle, the full-back marking Ambrosini lunged toward the center, preparing to double-team Gilardino together with the center-back remaining in the penalty area. This was exactly the moment Fino had been waiting for.

Gilardino received the ball with his back to goal and immediately passed it back. Fino then held off the defender behind him and lobbed a half-high ball to Ambrosini, who was unmarked on the left flank.

Ambrosini jumped up and headed the ball in the penalty area. The defender who was marking Ambrosini just realized he had been tricked, but it was too late to come back.

Ambrosini, with a graceful posture, unleashed a powerful header, sending the ball straight into the center of the goal.

Slovakian goalkeeper Muha reacted quickly, lunging forward, but the ball deflected off the grass in front of him and nestled into the top right corner of the goal.

With Mocha already on the ground, there was nothing he could do, and Italy equalized in the first half.

An excited Ambrosini rushed over and showered Fino with kisses on the forehead!

This was Ambrosini's first World Cup, his first appearance, and his first goal!

From then on, he made his mark on the history of the World Cup.

The frenzied kisses left Fino somewhat dizzy, and he couldn't resist grabbing Ambrosini's blond hair to free himself.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, Fino, stop!" Ambrosini was pulled so hard he looked up, but he was in such a good mood that after Fino let go, he put his arm around Fino's shoulder with a grin and they went back to midfield to wait for Slovakia to kick off.

The first half ended in a 1-1 draw.

At the start of the second half, Lippi substituted Maggio for left-back Criscito.

Criscito was a bit irritable and out of sorts in the first half, and Slovakia's goal in the first half was largely due to him making it too easy for Stoch to deliver the cross.

Slovakia focused on the right flank in the first half, but Criscito, who was marked by him, not only failed to put enough pressure on the Slovakian attacking players, but also lost his position several times. It was only thanks to Nesta covering for him that a major mistake was avoided.

Lippi took a risk and brought on Maggio. Although Maggio lacked experience in major tournaments, he was a few years older than Criscito and more composed. At this point, Italy had no room for error.

In the second half, both teams intensified their attacks.

For Italy, a draw is not enough; they need all three points to secure qualification.

The same applies to Slovakia; their chances of advancing are even more precarious than Italy's. They must secure three points and then pray that Paraguay remains unbeaten in order to qualify as the second-place team in the group.

Under Slovakia's fierce attack, Italy's defense was further compressed, and Nesta frequently directed the defense, resolving one crisis after another.

Fino also retreated to the Italian half, standing with De Rossi and Gattuso to solidify Italy's second line of defense and protect the space in front of the backline.

Whenever Slovakia's attacking opportunities are thwarted, the ball is quickly passed to Fino, who then organizes the attack.

After retreating to his own half, Fino had a wider field of vision and saw more attacking possibilities.

Wherever there was an opportunity, his long pass would point there, and then the two Italian wingers and the Slovakian defenders would start sprinting towards the ball's landing point, while the two Italian full-backs would also rush forward at high speed to assist in the attack.

The scene looked just like a dog chasing a toy ball, and Fino was the owner who threw the toy ball. Even in a serious game, Fino's thoughts couldn't help but wander for a moment.

This feeling of being in control of everything is just wonderful. Is this Pirlo's happiness?

Lippi had been watching Fino's performance closely from the sidelines, and the more he watched, the more surprised he became.

Fino tirelessly moved back and forth, capable of high-speed breakthroughs and organizing attacks in the frontcourt, and assisting in defense and making long passes in the backcourt.

He is so young, yet so powerful. His hard-earned strength has earned him the trust of all his teammates on the field. He controls the rhythm of Italy's "breathing" and manipulates the direction of the forward players' movements like a puppeteer.

"This is the youngest Ballon d'Or winner!" Lippi thought to himself.

He then became dissatisfied, wondering why Fino had managed to organize the attack so well and why the attacking third hadn't managed to score another goal.

In the 68th minute, Lippi substituted Gilardino with Di Natale, last season's Serie A Golden Boot winner, to increase the team's finishing ability in the attacking third, and then replaced the increasingly exhausted Camoranesi with Iaquinta.

Sitting on the bench, Cannavaro nudged Pirlo next to him with his elbow.

"Looks like you don't need to play with an injury. This game is in the bag."

Pirlo didn't say anything, but just squinted his eyes to admire every touch of Fino's ball.

Cannavaro was somewhat annoyed by his coldness and deliberately taunted him: "Andrea, after seeing Fini's performance, don't you feel threatened? Be careful that Fini doesn't completely take your place; the coach really likes him!"

This was obviously a joke; the Italian national team isn't so extravagant as to bench Pirlo.

Pirlo finally turned to look at him, but his reaction was completely different from what he had expected.

"I taught them!" Pirlo said calmly, but his eyes shone with pride.

There's always a mysterious bond among Milan fans. Cannavaro recalled what Fino had said a couple of days ago: "This is Sandro, Massimo, Rino, and it might even be Andrea's last World Cup. I don't want them to have any regrets..."

Cannavaro pursed his lips; to be honest, he was a little envious.

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Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your support! [cat paw emoji]