Chapter 155: Advancement and Gossip
In the 73rd minute, Italy was awarded a corner kick.
The corner kick was taken by Fino.
During training, the Italian team practiced various corner kick combinations. Fino made a gesture, and his teammates understood.
Fino delivered a precise cross to the far post, where the 191cm tall Iaquinta leaped high, outjumping the equally tall Skrtel, and headed the ball toward the goal.
However, the Slovakian goalkeeper was already prepared and made a powerful save, heading the ball into the net.
The loss of the corner kick did not have much of a psychological impact on the Italian players, who were still confident of winning.
It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Italy played exceptionally well in the second half; these were their best minutes in the group stage this season.
With Fino dropping back, the chaos that had ensued due to Pirlo's absence was finally brought under control, the previously sluggish midfield began to flow smoothly, and Italy, who had been lost in the two group stage matches, finally got back on track.
Slovakia gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.
Desperate to turn the tide, Slovakia played more aggressively, hoping to disrupt Italy's rhythm through tactical fouls.
First, Šterba was shown a yellow card for a foul on Gattuso, and then full-back Zabavnik made a sliding tackle that targeted Fino's ankle.
Fino kicked very carefully and dodged in time after noticing Zabavnik's movement, but he was still scratched by the opponent's cleats and inevitably fell.
Fino got up and stomped his feet. There was nothing seriously wrong; it was just a superficial injury.
At that moment, Nesta, wearing the captain's armband, ran over, grabbed Zabavnik by the collar of his jersey, and pulled him up from the ground. Gattuso and De Rossi also surrounded him.
The referee immediately stepped forward and asked Nesta to let go.
Seeing this, Fino patted Nesta's arm and pulled him away.
"Sandro, I'm fine. Don't be impulsive. The defense needs you. We can't afford to waste any more time. We have to get back on track as soon as possible."
Nesta slowly released his grip.
The referee showed Zabavnik a yellow card and awarded Italy a free kick.
Fino took the free kick himself.
The free kick was taken from a position directly in front of the Slovakian penalty area, about 24 meters from the goal.
As Fino began to prepare, Pirlo on the bench opened his eyes.
As Fino moved, Pirlo's lips moved slightly, and he began to mutter to himself.
Power comes from the upper arch of the foot...
Aim for the lower center of the ball...
Pull upwards...
The ball flew upwards along the middle, quickly over the wall of players, then drifted erratically before plummeting downwards and slipping into the net from Muha's side.
Muhar even misjudged the direction.
"Gooooal! Cabrini scores from a free kick, Italy takes a 2-1 lead! After taking on Pirlo's playmaking responsibilities, Cabrini once again unleashed Pirlo's signature dipping free kick, perfectly filling the void left by Pirlo's injury. The camera is now on the Italian bench, where we can see Pirlo has stood up and is proudly applauding Cabrini's brilliant free kick..."
After the whistle blew to confirm the goal, Fino turned to look towards the substitutes' bench.
He pointed to his left calf, then made a heart shape with his hands towards Pirlo.
Fino's meaning was obvious: he was giving the goal to Pirlo and wishing Pirlo a speedy recovery from his calf.
Pirlo, with a delighted smile, also stretched out his hands and made a heart shape in front of his chest.
Cannavaro, standing next to him, got goosebumps. It just goes to show how incredibly sweet and cloying the bond between the Milanese was!
Slovakia worked hard in the final moments, but Italy, which was already back on track, was far superior to them.
The score remained 2-1 until the end of the match.
The Italian bench erupted in cheers!
They made it to the knockout stage, and after being pushed to the brink, they finally managed to survive!
In another Group F match, Paraguay and New Zealand played to a 0-0 draw.
The final scores for Group F are out.
Paraguay leads the group with 5 points from one win and two draws, but only one goal difference ahead. Italy also has 5 points from one win and two draws, but is second in the group with a better goal difference. New Zealand finishes third with 3 points from three draws, while Slovakia is at the bottom of the group with 1 point from one draw and two losses.
Paraguay and Italy both qualified for the Round of 16 in the World Cup.
Five hours later, the group stage of Group E also came to an end. The Netherlands won all three of their matches and accumulated 9 points, advancing as the group leader. Japan won two matches and lost one, accumulating 6 points, advancing as the group runner-up.
According to the World Cup rules, the winner of Group E and the runner-up of Group F automatically become opponents in the Round of 16. Italy's next opponent is the "uncrowned kings" Netherlands.
This year's Dutch team, while maintaining its traditional attacking style of football, has become more stable and pragmatic, emphasizing defensive solidity and tactical discipline. Perhaps the style of play is no longer as flashy, but it is more efficient. This has led the Dutch team to win all three group stage matches, and their odds of winning the championship on Bet365's official website have risen to fourth place.
Although the Netherlands is a strong opponent, it's not a bad thing for Italy to advance as the second-placed team in the group and face them, as Italy was placed in the upper half of the bracket as the second-placed team in the group.
The upper half of the bracket has relatively few strong teams, mainly the Netherlands, Brazil, and Uruguay, while the lower half is packed with strong teams such as Argentina, Germany, England, Spain, and Portugal, making it a true "group of death."
The Italians are very satisfied to have escaped the "group of death," and this is great news after a bumpy road to the knockout stage.
A few days later, another piece of good news arrived: Pirlo had fully recovered from his injury and would return to the game in the round of 16 against the Netherlands. Italy's midfield maestro had finally returned to his place.
Pirlo patted Fino's hair and said with emotion, "Our Fino has really worked hard!"
In the match against Slovakia, Fino replaced himself, who was still recovering from injury, and was under tremendous pressure to keep Italy alive. How could he not have worked hard?
Fino didn't say anything, but gently nuzzled Pirlo's hand with the top of his head, and then continued to look down at his phone.
It was already past dinner time, and it was time to rest. Fino and Pirlo were lying side by side on the bed watching TV.
During the World Cup, the football world was completely covered by news about the South Africa World Cup, both on television and online. In addition to the official match news, there were also all sorts of mixed analyses and gossip.
After reading for a while, Fino was so shocked by the ridiculously fake news that his worldview was shattered. So he closed the webpage and started texting his friends.
Nesta walked in at that moment; he was there to play video games with Pirlo, followed by Ambrosini and Gattuso.
After Nesta was selected for the national team, Fino asked him and Pirlo whether they should let the two gaming partners get together, since they were roommates at the club and also roommates in the national team.
"Let Andrea continue living with you. Massimo and I will live together."
Nesta doesn't care. He's only playing in this tournament anyway, so there's no need to break up Fino and Pirlo, his national team roommates. It's fine for him to live with Ambrosini, who hasn't been selected for the national team for a long time.
Pirlo also shook his head and refused.
"So who will play games with you? Massimo?" Fino asked Nesta again.
After becoming roommates with Pirlo in the national team, Fino realized that Pirlo didn't actually like playing video games; Nesta was the one who liked them, and Pirlo was just keeping him company.
After Nesta retired from the national team, Pirlo stopped playing video games while on the team.
This incident left a very deep impression on Fino; Pirlo was truly a very gentle person.
“Massimo’s a noob, I don’t want to play with him.” Nesta scoffed. “I’ll just come to your dorm, and we can chat.”
After Fino's transfer, he rarely had the chance to see Fino, so it was best to spend as much time together as possible.
At first, Nesta would bring his game console to Fino and Pirlo's dorm every day, but later he just left it there. Pirlo would keep it for him, and he could just come over every day.
Pirlo and Nesta plugged in the game console and started battling it out, while Fino, Ambrosini, and Gattuso sat on the edge of the bed, watching the game and chatting.
Ambrosini is a surfing enthusiast and always stays ahead of the curve. He even helped Fino download and register her social media accounts.
Ambrosini then started sharing gossip he'd seen online with Fino. It wasn't very credible, but it was good for passing the time and having some fun.
He mentioned Italy's opponent in the round of 16, the Netherlands.
"The Dutch team is in turmoil again. Robben is constantly injured and can't take on the role of the core player. Van Persie acts like the big brother in the locker room, but the Dutch coach trusts Sneijder more. Now Van Persie and Sneijder don't get along."
Fino recalled the two incredibly intelligent Dutchmen he had met in the Real Madrid dressing room last summer, and Sneijder had even suggested he wear number 10.
"I don't know Van Persie, but Sneijder is definitely a core player. His performance in the Champions League this year has been fantastic. Real Madrid shouldn't have sold him."
"I read some inside information about Real Madrid's purge of the Dutch contingent. During the 2008-09 Champions League knockout stage match between Real Madrid and Liverpool, the Dutch and Spanish players got into a fight at halftime. First, Sneijder and Robben clashed with Casillas and Ramos, which then escalated into a brawl between the Dutch and Spanish players, scaring the manager so much that he hid in the toilet..."
Nesta and Pirlo were also drawn in by the story, so they paused the game and climbed over to listen to Ambrosini continue his gossip.
"They played until the start of the second half, but due to a loss of morale, they were defeated by Liverpool with a last-minute goal near the end of the match. At that point, Real Madrid began preparing to purge their Dutch contingent..."
Ambrosini paused for a moment, as if he had remembered something interesting, and chuckled to himself.
"Stop keeping me in suspense, keep going!" Gattuso shoved him hard, almost pushing him off the bed.
“Okay, okay, haha…” Ambrosini suppressed a laugh and continued, “At the end of the season, Real Madrid asked Sneijder to hand over his locker key, but Sneijder absolutely refused. Everyone thought Sneijder didn’t want to leave Real Madrid and that’s why he wouldn’t hand over the key, but actually he accidentally lost it. Later, Real Madrid staff pried open Sneijder’s locker, and inside was a stun gun for self-defense! Hahahaha…”
At this point, Ambrosini couldn't help but laugh.
Fino and the other three laughed along with them; this gossip was just too funny.
Fino asked curiously, "Where did you see this gossip from? The Sun? That's outrageous. I've met Sneijder, and he's very friendly. How could he possibly hide a stun gun in the locker room? We're players, not Mafia."
"I accessed this from the Chinese internet by using a VPN. The translator might be a bit slow on some words, but the general content is accurate."
Fino and the other three were stunned. They knew Ambrosini liked surfing the internet, but they didn't expect him to be so knowledgeable about it, even surfing the internet in faraway China, and intensively following the gossip with the help of a clumsy translator.
Pirlo exclaimed, "Massimo, with this kind of perseverance, you'll succeed at anything!"
Nesta and Gattuso both looked on in agreement.
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The author's note: The rumor about the Dutch trio actually originated during the 2012 European Championship. Because the Netherlands played poorly, domestic fans started making fun of it, and then it spread and became more and more complete.
During the 2014 World Cup, some domestic official media actually took it seriously and even reported it in detail, seemingly making it into the newspapers. They claimed it was a report from Brazil, which made domestic fans laugh uncontrollably [facepalm].
Later, the news even reached Europe, where media outlets began reporting on it, and some even went so far as to approach Sneijder and Huntelaar directly...
In short, it's both magical and hilarious.
Thank you everyone for your support! [Let me see]
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