Chapter 76 National Team Debut
On October 11th, Italy played their first World Cup qualifier of the international break, away against Bulgaria. After 90 minutes of intense play, the two sides played to a 0-0 draw.
In this match, Lippi used a large number of young players, demonstrating a very firm attitude towards innovation.
Simone Pepe, who was selected for the national team roster for the first time, made his debut for the national team. He was entrusted with an important role by Lippi, not only playing the full match but also being given the responsibility of taking most of the set pieces.
Perhaps due to excessive mental tension, Pepe's performance somewhat disappointed Lippi's trust. He made several mistakes in ball control and control, and his teamwork with his teammates was also poor. Apart from his abundant energy and positive attitude, he did not show any highlights.
Another new striker making his debut, Giuseppe Rossi, came on as a substitute in the 68th minute. Although he did not help Italy score a goal, his performance on the left flank was commendable, directly revitalizing the Italian team's left side.
Pirlo, who had just recovered from injury, did not get any playing time in this match. After seeing the performance of the two newcomers, Pirlo shook his head inwardly.
Apart from Luca Toni, the other Italian strikers who participated in this summer's European Championship are all just the best of the worst, making it difficult for Lippi to be satisfied. That's why Lippi called up three new players at once, and also included Gilardino, whom he had previously favored, in the national team roster.
Judging from their performance in this match, Rossi did quite well, but Pepe's performance was less than satisfactory. Rossi is only 21 years old this year and still has room for development and improvement; Lippi will likely continue to give him opportunities to grow. Pepe, on the other hand, is already 25 and failed to seize this opportunity, making his future with the national team uncertain.
Fino is equally adept with both feet, possesses comprehensive skills, and has a good overall view of the game. Apart from not being able to completely replace the role of Luca Toni, who is 193cm tall, he is almost an all-rounder in the attacking third.
Fino's disadvantage lies in his young age. After veterans like Vieri, Inzaghi, and Totti retired, his age made it difficult for him to gain the trust of the national team coaching staff, which gave players like Borriello, Quagliarella, and Cassano the opportunity to be selected for the European Championship squad.
Once Fino dons the national team's blue jersey, everyone will realize that players like Borriello, Quagliarella, and Cassano, who were selected earlier, as well as Rossi and Pepe, who were called up with Fino this time, are simply no match for him.
Pirlo covered his mouth and turned to Fino sitting next to him, saying, "The next home game against Montenegro will be your chance. Lippi will definitely give you a chance to play."
Fino nodded. Besides competing for a ticket to the World Cup, another key purpose of the World Cup qualifiers was to train players. Whether he started or came off the bench, he had a very high chance of playing in the next match.
A few days later, in the match between Italy and Montenegro at home, Fino was indeed included in the starting lineup.
Lippi continued with the 4-3-3 formation used against Bulgaria, but made significant changes to the starting lineup.
Amelia replaced the injured Buffon in goal for Italy, with Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Chiellini, and Dossena forming the defense, Gattuso, De Rossi, and Pirlo partnering in midfield, and the three forwards Fino on the right, Di Natale on the left, and Gilardino in the center.
While waiting to line up to enter the field, Cannavaro, wearing the captain's armband, came over to encourage Fino, who was making his first appearance for the national team.
"Fini, don't be nervous. This is just a normal World Cup qualifier. As long as you play normally, there won't be any problems."
Fino smiled and nodded, appreciating the captain's kindness.
Gattuso laughed and patted Cannavaro's arm: "Don't worry, Fabio, our Finney has a big heart."
Fino was indeed not nervous. Apart from a few players like Vucinic and Jovetic who played in Serie A, the rest of the Montenegrin national team players were unfamiliar to him. When you're confident in your abilities, unfamiliarity doesn't equate to nervousness or fear; instead, your mind is filled with the excitement of tackling the unknown.
Fino was now filled with excitement and couldn't wait for the game to start.
Montenegro is not a strong opponent, and the Italian players are relaxed at this moment. De Rossi, standing next to Gattuso, also laughed and said, "Prepare a celebration for your first goal for the national team!"
De Rossi's voice was a bit loud, and most of the Montenegrin players, who didn't understand Italian, just glanced at them. But Vucinic, the Montenegrin captain who also played for Roma, heard him. He walked over and patted De Rossi on the back with annoyance: "What's going on, Dani? Don't underestimate us!"
De Rossi immediately made a pleading gesture to his club teammates: "I'm sorry, Mirko, please forgive me!"
Vucinic didn't really intend to settle scores with De Rossi. What was there to settle? The Montenegrin Football Association was only officially accepted by FIFA last year, and its strength was indeed no match for Italy's. He was just there to express his stance as the captain of Montenegro. After completing the formalities, he patted De Rossi on the shoulder and returned to the front of the team.
As the players entered the field, thunderous cheers erupted from all four stands. No other football matches are scheduled during international breaks, so bored Italian fans are happy to come and support their national team.
AC Milan fans, in particular, couldn't miss Fini's first appearance for the national team.
Many Italian legends and current players not included in the squad also came to watch this World Cup qualifier. The broadcast cameras were constantly busy searching for celebrities in the stands.
Cabrini, Baresi, Maldini, Nesta, the Inzaghi brothers, Totti, and others were all captured on camera and displayed on the stadium's big screen.
The commentator introduced the names of the football celebrities present to the audience as the camera panned across the screen.
"Juventus legend Cabrini was in the stands. It's unclear whether he came for the younger generation of Juventus players or for the young player who shares his surname. As for Maldini and the others, their intentions are quite clear: they definitely want to witness Cabrini's national team debut..."
Before the broadcast cameras could even capture all the celebrities in attendance, the referee blew the whistle to start the match.
Montenegro and Italy have a significant gap in strength. Montenegro's coach realistically deployed a defensive formation that looked like a 4-2-3-1, but was actually closer to a 4-5-1 in terms of positioning. Most of the players stayed in their own half, leaving only captain Vucinic in Italy's half to wait for a counter-attack.
Italy, known for its solid defense, played a more aggressive attacking style in this match.
After the start of the game, the Montenegrin players immediately set up a heavy defensive line in their own half as instructed by their head coach. They did not compete with the Italian players for possession of the ball, but instead used dense positioning to compress the Italian players' dribbling space.
Lippi stood calmly on the sidelines, arms crossed, watching the game. The dense defense was indeed difficult to deal with, but it wasn't without a solution.
Pirlo's long passes, along with the speed of Fino and Di Natale, are all effective tools for breaking down a dense defense, and they had practiced various corner kick combinations beforehand.
The Italian team did not immediately start long passes, as that would be too purposeful and could easily arouse the Montenegrin team's suspicion.
In the first ten minutes or so, Italy advanced into the Montenegrin penalty area through short passes. After battling with Montenegrin players for more than ten minutes, Pirlo dropped back slightly, creating distance between himself and Montenegrin's midfield defense.
Seeing Pirlo's move, Fino slowly ran from the penalty area towards the right sideline. The Montenegrin defenders ignored him, as Fino leaving the penalty area was a good thing for them, greatly reducing the defensive pressure.
At this moment, De Rossi, who was in control of the ball, passed it back to Pirlo, who then unleashed a sudden long shot from the left side of the center. The ball arced through the air and flew towards the right side of the Montenegrin penalty area.
"After their short passing penetration failed, the Italian team seemed to change their strategy. Midfield maestro Pirlo launched a long diagonal pass, but it was a bit too powerful, and the ball might go out of bounds... but it didn't! The ball seemed to have its own navigation system, landing just one meter from the sideline. There were no Montenegrin players nearby, and Cabrini comfortably got to the ball!"
Italy's strategy was all about surprise. After receiving the ball, Fino didn't hesitate for a second and immediately crossed from the right wing, aiming at Gilardino who was standing in the penalty area.
Speed is of the essence in war, and Gilardino, without any hesitation, volleyed the incoming ball directly into the goal.
Montenegrin goalkeeper Poleksic was ready and pushed the ball out with both hands.
The ball flew low to the ground toward the right side of the penalty area. A Montenegrin center-back tried to control the ball with his foot, but before he could touch it, a leg wearing a blue sock appeared in his line of sight and tackled the ball away before he could touch it.
Then, the blue figure rolled to the side, avoiding the spikes that were about to touch the other person's thigh.
Before he could even utter a word of admiration for his bravery, a sudden burst of cheers from the stands interrupted his thoughts.
"Cabrini!" "Cabrini!" "Cabrini!"...
He quickly turned to look at his own goal, where a round ball was lying in the goal, and goalkeeper Polekic stood with his hands on his hips, sighing helplessly.
"Goooooal! Cabrini scores his first goal for the national team, making it 1-0! After Gilardino's shot was blocked, Cabrini met the ball that Poleksic had saved with a sliding shot, the ball grazing the grass and flying into the Montenegrin goal. Poleksic, who had just made a heroic save, was helpless against this sliding shot!"
"It has to be said that Cabrini is truly skilled and daring, showing no fear of getting injured at all. At that time, the Montenegrin defender's studs were almost hitting his thigh, but fortunately Cabrini was not injured."
Before Fino could even get up, Gilardino, who was closest, pounced on him, flipping Fino from his prone position onto the ground. He then knelt beside Fino, cupped Fino's face in his hands, and vigorously rubbed it, showering him with praise—clearly an Italian with a silver tongue.
Fino struggled desperately under Gilardino's grasp, trying to get Gilardino to release his face. Now the camera lens was definitely pointed directly at him, and how many ugly photos of his distorted face would be taken!
Then Di Natale pounced on him, shoving Gilardino onto Fino and pinning him down. Immediately afterwards, a whole bunch of "little blue men" followed: Gattuso, De Rossi, Pirlo…
Since Fino was already obediently lying on the grass, they wouldn't hold back.
Fino never liked human pyramids because he was always the one at the bottom. What's fun about being buried under a bunch of sweaty teammates? The smell was quite unpleasant.
Forget it, let's just destroy it!
After his teammates got up from under the referee's urging, Fino saw Pirlo extend his hand to him.
He grasped Pirlo's hand and was pulled up by Pirlo.
While fixing Gilardino's messed-up hair, Pirlo ordered a jersey from him.
"Look how dirty your jersey is. Change it during halftime and give this one to me. Keep the second half jersey for yourself; it's the jersey you wore for your first national team appearance, so it's very meaningful. Don't exchange it with anyone else."
“Okay.” Fino nodded.
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