Chapter 167 Leading
As Alonso entered the field for the second half, he frequently glanced at Fino, his eyes filled with worry.
Throughout halftime, he was worried about Fino's injury, but he couldn't bring himself to ask Fino because they were now rivals.
As if sensing Alonso's gaze, Fino, who had been covering his mouth and talking to Pirlo, suddenly looked up at Alonso and instantly understood the emotion in Alonso's eyes.
Fino knew what Alonso was worried about. He pointed to his injury, shook his head, and smiled at Alonso to indicate that he was fine.
Alonso understood, his eyes crinkling into a smile, and he nodded.
Then he met Pirlo's gaze again. Ugh, Pirlo was next to Fino again. How annoying!
He turned his head to the other side, no longer looking in the direction of Fino and Pirlo, preferring to ignore them.
At the same time, Pirlo also turned his gaze away from Alonso, covered his mouth, and continued to discuss with Fino how to cooperate in the second half.
After the restart, the Spanish team intensified their attack once again.
In the 49th minute, Iniesta received a pass from Xavi and broke into the penalty area from the right. Nesta immediately stepped forward to intercept, but Iniesta shielded the ball with his back to Nesta and pushed it to Villa in the middle.
Despite Chiellini's interference, Villa still managed to unleash a high-quality shot, the ball flying straight towards the left side of the goal.
Marchetti pounced quickly, and this time he judged the direction correctly. His fingers had already touched the ball, and everything seemed to be under his control.
But before Nesta could even catch his breath after rushing back to save the ball, something unexpected happened...
When the ball hit Marchetti's hands, he didn't hold it properly; he inexplicably butterfed the ball, which fell onto the grass and bounced towards the goal.
Marchetti was ashen-faced; he had already lost his balance and was beyond saving.
Equally startled, Nesta strode over Marchetti and hooked the ball away before it rolled across the goal line. Chiellini received the ball before Villa could reach it and kicked it out of play.
On a South African winter night with temperatures just over 10°C, Nesta and Chiellini both broke out in a cold sweat, but thankfully, they escaped unharmed.
The Italian commentator was equally shocked: "A dramatic moment just happened in front of our goal! Marchetti fumbled the ball! Luckily, Nesta reacted quickly and hooked it away. It's unbelievable that our goalkeeper would make such a basic mistake on the grand stage of the World Cup final, almost pushing the team into the abyss..."
The broadcast camera then panned to Buffon on the bench, whose expression was a complex mix of relief, anxiety, and frustration.
He was relieved that Nesta had made a successful save, anxious about how obvious the weaknesses in Italy's penalty area were, and frustrated that he could only sit on the bench in such a crucial game, watching Marchetti make foolish mistakes time and time again.
The Italian commentator continued, "I think all the viewers, like me, miss Buffon more than ever before at this moment. If Buffon were standing in front of the goal right now, our players wouldn't be having such a difficult time. The defensive pressure would be greatly reduced, and they could devote more energy to the attack..."
Marchetti got up from the ground, looking utterly dejected.
Nesta walked over, just about to criticize him and bring him to his senses, when he saw Marchetti looking blank and his hands trembling slightly.
Nesta frowned: "Cheer up!"
Marchetti seemed not to hear, completely dazed.
Nesta's heart tightened. He grabbed Marchetti's shoulders and shook him a few times, anxiously asking, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Marchetti finally came to his senses. He shook his head without saying a word, but his body trembled uncontrollably.
He couldn't hold on any longer...
Under immense pressure, the last thread in his mind finally snapped...
Seeing Marchetti's dejected appearance, Nesta felt a throbbing pain in his temples.
At this point, the Spanish players surrounded the referee again, believing that the ball had crossed the goal line when Nesta made the save.
The referee shook his head. He could see it clearly: although Nesta made a backhand hooking motion, the ball did not cross the goal line completely.
While the Spanish players were talking to the referee, Nesta gestured to Lippi, indicating that Marchetti was in trouble.
Now, Lippi's temples are throbbing.
After observing Marchetti's current condition, Lippi immediately took advantage of the dead ball opportunity to make a substitution, replacing Marchetti with De Sanctis.
Generally speaking, unless the goalkeeper is injured, few teams will substitute their goalkeeper during a match. This shows a great lack of trust in the goalkeeper, and the goalkeeper who is substituted will definitely be greatly affected.
But Lippi can no longer afford to consider Marchetti's mentality; now is not the time for indecisiveness.
The World Cup is held every four years, and in a player's limited career, the opportunity to stand on the World Cup final stage is very rare. Nothing is more important than that championship trophy, and he cannot sacrifice Italy's chance to defend its title for Marchetti's sake.
As Marchetti walked back to the bench, he intended to offer him a few words of comfort, but he was surprised to find that Marchetti's expression was not one of frustration, but rather one of relief.
This shows that Marchetti has lost all fighting spirit.
Lippi was immediately displeased.
Marchetti was discovered by Lippi himself, and Lippi was well aware of his limitations. Under Buffon's continued brilliance, all other Italian goalkeepers of his generation paled in comparison. Lippi didn't have high expectations for him to begin with; after all, the Italian national team had Buffon!
Unexpectedly, after Buffon's injury, Marchetti exposed a more fatal problem than his lack of goalkeeping ability in the test of high-level matches. His ability to withstand pressure was also poor, and he lost his fighting spirit under heavy pressure.
Compared to insufficient ability to save shots, surrendering prematurely was even more unacceptable to Lippi.
Thinking of this, Lippi glared at Buffon again. In such a crucial match, having a star goalkeeper at home who can't be used—who wouldn't be angry?
Now Buffon finally understood what Lippi meant, because he was also angry with himself.
De Sanctis, who was temporarily substituted into the game, was extremely nervous.
At 33 years old, De Sanctis is a year older than Buffon, but he is completely overshadowed by Buffon in the national team and rarely gets a chance to play.
At this age, he no longer dreams of being called upon as a substitute in the final and becoming famous overnight, especially since he has had the opportunity to start in previous matches and has a clear understanding of his own abilities.
But now he really has to be called upon to come on as a substitute in the final.
At this moment, he didn't feel the excitement of playing in the World Cup final; this match was far too important for Italy. He understood and sympathized with Marchetti's poor form. The chance to defend the World Cup title was within reach, the chance to equal five-time champions Brazil was within reach, and the immense pressure was overwhelming Marchetti.
After Marchetti left the field, the pressure shifted to him. He couldn't even imagine what he would do if he made the same mistakes repeatedly as Marchetti. If they lost this game, he would immediately become the number one "war criminal" in the Italian national team and be condemned by everyone.
Now, he is about to face the test of a corner kick.
The corner kick for Spain was taken by Xavi. Puyol lost the header to Nesta at the near post, and the ball was headed to Ambrosini by Nesta. Ambrosini then quickly passed the ball to Pirlo, and Italy finally had a counter-attack opportunity.
This scene is all too familiar. Near the end of the first half, Spain took advantage of Italy's failed tactical corner kick and left their backfield vulnerable, catching Italy off guard. Now the exact same scenario is playing out again, only this time the scripts have been switched.
The moment Pirlo received the ball, Fino once again sprinted from midfield into the attacking third, just like every previous counter-attack.
Pirlo delivered a long-range pass, lobbing the ball diagonally to the left wing. Just as the ball dropped to the right height, Fino was perfectly positioned to control it, and Pirlo's pass was flawless.
At this point, Spain's defense was also incomplete, with only Pique marking Di Natale besides Casillas.
Without hesitation, Fino jumped up, controlled the ball with his chest, and then kicked it directly into the far corner of the goal.
The ball was fast and powerful; Casillas, positioned near the corner, had no chance to make a save. Pique, standing in the middle of the penalty area, stretched out his leg to block it, but to no avail. The ball nestled into the net amidst the prayers of all the Italian fans, creating a white splash...
In the 57th minute, Italy, who had been under pressure from Spain for half the game, took the lead with a long-range shot from Fino.
After the whistle blew to confirm the goal, Fino clenched his fists and roared towards the broadcast camera.
This match was incredibly difficult. After Spain stopped probing and gradually revealed their true colors, Fino gained a profound understanding of the strength of peak Spain.
Spain controlled the game throughout, and Italy struggled to gain possession, let alone organize any decent attacks. They could only look for opportunities through quick counter-attacks and set pieces.
Everyone is under a lot of pressure.
Now that they have withstood the pressure and scored the first goal, how could Fino not be excited?
Equally excited, Fino's teammates swarmed around him.
"Gooooal! Cabrini scores with a long shot after receiving a diagonal pass from Pirlo! Italy takes the lead in the World Cup final! We are only half an hour away from the World Cup trophy!" The Italian commentator's shouts echoed across the television signal to every household, and countless Italian families erupted in cheers.
His commentator, slightly calmer, relayed another piece of good news to the audience: "With this goal, Cabrini now leads the South Africa World Cup top scorer list with 6 goals, surpassing Spain's David Villa, Germany's Thomas Müller, and Uruguay's Diego Forlán. The third-place match between Germany and Uruguay concluded yesterday, and Müller and Forlán's goal tally for this World Cup is now set at 5. The only one who has a chance to compete with Cabrini for the Golden Boot is Villa, who also has 5 goals..."
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Author's note: Thank you everyone for your support~ [pleading emoji]
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