PS1: This is the update on Sunday, a little late. I hope that all book friends don’t care too much about the update time. I’ll guarantee that I will not stop updating...

PS2: Let me talk about the book friends group here. The group numbers are three, seven, zero, five, four, nine, nine, one, nine, and the verification answer is NTR Knight, well, that's it.

PS3: I would like to thank the book friend "Dede Dede" for the reward.

PS4: Not long after Cruyff left, Mr. Martini, the old man, passed away. I would like to express my deep condolences here... I will always miss that six to zero day.

"Young guys, I know you are all very tired now. After all, our schedule has been very difficult over the past period, especially the last game against the Netherlands, which consumed a lot of our energy, while our opponents can regain their strength in Lisbon for six days." In the locker room of the visiting team at Alvarad Stadium, Trapatoni was doing the final pre-match mobilization. "However, despite this, I still hope that everyone can overcome these difficulties and get tickets to the European Cup final. The Portuguese must realize that the difficulties in the mere schedule cannot stop us from defending the Delaunay Cup!"

As Trapatoni said, although it should be relatively easy to win against Italy, which beat the Netherlands in the quarterfinals by 3-1, in the quarterfinals, but the actual situation is not the case. Although the Orange League has serious aging of midfield and backcourt players, and Edvocart, a guy who sells his teammates, is struggling to get his feet on the side, Italy's consumption in this game is still very serious. Many players, including Vieri and Grosso, were diagnosed by the team doctors with the team after the game that they need to have a break before they can continue to participate in the game. Otherwise, even if they are forced to play, it will be difficult for these players to perform at their best.

In short, before the start of this game, Italy's staff reduction situation can be said to be quite serious.

Now let me introduce the starting lineup of Italy in this game. Buffon undoubtedly appeared in the starting goalkeeper position. With him in front of the goal, it is probably not easy for Portugal's second-rate strikers to break through Italy's goal. In front of Buffon, Zambrota, Nesta, Matrazi and Panucci lined up to form a steel defense line that would make any team extremely troubled!

In the midfield, Toti, who was suspended for three games due to saliva incidents, finally returned. Pirlo continued to sit in the rear as a commander. Ambrosini and Perotta played the role of bodyguards, responsible for clearing obstacles for Toti and Pirlo, while providing the necessary hardness for Italy's defense in the midfield. On the forward line, there is a combination of Antonio Casano and Diego Milito. Obviously, Trapatoni made up his mind to play the Portuguese counterattack in this game.

In fact, all the head coaches who have studied Portugal's first game against Greece did this. However, Portugal's luck was really good. Among the opponents he met later, Russia did not have the strength, and Spain destroyed the Great Wall because of Seth's stupidity. England persisted for 12 minutes, but unfortunately it fell to the twelve yards in the end, which allowed the host to pass the hurdles and break into the semi-finals.

Now, facing Italy, which has a whole world-class defense line, it is absolutely difficult for Portugal, which has a stubborn problem of being unable to score. Otherwise, Trapatoni would not dare to give up easily to compete with his opponent for control of the midfield and defend with all his strength, and handed the frontcourt to Toti, Casano and Milito, the offensive trident.

You should know that the Italian national team in this life was formed with the Fiorentine system as the team, and they have similarities with Fiorentine in many tactical styles. Therefore, when Trapatoni sets up tactics, he often needs to take care of the habits of Fiorentine players. It is this change in detail that makes Italy's defensive counterattack more threatening!

Looking at Portugal, Scolari, who doesn't have to worry about the physical fitness of the players, will naturally send all the main players in this game. Goalkeeper Ricardo and four defenders are Valente, Carvalho, Andrade and Miguel, Maniche and Costinia form double midfielders. Rui Costa, who was not beaten to death by Deco's back wave, continued to serve as the midfield commander. Figo and Ronaldo are separated from the wings of the midfield, and together with Costa, they transport shells for Pauletta, who takes the lead on the front line.

Here I would like to add that after losing to Greece in the first game of the group stage, Scolari, who originally planned to dislike Ronaldo, gave up the Simao who had been reusing before under the pressure of reality, and instead activated this young player under the age of 20. As the European Cup deepened, Ronaldo's performance was getting better and better. At this stage, many people have regarded him as the new leader of Portuguese football after the golden generation has become old, not just a young player with great potential.

After the game started, both teams performed more cautiously, mostly tempted in their offense, and did not dare to invest too much force, for fear that if they accidentally seized the opportunity to penetrate their door, they would fall into a passive situation in the next time.

As the game deepened, Italy's physical disadvantages began to become obvious. Affected by this, the players' running and defense on the court were no longer as active as they were at the beginning of the game, giving people a feeling of not being able to exert their strength.

However, despite this, Portugal, which gradually took the initiative in the midfield, still failed to turn its advantage in the field into a lead in the score. The Italian goal was still as stable as Mount Tai under the siege of the host. Most of Portugal's offenses were either destroyed in advance by Nestas or directly blocked by Buffon, and did not pose much threat to the goal at all.

Pauletta is indeed a good striker, otherwise he would not have been able to do well in Ligue 1. However, in Portugal, which lacks excellent strikers, he is good at playing second strikers, and is forced to play single arrows on the front line, which greatly reduces his scoring efficiency. This is also why every international competition, Pauletta's scoring ability becomes terrible, because there is no teammate who can cover him at all!

As a result, a scene that made all Portuguese fans feel extremely depressed happened on the lawn of Alvarad Stadium: the super midfielder composed of Figo, Rui Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo kept sending a large number of shells to Pauletta, but the latter could never turn these wonderful passes into goals, and could only return empty-handed amid the fans' sighs again and again.
Chapter completed!