The summer that has been blown blue – rememberIng Italy's return to glory

Hong Kong, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The summer that has been blown blue - remembering Italy's return to glory

Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Hua

The Italian team must have a special fate with the new Wembley Stadium.

In March 2007, the Italian U21 youth team made their debut after the completion of the new Wembley Stadium with England U21, and Pazzini, who scored a "hat-trick" in the game, wrote his name into the history of the stadium.

On the night of the final, the night of New Wembley was as bright as day, and Pacini's juniors marked the Delaunay Cup with a deep blue brand under the affectionate gaze of Italian fans and the envious eyes of England fans. From the opener in Rome to the final night in London, the Italians have taken a wonderful journey. From the dark clouds that did not qualify for the World Cup, to the clouds that crowned the king of Europe, the "Blue Army" completed a phoenix nirvana.

The cheers of the fans broke through the night sky of London, and the footsteps of the return of the Italian team's king echoed throughout Europa.

Remember that World Cup qualifier play-off on November 14, 2017? To this day, this unforgettable past is still mentioned. Italy, which lost to Sweden in the first leg, faced a back-to-back battle in the second leg. It was a "war" for the whole country, but the Italians lost it. Accompanying the fans are Buffon's tears and Belotti's lonely back. In that cold and windy early autumn, the night in San Siro was as cold as water, and this holy land of Italian football was suddenly desolate.

Appointed to the defeated army, he was ordered to be in danger. In the darkest hour of the Apennines, a pioneer came, and this man was Mancini.

"Why take over this team?" This is a question that Mancini often needs to answer after taking office. First, there is little belief that he has the ability to turn decay into magic when he failed to achieve a good hand at Inter Milan and Manchester City, and secondly, the dashing Coach really does not have to spend his golden age with a team that seems to have no hope.

But Mancini, who was depressed in the national team as a player, sat in the coach's seat and unleashed his talents on this team. 'I know italy have won four World Cups in the Italian way in the past, but I love attacking football, we're going to be more aggressive in the future, the era of defensive counter-attack is over. It turns out that Mancini's argument is not a scene to fool reporters, nor is it a distant utopia.

After the initial pain of coaching, from the draw with Ukraine in October 2018 to the start of this European Championship, Mancini's Italy team has been unbeaten in 27 consecutive games, and the European Championship qualifiers have won ten games, including many big victories. Even so, there are still reservations that believe that the gold content of this wave of records is not high, after all, there are not too many strong teams in the fighting team except the Netherlands and Portugal. But what needs to be pointed out is that whether it is at the national team or club level, the last 30 games have remained unbeaten, which is a rare height.

After the European Championships officially began, in a lot of spotlight, people found that this Italy really transformed. There is no ineffective ball control grinder, the whole field is high pressure, advocating a foot out of the ball, insisting on straight behind the game, no longer "1:0 doctrine", Mancini's team tore off the label of conservative, slow heat. After the whole game, the Italian team gave the reporter the feeling of one word - fast. For example, the third goal against Turkey, Italy used only three simple passes to tear through the opponent's defense after breaking the ball. Against Switzerland, the first-time Loscatelli, as the initiator and finisher of the attack, ran for most of the game in just ten seconds. Against Spain, the process from goalkeeper Donnaruma tossing the ball in his hand to the final goal of Chiesa Jr. took less than 15 seconds.

At the same time as the offensive end is sharp, the Italian team's defensive ability is not lacking, the knockout match with Austria, the team set a record of 1168 minutes without conceding a goal, and then whether it is a desperate bet against the Belgian opponent in the last ten minutes, or facing Spain's nearly 70% possession rate, this backline with Bonucci and Chiellini as the core has withstood the test. It is no exaggeration to say that Italy is the best performing team in the entire European Championship, the king of Europe, and it is well deserved.

"What's the use of me?" We need to score goals, not draws! "It was still the play-off against Sweden that the camera captured such a shot. The furious De Rossi initially refused the coaching staff's warm-up arrangement in a disobedient manner, and then he pointed to Insigne next to him, "It should be on him!" ”

As the most technically skilled player in Italy in recent years, Insigne was not fully trusted during ventura's time. On the contrary, after Mancini's arrival, Insigne, wearing the number 10 shirt, was established as the core of the front, which is also a microcosm of Mancini's three years since he took over. In the team's main 433 system, the three main midfielders Verratti, Zoginho and Barrera are all the same technical flow, and pure sapper players such as Gattuso and Parolo no longer have a place, which is also the basis for maintaining the Italian pass control play.

Admittedly, this team lacks a superstar with the strength and popularity of Totti, but fortunately, there is no clear distinction between the main force and the substitutes. With the exception of third goalkeeper Merett, the remaining 25 men all made their debuts. Whether it is the absolute main insignia, or the regular rotation player Locatelli, or the last-minute replacement of the injured Sensi to catch the last train, Pesina, all played an important role in the team's road to winning the cup.

The joke "Italy is weak" was hyped up before the game, but anyone familiar with Italian football understands that this Italy is really not weak. Perhaps due to the overall exposure of Serie A, Italian players are not widely recognized, but football is played, is it a simple price list or so-called traffic can be reflected?

How high is the ceiling for this team? In addition to the increasingly old Chiellini, the main framework of the team will be retained in next year's World Cup, which also means that the lower limit of the team will not be low.

Save the World Cup for tomorrow! Italian team, please rejoice, as Bocelli sang at the opening ceremony - tonight, no one sleeps. (End)