Dribble and cut inside!
Robben Region!
In face-to-face defense, once you get past and fail to intercept the ball, there’s hardly any chance of stopping your opponent again.
In a narrow encounter, the braver wins. During Lu Yang’s cut inside, he added a fried meatball move to increase the lateral movement distance, surpassing Germany’s left defensive midfielder.
The German center-back immediately lunged forward.
Lu Yang directly lifted his left foot high.
The center-back raised his foot, intending to block.
However, Lu Yang faked a shot, then actually broke through, cutting inside to the left again.
He easily passed this center-back.
Germany’s goalkeeper and the trailing center-back shuddered.
The trailing center-back charged at Lu Yang, but it was too late.
Lu Yang caught up with the ball and shot directly with his left foot, aiming for the bottom right corner of the goal.
The shot had no adjustments, and it was in the opposite direction.
Neither the goalkeeper nor the center-back could block it in time.
The football went straight into the net!
Italy equalized one to one!
"Lu, I think your dribbling and breakthrough skills are already at a considerable level. There are many chances on the flank in this match; you can try playing as an inside forward. With Pompey’s cover, you’ll likely face one less defender."
"Morici, you too. When the timing is right, you can switch positions with Sevajos on the left to attack."
This was Maniero’s strategy modification for the Italy National Youth Team’s offense.
And soon, these two attacking midfielders made contributions.
In the seventy-first minute.
Lu Yang used the same trick, and with Pompey’s help in spreading wide, he successfully cut inside again.
But this time, the opponent’s penalty area was crowded.
Even Melcan came back to defend.
Seeing no path to shoot, Lu Yang passed the ball to the side where Morici, who had just switched positions with Sevajos and switched back, was.
Morici ran to the position, without even looking at the penalty area, unleashed a ground pass with his right foot without stopping the ball.
The football miraculously rolled into the penalty area without being touched by the German defenders.
Sogel was right in the path of the ball!
But Sogel had a center-back in front and Melcan on the side. It was difficult to turn and create a shot in the position where he received the ball with his back to the goal.
At the same time, Sogel and Morici locked eyes, understanding Morici’s intent.
Sogel spread his legs and let the ball go through.
Melcan and the German center-back, who were defending Sogel, were confused.
The ball rolled towards the left front in the penalty box.
There, Sevajos, who had just completed a switch and switch-back with Morici, was supposed to be on the wing stretching out wide to create threats but instead, after faking a run outward for two steps, turned inward along the baseline.
He came silently behind the German defense like a shadow assassin!
Bam!
Same position!
Unmarked again!
In this European Youth Championship, Sevajos had already scored two goals from this position!
And now, this was the third!
Familiarity with the spot made Sevajos’s shot stable.
Italy led two to one.
The German Youth National Team became immediately anxious.
Their core, Melcan, could no longer suppress his offensive desires, violating the strategic plan set by the head coach.
Melcan began pursuing more direct through balls, deviating somewhat from the coach’s plan.
And because the players in the central forward and attacking midfielder positions didn’t click well with Melcan, lacking elusive movement and imaginative play, several highly threatening passes from Melcan were neutralized by Italy’s center-backs.
Versachi still had many deficiencies in the defensive midfield position; his sense of position and defensive ability were greatly inferior to Cortino.
However, the rigidity of Germany’s tactics became especially evident when trailing, so apart from Melcan, no one else in the German squad exploited the gaps Versachi exposed.
In the eightieth minute, Melcan charged alone, dribbling past both Morici and Versachi. Just when everyone thought he would attempt a through pass, he took a shot.
Outside-of-the-foot shot!
The football’s trajectory was strange!
This kind of miracle world-class goal, even if Areola guessed the direction correctly, couldn’t possibly be saved.
Two to two!
The German team equalized!
Melcan celebrated passionately, shining with star power!
This was exactly what the German Youth National Team, as well as the senior national team, lacked!
But similarly, Italy’s dual attacking midfielders were also fired up now.
In the eighty-fifth minute, although Morici’s defense was somewhat weak, he also showed his dribbling ability when it mattered.
He returned Melcan’s dribbling skills, and likewise, from outside the penalty box, he took an outside-of-the-foot shot.
Believe it or not, Morici’s outside-of-the-foot shots were quite reliable.
But the German goalkeeper was in outstanding form and managed to save the shot.
The German center-back cleared, but the ball didn’t travel far, falling at Lu Yang’s feet, who was also outside the penalty box.
Lu Yang was about to shoot when Melcan fouled him from the side.
Melcan received a yellow card, furious.
He had done everything possible.
Morici’s long shot was understandable.
If Lu Yang were allowed to take the shot from that position, the threat would be too great.
Furthermore, the penalty area was quite chaotic earlier, with several shooting paths.
Lu Yang’s long shots, the most formidable aspect was not his technique, nor his formidable power but his ability to always find an undefendable shooting path!
His vision was terrifyingly good!
Soon, Germany set up their free-kick wall. To prevent a low shot, they even had a player lie down behind the wall.
This distance was a bit too close, making it difficult for a direct free-kick.
At least, Lu Yang’s elevator ball had no room to display; it would likely fly over the baseline without dipping.
So this shot was for Morici to take.
He winked at Lu Yang.
Lu Yang knew this cheeky fellow Morici was up to some trickery again.
The coincidence was, so did he!
Perhaps this was the difference between truly courageous players like Lu Yang and Morici and those seemingly courageous talents from England.
The real courageous players have more ideas the more critical the situation.
The false courageous players are wild usually, but when it really matters, they don’t dare to take risks!
So Lu Yang moved near the wall.
Bam!
Morici took the shot, a low drive!
Although the German players jumped high, they sighed in relief.
However, the football hit the German player lying on the ground, deflecting. It was a top-spin ball that hit the opponent’s thigh and bounced mid-high.
And it just happened to bounce toward Lu Yang’s direction.
Though not perfectly aligned.
But Lu Yang seized the opportunity, leaping in time and stabbing the ball out before the goalkeeper could react.
In a flash, the German goalkeeper had no response.
The ball sank into the net.
Italy three to two!
Once again, they took the lead!
In the next few minutes, Germany abandoned all tactics, attempting cross passes and headers.
But the retreating Italy gave them no chances and almost succeeded in a counterattack.
Finally, at the main referee’s whistle, the German Youth National Team was defeated in the semi-finals.
They failed to reach the finals in the European Youth Championship hosted in Germany.
This was a heavy blow to all German fans!
But the fans wouldn’t resort to foul language, as finishing in the top four of the European Youth Championship was still a decent result. Besides, the real highlight should be next year’s European Cup!
Thus, the two teams reaching the European Youth Championship finals were decided.
As fate would have it, both came from Group A.
Italy and Spain!
The Group of Death, living up to its name!