He attempted to cut inside, but Praxedes’s defense was solid.
Walter tried two or three times, but his inside cuts down the flank were blocked by Praxedes, nearly losing possession.
Praxedes played with confidence in the last match.
Bam!
Walter passed back to Jelando, who came up to support.
And Jelando is truly a beast.
He took a long shot immediately upon receiving the ball!
From a ball-control perspective, that shot wasted a chance.
England always does this. Clearly, if they had passed it around a bit more, there would have been a better shooting opportunity.
However... Redkrap and Jelando’s long-shot ability always turns these rash shots into threatening ones.
Drake didn’t miss this time; he used his body to block the shot, but then fell to the ground.
This shot hit him hard in the abdomen, and he curled up, unable to move for a short time.
Such violent long shots have immense power.
Drake spat out bitter water.
"Lam, Lam gets ready to go on!" Maniero thought things were not looking good.
Sure enough, the team doctor shook his head at Maniero afterwards.
Drake can’t continue the match.
Lam substituted for Drake.
While Pellegrini kept sitting on the bench.
Lam’s athletic ability is far superior to Drake’s; with him on, Finger can focus more on the attack.
Minute 65.
Mancini dropped back to receive the ball, directly challenging Lam.
Lam’s frontal defending ability is much weaker compared to Drake’s.
Although he’s fast too, he’s certainly not as fast as Mancini.
Mancini could completely handle a holding midfielder like Lam.
Lam is more advantageous defending the slower forwards.
After dragging the ball, tapping it, then a sudden burst, Mancini consumed Lam, rushing into the vicinity of Italy Team’s penalty area.
Bam!
Mancini pulled Bernulin away, then passed to Mike Loring.
Mike Loring is not tall; he’s only 1.78 meters, but he’s well-known as England’s little cannonball.
Facing the 1.91 meters of Chiavich, Mike Loring relies on a lower center of gravity, holding his ground.
Swaying, a feint turn, collision, real turn!
After receiving the ball from behind, Mike Loring’s series of actions epitomizes the archetypal central forward.
Chiavich was momentarily unobservant, allowing Mike Loring to find a gap.
Turn and erupt with a powerful shot!
The little cannonball’s shot nearly burst the football.
The ball speed is extremely fast, Audi didn’t even react.
Three to one!
England widened the gap, securing an early victory!
"Roar!" Mike Loring bellowed to the skies after scoring!
It’s his fifth goal in this European Cup!
He’s currently tied with Portugal’s eliminated superstar Madeira, both ranking third in the scorer list with five goals.
Second place is Robben with six goals.
First is his opponent in this match, Lu Yang, who scored seven goals!
In previous tournaments, this number was sometimes one or two more than the Golden Boot winner’s total.
But in this tournament, seven goals are far from secure.
Because in this edition, the forwards are exceptionally goal-scoring!
After celebrating his goal, Mike Loring returned to midfield, preparing to await Italy Team’s kickoff.
But Perrotta was also nearby Mike Loring at this time.
"Hey, I heard you used to be the world’s number one target man?" Mike Loring looked at Perrotta, deliberately emphasizing the word ’used to.’
Perrotta didn’t respond.
Manchester United’s pursuit of Perrotta was well-known.
A couple of years ago, Lord was even willing to establish an upfront system and configuration for Perrotta early just to bring him in!
Perrotta almost joined the Dream Theater.
Unfortunately, the loss of the Serie A title, combined with Rome City’s mass petition, and management’s statement led Perrotta to stay in Serie A.
This wounded the pride of many Manchester United fans.
They had never wanted a player so much yet couldn’t get them.
Not only the fans, but some players also held discontent towards Perrotta because of this.
During that period, Mike Loring had not yet firmly established himself as Manchester United’s starting central forward. If Perrotta came, Perrotta would become an unshakeable choice upfront, while Mike Loring would have to compete with others for a chance to partner with Perrotta.
No one likes that feeling.
Fortunately, Perrotta didn’t join Manchester United.
Mike Loring then cemented his position as Manchester United’s main central forward in a relatively relaxed environment and quickly rose to fame, swiftly entering the ranks of top-tier central forwards.
He’s tough, can run, pass, and shoot, except for his height... indeed, height has always been a point of criticism for Mike Loring.
Even today, Manchester United fans don’t hold any resentment towards Mike Loring, but there are still those who can’t forget about the 1.93 meters tall Perrotta.
So today, after Mike Loring scored twice, he could finally speak assertively with Perrotta.
Especially since Perrotta’s first goal was a headball that was forceful enough to split mountains and rivers.
Isn’t that frustrating!
Perrotta clenched his fist tightly.
He indeed used to be the world’s number one target man.
But... he hadn’t heard that title for the past two or three years.
He admits he’s aging.
After this conceded goal, Maniero substituted Pellegrini for Finger; he was now certain that Finger wasn’t as effective as Pellegrini.
If there were more matches later, Finger would likely be on standby on the bench.
Minute 70, Pellegrini was immediately useful, finding Perrotta with a direct through ball amid Italy’s strategic transmission.
However, the actively retreating Mike Loring was on fire, executing a beautiful sliding tackle that took down Perrotta.
Moreover, it was a brilliant sliding tackle!
Perrotta hesitated too long with the ball; otherwise, he could have at least created a very favorable free-kick position.