Chapter 12 11. Final

People finally waited until the final whistle blew. On Saturday, July 14, 1994, the World Cup final between Italy and Brazil started at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles. The lineup for the Italian team is as follows: Goalkeeper: Pagliuca Defenders: Baresi, Maldini, Moussi, Benaribo Midfielders: Albertini, Dino Baggio, Donadoni, Berti. Forwards: Roberto Baggio, Massaro. The Italian team is known in world football for its solid defense of concrete.Especially in this game, Baresi, the backbone of the defense, came back from injury, which made the Italian team more confident in defense. Baresi had to fly back to Italy for treatment after being injured in the group match against Norway. At this time, it has basically recovered.In the just-concluded Serie A, it was the defense of AC Milan with Baresi as the core and Maldini and other players. With the historical record of conceding only 15 goals in the whole season, Milan had all three lines. It can be seen that Sacchi I respect the players from AC Milan very much.I also hope that their defensive ability can stop Brazil's powerful offensive.

Brazilian football has always been known for playing offensive football, and this year's Brazilian team's offensive power is also very strong. In the first six games of this World Cup, Brazil's striker combination - Romario and Bebeto shined brilliantly and scored goals in each game. Before that, the two scored 5 goals and 3 goals respectively, accounting for the total More than two-thirds of the team's total goals.Especially Romario, known as the "lone wolf in the penalty area", is the top scorer in the Spanish league and has a strong deterrent effect. The Italian team specially arranged for veteran Baresi to focus on Romario.In people's eyes, this is a competition of spear and shield. Is it the spear of the Brazilian team or the strong shield of the Italian team?

People still remember Baggio, who fought tenaciously with bandages on his legs in the last semi-final. His outstanding performance made people have high expectations for him in this final. It is believed that he will create a miracle and win the Italian team for the fourth time. world cup.Before the game, Baggio said: "In order to win the championship, even if the legs are disabled, I will not hesitate." After the start of the game, both sides played cautiously and played very slowly. Both sides were testing and studying their opponents, hoping to find each other's flaws and give them a fatal blow.The midfielder of the Brazilian team with the hero Dunga at the core has a certain advantage on the field, but the Brazilian team dare not let go of the attack. They are always worried about the quick counterattack of the Italian team.Judging from the whole game, the Brazilian team had a slight advantage, but their shots were repeatedly blocked by the Italian goalkeeper Pagliuca.The most dangerous time was when the Brazilian team hit the post with a shot, which shocked Pagliuca into a cold sweat.He kissed the goalpost gently, as if to thank it for its help... The offensive launched by the Luo and Bei combination had forced the Italian team to almost breathe for a while, when the temperature in the Rose Bowl was as high as 40 degrees. , perhaps the hot weather inhibited the performance of the Italian team, so that they had to retreat across the board and defend with all their strength.The concrete defense they built made the Brazilian team helpless, and waves of attacks all failed.The midfielders of the Italian team are mostly defensive. They can't instigate an effective offensive in front of the powerful Brazilian midfielder, and they can't get effective support on the front line. Baggio is often alone in the frontcourt, unable to support himself.In the 81st minute, he had a very good chance, but unfortunately the shot went slightly wide, and he lost a great chance to win the game. At other times, he failed to create due to the close defense and siege of the Brazilian team in the frontcourt. Miracle. Within 90 minutes, the two sides had to exchange Bai Zheng 0:0.This situation has never happened in the past 14 World Cup finals.The two sides failed in 30 minutes of overtime.

Therefore, the first penalty kick in the history of the World Cup final began.