PS: First of all, I would like to ask you for a recommendation vote......

While Fiorentina was taking care of the daily grind of their new signings, the calendar finally turned to July 3, the day of the clash between Italy and France.

As the stadium hosting this match, the Stade de France entered a full house early, not to mention the huge attraction of Italy as one of the favorites to the fans, the presence of the host French team here alone is a guarantee of attendance for this game.

In a battle for a ticket to the semi-finals, France and Italy will face off in a battle to the death at the Stade de France this afternoon!

For France, as Zinedine Zidane, the core of midfield who was suspended for violence in the group stage against Saudi Arabia, finally returned from the ban before this game, so Jacques can finally send his strongest squad to the pitch this time.

Goalkeeper Barthez, the bald goalkeeper who has not had a very good time in Rome, has repeatedly made all kinds of low-level mistakes in the game, which has caused criticism from Red Wolves fans; However, in the French national team, Barthez's main position is very solid, and he has become extremely solid in the game, which is almost like when he was at the club.

Among the four starting defenders in the French backline, Lizarazu and Thuram are separated, and the combination of the two attacking and defending on the wing can be said to complement each other; Blank and Desailly have recreated the Holy League in the national team, and the two men with complementary styles and first-class abilities have raised the defensive quality of the entire French backline to a notch (Note: Blank plays for Juventus and Desailly plays for AC Milan, both clubs have the title of Holy League in Italy).

The midfield can be said to be the strongest link in France, the combination of Deschamps and Petit and Karembou in the back position is world-class at both offensive and defensive ends, and the three-back play style arranged by Jacques can also better protect the backline and avoid the direct exposure of their own defenders to the opponent's attack; As for the position of the core of the French team, Zidane is naturally in Zidane's bag, although he received a red card for not being calm in the Saudi Arabian game, the Juventus forward still firmly occupies the position of the core of the team; Inter Milan star Novak Djokaeff played on Zidane's side and distracted the opposition's defence.

Compared to the lavish midfield, the French forward line that pushes Givash as a starter to the centre-forward position is much shabby - Dugarry and Givash are also well-known figures in France, but neither of them is a prolific goalscorer, and they are not very good at taking chances in front of goal, as evidenced by the fact that France even relied on a goal from their own centre-back to get through the danger against Paraguay in this World Cup.

And on the bench, the French team is also full of talent: for example, due to the suppression of Lizarazu, the famous player Candela, who can only sit on the bench and wait for opportunities, and for some reason, the Monaco twin stars Trezeguet and Henry, who can't compete for Dugarry and Givash in the starting position, and Patrick Vieira, who can only serve as a substitute because of the storage of Deschamps and Petit's two big brothers, plus Leboeuf, Boguesion, Pire, and other powerful factions, After more than a decade of dormancy, French football has finally ushered in another explosion of talent.

Looking at the Italian side again, the old Maldini changed the four-four-two formation used in the first two games and changed the formation back to four-three-three.

Starting goalkeeper Pagliuca, at this critical moment, the elder Maldini chose to believe in Pagliuca, who has more experience in the World Cup, rather than Toldo, who won the title in Fiorentina, nor Buffon, who has the title of talented goalkeeper.

At the back, Zambrotta and Maldini became Italy's starting full-backs for the game; In terms of the selection of starting central defenders, the old Maldini, who was concerned about Cannavaro's height disadvantage, was put on the bench in this game in the face of France's high-altitude dominant attacking combination of Givash, Dugarry and Zidane, and replaced it with Nesta's team-mate Materazzi in Fiorentina.

Although Cannavaro's jumping ability and positioning level are world-class, he had a history of rising in games when he played for Parma, which was enough for Maldini Sr. to put him on the bench - the most important thing in the central defender position is stability, and Cannavaro's unpredictable rise was a real ticking time bomb for Italy. In this regard, both Bergomi and Materazzi are, in the opinion of the elder Maldini, much better than Cannavaro.

After learning that the elder Maldini removed Cannavaro from the starting list, Zhuang Mingge was the first to stand up and agree with the old horse's move. Because Zhuang Mingge clearly remembers that in the European Championship final two years later, it was because of Cannavaro's last-minute rise that Italy was dragged into extra time by France, and lost the championship when he was about to lift the trophy.

Moreover, Nesta has a better chemistry with Materazzi than with Cannavaro, and that chemistry is often crucial in international competitions – how many goals have been conceded due to a lack of chemistry among their own team-mates?

At the same time, Zhuang Mingge was still secretly looking forward to the "early" showdown between Materazzi and Zidane in the World Cup, wondering if Materazzi would let Zidane stage that good show eight years in advance this time?

At the front of this backline is the duo of Albertini and Dino Baggio, with Roberto Baggio replacing the impressive youngster Andrea Pirlo as the heart of the playmaker, a midfield combination that is not inferior to France in terms of numbers, but not inferior in overall quality.

Vieri, who has already scored five goals in this World Cup, is still at the front of the team, and his task is to use his strong physique to stir up the French backline into a pot of porridge and get more scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates behind him; Behind Vieri are Roma youngsters Francisco Totti and Filippo Inzaghi.

Pierrot, the zebra prince, has just returned from injury, and his position overlaps with Baggio, and his light in this world is completely overshadowed by the Florentina generals, so Pierrot, who is eager to play for his country, was finally pressed on the bench by the old Maldini and became a difficult brother with Cannavaro.

As soon as the game began, France and Italy, who were the main players, immediately fought fiercely on the court. For a ticket to the World Cup semi-finals, players from both sides can be said to fight for every ball, and such a fierce confrontation made the game enter the white-hot stage soon after the start.

In terms of the control of the pace of the game, France, who had the advantage in midfield, quickly seized the initiative, and under the instigation of Zidane, France frequently launched attacks on the gate behind Pagliuca, trying to take advantage of their own geographical advantage and opportunity to take the next city, so as to break the turtle shell of the Italians and force the opponent to play at their pace.

Unfortunately, Italy have never been the kind of team to win on the ball – even in the big win over Cameroon, they had just 52 per cent of the ball.

In contrast, the quick counterattack after successfully defending the opponent's attack is the Italian's magic weapon and the way to win!