PS: This is today's first update, and the 148,000 recommended plus more will be sent again in the evening. Also, by the way, ask for a recommendation ticket here......

On the second day of the World Cup, the Apennines led by Maldini Sr. finally ushered in their first group game of the World Cup, and their opponents were the South American powerhouse Chile with Zamorano and Salas.

Due to the sudden rise of Florence in this world, the old Maldini is now under the influence of Florence, and his tactical style of play is gradually closer to the purple lily, no longer blindly insisting on the four-four-two formation of double back and double forward, but began to try more other tactical changes. For example, Capello often used the four-three-three in the decisive battle, and the four-four-two formation that is the main diamond-shaped midfielder as a regular Fiorentina play.

It is precisely because of this that Italy's 22-man squad for the World Cup in France has changed a lot compared to the list in Zhuang Mingge's memory - Moreno and Coys, two low-key powerhouses, were replaced by Totti and Pirlo, the sluggish Costacuta was also excluded from the squad by the old horse because of Materazzi's sudden rise, and Di Biagio was replaced in the national team by his teammate Tomasi in Fiorentina due to injury.

By the way, Panucci finally reversed the tragic fate of losing every major tournament this time, and was beaten by the old Maldini along with Zambrotta, and the selection of these two full-backs made Torricelli and Pesotho regrettably lose the opportunity to participate in the World Cup in France.

It can be said that Italy in this period really has no shortage of good defenders, Pesoto, Torricelli, Zambrotta, Panucci, Bergomi, Benarivo...... These full-backs have the ability to be the absolute main force in any national team, but in Italy, which is full of talent, they can only squeeze their own scalp in order to get into the national team.

For Italy, the duo of Vieri and Inzaghi formed the Italian front trident with Roma youngster Totti, with veteran Roberto Baggio playing as a midfielder and taking on the responsibility of organising the attack behind the trio.

Behind Baggio is Albertini and the other Baggio of the Italian national team, Dino Baggio. Both of them are super midfielders who can attack and defend well, so this two-back combination is enough to give the Italian backline a double insurance; At the back, Zambrotta on the right flank, Panucci was put on the bench, Nesta and Cannavaro, who replaced Ferrara, partnered in central defence, and the left wing-back was still the thunderous Maldini Jr., the world's best left-back can be said to be the most talked about in the entire national team. There is no other reason than that this time Paolo Maldini and his father Maldini Sr. appeared at the same time in the World Cup, and this rare scene of father and son playing together will naturally cause heated discussions.

Standing in front of goal was Pagliuca from Inter Milan club, and it was clear that Maldini Sr. trusted the goalkeeper who had played well at the World Cup in the United States four years earlier. Both Toldo and Buffon are still a little too immature compared to Pagliuca, far from the latter's sense of stability and security.

In this way, Italy's formation for the first match of the World Cup has finally surfaced. Obviously, Maldini Sr. intends to use this group stage opening match with the Chilean national team to see how powerful his three-striker style of play modeled after Fiorentina can play in the World Cup.

However, before the Italians themselves could express any opinions, the outside media took the lead in discussing the old Maldini's arrangement. After all, what impresses people most about Italy is the reinforced concrete back line and chain defense, and it is really rare to see a four-three-three formation like this that pays more attention to attack, and it is even more rare for Italian managers to dare to use this tactic in the tournament.

So, under the watchful eyes of countless fans and media, the elder Maldini appeared with his four-three-three formation and the players at the Chabang Del Mar Stadium on the evening of June 11.

Italy's World Cup debut in France against Chile led by Salas and Zamorano was not perfect, and although Vieri opened the scoring for Italy just ten minutes into the game, Salas, who played for Argentine giants River Plate, unexpectedly scored twice at the end of the first half to help Chile turn the score around!

However, while the Chileans' attack was surprisingly sharp to many, the quality of their defence was clearly inversely proportional to their attacking end – whether it was Vieri and Philippe Inzaghi, Roberto Baggio or even the fledgling Totti, they could easily find a good shot in the Chilean penalty area.

It was precisely because of the drag of this pit father's back line that Chile failed to hold on to this one-goal advantage while leading the score, and was crushed by the Italians with a tidal wave of attacks, losing this first group game.

In the end, when the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the Italian national team won the first game of the group stage with a difficult 3-2 victory over the South American powerhouse Chile in the first game of the group stage, and won the World Cup in France!

However, despite Italy's final victory, the Italian media were unanimous in their concern about the team's performance in the opening game - it was too unusual for Italy to be beaten twice by a team like Chile, which is known for its defensive toughness.

Although everyone knows that Italy has always had a habit of slow heat, but it is really okay to score so lightly by the opponent and to be a little-known Salas (note: before the advent of the Internet era, European teams knew most of the players outside Europe only to their table in the tournament, so it is normal not to know Salas at this time), is there really no problem with such defensive quality?

As a result, the Italian media and fans asked the elder Maldini to change his formation in the next game to consolidate his own defense before trying to attack. However, the old horse who has made up his mind obviously won't change his decision lightly, after all, his side won the first game, didn't he? This proves that this tactic has a good practical value, and the reason why the two goals will be conceded is more because of the lack of tacit understanding between Nesta and Cannavaro, and the team has a lot of holes in the defense, which is not the fault of a certain formation.

And so, in this unsettling atmosphere, six days after the victory over Chile, in the port city of Montpellier in the south of France, Italy welcomed the second opponent of the group stage, the African Lions Cameroon.