Croatia's performance was surprising, followed by another strong conversation in Group C, and the strength of the Spanish team was obviously superior, but the strength of Italy after the change of blood obviously cannot be measured by the performance in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

In the end, after a fierce battle, Italy drew 1:1 with Spain, and when the game was over, almost all the mainstream media in Europe were praising Italian coach Prandelli, after all, with the value of the whole Italian team today, tactical maturity and player reputation, far inferior to Spain, it is a great achievement to be able to retreat against Spain.

Although there are also Spanish media who try to use words such as "ugly" and "intensive defense" to erase Italy's record, the fact is that Italy does not rely on shrinking defense to play Spain, and defense is not just a method of piling up buses.

Obviously, the key to Italy's defeat of the powerful Spain in a mournful posture was the great success of the tactics.

Some Spanish media outlets said: "Spain's inability to pierce Italy's dense defence exposes the team's inability to deal with teams piling buses in front of goal. ”

But is Italy really a bus in front of the door?

Probably not.

Some media always think that the opponent that Spain can't win is a "passive and ugly turtle defense", but this Italy is definitely not a dense turtle defense.

Compression, turtle shrinkage, only one word difference, but there is a world of difference.

The former is positive, the latter is negative.

But how much is the difference between the two?

In this game, when it comes to passing and ball control, Spain does have an overwhelming advantage over Italy.

But what about the goal?

The chances that the two teams got were actually similar, although Spain missed a few scoring opportunities by Torres, but Italy also had Mota's header and Bashen's single goal, and Italy did not have a lot of absolute scoring opportunities.

The possession was much worse, but Italy did not leave many opportunities for the opponent, and they got a lot of opportunities, on the one hand, because the Italian offensive organization was more efficient, and on the other hand, the Italian defense was very well organized.

Four years ago, in the quarter-finals of the European Championship, Italy drew 0-0 with Spain, until 120 minutes, and finally lost on penalties, using a kind of "contraction" defense.

Of course, the Italian team also got a lot of scoring opportunities through the fast break in that game, but in terms of defense, the Italian team still adopted the traditional method of shrinking the penalty area.

There were as few as four or five defenders in the penalty area, and as many as six or seven defenders, and even if the opponent had only one attacker, Italy withdrew into the penalty area.

However, in the past four years, the team led by Xavi, Iniesta and others has cooperated more tacitly and penetrated more finely.

When the "turtle shrink" defense is no longer effective, changing the way of thinking and changing the defensive philosophy has become a proposition all over the world.

The Belgian has inspired the world to find Prandelli, who is very familiar with Belgian football and has worked with Belgium's number one star for four years.

After the game, Prandelli also publicly said: "The tactics of this game against the Spanish team are inspired by the Belgian team and the Fiorentina team, when I was coaching in Fiorentina, I often met Barcelona with the same style as the Spanish team, at that time, we did this, but in today's game, we played a little bit harder!" ”

It is precisely because of the experience of leading the team in Fiorentina and Barcelona that Italy is weaker than four years ago in the 2012 European Cup, four years ago Pierlopon was in his prime, four years later they are all old, four years ago Italy still has a large number of world-class superstars such as Cannavaro and Gattuso, how to see how to civilians in Italy four years later.

And the opponent is stronger than four years ago, the Spain four years ago, is still a team with no major tournament experience, four years later, this Spain, although there is no honor to set off their strength, but there is no doubt that in terms of strength, they have been called the division of kings.

How will Italy get through this time?

Prandelli's answer is two words: forward!

The opponent is coming? Defender forward press! Opponent in possession? The whole team rushes forward!

In a word, the defender easily does not retreat into the penalty area, and the midfielder easily retreats in a small range, but boldly presses and fights with Spain, not retreating, not retreating, and not giving up an inch of land!

So why is Italy going to play this way?

Wouldn't it be safer to put all the players in the box and seal the gaps in the box to make it safer in front of goal?

In fact, after the Italian defenders press forward and the midfielders retreat, they can "compress" the space, and this compression is the space of those attacking midfielders in Spain.

In the 2008 European Championship final and the 2010 World Cup semi-finals in South Africa, the Belgians actually did this, but at that time, Belgium's tactics were criticized by countless people as ugly and backward, so no one followed suit.

The advantages of the Spanish team are obvious, with a large number of excellent world-class stars such as Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi and Iniesta.

If they are given enough space, they will be able to decide the game, so Italy have learned from the Belgians and improved it, putting the defensive line on the ground, retreating the midfield, so as to completely compress the 30-meter area, and in the local area, Italy has six or more players to flank the attack, so the Spanish masters are struggling.

Take Iniesta as an example, Xiaobai was beautiful and free in the game in the past, but in this game against Italy, he really lived like a year, and wherever he went, two or three people were one in front of the other, and he attacked fiercely, wanting to take a ball, and immediately had four or five thick legs to drown him, so Iniesta was very depressed in the fight, and most of the time he was knocked down by a touch, and then sat on the ground sulking.

Of course, this kind of "compressed" space play is not only used defensively, but also in attack, the Italian team is also compressing space.

In this game, the goal scored by the Italian team was actually put into this attack, and only five players were involved in the half, while in the same area, the Spanish team participated in the defense.

It's just that the Italian team adopts the method of "compressing space", and the six people are locked in a small area that is very close to each other, so there are many routines for cooperating in a small area.

In the end of this counterattack, the Italian team has formed a local area of 4 to 5 advantage, because the Italian team compressed the space, in the local area to form a force advantage, Spain is naturally difficult to prevent.

Of course, many times, Italy's defense is carried out directly in the opponent's half, in the game, as a fullback, Maggio has been in the opponent's half to force the opponent, after the ball is broken, do not pass behind him, but directly attack, all the time thinking about launching a counterattack on the spot, this kind of aggressive oppressive pressing, really shows the courage of the Italian team, just ask, this kind of defense, how can it be called the defense of "piling buses in front of the goal"?

Today's Italian style of play is neither a "logging" and "invading" rough play, nor a "turtle" and "heaping buses" passive defense.

On the contrary, Italy, the guru of defense, adopted a defensive approach with two words: forward!

In the past, Italy defended in the penalty area, now it is outside the box, in the past Italy defended at the back, now in the front, in the past, Italy's approach in the defensive process was to retreat and retreat, and now, it is forward.

This is a huge change in the tactical play of football in this era, in the utilitarian era of football, every team will pay special attention to defense when they step into the game, and this is especially true of the European powers.

However, compared with around 2004, the world's popular shrinkage defense is different, and the mainstream idea of defensive football now is to keep the enemy out of the country, and to build the defense line as far away from the goal as possible.

Therefore, if people still say that this Italy team will pile buses in front of the goal, it will be passive defense, that is unreasonable, and the defense can also be positive, and the defense of this Spain team is not only a way to pile up buses, but also to be braver and more aggressive.

Overall, this game, although it was very intense, still felt a little dull because of the lack of enough goals, but it doesn't matter, there will always be someone who adds a little comedy to the game.

Before the start of this European Cup, someone said that the starting lineup of the Blue Jersey Army is 9 ordinary youths + 1 literary youth + 1 2B youth, and there is no doubt that the last young man who is a bit of a second in two must be Balotelli.

Balotelli was by no means the best player in the game, and could even have won the "honor" of the worst player, but this did not prevent people from paying attention to him, at least Super Mario made the tense game more comic, whether in Manchester City or the Italian national team, he was always a child and refused to grow up.

More than one person has compared Balotelli to Peter Pan on the football field, in fact, it is not that Balotelli does not want to grow up, but his world can never be equated with real life, so he always makes people feel so special.

As Italy coach Prandelli said, bringing in Balotelli for the European Championship was a big risk, and in the opening group game against Spain, Prandelli finally decided to take the risk and put Balotelli in the starting line-up alongside Cassano.

The Spanish players are all veterans, so they took turns to provoke Balotelli in various ways, and from the second half of the first half, Balotelli was already impatient, and received a yellow card for it.

After half-time adjustments, Balotelli's impetuous mentality seemed to improve, and at this point, a huge opportunity came to him.

In the 53rd minute of the game, Ramos's toda allowed Balotelli to successfully break the ball and get a single chance, facing Casillas in the penalty area, Ba Shen could have become Italy's hero.

However, at that moment, Ba Shen suddenly froze, did not shoot, did not pass, was in place, but the ball was broken by Ramos who rushed behind him, Prandelli in the coach's box immediately despaired, and three minutes later, Balotelli was replaced by Di Natale.

Balotelli, who walked off the field, chattered on the bench, as if to explain why he had short-circuited at that time, and some media joked after the game: "Balotelli seems to have waited a light year." ”

And the fans are starting to let their imaginations run wild, Ba Shen is thinking about where to set off the fireworks tonight, what is the coolest celebration he wants to use, is the hanging shot? Or do you pass Casillas? It was a problem, and just a minute later, substitute Di Natale taught Balotelli a vivid lesson.

The same single knife, the latter calmly pushed the goal, the shooter and the urchin, at this moment they seemed to be in two different dimensions, Balotelli sat on the bench and watched his teammates celebrate, and this scene, in his design, should have been the male protagonist himself.

Balotelli, who refused to grow up, obviously did not make his debut at the European Championships, but fortunately Italy did not lose, he did not get a red card, and it did not seem that everything was bad.

When was this time bomb in the Italian line detonated?

It is still questionable whether it will blow up in its own locker room or ignite it inside the opponent's gate.

In addition to ridicule, should we also treat Balotelli with a tolerant attitude?

As the Italian press put it: "He's always worrying, but he's also been a surprise, hasn't he?" ”

So in the future game, Balotelli still has a chance, and the European Cup has become a stage for the post-90s generation to emerge, and how can all this be without Balotelli.

However, if Balotelli really wants to be the protagonist, he would do well to learn from his big brother Di Natale what attitude to use to approach the game.

In this game, the veteran Di Natale, who came off the bench, knocked on the door of the Spanish team with his first touch of the ball, and the 34-year-old veteran is indeed awe-inspiring.

In the 61st minute of the game, Pirlo suddenly accelerated with the ball in the middle of the game to shake off the defense, and then he sent a delicate through ball, Di Natale inserted into the penalty area and faced Casillas directly, but he was not as hesitant as Balotelli, in the process of running, Di Natale had already adjusted his position, and then he calmly picked up the bottom right corner of the goal to score, and the whip Iker Casillas could only watch the ball go into the net.

With no fancy moves, no perverse character, the unpretentious Di Natale tells Balotelli what a real killer is.

Like Balotelli, Di Natale also had Cassano on the other side, and like Balotelli, he also chose to ignore Cassano, but unlike Balotelli, Di Natale shot and he beat Casillas with a wonderful volley.

Di Natale himself was very happy with the goal: "Andrea Pirlo gave me a great pass and I took the chance, which makes me very happy. ”

Despite only coming off the bench, Di Natale is more concerned with the interests of the team: "The manager decides who to start and all I have to do is try to take the opportunity when I get it. ”

In Euro 2008, Italy were eliminated by Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals, and Di Natale, who missed the penalty at the time, was also one of the sinners of the team's elimination, and today he finally redeemed himself: "I still remember the penalty against Spain, so today is a very special moment for me, Spain have a lot of world-class champions, but we are not inferior, it was an exciting game. ”

This goal also obviously helped Di Natale to fight for the main position, and at the moment in the Italian attack, Cassano has firmly locked the main team, although Balotelli was given a start today, but his performance was disappointing, and no one can guess whether the "Ba God" will be a god or a demon after his appearance.

Therefore, instead of sending Balotelli, who doesn't know whether he will hurt others or himself, Prandelli should choose to trust Di Natale, the small man who will not disappoint, and he also hopes to write some miracles in the twilight of his career at international competitions.

And Andrea Pirlo, who provided the assist for Di Natale, also proved to everyone in this game that Xavi is not the best passer in world football, and neither is he.

Although there were not many opportunities for the two to face each other directly in the game, it can be seen from the number of times they sent threatening balls that the more experienced Pirlo obviously has a lot to learn from Xavi.

After two games in Group C, it is surprising that Croatia are in top of the group, and although Spain or Italy can give him the top spot at any time in the next round, at least for now, the Croatians can look down on those who once stood tall and powerful.

Spain and Italy were tied, this result is indeed a bit surprising, of course, and reasonable, a battle between spear and shield, such a result is the fairest for either side.

The only hard thing is Ireland, after the misfortune of two years ago, this time, under the leadership of the gold medal coach Trapattoni, came to the stage of the international competition, originally they wanted to show it well, but the result was obviously a huge surprise with their vision.

Although only one round of the group stage was played, it is basically certain that the Irish are really here to play soy sauce this time, the same soy sauce party before the game, and now they can basically only watch the Croatians fight for the group appearance, and they will focus on participation.

Although the current form is so, I believe that after watching the match between Spain and Italy, people should be more optimistic about the prospects of Spain and Italy.

Although the Croatians are worthy of admiration, in the face of strength, strong mental power, they can only stand aside.