30th minute.

Barella played the ball to Verratti in the middle circle, who picked up the ball and turned around and sent a through ball.

The ball flew to the right side of the penalty area, and Lucas Hernandez was already stuck in position, but Insigne, who was inserted from that place, forced an overtake from the outside, and in turn stopped Lucas Hernandez behind him!

If Chiesa Jr., who was faster, maybe Lucas Hernandez wouldn't be so careless;

But obviously, at this time, Lucas Hernandez forgot how good Insigne's ability to insert was and at the same time the opponent's speed was definitely not slow!

With Lucas Hernandez at bay, Insigne doesn't need to worry about Lucas Hernandez's defense.

If Lucas Hernandez still dares to make a tackle at this time, Insigne, who is smaller and more agile, is likely to be able to dodge, and if he can't dodge, then he can take advantage of the situation and earn a penalty and a red card.

Such a consequence naturally made Lucas Hernandez dare not make a bigger move, and could only interfere with a slight hand-pulling movement behind him.

But the problem was that this level of interference simply couldn't affect the stocky Insigne, who was already facing the onrushing Lloris as soon as he slid the ball forward.

At this time, Umtiti, who should have been in the defense, showed his biggest weakness, at which point he had given up on the chase and just stood on the line of the box and watched Insigne shoot.

Insigne, of course, will not be polite, and directly kicks and pushes the far corner!

Lloris fell a step slower, and Varane, who desperately ran to make up for it, was also a step slower in his tackle, and the ball rushed between the two before flying straight into the back of the net!

At that moment, the entire stadium erupted in a huge cheer of 30,000 Italian fans!

"Insigne! Insigne! Insigne! ”

Even outside the stadium, tens of thousands of Italian fans who could not enter the stadium raised their arms and chanted with this goal, and the whole of Italy erupted in countless shouts at the same time at this moment!

In the cheers of countless people, Pan Yi was also full of smiles, raised his hands high above his head, and celebrated with the players!

Italy is ahead!

You must know that in the game where Pan Yi led the team to take the lead, it is really rare that it cannot be won.

Specific to the Italian team, it was probably the one that played Mexico, and under the brave play of "Wu Zhenyu", the Italians failed to win when they were in the lead.

And in the other games, Italy won them all!

Looking at Italy's form today, I feel that if I am one goal ahead, I will go straight to the championship!

And looking at the Italians celebrating everywhere in the stadium, the French players were more unwilling in their hearts.

Although Italy did perform better than them in attack during this period of time, and the defense was not bad at all, but in any case, such a final is far from giving up.

Lucas Hernandez kept his head down and made such a low-level mistake that led to the loss of the goal, even though he was a top player.

You know, due to his excellent performances in Atletico Madrid and the French team, in just half a year, the Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich will bring him to the Allianz Arena for a sky-high price of 80 million euros.

A defender, 80 million euros, you can see his strength from this.

Because of this, he was hit even harder.

Some of his teammates came to comfort him, while others remained silent.

Deschamps also didn't have time to comfort Lucas Hernandez at this time.

In fact, he doesn't blame Lucas Hernandez in his heart, after all, players are not machines, and mistakes on the field are inevitable.

The main reason is that although there is an element of chance in this conceded goal, it is a fact that France has been inferior in both attack and defense before.

It can be seen that Italy, who have gone from not being favored to fighting all the way to the final, has reached the peak of form, and at the same time has reached the peak of confidence!

And Pan Yi's tactics for Italy are obviously also very targeted, that is, to use high pressure to make cracks appear in the back line of the French team, and then seize this crack and expand it!

Lucas Hernandez did not jam Insigne, but Umtiti, who needed to be replaced, did not come in time to make up for it, and Varane was further away and was even less likely to come.

This gave Insigne time to prepare for his shots, and scoring goals was a matter of course.

Mentally, France is the more favored side, which makes them feel a little unaffordable.

Reflected on the field, it is that Italy plays without scruples in attack and defense, while the French side is a little difficult and timid.

This is one of the reasons why Pan Yi wanted to hype this match even more before the game, both sides increased the pressure, but Pan Yi believes that his Italy will be able to withstand this pressure better than the French!

After the game restarted, Italy, whose morale was high because of this lead, did not be conservative, but continued to press and attack in the front court.

Three minutes later, Scamacca came close to sending Chiesa's cross a second time into France at the back post, but his volley went high.

A few minutes later, the French team suffered another blow.

Kante bumpers his eyebrow bone on the edge of the box as he battled with Leonardo Bonucci and bled immediately.

After an emergency treatment off the pitch, it was bleeding again after a while, and Italy took advantage of the opportunity to have one more man on the field to lay siege to the French half, and although they failed to score, they managed to maintain a one-goal lead until the end of the first half.

"Let's go, let's go back to the locker room." Pan Yi took a deep breath, said a word to the assistant coaches and substitute players around him, and then took the lead in the players' tunnel.

Behind him, the cheers of the Italian fans continued.

In their minds, Italy is only one hour away from winning the fifth World Cup in history!

Soon, the Italian dressing room began to reverberate with the slight gasps of the players.

In the first half, they were very active and their fitness dropped quickly.

However, for professional players, when it comes to the final, the physical exertion is not enough to affect their performance too much.

After all, it's only the last game, and they are used to playing intensely and are more than capable of using their potential until the very end.

What's more, in the first half, they took the lead in both the process and the field!

The possibility of winning the World Cup, the extra adrenaline generated by the psychological stimulation can make them feel less tired!

Even though it was only half time, and even though they were only one goal ahead, their advantage on the pitch was real.

The pressure on the French goal was much greater than they were throughout the first half, but they didn't create too many chances.

Mbappe was left to fare and Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann were unable to create many chances under the Italian's tight defence, and at this moment, they had no doubt that they would be able to get the win on their toes.

And Pan Yi still did not make any adjustments in tactics, in his opinion, the Italian players did a good job in the first half, and they just need to continue like this in the second half.

He said: "Maybe the Italian team didn't do well in these two World Cups, but that's in the past, we are the new Italy! ”

"In this World Cup, we have shown our strength, will and ability, and we are definitely the world's first-class team!"

"Now, against France, who are considered to be the strongest in recent years, we have taken the lead. Hold on for another 45 minutes and we can be on the podium again in 12 years! ”

'But until then, we have to be in better shape for the second half and show that this is a World Cup for Italy!"

"That's right, it's our World Cup!" The players shouted with their fists.

In fact, the finals don't need special encouragement, of course, the words spoken by a historical-level coach like Pan Yi are still loud, and this kind of encouragement is enough to make their fighting spirit go to the next level!

The qualifiers were cornered, the finals were not favored at the beginning, and then defeated the strong teams all the way to the final, and the morale has reached its peak.

In contrast, the atmosphere in the dressing room of the French team is a bit dreary.

And Deschamps made a substitution decision.

He replaced Lucas Hernandez, who had made a mistake in the first half and conceded a goal, with Benjamin Mendy, a young wing-back for Manchester City.

This goal is actually a problem for the entire French back line, why did it still throw the pot on the head of Lucas Hernandez?

What's more, although Benjamin Mendy's strength is also very good, otherwise he would not have been favored by Guardiola;

But this back line of the French team has been the most consistent since France participated in the World Cup, and there have been almost no substitutions in seven games.

Lucas Hernandez was the most important left-back, starting and playing the whole game except for Denmark in the group stage until he was substituted in the second half.

This was suddenly changed at the critical moment of the final, and the tacit understanding of the back line dropped a notch, not to mention, the players on the field could not help but mumble in their hearts.

As a result, the French team has a bigger problem defensively, and the players appear to be less active when making up for the defense.

I have to say that this is a stupid trick by Deschamps.

After seeing this, Pan Yi immediately adjusted his tactics, and Italy began to play behind the French national team more resolutely!

Compared to the first half, Italy's midfield was somewhat reactive, but France would be attacked by Italy as soon as they passed the half.

At the same time, the distance between the three Italian lines, which has been recovered to a certain extent, has become tighter, and there are almost no gaps in the backline, even if Giroud and the black and hard in the midfield can not knock a way forward with their bodies.

And offensively, Italy began to play more directly behind the French defence.

France could only attack, and after the attack, a large gap in the back could only be exploited by Italy, whether it was Barella or Tonali's through balls created too much pressure.

It is true that most of Italy's players have been recycled, but Chiesa Jr. and Scamacca are nailed like nails in the centre circle, threatening the French backline at all times.

For more than ten minutes, both sides were entangled near the center circle, and France could not get in, but had to worry about Italy's counterattack.

A couple of through balls from Italy have created a few chances and the French door is under constant threat!

Seeing that his team is getting worse and worse, Deschamps doesn't have much to do.

He can only pray now that his stars will have a flash of inspiration, such as Mbappe, Griezmann, Pogba.

After all, the opponent is only one goal ahead, and France is not without opportunities, maybe with a little luck, maybe with just one goal, it can turn the situation around!

Of course, it is precisely for this reason that Pan Yi did not put his mind at ease, but kept standing on the sidelines, watching the struggle between the two sides.

In football matches, sometimes it's not all about state and strength, but about luck.

It is not uncommon for an opponent to score a goal with dozens of shots, and the opponent can score and win with a random long-range shot - well, in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in the previous life, Italy lost to North Macedonia in this way.

Therefore, Pan Yi does believe that his team has the absolute upper hand at this time, but no one can say whether an unexpected event will make Italy's advantage go down the drain.

Not to mention that with so many talented stars in the French team, the probability of a sudden explosion is much higher than that of North Macedonia's players......

After withstanding the opposition's attack, Italy launched a wave of counter-attacks, but Verratti and Scamacca missed two well-placed shots in quick succession.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Didier Deschamps made a second substitution, with Dembele coming on to replace the mediocre Matuidi.

They actually had four strikers on the pitch at this point, with Dembele coming on with great speed and good dribbling, and he charged up to ease the pressure on Giroud.

Mbappe began to increase his range of movement in an attempt to tear apart the Italian defence.

France's attack began to pick up, first Pogba passed the ball and Kante's shot from the edge of the box flew off the line close to the far post;

Dembele's cross from the break was then struck by the onrushing Donnarumma over Giroud's head, Barella on the edge of the box cleared the ball with a big foot, and then Griezmann passed the ball and Pogba fired a long-range shot from 20 yards out on the edge of the box.

"You, go warm up!" Seeing that the situation on the field was a little passive, Pan Yi turned his head and shouted De Rossi on the bench, he was ready to let De Rossi come on the field to increase the interception ability of the midfield.

But who will come down?

In terms of position, it should be replaced by Tonali or Barella, but today the two wingers have a lot of running, and their physical fitness is declining relatively quickly, and from the perspective of strengthening the defense, it is obviously better to replace a striker with a midfielder.

However, while De Rossi was still warming up, Italy launched another counterattack.

Insigne, who was inserted in the middle, rushed all the way with the ball, almost forming a single knife, but was brought down by Varane, who returned to the defense in time, about 28 meters from the goal, and the referee gave Varane a yellow card, and Italy won a free kick.

Tonali stood up, and this time there was no one by his side to cover him.

After a loud gasp of breath, Tonali raised his hand and made a gesture that meant he would not shoot directly, but would choose to pass the ball.

The Italian players are psychologically minded, but where do the French know?

They knew the power of Tonali's direct free-kick and were nervously clinging to the wall, ready for the onslaught of the ball.

But when Tonali runs and his boots hit the ball, they know that the real danger lies at the back post!

Scamacca attracted the second most attention from the Frenchman in the middle, while Chiesa Jr., who was ambushed at the back post, was completely unguarded!

He rushed up and jumped straight to the top of the flying ball.

Where did the French goalkeeper Lloris watch out for Tonali's near-corner free-kick at the other post a second ago?

All he could do was watch the ball crash headlong into the net!

There was a dead silence among the French fans behind the goal!

Chiesa Jr. burst into ecstasy, opened his arms and rushed to the bottom of the stands, where he knelt passionately in celebration.

He was greeted by the cheers of more than 30,000 Italian fans like a landslide and tsunami!

"Chiesa! It's him again! It was a crucial goal! Two to zero, Italy has a sufficient advantage! And there are less than twenty minutes left until the end of the game! ”

"At the same time, it is Chiesa's seventh goal in this World Cup!"

With this goal, he is no longer tied with England's Harry Kane, but the top scorer on his own, and it seems that he will be the Golden Boot in this World Cup!"

At that moment, Pan Yi stood up with his arms raised.

At this time, there was only satisfaction and pride in his heart.

When the score expanded to the second goal, Pan Yi firmly believed that nothing would be able to snatch the championship trophy from his hands!

This will be the most important title he has ever won, the World Cup!!

This day belongs to Italy and belongs to Pan Yi;

This World Cup belongs to Italy and Pan Yi!

Chiesa's goal completely put France in the biggest predicament, and also allowed Pan Yi to be more comfortable in the formation.

According to the original plan, he replaced Chiesa Jr. with De Rossi, who had already warmed up, so as to increase the running ability on the field and the interception ability in the midfield, and secondly, let Chiesa Jr., who scored the key goal, accept the cheers of the fans alone.

At this time, Italy's formation has also changed to 4-4-2, and the tactics are more defensive.

Five minutes later, he replaced another goal-scorer, Insigne, with El Shaarawy, in a 4-4-2 formation.

It's just that the new force El Shaarawy has more running ability, and now Italy's four midfielders are actually all defensive stalwarts who can play in the back, so pressing makes the French even more uncomfortable.

Coupled with Italy's backline, which has been tempered all the way, tacit understanding, state, personal ability, and characteristic cooperation has reached the peak, Italy has only conceded two goals in the entire World Cup so far, and it is not just luck!

Defending at the back, countering and counterattacking in the front - it's such a simple tactic, Italy just can't move France!

In the 80th minute, Scamacca received a yellow card when he was fighting for the top in the front, and Pan Yi immediately replaced him with Balotelli to avoid any accidents.

Pan Yi had already used up three substitutions, and Deschamps had also used up the last substitution at this time, and Lemar came on to replace Giroud, who had dropped his fitness very much.

However, in Pan Yi's opinion, the two strikers replaced behind Deschamps are not good.

Dembele's lack of professionalism makes him basically rely on talent to eat on the field, and once he doesn't play well, he will disappear immediately, and he can't be counted on in such a stressful game;

Lemar is actually a very creative player, but he is also a bit similar to Dembele, that is, he is sometimes slack on the pitch and does not concentrate very much.

Sure enough, after coming on the pitch, Lemar, like Dembele, was immediately drowned in the Italian backline.

In fact, in the last 10 minutes, Italy created a couple of good chances, while France created a lackluster one.

In stoppage time, the French players didn't even start running, and three minutes later, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game!

Five-star Italy, thus born!

Lineker shouted excitedly:

"This is a World Cup for Italy! The World Cup that belongs to Pan Yi! Let's congratulate Italy, congratulations to Pan Yi! ”

"It took him just a few months to build a championship team and prove once again that he is still the best in the national team coaching position!"

"Choosing him as the head coach of the Italian national team is the best decision made by the Italian Football Federation!"

Along with his shouts, countless Italian fans were also cheering, celebrating their hard-won World Cup title!

(End of chapter)