Soccer: I have the attributes of Messi in his Prime

Chapter 532: Spain's 3-0 Victory Over Italy, Advances to the Quarterfinals!

Since Lin Quan and Busquets were speaking Spanish, Damian could only sense that Busquets was looking at him strangely but didn't understand what they were saying.

And that quickly backfired on him.

Busquets, a seasoned player, only needed a short time to observe Damian's defensive habits and figure out how to deal with him.

In the 71st minute of the second half, Spain launched a counterattack. Lin Quan received the ball, and Busquets moved closer to support him.

Lin Quan passed the ball to him, aiming for a simple one-two play.

Busquets has a high football IQ, having created memorable plays with Messi in the past. Italy couldn't afford to ignore him. Damian, being the closest, instinctively rushed at Busquets.

Busquets had been watching him, but he pretended not to notice and even stopped the ball as if deciding which teammate to pass to.

Seeing an opportunity for a tackle, Damian immediately stretched out his foot.

This was what Busquets was waiting for. As Damian reached out, Busquets shielded the ball, leaned into him, and discreetly elbowed him in the ribs.

The impact knocked the wind out of Damian, causing him to sweat in pain and nearly lose his balance. As he pulled his foot back, he stepped awkwardly and almost tripped.

Furious, Damian was about to react, but then he saw Busquets on the ground, clutching his foot and rolling in agony, screaming as if he'd been seriously hurt.

Damian was left completely confused.

What just happened? Didn't he foul me?

How is he the one injured now?

Did I accidentally step on his foot? But I didn't even use much force!

Damian was at a loss, unable to understand what was going on.

The referee hadn't seen exactly what happened during the physical exchange between the two, but he saw Damian standing there while Busquets was writhing in pain.

Naturally, his first impression was that Damian had committed a foul against Busquets!

Tweet!

The whistle blew, and the referee, with a stern expression, walked over to Damian. In front of everyone, he showed a yellow card to the Italian player who had only recently come on as a substitute.

Only then did Damian realize what was happening and quickly protested to the referee, claiming that Busquets was acting and that he hadn't kicked him.

The referee ignored Damian's complaints. While he hadn't seen Busquets' elbow, he had clearly seen Damian step on Busquets' foot.

So giving Damian a yellow card was completely justified.

While Busquets lay on the ground screaming, he was secretly watching the referee's decision.

When he saw the yellow card shown to Damian, he was overjoyed.

"Life is like acting—it's all about performance!"

His acting was worthy of an Oscar!

Having achieved his goal, Busquets quickly stood up. At first, he pretended to limp for a few moments, but as soon as the ball came to him, his "injury" seemed to vanish, and he played with full energy.

Seeing this, Damian was enraged.

That guy played me!

Even an idiot could see he had been tricked.

Fuming, Damian forgot his coach's instructions to mark Lin Quan and instead focused on getting back at Busquets.

Conte, watching from the sidelines, was furious. Damian had lost focus and completely forgotten his role. Conte was so angry he wanted to run onto the field and give him a smack!

Damian had a glaring weakness—poor tactical discipline. This flaw was a major reason why he failed to progress further in his career and why he gradually lost his starting spot at Manchester United.

By substituting Florenzi, Italy had weakened their attack, and bringing on Damian hadn't helped shut down Lin Quan's offensive threat. This allowed the momentum of the match to shift.

After surviving Italy's intense wave of attacks, Spain gradually adapted to their tactics, and their performance improved.

The result was a significant increase in Spain's offensive threat.

Seeing this, Del Bosque decisively made a substitution.

He replaced Fàbregas with Pedro, a clear sign that Spain was strengthening its attack!

With Pedro on the field, Lin Quan dropped back slightly into a role similar to a shadow striker.

This new position relieved some of the defensive pressure on him, allowing him to focus more on organizing Spain's attacks. Depending on the situation, he could either take charge of the attack or set up his teammates to score.

Lin Quan didn't try to take on all the responsibility. Instead, he coordinated with his teammates, helping them create scoring chances.

With Pedro's fresh energy, Spain produced several beautiful wing plays in just a few minutes.

Although they didn't result in goals, they put immense pressure on Italy's defense, forcing them to adjust and focus more on defending Spain's wing play.

Seeing Italy pack their defense on the wings, leaving the middle vulnerable, Lin Quan quickly shifted the attack.

In the 74th minute, he dribbled forward, dodging defenders in the half-space before threading a perfect through ball into the penalty area.

Morata made a clever run and fired a shot into Italy's net without hesitation.

Unfortunately, the goal was disallowed for offside, and Morata's celebration was cut short.

However, Italy didn't seem to notice the vulnerability in their central defense, giving Spain another chance to exploit it.

In the 76th minute, from almost the same position, Lin Quan once again passed the ball into the box. This time, Morata was onside, but Buffon, anticipating the play, rushed out early and collected the ball.

Both teams exchanged attacks as time ticked away, but the score remained unchanged.

Italy made a series of substitutions, bringing on Insigne for Eder and El Shaarawy for De Sciglio.

They were going all in for a last-ditch effort!

Seeing Italy's desperation, Spain adjusted their strategy again.

Under Lin Quan's direction, they slowed down the pace, focusing on maintaining possession rather than rushing forward.

By the 82nd minute, Lin Quan and Iniesta were leisurely passing the ball back and forth in midfield, seemingly trying to run down the clock.

As they passed, they even retreated close to their own defensive line.

The Italian fans responded with loud boos, furious at Spain's time-wasting tactics.

Italy's players couldn't stand it either. Even though Lin Quan and Iniesta were hard to dispossess, they had no choice but to press forward.

If they left Spain unchallenged, they were sure Spain would keep passing the ball around until the match ended.

So Italy pressed higher up the pitch, frantically trying to force a mistake.

Seeing this, Lin Quan passed the ball to Iniesta and pointed to the wing.

Iniesta understood and passed back to Lin with more power.

Just as Italy's players closed in on Lin Quan, he cleverly let the ball roll past him to David Silva on the wing.

Uh-oh, they fell for it!

Realizing that Silva had the ball, Italy's players scrambled to retreat and block his passing lanes.

But Silva didn't hesitate and immediately crossed the ball.

This time, it wasn't aimed at Morata in the box but at Lin Quan, who had run into the space created by Silva.

With Italy's defense pushed forward, they had fewer defenders in their own half.

Thanks to Silva's decoy run, Lin Quan found himself unmarked.

If Lin Quan is already dangerous when marked, imagine how lethal he is when left unguarded!

Realizing the danger, the Italian players instinctively rushed toward him.

However, Lin Quan was still far from the goal, and with Buffon well-positioned, a direct shot from there wasn't likely to score.

So he passed the ball—not to Morata, who was caught in an offside trap, but across to Pedro on the left wing.

Pedro, also known as "The Blade," is Spain's fastest winger.

When he received Lin Quan's pass, there were no defenders near him, giving him plenty of room to run.

And that's exactly what he did—accelerating quickly!

Buffon, seeing the switch in play, immediately recognized the danger and adjusted his position, preparing to charge out and narrow the angle.

Italy's defenders worked hard to get back, but Pedro was too fast.

Before most of them could recover, Pedro had already cut into the box and was ready to shoot.

Buffon, fully focused, charged out, spreading his arms wide to block as much of the goal as possible and reduce Pedro's chances of scoring.

But Pedro remained calm. Knowing Buffon's legendary skill, he took his shot early, before the Italian goalkeeper could close him down.

To Buffon's surprise, Pedro didn't aim for the far post but shot at the near post instead.

This made it difficult for Buffon, whose weight was shifted to the left, to react.

However, Buffon, ever composed, quickly realized the shot was a low one and extended his right leg.

As the ball approached, it struck Buffon's leg, deflecting slightly and skimming just wide of the post.

Buffon had made a crucial save, keeping Italy from sinking deeper into trouble!

Once again, Spain missed a golden opportunity to seal the game.

But luck doesn't favor the same person forever!

A minute later, Spain took a corner kick. Lin Quan signaled as if he were going to send it to the back post but instead aimed for the front.

Morata, following Lin's signal, darted toward the back post, drawing Italy's defenders with him.

This left Ramos unmarked, and he charged forward to head the ball at the front post.

Buffon had anticipated that the corner might go to the front post and had already adjusted his position.

But Ramos' header was struck with such power that Buffon didn't have time to react before the ball flew into the net.

3-0!

In the 84th minute, Spain extended their lead, sealing the victory.

Ramos, elated after scoring the header, tore off his shirt and ran to the corner flag, where he embraced Lin Quan.

Lin pointed to Morata, signaling that the goal was partially thanks to him.

If Morata hadn't distracted the defenders, Ramos wouldn't have had such a clear chance to head the ball.

So, Morata deserved the credit for this goal.

Morata, however, looked a bit disappointed. He had worked hard throughout the match but failed to score. His only goal had been ruled offside.

This broke his two-match scoring streak, and he would likely drop on the top scorers' list.

"Don't worry, you'll get more chances to score. You're not done yet!"

Sensing what Morata was thinking, Lin Quan smiled and reassured him.

"Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better, right?"

"Why would I lie to you? Just think—haven't I been passing the ball to you all game?"

Morata chuckled. Lin Quan had indeed set him up multiple times during the match, but he hadn't been able to capitalize on the chances.

Morata had taken five shots in total, but none had found the net, partly due to his own struggles and partly because Buffon had been so strong in goal.

If Italy had any other goalkeeper, Morata felt sure he would've scored at least one.

Ramos' goal completely shattered Italy's hopes, making them realize their fate was sealed.

In the end, in this rematch of the previous tournament's finalists, Spain triumphed 3-0 over Italy, advancing smoothly to the quarterfinals!

Italy, once again, fell at the hands of Spain, and their "Spanish-phobia" continued!

(End of Chapter)

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