Chapter 696 - 11: The Uncharacteristic Italy! Ma’el’s Enigmatic Smile! Once But Not Twice!

De Rossi saw the football hit the post and felt helpless, but as a defensive midfielder, he didn’t forget his duties and quickly moved forward to counterattack.

In Italy’s backfield, Ma’el breathed a sigh of relief; it seems luck wouldn’t always be on one side, as they too are often favored by Lady Luck.

"Boom boom boom!"

He turned around and sprinted toward the opponent’s backfield, waiting for a possible opportunity to arise.

The continuous transitions between attack and defense left most players slightly breathless, but it didn’t seem to affect him at all.

He hoped for more such transitions, allowing everyone to exhaust themselves, so he could easily rush forward and score a goal.

"Bang!"

In France’s penalty area, the starting Rami kicked the ball toward the forward position, and Giroud clashed with Bonucci, preparing to contend in the air, a crucial contest determining the tactical goals of both teams.

"Bonucci! Foul!!"

Chiellini, being older and more mature, advised his partner to directly take down Giroud, "Make a foul!! Don’t take the risk. We have few players!"

Bonucci clearly heard his words, but looking at Giroud’s young face, remembering he didn’t have much impression of this player, he still chose to trust himself to regain possession for the team.

Thus, near the center circle kickoff spot, both men jumped simultaneously, heading for the spinning, incoming football.

"Scratch!" An indistinguishable sound replaced the dull thud of the hard hit on the ball.

The football didn’t fly back to France’s half as Bonucci thought, but was deflected toward Italy’s backfield right flank.

Giroud won!

Perfect contest in the air!

In a flash, Ma’el didn’t have time to praise his teammate’s performance, he used his right foot to control the ball forward, rapidly charging toward the opponent’s penalty area.

In a bitter moment, Chiellini came over to shadow him, with Nasri and Menez advancing from behind, while the only defensive player remaining was the trailing Barzagli.

Two against three!

Defensive disadvantage!

In a casual game, this gap might not be obvious, but on the European Cup stage, with all top players, this gap could be deadly.

Chiellini painfully kept an eye on both Ma’el and those behind him, defending with great difficulty.

"Bang bang.....!"

Soon, Ma’el had closed in near the penalty area line, seemingly about to adjust his angle for a shot.

Chiellini had no choice but to give up on blocking lines, recklessly charging towards him, gambling on Ma’el opting to go solo this time.

But Ma’el is certainly not foolish; since there is a better option, he naturally wouldn’t give Chiellini a chance for desperate measures.

This is the European Cup; no one plays as a lone wolf here, everyone’s primary goal is victory, aiming for the ultimate championship.....except Benzema.

It’s said that Kane is willing to trade all career goals for one championship.

"Bang!"

Ma’el sent the ball back to the inverted triangle position and turned his head to see Nasri following up.

Chiellini barely stuck a foot out to block mid-way, but the football had already rolled behind him, he could only pray for God to open His eyes once more, for France to hit the crossbar.

"Bang!!"

Near the penalty area line, Nasri spread his body and pushed the incoming ball toward the distant corner of the goal.

His eyes burning with a strong desire to score, he desperately wished to score for the team in the knockout round.

"Swish!" Such a close-range tap-in shot, without interference, clearly belonged to the kind that even Buffon couldn’t stop; the ball grazed the post heavily and smashed into the far corner.

The goal is in!

One to zero!

"France leads!! Beautiful transition attack! Perfect contest in the air, perfect advancement, perfect shot!!

"They executed a textbook counterattack, surely something Deschamps wanted!

"Who would have thought Giroud, initially underestimated, stood out, playing his role as a striker, Ma’el also maintained his lethal form, Nasri’s push shot remained stable!!"

"Yeahhhh...!" Inside Gdansk Arena, a wave of cheers erupted from France’s fans, their enthusiasm surged like a tidal wave across the stadium, imposing in its entirety.

Nasri kissed his fingers, as he ran towards the corner flag for celebration, not forgetting to quickly turn back, pulling Giroud along to rush toward Ma’el.

The three goal heroes then converged, together sliding across the grass in celebration.

Despite the turbulent times and media pressure, they relied on sharp attacks to take the lead!

Somehow, Ma’el ended up in the middle of this; beside him, Giroud and Nasri looked at him with smiles, like offering a surprise, synchronously opening their mouths, "Vamos...!"

"Haha...!"

He laughed out loud, pulling the two along to the fan section, raising his arm high, and once more, releasing all the pressure and emotions accumulated over time, "Vamos.....!!!"

Turning back, they embraced tightly with celebrating French players rushing forth, with quite a few bodies slightly trembling.

"We are still ourselves!"

"Yes! Keep pushing!"

"We’ll advance!"

"Ma’el, will you let us hear another ’vamos’?"

Seeing the question from Yohan Cabaye, Ma’el smiled and nodded, then took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling everything is great with the lead, naturally daring to make bold claims.

"Fola.....!"

From the sidelines, Deschamps raised his right arm high, shouting loudly before turning back to embrace the assistant coaches.

"A somewhat unexpected goal! In an instant, it sent France into paradise, while plunging Italy into silence; they played nearly half the match well, but lost to France in terms of opportunity grasp!"