Chapter 33 Maldini, you are a legend

The following afternoon, the entire Milan team traveled to the Monza National Circuit to attend the "Audi Day" event.

This is the second year of AC Milan's partnership with Audi, coinciding with the launch of the Audi R8. Having received a huge sponsorship fee from Audi, AC Milan is obligated to participate in the sponsor's brand promotion activities.

During this brand event, Audi will gift each first-team player an Audi car, with the model of choice.

Before the test drive, Fino had received a hint from the club that Audi hoped he could choose the newly launched R8 as his vehicle.

Besides Fino, Maldini, Kaká, Inzaghi, Pirlo, Nesta, and others also received similar hints. Luxury cars naturally need beautiful women; aesthetically pleasing promotional photos greatly benefit the R8's marketing and sales.

Fino had no reason to refuse.

His car was upgraded from an 8,000 euro used car to an Audi R8 worth over 100,000 euros. What was he dissatisfied with? Besides, the R8's appearance also suited Fino's aesthetic.

In addition to the group photo and individual test drive photos of each player, Audi also asked Fino and the others to take a set of promotional photos for the R8.

Several handsome men in suits stood around an R8. The R8 was a collection of men of different styles and temperaments, including the domineering, elegant, handsome, and charming types. The gathering of these men made the already outstanding R8 even more dazzling.

The release of these promotional photos generated a huge response online.

With the release of these promotional photos of Maldini and his team, the car seems even more unaffordable now.

[The players with the best looks all chose R8, which definitely meant they communicated beforehand. I don't know about the other players, but R8 is clearly not Pirlo's type.]

They've gone to great lengths to give away a car for advertising; it's understandable that they want the best promotional effect. Whether he likes it or not, what's wrong with getting a car for free?

[What's even funnier is that Audi stopped pretending, and Ronaldo also chose the R8. His solo test drive photo was heavily promoted by Audi, but he wasn't in the group promotional photos. Was the Ballon d'Or winner not standing high enough?]

[It's because he's not good-looking enough.]

...

On January 16th, Milan played the second leg of the Italian Cup away against Catania. Ancelotti rested most of his key players, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Fino scored his first domestic cup goal.

Since Milan lost 1-2 in the first leg at home, their combined home and away results meant they were officially eliminated from the Italian Cup, just as Ancelotti had hoped.

On January 20, the 19th round of Serie A kicked off, with Milan playing away against Udinese.

23 years ago today, 16-year-old Maldini made his Serie A debut against Udinese.

The Udinese fans present were very friendly, applauding the evergreen football legend before the match began.

Maldini did not start today because he had the flu. He raised his hands and looked around to thank the fans.

Milan has had a lot of sick players recently. Not only is Maldini suffering from the flu, but Inzaghi is also out of the squad due to a muscle strain in training. Dida, Jankulovski, and Serginho are also out injured.

The Brazilian trio, who played perfectly in the last league match, all started, while Fino, who played the full 90 minutes in the Italian Cup four days ago, did not get a starting opportunity.

But Ancelotti has made it clear to him that he will replace Pato in the second half and that he should be ready.

Pato was very active at the start of the game, which drew close marking from Udinese defenders.

After missing several scoring opportunities, Milan's attacking focus began to shift from Pato to Ronaldo.

In the 23rd minute, Kaká was fouled 30 meters from the goal, giving Milan a free kick opportunity.

Milan's first-choice free-kick taker, Pirlo, was suspended this round, and the Brazilian, who dotes on his son, gave the free-kick opportunity to Pato. Unfortunately, Pato's free-kick lacked power and hit the wall directly.

In the 36th minute, Pato was pulled down by Mesto while dribbling, and the referee awarded Milan a free kick, which was taken by Seedorf.

Seedorf delivered the free kick to the left side of the penalty area, where Ronaldo headed the ball towards goal, but it was saved by Udinese goalkeeper Handanovic and went out for a corner.

Ronaldo and Ambrosini then each had a shooting opportunity, but Handanovic saved both shots.

While Milan's attack was unlucky, their defense performed exceptionally well, denying Udinese's shots one by one.

In particular, second goalkeeper Karachi demonstrated the ability to challenge Dida's position as the first goalkeeper in this match.

The first half ended with the score tied 0-0.

The second half has begun.

According to Ancelotti's original plan, Fino was to replace Pato, but because Ronaldo felt some discomfort in his knee, Ancelotti had to let Fino replace Ronaldo, and Pato remained on the field.

Before going on the field, Fino gently tugged at his jersey, which had a lining inside with a message of blessing written on it. He hoped that he would have the opportunity to send that message today.

After the start of the second half, both goalkeepers continued their amazing performance from the first half, and for a full 15 minutes, neither side managed to score a single goal.

For Milan, Fino and Kaká each took a high-quality shot, both of which were saved by Handanovic.

At this moment, Handanovic was not Samir Handanovic, but Gianluigi Handanovic Buffon, reminding Fino of the pain of being tackled and broken through by Buffon.

One Buffon is enough for this world!

Fino turned to look at Kaka, and saw the same intense fighting spirit in Kaka's eyes. The two nodded heavily to each other: Let's get him!

In the 60th minute, Udinese's Dossena took a corner kick from the left, and Obodo headed the ball across to Quagliarella.

Quagliarella met the incoming ball with a volley, sending it flying towards the top right corner of the goal.

Kalac, who had made several brilliant saves today, was well prepared. He took two steps to his left and then quickly jumped to the upper left, using his left hand to push the ball out of the penalty area. Nesta passed the ball to midfield before Di Natale could follow up with a shot.

Having witnessed this, Fino decided to take back his words: there can be two Buffons in the world, but one of them has to stand in front of Milan's goal!

At this moment, Ambrosini had already received Nesta's pass. He took a few steps forward and passed the ball to Kaká, who was better at dribbling, before the Udinese players could catch up.

Kaka received the ball and immediately started running, striding towards the frontcourt.

At this point, Fino and Pato began to run and change positions continuously in the attacking third. On the one hand, they adjusted their positions to create better receiving angles based on Kaká's location, and on the other hand, they drew the attention of some of the defenders, allowing Kaká to tear apart Udinese's defensive line.

Mesto planned to squeeze Kaka in from the wing, but before he could get close, the red and black shadow flashed by, and Mesto only caught Kaka's exhaust fumes.

Lukovic stepped forward to intercept, but Kaka easily bypassed him with a simple slicing motion. By the time Lukovic turned around, Kaka was already two meters away, and he couldn't even reach out to pull on the jersey.

Kaka dribbled the ball into the penalty area, and Fino blocked one of Udinese's defenders with his back to goal. Goalkeeper Handanovic was left with only another defender, Koda, in front of him, creating a 2-on-2 situation with Kaka and Pato.

Just when Handanovic thought Kaká was going to shoot directly, Kaká passed the ball straight to Pato on the wing. Pato shot from a tight angle, and at that moment Handanovic had not yet adjusted his angle to make the save.

Just as Milan fans were waiting to cheer for the goal, the ball hit the post and deflected back into the penalty area.

Pato's luck was really bad today.

But Milan's attack wasn't over yet. Kaká got to control the ball before Coda could reach it, and then passed it to Fino on the other side.

At that moment, Fino had a straight shooting path in front of him. Without hesitation, he swung his right leg before Zapata and Lukovic could rush over, and blasted the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Handanovic reacted quickly and dived to make the save, but unfortunately, his speed was not as fast as Fino's shot.

Milan lead 1-0.

Kaka and Pato excitedly rushed towards Fino, but Fino made a gesture to stop them, lifting the hem of his jersey to reveal the lining underneath.

The camera immediately followed and focused on Fino's undergarment.

The most eye-catching feature on the lining is a huge Arabic numeral 3, below which is a simple line of Italian: You are a legend!

It goes without saying who this goal was for.

Twenty-three years ago, Maldini made his Serie A debut in Udinese; twenty-three years later, also in Udinese, Fino paid his highest respects to the god in his heart.

The broadcast thoughtfully switched to the substitutes' bench, where Maldini had already stood up. He faced Fino, raised his hands high, and applauded Fino from above, smiling with pride in his eyes.

For all the viewers who witnessed this scene, one word came to mind: inheritance.

Inzaghi, who was left in Milan due to a muscle strain, also watched the match on television.

When Fino lifted the hem of his jersey on TV, Inzaghi began to feel hopeful. Was Fino sending him a blessing after his injury?

In fact, he knew in his heart that this possibility was very small, because Dida, Jankulovski, and Serginho were also injured, and it was unlikely that Fino would make a special response.

But it doesn't matter. Even if Fino writes a general "Wishing all teammates good health," he will treat it as a message specifically for himself.

Upon seeing the words on the lining, Inzaghi immediately dropped his upturned smile.

So he really does admire Paulo, Inzaghi thought bitterly.

Although Fino didn't make any further moves after revealing the lining, and his expression didn't seem overly excited, Inzaghi hadn't forgotten how Fino had secretly observed Maldini when he first joined the first team.

You little rascal, you've hidden it so well.

The 1-0 score held until the end, with Milan defeating Udinese and securing 3 points.

After the match, Kaká put his arm around Fino's waist and walked off the field, with Pato following beside them. The three of them discussed the goal together.

Maldini stood on the sidelines waiting for his teammates to come off the field, giving each of them a high-five as they walked by.

After Fino and the other two walked up to him, he patted Kaka and Pato on the shoulder, then smiled at Fino.

“Thank you, Finni, I will never forget this day.” He reached out and hugged Finno, then lowered his head and kissed Finno’s forehead.

Before Pato joined the team, Fino was the youngest player in the first team. When his teammates expressed their affection, they would usually call him "little kid" or "pretty boy". Now that the even younger Pato has joined the team, more and more teammates have started to call him Fini or Finino, just like Nesta.

Fino said OK, as long as it's not Fifi. Back in Scotland, Pirlo's "Fifi" gave him goosebumps.

Maldini's embrace was so warm; at that moment, Fino felt like she was drowning in happiness.