Chapter 50 Pirlo's Art of Language

Fino, Pirlo, and Nesta talked about the European Championship this summer.

Italy's squad will be announced after the Serie A season ends, but most of the players can be guessed.

In the Milan team, there is no Italian in the goalkeeper position, so it can be ignored. Nesta has retired from the national team in defense. Oddo and Bonera have a slight chance, but not much. Pirlo, Gattuso and Ambrosini are a sure thing in the midfield trio. The three of them have the same opinion on these positions.

The three men have different opinions on the striker position.

Luca Toni, who transferred to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga this season, will definitely take up a spot. Toni is a late bloomer, and his performance in recent years has been outstanding. Moreover, his height, ability to get into scoring positions, and attacking power are exactly what the Italian team needs.

Borriello, who is half-owned by AC Milan and half-owned by Genoa, is currently the top scorer in Serie A and deserves a spot on the list.

Juventus veteran Alessandro Del Piero has also had a phenomenal season, scoring a hat-trick and providing an assist in the recent 34th round of the league.

Del Piero's Serie A goal tally is second only to Borriello, making him a strong contender for the Serie A Golden Boot this season, and he may even break his personal single-season Serie A goal record set in the 1997/98 season.

Although he's getting on in years, it would be a shame not to take him to the European Championship given his performance.

Udinese's Di Natale has also performed well and has a good chance of making the squad.

Roma's Totti announced his retirement from the national team last year, and Gilardino, who transferred to Fiorentina during the winter break, is not in good form. Among the remaining Italian forwards, the only ones who can be considered are Quagliarella, who also comes from Udinese, Cassano from Sampdoria, as well as Fino and Inzaghi.

Nesta believes that Cassano and Quagliarella are not as good as Fino, nor as good as Inzaghi, whose recent statistics are outstanding. He believes that the Milan strikers have a very high probability of being selected.

Pirlo wasn't as blindly confident as Nesta; he was more confident in Fino's selection but had doubts about Inzaghi's inclusion.

Inzaghi is a year older than Del Piero and his statistics are not as good as Del Piero's. With the veteran Del Piero already on the roster, it will be difficult for Inzaghi to take on the responsibilities.

Fino, however, believed that Inzaghi might have a chance, but he himself had absolutely no chance.

First of all, he has never been selected for the national team and has no chemistry with other national team players.

Secondly, judging from the call-up situation in the qualifiers, this European Championship is still mainly composed of the winning squad from the 2006 World Cup. The positions left by several veterans who have retired from the national team are filled by players born around 1980. Cassano born in 1982 and Quagliarella born in 1983 are in their prime and have a better chance than themselves born in 1988.

Pirlo and Nesta had to admit that Fino's analysis made sense; the Italian national team did indeed prefer to use veteran players.

But Fino's analysis was far too calm, his tone devoid of any expectation, completely objective.

This was incredible to Pirlo, who himself had dreamed of being selected for the national team every day when he was 20.

A thought flashed through Pirlo's mind: Fino is one-quarter Chinese!

"You wouldn't be thinking of joining the Chinese national team, would you?"

Nesta was shocked when he heard this: "No way, Fini, the Chinese team's performance isn't very good. Don't you want to play in the World Cup?"

? ? ?

Fino was puzzled; why would Pirlo suddenly say something like that out of the blue?

As if seeing the question mark on Fino's face, Pirlo explained, "Because you don't seem to have any expectation of being selected for the national team."

After thinking for a moment, he earnestly advised Fino: "What Sandro said is true, you'd better give up that idea. Don't you want to play in the World Cup and the European Championship? I should be able to play in a few more tournaments, and I can take care of you in the national team."

“You’re overthinking it, Andrea.” Fino patted Pirlo on the shoulder. “I don’t meet the Chinese team’s selection criteria. I don’t have Chinese citizenship, and China doesn’t have a policy of naturalizing foreign players.”

Pirlo seized on the key point: "Then why did you bother to learn about the Chinese team's selection criteria?"

Huh?

Fino was speechless.

“Looks like I didn’t think too much about it,” Pirlo said slowly.

"In short, I am not qualified to play for the Chinese team. Don't worry, Andrea, you can wait for me in the national team."

Pirlo gave him a meaningful look: "Okay, remember this is an agreement."

Fino nodded.

They then talked about the summer break, with Nesta, who had no national team duties, extending a warm invitation to Fino to go on vacation to Miami together.

“We’ll fly there after the holidays. I bought a house in Miami, so you can just stay at my place. I can eat, sleep, and play with you, and I’ll cover all the expenses.”

Fino didn't really want to go; what's the point of getting sunburnt on the beach?

Pirlo was somewhat dissatisfied with Nesta's words: "Our own predictions for the final squad may not be accurate. What if he makes the Euro 2016 squad?"

“Then let’s wait until after the European Championship to go,” Nesta said flexibly. “Paul and I live next to each other in Miami, and we vacation together every summer, so we can hang out together then.”

Now Fino had absolutely no desire to go.

He is a very qualified fan, insisting on staying close to his idol's work (scratch that) profession, and staying far away from his idol's private life.

In his mind, Maldini is either running on the field wearing the captain's armband, appearing at an awards ceremony in a suit and tie, handling press conferences with ease, or radiating charm at brand events...

They certainly wouldn't show up on the beach wearing only shorts, tanned dark and unable to open their eyes.

Why would he want to see his idol shirtless and grinning like an idiot in the sun?

No! We must refuse unequivocally!

"Next time, Sandro, I have plans for this summer."

Pirlo asked curiously, "Where are you going to play?"

"I want to drive south, stopping randomly at places that interest me along the way, such as Florence, Siena, and Naples... I usually only have a quick trip when playing away games, so I want to properly appreciate the local ancient architecture and finally spend a few days on the Amalfi Coast."

"Can I join you?" Pirlo asked longingly. "After the European Championship, I'll go with you to the south. We can take turns driving to avoid driving while fatigued."

"Hmm..." Fino thought for a moment, and it would indeed be better for the two of them to take turns driving. "It would be good to have someone with me, so it's settled then."

Nesta was about to speak when Pirlo changed the subject: "Although I still hope you can make the squad, if you don't, how about coming to watch my game? I'll prepare a full set of tickets for you. You haven't played enough European matches. Watching top players from other countries perform live will help you improve. Only by integrating and applying knowledge can you grow quickly."

“Okay!” Fino nodded immediately. Pirlo was right. Seeing more would broaden one’s knowledge, and there was no harm in going to watch the European Cup!

Nesta was stunned. Wasn't it he who suggested going on vacation with Fino first? How come, in the blink of an eye, Fino's entire summer break has been booked by Andrea?

“You…I…Miami…”

“It’s alright, Sandro.” Pirlo turned to Nesta. “I know that your vacation with Paul is a regular activity for you, and it’s hard to break your promise. You can travel with us next time, it’s the same.”

Fino nodded in understanding and patted Nesta's leg.

Nesta: "You...I..."

In the art of language, he was never a match for Pirlo, and in the end, he could only channel his frustration into his appetite and indulge in a feast.

As night deepened, fueled by alcohol, the party atmosphere grew increasingly heated, with many people heading to the dance floor to sway and dance to the music.

Nesta is itching to make a move.

"Andrea, Finney, are you going to dance?"

Fino shook his head.

Pirlo waved for Nesta to hurry up and go.

Seeing Nesta actually sway gently in the crowd, Fino felt Nesta's persona had crumbled...

Pirlo smiled and said, "You know, when there are no cameras around, San is very lively."

...

Kaka's birthday party was a great success, and when the players returned to Milanello for training after the holiday, they were noticeably more relaxed and less tense.

At 3 PM on April 27th, all 10 matches of the 35th round of Serie A kicked off simultaneously. AC Milan visited the Piqué Stadium to face relegation-threatened Livorno.

This opponent has left everyone at Milan feeling uneasy. Just two and a half months ago, in a rescheduled match against Livorno, Ronaldo's European career came to an abrupt end.

Despite facing a relegation-threatened team, with only four rounds left in the league and Milan only needing to compete on one front, Ancelotti still fielded his strongest available lineup.

In the final stretch of the season, every point is crucial and cannot be lost, with Fiorentina lurking close behind Milan, ready to pounce!

Kalac remains the one guarding Milan's goal; there's nothing that can be done about his poor form, as Ancelotti has no one to replace him.

Bonera, Nesta, Kaladze, and Favalli guarded the last line of defense in front of the goal, while Gattuso, Pirlo, and Ambrosini controlled the midfield. Fino and Inzaghi played as the two strikers, with Kaká as the attacking midfielder behind them.

Both teams played with great intensity in this match, with Milan striving to secure their Champions League qualification and Livorno fighting to avoid relegation.

After the kickoff, Milan launched a quick counter-attack through the middle. Pirlo lobbed the ball into the penalty area, Fino received it, turned and passed it back, and Kaká took a shot from 24 meters in front of the goal, but the ball went over the crossbar.

Livorno immediately retaliated, with Diamanti receiving a pass from Pulzeti and unleashing a long-range shot that went wide of the left post.

Milan then attempted a few more shots, which, although they did not score, put a great deal of pressure on Livorno's defense.

Under Milan's offensive pressure, Livorno was forced to change tactics and focus more on defense.

In the 25th minute, Milan launched another attack.

Ambrosini dribbled forward and passed the ball across to Pirlo before Bogwald could get close. Pirlo dribbled into the right flank and played a through ball to Fino, who was positioned outside the penalty area in the center. Livorno's two defenders, Grandoni and Knezevic, rushed forward to intercept the ball.

Fino remained calm, stopped the ball, immediately turned and passed it to Kaká on the left. Kaká took a right-footed shot, but the ball hit the post and bounced back into the penalty area.

Inzaghi emerged from behind Melara and slotted the ball into the empty net with his left foot.

The goal was suspected of being offside, and Livorno's players objected, but the referee ultimately ruled the goal valid, giving Milan a 1-0 lead away from home.