Chapter 131 Captain's Armband
Before they knew it, Fino and Alonso had been chatting until dawn. Fino yawned, a wave of physical and mental exhaustion washing over him. He asked Alonso for his opinion, and the two prepared to return to their hotel to rest.
Fino knocked on the window of a taxi soliciting passengers on the roadside. The dozing driver rubbed his eyes, unlocked the car door, and let Fino and Alonso get in.
As someone who was half Italian, Fino could barely be considered a host, and he gentlemanly asked the driver to take Alonso back to his hotel first.
After Alonso got out of the car, Fino rolled down the window, yawned, and said goodbye to Alonso.
In the hazy morning light, Fino's moist eyes held a hint of vulnerability and innocence, stirring a tenderness in Alonso's heart. He whispered, "Fino, you look too tired. Don't bother yourself, just sleep here for a while, and then go to the team meeting up when you're awake."
Fino's dazed mind only considered for a second before adopting Alonso's suggestion; he was simply too sleepy.
When Fino woke up naturally, it was almost noon.
Alonso, having gotten up at some point, was sitting on the sofa by the window, gazing at the street scene of Rome.
Upon hearing Fino's voice, Alonso turned around and greeted her with a smile: "Fino, did you sleep well?"
Because Fino was still asleep, Alonso only opened the curtains a crack.
Sunlight streamed into the room through the gaps in the curtains, falling on Alonso's dark brown hair, the edges of which were tinged with a golden-orange hue.
The seemingly simple white shirt looked exceptionally elegant on Alonso.
Fino pulled her hand out from under the covers, gently shook it near her ear, and whispered in response, "Hmm, Harvey..."
Then he burrowed his head under the covers, intending to stay in bed a little longer.
Alonso chuckled and walked over to pull him out of the blanket.
"Time to get up. Aren't you supposed to meet at 2 p.m.? Go take a shower, then we'll go have lunch. I'm heading back to Spain after lunch, so I'll take you to meet the team first."
Fino sat up, rubbed his eyes, and tilted his head to look at Alonso.
His eyes were unfocused, and his mind was not fully awake; he looked like a robot that had crashed and had not yet restarted.
"Cute!" Alonso patted his hair.
Then, Alonso took a set of clothes out of his suitcase and placed them next to Fino.
"We're only a few centimeters apart in height, so you should be fine wearing my clothes. The underwear is new, so go take a shower!"
“Um, thank you, Harvey.” Fino readily complied, yawning as she went into the bathroom.
After lunch, Alonso packed his luggage, called a pre-booked car, and first took Fino back to his hotel in AC Milan before heading to the airport.
"Fini, I wish you good luck in the next two league matches, and hope you win the Serie A title again!"
Fino stood at the hotel entrance, smiling and waving goodbye to Alonso: "Xavi, see you in South Africa!"
The 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa will kick off on June 14, with 2006 World Cup champions Italy and 2008 European Championship champions Spain both qualifying.
Back at the hotel, most of the players were already sitting in the lobby waiting for their return trip.
When Fino walked in, Kaka spotted him immediately and waved to him, "Fino, over here!"
It was clear that many people had been partying all night, yawning constantly, and were no longer as excited as they had been the night before.
Fino turned around, walked towards her teammates, threw her backpack on the ground, and sat down next to Kaka.
“I was worried you’d be lonely, so Degan and I went out for dinner and then went back to the hotel. But you didn’t come back all night. That’s so unfair!” Kaka said, feigning anger.
Fino ruffled his hair and explained, "A friend came to watch the game, so I met him."
Kaka didn't press the matter further; it was perfectly normal for friends to come to watch the game.
Pirlo glanced at Fino's clothes; they were clearly not Fino's, nor did they fit well. Not only had Fino stayed out all night, but he had also changed into someone else's clothes.
Who exactly was this friend who invited Fino to meet someone on the night of her championship victory?
Are they from the youth academy? Pirlo knew that Fino's family tickets were all given to the youth academy kids, and some of them had a good relationship with Fino, but the well-tailored white shirt Fino was wearing was clearly not the style of a youth academy kid of that age.
A name popped into his mind: Xabi Alonso, but he immediately dismissed it. It couldn't be; they'd only met once in Positano, and even if they'd kept in touch online afterward, they couldn't be this close.
At this moment, Fino interrupted his thoughts: "Andrea, my phone has been in my bag and hasn't been turned on. I just saw that you made several calls last night. Is something wrong?"
Pirlo shook his head, remained silent for a while, and finally said only, "It's nothing, I just wanted to ask you to have dinner together."
...
When the entire Milan team arrived at Malpensa Airport, the area outside the airport was already packed with Milan fans.
The club's publicity staff were already waiting at the landing field to film the players disembarking from the plane as soon as possible, to be used as promotional material.
The players changed into matching suits on the plane, then walked out of the cabin one by one, down the stairs, waving and smiling at the camera.
Walking at the very back were Maldini and Ancelotti, each holding one side of the Champions League trophy and raising it high to show the camera Milan's eighth championship title.
Escorted by security personnel, the players interacted with the fans waiting outside for a while before boarding the team bus.
The club didn't arrange a parade; the Serie A match against Fiorentina in the 38th round is in three days, so now isn't the time to celebrate. Wouldn't it be better to wait until they win the last two games and have a grand celebration as double champions?
Time quickly came to May 31st. At 3 pm, all 10 matches of the final round of Serie A kicked off simultaneously. Except for Milan and Roma, who had one rescheduled match, the points of the other 18 teams were about to be finalized.
In this match, Ancelotti made significant changes to the lineup for the Champions League final, with Fino, Kaká, Gattuso, Pirlo, and Maldini all on the bench.
The formation reverted to Milan's usual 4-3-1-2, with Dida in goal, Zambrotta, Nesta, Kaladze, and Jankulovski forming the front line of defense, Flamini, Seedorf, and Ambrosini partnering in midfield, Ronaldinho playing as the lone attacking midfielder, and Inzaghi and Pato as the two strikers.
Fiorentina, ranked fourth in the standings, is not a weak team, but Milan, riding high on their newly crowned Champions League victory, still managed to win the match 2-0.
After the final round of the league, Inter Milan leads the table with 81 points, AC Milan is second with 79 points, Juventus is third with 71 points, Fiorentina and Genoa are tied with 68 points each, ranking fourth and fifth respectively, and Roma is sixth with 60 points.
The European qualification spots have been decided. Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Juventus have directly qualified for next season's Champions League group stage, while Fiorentina will have to start from the Champions League qualifiers. Genoa, Roma, and Lazio, the Coppa Italia winners this season, have qualified for the UEFA Cup.
The Serie A title race remains undecided until the rescheduled match between AC Milan and Roma concludes. If AC Milan wins, they will claim the Serie A title; if they draw or lose to Roma, Inter Milan will win.
This match is not only about who will win the Serie A title, but it is also Maldini's farewell game. It is already foreseeable how much hype this match will generate.
Compared to the rescheduled match against Roma, Milan's away victory against Fiorentina seemed unremarkable. However, one event during the match sparked a huge discussion online and prompted media professionals to conduct multifaceted analyses.
In the 70th minute of the second half, AC Milan took a 1-0 lead, with Pato scoring the goal. Ancelotti immediately substituted Fino for the exhausted Inzaghi. Fino quickly extended Milan's lead after coming on, with Ronaldinho providing the assist.
In the 85th minute, Milan still maintained a two-goal lead, and Ancelotti used his second substitution, replacing Ambrosini with Beckham.
Before leaving the field, Ambrosini beckoned Fino over and solemnly placed the captain's armband on Fino's left arm.
It's worth noting that at this point, there were still several veterans on the field, including Dida, Nesta, Kaladze, Jankulovski, and Seedorf, who had played for Milan for many years and made numerous contributions. Ambrosini's decision to hand over the captain's armband to Fino was hard not to raise questions.
The camera panned to the substitutes' bench, where Maldini stood next to Ancelotti, neither of them showing any expression.
After the match, Gazzetta dello Sport reconstructed the entire incident by focusing on the Milan bench.
In the 83rd minute, Maldini got up and went to Ancelotti's side, covered his mouth and said something to Ancelotti.
Ancelotti raised an eyebrow and then nodded. He then turned to look at the bench, glanced around, and called on Beckham to warm up.
It was called a warm-up, but it was really just taking off his training jacket, because Ancelotti had already put him on the field for the next dead ball opportunity.
Time is running out; just pass your foot anywhere and stall until the game is over.
At the time, Fino was not close to Ambrosini, and Ambrosini specifically called him over, so there was no possibility that the captain's armband was casually handed over to a teammate.
After Ambrosini put the captain's armband on Fino, he patted Fino on the shoulder with expectation and encouragement, but Fino's face showed no expression, neither doubt nor surprise.
Therefore, Gazzetta dello Sport speculates that Maldini orchestrated the incident, having informed Ambrosini beforehand and then requesting a substitution from Ancelotti near the end of the match.
With a 2-0 lead and the game nearing its end, Ancelotti readily agreed to Maldini's request.
Maldini was announcing to the public that Fino was his chosen future leader and the next Milan captain after Ambrosini.
There's so much to analyze here.
With Maldini's retirement countdown underway, has the rivalry between Maldini and Galliani escalated once again?
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Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your support~ [Let me see...]
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