Chapter 28 "Are you really in a romantic relationship...?"
Inzaghi returned to the bench with a smile.
Seeing the smile on Inzaghi's face, Gattuso, who had returned to the bench first, was very puzzled.
Normally, Inzaghi would have a sour face when he was substituted at halftime. He's the kind of person who would rather be exhausted than leave the field, so this change is particularly puzzling.
Gattuso waved his hand in front of Inzaghi's eyes: "Pippo, you're coming off, not coming on. Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Inzaghi waved his hand away, saying impatiently, "Take it away, don't disturb my game."
How could Gattuso, that silly little bear, understand the complex emotions of humans? Inzaghi couldn't be bothered with him.
In the 52nd minute, Milan had an excellent scoring opportunity.
Kaka broke free of Inter Milan's defenders and surged into the penalty area from the right wing, then passed the ball to the center, where Pirlo was positioned to receive it. He was about 13 meters from the goal and had a good chance of scoring.
But with his excellent vision, Pirlo immediately noticed that Seedorf, positioned at the far post, had a better chance. So, instead of receiving the ball, he turned aside and let Seedorf pass directly to him.
Seedorf hadn't expected Pirlo to let the ball pass him by, and in his haste, he miscontrolled it, sending it flying backwards.
Fortunately, Maldini made a timely run, controlled the ball, and passed it diagonally to the front of the goal. Fino broke free of Materazzi's defense, jumped high to meet the incoming ball, and powerfully headed it towards the goal.
Cesar, who had been keeping a close eye on the ball's trajectory, was already prepared. He punched the ball with both fists, and it bounced off Materazzi and rolled off the turf.
Inter Milan fans felt a sense of relief, and they applauded Cesar.
Fino sighed, deeply regretting the missed opportunity.
Pirlo and Kaká came over and hugged Fino, encouraging him to keep up the good work.
Immediately afterwards, Cruz pulled Kaká down from behind and received a yellow card. Ancelotti took advantage of the dead ball to substitute Seedorf with Serginho, using up all his substitutions.
In the 63rd minute, Milan faced a crisis in front of their goal.
Jimenez launched a counter-attack from the middle, passing the ball to Ibrahimovic on the right side of the penalty area as he approached the box. Ibrahimovic controlled the ball, turned, and unleashed a spectacular spinning back kick that sent the ball soaring high toward the goal.
Maldini leaped high to meet the ball, headed it powerfully with his forehead, and cleared the ball out of the penalty area.
The ball bounced off the grass, and Cambiasso intercepted it before Serginho could control it, unleashing a left-footed shot from 20 meters out, sending the ball flying back towards the goal.
At that moment, Dida's view was blocked by the player in front of him. He misjudged the ball's trajectory and lunged towards the left side of the goal, but the ball flew past his feet and into the net.
Inter Milan lead 2-1.
There's no room for backing down in a derby, and Milan, trailing behind, fought even harder. Throughout the remainder of the game, Milan relentlessly attacked, attempting to equalize or even take the lead.
In the 71st minute, Maldini made a forward run and received the ball before attempting a lob shot from the left wing, but Cesar caught the ball.
In the 78th minute, Kaká's left-footed volley from 18 meters out was saved by Cesar.
In the 84th minute, Pirlo took a corner kick, Ambrosini won the header and passed it to Fino, whose volley was blocked by Materazzi.
Milan's attacks came wave after wave, creating a magnificent and imposing spectacle.
Inter Milan's coach Roberto Mancini opted to make substitutions to disrupt Milan's attacking rhythm in order to maintain their lead until the end.
In the 85th minute, Mancini substituted Pelé for Jiménez, and three minutes later, he substituted Suárez for Cruz, the goal scorer.
Cruz walked off the field to the applause of the fans. At this time, the display board showed the stoppage time, and with the stoppage time, there were 5 minutes left in the game.
In the 91st minute, after disrupting Inter Milan's attack, Oddo passed the ball from the backfield to Pirlo. Pirlo made a precise long pass, and the ball fell to Emerson, who was 12 meters in front of the goal. Emerson took a shot, but it was blocked by Cordoba, and the ball bounced to the left wing.
Serginho controlled the ball with his foot and continued to cross it before Cambiasso could pounce, aiming at Kaká who had already run into the middle.
The pass came in a bad position, parallel to Kaká's abdomen. If you stop the ball in your abdomen, you need to make an adjustment before you can continue to pass the ball. At this point, Materazzi was already very close to Kaká, and Kaká had almost no time to adjust.
Kaka had a sudden inspiration. He bent his knees and lowered his waist, making a sliding kneeling motion, and used his forehead to head the ball towards the goal.
Cesar maintained his high level of saves, making a side jump and pushing the ball back into the penalty area with one hand.
However, Inter Milan's crisis was not over yet. A red and black shadow slid across the ground and continued to slide the ball toward the goal. Cesar, who was already on the ground, was unable to adjust his body and could only watch helplessly as the ball slipped past him and into the goal.
It was Fino; Fino's follow-up shot helped Milan equalize the score at 2-2.
【!!! Cabrini is really reliable!!!】
[That was so close! I thought we were going to lose. Those last 20 minutes were agonizing. They had so much energy, but just couldn't score.]
Inter Milan this season has been absolutely phenomenal, with a perfect balance between attack and defense. A draw would be acceptable for them.
It's unimaginable how awful Milan's attack would have been these past few months if Cabrini hadn't stepped up. We were last season's Champions League winners, and now we're being completely overwhelmed by Inter Milan; we'd be grateful for even a draw.
How much do they spend during the transfer window, and how much do we spend? Can we even compare? They have a constant influx of fresh talent, while we just rely on our past successes.
[Given their current financial situation, they're unlikely to spend any money during the winter break. Hopefully, Pato can be relied upon.]
...
After equalizing, Milan's attack became even more powerful. Ancelotti believed that if Milan were given another 10 minutes, they would definitely be able to turn the score around.
Unfortunately, there was very little time left in the game, and shortly after the restart, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.
The 267th Milan derby ended in a draw.
After the match, Fino was blocked by Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic is tall and strong, and looks a size bigger than Fino. Standing close to him, he is very intimidating.
Fino took two steps back, raised his head, and looked at Ibrahimovic with a puzzled expression. He couldn't figure out Ibrahimovic's intentions.
Ibrahimovic didn't seem to want to exchange jerseys, nor did he appear upset that Fino had ruined Inter's three points. His face showed a conflicted and struggling expression, giving Fino the same strange feeling as before the match.
Milan was already very cold in late December, and even wearing a long-sleeved jersey, Fino could still feel the chill in the air.
He didn't want to waste any more time with Eevee, so he turned to the right, intending to walk past Eevee, but Eevee blocked his way with his hand.
Fino took two steps back, crossed his arms, and looked up at Ibrahimovic with a questioning look.
As if he had finally made up his mind, Ibrahimovic asked Fino in a low voice, "Why did you stay at Nesta's house during your vacation? Are you really in a relationship?"
He didn't forget to cover his mouth with his hand to prevent the camera from capturing his lip movements.
Upon hearing this, Fino's pupils dilated in shock. He stared at Ibrahimovic in astonishment, trying to see any provocation or sarcasm in Ibrahimovic's eyes. This must be trash talk after being tied by a last-minute goal, right?
But Fino only saw seriousness in Ibrahimovic's eyes; Ibrahimovic was earnest and wanted to know the answer.
Fino found it unbelievable. He covered his mouth and asked, "Are you crazy? You believe tabloid gossip? Don't you have any close friends?"
“Normal friends don’t eat or live together, don’t stroll around arm in arm, and don’t throw coins into wishing wells to pray. These are things that only couples do.” Ibrahimovic continued, covering his mouth and saying seriously, “If you’re not like that, I advise you to stay away from Nesta. He’s the greatest defender in the world and shouldn’t be ruined by homosexual rumors.”
Fino didn't understand what was going on. His derby opponents were very unhappy with him because he was getting too close to his teammates.
How come Ibrahimovic has more say than the US?
Fino felt utterly wronged. He didn't know how to explain himself, and besides, why should he explain himself to Ibrahimovic?
"Fini, what's wrong?" Nesta ran over.
As soon as the game ended, the coaching staff told the players to hurry back to the bench to put on their jackets, as it was too easy to catch a cold if they were sweaty after exercising and then exposed to the wind.
After Nesta put on his coat, he noticed that Fino hadn't returned yet, so he started looking for him. Then he saw Fino being cornered on the field by Ibrahimovic.
The two of them were communicating with their mouths covered, and it didn't look like they were having a friendly social interaction.
Nesta, worried that Fino would be bullied by Ibrahimovic, rushed over immediately.
Upon seeing Nesta, Ibrahimovic's eyes lit up. He put on a friendly smile and greeted Nesta: "Ciao, Sandro."
Nesta nodded to Ibrahimovic, put his arm around Fino's shoulder, and asked in a low voice, "Are you alright?"
Fino was speechless when he saw Ibrahimovic change his expression on the spot. It was astonishing that such an arrogant person as Ibrahimovic could have two faces.
At that moment, a thought flashed through Fino's mind: Could Ibrahimovic be a fan of Nesta?
The idea was too absurd for Fino to believe, but he was still prepared to test the waters.
Fino put his arm around Nesta's waist, saying "It's okay" to Nesta, but his eyes were fixed on Ibrahimovic, and sure enough, he saw a hint of displeasure on Ibrahimovic's face.
Ibrahimovic is really a fan of Nesta!
And he doesn't allow anyone to get too close to his idol!
Isn't this mentality a bit too fanatical and radical?
Even the usually composed Fino was amused by the fact that he was being targeted by a brainless fan.
It's okay, he can make Ibrahimovic even more unhappy, it's that simple.
Fino tilted his head to look at Nesta, and said in a slightly affected and coquettish tone, "Sandro, it's so cold, shall we go back to the locker room?"
Fino was 80% sure Nesta would take off his jacket and give it to him, which would be a fatal blow to a fanatic like Ibrahimovic.
As Fino had predicted, Nesta began to zip up his coat.
Nesta didn't take off his jacket, but instead grabbed both sides of it and wrapped Fino up in it, letting Fino lean against his chest as he walked towards the locker room.
"Hurry up, be careful not to catch a cold."
Ibrahimovic could only watch helplessly as Nesta and Fino walked further and further away.
This kid is absolutely infuriating.
Ibrahimovic lowered his head and kicked the grass a few times, cursing under his breath.
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