Chapter 53 "No whining allowed"
After a two-day holiday, training day arrived again.
As soon as Fino stepped into the locker room, a newspaper was thrown at him by Kaka, who was pretending to be angry.
Fino hurriedly caught the newspaper; it was the Gazzetta dello Sport, and the headline was about Fino's trip to Chinatown yesterday, with the headline as explosive as ever.
Milan's secret romance exposed, teammates urgently called for cover, Nesta and Pirlo's date turned into a threesome.
After reading the title, Fino knew what it meant without even looking at the content. It was nothing more than a veiled reference to Nesta and Pirlo having a date in Chinatown, only to be discovered and surrounded by fans, at which point they frantically sought his help to save the day.
The plot is very reasonable. Fino was supposed to arrive later, so it's too easy for people to spread rumors based on pictures.
This kind of news is unbelievable, not only for Fino, but also for most fans. The media themselves know it's unreliable, but they still write it with great enthusiasm because it increases sales. There are just too many people in this world who enjoy amusement.
Kaka pretended to be angry because Fino went to Chinatown to eat with Nesta and the others without inviting him! Are they still good friends?
"It was a last-minute arrangement, I'll invite you next time." Fino knew Kaka wasn't really angry, but she still tried to appease him.
Kaka crossed his arms and gave a haughty "humph".
Kaka's arrogant attitude continued into his training.
After warm-up, stretching, and specific training, the coaching team arranged a 30-minute sparring session.
To achieve better results, the starting lineups and substitutes were mixed up in the group stage, resulting in a more balanced strength on both sides.
When the teams were being drawn, Fino, Pirlo, and Nesta were placed in the same group, while Kaká was in another group.
Kaka made what he thought was a fierce expression and threatened Fino and the other two, "I'll beat you all to a pulp!"
But Fino felt he was more like a baring, fluffy puppy.
"No whining!" Fino poked Kaka's shoulder with her index finger.
Kaka immediately withdrew his bared white teeth and closed his mouth.
Pirlo laughed exaggeratedly.
Kaka: Indifferent...
The purpose of the sparring training was to consolidate the results of the specialized training in actual combat, so the sparring was not intense. Fino and Kaka faced off several times during the offensive and defensive transitions, and both were very careful.
Thirty minutes flew by, and Kaka's team won 4-3.
Kaka walked up to Fino, put his hands on his hips, and laughed loudly, looking very smug.
"Adorable!" Fino ruffled his hair affectionately.
"I've dried some more apples. They'll be ready in a few days. Would you like some?"
Kaka nodded frantically.
...
A few days later, the 36th round of the league, the 268th Milan derby in history, arrived. This was a crucial battle for Milan's chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
This match was AC Milan's home game, and AC Milan fans wearing red and black jerseys filled most of the San Siro stadium, while Inter Milan fans only occupied a small corner of the second tier of the North Stand.
Amid cheers and encouragement from the fans, the players from both sides entered the field.
In this match, Ancelotti fielded a strike partnership of Fino and Inzaghi, who were in excellent form after recovering from injury, hoping to capitalize on their recent good fortune and win the Milan derby in one fell swoop.
The midfield remained the trio of Gattuso, Pirlo, and Ambrosini, with Kaká connecting the midfield and attack. In defense, Bonera, Nesta, Kaladze, and Favalli lined up, with Kalac guarding the goal.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan will miss this derby match as Ibrahimovic, who has been performing exceptionally well in the first half of the league season, has suffered a knee injury a few months ago and has not yet returned to the game.
Inter Milan's elimination of a goal-scoring machine is certainly good news for Milan, but Fino is somewhat disappointed, as he was really looking forward to Ibrahimovic's reaction.
Every time he faced Ibrahimovic, if Fino got even a little close to Nesta, Ibrahimovic would break down, which was quite interesting. He didn't plan to continue doing that, because even the most interesting things become boring if repeated too often.
Recently, things have been a bit different. Nesta and Pirlo have just made the newspapers with similarly ambiguous headlines that make you want to gouge your eyes out. I wonder if Ibrahimovic will be glaring angrily at Pirlo.
It's a pity Ibrahimovic can't play in this match! Fino thought to himself.
That's right, after hanging out with Pirlo for so long, Fino has become increasingly unethical.
Inter Milan had possession at the start of the game. Zanetti dribbled forward a few steps before passing the ball to Maicon on the wing, who then dribbled forward.
Maicon was incredibly fast, almost like he had wings, quickly dribbling down the wing and running to the outside of the penalty area.
Favalli was waiting there, ready to pounce. As Maicon approached, Favalli made a clean and decisive tackle, dispossessing Maicon and giving him no chance to cross the ball.
Before Favalli intercepted the ball, Nesta was already prepared to receive it. After the ball was tackled away, he quickly ran to the point where the ball landed, controlled the ball, and passed it to Pirlo.
After receiving the ball, Pirlo made a slight adjustment and then launched a long pass from the midfield. Kaká and Vieira secretly pushed each other near the landing point of the ball, while carefully controlling their movements to avoid being blown the whistle by the referee.
Kaká eventually won possession of the ball, but he was closely marked by Vieira and had no room to move forward.
Despite being marked by Vieira, Kaká held his own, keeping the ball firmly at his feet and moving it back and forth between his feet with each step, precisely dodging several of Vieira's outstretched feet.
Vieira knew very well how good Kaka was. Although he had temporarily stopped Kaka, Kaka's renowned dribbling ability put a lot of psychological pressure on him. After several unsuccessful attempts to intercept the ball, Vieira became a little impatient.
Materazzi rushed from the backfield, trying to intercept the ball with Vieira, and Fino, seeing this, also chose to drop back to help Kaká.
Before Fino and Materazzi arrived, Kaká and Vieira had already determined who was better. Kaká's feint fooled Vieira, and he dribbled past Vieira directly.
At this moment, Materazzi was only two meters away from Kaká, and Fino was following behind Materazzi.
After Kaká broke through Vieira, Materazzi immediately went to meet him. At this moment, Vieira had also turned around and joined Materazzi in double-teaming Kaká from behind.
Kaka didn't choose to continue his breakthrough, but instead lobbed the ball high, sending it arcing in a rainbow as it landed behind Materazzi. By the time Materazzi turned around, Fino had already dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
Inter Milan's other center-back, Rivas, was marking Inzaghi in the penalty area when full-back Chivu came up to intercept Fino.
Fino is never afraid of one-on-one battles. He broke through Rivas with just a change of direction and created a one-on-one opportunity, giving Rivas no chance to tackle. By the time Rivas reacted, the ball had already flown towards the lower left corner of the goal.
Inter Milan's goalkeeper, Cesar, remained focused and immediately dove to make a save after seeing the direction of Fino's shot.
Seeing Cesar's save, Fino quickly prepared for a follow-up shot, but Cesar gave him no chance, holding the ball firmly.
Fino didn't dwell on the loss; the competition had only just begun!
Cesar got up and tossed the ball to Cambiasso, who dribbled it toward Milan's half. But before he could cross the halfway line, a red and black figure flashed past him out of the corner of his eye. Cambiasso was startled and looked down to find the ball no longer at his feet.
He immediately turned around and saw a player with a huge "22" printed on his back sprinting towards Inter Milan's backfield with the ball, moving at lightning speed and unstoppable.
That's right, Kaka stole the ball.
Kaka's Brazilian compatriot Maicon cut diagonally down the wing to intercept. As national team teammates, Maicon has a deeper understanding of Kaka's abilities than Vieira, and he would only be more cautious. As Maicon cut diagonally, he had already called for Rivas to join the attack.
After facing Maicon, Kaka took a large step to the left, and Maicon immediately followed suit, moving a step to the right and still blocking Kaka's path. Seeing Maicon's tense expression, Kaka grinned, instantly putting Maicon's mind at ease.
It turns out that after Kaká stepped out with his left foot, he didn't use his right foot to flick the ball. Instead of trying to break past Maicon, he chose to pass the ball, and Maicon's action gave him the space to pass.
The ball flew past Rivas, who was following behind. Rivas raised his foot but couldn't stop it in time, and could only watch helplessly as the ball passed him and was controlled by Fino.
At this point, Fino was very close to the penalty area, which was a very dangerous distance for Inter Milan and posed a great threat to the goal. Fortunately, Materazzi had already closed in on him.
Materazzi kept Fino glued to his side, preventing him from getting a chance to shoot, while covering his mouth to unleash trash talk.
In his view, it would be very easy to mess with Fino's mentality. He's young but famous, clearly a proud and arrogant young man with a tragic past, always protected by the senior players at Milan. His mental fortitude wouldn't be very strong; a simple mention of being an orphan might be enough to break down his defenses.
But Materazzi did not open his mouth immediately.
Based on Fino's performance, his selection for the national team is a certainty, and he might even be selected for the European Championship in a month, which will be his last major tournament. At this juncture, messing with his national team teammate like this could have a negative impact.
Another point is that Fino has an excellent relationship with Milan's midfield trio, and Milan players are very protective of their own, so they certainly won't let him have an easy time. Especially Pirlo, who is the core of Italy's midfield and is extremely good at causing trouble for others.
This made Materazzi hesitate.
Although Materazzi hadn't started speaking yet, Fino knew he was about to start trash-talking as soon as he saw Materazzi cover his mouth.
Materazzi's foul language is notorious in Serie A; he used it to get Zidane ousted in the 2006 World Cup final.
Fino didn't give him a chance to hurl insults, nor did he bother to argue with him, and directly began to break through in a different direction.
Fino's movements were swift and agile; before Materazzi could react, Fino had already dribbled past him.
Unable to stop him with a reasonable method, Materazzi immediately grabbed Fino's jersey and pulled him backward sharply. Materazzi's grip was very strong, and Fino stumbled, lost his balance, and was about to fall backward.
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