Chapter 85 Double Advertisement
During halftime, Fino went straight into the physiotherapy room next door as soon as he returned, where Pato was lying on the physiotherapy bed looking utterly hopeless.
"How is it?" Fino pinched one of Pato's fingers and shook it gently.
Pato slowly sat up, opened his mouth, and before he could even speak, he immediately turned to the trash can and vomited.
He didn't vomit anything, just a feeling of nausea and wanting to throw up.
The team doctor sitting next to Pato laughed: "It's nothing serious, he just needs to rest for a couple of days and will be fine. He only needs to miss one game."
Fino breathed a sigh of relief: "That's really no problem. We have plenty of players in the attacking third. I started this game anyway, and Carlo was going to rotate me in the next game anyway, so it won't affect anything."
He patted Pato's hand and walked out of the physiotherapy room.
Ancelotti rearranged the tactics for the second half. Milan was already two goals ahead, so there was no need to waste any more energy. The second half would focus on defense, slowing down the pace of the game and wearing down Fenerbahce.
Maldini made a pointed remark: "The fans are in a very high mood today."
The TIFO, flags, banners, and other decorations covering the entire stadium represent a significant expense. Given Italy's economic downturn, not every match receives this level of support. The atmosphere at this match even surpassed that of this season's Milan derby.
Maldini's meaning is clear: the fans have already built up the atmosphere to this point, so wouldn't it be appropriate not to go for a big win?
Ancelotti thought for a moment and said, "If we want to achieve something this season, we absolutely cannot have another collapse like last season. When the game is stable, it's good to be conservative and conserve energy; the fans will understand. Of course, focusing on defense doesn't mean parking the bus; we can also counter-attack when the time is right."
After the start of the second half, Milan's shift from attack to defense was very obvious, which made Fenerbahce very uncomfortable.
Milan's slower attack is a good thing for them, greatly relieving the pressure on their defense, but it also means that Milan's defense has become more solid.
In the first half, they had a few shooting opportunities, but now they are having difficulty even dribbling into Milan's backfield, and they have already fallen behind in the midfield battle.
Aragonés was frustrated and brought on two attacking midfielders in succession to increase the attacking power in the midfield and front, but not only did it not achieve the desired effect, but Milan also launched counter-attacks from time to time.
In the 78th minute, Maldini and Nesta combined to block Guiza's shot, and Milan launched a counter-attack from their own half.
The ball was passed from Nesta to Ambrosini, then from Ambrosini to Pirlo, who dribbled the ball into Fenerbahce's half and gradually approached the penalty area.
When Pirlo reached a position about 30 meters from the goal in the middle, Sahin made an overly aggressive tackle and pulled him down, resulting in a direct free kick for the referee.
Pirlo took the free kick himself, while Fino, Shevchenko, and others took their positions, posing as if it were a free kick combination.
After observing the opposing wall and goalkeeper's positioning, Pirlo took a deep breath, stood still, and powerfully swung his right foot, striking the ball with the upper part of his foot. The ball arced beautifully towards the Fenerbahce penalty area.
The Fenerbahce players in charge of forming the wall tried to jump up and head the ball that flew over their heads, but it was all in vain. The ball went over the wall and then suddenly fell.
Fenerbahce's goalkeeper Demirel rushed to make a save after seeing the ball, but it was too late; the ball went straight into the top corner of the goal.
"Goooal! Pirlo's signature free-kick goal gives Milan another victory! Pirlo doesn't seem particularly excited, just smiling and reaching out to tidy his slightly disheveled blond hair. Perhaps this master of the green field is already used to such performances!"
Fino immediately went up and hugged Pirlo, and then both of them were substituted by Ancelotti.
The score remained 3-0 until the end of the match, with Milan securing 3 points at their home ground, the San Siro.
The commentator then relayed the score of the other Group G match to the audience.
"Dear viewers, the other match in Group G has also ended. Dynamo Kyiv took a 1-0 lead in the first half, but Porto scored 2 goals in the second half, ultimately losing 1-2 at home to Porto."
"After the first four Champions League group stage matches, AC Milan has won all four and has accumulated 12 points, firmly holding the top spot. Porto has two wins and two losses, accumulating 6 points and ranking second. Dynamo Kyiv has one win and one draw, accumulating 4 points and temporarily ranking third. Fenerbahce has one draw and three losses, accumulating 1 point and ranking last in the group."
"With two group stage matches remaining, AC Milan has already qualified for the knockout stage. In the four matches already played, AC Milan has scored 14 goals and conceded only 1, resulting in a terrifying goal difference of 13. This almost guarantees that even if they lose the remaining two group stage matches, they will still qualify as group winners due to their superior goal difference."
"The qualification spots in the second group are still uncertain, and the other three teams all have a chance. When you have a behemoth in your group, the other teams in the group can only fight desperately for second place."
From the moment Pirlo scored the final goal, fans in all four stands began celebrating the victory. Cold fireworks and smoke bombs were set off, banners fluttered, TIFOs were raised high, and fans shouted their support amidst the billowing red smoke.
Maldini led the players on a lap of the pitch to thank the fans, and everyone took off their jerseys and threw them into the stands...
This time, Fino was very considerate. He took off his jersey and threw it to the fans, then put his arm around Kaká and Nesta's backs and happily sang the team song with the fans.
Everything was so wonderful; it seemed as if there had never been any discord between the team and the fans. Perhaps this was the magic of victory.
...
Four days later, in the 11th round of the league, Milan faced Lecce away from home.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Before the final whistle, Inzaghi assisted Ronaldinho to score Milan's only goal of the game, while Esposito equalized for Lecce in stoppage time.
The match ended in a draw, which Ancelotti could accept. What he could not accept was that Borriello was injured in the match.
According to the team doctor's initial examination results, Borriello will miss at least two months of matches and training. If all goes well, he will recover from his injury and return to play in mid-January.
This was something that couldn't be helped, Ancelotti sighed, there was nothing he could do even if he didn't accept it.
On the plane back to Milan, Ancelotti gave the players two days off. With the next league match in a week, Milan could finally catch their breath.
The holiday has begun, but Fino has no time to rest. With the help of the club, he and Pirlo finally have time to shoot a joint advertisement.
The product being photographed is a scooter, branded by Suzuki, a Japanese company that Galliani recently acquired as a sponsor for this season.
Suzuki chose Fino and Pirlo because of their summer trip together, believing that their free-spirited and easygoing nature perfectly matched the brand's image.
And they look so good together!
Mendes wasn't too keen on Fino shooting this ad. Look at Fino's face; he's definitely suited for supercar ads. Even if he were to shoot a motorcycle, it should be a large, heavy, cool model. Shooting this kind of small family scooter is a complete waste of his talent.
Unfortunately, Suzuki is a sponsor of AC Milan, and player contracts include an obligation to cooperate with the club's sponsors in promotional activities.
He intended to join forces with Pirlo's agent, Tullio Tinti, to request the club to replace the photographer, as neither Fino nor Pirlo were suitable.
Kaka and Pato, these Brazilians who are always grinning like idiots, aren't they more suitable? They're friendly and cute, with a very approachable temperament, which perfectly matches the affordable and cozy vibe of family scooters.
Moreover, Kaka certainly wouldn't object. Mendes has seen Kaka's advertisement for Jin Sang Zi throat lozenges. The effect is hard to comment on, but all that can be said is that her teeth are very white and her smile is very bright.
However, Tinti rejected him.
Because Pirlo really wanted to shoot this advertisement.
Mendes could hardly believe his ears. Had Pirlo gone mad, or had Tinti gone mad? With Pirlo's style, why wasn't he shooting luxury cars, expensive watches, and fine wines? Why was he actually going to shoot a small family scooter?
So, if Pirlo's footballing career went awry and he doesn't know how to maintain his commercial image, doesn't your agent, Tinti, understand that too? No wonder Fino wanted a foreign agent; are all Italian agents idiots?
Mendes had no choice but to approach the club himself to express his unwillingness to let Fino shoot the advertisement, but the club directly rejected him because Fino and Pirlo were Suzuki's chosen candidates.
There was no other way, so Mendes reluctantly let Fino shoot the commercial.
Early on the morning of November 10th, a Suzuki van came to pick him up from Fino's house. The filming location was in Genoa, about a 3-hour drive from Milan, so they had to leave early.
After opening the car door, Pirlo poked his head out to greet him: "Ciao, Finney, did you sleep well?"
“Ciao, Andrea.”
After getting into the car, Fino kissed Pirlo on the cheek and then greeted the other staff members in the car.
The car started and headed towards Genoa.
The makeup artists immediately began working, applying makeup to Fino and Pirlo ahead of schedule.
Fino was incredibly sleepy after waking up so early. At first, she could chat casually with Pirlo, but soon, with a light sweep of makeup brushes across her face, she became drowsy, her eyes mechanically opening and closing in sync with the makeup artist…
When the makeup artist finished applying his eye makeup, he finally didn't need to open his eyes anymore. But he wasn't completely asleep; he was just resting with his head still upright in the chair, making it easier for the makeup artist to continue working.
The players' makeup wasn't complicated. As long as they were clean, fresh, and healthy, and their natural charm was shown, the makeup artist finished in no time.
At this moment, Pirlo, who had also finished his makeup, sat down and gently patted Fino's hand.
Fino smelled the familiar scent on Pirlo, and without opening his eyes, he instinctively wrapped his arms around Pirlo's arms and fell asleep on his shoulder.
They walked in silence. Pirlo kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, only occasionally glancing at Fino. After a while, he also got sleepy and unknowingly snuggled up to Fino and fell asleep as well.
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