Chapter 97 Beckham
The next evening at the team dinner, almost all the teammates who could come were there, except for Kaladze, who had gone back to Georgia to recover from his injury and did not stay in Milan.
When Maldini arrived by car, he brought someone unexpected yet perfectly reasonable – David Beckham.
In the summer of 2007, 32-year-old Beckham left Real Madrid after four years as a free agent to join Major League Soccer team LA Galaxy. This decision was hard not to interpret as sacrificing his athletic value for commercial gain.
After moving to the United States, Beckham's commercial value indeed soared, but his position in the England national team became even more marginalized.
After England failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championship, Capello succeeded McClaren as England's new manager.
The England national team has a wealth of talent in the midfield position, and Capello has little interest in Beckham, who has been away from the top league. In his plans, the former England captain is just a dispensable substitute.
Beckham still has ambitions for the 2010 South Africa World Cup, which is why he is actively planning to return to Europe. He hopes to impress Capello and gain more trust in the national team.
At the end of October, Beckham reached a loan agreement with AC Milan, and he will play for Milan after the winter break this season.
The signing press conference will be held in a few days. Beckham has arrived in Milan to prepare for his debut and will travel with Milan to Dubai for training during the winter break.
He had already met with Maldini, and upon learning that Fino was treating everyone to dinner that evening, Beckham immediately realized it was a good opportunity to integrate into the dressing room. He expressed to Maldini his desire to attend the dinner.
Maldini readily agreed.
Fino was his chosen future captain, and hosting a dinner for Beckham at a gathering organized by Fino was a fitting occasion.
He called to ask Fino's opinion, and Fino had no reason to refuse, so she naturally welcomed him with open arms.
"Hello, Finney, I'm David Beckham. Please forgive my uninvited arrival, but I can't wait to meet everyone." Upon arriving at the venue, Beckham greeted Finney, who was hosting the event.
The 33-year-old heartthrob already has quite a few wrinkles around her eyes, but she still looks incredibly charming when she smiles.
"Hello, David, welcome to Milan. Ever since the news of your joining came out, everyone in the locker room has been eagerly anticipating it, and today we finally have the opportunity to meet you." Fino gave him a generous and open hug.
Fino and Maldini together introduced Beckham to their teammates.
This is really just a matter of social etiquette. In European football, who doesn't know Beckham? Since he's going to join Milan, how could Beckham not do his homework on the Milan dressing room?
The heartthrob lived up to his name; he was incredibly adept at socializing, making everyone feel comfortable and quickly becoming familiar with his teammates.
This greatly impressed Fino.
The meal was a great success, with everyone enjoying themselves. Even Ronaldinho, who had some complaints about the lack of alcohol, ate very happily.
Perhaps this is the charm of Chinese cuisine.
The next day was another training day.
Fino was once again cornered by the media at the entrance of Milanello.
This time, there were not only local Italian media, but also many media outlets that flew in from England.
It's easy to see that these people came for England's top star, David Beckham.
A journalist from England, speaking in a strangely accented Italian, pushed his way through the crowd and asked loudly, "Mr. Cabrini, what are your thoughts on Beckham's signing? Have you met him yet?"
At this point, even a fool would know what to say: express appreciation and anticipation for the new teammate.
"Yes, we have met. We had dinner together last night, partly to celebrate the league victory against Juventus and partly to welcome David back. David is a very charismatic person. He won over and integrated into the Milan dressing room in just one meal."
Italian media outlets raised a more pointed question: "Beckham's loan seems more like Galliani's business decision. After all, Beckham has been away from Europe for a year and a half. Do you think he still has the ability to compete in a top league?"
“David’s commercial value is unparalleled, but Milan values his competitive value even more. He left Europe too early, which is a loss for European football. His ability is certainly enough to continue playing in top leagues. David’s addition is an effective supplement to Milan’s midfield position and will make our journey in the title race much smoother.”
...
On December 21, Milan played their last match before the winter break, the 17th round of the league, at home against Udinese.
Before the match, the club held a simple unveiling ceremony for Beckham. Beckham, wearing a black wool coat and a red and black Milan support scarf around his neck, waved to the fans in the stands around the San Siro and showed off his number 32 jersey.
At 7 p.m. the previous night, Milan held a grand press conference to announce Beckham's official signing. He will play for Milan on loan until March 2009, a period of three months.
Just one day after his debut, Beckham's number 32 jersey sold an incredible number of units, and the staff printing the numbers are working overtime like crazy.
AC Milan will be missing several players in this match. Ambrosini and Zambrotta are suspended, Kaladze, Borriello, Bonera, Flamini and others are out due to injury, and Seedorf, Emerson and Inzaghi are also feeling unwell and are not included in the squad.
Milan were in good form in the attacking third, with Fino, Pato, and Shevchenko all fit. However, they were short-handed in the midfield and defense, but fortunately Kaká and Gattuso returned to the field in time.
Abbiati remained in goal, Antonini replaced the suspended Zambrotta at right-back, Maldini and Nesta partnered at center-back, Favalli played at left-back, and Jankulovski moved up to left midfield to partner Gattuso and Pirlo in midfield.
In this match, Fino was placed in the attacking midfield position by Ancelotti, partnering with the returning Kaká as a double attacking midfielder, while Pato played as the lone striker in the Christmas tree formation.
In past matches, Fino has had the experience of temporarily playing as an attacking midfielder. It's not too much of a stretch to change Jankulovski from a full-back to a winger, since he also has the task of making forward runs down the flank in the Christmas tree formation.
Udinese's recent performance has been poor. In the last round of the league, they led Lazio by 3 goals, but Lazio scored 3 goals in a row to tie the score, and in the end they only got 1 point.
This precious point is also the only point they have earned in the last 6 league matches.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the live broadcast of the final match of Serie A Round 17, AC Milan hosting Udinese. We just watched Beckham's unveiling ceremony at the San Siro. Since the winter break hasn't started yet, Beckham, who isn't registered with Serie A, will not be playing in this match. He's now back in the players' box, sitting with his celebrity wife Victoria, watching his new club's league performance over the next three months."
The commentators chatted casually before the match started, based on the live broadcast footage, in an attempt to attract the audience's attention and prevent them from jumping off the screen before the match began.
"Now the players from both sides are coming out with their ball boys. We can see that all the ball boys are wearing Beckham's number 32 jersey. This should be a clever arrangement by Milan to show their respect for Beckham. Now the camera is on the players' box, where Beckham is smiling and looks very satisfied."
With the referee's whistle, the match officially began.
Udinese had possession at the start and took an early lead.
After midfielder D'Agostino kicked off, left-back Lukovic dribbled down the flank and into Milan's backfield. Antonini, who was marking him, was no match for him, and Lukovic gained the upper hand in the one-on-one duel.
After breaking past Antonini, Lukovic made a low pass from the left wing to the right rear. Fino's national team teammate Pepe received the ball and immediately shot, but Favalli made a timely save.
Milan then launched a counter-attack from their own half.
After Favalli's successful interception, Maldini gained possession of the ball and passed it directly to Gattuso, who then passed it to Pirlo. Pirlo dribbled the ball across the halfway line and accurately passed it to Fino.
Fino broke through from the middle towards Udinese's half, with Jankulovski and Kaká positioned on the left and right flanks respectively to relieve the pressure on Fino and provide support.
The first to intercept them was Inler.
Fino delivered a godlike performance in the last league match against Juventus, instantly becoming a sensation in Italian football. Even Beckham's arrival couldn't steal his thunder—Beckham is indeed very popular, but many Serie A fans are still immersed in the glory of the former world's top league and are skeptical of stars who come to Serie A to retire. They still pay more attention to local players.
Facing such an opponent, Inler certainly dared not be careless. He was on high alert and focused intently on sticking to Fino.
Fino remained calm and used his right foot to gently flick the ball from behind his left foot to the left front, preventing Inler from getting a foothold. He then took a large step forward, turned 90 degrees to the left, and leaned Inler behind him, hooking the ball with his left foot to continue dribbling forward.
In just two seconds, he broke through Inler's interception. Fino was fast enough to give Inler no chance to turn and win the ball back, leaving Inler to chase after him as he continued his run toward the Udinese penalty area.
At this moment, Lukovic had not yet returned to his position after his forward run. Right-back Ferronetti was marking Pato, and the remaining two center-backs, Sala and Domizzi, did not rush to intercept. Instead, they cautiously guarded against Fino's long-range shot near the penalty area line, waiting for their teammates to drop back and double-team Fino and his teammates.
As Fino approached the edge of the penalty area, Jankulovski and Kaká also came down from the left and right sides, trailing two little tails.
Fino gestured to Pato, who understood immediately and withdrew from the left side of the penalty area, bringing Ferronetti to the left side of the penalty area to make cross runs with Jankulovski.
In the instant the two players switched positions, Fino passed the ball to the left wing. Jankulovski's screen distracted the Udinese defenders, and Pato shot directly at the goal without stopping the ball.
The ball was shot into the goal from the far end.
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Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your support! [cat emoji]
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