Chapter 107 "The Hand of God"
Before the interview with Titan Sports was published, Liu Yangfan first made a playful move on his social media.
After the interview, the camera also captured him asking Fino for autographed cards on behalf of the fans. Since official media couldn't use this footage, he posted the video on his own social media with a cheeky caption.
[Good news, you got the autographed cards. Even better news, there are 10 autographed jerseys from Cabrini. But bad news too, you could have had more.]
The comments section exploded.
[Liu Yangfan, how are you going to repay what you owe me?]
[My heart is breaking so much I can't breathe. He said he wanted to give me a signed Maldini jersey, but you were in a rush to get on the plane?]
[Brother Liu, didn't your nine years of compulsory education teach you how to change your flight ticket?]
[Cabrini is so generous! He gets whatever he wants from whomever he wants; he's definitely the darling of the locker room.]
[Tsk tsk tsk, our Old Liu has finally managed to latch onto a powerful figure.]
I'm so excited for the interview! Release it soon!!!
...
At 8:30 PM on February 15th, the Milan derby, a key match in the 24th round of Serie A, will kick off with AC Milan visiting Inter Milan.
In the first half of the season, AC Milan only won by a single goal, but they completely dominated Inter Milan throughout the match, leaving Inter Milan with no chance. This left the previously triumphant Mourinho humiliated, and he even made some surprising remarks at the post-match press conference.
Even though Inter Milan is ahead of AC Milan in the Serie A standings, Mourinho's pent-up frustration hasn't dissipated, and he's been plotting revenge in the second leg.
AC Milan will still be missing a full squad for this match, as Nesta, Gattuso, and Kaká have all suffered injuries of varying degrees in the past four league games and will be unable to play in this match.
As expected, Abbiati started in goal, Zambrotta played at right-back, Jankulovski at left-back, and Kaladze, after missing four and a half months of matches, finally returned from injury and took Nesta's place to partner Maldini at center-back.
Beckham played his first Milan derby, partnering with Pirlo and Ambrosini to control the midfield. Seedorf and Ronaldinho played as the two attacking midfielders, with Fino leading the attack.
This will be Maldini's 56th and final appearance in the Milan derby. It is now common knowledge in the world of football that Maldini will announce his retirement at the end of the season after the Milan derby.
Maldini's last derby attracted 80,018 fans, more than 500 journalists, and 32 television stations broadcast the match live. Former Milan players such as Cafu were also in the stands to cheer on their former captain.
As the players lined up in the tunnel, Inter Milan players came up to hug and greet Maldini. Even among their derby rivals, many Inter Milan players grew up watching Maldini play and hold the Serie A legend in high esteem.
Fino was feeling sad about Maldini's impending retirement when a tall guy suddenly appeared in front of him.
Fino took a step back and looked up; it was Ibrahimovic.
Fino was getting impatient. He vowed that if Ibrahimovic acted up now, he would show him the Chinese people's masterful command of language. He was already in a bad mood, and now he was just asking for trouble; he deserved it.
But Ibrahimovic came to make a goodwill gesture.
"Hey, Cabrini, Zlatan watched your game against Fenerbahce, that spinning kick was beautiful."
Fino glanced at Ibu in surprise. Had he taken the wrong medicine? Or was he planning a prank?
He replied, puzzled, "Thank you?"
Ibrahimovic touched his nose and continued, "Are you practicing taekwondo or kickboxing? I've practiced taekwondo for many years; perhaps we can spar sometime."
Fino: ? ? ?
Fino was even more confused.
At this point, the referee signaled for the players to enter the field. Ibrahimovic shrugged, said "We'll talk about it later," and returned to Inter Milan's team.
When Maldini, wearing the captain's armband, stood at the front of AC Milan's ranks and slowly walked out of the players' tunnel, thunderous applause erupted from all sides of the stands.
Inter Milan fans displayed a banner in tribute to Maldini: "On the pitch you have been our rival for 20 years, and in life you are a gentleman."
Maldini raised his hands and applauded to the four stands.
This was a rare heartwarming moment in the Milan derby.
Fino thought to himself, "A 20-year rival is also a 20-year friend." Maldini played for Milan's first team for 24 years and participated in 56 Milan derbies. Those Nerazzurri who witnessed his first Milan derby may have grown up from their infancy to have started families and careers, or they may have gone from their prime to old age.
At this moment, the Milan derby seems to have taken a different turn.
However, just five minutes into the game, a firework thrown from the stands into the stadium shattered Fino's expectations.
Fino twitched his lips. Fine, it's the same old recipe, the same old taste.
This firework didn't have a significant impact on the competition, but it marked the beginning of a fiercer competition.
The initial warmth vanished, replaced by confrontation, friction, and shoving that became the norm during the match.
In the 7th minute, Beckham dribbled down the right flank and was tackled by Muntari, whose tackle was less than clean. Beckham and Muntari argued and shoved each other. The referee ran over and separated the two, but did not show any cards.
Immediately afterwards, Cambiasso's pass was lofted into the Milan penalty area. Ibrahimovic lost the aerial duel with Kaladze, who headed the ball out of the box. Kaladze also made a subtle handball, and Ibrahimovic argued with him, but the referee remained unmoved.
The referee's lenient approach seemed to set the tone for the match, forcing both sides to fight for victory in a high-intensity contest.
In the 12th minute, Pirlo took a shot from the middle and passed it diagonally to Jankulovski, who had cut inside Inter Milan's half from the left. Jankulovski dribbled down the wing and immediately crossed the ball when Maicon came up to intercept him.
Seedorf received the ball in the middle and then passed it to Zambrotta on the right wing.
Perhaps the bicycle kick save against Roma gave Zambrotta confidence, as he attempted another bicycle kick inside the penalty area, but unfortunately, Cesar caught the ball directly into his arms.
After retreating to the backfield, Maldini patted Zambrotta on the shoulder and teased, "How about that? I told you you're not quite as good as Fini, you still need to practice more."
Zambrotta glanced sideways at the highly respected captain. Sure enough, he still favored his own youth academy prodigy. More than a month had passed, and Maldini still remembered this.
In the 18th minute, Inter Milan had a great attacking opportunity.
After the ball crossed midfield, Ibrahimovic flicked it with a scorpion kick from his right heel to Cambiasso on the left wing. Cambiasso immediately broke through on the left flank, while Zambrotta, who was marking him, had not yet dropped back to his position, and Beckham was hot on his heels.
As he approached the penalty area, Cambiasso passed the ball low to Stankovic on the right wing before Maldini could block him, creating a one-on-one opportunity for Stankovic against Abbiati.
At that moment, Stankovic was only separated from the goal by Abbiati. He hesitated for a second when judging the shot path, but that one second cost Inter Milan the scoring opportunity.
Ambrosini chased after him from the side and tackled the ball out of bounds.
Cambiasso stomped his feet twice in anger. "What are you hesitating for? Just open the door!"
Inter Milan were awarded a corner kick.
Cambiasso took a breath and took a corner kick from the right. Ibrahimovic won the ball at the far post and headed it out of the penalty area by Abbiati.
Maldini intercepted the ball and immediately passed it to midfield, where Milan launched a counter-attack.
Pirlo passed the ball diagonally to Fino, who had dropped back to receive it, near the center circle. Fino then dribbled past his opponent from the left flank.
After Shen dribbled past Zanetti, Fino continued to dribble down the wing and met Maicon on the left side of the penalty area.
Fino did not choose to cut inside, but instead stepped back to avoid Maicon's interference and passed the ball to Ronaldinho in the middle. At this moment, Ronaldinho was standing on the edge of the penalty area and could shoot at any time.
Center-back Chivu immediately came up to intercept, while the other center-back, Samuel, followed Cesar's instructions and stayed in place, ready to cooperate with Cesar to save the ball at any time.
As Ronaldinho dribbled past Chivu, he was knocked to the ground by Chivu, and the ball flew towards Samuel. The referee considered it a legitimate collision and did not stop the game.
Samuel immediately passed the ball out of the penalty area, aiming at Zanetti, who was about to drop back to the edge of the penalty area.
However, before Zanetti could receive the ball, Fino burst out from the left and volleyed the ball, sending it hurtling back towards the goal.
Cesar was a step too late, watching helplessly as the ball nestled into the top right corner of the goal.
Milan took the lead away from home.
Ronaldinho, who was initially indignant about being knocked down, scrambled to his feet and hugged Fino.
Amid boos from the crowd, Fino and Ronaldinho walked arm in arm back to midfield to wait for Inter Milan to kick off.
Milan's lead didn't last long, as Inter equalized in the 32nd minute with a controversial goal.
Zanetti made a short pass from midfield to Maicon on the right wing. Maicon dribbled down the flank and passed the ball into the penalty area. Adriano misjudged his header, hitting the ball against his own arm. With a forward swing of his arm, he sent the ball into the net.
After scoring, Adriano didn't wait for the referee's whistle before quickly leaving the goal area and running back to the bench to hug Mourinho, looking somewhat guilty.
I've already started celebrating, so you can't say my goal was disallowed!
It looked like a handball, and Abbiati immediately protested to the referee, but the referee ultimately ruled the goal valid.
Milan's players quickly surrounded the referee, a circle of small hands poking at him, arguing loudly about the controversial goal.
However, the referee remained unmoved, shook his head, and said to Maldini, who was leading the team, "Paulo, there's nothing wrong with that ball. Don't disrupt the normal course of the game. You should kick off now."
Ancelotti on the sidelines was furious.
Do you South Americans have a "God's Hand" gene? If Argentinians can do it, then Brazilians can too?
He immediately went to the fourth official to protest, and Mourinho followed suit.
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Author's Note: Thank you all for your support! [Let me see...]
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