Chapter 4 New teammates

Chapter 4 New teammates

The arrival of Degan caused a great sensation in Milan, but this sensational effect did not have much practical effect on his journey in Milan. Degan wanted to stand out, gain a firm foothold in Milan, and eventually conquer the city , In the final analysis, it still depends on the performance on the field.

In the history of Milan, I don't know how many people came to this team under the name of genius and savior, but they could only leave sadly in the end.

Of course Degan didn't want to be one of them. He came here to succeed and to conquer. At the beginning, he had no choice but to leave because he was labeled unqualified. Now he returns to Milan with the title of European Golden Boot , What he wants to do this time is to completely become the king of this team.

AC Milan has great ambitions this season. Faced with the failure of last season, AC Milan seems to be determined to fight hard in the new season. Although there are not many acquisitions, the gold content is not small. Gilardino With a worth of 24 million euros, he won the Italian summer transfer bid king, and Jankulovski's 8.5 million euros also ranked among the top ten transfers. In addition, the free joining of Vieri and Vogel also made AC Milan fans excited, and Eleftheropoulos also made up for the vacancy of AC Milan's substitute goalkeeper.

Of course, what excites Milan fans the most is the return of Degan. The performance of Milan's dedication last season is really hard to satisfy them. In the eyes of everyone, the greatest significance of Degan's return is that it can bring massive benefits to the team. goal.

In terms of transfers, the departure of Thomason and Dorasu helped Milan return part of the funds, and Abbiati also went to Madrid to find a position as a main player, but the transferred players did not have much impact on the strength of AC Milan.

The second day Degan came to Milan was the day when the team concentrated. After a summer of adjustments, the battleship AC Milan officially set sail again.

As an old courtier who played for Milan for two seasons, Kaka naturally became the patron saint of Degan, a newcomer. The first thing Degan has to do is to get to know his new teammates.

Nelson Dida can be regarded as a fellow of Degan. They met each other during the training camp in Rio de Janeiro before. He is a funny guy, and Degan has a very good impression of him.

Like other Brazilian players, Dida has been obsessed with football since he was a child, but it was not until 1993, when he was 20 years old, that Dida really represented the club Brazil's Victoria team in the professional league.

The real representative of the Brazilian national team was the game against Ecuador in 1995. Brazil won 1-0 in that game, but in fact what Dida really did was to look at Brazil's offensive players from the backcourt and waste scoring opportunities time and time again. It's just a long pass from the opponent's midfielder.

The game that really impressed people was the 1996 Olympic Games. At that time, Dida was the goalkeeper of the Olympic team, but the trophy that should have been Dida's first player career was unbelievably won by the Africans. Deprived of his performance, the men's football game in that Olympic Games achieved Nigeria's Kanu.

Dida's performance can only be described as quite satisfactory. It is precisely because of the Brazilians' contempt for Nigeria and their own indifference to this game that the young Dida is doomed to be far from the No. 1 goalkeeper position in Brazil.

Taffarel, Marcos, and Cesar are all excellent goalkeepers in Brazil. Each has its own unique characteristics and defensive methods, but they have one thing in common. Jump.

Dida doesn't look like a Brazilian at all. He frowns at any minute of the game and looks directly at the direction of the ball. Therefore, some people say that this is his weakness and lack of passion.

Compared with his compatriots, Dida is much calmer and seems to be always suppressing something, which also makes it difficult to pay attention to the Brazilian on the court, although he performed well.

Therefore, when he first came to Milan, no one expected him too much, because at that time Milan had a genius Abbiati, who was the gatekeeper of Italy, the same Abbiati who squeezed out Rossi back then. pedicle. Moreover, in people's eyes, the goalkeeper was the last person in the Italian team to waste a foreign aid quota. Almost everyone thought that Dida would step by step as a substitute for a few years, and then transfer to other clubs. .

But it didn't take long. Dida made himself famous for the passport incident for the first time and was loaned back to Brazil. That year, Abbiati didn't bring too many surprises to people, and Milan couldn't Breakthrough.

In the second year, Dida returned to Milan, and his chance came. Abbiati was accidentally injured. He became the temporary main goalkeeper of Milan, but he conquered all the Milanese in only three games, so he became Milan's most trusted patron saint stands in front of the door, guarding the honor of Milan.

Dida is such a late-blooming hero. He spent ten years making players remember this person's name. He has sat on the bench for a long enough time in the national team. He brings the power hidden deep in his heart to the fans. **. He can coolly save the opponent's shot after shot, and then pat his defender, take it easy when I'm here. Every attack of his can make the opposing player depressed to death, and he is the only one in the entire penalty area.

In the shocking comeback with Inter Milan last season, he singled out Adriano. When almost everyone believed that Milan missed the goal again, he just ate his compatriots raw, saving the last hope for Milan.

He is a Brazilian, but he is not very "Brazilian" when he hits the ball. His solid basic skills give him enough confidence, and his good response and physical fitness make him not afraid of long-range shots. He even gives people the false impression that he will always predict the future. .

Milan once fell into the dilemma of having no defenders available and veterans frequently playing, but Dida's stable performance gave Milan a leisurely time to wait for Nesta's return and strong support to join.

The most disturbing memory is that in the 2003 Champions League competition, Milan defeated Inter Milan in the semi-finals, shattering the last glimmer of hope for Inter Milan that season. In the final battle against Juventus, relying on the performance of Miraculous Dida to save the opponent's penalty three times, Shevchenko made the final decision and engraved the name of AC Milan on the Champions League after Milan's 9-year absence.

Dida is tall, with a long wingspan, quick response, strong determination, excellent goal line skills, and limited range of motion are his shortcomings, but his excellent positioning and saving skills and physical coordination can more than make up for this weakness.

Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, the former Messina goalkeeper with a height of 1.90 meters, quietly transferred to Milan, but Degan knew very well that the Greek eventually left quietly, even some fans did not know With this person, his only existence value is probably in line with the club's transfer ideas, and he is a free agent.

Valerio Fiori, an old Italian goalkeeper, played for many Italian teams before coming to Milan, including Lazio and Fiorentina in the first division. He has been the main goalkeeper for a long time, but in AC Milan, he can only serve as the third substitute goalkeeper.

Fiore gave Digan a very quiet feeling, and he was also very satisfied with his role in the team. He worked hard in training and waited for the opportunity that would come when he didn't know when it would come.

"Welcome, Rhodes! Work hard, everything you do in training, God sees it!"

Degan knew that Fiore wanted to tell him that God would leave opportunities to those who were prepared, and Degan also wanted to tell Fiore that he didn't believe in God at all, but he still held back. In short, this Italian It felt good to him, at least Fiore was the first new teammate to talk to him.

"Welcome! Rhodes!"

Walking towards Degan is the flag of Milan, the greatest left-back Maldini on the stone steps, and one of the most admired players in Degan's previous life.

When Maldini, who was only 16 years old, represented AC Milan for the first time in 1985, no one would have thought that this would be the beginning of a great legend.

At the time, legendary head coach Nils Liedholm told Maldini: "Go out and play, it's just a game."

On January 20, 1985, he represented AC Milan in a 1:1 draw with Udinese for the first time in Serie A.

On September 8, 1985, he represented AC Milan in a 1:3 away game against France's Auxerre for the first time in a European competition.

On March 31, 1988, he represented the Italian team in an away 1:1 tie with Yugoslavia for the first time in an international competition.

Maldini's full of passion and mature performance made him quickly win a main position in the AC Milan team, and won the Serie A championship with the team in the 1987/1988 season. When the first golden medal was hung around his neck, he was only 19 years old, 3 years earlier than his father won the first gold medal.

When Maldini is on the court, he is full of energy at all times. No matter what happens on the court, he will keep his head clear, not impulsive, and defend the opponent accurately and cleanly. The technique of his left foot is perfected day by day. If space permits, in order to avoid the opponent, he will first kick the ball more than 3 meters, and then divide the ball, which has been tried and tested.

In the 1988./989 season, Maldini won his first European Champions Cup. In the final, he and Baresi and other teammates' impenetrable back line made Steaua Bucharest return without success. While solidly defending, he frequently added assists, leading AC Milan to a 4-0 victory over Steaua Bucharest.

In the second year, Maldini and his teammates beat Benfica 1-0 and won the European Champions Cup again. Ushered in another golden age of AC Milan after his father Cesar.

In the 1994 European Champions Cup, because Baresi and Costacurta were suspended and could not participate in the final against Barcelona, ​​coach Capello transferred Maldini into the middle. Let the demeanor let people experience his skills. In this game, the Barcelona team, which has superstars such as Romario and Stoichkov, lost 0:4.

Maldini has been hailed as the best defender on the planet, effective but not rough, a solid player. Although there are occasional fouls, but because he has a good impression in the referee's mind, he can often escape punishment by luck. This should be due to the true biography of his father Maldini. It is his father's advice to play football with his brain instead of hurting his opponent.

Maldini is a truly modern defender. In the confrontation with the opponent's forward, he always wins with resourcefulness and rarely uses foul tactics. The spirit of fair play is best reflected in him. An example for players to learn from. With excellent skills, excellent physical condition, broad vision, good judgment of the game situation and just the right assists, the left side of the court is completely under his control.

As the world's number one left-back, in the game, no matter how good a striker is, he is unwilling to break through Maldini's barrier. His biggest feature is the combination of pressing and marking and blocking, clear mind, strong judgment, blocking the ball and not blocking people, and not invading and fouling. He has been fighting on the green field for so many years, and no striker has ever been injured by him. He doesn't argue with the referee, he treats his teammates like a brother, and he is the absolute spiritual leader of the team.

"Milan is one big family, I think you will like it very quickly!"

Then Maldini took over Kaka's job and went to introduce other teammates to Degan. Listening to Maldini's words, Degan felt very comfortable, gentle and dignified.

Next is Digan's fellow right-back Cafu, the captain of the Brazilian national team and one of the famous magic wings. In 1994, Cafu won the World Cup with the Brazilian national team and has since become a world-class star. After the World Cup in the United States, Cafu spent a disappointing season with Real Zaragoza in Spain. In the second year, Cafu returned to the Palmeiras club in Brazil. With two seasons of excellent performance, in 1997, Cafu returned to Europe and joined the Serie A powerhouse Roma.

In 2001, Cafu helped Roma win the Serie A championship after many years. In Capello's team, Cafu played an important role.

In the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, he served as the captain of the Brazil team. At that time, Cafu was already 32 years old. Although he was at the age when his football career entered a degeneration stage, Cafu's defensive ability at right back was still very strong. The active running allowed the Brazilian team's defense to be effectively guaranteed. In the end, he led the Brazilian team to defeat the major teams on the World Cup journey, and won the World Cup without losing a game.

Although he is now older, Cafu is still in a stable state, with a balanced offense and defense, sharp assists, and a solid defense. He is always a smiling right back. He is good at attacking from the right wing. An excellent cross, and he often relies on long shots to break the goal. After joining AC Milan freely, he made the team's right wing attack and defense more coordinated.

However, the meeting between Degan and Cafu seemed a bit embarrassing. After all, after the Brazilian national team refused to play, Cafu had severely criticized Degan.

Degan didn't appreciate it either. Football speaks with strength, not with words or relationships. He believes that he can succeed in Milan and regain the respect of his teammates.

Alessandro Costacurta, AC Milan's deputy, is also a representative of Italian football defensive culture,

His career almost coincided with the period when Berlusconi was in charge of Milan, and he witnessed every detail of the establishment, decline and revival of the Milan dynasty in the past 20 years.

Except for being loaned to Monza for one season in the 86/87 season, Costacurta dedicated his entire football life to Milan. He is one of the symbols of Milan's loyal spirit.

As a central defender, Costacurta's physical condition is very ordinary, and his turning speed has been criticized for many years. Facing various types of forwards, Costacurta has maintained a high level for a long time purely relying on his superb defensive skills.

It can be said that Costacurta itself is a textbook of defensive techniques, which condenses the defensive awareness accumulated in Italian football for decades.

The golden period of Costacurta's career was concentrated in the stage of the Milan dynasty created by Sacchi and Capello. The defense line he formed with Baresi, Maldini and Tassotti was not only invincible in the club, but also transplanted to the national team. Unbreakable, Costacurta won almost all championships during this period.

But starting from the 1994 Toyota Cup, Costacurta began to decline. In the game against Sarsfield, Costacurta first fouled and gave the opponent a penalty, and then returned a mistake to make the team concede another goal. Before the end, he received a red card and was sent off. Milan lost 0:2 for the second consecutive time Missed the Toyota Cup last year.

With the retirement of a group of veterans such as Baresi, Costacurta fell into a trough together with Milan. He lacked leadership qualities and was constantly accused of making mistakes. Only his belief in loyalty to Milan has never changed. After the end of the 01/02 season, Costacurta, whose contract expired, announced the end of his 17-year career. Just as he was preparing to go to the American Major League for gold, the Milan club recalled the 36-year-old Costacurta at the end of August to give the team a reassurance before Nesta's transfer.

After that, Costacurta played the role of substitute with peace of mind and enjoyed the last happiness of his career. Whenever Nesta or Maldini is injured, Costacurta can always stand up and play the game with all his heart and responsibility. In the 2003 Toyota Cup, Costacurta replaced the injured Nesta and partnered with Maldini. His almost perfect performance washed away the shame of 10 years ago. Unfortunately, Costacurta missed a free throw in the penalty shootout. Milan lost to Boca Juniors continued the regret of the Toyota Cup.

Unlike Maldini's innate leadership qualities, Costacurta feels more like a good old man. When Maldini introduced him to Digan, Costacurta just sat quietly. He said, and then stretched out his hand proactively, as a welcome to Degan.

Then I met a Milan newcomer, the Czech Jankulovski, a left-footed offensive midfielder, but in the national team, his position is the left back. He has excellent physical fitness and outstanding skills , often inserts assists to score, and is very experienced in taking penalty kicks.

This summer, the Czech international Ianku spent 8 million euros in Milan and transferred from Udinese. The reason for introducing him is that Milan probably hopes that he can improve the offensive and defensive capabilities of the team's left back.

Kaha Karadze, an excellent defender from Georgia, is capable of playing multiple positions such as central defender, left back and left midfielder. He has strong assisting ability and high-quality crossing.

In 2001, he came to San Siro with a worth of 16 million euros, and immediately became an important part of the team's defense, making an important contribution to Milan's 2002/03 Champions League. To commemorate this achievement, the Georgian local post office specially published a stamp with Kaladze's head as the theme.

As the most famous player in Georgia, Karadze is the idol of young people in the country. He represented the national team in 1996 and was elected as the Georgia Footballer of the Year twice in 2001 and 2002. Although Georgia has never entered the finals of the competition, But Kaladze's captain image has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

As an old courtier of Milan, Kaladze is also a member of the round table meeting in Milan's locker room and plays an important role in the team. He also welcomed Digan's arrival.

"Last season, you made us suffer enough. I hope that in the new season, you can also show the defenders of other teams, especially those Inter Milan people next door!"

The next person I met was Nesta. I don't know why Degan saw Nesta off the court for the first time, and always felt that this guy should go to the catwalk instead of working hard on the court.

It's hard to imagine that such a gentle and gentle person will be the offensive finisher that makes all forwards daunting on the field. Last season, Degan and Nesta also had a chance to play against each other. That time Degan completed a hat-trick, but Nesta also made him suffer enough during the game.

Nesta can be said to be the best central defender in Italy in the past 15 years, and he is also one of the top central defenders in the world. In the nine years from 1998 to 2007, he was the well-deserved No. 1 central defender in the world.

Nesta represented Lazio in the league when he was 17 years old. From the second season, he slowly secured the position of Lazio's main central defender.

In 1998, Nesta, who was only 22 years old, took over the captain's armband of the Lazio team and became the banner of the North Stand of the Olympic Stadium in Rome.

In 2002, Lazio was caught in an economic crisis, and the arrears of wages to the players was brought to court, and it was very likely that they would not be able to register to participate in the Serie A next season. The standard-bearer Nesta has changed from not for sale to a victim. He has become Cranioti's lifesaver and Lazio's savior. Lazio needs to use him to exchange a sum of money to ease the tense economic crisis. Nesta, who loves Lazio deeply, is in a mess like his hair. In the end, AC Milan bought the soul of Lazio for 30 million euros.

When Nesta left the Forhero training base, everything about the transfer had been finalized. Outside the gate of the base, more than 100 fans gathered around Nesta's Mercedes-Benz sports car, feeling more sad than angry.

Some people were persuading him, some were trying to keep him, and a fan even knelt in front of his car. At this time, Nesta was also very sad, because he had already signed with Craniotti, and he couldn't bear it. Tell the fans this.

"I don't know anything, I haven't signed yet."

It was a white lie, but the fans saw the dodge in his eyes, so Nesta explained: "If I left for the good of Lazio, I hope you can understand."

After Nesta transferred to AC Milan, he and Milan's old captain Maldini formed the strongest central defender combination in the world at that time, which also made up for the lack of slow turning of veteran Costacurta. The arrival of Nesta made Milan's rear The strength of the defense line has been greatly improved, making Milan win the UEFA Champions League in the 02/03 season.

In the following 03-04 season, Milan won the league championship again, but Nesta was seriously injured again. Fortunately, veteran Costacurta stepped forward to fill the vacancy left by Nesta. At the same time, in the closing stage of the league, Nesta's timely comeback helped Milan hold the advantage.

During his time at AC Milan, Nesta was an indispensable defensive leader in AC Milan, helping the team win various honors including the European Champions Cup.

He is a veritable steel defender. His sense of position and position selection are almost impeccable. Tackles and interceptions are almost impossible, and he rarely takes cards. Speed ​​is not his strong point, but he will never hold him back. , he is a natural leader, calm superman.

Simic, in the talented Croatian team that won the third place in the World Cup in France, people's eyes are always focused on the final collective performance of Boban, Suker and other art masters. In fact, behind them, a 23-year-old The young defender also quietly contributed to Croatia's bravery.

His outstanding performance won the favor of Inter Milan boss Moratti who wanted to rebuild the "Grand Inter Milan". In the winter of 1999, Simic moved to the Nerazzurri. But like Inter Milan's performance, Simic has been ups and downs there, and his state is unstable.

After adapting to Serie A, Simic and Seedorf came to AC Milan in the same city together. Here, Simic was transformed into a qualified right back by Ancelotti. In the first season, Simic was firmly in the main position. He won the Champions League with the team, the only regret is that he didn't play in the final.

But with the arrival of the Brazilian Cafu, Simic lost his position as the main force, and spent most of his time on the bench. Last season, he only played twice due to injuries. Despite this, Simic is still willing to stay in Milan.

It seems that as long as the players who have played for AC Milan will have an unimaginable affection for this team, even if they have only played for one season, they will still be reluctant to part here.

Just like the Frenchman Dorasu who played for Milan the previous season, although he didn't get too many opportunities in Milan, he didn't complain about Milan at all, and even thanked everyone when he left.

If it wasn't for participating in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, maybe he would have stayed here, acting as Pirlo's stand-in with peace of mind, waiting for the few opportunities to prove himself.