Chapter 155
On December 15, within the framework of round 14 of Serie A, Inter Milan challenged Atlanta away from home.
Logically, Inter Milan and Atlanta do not have much interaction, but in two confrontations last season, Inter Milan lost completely the first time and almost won the second time.
If Atlanta were a strong team, this achievement would be understandable, but they hovered around the bottom of the rankings all year. Facing Juventus, AC Milan and other giants, they did not have much resistance but were especially dominant. dynamic. meet Inter Milan. Confuse.
No, in just the 17th minute, Inter Milan inexplicably conceded a goal. Atlanta winger Komandini dribbled the ball and made a forehand pass. Inter Milan defender Koko in front of the goal had his legs tied for a moment and blocked an own goal.
Inter Milan always takes the initiative on the field, even trying to speed up after conceding a goal.
In the 19th minute, Zanetti made a long pass to the right wing. After Vuong Phong received the ball, he passed the ball diagonally. Unfortunately, Caron in the penalty area reacted a bit slower and did not catch the ball.
Three minutes later, Wang Feng dribbled past Carrera on the right, then passed into the middle for Caron, but his shot went over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Inter Milan came back. Cannavaro sent a long pass into the backfield. Tistuta, his low-angle shot was too direct and was blocked by goalkeeper Taibi. In ten minutes, Inter Milan created many very threatening attacks but all counterattacked unsuccessfully. Vuong Phong looked dejectedly at the opponent's goal, feeling that he really lacked a bit of luck today.
"The first half of the match is about to end. We can see that Inter Milan created a lot of shooting opportunities but none of them converted into goals. They are still 0:1 ahead."
"The Inter Milan players on the field seemed a bit nervous. As soon as he regained the ball, Inter Milan midfielder Dalma pushed Atlanta midfielder Zauri, who was protecting the ball, to the ground in frustration. The referee gave the yellow card as expected."
"Going into halftime, they have to adjust their emotions. After all, there are still 45 minutes left in the match. Look at this attack, it's amazing. Vuong Phong stole the ball cleanly from Zauri's feet! »
After Vuong Phong stole the ball in the middle of the field, he quickly dribbled the ball toward the front court. He and Dalma used a two-way partnership to eliminate Atlanta midfielder Zenoni, who came to his defense. Defender Paganin formed a face-to-face position.
Vuong Phong took small steps forward. After approaching Paganin, his left shoulder sagged and he accelerated sharply. Paganin thought Vuong Phong would slash in the middle so he quickly stretched out his legs to block him. Unexpectedly, he fell again. He could only look helplessly at Vuong Phong. Pass the ball.
After entering the penalty area, Vuong Phong easily crossed the ball and hit Caron's head from close range. The latter followed the trend and eventually crossed the Atlanta goal to equalize the score!
Getting to midfield with a draw is completely different from falling behind. The restless hearts of Inter Milan players have also calmed down. They talked and laughed in the dressing room. Scoring a goal and scoring three points is not a problem.
The situation was still under Inter Milan's control, but in the 69th minute, Atalanta launched a defensive counterattack. Zauri's center was taken over by Cannavaro. Striker Shodati marked the man. Shodati reacted quickly to control the ball and then fired a powerful shot into the away team's goal.
Inter Milan is late again! It was Atlanta's first threatening attack in the second half and also the first shot that was unexpectedly successful.
Throughout the history of world football, there have always been unpopular matches that no one can explain, forming many strange fates.
Seeing the home team players celebrating passionately and the enthusiastic fans in the stands, Vuong Phong raised his eyebrows in frustration. Is there really such a thing as a curse, and is Atlanta the curse of Inter Milan?
Vuong Phong's motto is to never give up no matter what happens, even when having to fight against an illusory destiny!
In the 81st minute, Atlanta revealed its mistakes. Comandini made a mistake and was directly blocked by Materazzi. He threw a long pass to find Caron in the front half, but the defender sent the ball back to the middle of the field.
Di Biagio received the ball, pushed it forward, then passed it to Vuong Phong on the right wing. Wang Feng accelerated from the wing, denied Carrera's defense, and sent the curve to the end of the penalty area. Caron threw the ball into Atalanta's goal and goalkeeper Taibi was unable to block it.
Inter Milan have equalized the score again!
The score of 2:2 remained until the end of the match. Unfortunately, Inter Milan only scored 1 point. Their possession rate reached 70%. The match had 17 shots, 9 shots on target and only 2 goals scored.
Unlike Atlanta, there were only 4 shots and 2 shots on target but all converted into goals. The effect is amazing.
Inter Milan's performance in the last 4 rounds is 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses and only won 4 points. When Inter Milan fell into a disadvantageous position, AC Milan made great progress, winning 3 wins and 1 draw. The difference in scores between the two teams on the rankings has therefore been shortened to 1 point. If it weren't for Inter Milan's efforts to hold Atlanta to a draw, I'm afraid they would have given up first place in round 13.
On December 18, Inter Milan opened the Coppa Italia match. Their opponent is Serie B team Cagliari from Sardinia, southwest Italy. After 3 qualifying rounds, they also eliminated the Serie A team. Cagliari has a glorious history, winning the Serie A title under Luigi Riva in 1970, but has fluctuated between Serie A and Serie B since then.
Although the strength of his opponent should not be underestimated, Cooper still rotated the main players in this match, with Wang Feng and others placed on the bench. They need to prepare soon for the halftime final against Parma.
Once the match started, Cagliari actually played on equal terms with Inter Milan's substitutes.
23rd minute~www.mtlnovel.com~Inter Milan defender Pasquale brought him down while fighting for Cagliari striker Cyril's position in the penalty area. Just to help the team take the lead.
The upstream situation continued into the second half. Just when Cooper couldn't help but want to replace Vuong Phong, the young player who replaced Martins of Inter Milan contributed.
First he received Emre's pass, headed it in front of Cagliari's goal, then 8 minutes later, he used a long-range shot to reverse the score for Inter Milan!
The 18-year-old Nigerian teenager, who scored the double, was as excited as a child. He rushed to the coaching bench to hug the coach and key players one after another. Vuong Phong said a few words of encouragement. Although the two were one year apart and had very different positions in the team, Vuong Phong was not out of breath and often played with them.
"If I have the chance, I want to play in China." Martins, who has a good impression of Wang Feng, said that with his strength, competing in five major tournaments is still a bit difficult.
In the end, Inter Milan eliminated Cagliari 2-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals of Coppa Italia.