Chapter 47

In the fourth round of Serie A, Inter Milan was a guest in Turin. Coach Cooper rotated the lineup. Many main players such as Zanetti, Cordoba and Vieri did not appear on the squad.

The strength and tacit understanding of the substitute lineup is much worse than that of the main lineup. The team played a bit chaotic at the beginning, and there were some problems in the organization of both offense and defense.

Forward Maximilian O'Connell opened the scoring for the hosts in the 17th minute as Torino capitalized on an Inter defender's error.

In the 34th minute, Di Biagio passed the ball into the penalty area, and the Torino defender made a header to clear the siege, but the ball did not fly out of the penalty area, but was intercepted by Nagi on the edge of the penalty area.

After Nagi broke the ball, he took the ball two steps horizontally along the penalty area line, and then shot with his foot. The ball drew an arc in the air and hit the dead corner of the goal.

1:1, Inter Milan equalized the score!

Easy side to fight again, in the 75th minute, Torino once again took advantage of Inter Milan's defensive mistakes to overtake the score.

Seeing that the team was about to swallow the first defeat of the season, it was Nagi who stood up again. During stoppage time, he received a cross from Di Biagio in the penalty area. Although the defensive players tried their best to interfere, But still failed to stop Nagi pushing and scoring.

Relying on Nagi's brace, Inter Milan was finally able to get away with a 2-2 away draw with Torino.

In the post-match press conference, coach Cooper severely criticized Inter Milan's defense: "Although we have rotated, this is not an excuse for low-level mistakes. Our two conceded goals are entirely due to attitude problems. "

"In these botched performances I can see why the club lost last season, which is undoubtedly distressing and regrettable."

For Nagi, Cooper expressed his appreciation for him without hesitation: "Mina's efforts to turn the tide allowed us to get a precious 1 point. I bet that without Mina, we would never have been able to score points in Turin."

In the fifth round of Serie A, Inter Milan played against Bologna at home. In this game, Cooper tried his best to win a victory, but the performance of the players on the field was still sluggish.

Nagi was under strict defense during the game. He was fouled many times and fell to the ground. Even though the referees in Serie A were more lenient in the penalty scale, they still gave Bologna's defense four yellow cards, which shows how big the opponent's actions are.

Even so, Nagi still broke through the sideways many times to create opportunities, but unfortunately all the high-quality crosses were wasted by non-threatening finishing kicks.

In the 77th minute of the second half, Nagi received the ball near the right side of the frontcourt. He swung past the defense with a beautiful Marseille maneuver. When he was about to break through with the ball, he was tackled from behind by the opponent's defender.

Italian Brando Ebert, the referee on duty, finally couldn't take it anymore and showed the defensive back a second yellow card to send him off.

Nagi stood up with Zanetti's help. He felt sore all over his body, as if he had fought with someone. Bologna's style of play made him very annoyed, and his body was constantly injured.

So he personally took the free kick this time. This is the first time he has taken a free kick on the Serie A stage. Recalling the previous feeling in my mind, he started to run up and hit the goal directly!

The ball drew a strange arc in the air, and then fell against the crossbar and crashed into the visiting team's goal!

After scoring the goal, Nagi roared and celebrated while running, and deliberately passed by the Bologna coach's seat to vent his dissatisfaction.

However, Inter Milan's leading advantage was still not maintained until the end. In the 85th minute, Inter Milan's rear line made a mistake.

After forming a single shot, facing goalkeeper Toldo, Conroy calmly pushed and hit the far corner to help the team equalize the score.

1:1, Inter Milan bitterly swallowed a draw at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.

After this round, Inter Milan, which had two consecutive draws, fell to fourth in the league. Juventus led the standings with a record of complete victories, followed by Roma and Lazio. AC Milan also returned to the eighth place with its two recent victories.

After the game, Nagi received a detailed inspection by the club. He had several skin injuries all over his body, but there were no serious hidden injuries. This made the club's senior management heave a sigh of relief.

Club chairman Moratti said angrily: "We must protest to the Football Association. This is not a reasonable confrontation at all, but violence and a malicious foul!"

Technical director Horacio Boehm said: "Yes, sir, we have organized personnel to edit the malicious foul footage of Nagi in this game, submitted it to the Football Association and Gazzetta dello Sport, and officially reported to the Football Association Protest and believe that the referee's scale will be changed in the future."

Moratti nodded, and then said: "What's going on with the team's recent state? Didn't they make great progress at the beginning of the league? Why is it so difficult now?"

Bohm said: "I discussed with the head coach Cooper, the problem is mainly concentrated in two aspects, the first is that the national team game makes the players very tired, and the second is that the smooth start of the season has made some players relax."

"No matter what the reason, let Cooper solve it as soon as possible. The tragedy of last season must not be repeated in Inter Milan."

The day after the draw with Bologna, Cooper canceled the team's holiday and called all the players together to study the last two games. He said: "Guys, we made a lot of mistakes in these two games."

"The competition in Serie A is very fierce, and any game may determine the final title of the league championship, so we cannot make the same mistake again."

He analyzed one-on-one, including the tactical execution and actual performance of the players on the field. When it was Nagi's turn, Cooper made the only praise: "Nagi fully implemented the tactics I prescribed on the field, and even did better. , These two draws are also what he worked hard to get back."

"Not only that, he is also the hardest working one in the whole team, I hope everyone can look up to him." Nagi showed an embarrassed expression, he felt very much like being praised by the teacher in class typical.

Then everyone got into the training. Beside the treadmill, Recoba fiddled with the machine with a look of lovelessness, and complained to Nagi who was training next to him: "My vacation, my lovely Italian girl, all turned into bubbles."

"Nagi, how can you do such a boring thing like training all the time?"

Nagi said while running: "Because I don't feel bored. After each training, I feel that my body has been strengthened and improved, just like fighting monsters and upgrading in games. It is very enjoyable."

Recoba rolled his eyes and said, "Is it possible to become a superman by strengthening the body? I really can't understand the idea of ​​a genius."

Seeing Materazzi who was also training seriously, Recoba asked: "What about you, why are you training so vigorously? Do you also feel the progress of your body?"

Materazzi said seriously: "I haven't felt obvious progress, but only by obeying the coach's order and continuous training can I have a stable performance and not be eliminated."

"A player like you who debuted very smoothly may not be able to understand a player like us who came from the bottom."

Hearing what Materazzi said, Recoba sighed and said: "I feel that the world is full of malice towards players like me. Why is it so difficult to lie flat and make money?"

Everyone couldn't help but smile when they heard that, captain Javier Zanetti said with a straight face: "Don't complain about being lazy, be careful if the head coach finds out, he will give you extra training alone."

Recoba shrank his neck in fear, so he had no choice but to get on the treadmill and start the **** training.

Just as Nagi was preparing for the game, his agent Balmond called. He said excitedly: "Nagi, FIFA has officially sent out an invitation. I hope you can attend the FIFA Union Awards Ceremony held in Zurich, Switzerland in December." "

This year Nagi received a lot of honors. He led Genk to win the league championship, won the league golden boot, and won the Europa League champion and the best player in the Europa League. These are enough to make him famous in European football.

Balmond continued: "And you are shortlisted for the list of 30 candidates for the World Footballer of the Year. Although there is a high probability that you will not win the award, you are also the first Asian player in history to win this award."

"Nagi, you must attend the ceremony. This not only means a further increase in reputation, but also a good relationship with FIFA. Let me think about what else needs to be done. Oh, first of all, I need to communicate with the club to let They have a blank period, and they will find you a good styling team, make your first appearance in world football, image is also very important, what else..."

Nagi heard Balmond talking incoherently on the other end of the phone, he felt a little funny, and said quickly: "Bamond, calm down, don't you have broker friends in the circle, ask them how they do it. Yes, record things in order and complete them one by one."

Hearing what Nagi said, Balmond finally calmed down a bit. It was his first time facing such a battle, so he was at a loss for a while, but since Nagi trusted him so much, he was grateful and even more grateful. He thinks it should be done beautifully.

Soon, the news that Nagi was shortlisted for the World Footballer of the Year was reported by the Italian media, and his teammates sent congratulations one after another. The club also immediately stated that the technical director Horacio Bohm would personally lead the team , formed a small team and went to Zurich together.

"Mina, your selection is not only your personal glory, but also the glory of the entire Inter Milan. You must know that it is a symbol of one of the 30 best players in the world. The only two players in the Inter Milan team are you and Ronaldo. "

"If you can help Inter Milan achieve good results, we will mobilize all our forces to help you win the highest honors belonging to professional teams, the European Ballon d'Or and World Footballer of the Year. You know, clubs and players always complement each other." Bohm said.

Why many football superstars flock to giants is not only because they provide a superior environment and generous remuneration, but also because they have sufficient exposure and connections. If you are in a second-tier club in Europe, even if you lead the team to win the Champions League, the club does not have sufficient operational capabilities to allow you to stand out in the award competition.

Ronaldo was absent for most of last season, so he definitely missed this year's World Player of the Year, so he originally didn't plan to go, but after seeing Nagi was also selected, he changed his mind.

"Mina, I will go with you this time, and I will also introduce you to relevant FIFA officials and some famous players. I believe they are also very happy to get to know you."

Nagi nodded. With Ronaldo's guidance, he believed that he would not make any mistakes and make some jokes during the awards ceremony.

After this incident spread to Japan, it once again aroused widespread discussion. After winning the Asian Footballer of the Year, Nagi created the history of Japanese footballers, as if launching an impact towards the highest honor of the World Footballer of the Year.

Of course, the domestic fans and the media are still relatively rational. Everyone generally believes that Nagi should accompany the runners this time, but who can deny that Nagi will win this trophy in the not-too-distant future?

"Mina's development has far exceeded our expectations." An old fan lamented on the forum: "When our 18-year-old youth players were still struggling in the domestic second-tier league, Mina of the same age already stands among the best players in the world."

"This makes us have to reflect on whether there is a problem with our youth training, and how many talented football teenagers in Japan have been buried."

This article caused great discussion and controversy in the forum. Many people think that local youth training is the right way, but it needs to be combined with foreign advanced methods. Some people think that gifted children should be sent directly to Overseas, accept football training from foreign systems.

The two sides refused to give in to each other, which triggered a big battle of words on the Internet. The popularity of Nagi and football was far ahead of other topics.

Marco Antonio Bentegotti Stadium in Verona, Italy, where Inter Milan and Verona played the sixth round of Serie A.

Under the urging of the coach, Inter Milan played very hard and firmly grasped the situation on the field. In the 17th minute, Nagi broke through from the right and made a cross. Vieri seized the opportunity and opened the scoring for the team.

After that, Inter Milan played more and more smoothly. In the 27th minute of the game, Zanetti hoisted the ball into the penalty area in the frontcourt. Nagi quickly followed up. But the referee saw very clearly that when the ball was passed, Nagi was not in an offside position.

So he received the ball near the small penalty area, and there were no guards around. Nagi decisively volleyed and made another goal for Inter Milan.

In the 41st minute, Inter Milan made a counterattack. Nagi took the ball with his back on the right side of the penalty area. He resisted the defender and turned around forcibly. The opponent's No. 21 defender did not expect Nagi to be so strong in confrontation, and was brought down before he had time to react.

Nagi, who got rid of the defense, crossed into the penalty area. At this time, the Verona center back in the penalty area fell to the ground and wanted to destroy the ball. Nagi poked the ball forward to form a man-ball pass and avoided the sliding tackle. .

After catching up with the ball, Nagi volleyed directly with his left foot, and the ball flew into the net against the post.

3:0! Before the end of the first half, Inter Milan took a big lead and sealed the victory!

The score of the second half did not change. In the 57th minute, Nagi was substituted. Then the head coach Cooper made successive substitution adjustments, replacing the main players to rest.

With Nagi's two shots and one pass, Inter Milan won a hearty victory, and the players could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After this game, the results of the Europa League group stage draw for Inter Milan came out. The four opponents were Odense from the Danish First Division, Heerenveen from the Eredivisie, Lens from the Ligue 1 and Osasu from La Liga. accept.

This draw cannot be said to be very good. Except for Odense, the level of other teams can compete with Inter Milan, but it is not too bad, because the overall level of Inter Milan was the strongest in this group.