Chapter 364: Watching the Fireworks

"The match restarts! After conceding a goal, AC Milan's offense becomes noticeably tighter!"

"Suker begins to drop back frequently, no longer content to stay up front. He's proactively receiving and distributing the ball, reopening the left flank for AC Milan!"

With each touch and pass, Suker helps AC Milan maintain possession while closely observing Inter Milan's defensive movements.

Maicon is no Srna—this guy is cocky and overconfident in his abilities.

In fact, he prefers pushing forward over defending.

He frequently overlaps down the flank.

Noticing this, Suker moves out to the wing.

Just then, Inter Milan intercepts the ball and launches a counterattack.

As the ball advances into AC Milan's half, Maicon indeed makes an overlapping run.

"Pass to me!"

Maicon charges down the wing, raising his hand to signal for the ball.

As the teammate passes, Maicon makes a slight adjustment to control it.

But at that very moment, a figure slides in from the front and sends the ball to Simic with a single touch.

"Suker! Active retreat and interception!"

Suker completes the interception, quickly twisting his body and signaling Simic for the ball.

Maicon instantly turns to defend.

The two are nearly neck-and-neck.

Maicon is confident in his speed, so he casually follows, hoping to disrupt Suker once he controls the ball.

Simic's pass flies just past Suker's side. Maicon sees his chance.

"Now!"

Maicon charges in hard.

At the same time, Suker also charges sideways with full force.

The impact between the two leaves both slightly off balance.

"Damn it!"

Maicon curses under his breath.

He sees the ball ahead and tries to accelerate.

But at that very instant, Suker explodes forward with a powerful burst of speed, instantly pulling ahead by half a body length.

"He's so fast!"

Maicon is shocked and pushes harder to chase.

But Suker only gets faster, stretching the gap between them.

By the time Suker reaches the ball, Maicon barely makes it back.

But Suker is already making a move to change direction. Maicon tries to keep up.

Suker dribbles and cuts; Maicon follows.

Suker switches direction again; Maicon follows.

Suker suddenly stops and changes direction again. Maicon loses balance.

Three rapid, short-range direction changes—who the hell could keep up with that?!

Just as Maicon thinks Suker can't possibly change direction again, Suker steps forward and uses his right foot to change direction once more.

"Damn it!"

Maicon grabs Suker's jersey with both hands, refusing to let go.

Suker runs a few steps before stopping, raising his hands toward the referee.

Are you going to call it or not?

Tweet!

The whistle blows.

The referee calls a free kick for AC Milan in the attacking third. As for Maicon? Not a damn thing!

"You've got to be kidding! They've definitely bribed him!"

Suker swears in frustration.

He even considers asking Maldini—"Is old man Berlu broke or something? Can't even afford to sort out the ref?"

Pirlo steps up for the free kick.

It's not a great position—too far left.

Pirlo doesn't go for goal but sends it into the penalty box.

Inside the box, players scramble to head the ball.

"Cordoba jumps high and wins the header!"

"Inter Milan counterattacks!"

Inter transitions quickly, but AC Milan reacts even faster.

As players flood out of the box, Gattuso suddenly slides in front of Crespo and wins the ball, passing it to Kaka.

Kaka takes one glance and immediately sees a gaping hole in Inter's defense.

He doesn't hesitate and slips the ball through.

At the same moment, Suker sprints forward!

"Suker! It's a one-on—"

Before the word "one-on-one" is finished, the referee blows the whistle.

Tweet!

Furious, Suker blasts the ball out of bounds and glares at the ref.

And it's not just Suker—AC Milan fans are livid.

"You blind bastard!"

"How the hell is that offside?! Explain that!"

"Linesman! Why the hell are you raising your flag?! Do you even know the rules?!"

The crowd erupts in fury.

But the ref stands by his decision.

Boos, curses, and protests thunder through the stadium.

AC Milan fans begin storming the pitch like they're ready to tear the ref apart.

Cold sweat pours from the referee's forehead.

Suker watches grimly—until a firework lands on the pitch.

Soon, more fireworks are launched and thrown in. Some are even launched directly into the air.

Red-tinted fireworks spread across Inter's half.

One lands near Suker.

"Whoa!"

Suker yells and sprints away.

As he runs, he shouts to Srna.

"What are you waiting for? Run!"

Next second, all players in Inter's half start running for it.

Inter keeper Julio Cesar bolts as fast as he can.

Once everyone reaches AC Milan's half, Inter's side of the pitch is engulfed in smoke and glowing red fireworks.

The red flares light up Suker's face. He shakes his head.

"Same trick again?"

Back in the 2004/2005 Champions League semifinals, Inter fans caused a match delay with fireworks.

Now it's AC Milan's turn.

"What's going on?" Srna is stunned.

Suker replies, "What do you think? They're going after you!"

Srna: "…"

Srna looks up and sees security and police climbing into the stands to restore order and arrest the troublemakers.

Staff also enter the pitch to clean things up.

The game has to be paused.

"What do we do now?" Srna asks.

Suker shrugs and sits on the grass, legs outstretched and leaning back, patting the spot beside him.

"Watch the fireworks!"

Suker and Srna, wearing Milan's red and black and Inter's blue and black, sit together on the pitch, watching the fiery red flares while staff scramble to clean up.

"The match is suspended due to AC Milan fans' outrage at the referee's controversial calls."

"But let's stay calm, folks—this only wastes AC Milan's own time!"

As chaos unfolds, Suker and Srna chill at the center circle, watching the fireworks.

After over ten minutes, the pitch is cleared.

Some radical fans are ejected.

Order is restored.

Meanwhile, Suker notices AC Milan chairman Berlusconi in the stands behind the dugout, glaring directly at the ref.

The ref, standing below him, doesn't even dare to look up.

"Old Berlu's putting on pressure!"

Suker chuckles.

That dodgy ref really needs someone to straighten him out.

If he keeps calling the game this way, every one of AC Milan's promising attacks will get whistled dead.

After the chaotic ten minutes, the match resumes.

Players return to their halves.

AC Milan is still trailing 0–1.

But the scene has shaken both the ref and Inter.

Suker figures the ref won't be dumb enough to keep favoring Inter and risk Berlusconi's wrath.

"Gattuso collides with Ibrahimović, halting a dangerous Inter attack. But the leniency of that tackle…"

Under Aldo Serena's watchful eye,

The ref jogs over and awards a free kick—no card for Gattuso.

Suker exhales slowly.

Looks like the ref's tone has changed.

Gattuso was testing the ref. He may look brutish and not too bright, but he's an old fox when it comes to football IQ and experience.

Still, what annoys Suker is—why the hell is a defensive midfielder testing the ref?

Shouldn't a striker or attacking mid do that?

At least the test worked.

If it hadn't, that would've been a yellow card—and a totally unnecessary one.