Chapter 101: Halfway to the end
Italian Serie A, Round 15. Returning to their home ground, Inter Milan will face the challenge of newly-promoted Chievo. This season, Chievo has shown strong performance, currently ranking fourth on the league table, just behind Juventus, Inter Milan, and Roma.
Last season, their city rivals, Verona, once mocked them, saying if Chievo could make it to Serie A, it would be like a donkey flying to the sky. Unexpectedly, their words came true, as Chievo indeed made it to the Serie A stage.
To tease this idea, many fans would refer to Chievo as "flying donkeys". This season, this flying donkey has given a hard time to powerhouses like AC Milan, Lazio, and Parma.
Chievo's coach, Del Neri, deployed a traditional 4-4-2 formation for this match. This retired player turned coach hasn't achieved remarkable results in his playing or coaching career, relatively unknown in the football world.
However, it's precisely this team without big-name stars and an unknown coach that has managed to create a strong chemistry, making the team full of vitality.
From the start of the match, Wang Feng could feel their passion for the game and their desire to win. Every attack and defensive press was executed with great vigor, with every player exceptionally active, no one strolling on the field.
In the 17th minute, Chievo's central defender Luciano, known as one of the "deadly duo", dribbled the ball from the flank, breaking free from Cordoba's defense with powerful impact and burst, then delivered the ball into the penalty area.
Striker Marcolini received the ball and shot from a distance, piercing through Inter Milan's goal.
This was his seventh league goal of the season, currently ranking first in the team in goals and among the top scorers in Serie A.
After conceding the goal, Inter Milan experienced chaos momentarily, allowing Chievo to seize the opportunity and launch several attacks. Another striker, Corradi, also created several threatening shots.
But their luck seemed a bit off in this match, with two clear goal-scoring opportunities hitting the woodwork. In the 34th minute, Corradi's shot hit the crossbar again, bouncing back, and Materrazzi in the penalty area immediately cleared the ball with a long kick to the midfield.
Wang Feng, originally supporting the defense in the back, immediately chased after the ball upon seeing the situation. However, he was a step late, as the ball was intercepted by Chievo's captain, Danjel, who attempted to shake him off with a feint upon seeing Wang Feng approaching.
However, Wang Feng's senses were far superior to other players. Upon seeing Danjel's movement, he judged the correct direction based on the opponent's body reaction and limb position, successfully intercepting the ball.
Danjel was taken aback, hastily chasing after Wang Feng, but to his dismay, once Wang Feng surged forward, there seemed to be no Serie A player capable of catching up.
Wang Feng sprinted over fifty meters at high speed, directly entering the penalty area facing the goalkeeper. He used a standard swerve move to dodge past the goalkeeper, Naft, equalizing the score for Inter Milan!
The first half ended in a draw. After the break, Inter Milan gradually stabilized, while Chievo's weakness in crucial moments became evident – they lacked a star player to step up.
In the 71st minute, after Di Biagio broke through on the left and passed the ball into the small penalty area, Wang Feng, who quickly inserted himself, poked the ball before Naft could make a save, then jumped over him.
As a result, the ball had more force, although it hit Naft, he couldn't hold onto it, letting it rebound. At this moment, Wang Feng quickly caught up to the ball and shot again, this time Naft couldn't stop the ball from entering Chievo's goal.
2-1! Inter Milan reversed the opponent and won this crucial match!
In the post-match press conference, head coach Cooper criticized Inter Milan's defense: "Our defense was a mess throughout the game, completely deviating from my tactical arrangements. The chaotic situation after conceding the goal is disappointing."
Regarding Wang Feng's brace, Cooper gave high praise: "I just want to say that this victory was earned by Wang Feng. Whenever the team is in trouble, he always steps up. It's hard to imagine how bad our results would be without him."
"His performance is not like that of a Serie A newcomer but that of a team's core."
Inter Milan captain, Javier Zanetti, also expressed in an interview: "We performed poorly in this match, except for Wang Feng, who has become our most reliable partner."
Chievo's coach, Del Neri, expressed his regrets: "Our performance was commendable, and we created many opportunities, but luck wasn't on our side in this match."
"Throughout the game, we hit the goalposts and crossbar four times in total. Our luck was just too poor." Regarding Wang Feng, he said: "Wang Feng's performance was indeed outstanding, but our strikers, Marcolini and Corradi, also did not disappoint."
Midweek, the fourth round of the Italian Cup was held, facing Serie B's Crotone. In this match, Wang Feng did not start but sat on the bench, as coach Cooper once again rotated the lineup.
Crotone, perennially in Serie B and Serie C, has never been promoted in their 78-year history. Even facing Inter Milan's substitute lineup, they still put up a good fight, with both sides exchanging attacks.
In the 70th minute, Cooper, unable to bear it any longer, sent Wang Feng onto the field. Eight minutes later, Wang Feng received the ball in the penalty area after a breakthrough on the left, first using his heel to knock the ball out from the surrounding defenders.
Then, taking advantage of the defenders' lack of response, he quickly caught up to the ball and shot, breaking the deadlock for Inter Milan.
In the end, with Wang Feng's goal, Inter Milan won 1-0 against Crotone, advancing to the Italian Cup round of 16.
In Serie A Round 16, the last match before the New Year, Inter Milan will visit Leonardo Garilli Stadium to challenge Piacenza.
Piacenza is a "magical" team, famous for strictly rejecting foreign players but nurturing many excellent local players in their youth academy. The most famous of them is naturally Inzaghi, who just transferred to AC Milan this year.
In the 17th minute of the match, Piacenza forward Dario Hubner took advantage of Inter Milan's defensive error in passing, successfully intercepted and scored a goal.
In the 41st minute, Inter Milan launched an attack, with Conceciao lofting the ball into the penalty area, Wang Feng quickly inserting himself and successfully avoiding offside. He used the tip of his right foot to send the ball past Piacenza's goal, equalizing the score.
In the second half, in the 69th minute, Piacenza seized a set-piece opportunity in the opponent's half, with Brazilian forward Amoroso scoring from close range in the penalty area, giving the home team the lead again.
This 21-year-old youngster had been experiencing a goal drought this season, making this goal his first in 16 rounds, so he celebrated exceptionally excitedly.
In the 88th minute, Inter Milan won a corner kick opportunity. Zanetti delivered the ball into the penalty area, Wang Feng leaped up to flick the ball to the edge of the small penalty area, where Recoba received it and directly shot, once again equalizing the score for Inter Milan.
2-2! In the final match before the mid-season break, Inter Milan ended with a draw.
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