Chapter 124: Ronnie's tears
On the eve of the final round of Serie A, the Italian Football Federation prepared replicas of two championship trophies and two sets of medals, which were sent to Udine and Rome respectively. The two title-contending teams, Inter Milan and Juventus, both played away matches, with Inter Milan playing first and Juventus following.
It wasn't until after the conclusion of Juventus' match that everyone would know which team had won the Serie A championship. To ensure that the champions could lift the trophy immediately, preparations were made for both scenarios. The president of the federation, Cararo, would go to Inter Milan's stadium, while the vice president, Mazini, would watch Juventus' match.
On the afternoon of May 5, 2002, the match between Inter Milan and Lazio was underway.
As Wang Feng stepped onto the field for warm-up, his heart was pounding rapidly. A mix of excitement and nervousness lingered in his mind. This was his first experience of a league's final round deciding the championship.
Matth?us noticed Wang Feng's tense expression and approached him before kickoff, patting his shoulder and saying, "Buddy, relax a bit. We're still in a favorable position. Just treat this game like any other league match."
"Think about how you've done it before. You've already scored 32 goals so far." Matth?us smiled. Wang Feng looked at him and nodded gently.
With the referee's whistle, Lazio kicked off, and the match officially began.
In the 21st minute, Inter Milan intercepted the ball in midfield, and Cordoba sent it to the left, initiating an attack led by Zanetti.
Zanetti sprinted along the sideline through the half, while Wang Feng didn't choose to make an immediate run but instead roamed the forward area looking for opportunities. Zanetti passed the ball to Di Biagio, who then charged towards the baseline.
At that moment, Wang Feng quickly ran into the penalty area and raised his hand, while Vieri and Recoba in the box also ran to different positions, signaling for the ball. This momentarily disrupted Lazio's defense, with one player marking each of the three.
Di Biagio, breaking free from defender Nesta's tackle through a sprint, sent a cross near the baseline. The ball, flying with a curve, landed perfectly in front of Wang Feng.
With a defender beside him, adjusting his position to contest the ball was impossible at this moment. Wang Feng jumped forcefully, turning his entire body around and swiftly transmitting power back to his right leg with his waist, fiercely kicking the incoming ball.
As he kicked the ball, he fell heavily to the ground, with his back bearing the brunt of the impact.
The Olympic Stadium erupted into cheers. Without looking back, Wang Feng knew the ball had found the net!
He quickly got up and indeed saw the ball spinning in the net, while Lazio's goalkeeper, Peruzzi, lay on the ground with a helpless expression.
Excitedly, Wang Feng let out a roar. Vieri rushed over from behind to embrace him, but Wang Feng shrugged him off, then sprinted to the sidelines at the fastest speed.
Finally, Wang Feng arrived at Inter Milan's fan stands, gesturing to celebrate with those who had come from afar. Soon, he was surrounded by his teammates who rushed over, with Matth?us patting his head and saying, "I thought you might be too nervous to perform, but I didn't expect you to do so well!"
"Spectacular! Wang Feng opens the scoring for Inter Milan with a fantastic goal!" the commentator shouted hoarsely.
"It all happened so fast. Let's take a look at the slow-motion replay. Di Biagio's cross had a noticeable curve, and Wang Feng's position at that moment wasn't advantageous for the attack."
"Yet, he chose the most suitable shooting method at the first opportunity. That's the intuition of Serie A's top scorer!"
"Not only is this goal highly difficult, but it's also incredibly entertaining. Personally, I believe this will be one of the best goals of the Serie A season."
The deadlock on the field was broken, greatly boosting the confidence of Inter Milan's players and dampening Lazio's morale.
Just five minutes later, Inter Milan intercepted the ball in midfield again. Konsikao dribbled into the frontcourt and then passed diagonally to Wang Feng at the edge of the penalty area. Without stopping the ball, Wang Feng directly passed to Di Biagio on the left.
After receiving the ball on the left side of the penalty area, facing Favalli's defense without a better chance, Di Biagio passed it back to Wang Feng who was coming to support.
Facing the rolling ball, Wang Feng used his left foot to loft a lob directly towards the goal, which flew straight into the net, leaving Lazio's goalkeeper Peruzzi stunned. He leaped to try and punch the ball away, but the trajectory was too high, directly sailing over his fingertips and bouncing off the inside of the crossbar into the net.
2-0! Wang Feng scored his second goal!
In the 57th minute of the second half, Wang Feng dribbled on the right and saw Vieri raising his hand in the penalty area, so he sent a cross.
The ball drew a very curved arc in the air, evading the header attempt by Negró at the near post and heading straight to the jumping Vieri's head, deflecting into the goal.
3-0! No one had expected Inter Milan to play so smoothly, relying on Wang Feng's two goals and one assist, they had a big lead over their opponents. They were already touching the championship trophy with one hand!
In the 81st minute, Lazio pulled one back through Crespo, but it was too late. They ultimately suffered defeat, finishing just one point behind AC Milan and missing out on next year's Champions League qualification, having to settle for the UEFA Europa League instead.
After the full-time whistle, Inter Milan's players nervously sat around the television in the dressing room, watching the second half of Juventus' match against Udinese. At this point, Juventus was leading 1-0.
The goal difference between Inter Milan and Juventus had now widened to five goals. This meant that Juventus had to win 6-0 against Udinese to overturn and win the championship.
This indicated that Inter Milan's chances of winning the championship had reached 99.99%. Matth?us and Konsikao were already prepared with champagne, waiting to celebrate once Juventus' match ended.
On the other side, during halftime, Juventus learned the result of Inter Milan's match. Despair filled everyone's hearts; under such circumstances, a turnaround was simply impossible.
Ronaldo clenched his fists, his face filled with excitement as he watched the screen. No one could understand his feelings at this moment. When he entered Serie A at the young age of 21, he was so ambitious, wanting to establish his own dynasty at Inter Milan!
But he never expected that after winning only one UEFA Cup honor for the team, he would fall into a cycle of injuries. Forget about the UEFA Champions League trophy, he hadn't even won the league championship.
If he were to leave Inter Milan like this, he would leave behind a lifetime of regrets. His professional career at Inter Milan would be a painful memory for him.
But now, things were different. They had already brought the league trophy close, and even though he wasn't the hero in this process, he had contributed his strength at crucial moments!
When Udinese scored a goal, and the full-time whistle blew, with champagne flying everywhere, Ronaldo shed tears.
Follow current novℯls on f(r)eewebnov𝒆l