Chapter 84: Make him pay
Zanetti hurried to Wang Feng's side and crouched down, asking, "Are you okay, Wang?" Wang Feng rubbed his leg and felt no major issues, so he replied, "I should be fine." Then, with Zanetti's help, he stood up.
The referee saw that both sides were fine, so he just verbally warned Soriani and awarded Inter Milan a free kick in the opponent's half.
Such a foul would have surely earned a card in the Belgian league, but in Serie A, the main referee tends to be more lenient towards such fouls.
Soriani walked up to Wang Feng and said, "Kid, put away your little tricks. This is the top league in Europe. If you're afraid of getting hurt, go back to your lower-level league."
Wang Feng, upon hearing this, became furious, but he didn't lose his composure. Instead, he coldly replied, "You will pay for your actions because of your foul, Inter Milan will secure victory because of it!"
Then, he approached Zanetti and said, "Captain, let me take this free kick." During team training sessions, Wang Feng occasionally practiced set pieces with other teammates. Although they hadn't established enough rapport, he was confident in his ability to control the ball's trajectory.
With the team leading, Zanetti didn't refuse. He said, "Alright, you take this free kick, I'll cover for you."
With the referee's whistle, Zanetti started his run-up, followed by Wang Feng. When Zanetti reached the ball's position, there was chaos in the penalty area. Perugia's players thought he would take the kick, but he feinted, jumping over the ball.
Following closely behind, Wang Feng curled the ball with the inside of his right foot. The ball flew straight to the back post of the penalty area, where a tall figure in blue and black jersey leaped high and headed it into Perugia's goal.
It was Inter Milan's newly acquired defender, Matrazi!
The former teammates looked on in despair as Matrazi rose high to head the ball into the goal. They knew Matrazi's abilities very well; the nickname "sharpshooter" wasn't just for show!
After scoring, Matrazi chose not to celebrate out of respect for his former team. But Wang Feng didn't care about such niceties. He and his teammates hugged Matrazi, pointing towards Perugia's Soriani, indicating that the goal was a result of his foul.
In the 85th minute, once again, Wang Feng faced off against Soriani on the right side. This time, he used a feint to get past his opponent. Soriani hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to foul him to stop the attack.
While he was hesitating, Wang Feng had already crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Vieri received it and scored.
4-1, Inter Milan's victory was sealed!
Since Soriani had trash-talked him after his foul, Wang Feng naturally didn't miss the chance to strike back. He walked up to Soriani and said, "Go back to your bench, your level will never make it to Serie A."
Soriani's face turned red with anger. He had talked trash to Wang Feng, and now Wang Feng had immediately assisted two goals in return. However, Soriani had no way to respond to Wang Feng's trash talk.
In the end, the match ended with a resounding victory for Inter Milan, achieving the desired start to the season!
The result of the first round shocked the Italian media, who had underestimated Inter Milan. Wang Feng, with two goals and two assists, was named the best player of the match.
They could no longer ignore Inter Milan's fluid attacking capabilities. The Milan Sports Daily wrote that Wang Feng's arrival had greatly improved Inter Milan's attacking prowess.
"Since Ronaldo's injury absence, Inter hasn't played such a fluent attacking game. Wang Feng's pressing ability in the front line is evident."
"I think we need to reassess Inter Milan's capabilities. They are still contenders for the title. When Ronaldo returns, Inter Milan will make the whole of Italy tremble."
The Turin Sports Daily said, "We all underestimated Wang Feng, perhaps because of his age and his background in the Belgian league."
"In fact, from last season's game against Liverpool, we could see that Wang Feng's performance was outstanding compared to anyone else. He almost single-handedly led the team to the final and eventually won the trophy."
The Rome Sports Daily analyzed Wang Feng's on-field data: "In fact, Wang Feng's confrontation in the game was not weak at all. He was the most fouled player, but still maintained an amazing breakthrough rate and a threatening number of passes."
It seemed that Wang Feng's performance had slapped the Italian media in the face, and many media outlets changed their tone, praising Wang Feng. Many fans were interested. They didn't expect the young talent from the Belgian league to perform so well in his debut. So they rushed to buy newspapers to learn more about the game.
For a while, the sales of Italian sports newspapers soared, and Wang Feng's positive image spread throughout the Apennine Peninsula.
This incident also caught the attention of Inter Milan's head coach, Hector Cooper. He specifically found Wang Feng and advised him, "Wang, your performance in the first game was indeed excellent, but don't be proud because of the praise from the outside world. We still have many strong opponents and challenges to face."
Wang Feng said, "Mr. Cooper, you can rest assured. I know the temper of these media outlets. They will praise you for your outstanding performance and criticize you for a defeat. I won't change my attitude because of external judgments."
Cooper nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that Wang Feng had a maturity far beyond his age, so he didn't need to worry about this aspect.
Different from the Belgian league, Serie A had already acquired the broadcasting rights domestically and prioritized broadcasting Inter Milan's matches.
This news excited all domestic fans. They spread the word and stayed up late together to watch the live broadcast, witnessing the historic moment of the Chinese player on the Serie A stage.
After watching the game, they were shocked. They originally thought Wang Feng was a promising future superstar, the future leader of Chinese football. But who could have thought that he was not just the future; he was already a true superstar dominating the top European leagues.
They eagerly discussed on the internet. Some were discussing when the Football Association would call up Wang Feng, hoping he could achieve a historic breakthrough for the Chinese team on the World Cup stage. Some were discussing when Wang Feng could lift the Ballon d'Or, the symbol of the highest honor in Europe. If he could lead Inter Milan to excellent results, this was definitely a possibility.
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