Capítulo 87: Though stage
Serie A Round 4, Inter Milan visited Turin, and coach Cooper made some lineup changes, with several key players like Sánchez, Kordoba, and Vieri not making the squad list.
The bench players lacked the cohesion and strength of the starters, causing some confusion at the beginning of the match. Issues arose in both attack and defense.
In the 17th minute, Turin capitalized on an Inter Milan defensive error, and forward Maximilian O'Connell opened the scoring for the home team.
Trailing behind, Inter Milan fought back. In the 34th minute, Di Biagio delivered the ball into the penalty area, where a Turin defender's header clearance was intercepted by Wang Feng on the edge of the box.
Wang Feng intercepted the ball and took two steps along the edge of the penalty area before unleashing a shot that curved into the top corner of the goal.
1-1, Inter Milan equalized!
In the second half, in the 75th minute, Turin once again took advantage of Inter Milan's defensive error to go ahead.
Just when it seemed the team was about to suffer its first defeat of the season, Wang Feng stepped up again. During injury time, he received a cross from Di Biagio inside the penalty area. Despite efforts from defenders to block him, Wang Feng managed to shoot and score.
Thanks to Wang Feng's brace, Inter Milan managed to salvage a 2-2 draw away at Turin.
In the post-match press conference, coach Cooper harshly criticized Inter Milan's defense: "Although we made changes, that's no excuse for basic mistakes. Our two goals conceded were entirely due to attitude problems."
"From these poor performances, I see the same issues that led to the club's failures last season, which is undoubtedly disappointing."
Regarding Wang Feng, Cooper didn't hesitate to praise him: "Wang's heroics earned us a valuable point. I dare say, without him, we wouldn't have been able to secure points in Turin."
In Serie A Round 5, Inter Milan hosted Bologna at home. Despite fielding their strongest lineup, the team's performance remained lackluster.
Wang Feng faced tight marking throughout the game, often being fouled and brought down. Despite the leniency of Serie A referees, Bologna's defenders received four yellow cards, indicating the intensity of their challenges.
Nevertheless, Wang Feng managed to create opportunities with his repeated breakthroughs on the wing. However, quality crosses were wasted by ineffective finishing.
In the 77th minute of the second half, Wang Feng received the ball near the right flank, executed a beautiful Marseille turn to evade a defender, but was then fouled from behind.
Referee Ebert, an Italian, finally had enough and showed the second yellow card to the defending player, sending him off.
With Zanetti's assistance, Wang Feng got back on his feet, feeling sore all over, reminiscent of a fight. Bologna's style of play frustrated him, and he sustained minor injuries.
So he personally took the free kick, his first direct attempt at goal in Serie A. Recalling his previous feelings, he began his run-up and struck the ball!
The ball curved mysteriously in the air, hitting the crossbar before entering the visitors' goal!
After scoring, Wang Feng celebrated angrily, deliberately passing by Bologna's coach's seat to vent his frustration.
However, Inter Milan couldn't hold on to their lead until the end. In the 85th minute, Inter Milan's defense made a mistake, and Matrazi and Cordoba's poor clearance was intercepted by Bologna forward Isaac Conroy.
Facing goalkeeper Tordo one-on-one, Conroy calmly placed his shot into the far corner, equalizing for his team.
1-1, Inter Milan bitterly accepted a draw at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.
After this round, Inter Milan, with two consecutive draws, dropped to 4th place in the league. Juventus led the table with a perfect record, followed by Roma and Lazio. AC Milan, with two recent victories, climbed back to 8th place.
After the match, Wang Feng underwent a detailed examination by the club, revealing several superficial injuries but no serious hidden ones, which relieved the club's management.
Club president Moratti angrily stated, "We must protest to the Football Association. This isn't fair competition; it's violence, malicious fouls!"
Technical director Horacio Bohm added, "Yes, sir, we've organized footage of the malicious fouls Wang Feng suffered in this match, submitted it to the Football Association and Milan Sports Daily, and formally protested. We believe the referees' standards will change."
Moratti nodded and then asked, "What's going on with the team lately? Weren't we dominating at the start of the league? Why is it so difficult now?"
Bohm replied, "Coach Cooper and I discussed it. The main issues are twofold: national team matches have fatigued the players, and the successful start of the season has relaxed some players' mindsets."
"Regardless of the reasons, Cooper must solve them quickly. We cannot afford a repeat of last season's disaster at Inter Milan."
The day after being held to a draw by Bologna, Cooper canceled the team's vacation, gathering all players to study the past two matches together. He said, "Everyone, we've made many mistakes in these two matches that shouldn't have happened."
"Serie A is highly competitive, and any match can influence the final outcome of the league title. Therefore, we cannot make the same mistakes again."
He conducted one-on-one analyses, including the players' tactical execution and actual performance on the field. When it came to Wang Feng, Cooper gave the only praise: "Wang fully executed the tactics I prescribed on the field, and even better. These two draws were also earned by his efforts."
"Not only that, he's the hardest-working player in the whole team. I hope everyone can look up to him." Wang Feng looked embarrassed, feeling like he was being praised in front of the class by the teacher, held up as an example.
Next, everyone immersed themselves in training. Next to the treadmill, Rekoba played with the machine, complaining to Wang Feng, who was training nearby, "My vacation, my lovely Italian girls, all turned into bubbles."
"Wang, how can you endure training this boring thing all the time?"
While running, Wang Feng replied, "Because I don't find it boring. Every time after training, I feel my body has been strengthened, just like leveling up by defeating monsters in a game. It's so satisfying."
Rekoba rolled his eyes and said, "Strengthening the body, are you going to become a superhero? I really can't understand the genius's thoughts."
Seeing Matrazi training earnestly beside him, Rekoba asked, "What about you? Why are you training so hard? Do you also feel your body improving?"
Matrazi replied seriously, "I haven't felt significant progress, but only by following the coach's orders and training continuously can I maintain stable performance and avoid being eliminated."
"You, as a player who had a very smooth start, probably can't understand us players who came from the grassroots."
Hearing Matrazi's words, Rekoba sighed and said, "I feel the world is full of malice towards players like me. Why is it so hard to earn money lying flat?"
Everyone chuckled at this, and captain Javier Zanetti said sternly, "Stop complaining and get back to training, or else the coach might notice and make you train extra."
Rekoba, afraid, reluctantly got on the treadmill, starting the damn training session.
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