Chapter 174: Chapter 174

174: 0124 Ballon d’Or is not worthy of Kevin (please subscribe) 174: 0124 Ballon d’Or is not worthy of Kevin (please subscribe) “Lately, Huang Kaiwen hasn’t been in good shape,”

“It’s mainly because of the Ballon d’Or fuss.”

“Right, just one off-game from Huang Kaiwen, and some European media blew it way out of proportion.”

“Judging from today’s warm-up, Huang Kaiwen’s condition isn’t half bad.”

Inzaghi passed the ball to Huang Kaiwen and said, “Even though I can’t start today, I’m still supporting you in spirit.”

“Then keep your distance and don’t cozy up to the starting players,” Pirlo said with a disdainful wave.

Inzaghi made an umbrella gesture at Pirlo.

Kaka came over and said, “Kevin, don’t put too much pressure on yourself.

Even if you just give an average performance today, it won’t make much of a difference.”

What pressure could Huang Kaiwen possibly have?

He, Huang Kaiwen, is more worried about Inter Milan’s defenders feeling the pressure.

The only player within Brazil to be compared to Pele.

Played 60 matches for the national team and only lost once.

Never trained systematically.

Relied solely on talent to play football.

Even more outrageous than George Best.

Could be said to have no professionalism whatsoever.

Yet still achieved astonishing success!

It’s hard to imagine how great a disciplined “Garlincha” would have been.

Having finished warming up, the players headed back.

Ancelotti called to Huang Kaiwen, “Play well today and show those bastards what you’re made of.”

Huang Kaiwen looked at Ancelotti in surprise.

Had the alchemist finally embraced science?

If so, that was great news!

“I haven’t prepared anything for today,” Ancelotti said animatedly, “My research has made new progress recently, but it hasn’t succeeded yet, the crucible exploded.

Next time, next time I’ll definitely prepare something for you, guaranteed to prevent injury!”

Huang Kaiwen could only nod helplessly.

It turned out he had thought too much.

The alchemist hadn’t turned into a scientist.

“Both teams have returned to the tunnel, and the match is about to begin,”

“Shevchenko’s return from injury is good news for AC Milan.

However, the injuries to Maldini and Cafu cast a shadow over AC Milan’s defense,”

“In comparison, Inter Milan hasn’t been troubled much by injuries.

Let’s take a look at the starting lineups.”

Inter Milan’s 4-4-2 with double defensive midfielders:

Defenders: Favalli, Samuel, Cordoba, Sannetti,

Midfielders: Stankovic, Veron, Cambiasso, Figo,

Forwards: Martins, Adriano.

AC Milan’s 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield:

Defenders: Sagnol, Kaladze, Nesta, Stam,

Midfielders: Huang Kaiwen, Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka,

Forwards: Toni, Shevchenko.

Today is Inter Milan’s home game.

Banners thanking Moratti appear in the stands,

because there are rumors that Moratti will continue to bring in reinforcements during the winter break.

Inter Milan fans have a love-hate relationship with Moratti, one willing to beat and the other willing to be beaten.

As early as the 2002-2003 season, Inter Milan fans had twice protested demanding that Moratti get lost.

But Moratti still spent big money on transfers.

Perhaps being the favored one breeds such boldness.

As both teams made their appearance,

Inter Milan fans cheered each name read out by the DJ in the stadium.

Inter Milan fans had previously supported Huang Kaiwen over the “curse” incident,

but nearly a year has passed since then.

The “Wizard” is dead, while Huang Kaiwen is still jumping around alive and well.

Naturally, they wouldn’t support an AC Milan player anymore.

Not booing Huang Kaiwen was already quite generous.

At 2 PM, referee Messina blew the whistle to start the match.

Adriano kicked off with a back pass,

Stankovic passed it back to midfield.

Veron advanced with the ball, then made a pass to the flank.

Stankovic received the ball, and Gattuso charged toward him.

Stankovic promptly made a long pass to the right flank.

The instant Figo received the ball,

Huang Kaiwen rushed forward to press him,

Figo dodged with a flick and surged past.

Though he was already 32, Figo on the right wing was still sharp.

He and Sannetti cooperated to advance the ball up the field.

Figo made a lateral pass to Veron, who was moving up, and then ran into Milan’s penalty area.

Veron made a direct through ball, and Kaladze was clearly a step slow.

Dida moved to block Figo’s possible shot.

Figo, at the right side of the small penalty area, received the ball and made a back-heeled pass.

Adriano followed up with a powerful shot, sending the ball straight into the open goal.

The Meazza Stadium erupted in cheers.

“Adriano has given Inter Milan the lead.”

“Today’s match has been heavily affected for AC Milan due to the absences of Cafu and Maldini.”

“Yes, Serginho is naturally offensive and weak defensively, Ancelotti’s decision to bring him in is just to make an impact, and Kaladze switching to center-back clearly isn’t as comfortable as playing at full-back; they’ve been caught out right from the start.”

“Martins and Adriano both burst into the box just now, AC Milan can’t defend properly .”

“Especially since both of them are fast, that makes it very difficult for defenders to cope.”

Maldini, sitting in the stands, is anxious.

This morning, he found himself suffering from food poisoning and was diagnosed with gastroenteritis at the hospital.

Now feeling weak in his hands and feet, he’s unable to play.

Cristian Maldini said, “Don’t worry, Uncle Kevin will surely score goals.”

The pale-faced father said, “I think so too.”

Shevchenko passed the ball back,

Kaka immediately passed to the side under pressure,

Huang Kaiwen accelerated with the ball at his feet.

Seeing Figo extend his leg, he passed the ball forward with his right foot.

Figo instinctively tried to poke the ball away.

Huang Kaiwen hooked the ball back with his right foot.

He swung it to the left side, poked with his left foot, and sped past Figo.

The flexible use of the “cow tail” maneuver.

The ball control of “Galincha” was the best Huang Kaiwen had ever experienced.

And the legendary player was very fast too.

After getting past Figo, he had already charged over the midfield line in just a few steps.

Cambiasso rushed towards Huang Kaiwen ahead of the rest.

Veron was positioned more to the right today, on the same side as Huang Kaiwen.

But Cambiasso, feeling his countryman couldn’t cope, took the initiative to strike.

Huang Kaiwen feinted with his shoulder.

He delivered the ball right in front of Cambiasso with his right foot.

Cambiasso, startled, quickly moved to the right.

But Huang Kaiwen tapped the ball to the left and burst through with his whole body.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Kevin’s ‘fried meatball’.”

“It’s exciting to see Kevin’s ‘fried meatball’ today.

It seems like Kevin has recovered about 70% of his condition.” Veron and Favalli both rushed at Huang Kaiwen.

The central lane was open.

Huang Kaiwen passed the ball horizontally to Kaka.

Kaka took the ball forward a few meters, then unleashed a long shot with his right foot from in front of the box.

Cesar quickly jumped up and deflected the ball over the crossbar.

Pirlo looked at Huang Kaiwen.

Huang Kaiwen shook his head slightly, and Pirlo kicked the ball back into play.

Samuel got there first and headed the ball out of the box.

Veron launched a counterattack with a long pass.

Martins carried the ball towards the penalty area.

Pirlo extended his leg to intercept, and Martins pulled to the left, crashing into Gattuso’s arms.

“The pace of attack and defense is still very fast today for both sides.”

“After all, it’s the Milan Derby.”

“Materazzi was placed on the bench today by Mancini in a somewhat subtle move.”

“Actually, Materazzi is quite unlucky.

Many defenders have caused injuries to Huang Kaiwen, but few have been targeted like Materazzi.”

“Indeed, mainly because the news about Inter Milan seeking out the Wizard was exposed, so Materazzi was like a target.”

“Kevin’s in good form today; those moves just now looked very smooth.”

“Huang Kaiwen on the ball, Cambiasso goes over to help defend again, and this time Kevin didn’t even get past.”

The ball went out of bounds.

Huang Kaiwen noticed.

Today Inter Milan was targeting him.

Not with just one player marking him.

But every time he had the ball, two players would come up to defend.

Under these circumstances, breaking through was not easy.

Serginho approached to throw the ball in from the sideline.

Huang Kaiwen received the ball and immediately passed it back.

Waiting for the Inter Milan players to press, Pirlo then gave a cross to Huang Kaiwen.

Huang Kaiwen charged at Figo with speed.

After getting past him, Cambiasso ran towards the left wing; Huang Kaiwen, with the ball, waited for Cambiasso to approach and then suddenly turned and passed the ball horizontally.

He wasn’t a stubborn person.

If Inter Milan focused on him, then Huang Kaiwen would give the ball to Kaka.

Kaka faced his opponent, dodged past Veron with a ball cut and passed it straight into the box.

Shevchenko started a bit slow, and the ball was picked up by Cesar, who had rushed out of goal.

The recently recovered Shevchenko had yet to reach his peak condition.

If he had been at his best, even with a defender nearby, he would have reached the ball in the box.

After several attacks, both sides were not sparing in their efforts, and the match calmed down for a while.

In the 24th minute, Martins got the ball on the left wing but couldn’t find an opportunity against Stam and finally kicked the ball against Stam to win a corner kick.

Figo ran up and swung the ball into the middle.

Dida rushed out of the goal and punched the ball out of the box with one fist.

Pirlo, receiving the ball and seeing Huang Kaiwen in the backfield, made a cross pass without any hesitation.

Huang Kaiwen received the ball on the left flank and advanced at high speed.

The advertisement boards beside the pitch zoomed backward rapidly.

Just past the halfway line, Cambiasso charged towards Huang Kaiwen.

Huang Kaiwen pulled off a ‘fried meatball’ move to get past him and accelerated immediately.

Cambiasso could only grit his teeth and chase after him.

The defenders, yet to return to the penalty area, began their show.

Cordoba was the first to think of going for a tackle.

But Huang Kaiwen was too fast; Cordoba had barely squatted when Huang had already surged past.

Cordoba could only use his hands to push himself off the turf to continue the chase.

Samuel and Favalli kept retreating.

The two players tried to pick the right moment to make a move.

Huang Kaiwen suddenly accelerated.

Favalli, scrambling backward, became flustered and tripped over his left foot with his right, falling over.

Huang Kaiwen accelerated with the ball, delivering it right in front of Samuel.

The opponent instinctively extended a leg.

Huang Kaiwen immediately tapped the ball to the left and shook his shoulders.

He brought the ‘fried meatball’ into the penalty area.

Cambiasso, trailing behind, tried to tackle from the side but ended up swiping at air as Huang Kaiwen was too fast.

Cordoba attempted to block Huang Kaiwen’s shot by going to ground.

Huang Kaiwen continued moving forward slightly, with about 2 meters to the end line.

He then unleashed a left-footed shot while turning sideways.

Cesar, guarding the near post, reacted to save, but still couldn’t stop the ball from hitting the post and rebounding into the net.

“Kevin, a solo run from the left wing, he even managed to get past Cordoba and Cambiasso twice each!”

“Inter Milan scores with teamwork, but Milan just needs to give the ball to Kevin and then watch his amazing performance, and in less than 10 seconds, there’s a goal.”

“If such a Kevin can’t win the Ballon d’Or, then the Ballon d’Or doesn’t deserve Kevin!!!”