On July 11, at Meazza Stadium, after completing his pre-signing medical examination, Inter Milan held a grand welcoming ceremony for Lin Feng.
Compared with Portuguese star Figo's signing ceremony ten days earlier, Inter Milan's ceremony for Lin Feng was even more lavish.
Not only did Inter Milan owner Moratti attend in person, but all of the club's top executives were present as well.
Even Inter Milan's major hardcore fan groups had been notified. More than 60,000 Interisti wearing Nerazzurri jerseys came to the venue.
After a brief introduction and speech, Moratti handed Lin Feng the number 8 jersey representing a first-team regular.
The two each held a corner of the jersey and posed for photographs.
After the photos, Lin Feng changed into his own number 8 jersey on the spot.
Seeing this, the Inter Milan Fans at the venue burst into loud applause and cheers.
The Portuguese star watching from the side could not help feeling sour!
Sigh, the waves behind drove the waves ahead to death on the beach!
Back when he joined Barcelona and Real Madrid, he had received just as enthusiastic a welcome.
But sadly, flowers could bloom again, while people could never be young twice.
Now a middle-aged man, he could no longer return to the past.
CCTV Sports broadcast Lin Feng's signing ceremony with Inter Milan live.
A large number of domestic reporters also came to the scene to cover it.
Seeing how highly Inter Milan valued Lin Feng, the fans and reporters alike felt as if they had taken a reassurance pill.
They were completely relieved.
They had originally worried that Lin Feng would be overlooked by Inter Milan, just like Dong Fangzhuo.
Now, it seemed there had been no need to worry at all.
After all, Inter Milan had given Lin Feng the number 8 jersey, which symbolized a first-team regular. That meant he definitely would not lack playing opportunities in the new season.
Thinking of this, domestic fans began eagerly awaiting the start of the new Serie A league season.
They could not wait to watch a Chinese player's Serie A league debut!
There was still a month and a half before the Serie A league began, so Lin Feng's performances on the Serie A stage would not be seen anytime soon.
But that was fine. Every summer break, Serie A's three giants took part in a round-robin warm-up tournament called the TIM Trophy.
A direct clash between such top giants was obviously more exciting than an ordinary Serie A league match.
Even more anticipated was the fact that Inter Milan's first opponent in the TIM Trophy was City Rival AC Milan.
On July 20, the first round of the TIM Trophy began.
Inter Milan traveled away to challenge AC Milan, and Lin Feng appeared in Inter Milan's starting lineup.
Although it was only a friendly, and the match lasted just 45 minutes—equivalent to one half of a normal game—
the match still drew tens of thousands of fans, and CCTV also chose to broadcast it live.
Although it was AC Milan's home match, the two sides had roughly equal numbers of supporters in the stands, with Inter Milan fans possibly even outnumbering them.
After all, a large group of Inter Milan stars would be appearing together in this match.
The two teams were based in the same city, and Meazza and San Siro were actually the same stadium, so this was hardly surprising.
That summer, Inter Milan continued strengthening their squad in the transfer market.
Besides signing Figo and Lin Feng, they also paid 12 million euros to bring Udinese midfielder David Pizarro over.
They paid 18 million euros to take Samuel, the Galactic Battleship's starting center-back known as The Rock, from Real Madrid.
All three new signings would play in this match.
AC Milan was much the same. Besides their key players from last season, Gilardino, whom they had signed from Parma for a hefty fee during the summer window, would also play.
Thanks to Serie A's enormous influence in China, the high-profile Milan Derby, and Lin Feng's Inter Milan debut, the combination of factors sent the match's domestic ratings soaring.
Before the match even began, fans from both sides were already arguing fiercely on Forum and Tieba.
Inter Milan originally had fewer fans than AC Milan, but Lin Feng's arrival caused the number of Inter Milan supporters to surge.
The two sides were now evenly matched.
"AC Milan will win!"
"Inter Milan is number one in the world!"
"The guy above made me laugh. Milan's attacking midfield has Son of God Kaka, maestro Rui Costa, Fox in the Box Inzaghi, and Warhead Shevchenko. What does Inter Milan have to defend against that?"
"In midfield and defense, Milan has the world's best midfielder Pirlo, the world's best center-back Nesta, plus Gattuso, Seedorf, Stam, Cafu, and Maldini. What does Inter Milan have to attack with?"
AC Milan's fans were incredibly arrogant, practically looking down their noses at Inter Milan, their contempt spilling right through the screen.
At this time, AC Milan could truly be called stacked with talent. Not only were they filled with stars, but they were all world-class Top Star Players.
Calling them the strongest team in the world might have been debatable, but calling them one of the top three teams in the world would likely draw no objections.
Compared with the powerful AC Milan, Inter Milan's lineup was still a notch weaker.
To say nothing else, Materazzi alone was far inferior to Nesta and Stam.
"I really don't know where Moratti has spent all that money over the years. With this Inter Milan lineup, what can they use to compete with Milan?"
Those words silenced Inter Milan's fans.
Lies did not hurt people; the truth was the sharpest blade.
Over the past fifteen years, Moratti had brought more than 200 stars to Inter Milan and spent over 400 million euros!
Among them were phenomenon-level stars like The Alien Ronaldo. Before these players arrived, Inter Milan fans had all been full of hope for the club's future.
But what happened?
The fans had been disappointed again and again!
Even The Alien could not carry Inter Milan. Maybe Inter Milan truly was cursed when it came to winning championships!
At that thought, many fans began worrying for Lin Feng.
Although Inter Milan was a giant club, under Serie A's current landscape, they truly had a difficult time competing against the stronger AC Milan and Juventus.
Over the past ten years, apart from a UEFA Cup, Inter Milan had no championship honors worth mentioning. Was it because they did not want them? Of course not. They simply were not strong enough!
Unless the other two teams suffered some unexpected changes and both fell apart, allowing Inter Milan to pick up a huge bargain.
Otherwise, even with Lin Feng's arrival, not many people were optimistic about Inter Milan's results in the new season.
Inside the players' tunnel, AC Milan's leading star Kaka turned to look at the calm-faced young player opposite him.
He had long heard of Lin Feng and knew that the other's style of play was very similar to his own.
Kaka had originally wanted to find a chance to get acquainted with him and compare notes in private, to see whether they truly were alike.
But he had not expected Lin Feng to come to Serie A, or for them to be meeting each other in battle on the pitch so soon.
Perhaps this was fate!
During the pre-match handshake, when Kaka shook Lin Feng's hand, all the cameras and fans at the venue focused on the two of them.
Their first clash had officially begun!
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