"Good luck. I'm looking forward to facing you again in the league!"
As he was leaving, Kaka raised his fist in an encouraging gesture.
"Yeah, good luck to you too. Try to win the Champions League!"
Lin Feng replied with a grin.
Kaka halted, turned back, and glared at him. This guy really knew how to poke at a sore spot!
What had happened in Istanbul two months ago was a taboo no AC Milan player could bear to touch.
Blowing a three-goal halftime lead after popping the champagne early had long become a laughingstock among fans around the world.
Liverpool's comeback from adversity was hailed as the Istanbul Miracle, but to AC Milan fans, it was their greatest humiliation.
Never before in Champions League history had a team led by three goals in the final been turned around. AC Milan had set that record.
Come to think of it, AC Milan seemed particularly skilled at setting shocking records in the Champions League.
Besides this year's Istanbul Miracle, they had led 4:1 after the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie last year, only to be swept aside 4:0 in the second leg. They had set the record for the greatest comeback in Champions League history and created the legend of Super Depor!
AC Milan truly had rotten luck. Ever since winning the Champions League in the 2002–03 season, they had clearly been at the peak of their powers and among the favorites to win it every year.
Yet they always choked at critical moments, often while holding enormous advantages, losing because of carelessness and underestimating their opponents.
"Woohoo! We took down AC Milan!"
"We're the kings of Milan City!"
"To hell with the Rossoneri! They crumbled before us!"
Inside the locker room, the Inter Milan players sang excitedly.
Nothing thrilled them more than beating AC Milan. Even though it was only an insignificant friendly, they were as happy as if they had won a championship.
Lin Feng had only just begun learning Italian and could not understand what his teammates were singing.
So he did not join in. After taking a shower and changing into clean clothes, he sat in a corner with his eyes closed, pretending to rest.
The Tim Cup matches were spaced very closely together. After finishing their game against AC Milan, Inter Milan had only one hour to rest.
An hour later, they would face the visiting Juventus at Meazza Stadium.
This schedule was extremely unfavorable for Inter Milan because they had to play two matches back-to-back.
Playing two matches within just two hours was a grueling schedule that placed huge demands on the players' stamina.
Lin Feng had never played at the level of the Big Five Leagues before. He had no firsthand understanding of this level of intensity and was somewhat unaccustomed to it.
Although he had played only forty-five minutes just now, the stamina he had burned was almost equivalent to playing a full match at the Youth World Cup.
If he could not recover his energy quickly, he feared he would struggle to produce the same performance against Juventus as he had against AC Milan.
As Lin Feng rested with his eyes closed, a system notification automatically popped up:
[Congratulations, Host, on completing your Inter Milan debut!] [Personal Evaluation: S!] [Reward: 10% Second Module unlock progress!]
Huh?
Lin Feng had not expected that even a friendly like this could help him complete a mission.
This was truly an unexpected delight!
Seeing the Second Module's unlock progress rise by another 10%, bringing the total to half, Lin Feng could not help but look forward to it.
At this rate, after completing a few more missions, he would be able to unlock the Second Module slot.
Unfortunately, he had not yet obtained a second Star player template.
Although he had luckily drawn the Ronaldinho template before, it was only a fragment and could not be used for now.
Before the second template was fully unlocked, he had to obtain a complete template that he could use!
This match had exposed a major flaw in the Kaka template. Without space to sprint forward and use his speed and impact to threaten the opposing goal, his threat level would drop dramatically once he was forced into positional warfare.
This issue troubled not only Lin Feng, but Kaka himself as well.
However, Kaka had Pirlo, a midfield commander, behind him. He did not need to shoulder too many organizational duties, while Lin Feng had no such teammate behind him.
What was more, Lin Feng had to consider not only his club but also the national team.
The national team did not have a midfield organizer as good as those in Serie A, which meant Lin Feng needed to possess a certain level of playmaking ability.
When it came to Attacking Midfielders with outstanding organizational ability, the first player who came to Lin Feng's mind was Zidane.
Zizou was the perfect fusion of the classic Attacking Midfielder and the modern Attacking Midfielder, maxing out both flair and practicality.
Zidane possessed exquisite footwork and an exceptional feel for the ball. Not only were his playmaking and passing abilities outstanding, but he was also proficient at receiving, controlling, dribbling, and breaking through.
Whenever people watched Zidane play, two words naturally came to mind: elegance!
Even with Zizou's utterly ordinary face, fans still found his football elegant and grand, filled with the bearing of a master. One could only imagine how graceful his style of play was!
Besides Zizou, there were many outstanding templates for the Attacking Midfielder position, such as the nearly omnipotent Roberto Baggio and Rui Costa, whose playmaking and passing were maxed out.
However, obtaining the templates of these Top Star Players did not seem easy.
What Lin Feng needed to do now was complete as many system missions as possible and earn Lucky Draw Chances.
After confirming the reward, Lin Feng curiously checked the system's next-stage mission.
[Help Inter Milan defeat Juventus and defend the Tim Cup title!] [Mission Reward: One Lucky Draw Chance!]
Just as he had been dozing off, someone handed him a pillow. Lin Feng had just been wondering how to obtain more Lucky Draw Chances, and the system immediately gave him an assist.
It looked like they had to win the next match!
The Tim Cup used a points system. The three teams played two matches against one another, and whoever earned the most points won the title.
Inter Milan had just defeated AC Milan and already had three points, temporarily placing them first.
If they could defeat Juventus at home in the next match, then regardless of the result of Juventus's final match against AC Milan, Inter Milan would secure the Tim Cup title early.
Inside the locker room, after Mancini finished laying out the tactics, he specifically walked over to Lin Feng and asked:
"Lin, can your stamina still hold up? If not, then don't play in the next match."
After the previous match, Mancini's attitude toward Lin Feng had become even friendlier.
Mancini placed great importance on young players and was especially fond of young geniuses.
He had even been exceptionally fond of someone as mentally unstable as Balotelli, let alone a normal person like Lin Feng.
When the club executives had hesitated over whether to sign Lin Feng, Mancini had supported it with both hands.
Having watched footage of Lin Feng's matches at the Youth World Cup, he had an extremely favorable impression of him.
He had even decided that Lin Feng was Mihajlović's best possible successor!
In Mancini's view, Lin Feng had only just turned seventeen, yet he had already displayed such astonishing talent and potential on the pitch.
If they signed him and developed him properly, the heights he could reach after maturing would be simply immeasurable.
And the previous match had confirmed Mancini's suspicions. This kid was a genius, and an exceptionally intelligent genius with incredible adaptability.
For a genius like this, Mancini wanted to treasure him like a family heirloom, terrified of wearing him out.
Before you continue