Success or Failure, Often Decided in a Split Second!

Icardi was born in 1993 and is 21 years old this year.

Last year, during the 2013 summer transfer window, this Argentine striker moved from Sampdoria to Inter Milan for a fee of 13 million euros.

In his first season playing for Inter Milan, he made 23 appearances and scored 9 goals.

After a season of tempering, Icardi's striking technique has become increasingly refined.

This season, he has appeared in all of the first 10 league rounds, scoring 7 goals.

With his strike partner Palacio gradually aging, he has perfectly inherited the mantle of his predecessor Diego Milito, growing into the new generation of penalty area predators for Inter Milan.

Looking across the entire Serie A.

Icardi's sense for goal is top-tier!

At first, Icardi, like his other teammates, thought that Tang Long's assist from outside the penalty area was a lucky accident.

It was just that the shot had too much power and happened to land at his feet.

However, what Icardi found a bit strange was—

Was this really a coincidence?

As a top-class Serie A penalty area assassin, Icardi's positioning is elite.

Could that running line have just happened to coincide with the path of Tang Long's shot?

"Tang, uh, I mean, were you shooting or passing just now?" He couldn't help but speak to Tang Long for the first time.

"Hurry up, keep moving into space, if you run, you'll get it!"

"Mm."

When Genoa kicked off again.

The clock at Meazza stadium had reached 88:35.

Another minute passed.

The fourth official on the sidelines raised the board for 4 minutes of stoppage time.

Genoa had already prepared for a full defensive stand.

Their striker had even dropped back to the defensive midfield position.

Mancini stood on the sidelines and looked out.

Genoa's penalty area was a sea of red, with everyone packed inside.

Although Kovacic was using the width of the pitch to pass the ball back and forth, attempting to pull the opponent out of position.

But the opponent, determined to take a point, just kept their heads down and refused to come out!

"Stop passing it around, launch long balls into the box!

Ranocchia, Juan Jesus, get up to the center-forward position!"

Mancini waved his hand, and Inter Milan shifted into a five-striker formation.

In his view, the most pragmatic approach now was to launch long balls toward the opponent's penalty area!

In a chaotic scramble, maybe they could fluke a goal.

Right wing-back Nagatomo Yuto took on the task of delivering the crosses.

He frequently lofted the ball into the opponent's penalty area from a 45-degree angle.

Nagatomo Yuto is only 170cm tall, the shortest player on the pitch.

But his stamina is excellent, so in the final minutes of the game, he could still maintain a consistent level of crossing from the flank.

Plus, with the Genoa players all huddled in the penalty area, no one was marking Nagatomo Yuto.

So the landing spots, curves, angles, and power of his crosses were all excellent!

Bang, bang, bang!

The football fell into Genoa's penalty area like cannonballs, only to be headed out, returned to the feet of Inter Milan players, and then crossed in again.

In just two minutes, Inter Milan delivered 8 high crosses!

It was just a pity that the opponent's penalty area was so densely packed that not one of these 8 crosses resulted in a threatening shot.

The fans at the stadium were jumping with anxiety!

Behind the Genoa goal was the North Stand, home to the die-hard Inter Milan fans.

Everyone stood up and waved their fists.

"Head it into the goal!"

"Come on Icardi, come on Ranocchia!"

"Headers, we need headers!"

"Give us a winner, we want a last-minute goal!"

"Damn it, kill Genoa, kill those southerners!"

Tang Long pushed his position forward, closer to the penalty area.

He realized with sharp clarity that things could not continue like this!

Nagatomo Yuto's crosses were not having much of an effect.

To be fair, his crossing technique was actually quite decent.

However, with such straightforward, predictable passes, no matter how well you delivered them, it was very difficult to pose a real threat to the Genoa goal!

Why?

Because there was no element of surprise!

Once you set up your stance, everyone knew what you were going to do, and the tall Genoa defenders were already prepared, eyes locked onto the ball.

You might cross accurately, but we have the numbers in defense!

We aren't afraid of your crosses.

"If they keep playing like this, it's going to be a draw. I really don't understand what they're doing; the crossing is too monotonous. How can that create a threatening play?"

Inside the private box, a friend of Sneijder asked him.

Sneijder shook his head.

"They definitely need to make a change! But, if you, someone who doesn't even play, can see that, do you really think the Inter Milan players on the pitch don't know it?

But the current situation forces them to rely on these straight, vertical crosses!

Within the entire Inter Milan squad, there isn't a single person with the ability to thread a pass through the opponent's defensive line. All they can do is replace quality with quantity, constant high-ball bombardment, hoping to fluke one in and win. That's it."

His friend nodded thoughtfully and said:

"A change? You mean, like that number 99 youth player did earlier, turning a shot into a pass by accident, and then getting an assist?"

Sneijder blinked a few times.

He swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

"Hey, look, that number 99 has the ball again!"

Nagatomo Yuto's cross was cleared by a Genoa defender once more.

However, this time, the clearance did not travel far.

It fell right toward Tang Long's position at the edge of the penalty area!

Watching the ball descend, Tang Long's head suddenly went hot!

Damn it, I'm going to smash this with a violent volley!

Just as he took a step back, raised his right arm, pulled his right leg back, and locked his eyes on the ball, preparing to swing through it, Tang Long was shocked to discover—time had suddenly become extremely slow!

The ball fell through the air as if in 0.1x slow motion.

Two Genoa players who had come sliding in seemed to be lying on the ground, frozen in place.

Even Icardi inside the penalty area remained with his eyes wide open, staring at him.

And the constant, boisterous roar from the North Stand had faded to a mosquito-like hum.

Time seemed to have solidified!

A familiar notification sound rang out—

According to big data analysis, a volley at this moment has a 63% chance of being blocked by defenders, a 35% chance of flying off-target, a 2% chance of hitting the frame, and a 1% chance of scoring. Our right wing-back position is completely unmarked; passing the ball unexpectedly to the flank for the right wing-back to cross increases the scoring probability to 30%.

Tang Long reacted immediately, wanting to adjust his technique to turn the shot into a pass.

But that was incredibly difficult!

His body was already committed, and with his current level of football, trying to pull back in an instant was extremely hard!

In a split second, time suddenly sped up!

Everyone on the pitch returned to normal speed!

First, the boisterous roar from the North Stand crashed into Tang Long's eardrums like a tidal wave!

Immediately after, the sliding tackles of three Genoa defenders zipped right under Tang Long's nose!

He could even feel a wave of heat rushing toward his face!

Almost instinctively, Tang Long forced his body to twist!

Using all his energy, he flicked his ankle—which was about to strike the bottom of the ball—

The ball deflected off the outside of his foot!

And immediately soared high toward the right flank!