After the match, Inter Milan striker Icardi, who had scored twice, was named Man of the Match.
The spotlights flashed as he lifted the trophy high in both hands and shouted the slogan:
"Forza Inter!"
He looked so triumphant, like the new king of Meazza.
Sky Sport Italy was quick to rate the players' performances.
"Icardi, 9 points. Man of the Match. He dominated the game!"
"Nagatomo Yuto, 8 points. His tireless running made up for his physical shortcomings, and he set up Icardi's last-gasp winner!"
"Kovacic, 7.5 points. Having come through the World Cup, the Croatian's command of the midfield has grown increasingly mature. He did an excellent job of dictating play."
"Ranocchia, 7 points. Though he was caught out of position for the opening goal, he defended solidly for the rest of the match and never let the opponents breach the goal again."
"Tang, 7 points. Lady Luck was on his side tonight, making him quite the charmer. In any case, his two touches changed the game."
"Handanovic, 6.5 points. The goal conceded was not his fault, and Inter's goalkeeper was not under much pressure overall."
"Head coach Mancini, 6.5 points. In his first home match since returning for a second stint, he secured three points in front of 57,000 fans, though it was an extremely difficult process."
Inter Milan Youth Academy.
A little after nine that evening, U19 head coach Laino hurried back.
He had just finished taking the FIFA A-level coaching exam in Bern, Switzerland, for UEFA.
He had driven straight back to his office in Milan.
There was another youth league match tomorrow afternoon, so the dedicated Laino had to start preparing right away.
Laino walked into the restroom with his bag on his back, just as his assistant coach, Chivu, came in too.
They stood side by side and took a leak.
"Haha, Laino, you really are dedicated. Coming into the office this late—impressive!"
"You're here too. Have you put together tomorrow's starting lineup?"
"Yep. It's on your desk."
"Good. By the way, which youth players did you put forward for the first team this round?"
"Tang."
"Tang?"
"Yeah, that Chinese kid, Tang Long."
At the name, Laino gave an exaggerated full-body shudder.
He accidentally got his hand wet!
He glared resentfully at Chivu, wishing he could wipe his hand on him.
"Have you lost your mind, Chivu? That Chinese kid's contract expires next month, and he'll be leaving. Why did you put him forward? Why not give such a great opportunity to a promising player from our team?"
Chivu remained calm.
He might only be an assistant coach now, but before retiring, he had been a legendary member of Inter's treble-winning side. So he spoke to the head coach without deference or hesitation.
"I think Tang's pretty good. Besides, I gave him a new youth team contract."
Laino frowned.
"You've gone too far, Chivu! You can't offer him a new contract without my permission."
Chivu zipped up with a rasp. As he walked away, he looked back at Laino and said:
"You're right, Laino. Maybe I shouldn't have given him a new contract. It would've been a waste. But in the match that just ended, Tang Long played for the first team. He was incredibly lucky and somehow even managed an assist. I reckon Mancini likes this lucky charm."
Laino stood there alone, his hair now somewhat disheveled.
While Inter Milan paid little attention to Tang Long, Chinese football had already exploded with excitement!
The day after the match,
reports about Tang Long appeared all over the headlines of major news outlets.
Tencent Sports: Tang Long makes his Serie A debut! First Chinese player to appear in a Serie A match!
Toutiao: What Ma Mingyu couldn't accomplish, 18-year-old Tang Long has done!
Titan Sports: Assist! Key passes! Tang Long helps Inter Milan come back against Genoa!
Tang Long's name also topped the trending searches on Weibo!
#Tang Long's Serie A debut makes Chinese football history!
Videos of Tang Long's two key passes had surpassed ten million views!
Many longtime Serie A fans were thrilled.
Especially the longtime fans who had fallen in love with Inter because of Ronaldo.
Could they ever have imagined that one day a Chinese player would wear Inter's colors and run across the grass at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza?
They hadn't even dreamed of it!
Especially when they saw Nagatomo Yuto of Japan making repeated appearances for Inter.
For years, Chinese fans had felt an aching bitterness.
Why could Japanese players do it, but Chinese players couldn't?
Now, with Tang Long's arrival, the void left by Chinese players in Serie A had finally been filled!
However, the top comments beneath the Weibo videos of Tang Long's key passes were full of naysayers. As the story gained traction, the comments had climbed to the top four spots.
"I don't know anything about football, but it's obvious that assist was a scuffed kick, right? He just got lucky and it went to a teammate, didn't it?"
"Heh, of course. It's the men's national team, so you can hype this up too? Pick any one of our women's team players and she'd play better than him!"
"That's enough. It was a fluke, but you're making him sound like Inter's savior. You'll do anything for clicks!"
"I watched the full match replay. To be fair, Tang Long was completely disconnected from the team. He's nowhere near good enough for Inter's first team. I saw some insider gossip that says Mancini only put him on as a pawn in his power struggle with the dressing room."
Mancini sat in front of the computer in his office.
He repeatedly reviewed the Serie A match that had just ended.
It was his habit to spend three hours reviewing every match with his assistant, Herrera, the next day, no matter how tired he was.
He would sum up the lessons learned and set goals for improvement.
Over the years, this had become a good habit of Mancini's and a mark of his professionalism.
But in reviewing the match against Genoa,
Mancini and assistant coach Herrera found themselves in serious disagreement!
The sticking point was Tang Long.
Herrera believed Tang Long had been completely disconnected from the team's tactics. He wasn't even good enough to start for the youth team, let alone worth keeping in the first team.
"Coach, I don't know why we're even arguing about Tang. We can all see what this kid can do. He's nowhere near the level of his teammates. We can't keep him in the first team just because he happened to get an assist and fluked a good pass. That'd be a complete waste of a first-team registration spot!"
Mancini didn't agree.
He only agreed with half of what Herrera said.
"Tang isn't good enough for the first team yet. I know that better than you do.
"But not only am I keeping him in the first team, I'm also giving him a professional contract with the first team!"
"Huh?"
Herrera was stunned!
A first-team contract for Tang Long?
Was Mancini crazy?
Tang Long himself probably couldn't even imagine it.
Of course, Mancini had his reasons.
"Herrera, you've been with me since my time in the Turkish Super Lig. It's time you matured a little. You need to understand that there's a lot more to football than just playing the game.
"Was Guarin really just picking a fight with me in front of everyone by chance? Why am I putting pressure on Guarin? To bring the dressing room under control!
"But is Guarin the only one in the dressing room?
"Icardi, Kovacic, Alvarez, and M'Vila—are these players going to behave just because you toss them a little sugar?
"The world changes fast. Players today are nothing like they were ten years ago. They're all unruly by nature. They earn millions of euros, have millions of followers on social media, and every move they make is watched by people in their countries. Their egos have ballooned out of control!
"Sure, bringing Tang on for Guarin was a bold gamble, but we won that bet in the end, didn't we?"
Mancini smoothed his slightly graying bangs.
Then he lit a cigar and took a few deep, smoky puffs.
"Not only am I keeping Tang in the first team, I'm going to put him on the substitutes' list for every match and have him sit on the sidelines!
"That kid's very presence will send a message to everyone in the first team: if anyone dares to cause trouble, I can replace you in an instant with a youth player who's never played a professional match. At Inter Milan, no one is irreplaceable!"
Hearing this, assistant coach Herrera nodded slightly.
He understood now.
Mancini intended to use Tang Long as an extension of his own authority—a warning to the rest of the team.
"But, boss, why him in particular? Why not pick someone else from the youth team? Laino has plenty of promising players."
"No. It has to be Tang! He's bad enough that the worse he is, the more important his presence in the dressing room becomes."
Herrera's eyes lit up. He gave Mancini a thumbs-up.
"Boss, you really are the expert when it comes to managing players!"
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