Fans Chant: Sneijder! We Want Sneijder!

It was 4:50 AM, China Standard Time, inside the LeTV Sports studio.

Commentator Liu Teng let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes.

As a die-hard Inter Milan fan, the commentary work during the first half had been a mental and physical ordeal, leaving his dark circles noticeably darker.

If he had been watching the match at home alone, Liu Teng would have cursed and turned off the television long ago!

What kind of garbage were they playing!

But to earn a living, he had to swallow his disgust and sit back down in front of the commentary desk.

"I believe the viewers at home have had as miserable a first half as I have.

It's hard to imagine that this is the Inter Milan we once knew!

But the match continues. I reviewed the first half during the break, and if we want to turn the tide, we must substitute Guarin off!"

Liu Teng's suggestion received approval from most of the people in the live chat.

-[Well said! How many shots did Guarin blast into the stands in the first half!]

-[Guarin feels like he's gotten arrogant; the moment he's within 35 meters of the goal, he wants to shoot!]

-[Oh my god, he even dares to shoot from 40 meters out. Isn't that just reckless!]

-[Look at how anxious Palacio is, he's practically jumping! The midfield only knows how to shoot from distance; no one is sending him any through balls.]

-[Through balls? Who's going to send them? Sneijder had that ability, but he's not here anymore!]

The broadcast feed cut to the stadium.

Because Guarin was the strongest player on the pitch for Inter Milan, with his bulky build, Liu Teng keenly noticed the change the moment he was no longer on the field!

"Viewers, haha, I called it, didn't I? Mancini made adjustments during the halftime break, and Guarin has gone off to get some water!

Let me see who the substitute is. Inter Milan still has many players on the bench with delicate footwork capable of threading through balls, like Alvarez."

However, when Liu Teng saw a young player with black hair and yellow skin standing in Guarin's position, he was stunned!

"Who is this number 99 kid? I don't recognize him."

"Wait," Liu Teng paused, a flash of sudden delight crossing his eyes, and his entire body jolted!

"This person, I think I recognize him. Isn't he that, ah—"

Whistle!

The second half began!

Amidst the cheering and flag-waving at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Inter Milan immediately launched an offensive!

The Italian center-back Ranocchia made great use of his ball-playing advantages.

He started as a forward in the youth academy, so his awareness of carrying the ball forward was excellent!

"Take it!"

Ranocchia spotted a gap between the opponent's defensive midfielder and forward, dribbling the ball two steps forward to the center circle. Then, just before the opponent's midfield could swarm him, he gently flicked the ball with his toe to Kovacic.

This 20-year-old Croatian midfielder had played every match as a starter in the recently concluded 2014 World Cup, and his entire demeanor had been completely transformed!

Confidence and elegance radiated from his dribbling footwork.

After a brief observation, he used a fake pass and a sharp cut to bypass a Genoa midfielder!

At the same time, as the ball advanced, Inter Milan's three lines pressed forward as a whole, forming a containment around the Genoa penalty area.

"Look at my position!"

Argentine forward Palacio made a quick run, attempting to receive a through ball from Kovacic to beat the offside trap.

However, the Croatian midfielder felt that a through ball was too simple at this moment, so he chose to keep passing to stretch the width of the opponent's defensive line.

Snap!

The ball was passed to Tang Long, who was 10 meters out on the right flank!

Watching the ball roll toward him on the green pitch, Tang Long's nerves tightened instantly.

This was his first touch of the entire match!

In a split second, a familiar brainwave flashed through Tang Long's mind:

"The Genoa defensive formation has been stretched, and our right wing-back is overlapping! A threatening opportunity is about to arise!"

In Tang Long's mental heat map, the small blue dot representing Inter Milan's right wing-back Nagatomo Yuto was rapidly approaching, flickering with light.

Snap!

Tang Long didn't dare to hesitate; he didn't choose to trap the ball and think.

With his back to the goal, he didn't even look, directly flicking the ball toward the right front with the outside of his boot, and immediately started his run!

What a pity!

The ball didn't find Nagatomo Yuto and rolled slowly out of bounds.

Tang Long ran a few steps before stopping and looking back.

Nagatomo Yuto was panting, his head covered in sweat.

He hadn't caught up.

As it turned out, Nagatomo Yuto's acceleration had been a fraction slow, and combined with his lack of top-end speed, he hadn't been able to reach the ball.

But more importantly, the Japanese wing-back hadn't expected Tang Long to pass the ball first-time without taking a touch at all!

He had assumed Tang Long hadn't seen him; after all, the direction Tang Long was facing when he received the ball was opposite to the path of his own sprint.

As a player who operated on the flank, Nagatomo Yuto understood the routine, so he gave Tang Long two silent nods to signal that the fault lay with him.

However, Palacio in the center was not happy.

"What are you doing? How can you fail to control such a simple ball!"

The striker Palacio threw his hands up at Tang Long, assuming the ball had gone out of bounds because Tang Long had failed to trap it properly.

"You clearly could have played a through ball, so why give it to a green kid from the youth team?"

That wasn't enough; Palacio even took a jab at Kovacic.

The stands near the flank where Tang Long was positioned also showered him with a chorus of boos!

"Who is this guy? Does he even know how to play football?"

"He messed up such a simple ball, what a joke!"

"What a great opportunity, the kid just lacks experience!"

"This number 99 is the one who replaced Guarin, and he's playing midfield with this level of skill? Are we really that short of players at Inter Milan!"

"Xu--Xu--"

For his first touch representing Inter Milan, Tang Long was not greeted with applause or cheers.

It was nothing but boos!

However, Tang Long was not discouraged; instead, his confidence grew significantly.

He knew his line of thinking had been correct.

The problem lay in his teammate Nagatomo Yuto's lack of decisiveness in his overlapping run and his insufficient speed.

"It seems the tempo of Serie A is nothing special. No matter how fast it is, it's not faster than the AI analysis in my head!"

Thinking of this, Tang Long felt a sense of certainty in his heart.

He began looking for his next opportunity.

Perhaps next time he should slow down a bit, allowing his teammates to catch up to his mental rhythm, which might yield better results.

The match continued.

Trailing 0-1, Inter Milan continued their high-pressure siege on the Genoa backline.

Bang, bang, bang--

Bang, bang, bang--

The sound of passing echoed throughout the stadium.

However, seemingly affected by the previous "misplaced" pass, his teammates rarely passed the ball to Tang Long anymore.

Some passes were even visibly steered away from him.

This was a clear sign of their lack of trust in Tang Long's ability.

In the blink of an eye, the time reached the 80th minute.

Inter was still trailing!

Although they had formed a half-court siege against Genoa, the final pass was always lacking that little bit of quality.

They couldn't penetrate the penalty area, and they couldn't find the strikers!

Inter's midfield began resorting to long-range shots more and more.

Manager Mancini and the Inter fans were growing anxious.

If this continued, they were going to lose in front of sixty thousand home fans!

Suddenly, a familiar face appeared on the broadcast screen--

Dutch midfielder Sneijder!

He was dressed in casual clothes, sitting in a high-level VIP box in the stands, discussing the match with a friend beside him.

Even through the large floor-to-ceiling glass, one could clearly see Sneijder's furrowed brows—he too was anxious about Inter's situation today!

The fans at the stadium saw Sneijder's figure on the two massive screens at the east and west corners of Meazza.

A gasp of surprise erupted!

Ah--

"Sneijder! It's Sneijder!

Sneijder has returned, he has returned to Meazza!

Oh God, please bring Sneijder back, he is our eternal master of passing!

If he were still on the pitch, he would have delivered at least three assists by now!

Sneijder, we want Sneijder!

Sneijder, please, come back soon!"