Why had Sneijder turned up at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza?
Born in 1984, Sneijder was shown the door by Real Madrid in 2009 and transferred to Inter Milan for 15 million euros.
People thrived when they moved to new surroundings!
The Dutch midfielder spent three and a half glorious years at Inter Milan, and in 2010 became a key starter for the side that dominated European football and won the treble!
But the good times didn't last.
After 2011, Inter Milan owner Moratti gradually cut back on his financial support for the club, and the heroes of their treble-winning side were shown the door.
In 2013, high-earning Sneijder also moved to Turkish Super Lig side Galatasaray.
Normally, the Turkish Super Lig would be in the middle of its season.
Sneijder wouldn't come to Milan to watch a game.
But he'd suffered a knee injury, and medical care in Turkey was nothing special.
Sneijder had chosen to return to Milan for treatment.
He was also visiting his old club and coming back to Stadio Giuseppe Meazza to watch a match.
Although he'd left Inter Milan, Sneijder had kept a decent relationship with his former club.
They'd even helped him contact a local doctor in Milan and invited him to watch a Serie A match from the VIP box, where he could meet the fans who adored him.
Sneijder had assumed that, given Inter Milan's strength, they'd have no trouble beating Genoa!
But after more than a year away, sitting in the VIP box that night, he voiced the exact same lament as Inter Milan's new head coach, Mancini:
"How did Inter Milan get so weak? Do these players on the pitch even deserve to wear the shirt?"
The game reached the 80th minute.
Inter Milan were still trailing 0–1.
Some home fans protested by leaving early.
Meanwhile, the two thousand or so Genoa fans in the away section were cheering and waving their flags!
Taking all three points from Stadio Giuseppe Meazza would give their team a huge morale boost in their fight to avoid relegation this season!
On the sidelines,
Mancini stood with his hands on his hips, looking like smoke was about to come out of his head!
In the 72nd minute, he'd substituted wing-back Jonathan and brought on Bonazzoli, a towering striker who'd been promoted from the youth team just half a season ago.
It was an all-or-nothing gamble!
But it hadn't made much difference.
Neither Bonazzoli nor Palacio
had been able to get the ball in the opposition penalty area.
Assistant coach Herrera bluntly told Mancini:
"Boss, get that number 99 kid from the youth team off the pitch already. We're playing ten against eleven!"
Mancini's face darkened, but he didn't respond.
How could he not know his assistant was right?
Mancini had long since realized that Tang Long hadn't earned his teammates' trust!
And it was hardly surprising.
Tang Long had never played in a professional league, and he'd never even trained with the first team.
Now he'd been thrown into midfield to replace Guarin, a mainstay of the previous regime.
Naturally, his teammates had their doubts.
Besides, Tang Long really wasn't playing well.
The few times he'd received the ball, his dribbling, turns, and first touch had made one thing obvious:
His fundamentals were nowhere near the level of the other Inter Milan players.
In the Italian professional game, he was at best a Serie C player!
"No. We can't take number 99 off. Take Alvarez off and put Icardi on!"
"But boss, Icardi hasn't fully recovered from his injury. Our team doctor doesn't recommend playing him!"
"Just do it. Stop wasting time. There isn't much left!"
Mancini, proud as he was, wouldn't take Tang Long off.
He'd brought the number 99 up from the youth team and sent him on at halftime to assert his authority.
If he took him off again near the end of the match,
wouldn't he be making a fool of himself?
Mancini wouldn't do that.
A new boss had to make an example of someone and establish his authority!
"Even if we lose this match, so be it..." Mancini gritted out.
In the 82nd minute of the second half, Icardi returned to the pitch.
His appearance was greeted by a roar from the Inter Milan fans!
Inter Milan now had three forwards on the pitch!
When trailing, throwing everything forward was classic Mancini-style Inter Milan, just as the fans knew it.
Sneijder's eyes lit up in the VIP box. He turned to his friend and said:
"Icardi's only played half a season at Inter Milan with me, but the kid's a born striker. His movement and finishing are absolutely top-class in Serie A."
"It's just a shame," Sneijder said with a rueful smile. "I'm not out there. Who's going to slip him a beautiful through ball?"
Icardi's arrival forced Genoa's defense to drop even deeper.
They immediately took off a forward and brought on a tall defender, retreating to protect their lead.
The penalty area was practically packed with Genoa players!
Tang Long kept waiting for his chance.
He knew that the more forwards Inter Milan had making runs, the more likely he was to find an opening for a killer pass.
"Give it to me! I'm wide open!"
A huge pocket of space opened up in front of Tang Long, and he called to wing-back Nagatomo Yuto.
Maybe it was because his earlier combination with Tang Long hadn't gone well, or maybe it was because they were both Asian.
This time, Nagatomo Yuto decisively passed the ball to Tang Long.
"Hey! Don't hold onto it. Give it to me!"
Kovacic hurried over, reaching out for the ball, afraid Tang Long would waste what little time they had left.
But this time, Tang Long had a plan of his own!
"Three opposing center-backs are out of position, and the defensive midfielder has been pulled out of position. A through ball from the wing into the inside channel of the penalty area has a 90.67% chance of creating a one-on-one threat!"
On the heat map of the pitch projected in Tang Long's mind,
Palacio and Bonazzoli weren't moving laterally.
Only Icardi had already started his run, showing signs of moving across.
"Icardi, whether I can put this ball right on your foot depends on how good your run is!"
Following the passing lane mapped out by the AI, Tang Long tilted his upper body 30 degrees, raised his arm, swung his leg, kept his eyes on the ball, and smashed the instep of his boot into its center!
Thump!
The ball skimmed along the grass, zipping away—
Just as expected, it slipped through the gap left by the defenders and rolled between the two center-backs into the penalty area!
"Holy shit!"
Icardi was startled and hurried to accelerate!
Tang Long's pass had a great route, but it was far too hard!
It had as much power as a shot!
Icardi gave it everything he had and nearly stumbled, barely managing to bring the ball under control!
Before he could think for half a second, a shadow rushed up behind him.
A striker's instinct told Icardi that an opposing center-back was closing in to cover!
With his back to goal, Icardi nudged the ball one way, dragged it back the other, and used a feint to open up a shooting lane—
He struck with the inside of his left foot!
The ball clipped the opponent's toe and traced a bizarre arc through the air, flying into the very top-left corner of the goal!
"Beautiful!!!!"
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza erupted!
The fans couldn't believe that Icardi, fresh off an injury, had just scored a goal like that!
At last, the score was level!
Icardi shoved aside the teammates rushing over to celebrate and ran into the goal to retrieve the ball.
"Five minutes left! We still have time!"
No one paid Tang Long any attention.
Nagatomo Yuto came over and patted him on the shoulder.
"Nice bit of luck, kid. Your shot went wide and turned into an assist, haha!"
Tang Long froze, then finally understood.
So his passing lane had been right on target.
It was just that his passing wasn't very good, and he'd put too much power on the ball.
His teammates had all thought he was taking a shot!
Then, by sheer luck, Icardi had intercepted the ball halfway through its path, and Tang Long's shot had turned into an assist.
That was what everyone thought!
Even Mancini on the sidelines kept telling his assistant how lucky they'd been just then!
But then,
as Icardi clutched the ball and sprinted past Tang Long,
he suddenly turned and glanced at him.
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