Time is constantly passing in the tight training and life. Before the start of the new season, Inter Milan had arranged several warm-up matches. The first is against Bresi in Serie A. This game attracts the attention of many media. They want to see Nagi and how exactly he plays.
Nagi came off the bench in the 70th minute and experienced the atmosphere on the field. What impressed him most was that the overall style of play of the Serie A team was slow, and defense and offense formed their own system, while Nagi played in rhythm before but he liked Bright, quick offensive and defensive tactics.
In addition, the defensive strength is in stark contrast to the Serie A team. The defensive confrontation of the Serie A team was worthy of being the best in the five major leagues. Nagi was severely collided many times in the game. The referee thought it was normal physical confrontation. Protecting the ball will not concede the ball, but the deformed technical action can no longer pose any threat.
Therefore, he is not very suitable for this kind of tactical change and defensive intensity, and his performance on the field is relatively poor. There are very few key passes in the whole game, and the number of shots is only two.
In the end, Inter Milan and their opponents became 0:0.
After the game, the media waiting at the scene were ecstatic, as if they had found a breaking point, they wrote manuscripts immediately and published them the next day.
The headline of the "Turin Sports Daily" reads: "Genius players show their true colors, 18-year-old Nagi Mina may not survive in Serie A." "Corriere dello Sport" said: "Roma has eliminated a competitor this year. A gratifying thing." The headline of Gazzetta dello Sport went even further: "Inter Milan pays for its stupidity, there is only one championship team in Milan."
Nagi was completely unwilling to read how he was described in the news. He only felt that the Italian media had deep malice towards him. It was no wonder that an 18-year-old Asian boy played the main force of the Serie A giants. Chico's Italian media was not satisfied.
A few days later, in the second warm-up match against Serie B Palermo, Inter Milan coach Cooper sent a substitute lineup to attend. Nagi did not enter the squad, relying on a goal from the substitute teenager, and finally won 1:0 opponent.
The Serie A media has another topic to hype. They have written articles speculating that Nagi may have lost the trust of the head coach, and what awaits him will be sold or a loan to other leagues for training.
However, in the third warm-up match against Genoa in Serie B, Nagi started the game. His performance was still not very good. He seemed to be out of tune with the team's tactics. The audience only contributed one offensive plan. In the end, Inter Milan 3: 1 overwhelmed the opponent.
Cooper on the sidelines frowned. He felt that Nagi's performance was limited by the changes in skills and tactics. After other top league players switched to Serie A, many people would suddenly disappear, because this change made them unable to adapt. .
But what made him gratified was that Nagi had obviously noticed this too, and he was trying to adjust his playing style. Give him a period of running-in, and he would definitely develop better.
In the next few warm-up matches, Nagi's performance was indeed better than the previous one. Although he didn't score a goal, he planned many offensive threats and even contributed two direct assists.
However, the Italian media have given up paying attention to Nagi. In their view, Nagi was already a useless person and will be kicked out by Inter Milan sooner or later.
Pinettina training ground, the main coach's office on the second floor, Cooper looked at Nagi, who was practicing extra training on the court, and felt very relieved. He didn't expect Nagi to be able to withstand the pressure and actively and quickly integrate into the team's technical and tactical system. He had been observing from the sidelines and he clearly felt that the cooperation between Nagi and his teammates became more and more tacit.
Originally, he wanted the team's technical director Horacio Bohm to come forward to appease Nagi, so that he would not slander him in the unexpected world, and train with peace of mind. Inter Milan would give him enough time, but he didn't expect him to be able to adjust himself.
Those sarcastic words seemed to be like a whip, constantly urging Nagi to do better, the more he belittled him, the greater the effect of his rebound.
Cooper nodded in satisfaction. Now he believes more and more that the club has made the most correct choice, and Nagi is the key to their rise!
On August 26, 2001, at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan, Italy, the much-anticipated Serie A finally opened. Inter Milan will sit at home and face Perugia.
There was not much suspense in this game itself, because the overall strength of Inter Milan was a bit higher than that of Perugia, and it was not difficult to successfully score three points.
But the Nerazzurri fans were still sweating. The bad situation of last season is vivid, and the signings of this season have not been recognized. If the start is not good, they were afraid that the entire club will bear a lot of pressure.
Inter coach Cooper formed a three-five-two formation with Francisco Toldo in goal and Javier Zanetti, Ivan Ramilo Cordoba and Marco Matt at the back Lacy, central midfielders Vladislav Gresco, Cristiano Zanetti, Luigi Di Biagio, Alvaro Recoba and Sergio Consicao, UU Reading www. On uukanshu.com's front line are Christian Vieri and Nagi Mina.
Although Nagi's performance in the warm-up match was not satisfactory, Cooper still let him start.
The opponent had a regular four-four-two formation, goalkeeper Mazzantini, defenders Ze Maria, Di Loreto, Bayoko and Milanese, midfielders Tedesco, Gatti, Blasi and Grosso, the forwards are Frizzas and Bazzani.
It is worth mentioning that South Korean player Ahn Jung-hwan did not appear in Perugia's starting list, and could only sit on the bench, and may not even be placed in. This made the Korean media hype the "Asian Derby" before the game " become empty talk.
What would it be like if a stadium with 85,000 people was fully seated? When Nagi entered the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, he was deeply shocked. The top stand that can only be seen by looking up, the crowd turned into densely packed dots at a glance.
Standing near the center circle, Nagi took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. At this time, the referee blew the whistle to start the game.
Perugia's head coach Lucius O'Leary is an experienced local coach. Last season, he led the young newly promoted horse to successfully avoid relegation, but then many of the main players in the team were favored by other clubs, including Matt Several outstanding players, including Lacy, were all bought.
Therefore, the club's performance goal this season is still relegation. O'Reilly does not want to return after a big defeat in the first round, so the morale of the team will seriously drop, and the road to relegation will become particularly unfavorable.
Under his tactical arrangement, Perugia is based on defense and plays very cautiously, while Inter Milan is aggressively pressing forward, hoping to gain the lead as soon as possible, and the next game will become easier.
When the game progressed to the 10th minute, Inter Milan Cordoba dribbled the ball in the midfield and was destroyed by the opponent, so he got a chance to throw a throw-in ball.
Slovakian central defender Gresco threw the ball to Zanetti in the middle. Zanetti stopped the ball firmly and then led it forward. Facing the approaching defender, he pushed it to Consicao in the middle. .
Consicao looked up at Nagi's position in the frontcourt, and sent a through ball to Perugia's defense line.
Nagi also advanced quickly at this time. Perugia's two defenders, Maria and Loreto, sandwiched him, their bodies constantly squeezed him, and they even secretly made some small pulling movements with their hands to interfere.
Nagi really felt the stronger confrontation force, his sprint speed slowed down, if it was in Genk, he would have already got rid of the defense and become a single-handedly.
But the usual extra training had paid off. Nagi stuck his body firmly in the lower body, caught the ball from Consicao, and firmly protected it under his feet, but he couldn't easily get rid of the defender.
At this moment, Nagi had an idea. When he was dribbling the ball horizontally in front of the penalty area, he suddenly flicked the ball behind him with his toes, and then turned around abruptly.
Maria and Loreto, who were exerting force, suddenly lost their force point, and they staggered a little, revealing their defensive flaws. Nagi seized this opportunity, caught up with the ball and volleyed directly with his right foot, and the ball rolled from the lower right corner of the goal frame.
"goooooooooooooooooal! In the 10th minute, Inter Milan took the lead in breaking through the opponent's gate!"
"A wonderful volley from Nagi Mina near the top of the penalty area, the ball entered the goal from the dead corner, and Mazzantini didn't have a chance to save it."
"Mina, under the pincer attack of two defensive players, used a clever emergency stop and changed direction to get rid of it and then hit the goal. The whole process was done in one go."
"We can see that Mina has completely withstood the fierce confrontation of the two defenders, and he can also perform such superb skills at his feet. It seems that the media who reported before the game that he cannot adapt to the confrontation in Serie A have been severely left speechless."
"Inter Milan, which has taken the lead, can finally breathe a sigh of relief. After experiencing the historical low of last season, I believe that the whole team is tense and wants to get a good start in the new season."
After scoring the goal, Nagi clenched his fists, jumped over the billboards on the sidelines, rushed to the stands where the home fans were, and roared to the sky.
In the past month, the media had been belittling him and underestimating him, which has made him very annoyed, but now this goal has slightly eased the depression in his heart.
The teammates also rushed over and surrounded Nagi. Materazzi touched Nagi's head and said, "Boy, I thought you could do it the first time I saw you. I didn't expect the first goal to come. So fast, you are going to take off."
Vieri put his arms around Nagi's neck and said, "Mina, your escape was amazing. You don't look strong at all. How can you be so stable?"
After Inter Milan opened the scoring, the situation on the field gradually tilted towards the home team. They played more and more relaxed, while Perugia was somewhat at a loss. They wanted to counterattack but were worried about the emptiness of the defense, so they performed very well on both offense and defense. awkward.
In the 41st minute, Inter Milan intercepted the ball in the backfield and launched a quick counterattack. Materazzi dribbled the ball through the midfield and passed the ball to Di Biagio. Di Biagio passed it to Nagi.
Nagi had defenders following up on both sides, ready to double-team him, so he repeats the same trick, he does not stop the ball when he receives the ball, but directly wades the ball behind with his right foot, and then catches up Go forward after the ball.
As soon as he retreated and advanced, he got rid of the encirclement of Perugia's two defenders, and the next goal was exactly the same as the first goal. Nagi made it and expanded the score to 2:0.
Nagi, who scored twice, ran and shook his fingers, and the players behind him rushed to celebrate together. They felt that Nagi's performance at this time was completely different from his performance in the warm-up match, full of passion and threat.
Inter Milan's offense also seems to have become smoother. Once the striker's state was opened, the entire team will look completely new.
The Inter Milan fans in the stands were originally skeptical of Nagi, but they completely changed at this time. They chanted Nagi's name, and even some fans holding the "We need Ronaldo" sign put it away for the time being. Impressed by Nagi's amazing performance.
The first half of the game ended with Inter Milan taking the lead. During the intermission, Perugia's locker room was full of gloom. No one could have imagined that a fledgling kid could bring such a big trouble.
Head coach O'Reilly frowned and said, "Guys, put away your contempt for Mina. Don't listen to what the media says about Mina. They are too irresponsible."
"Otherwise, we will become a complete background board, gain a big defeat, and achieve Mina's reputation. In the second half, we will strictly guard him. Maria and Loreto, the two of you in the first half The performance of defending Mina was substandard, I hope you can make changes in the second half."
"Soliano, I'll replace you in the second half replacing Frizas, our formation is changed to 541, you have to keep an eye on Mina in the back line and make up for it in time, in the second half We are based on defense and counterattack, trying to narrow the score gap."
"Everyone, I hope you will do your best in this game, but don't be burdened by your heart, and play to your full level. The overall strength of Inter Milan is stronger, but we are not without the strength to fight. Make good adjustments. In the second half We fought a beautiful counterattack."
Everyone in Perugia nodded when they heard the words. They did read a lot of reports belittling Nagi before the game, and in addition, Nagi was not good in Inter Milan's warm-up match, so they would inevitably have some overconfidence.
Can an 18-year-old Asian boy really adapt to the Serie A style of play? It's a pity that the reality slapped them hard. Nagi not only could, but also scored twice.
"We must not let Mina perform in the second half. I will educate him hard and let him know that Serie A is not that simple." Soriano, who was about to play, thought viciously.
After changing sides and fighting again, Perugia gained a firm foothold under the attack of Inter Milan, and also used the defensive counterattack. In the 65th minute, striker Bazzani pulled back a goal, which made the home Inter Milan fans feel like standing up.
However, the Inter Milan players quickly put away their relaxed minds and firmly controlled the situation of the game. In the 77th minute, Nagi received a pass from Consicao on the right.
He tricked Perugia's No. 14 left defender Soriano by cycling continuously, and then prepared to cross into the penalty area, but unexpectedly, Soriano, who was out of position, turned around and swept Nagi down.
Nagi only felt a pain in his foot, and fell to the ground. Inter Milan players quickly surrounded him, and the referee quickly stopped the game
Zanetti hurriedly squatted down in front of Nagi and asked, "Are you alright?" Nagi rubbed his legs and felt that there was nothing serious, so he said, "It should be fine." Then he stood up under Zanetti's pulling up.
Seeing that there was nothing wrong with both sides, the referee finally only verbally warned Soriano, and then awarded a free kick to Inter Milan.
If this kind of foul is in Serie A, the referee will definitely draw a card, but in Serie A, the referee is more tolerant of such a foul.
Zanetti was about to take the free kick, when Soriano walked up to Nagi and said: "Boy, put away your little legs, this is the first league in Europe, if you are afraid of getting hurt, just go back to your place obediently." Go to the lower leagues."
Nagi was furious after hearing this, but he did not lose his mind, but said coldly: "You will pay the price for your actions, because of your foul, Inter Milan will seal the victory!"
So he came to Zanetti and said: "Captain, let me take this free kick." During the team training, Nagi occasionally practiced free kick coordination with other teammates, although he did not establish enough tacit understanding , but he is still very confident in the grasp of the landing point.
The team was in the lead, and Zanetti did not refuse, he said: "Okay, you take this free kick, and I will cover for you."
With the whistle of the referee, Zanetti started to run first, followed by Nagi When Zanetti reached the position of the ball, there was a commotion in the penalty area. The players in Perugia thought it was him who took the free kick. Unexpectedly He feinted and jumped straight over the ball.
Nagi, who followed closely, kicked a curved ball with the inside of his right foot, and the ball went straight to the back of the penalty area. A tall figure in a blue and black jersey leaped high and pushed the ball into Perugia's gate. .
It was the defender Materazzi that Inter Milan has just introduced from Perugia!
The former teammates watched Materazzi jump high and head the ball into the goal with despair on their faces. They knew Materazzi's ability best. The name of defender with a knife is not for nothing!
After the goal, Materazzi did not choose to celebrate. This was to save face for his former club, but Nagi didn't care about it. He hugged Materazzi with other teammates and pointed at Soriano of Perugia. indicating that this goal was brought about by his foul.
In the 85th minute, Nagi faced Soriano one-on-one on the right again. This time he still used fake moves to pass the opponent. Soriano hesitated for a while, wondering if he should make a foul to stop him.
While he was in a daze, Nagi had already made a pass, and Vieri in the penalty area caught the ball and volleyed the goal.
4:1, Inter Milan beat the opponent!
Since Soriano fouled him and talked trash, Nagi naturally would not let go of the opportunity to hit him, so he walked up to Soriano and said, "Go back to your bench, your level will never be the main player in Serie A for the rest of your life."
Soriano's face was flushed, he talked trash to Nagi, Nagi immediately responded with two assists and goals, and Nagi talked trash to him, but there was nothing he could do.
At the end of the game, Inter Milan won a big victory as they wished and got off to a good start!
The result of the first round of the match stunned the Italian media who were pessimistic about Inter Milan. Nagi won the title of best player of the game with two goals and two assists.
They can no longer ignore Inter Milan's smooth offensive ability. "Gazzetta dello Sport" wrote that the arrival of Nagi has greatly improved Inter Milan's offensive ability.
"Since Ronaldo missed the game due to injury, Inter Milan had not played such a smooth offensive performance for a long time. Mina's oppressive ability on the front line can be seen."
"I think we need to re-evaluate Inter Milan's ability. They are still a good contender for the championship. When Ronaldo returns, Inter Milan will make the whole of Italy tremble."
"Turin Sports Daily" stated: "All of us underestimated Mina, or because of his age and Asian background, our judgment was biased."
"Actually, from Genk's game against Liverpool last season, it can be seen that Mina performed better than anyone else. He scored four goals by himself, and almost brought the team to the final by himself and got the trophy at the end."
"Corriere dello Sport" analyzed Nagi's data on the field: "In fact, Mina's confrontation in the game was not weak at all. He was the player who has received the most fouls, but he still maintains an amazing breakthrough rate and a threat. number of passes."
"There is another statistic that is even more surprising. In such a high-intensity confrontation, Mina's turnovers were zero. Yes, we have no statistical errors. The **** he received, except for fouls, Perugia's rear There was absolutely no way for the defenders to tackle it."
It seems that because Nagi's performance was too impressive, many Italian media had changed their caliber and started to praise Nagi. Many fans were also very interested. They didn't expect that the teenager from the Belgian League could stage such a crazy performance in his first show. performance, so they bought newspapers to learn more about the competition.
For a while, the sales of sports newspapers in Italy increased greatly Nagi spread a positive image throughout the Apennine Peninsula.
This incident also alarmed the head coach of Inter Milan, Hector Cooper. He specifically approached Nagi and advised him: "Nagi, your performance in the first game was indeed very good, but don't be discouraged just because of the praise from the outside world." Be proud, there are still many powerful enemies and challenges we need to face."
Nagi said: "Mr. Cooper, don't worry, I know the temperament of this group of media. They will praise you because of your outstanding performance, and criticize you because of a loss. I will not judge you because of the outside world. And change your attitude."
Cooper nodded in satisfaction. It seems that Nagi had a maturity far beyond his age, so he doesn't have to worry about it.
Different from small events such as Serie A, the country has already obtained the broadcast rights of Serie A, and immediately took the Inter Milan game as the priority broadcast game.
This news inspired all the domestic fans. They rushed to tell each other and stayed up all night to watch the live broadcast, witnessing the historical moment of Japanese players on the Serie A stage.
They were shocked after watching the game. They originally thought that Nagi was a promising future superstar and the future leader of Japanese football, but who would have thought that there was future at all. A real superstar galloping in the top European leagues.
Everyone is discussing eagerly on the Internet. Some people are discussing when the Football Association will recruit Nagi and let him make a historic breakthrough for the Japanese team on the stage of the World Cup. Some people are also discussing when Nagi will be able to win The Ballon d'Or, which symbolizes the highest honor in Europe, is definitely possible if it can lead Inter Milan to achieve excellent results