Chapter 1 Before the Match

Before the match, the Chinese media specifically interviewed Zhang Jun and Li Yongle, wanting to hear their opinions on the game. The answers of the two were surprisingly consistent.

"Victory. Inter Milan isn't here for sightseeing. Fiorentina has been in good form lately, but we're confident of winning."

"We're unbeaten in fifteen rounds already, which is a remarkable achievement, so there's no reason not to continue. This is our home ground, and we've won all our home games, so we'll continue that winning streak this time as well."

About five thousand Inter Milan fans traveled from Milan to Florence, and they gathered at the Stadio Artemio Franchi two hours before the start of the match.

But the Stadio Artemio Franchi was still Fiorentina's home ground. More than thirty thousand seats were filled to capacity, a sea of purple, and the fans' singing could be heard from a long distance. The most eye-catching thing in the stands was still a large portrait of Zhang Jun, hand-painted. To be honest, the painting was not flattering. Zhang Jun with his long hair was painted as a savage. But it expressed the fans' most genuine emotions very well.

This kind of atmosphere certainly put pressure on any visiting team.

So Li Yongle felt his heart beating a little fast. Standing in the players' tunnel, he looked at the front, Zhang Jun wearing the captain's armband. He seemed very calm. Maybe this was his home ground, and he was used to this kind of situation. He couldn't lose to him, Li Yongle clenched his fists tightly, digging his fingernails into the flesh of his palms.

From the moment he came out of the locker room until the coin toss before the game, Li Yongle's eyes were always on Zhang Jun.

Watching him shake hands with Zanetti, watching him discuss the coin toss with the referee, this kid was doing a more and more impressive job as captain.

After the coin toss, Zhang Jun smiled at Li Yongle, who was staring at him from a distance, and extended his fist.

Li Yongle also extended his fist, and the two bumped fists across the air.

※※※

In this match, Inter Milan lined up in a 3-4-3 formation, with a parallel midfield. Li Yongle and Veron played in the center, Solari replaced the injured Stankovic on the left, and team captain Javier Zanetti was on the right. The three center-backs were Samuel, Materazzi, and Cordoba, and the three forwards were Adriano, Martins, and Recoba.

Fiorentina still used a 4-4-2 formation, with Zhang Jun and Pazzini as forwards, Krøldrup as attacking midfielder, Mascherano as defensive midfielder, Gasbarroni on the left wing, Jørgensen on the right wing, Ujfaluši and Kehl as center-backs, Xiang Tao as left-back, and Lahm as right-back.

Fiorentina had played with this lineup for half a season, and their teamwork had improved as they got used to each other. But it also had to be noted that this was also caused by Fiorentina's lack of bench depth. Fortunately, Fiorentina lost the Coppa Italia at the beginning of the season, otherwise, the team playing on two fronts might not have had the glorious record of being unbeaten in the last fifteen rounds.

Now the team was actually exhausted. Sabato had long been looking forward to the winter break so that the team could rest.

He had suggested to Ren Yudi that a few good players should be brought in during the winter break. But Ren Yudi rejected his suggestion on the grounds that there were no suitable players, and it was at that time that Sabato truly felt that the boss was the boss, and he was him.

※※※

Li Yongle was the core of Inter Milan. This was no longer exciting news for the Chinese media and fans. He initiated the attack, and he was the first line of defense. He had the most passes in the team, and the third most tackles in the team. In response to this situation, Sabato simply instructed Mascherano to go up and mark Li Yongle when he moved forward. If he was organizing in the backcourt, they would ignore him and let Krøldrup pester him.

And Fiorentina's core was definitely Zhang Jun, both mentally and tactically. The whole team had to revolve around him. Anyway, Sabato's tactics were originally attack, attack, and attack again. If you score one against me, I'll score two against you.

This style was very pleasing, and neither fans nor experts could criticize them. Because they played beautifully, and the key was that in recent months, they had been able to win games by playing like this, silencing some conservatives.

So Sabato always looked smug at press conferences. Before this match, he even made a bold statement that he would beat Inter Milan at home. "There's nothing to be afraid of Inter Milan. They're fourth in the league, and we're second."

A cheer came from the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Just three minutes into the game, Fiorentina completed their first shot, and it was naturally Zhang Jun who took the shot. He forcibly broke through Materazzi's defense with his speed, but the ball was slightly off and hit the side netting.

Sabato dared to say those words because he had confidence in Zhang Jun. He believed that none of Inter Milan's three center-backs could stop Zhang Jun's breakthrough, especially Materazzi, that big fool, who was not good at defending and had a bad temper, often making some low-level mistakes, or arguing with people on the field and fighting off the field. He was simply a time bomb on Inter Milan's defense. If he were under Sabato, he would have been out long ago. In this way, Inter Milan's defense wasn't that good after all…

"To contain Fiorentina's attack, you must start by containing Krøldrup." This was what Mancini said to Li Yongle before the game. He wanted Li Yongle to freeze that Chinese attacking midfielder who had been very active recently and often appeared on weekly highlight shows. "Li, you don't want the humiliation that Gattuso suffered to happen to you again, do you?"

Li Yongle shook his head. Of course he didn't want to. No one wanted to. He knew Krøldrup's strength. This kind of person was difficult to deal with, because no matter how tightly you marked him, as long as you gave him a little space, he would use those bizarre movements to get rid of you.

Just now, Zhang Jun's shot was because he had neglected for a moment and hadn't pressed up, allowing Krøldrup to easily make a through pass. Although it had only been half a season, Li Yongle could see that Krøldrup was obviously different than when he was in the national team. He released the ball faster, passed more often, and at the same time, his bizarre footwork could also be used to break through the defense and open up the situation.

Such a versatile attacking midfielder was truly terrifying. Sabato had really put in a lot of effort with Krøldrup.

But even though Krøldrup was powerful, Li Yongle was not to be trifled with either.

As soon as Krøldrup turned around, Li Yongle stepped sideways and cut in sharply, forcibly separating the ball, and beautifully intercepting the pass. Krøldrup was like he had crashed into a wall. He raised his hands, jumped up, and dodged, looking very helpless.

To deal with a technical attacking midfielder like him, you had to be fierce.

After successfully intercepting the ball, Li Yongle blocked Krøldrup behind him and passed the ball to Veron, who organized the attack.

Veron made a straight pass to the fast Nigerian Martins. In this match, Xiang Tao was facing a severe test of speed. Martins was up against him.

The Nigerian's consistent outstanding footwork and amazing speed, as well as his acrobatic consecutive somersaults after scoring, were Martins' weapons for becoming famous in Serie A.

Veron's through ball allowed him to comfortably build up his speed. The ball was only five or six meters in front of him. As long as he ran, no one could stop him.

Suddenly, Xiang Tao charged out from an angle. He was also fast, and he slid in with a flying tackle when he was still three or four meters away from the ball. His momentum was amazing. Even Martins didn't dare to risk taking the ball away. Who knew if he would have his foot chopped off? Those studs were still shining in the sun.

He helplessly jumped over Xiang Tao, and Xiang Tao directly kicked the ball out of bounds.

"Damn it!" Xiang Tao spat at Martins' back and retreated.

Inter Milan's throw-in, Zanetti threw the ball to Li Yongle. Li Yongle observed the situation and used his right foot to make a long pass to the left.

Solari beautifully stopped the ball and then crossed it from the baseline!

Kehl tightly marked Adriano. The two were about the same height, so it depended on who was better positioned.

Kehl twisted his body and blocked Adriano behind him. To others, it seemed that there would be no problem.

But Kehl didn't think so. He felt a great pressure from behind, so great that he couldn't clear the ball easily. He was afraid that with a little carelessness, the Brazilian would take the lead.

The ball arrived. The two jumped almost at the same time. Adriano was still behind, and he didn't seem to have any chance…

Kehl headed the ball, but he failed to flick it up. His neck was stiff, the ball hit his forehead, changed direction, and flew into the goal along the post!

Frey didn't even make a save…

Own goal!!

The Stadio Artemio Franchi was silent, and then Inter Milan fans cheered excitedly.

"Oh my god… Only seven minutes into the game, Fiorentina is behind at home. The goal was scored by their number 5 center-back, Sebastian Kehl. It was an own goal. The German defender is too unlucky!"

Kehl lowered his head and said nothing. He had been pushed a little from behind by Adriano, but he didn't use this as an excuse for the mistake. In the hearts of Germans, a mistake was a mistake, and there were no excuses.

Zhang Jun ran back from the front and patted Kehl's head, comforting him, "Don't think too much, it's still early, we can come back, cheer up!"

Inter Milan had a windfall. They surrounded Solari and Adriano, who had passed and interfered with Kehl, congratulating them.

Inter Milan's official radio commentator shouted excitedly, "Who says the Stadio Artemio Franchi is a devil's home ground? We're now leading 1-0! Kehl was flustered under the 'King's' pressure! Fiorentina's fifteen-game unbeaten streak is about to end! They always have the upper hand against AC Milan, but they're a different team when facing us! Haha, own goal, God is on Inter Milan's side today!"

※※※

The own goal in the seventh minute didn't break Fiorentina. Instead, it aroused the fighting spirit of these young people. Under Sabato's teachings, they couldn't stand others celebrating in front of them. This was considered an insult to them, and they were "vindictive": if you shame me, then I will repay you double.

So if any Inter Milan fans thought that Fiorentina would be in disarray, then they would have to hold their breath and feel Fiorentina's attacking storm.

Fiorentina was like an enraged bull.

Mascherano passed to Pazzini, Pazzini directly flicked the ball to Zhang Jun next to him, Zhang Jun jumped up and used his chest to push the ball forward, squeezing between Veron and Materazzi, then he stopped the ball and shot!

The ball bounced on the ground, and Toldo only managed to slap the ball out of bounds with great difficulty, a corner kick!

Whenever there was this kind of set piece in the attacking third, Kehl would run fifty or sixty meters from the backfield to participate in the attack. He wanted to use a goal to wash away the shame of just now.

He did get the ball, but his header was slightly above the crossbar. There was a sigh in the Stadio Artemio Franchi. But soon, the fans cheered for Fiorentina again, and then when Toldo was about to take the goal kick, boos rang out.

The fans were like Sabato, supporting the home team in everything, and booing any enemy, not to mention that you had scored a goal in their home stadium and were leading?

As long as Inter Milan players had the ball, the Stadio Artemio Franchi was filled with ear-piercing boos, and as soon as the ball was at Fiorentina's feet, the boos immediately turned into cheers. The fans' performance was like well-trained soldiers, uniform and consistent, never cheering for Inter Milan by mistake, and never booing Fiorentina.

This was the power of Fiorentina's home ground. Even the experienced Inter Milan felt a little uncomfortable in the face of this scene, and some unnecessary mistakes occurred.

Solari received the most and loudest boos because his cross caused Kehl's own goal.

Li Yan shook his head, "This is really an extreme home ground…"

Solari made a passing error in the midst of this huge booing, mistakenly passing the ball to Ujfaluši. There was immediately gloating applause and laughter from the stands. Solari was quite dissatisfied with this. He rushed up to intercept the ball, but under Ujfaluši's protection, he couldn't intercept it. The fans' cheers became even louder, and in his embarrassment, he pushed Ujfaluši down from behind.

This time, the boos were even louder, filling people's eardrums and making their hearts beat faster. The referee showed Solari a yellow card. This was a deliberate retaliatory action, and it wasn't unfair to receive a card, but the fans were still unforgiving to Solari, in addition to the boos, there were also insults.

Any team and player facing such a home ground would probably lose their composure?

Xiang Tao kicked the ball forward with a long pass. Krøldrup blocked Li Yongle behind him and stopped the ball with his chest. Li Yongle pushed him, and he fell down, the referee blew his whistle again, and the fans booed again.

Li Yongle was extremely depressed. He didn't use any force just now. But looking at Krøldrup's expression, he was still very innocent. Damn, he was indeed a soldier brought out by a rogue coach! Each one was more shameless than the last!

Fiorentina got a free kick in a very good position in the attacking third. Zhang Jun was undoubtedly going to take the free kick. Inter Milan sent six people to form a wall, taking Zhang Jun very seriously.

"It's… twenty-seven meters from the goal. Zhang Jun is going to take it. Toldo is nervously directing the wall. Maybe it's a great opportunity for Fiorentina to tie the score. Zhang Jun has been in very good form lately. Let's take a look at this free kick."

Zhang Jun and Gasbarroni were both standing in front of the ball, seemingly to have a feint. But Toldo believed that no matter what foreplay there was, Zhang Jun would definitely kick the ball in the end.

With a whistle from the referee, Gasbarroni turned and ran towards the empty left side, and some people in the wall began to rush towards Zhang Jun—this was a foul, but the ball hadn't been kicked out, and the referee didn't blow his whistle. It was a borderline call.

Zhang Jun rushed up, but used his right foot to directly poke the ball to the left!

Martins, who was running in the front, slipped and fell to the ground. He was completely deceived. Not only him, but almost all Inter Milan players were deceived.

Inter Milan's captain Zanetti quickly turned around and pounced on Gasbarroni, while the others all spread out, retreating to the penalty area to mark their defenders.

Gasbarroni crossed the ball directly before Zanetti could close in!

Samuel pounced on the near post, but the ball was not passed to the near post. Cordoba in the middle firmly pressed Pazzini, preventing him from jumping, and of course, he couldn't jump himself. But he left the ball to Materazzi behind him, to clear it.

Materazzi was behind, preparing to jump up and clear the ball with a header. Just then, Zhang Jun flashed in like lightning, snatching the ball in front of the slow-moving Materazzi, with a diving header!

This was a close-range shot!

Toldo reflexively waved his hand to block, and the ball was pushed over the crossbar, another corner kick!

"Beautiful free kick coordination! Disrupted Inter Milan's defense, the only regret is that Zhang Jun's header was too straight!"

Materazzi stood there in a daze, still not believing that Zhang Jun had rushed to the goal from outside the penalty area so quickly.

Jørgensen's corner kick also had a change. He passed it directly to the arc outside the penalty area. Xiang Tao volleyed it directly, but it went high…

Two minutes later, Fiorentina intercepted Recoba's ball in the backfield and came back again. Mascherano passed the ball to Krøldrup, but Krøldrup didn't stop the ball. He used his heel to flick the ball to Gasbarroni behind him, and then he turned and ran forward himself.

Gasbarroni didn't get entangled with Zanetti. He passed the ball forward, Krøldrup received the ball, and Li Yongle also turned around and chased after him. He and Zanetti forced Krøldrup to the wing.

Fiorentina fans began to shout Krøldrup's name loudly. They hoped to see the skills that made them scream wildly.

Li Yongle was in front, blocking between Krøldrup and the penalty area, while Zanetti rushed towards Krøldrup from the other side. They wanted to put Krøldrup in a dead end—he had been forced near the corner flag.

Krøldrup pushed Li Yongle with one hand, leaning his body to protect the ball in front of him. Zanetti saw Krøldrup looking down at the ball, focusing his attention on Li Yongle, so he exerted force under his feet and accelerated. He rushed up to intercept the ball directly. Even if he couldn't snatch it, he could directly kick the ball out of bounds.

Just as he rushed to the ball and swung his right foot, Krøldrup pulled the ball behind him with his right foot! Zanetti kicked empty and rushed past!

At the same time, Krøldrup turned around, blocking Zanetti behind him, facing Li Yongle. Li Yongle took advantage of this opportunity and swept his left foot towards the ball.

Krøldrup tapped the ball lightly with his left foot and pulled it back again. Li Yongle swept empty. He could break through from the right!

But how could Li Yongle be so easily broken through? He quickly turned around and took a step forward with his left foot, hoping to block Krøldrup's advance.

But Krøldrup didn't mean to break through. He stepped on the ball again with his right foot and pulled it to the left!

I knew you would do this! Li Yongle had already dragged his right foot behind him, just to guard against Krøldrup's move.

But to his surprise, Krøldrup didn't pull the ball to the left, but changed direction midway—he gently poked the ball that his right foot had pulled over with the tip of his left foot, and the ball passed between Li Yongle's separated legs!

Nutmegged!

This series of actions was smooth and free, fooling Li Yongle and Zanetti, and there were immediately unrestrained screams in the stands.

Li Yongle was stunned. Krøldrup took the opportunity to jump past him, and then hooked the ball in front of the baseline, but didn't pass it immediately. Instead, he continued to dribble the ball, dribbling the ball towards the penalty area!

Samuel pounced up, and Li Yongle also turned around and chased after him. Krøldrup looked at the penalty area, but passed the ball to Gasbarroni outside the penalty area. Zanetti was busy entangling with Krøldrup, forgetting that no one was guarding Gasbarroni. By the time he reacted and rushed back, Gasbarroni had passed the ball.

This was a cross that hugged the ground. Gasbarroni whipped it, and the ball was very fast.

It was Zhang Jun again! Diving to shoot in front of Materazzi!

This time, Toldo didn't give Fiorentina a corner kick. He fell to the ground and pressed the ball firmly.

Although this ball didn't go in, Fiorentina's flowing attack still made the applause at the Stadio Artemio Franchi last for a long time.

"Great! Super! Wonderful!" The Sky TV commentator used three adjectives in a row, "Facing the siege of two people, Krøldrup can still calmly make such moves. Krøldrup has once again let us appreciate pure football skills! Thanks to Fiorentina, for bringing Krøldrup to Italy!"

Li Yan turned his head to look at the big screen, where the scene of Krøldrup getting rid of Zanetti and Li Yongle was still being replayed. The fans' cheers were louder than the last.

He looked down at his watch again. It was already thirty-two minutes into the first half. Inter Milan had only had a miserable one shot after taking the lead, while Fiorentina had nineteen shots, and their possession rate had reached 57%. The only regret was that Fiorentina's offensive was like a tide, but they hadn't scored a goal, and they were still behind 0-1.

Moreover, what disappointed many Chinese reporters was that the fated showdown between Zhang Jun and Li Yongle that they had been looking forward to hadn't appeared. Although the confrontation between Krøldrup and Li Yongle was also very good, it couldn't satisfy the media and readers, because this kind of confrontation had no background and lacked some "legendary quality". Zhang Jun attacking and Li Yongle defending, in their eyes, was the orthodox duel.

Italians, they really didn't understand romance…

※※※

The first half was coming to an end. If Fiorentina couldn't tie the score, then after a half-time break, this momentum would likely be deflated.

Zhang Jun targeted Materazzi, that big fool. He took advantage of the other party's slow turning, slow speed, slow movement, and slow awareness.

Li Yongle was anxious watching from the side. Materazzi was obviously not keeping up with Zhang Jun's rhythm, but unfortunately, he was being held back by Krøldrup, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Fiorentina is attacking continuously! But our defense has withstood the pressure, and we're still leading 1-0 so far!" Inter Milan's official commentator said smugly.

Just three minutes after he said this, it was the forty-first minute of the first half.

Fiorentina launched an attack as usual.

Zhang Jun received the ball, and he was dribbling towards Inter Milan's penalty area. Veron wanted to stop him, but he lowered his left shoulder. Veron thought he was going to break through from that side, and quickly turned his body over, but Zhang Jun used his right foot to push the ball to the right, accelerating past Veron. His speed made Veron give up the idea of chasing him.

After easily breaking through Veron, Zhang Jun approached the penalty area, and Materazzi stood in front of him.

Zhang Jun's push to get past Veron was a bit too big. Materazzi prepared himself, and seeing that Zhang Jun's push was too big, he decided to step forward and block the position, intercepting Zhang Jun's ball.

But Zhang Jun had no intention of slowing down or avoiding him at all. Following this momentum, he continued to push the ball to the right, and like a gust of wind, he passed within less than a meter of Materazzi. Materazzi's posture of being ready for battle became a laughable moment with only symbolic meaning and no practical value.

Zhang Jun was very fast after passing Materazzi. He dribbled into the penalty area, and Cordoba didn't even have time to reach out and pull him.

Toldo attacked!

Zhang Jun faked a shot with his left foot, and Toldo believed it and fell down. Zhang Jun then hooked the ball to the right with his left foot. Toldo reacted quickly again, pouncing towards the ball again!

Zhang Jun took another touch with his right foot, taking the ball away from Toldo's hand, and avoiding Toldo, who had pounced empty, he shot with his right foot at a very small angle!

Li Yongle sprinted back to save the danger, but he was still a step late. Before his foot could touch the ball and kick it out of the goal, the ball had already crossed the goal line!

The referee's whistle and gesture indicated that the goal was valid. In fact, the Stadio Artemio Franchi had already erupted in cheers after Zhang Jun got past Toldo, before the referee announced it, and the cheers were now several times louder than before.

"Long live! Zhang Jun! Long live! Fiorentina!" The once awkward Chinese name was now pronounced very fluently in their mouths, because they had shouted it countless times.

Zhang Jun was also very excited after scoring. When the fans shouted the last sentence, he stood by the corner flag, raised his arms, and shouted along with them, "Long live! Fiorentina!"

Competing with Li Yongle on the same field had always excited him. He had been a bit depressed that so many shots in the first half hadn't gone in, and now he could finally vent properly.

Sabato also jumped up from his seat with both arms raised, shouting, "That's f***ing wonderful!"

After celebrating the goal, Zhang Jun shrugged at Li Yongle: If you want to win, you have to ask me if I agree.

Li Yongle was expressionless and didn't say anything.

Fiorentina and Inter Milan ended the first half with a score of 1-1.

※※※

During the half-time break, Li Yongle took the initiative to make his request to Mancini, "Coach, let me mark Zhang Jun. I'm very familiar with him, and Zhang Jun dropping back also matches my position perfectly."

In fact, Mancini was also very dissatisfied with Materazzi's performance in the first half. He was repeatedly broken through by Zhang Jun. Was this the performance of a main center-back in a world-class club? But he still had some concerns. "If you go to defend Zhang Jun, who will be responsible for Krøldrup?"

"Coach, Fiorentina's attacking core is Zhang Jun. Truly threatening attacks are all completed by him. Krøldrup will always pass the ball to him. As long as we defend him, 70 percent of their attacks will be unthreatening."

After hearing this, Mancini fell into deep thought. He needed to weigh it in his mind. He had always thought that Krøldrup Li was Fiorentina's attacking core, but from the first half of today's game, Zhang Jun, who was dropping back behind Pazzini and surging forward in front of Krøldrup, might be the real core.

"Alright." He thought clearly, "In the second half, Li, you defend Zhang Jun, don't let him break through recklessly like he did in the first half. As for Krøldrup, Javier, you take care of him a little bit."

The two nodded, and the others had no objections. Only Materazzi was dissatisfied in his heart, because he felt like he was being ignored. When making this decision, the head coach didn't even ask about his feelings. He was the one who defended Zhang Jun in the first half. He should at least ask about Zhang Jun's characteristics and habits, but no one paid attention to him.

※※※

Sabato was very satisfied with the team's performance in the first half, "I told you that Materazzi is a waste, right? Was I wrong? But don't expect to have so many chances in the second half. Mancini isn't an idiot, he also saw the situation like that in the first half, and he will definitely make adjustments. But no matter how he adjusts, we only have one goal, to score goals constantly, victory. Zhang Jun, no matter who defends you, you only have one goal: to break through and score. I put you in the position of dropping back to maximize your breakthrough ability, don't let me down."

Zhang Jun nodded. He had a great time breaking through in the first half, but he really wanted to have a one-on-one with Li Yongle. He wanted to see how much he and Li Yongle had improved.

Sometimes he really wanted to switch positions with Krøldrup. Materazzi couldn't arouse his fighting spirit at all. Breaking through him was like breaking through a wooden stake, boring. He was eager for Mancini to make adjustments.

※※※

Li Yan wrote in his notebook, "The first half was very exciting, the audience was in high spirits, cheering constantly. But it wasn't the kind of excitement that we Chinese reporters wanted to see. Li Yongle is a defensive midfielder, Zhang Jun is a forward, and they don't seem to have any interaction…"

The Chinese reporters around him were indeed a little listless. Zhang Jun's goal and Krøldrup's dribbling were both very beautiful. But they were not as attractive as the fated showdown between Zhang Jun and Li Yongle. People were always very interested in the idea of fate that exists in novels and movies. Of course, there was indeed a taste of fate between Zhang Jun and Li Yongle. As the eyes and voice of the people, the media had to carry forward this fate, promote it vigorously, and make everyone believe that they were natural enemies, competing with each other, but also cherishing each other, including the parties themselves, who also had to think this way.

But the Italians didn't care about this. Mancini actually arranged for Li Yongle to watch Krøldrup and handed Zhang Jun over to Materazzi.

Reporters with sharp eyes noticed this detail: After Zhang Jun celebrated the goal, he shrugged at Li Yongle. They felt that Zhang Jun was saying, "Look, buddy, your defenders are too bad, it's hard for me not to score. Why aren't you defending me?"

And Li Yongle was expressionless: I want to, but Mancini has the final say.

※※※

Not long after the second half started, everyone noticed a change.

Zhang Jun took the ball, habitually turned around and wanted to break through, but this time he didn't turn his body around, because the ball was forcibly blocked by a foot. He staggered, reached out his foot to hook the ball, and then he saw the owner of that foot clearly.

"Li Yongle?!" Zhang Jun couldn't believe it.

"Li Yongle?!" The Chinese reporters in the stands shouted excitedly.

"You're supposed to be watching your Krøldrup, what are you doing running over here?" Krøldrup was ten meters away on the left side at this time.

"Hey, my task in the second half is to contain you." Li Yongle said, exerting force under his feet and taking a touch against Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun lunged forward, but the ball remained in place.

"Hey, Zhang Jun, I've watched your moves countless times. If you want to get past me, come up with something new!" Li Yongle successfully intercepted Zhang Jun's ball and then passed it out. He turned his head and said to Zhang Jun, who was still lying on the ground.

Zhang Jun spat out a mouthful of grass clippings and jumped up vigorously, "Then your wish will be granted!"

At this time, he felt that this game was full of fun. It had been many years since he and Li Yongle had been one-on-one on the field. Since he and Yang Pan went to the Netherlands…

And at this time, the Chinese colleagues in the press box were also discussing.

"Hey, isn't Li Yongle abandoning his post without permission? Krøldrup is still on the other side!"

"I don't know, maybe Mancini arranged it on purpose?"

"Oh? Could it be that this Italian also reads our Chinese newspapers?"

"Just keep observing! Once is a coincidence, twice is also a coincidence, but three or four times is not as simple as a coincidence."

Li Yan smelled a hint of excitement. He couldn't hear the conversation between the two on the field, but his sense of smell told him that an exciting moment was coming.

※※※

The second time, Zhang Jun took the ball head-on, facing Li Yongle again. And Krøldrup was standing behind, looking around him, there wasn't a single Inter Milan player. He still couldn't figure out what was going on. What was going on? He had to face two people in the first half, but now no one was taking care of him?

Zhang Jun was feinting. He was too lazy to feint when he faced Materazzi, he just relied on his speed to charge.

He did a bicycle kick, but Li Yongle didn't move, so he had to think of another way.

"I told you, Zhang Jun. Come up with something new, otherwise…" Li Yongle leaned on Zhang Jun abruptly when Zhang Jun pushed the ball away, preparing to break through forcefully, his body powerfully colliding with Zhang Jun, and he stretched out his long legs, kicking the ball out. "…otherwise don't even think about doing anything in the second half!"

"Shit!" Zhang Jun cursed excitedly. When did Li Yongle, who used to lose to him in the national youth team, become so powerful? His thigh was still hurting from the collision just now, he was really impolite… It seemed that Inter Milan's youth training was indeed worthy of being the best in Serie A. Li Yongle's progress was rapid. No wonder he could squeeze out Davids and push C. Zanetti and Cambiasso to the bench, and finally became Inter Milan's midfield core, even a big name like Veron had to serve him.

The third time, Zhang Jun faced Li Yongle again.

Now everyone could see what this change was.

"Li Yongle is responsible for defending Zhang Jun! Oh, great! The two of them are finally facing off!" The Chinese reporters cheered excitedly.

"Damn it! Is he not taking care of Krøldrup?" Sabato glanced at Mancini, "Zhang! Pass the ball to Krøldrup!"

※※※

"I have a question." Zhang Jun stepped on the ball, Li Yongle was on guard, not easily committing to a tackle.

"Say it."

"If you come to defend me, what about Krøldrup?" As soon as he finished speaking, he exerted force on his heel, and the ball was passed to Krøldrup who was following behind.

As soon as Krøldrup stepped on the ball, Zanetti rushed out from an angle, accurately and flawlessly tackling the ball away. Krøldrup fell to the ground, signaling to the referee that the other party had fouled, but no one paid attention to him.

"That's the answer." Li Yongle left these words behind, and flew past him to catch up quickly.

Zanetti passed the ball to him, and he dribbled forward.

"You're finally coming up…" Mascherano had been waiting anxiously behind in the first half, and now he finally had a chance to face Li Yongle one-on-one.

Li Yongle made a slight change of direction, wanting to break through with a diagonal dribble, but Mascherano immediately stuck to him tightly, preventing him from making any movements.

Li Yongle had no choice but to stop abruptly, turned around, and stopped the ball, while Mascherano was pressing against him, preventing him from turning around.

"I'm not Zhang Jun, I don't have to get past you…" Li Yongle muttered in his heart, "No matter how tight your defense is, you're only defending me alone, how can you defend my pass?"

Thinking this way, he passed the ball horizontally to Solari on the wing.

Boos rose from all around.

Fortunately, Solari didn't make a mistake this time. He sent the ball into the penalty area. Adriano rushed in front of Kehl, preparing to head the ball, but Frey attacked in time and punched the ball out with both fists.

"After Li Yongle contained Zhang Jun's attack, Inter Milan's attack has also improved. Just now was a very threatening counterattack after they intercepted the ball. Mancini's adjustment has had an immediate effect!"

"So that's how it is…" Sabato said to himself, "Li is defending Zhang Jun, and as soon as Krøldrup gets the ball, Zanetti in midfield will press up. But this is really ridiculous, if the ball is passed to Gasbarroni, who will they let defend? I can let Krøldrup lure