Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Unwavering Devotion - Part 2
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Ji-woo: Ah, me too, Milan... 😭😭😭😭😭
Ji-woo: Take me with you too... 😭😭😭
Ji-woo: It's only the first day of school, so I can't... right...?
Ji-woo: Ah, seriously, I really want to go... 😭😭😭
Ji-woo: Take lots of pictures!!
Ever since he heard that their next away game was in Milan, Ji-woo had started whining.
For some reason, he said Milan was a place he'd always wanted to visit ever since he was in Korea.
He even said that if the game was on Saturday instead of Sunday, he would have gone along, and he tried to subtly probe if it would be okay to skip just one day of school.
But he was told no, because he had exams, and was asked to just take lots of pictures instead.
"It's nothing special."
Getting off the bus and looking around the city of Milan, he honestly couldn't see what the big deal was.
Hmm. It's just an ordinary city.
The only thing is that the people walking by have a somewhat sophisticated vibe... but honestly, Florence was much prettier.
"Why the sudden pictures?"
"Huh? Ah."
As he was capturing the cityscape with his phone camera, Bonaventura, the senior, spoke up with a sly grin.
"Uh, my friend asked me to take some pictures."
"A friend? Ah, your girlfriend?"
"...Yes."
At the mention of his girlfriend, I just nodded along. The seniors had teased him so much that he had decided to stop reacting.
"What a lover boy. A real lover boy."
"I recognize you as an honorary Italian man."
"When's the wedding?"
"You crazy bastard, he's only sixteen."
...Of course, even if he didn't react, they teased him all the same.
Usually, the captain would show up around this time to scold the seniors and help him out, but...
"Hey, hey. Everyone, stop joking around and get on."
"Got it."
"Let's go."
For some reason today, the seniors stopped first and started packing their bags.
They weren't the type to do that. It was probably because they all knew the captain was on edge.
The captain had been almost silent for the past few days, focusing only on training.
"Hey, maknae. You hurry up and go too."
"Yes."
Taka-taka-taka-taka-
I quickly snapped a flurry of photos and then followed the seniors.
*
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, also known as San Siro.
One of the most historic stadiums in Europe was packed with fans.
The scale was magnificent.
Total capacity was around 75,000.
Today, nearly 60,000 fans had come to the stadium, and a wave of deep blue covered the stands.
In particular, there were many young fans visible today.
Some were in their fathers' arms, while others sang the chants with even louder voices than the adults around them. Some were even making predictions about today's match with the expertise of a professional.
Among them, some were surely looking at this fantastic stadium atmosphere and nurturing their dreams.
The dream of one day wearing an Inter Milan blue jersey and playing in front of this huge crowd.
Today as well, countless boys were dreaming of putting on the blue jersey.
One of those boys was Cristiano Biraghi.
"..."
Biraghi looked at every corner of the Giuseppe Meazza with a complex, subtle expression.
Having been born in a small town near Milan, Biraghi never forgot the day he first came here holding his father's hand.
Of course he couldn't forget it.
That day was the day his lifelong dream was decided.
The beautiful stadium, the passionate fans, the stars dazzling the field while receiving the cheers of those fans.
That sight was enough to plant a dream in the heart of a boy from the countryside, and the young Biraghi nurtured his dream with the single-minded belief that he would one day play for Inter.
When he joined the youth academy at 13 and finally put on the blue jersey of his dreams, he felt like he could fly.
My dream is to become a great Inter captain like Javier Zanetti.
As the dream grew closer, it only continued to expand.
Biraghi, who had stood out after joining the youth academy, dreamed of his first-team debut, and after joining the first team, he nurtured the dream of becoming captain.
Just as he had admired Inter's eternal captain, Javier Zanetti, when he was a child.
He too wanted to become a captain loved by all Inter fans.
But now.
The captain's armband on Biraghi's arm was not Inter's.
"Good game."
"You too."
Biraghi exchanged a handshake with Inter's captain, Samir Handanović. He was no longer a boy, but looking at that captain's armband, he felt like he was being transported back to that time.
And seeing the fans chanting Inter's chants, he felt a strange sense of sadness.
"I should be one of them, receiving their cheers. Why do I have to stand here as their enemy?"
It's sad.
But, that's precisely why Biraghi wanted to win today's match even more.
He wanted to ask in return why he had to be their enemy.
"Gather around."
"Okay."
The Fiorentina players formed a circle around Biraghi.
Usually, the players didn't treat Biraghi with the deference befitting a captain, but today, they all looked at him with serious faces.
Fiorentina's captain, Biraghi, spoke to his players.
"Everyone has had a first love."
It was a slightly random thing to say.
But they listened intently.
"For most of you, I'm sure it remains as a bad memory. I'm sure you've all had a thought like this at least once. To become a much cooler person and make your first love regret it."
Biraghi lifted the captain's armband once before continuing.
"That's how I feel right now. So, just help me out this one time."
When Biraghi made his sincere request, everyone grinned.
Meeting their gazes, Biraghi nodded with a smile.
"Forza Viola! Forza-!"
"Viola-!!"
With a powerful shout, the players scattered to their positions.
Biraghi, watching his teammates, stopped one player for a moment.
"Jian."
"Yes?"
"Don't worry about what I just said."
"...?"
"You have to marry your first love."
"..."
As Lee Ji-an nodded and went to his position, Biraghi smiled.
Is the last love not more important than the first love?
Biraghi's last love was Fiorentina, and today, he wanted to make his first love cry no matter what.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy.
This season's Inter was truly strong.
They were packed with outstanding players, to the point where he didn't feel like he had a place there.
But on his side, there was someone he wouldn't trade for anyone on Inter.
It was a bit funny to say that he, as the captain, was relying on the maknae, but.
If anything, the kid was even more at fault for that.
The moment he gets the ball, he puts on a play that makes you doubt your eyes, so how can you not expect things from him?
Biraghi smirked and headed to his position.
*
Seeing the captain's solemn face today, I suddenly remembered a few months ago.
When we played against Juventus during our U17 days.
Thinking back on it, I guess I had a similar thought in a corner of my heart.
The thought of making them regret it.
Of course, that doesn't mean Juventus was my first love.
My first love was...
"Peeeeeep-!"
The opponent's kickoff starts the match.
At the same time, red flares ignite from various spots in the stands, starting to obscure the view.
The atmosphere of the Inter home ground, which I was visiting for the first time, was as fierce as the seniors had told me.
"Hold the line, the line!"
"Don't lose the side!"
Our formation today is 4-5-1.
Vlahović stands at the forefront, and I play the role of an attacking midfielder just below him.
The opponent is using a 3-5-2 formation.
However, it doesn't seem defensive.
The opponent's defenders are holding a high line, and the midfielders are positioned in the half-spaces and on the sides.
The forwards are already positioned near the box.
Seeing that formation, I understand what the coach said about the midfield battle being important.
We also have a lot of people in the midfield, and the opponent has even more.
The opponent will surely try to unfold the game based on their numerical superiority.
Whoosh-
Whoosh-
The ball circulates quickly around me.
However, it's difficult to press them easily.
There are three players standing just around me.
They already had a lot of midfielders to begin with, and the fallen forward and central defender are moving up and down, momentarily increasing the number of midfielders to seven.
This makes it difficult to press them easily.
So what should we do?
In my opinion, instead of chasing the ball, we should secure the space first.
Taka-tak-!
I keep turning my head to check the players' positions, running to find the space where I should be.
Sometimes, simply standing in that spot is enough to stop the opponent's attack.
The opponent is said to favor using the sides to attack the space behind the defense.
I can see that happening now too.
I tried to stand in a key position to prevent a single pass from going from the defense or midfield all the way through.
Whoosh-
Whoosh-
A few attacks and defenses followed, but no significant scenes occurred.
Luckily, our defense was good.
The opponent couldn't easily make a forward pass and just circled the ball.
Thanks to that, quite a boring time passed.
But this is when we need to focus more.
The more boring the situation, the easier it is to make a mistake.
Especially for the attacking side.
If an attack starts to not go well, you naturally have to make more aggressive attempts.
For example, trying a long pass or attempting a bold dribble.
These are all plays where mistakes are easy to make.
We need to wait for that.
We need to cut off those attempts by the opponent and immediately transition to a counterattack.
"..."
Since the opponent has advanced their wingbacks high, the space on the sides is wide open.
While keeping an eye on the defense, I wait, ready to connect to a counterattack the moment the ball comes to me.
Just for a situation like this.
Whooshhh-!
The pass the opponent's midfielder sent flying to the right is cut off.
It's Captain Biraghi.
The captain, who intercepted the ball, glanced forward and immediately sent a pass.
Whooshhh-!
The pass is coming to me.
While the ball was coming, I checked my surroundings...
Whoosh-!
...and received it to set it up for the left.
A press was immediately coming at me, so it was dangerous to just stand still and receive it.
I deliberately hit the ball long to get out of my spot as soon as I received it.
Taka-tak-!
Of course, there was nowhere to completely run away.
The space in the midfield was so narrow that I immediately faced an opponent.
It's a dangerous play to hold onto the ball for too long here. If it gets taken, we could be hit with a counter-counterattack.
But right now, I felt like it was worth taking that risk.
I glanced over and saw Captain Biraghi gritting his teeth and running forward.
I really wanted to pass it to him.
For that, I needed to buy a little more time.
Tuk-!
I evade a foot coming in from the left by changing direction to the right.
Tuk-!
Another foot comes in from the right as if waiting, so I cut back and evade it.
Then, a really scary-looking opponent was right in front of me, so I turned around quickly before his foot could come in.
Tuk-!
After turning around like that, I ended up back where I started.
But it wasn't a meaningless action.
Because during that time, the captain had moved up to a position where he could receive a pass.
Bwooooooong-!
I immediately stabbed a pass into the space on the left side and ran towards the box.
*
Taka-taka-tak-!
Biraghi gritted his teeth and ran.
The ball was dropping into the open space that had opened up in front of him.
Damn it.
I want to tell that maknae off.
It's good that he thinks highly of me, but don't overestimate my speed.
You saw the space well, but isn't it a bit too far ahead?
Tuuuung-!
Ah, my bad.
I underestimated the maknae's passing skill.
The moment Lee Ji-an's lofted pass hit the ground, its speed dropped sharply and bounced lightly.
It was because of the strong backspin.
Thanks to that,
Whoosh-!
Biraghi controlled the ball.
And ran along the touchline.
One defender was chasing him from behind, but honestly, he wasn't confident in a speed contest.
So he had to take a shortcut.
Pu-eok-!
He sent the ball along the path the defender was running first, then forced his body in. Shoulder clashed hard with shoulder, and Biraghi staggered.
But he didn't fall.
Biraghi, who had put his body in first to block the defender, ran towards the ball again.
And looked into the box.
Two attackers were crashing in.
Vlahović, running towards the front of the goal.
Lee Ji-an, cutting in from a relatively closer side.
There was no time to weigh who was in a better position. It was the foot, not the head, that made the choice. That's how it was.
Bwooooooong-!
Biraghi sent in a hard ground cross and lost his balance, falling and rolling on the ground.
After rolling a few times, he propped himself up with his hands and lifted his head...
Chwaaaaaa-
...and the sight of Lee Ji-an sliding towards the ball came into view.
His cross and Lee Ji-an's foot met at a single point.
Whooshhh-!
Slap-!!
Biraghi shot up and ran faster than when he had run to make the pass.
Lee Ji-an's face was filled with fear at the sight, but Biraghi had no time to care about that.
"Yaaaaaah!"
Biraghi hugged Lee Ji-an tightly.
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