The Manager’s Office, A. C. Milan: 63 hours to kick off
“<Mrs. Orione, try to understand the situation.>” begged the manager. “<What is it that you are so concerned about?>”
“<I don’t want my boys to play against each other. That’s it.>” Monica confirmed.
“<Oh! If that is the only reason you give, here is mine.>” the manager started to look furious. “<I want Lino to keep for Milan in the upcoming game against Inter because if we don’t, Milan might lose the championship as well as millions of Euros. Now, Mr. Orione, I have had enough talking to your wife. Will you please take the honors of convincing her?>”
Since December last year, Lino had been a terrific keeper for Milan. He conceded just eight goals in nineteen matches and awaiting his seventh consecutive clean sheet this weekend. They even troubled Barcelona with this rookie in the champions league semifinal. But that stage was too burdensome for Lino to handle. With Roma and Lazio losing three weeks in a row, the stage was set for the Milanese clubs to fight for the Serie A title in San Siro. With the D-day approaching, the manager of Milan worried about something; that stupid agreement.
“<Look! I can as well break the agreement and let Lino play.>” said the manager observing the stubborn face of Monica. “<The agreement was just not to play the brothers in Milan Derbies. This was no where related to the other agreements we generally make with the players or clubs. We didn’t talk about what-if-not-followed clauses. So if I let him play, it is up to Inter to decide whether they want to play Gino or not.>”
“<Monica, don’t worry. They are mature enough to understand the difficulties in sports. I mean, after all, we can’t always control their lives, at least when it affects their career.>” Antonio preached.
“<Mrs Orione, I could have easily announced my decision about Lino long back. I respected your concern and tried to convince you all these days. You too have to be flexible about this.>” the manager said.
Monica nodded her agreement with great difficulty. The manager reached for his phone, pushed a button and said “<Arrange the press meet.>”
Training Grounds, Inter Milan: 30 hours to kick off
“<So…Gino is in the team?>” the coach asked while watching the teams practice.
“<Where is the place for him in the starting eleven?>” the manager questioned. “I don’t want unnecessary changes to my squad because of some stupid beliefs. He starts as usual; from the bench.”
Milan vs Inter
(Kick off 18:00 CET)
The basic fact, that this was the champion decider, overshadowed the significance of the brothers’ first match against each other. Most of the crowd didn’t actually bother much as Gino was, anyway, not starting the match and might remain on the bench for the whole ninety odd minutes. The match kicked off. Within seconds, the ball was received by Figo. Meanwhile Zanetti, who started just behind the half-line, was already in the D with just Cafu and Lino to beat. The ball was with him, thanks to a good high pass by Figo, before anybody in Milan realized what was going on. Cafu dived without even looking at the ball and was fortunate enough to land his right shoe right on top of the ball providing obstruction for Zanetti’s leg which was half-way through its full swing onto the ball. Zanetti was both generous and quick enough to divert his swing a little upwards thereby jumping over Cafu who, by now, pushed the ball with the other leg to Lino. This unexpected, lightning attack baffled everyone in the stadium. Inter’s intentions were clear. Avoid midfield, attack defense.
Milan’s defense was not such an easy wall to crack. Inter’s strategy didn’t work because of the “avoidance” part of their plan. Milan used two of those somewhat jobless midfielders in their defense to electrify the wall. This adaptation forced Inter to push forward almost costing them a goal. The defenders of Inter were idle for about twenty minutes and were not expecting a counter attack given the positions of the opponents. It was at this moment that they realized even a single player was enough to do the damage. Inzaghi was left unmarked for exactly five seconds terrorizing Inter for the next twenty. Maldini saw Inzaghi at the correct moment and lofted the ball without any doubt. Inzaghi was on the edge of the D when the two defenders who were chasing him caught up and kicked the ball out for a throw-in. Except for that Milan were always defending their post in the first half.
With managers putting some words of wisdom into their players’ head, the second half started without any surprises. The game was going evenly with both sides having fair number of shots on target from inside D. At this point of time Inter asked for a substitution breaking the smooth, rather boring, flow of the game to let players think of something. Thus, Gino entered the field. Till that time, the crowd almost forgot that they actually made banners exclusively for this moment.
There it was. Officially, the brothers were on the field; against each other. Gino, with his fresh pair of legs, carried the ball towards the goal but was confronted by both Nesta and Maldini forcing him to pass the ball to oncoming Adriano. The ball was kicked and the save was made. Not a great effort but a decent one.
Half-an-hour into the second half. Inter were desperate to score a goal as they noticed Milan wasting time by playing around. After four such desperate, stupid and juvenile attempts, Figo secured the ball. A simple-looking but complicated one-two with Vieira put Figo right in the spot for a pass to superbly located Adriano. Instead he chose to shoot. Lino palmed the ball towards Gino and Lino recovered just in time from that last dive to save his brother’s shot, deflecting it to his fellow defender Kaladze. Kaladze miscalculating the pass waited too long for the ball to come to him and in the result kicked Adriano’s leg who tried to take advantage of this situation. That foul was considered unintentional allowing Kaladze to stay on the field with his name on the yellow card and penalty for Inter.
Milan’s manager was so furious that he would have killed Kaladze had he been sent off. “Damn it!! Damn it!!” were the words from his mouth. Meanwhile Zanetti looked at his manager and was shocked after reading his lips. The manager showed his teeth and then made an O with his lips. Zanetti couldn’t believe what he just understood and confirmed by pointing towards Gino. The nod triggered the new cheering and enthusiasm from the crowd behind the manager.
“<Buy me some time. I have to read him.>” Lino asked his captain after listening to some advice. Maldini nodded with a small grin and signed towards his defending colleagues as if such a plan already exists and they were experts of it.
“<Are you sure about this?”Gino asked Zanetti to which he gave a dont-feel-shy grin “<O… Ok>”
Gino knew that he had to take the shot as soon as the whistle was blown. Lino started observing his brother. He was avoiding a direct eye contact but was looking to his right (Lino’s left). “<Don’t try this stupid old trick on me, Brother. I know you still didn’t decide which side.>” Lino tried to tell his brother telepathically. The ball was placed. The referee asked for their readiness and …
… just when he was about blow his whistle, Nesta rushed forward as if he already listened to the whistle and walked back slowly apologizing.
“<Bloody Hell.>” Gino till now conspicuously examined only the right part of the goal (Lino’s left). “<Hope he gets this trap. Or is it too obvious?>” Gino thought.
“<Did I made a mistake by asking more time? What if he was actually planning to hit to my left? If it was immediate, I would have had an excuse of the penalty being so quick. Damn now. What have I done? Whatever, I will stick to the original plan.>”
The referee was already angry with the time wasting tactics of Milan. They couldn’t afford another warning. Lino noticed this and was ready this time. The whistle was blown.
Gino, without hesitation, kicked the ball to his left swerving it upwards. Lino, according to his original plan, jumped to his right but at the wrong height. He stretched his left arm to its maximum. The ball hit thumb-side of the palm, hit the post and…
<Auto Translation from Italian to English>
