424 Looking On The Verge Of A Loss Part 2 (2/2)
Ten minutes passed, but Mancini did not see what he was hoping for. Listening to his words, the team did retreat. Forest Team also pressed outward as he had expected. However, Inter Milan's attacks were unable to find any path in. The match pace was beginning show signs of leaning towards Forest; that wouldn't do.
”Go out on the offense! You guys have retreated too much!” Mancini finally could not stop himself from shouting from the sidelines.
”This won't do…” he muttered, and then turned to walk towards the substitute's bench. He pointed to an Argentinian forward, Cruz.
”Cruz, go warm-up and come back immediately!”
Cruz obediently ran out. Mancini turned and pointed at another person on the bench.
”Recoba, you too.”
Very well, Tony Twain. If you want to go on the offense, I'll go head-on with you!
Three minutes after, Inter Milan made a substitution. Mancini substituted in two attacking players in one go. Cruz substituted for Verón, who had been performing just averagely, while Recoba substituted for Stanković. Inter Milan transformed into a formation with greater offensive capabilities, 4:3:3.
The mighty Inter Milan finally forced Forest to show some restraint. The short duration of the crazed tidal wave of attacks stemming from the ”double core” receded. The situation on the field became more balanced. Both parties had opportunities that they failed to capitalize on. But it was no longer the scene of any one side suppressing the other.
Looking at the time, there was still 10 minutes before injury stoppage time. Tang En decided to make another substitution. This time, he put in Eastwood and changed out Mark Viduka. Of course, he was not putting the skinny Eastwood in to be a center-forward and face-off with the ferocious Italian rear defenders. Instead, he pushed Anelka up and situated Eastwood behind him. Neither of them was the traditional sort of center-forward; both had extremely strong capabilities in playing independently. After Tang En's overall adjustment to the strategy, he did his best to send in another player with the potential of creating miracles on their own. No matter what method he used, he did not want to lose this game!
Especially when Shania was watching on from the spectators' stand. They had not met in a long while; his first meeting gift with her must not be a loss.
In truth, Tang En did not know if Shania had really come to watch the match. Before the match, they did not communicate, and he was also too busy then to care about it. However, he believed. He believed that Shania, who had said ”I have to work tomorrow,” would certainly come. At that time, her tone had sounded as if she said it only in a moment of pique…
The match was close to its end, but neither side gave up. Inter Milan's players were unwilling to beat Nottingham Forest by only one goal, while Nottingham Forest's players were unwilling to lose to Inter Milan on the away field. Everyone's spirits were high, going all out to the final moment.
Albertini could no longer run much. Many times, he only stood in the front field, panting as he waited for his teammates to pass the ball to him. Then, he would dribble the ball a few steps for show and pass it to someone in front the moment he had an opportunity. If he saw no openings, he would pass it back again.
The close-marking from Cambiasso earlier had forced him to use up large amounts of his stamina. Now, he truly had the heart and will, but not a body that could comply.
The trust from his teammates caused the ball to once again be passed to him. Cambiasso also came up to guard against him at the first instance.
While Albertini was focused on dealing with Cambiasso, he did not expect him to be just a decoy. Inter Milan's captain, Javier Zanetti, suddenly abandoned his position and dashed out from his diagonal, stealing Albertini's ball from the other side.